Chapter 70: Voodoo’s Rampage
“It’s okay, Sis. I’m here.”
Hearing her sister’s comforting words, feeling the warmth of her hand, Lin Xiwan felt tears welling up.
She squeezed Lin Jiayao’s hand, holding it tightly, but didn’t respond.
She didn’t know what to say. She felt completely lost.
There was nowhere left to go.
Seeing her sister’s despair, Lin Jiayao worried.
She had to calm her down.
“Sis, remember that quote?” Lin Jiayao squeezed her sister’s thigh, trying to get her attention. Her hand was resting on her sister’s leg.
“Lu Xun said, ‘If there are no torches after this, I will be the only light.’”
“We can’t go to Survivor’s Light, but at least we’re alive. And where there’s life, there’s hope, isn’t there?”
Lin Jiayao paused before continuing, “Maybe… maybe I’ll become a strong Awakened someday. Anything is possible.”
Lin Xiwan, lost in her thoughts, looked at her sister.
Although she knew her sister’s words were meant to comfort her, she was still surprised by her optimism. She’d expected her sister to be even more pessimistic than her.
Unlike her, an Awakened, her sister was truly helpless in this world, unable to survive without her protection.
If she died, her sister wouldn’t last long.
Her sister’s optimism seemed to affect her. Lin Xiwan exhaled slowly, closed her eyes, and tried to compose herself.
She didn’t release her sister’s hand.
After a while, she opened her eyes and looked at her sister’s face.
“Let’s go back,” she said. “To the cannery, to find Brother Gou, to help them rebuild, and gather some supplies.”
“And then… we can search the radio for other larger settlements, or wait for Survivor’s Light to recover…”
Lin Jiayao nodded slightly.
This was the most sensible course of action. They lacked the essential supplies for a long journey.
They could return to the highway and go to the cannery in Fuzhou City to find Brother Gou’s convoy.
Brother Gou’s invitation and his subsequent kindness had left a good impression on them.
She couldn’t judge whether he was a good or bad person; after all, he was planning to attack another settlement.
But she could tell he was a relatively selfless person, a good quality for a leader.
They used some colorful clothes as towels, drying their hair slightly, ate some lunch, and then huddled together, napping for an hour to recover their energy.
Lin Xiwan woke up first, let her sister sleep, and then went to the monster truck.
Carrying a metal pipe, she was going to remove the “V” symbols from the vehicle.
She would remove all Voodoo Cult markings, including the sofa and flag on the roof, to avoid being attacked at the cannery.
After spending almost half an hour scraping off the symbols and stickers, removing the flag and sofa, the drenched Lin Xiwan returned to the room.
Seeing her sister still asleep, she didn’t wake her, but carefully covered her face and hair with clothes before carrying her downstairs and placing her in the passenger seat.
After making sure she had everything, Lin Xiwan started the engine.
Shortly after, Lin Jiayao woke up.
“We’re leaving,” Lin Xiwan smiled, pinching her sister’s cheek.
“Oh…” Lin Jiayao nodded, rubbing her temples.
She had spent the past hour controlling Mask, now in its Armored zombie form, scavenging in Xin City.
Before scavenging, she had retrieved the gold key she had dropped when Mask was injured, the one on the shopping mall floor, and put it in the safehouse.
And while controlling Mask, she had sensed her main body being moved, so she’d found a safe place and switched back.
“Vroom—”
Lin Xiwan drove out of the residential complex, carefully maneuvering around overturned cars and debris, heading back towards the highway.
Lin Jiayao opened the glove compartment again.
Hearing the click, Lin Xiwan glanced over. “What’s wrong, Yaoyao?”
“Didn’t Survivor’s Light say to take precautions?” Lin Jiayao took out two sets of gas masks, goggles, and earmuffs, handing one to her sister.
“Oh, right, they have everything here…” Lin Xiwan stopped the car, carefully put on the gas mask, followed by the goggles and earmuffs.
She didn’t know how dangerous or widespread the fungal zombies were, but taking precautions was always a good idea.
A question arose in her mind.
Why… did the Voodoo Cult seem to know about the fungal zombies before Survivor’s Light?
They had already stockpiled gas masks and other protective gear before she’d even encountered their bodies and vehicle.
They must have known about the fungal zombies for a long time.
But after putting on her gas mask, she saw her sister reaching into the glove compartment again.
“Careful with the needles,” Lin Xiwan quickly grabbed her sister’s hand.
She didn’t want her sister pricking herself with a potentially contaminated needle.
“What do you need? I’ll get it for you,” she said, leaning over to look inside the compartment.
“I just wanted to see what those were…” Lin Jiayao said, pointing into the compartment, seemingly slightly upset.
Lin Xiwan followed her finger.
“What is this?” Curiosity piqued, she took out the objects.
Three gold keys.
Exquisitely crafted, seemingly polished, with symbols of unknown meaning.
V-E-030, V-E-031, V-D-021.
“Are these… identification keys?” After a brief glance, Lin Xiwan lost interest.
They were likely used by the Voodoo Cult for identification.
V for Voodoo Cult, E and D for rank, the numbers for their order within the ranks.
Just Voodoo Cult trinkets, useless to them.
“They’re worthless,” she said, about to toss them out the window. Keeping them was like holding onto a hot potato.
But Lin Jiayao grabbed her hand, stopping her.
“Give them to me,” she said, blinking at her sister. “They’re pretty.”
Looking into her sister’s eager eyes, Lin Xiwan softened.
She realized she’d never really brought back any nice jewelry or trinkets for her sister. It was normal for a girl her age to like pretty things.
“Remember not to show them to anyone. I’ll find a way to melt off the symbols when we reach a camp,” Lin Xiwan said, handing the keys to her sister, not giving it much thought, and then started the engine again.
The rain had lessened considerably, and she increased their speed.
The small town they’d passed through earlier was completely submerged now, forcing them to take a slight detour.
But Fuzhou City wasn’t far.
During the drive, Lin Jiayao completed an extraction with Mask.
She chose to evolve Bone Spike Lurker to Lv.3, allowing her to simulate the surrounding terrain within fifty meters by emitting vibrations.
She had also controlled Mask, in its Armored zombie form, to fight another, smaller Armored zombie, winning the brutal melee and obtaining another blood crystal.
She hadn’t put this crystal into the safehouse but had Mask consume it before extracting.
She had a feeling Mask could evolve again.
As expected, after the extraction, the “Mask (Available for Login)” status changed to “(Evolving).”
The estimated time was twelve hours; it would be complete around midnight.
After dealing with the login, Lin Jiayao opened her eyes.
Two logins in quick succession would usually leave her mentally drained, almost to the point of unconsciousness, but she felt surprisingly okay, just slightly tired.
She rubbed her temples.
Seeing this, Lin Xiwan asked, “Awake? How are you feeling?”
“Much better,” Lin Jiayao nodded. Being frail had its advantages; she didn’t have to explain why she needed so much sleep.
“Almost there, and we’re almost out of fuel,” Lin Xiwan said, glancing at the gauge. “This thing really guzzles gas… not even 200 kilometers on a full tank.”
A normal car could travel 400-500 kilometers on a full tank. This thing had been almost full, and now, less than 200 kilometers later, it was almost empty.
A real gas guzzler.
Either the fuel tank had been modified to be smaller, or the engine had been unnecessarily souped up – especially with those ridiculously tall exhaust pipes that even spat flames, probably burning excess fuel.
The Voodoo Cult’s thinking was truly incomprehensible.
Normal people prioritized fuel efficiency; the Voodoo Cult seemed to revel in wasting it.
They didn’t seem to take the apocalypse seriously, treating it as an opportunity to indulge their twisted desires.
Lin Jiayao looked out the window. Through the dimly lit sky, she could see they were on a county road.
Not as wide as the highway, but wide enough for two trucks to pass each other. On both sides were flooded fields.
“The cannery is in this village,” Lin Xiwan explained, seeing her sister’s curiosity. “Before the apocalypse, it was cheaper to build factories in villages. Lower land prices, lower compensation costs in case of pollution.”
“Oh…” Lin Jiayao nodded and placed her hand on the window, activating Bone Spike Lurker.
Visibility in the rain was only about forty or fifty meters; she could use Bone Spike Lurker to scout ahead.
They didn’t know how the attack on the cannery was progressing, but with Brother Gou’s well-equipped and numerous men, even the children armed, the cannery likely didn’t stand a chance and had probably surrendered.
And the feedback from Bone Spike Lurker seemed to confirm this.
She could see the outline of the large factory and the warehouse, within 150 meters.
And she didn’t hear any gunfire, only human voices, and even music playing.
Were they already celebrating?
“Hoo… It seems Brother Gou succeeded,” Lin Xiwan said, relieved, looking at the dozen or so jeeps parked in front of the factory. “They’re already inside. Just in time, we’re almost out of fuel.”
“But why aren’t they driving inside?” she wondered, the long line of jeeps obscuring the factory entrance.
And the music from inside the factory… wasn’t it a bit too loud?
They could even hear the lyrics clearly from the road, as if it were a concert.
Suddenly, a bright white light shone from the factory roof, illuminating the area around them.
A searchlight.
Lin Xiwan rolled down the window, waved, and shouted, “We’re friendly!”
“Something’s… something’s not right, Sister… I have a bad feeling…” Lin Jiayao tapped on the window rapidly, her voice urgent.
She had finally discerned another sound amidst the muffled voices and music.
The familiar roar of car engines.
And the music inside the factory suddenly stopped.
A man’s voice echoed from a loudspeaker.
“More annoying bugs at the gate…”
Then, the sound of electric guitars, followed by a raspy shout from the loudspeaker.
“No! Not bugs! Our brothers have returned! Open the gates! Welcome them! Make way for our brother’s ride!!!”
“Crash—”
The cacophony of death metal resumed, seemingly celebrating the arrival of those outside. With a loud crash, a modified heavy truck smashed through the factory gates, revealing the mangled corpses hanging behind them.
“Make way for our brothers!!!”
“Roar—”
The truck accelerated, scattering the smaller jeeps, the sound of scraping metal echoing.
The truck’s massive tires seemed to crush the sisters’ hearts, their breaths catching in their throats.
There were no cannery workers, no Brother Gou’s convoy.
It was the Voodoo Cult.
They had taken over the cannery.
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