Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Of course, Xie Ning had no idea that Annie had taken seven or eight people with her, left the group, and was off finding a car to make her own way back.

But even if she had known, she would have just laughed it off.

Let them do as they pleased. In any case, she had already made it clear: as long as those who came with her didn’t cause trouble, she would be responsible for bringing them all back to the Song Family Pavilion.

As for those who left the group on their own, they could only fend for themselves.

The connecting metal door behind the earthen tunnel was now exposed, a group of workers having cleared away the layers of soil to reveal its original appearance.

Everyone looked at Xie Ning with hopeful eyes.

The latter took a few steps forward and expressionlessly flicked out a Metal Spike.

The crowd watched as the winding Metal Spike shot into the keyhole. Just like that, the previously immovable door was pushed open by the young girl with a single hand.

If not for a cold glare from Xie Ning, everyone would have cheered out loud.

Sporting a messy shock of white hair and seeming a bit out of it, Dr. Yu squeezed with all his might through the crowd, hurrying to get to Xie Ning’s side.

A group of white-coated researchers, apparently afraid their Dr. Yu would get beaten up by the young girl again, quickly squeezed through after him to offer protection.

The workers, who had done the most work earlier, were not happy. ”Hey, don’t push! One at a time! We’re going first.”

”Hello, what’s your name? Your Gold Ability seems incredible! Since you can open door locks, does that mean you can open car locks, safe locks—any kind of lock?” Dr. Yu had barely managed to squeeze next to Xie Ning and get a sentence out before two workers forcefully shoved him aside.

Xie Ning had no intention of wasting her breath on this curious country bumpkin.

’What’s so amazing about my Gold Ability?’

’A truly powerful, High-Level Gold Ability User can build you airplanes, cannons, and tanks.’

”Dr. Yu, be careful!” A few researchers in white coats squeezed in around him like satellites orbiting a planet, rushing to steady his stumbling body.

By now, Xie Ning had already led some production department workers, along with her mother Yuan Dakai and the others, out of the connecting door.

At a glance, the underground parking garage on the second basement level still appeared to be perfectly intact.

Boxes of finished goods were scattered haphazardly in the corners.

”Let’s grab some food before we go.” Although still shaken, the workers from the production department rushed toward the boxes of finished goods upon seeing them.

”Don’t go over there!” The words had barely left Xie Ning’s lips when countless huge, red-eyed rats swarmed out from behind the boxes.

With a wave of her hand, Xie Ning created a row of metal spikes from the ground to block their path.

But the workers who had run over and were now face-to-face with the zombie rats had no time to retreat.

Several ferocious rats leaped onto them, and with a series of sickening CRUNCHES from their bites, a few workers let out bloodcurdling screams.

Xie Ning grabbed her stunned mother, spun around, and ran. ”Xiao Yuan! Zong Xuan!”

The two of them hurried to follow, dashing toward a corner of the parking garage.

Song Shijun pulled off the blanket he was wrapped in and, along with Ji Taixian, stepped out of the metal door—only to be met with this very scene.

”Fuck!”

Hundreds, even thousands of rats swarmed toward the crowd from all directions, moving with deadly speed.

”Hurry, keep up with her!” With his feet seemingly greased, Ji Taixian immediately bolted in Xie Ning’s direction.

Xie Ning laid down Metal Spikes on the ground as she ran, the drain on her superpower proving to be quite significant.

She couldn’t lay the Metal Spikes fast enough to keep up with the pursuing rats.

The young girl frowned, her expression hardening slightly. She had a feeling she couldn’t handle a crisis of this scale on her own.

She had to get her mother and their group away as quickly as possible. As for the other strangers, she simply didn’t have the capacity to worry about whether they lived or died.

Ji Taixian and Song Shijun trailed behind a group of researchers in white coats, who were stumbling along with no semblance of grace, occasionally turning to toss a lighter into the swarm of rats.

Song Shijun panted heavily. ”H-How many lighters can you even make?”

”A f-few hundred, I guess.”

The two of them ran, struggling to catch up. Ji Taixian, after all, was a Superpower User with an awakened Space Ability. Although his physique might not compare to a Power Type or speed-type Superpower User, his physical conditioning was far superior to that of an ordinary person.

”You’re not cutting it, little cousin Shijun,” Ji Taixian said with a smug laugh as he ran.

”Your stamina’s having trouble keeping up.”

Song Shijun’s face was flushed, blood rushing to his head as he ran.

Teasing was one thing, but when Ji Taixian saw his little cousin slowing down, he quickly grabbed his arm. ”Hurry!”

”SQUEAK.” Four or five large rats with glowing red eyes pounced on them.

Ji Taixian tossed a bottle of alcohol with his left hand and threw a lighter with his right.

WHOOSH! Flames erupted over the rats. One of them, particularly large and seemingly the leader of the pack, lunged forward in a rage and clamped its jaws onto Ji Taixian’s pant leg.

Ji Taixian’s face instantly turned green.

”AHHHH, help me! It’s crawling up my leg!”

Song Shijun was frantic. His delicate, handsome face was so flushed it looked like it might burst, and beads of sweat rolled down his chin.

In his desperation, a strange energy surged rapidly from his hand.

RIP! A blast of wind tore off a large section of Ji Taixian’s pant leg, striking the head of the zombie rat that had crawled inside.

The two stared at each other, dumbfounded.

Not understanding what had just happened, Song Shijun looked down at his own palm.

A light bulb went off in Ji Taixian’s head. ”Little cousin, did you awaken a superpower? Quick, quick, do it again! You moved so fast just now, I couldn’t see it clearly!”

A look of surprise and delight appeared on Song Shijun’s face. He silently focused on the energy coursing through his body and flicked his hand sharply.

A small Wind Vortex drifted out, twisting into a flying blade that swiftly and viciously sliced open the heads of three or four zombie rats.

”I have a superpower now, too.”

”Little cousin, you did it!” the two of them exclaimed joyfully, one after the other.

However, their joy was short-lived, as they caught sight of the massive, dark swarm of rats still chasing them from behind.

Xie Ning supported her mother with one hand, lending her strength, while her other hand sent out several Metal Spikes, skewering a dozen zombie rats together and pinning them all to the ground.

As Song Shijun and Ji Taixian sprinted past for dear life, they could still see the lovely sight of the skewered zombie rats struggling.

A wave of nausea washed over them, and they swore never to eat kebabs again.

By now, the group had reached the entrance of the underground parking garage, just in time to come face-to-face with a First-tier Zombie Mouse-man rushing toward them.

After a moment of staring at each other, Xie Ning slashed out without hesitation.

The Mouse-man was incredibly fast, but in the brief moment it was delayed by Xie Ning’s attack, a bolt of lightning from behind slammed down viciously on its head.

With a series of CRACKLES and POPS, the Mouse-man’s head exploded in a grotesque, colorful spray.

Xie Ning silently adjusted her mask, used a long Metal Spike to poke through the Mouse-man’s disgusting brain, and dug out a small, shimmering particle.

Just then, Lu Wei arrived with a group of soldiers. They quickly surrounded the area, opened fire, and began splashing gasoline on the ground.

”All of you, get over here, now!”

By the time everyone had rushed to the entrance, the fire was already roaring, sweeping into the garage and spreading rapidly.

The zombie rats, with their little red eyes, began to squeal and roll on the ground as their fur caught fire.

Xie Ning tossed the small Crystal Core to Gu Chen, who was standing nearby. ”Let’s go.”