Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Xie Ning pulled out another grenade with her left hand, a smile on her face. ”Guess if this one’s real.”

’A devil!’ ’Don’t be fooled by this woman’s gentle smile; she’s a cold-blooded devil.’

’Who plays around like this? Pulling out bombs to mess with people every now and then?’

Teng Hongming’s expression was grim.

He’d heard from his men that someone had blown up a restaurant, but he’d just assumed the damned bastards were exaggerating.

Turns out, it was true.

”Zuo Li!” Zhang Biyun’s voice cracked. ”Is this how you—how you negotiate with us, with Chaoyang Base? You’re letting this woman run wild in our territory. Are you trying to start a war?”

”A war it is, then. Let’s see who’s still standing at the end—they’ll be the ultimate winner.” Xie Ning burst out laughing and threw something else.

It was shaped just like a small grenade, but it was actually a little toy scavenged from a trendy toy store in Hengyue Shopping Plaza.

It was just a toy, but a surprisingly well-made one.

When thrown, it would make a sound, and smoke would even puff out from the top.

The one she’d thrown earlier had malfunctioned and wasn’t very effective.

This one was different. As soon as it was thrown, it made the simulated sound and released a puff of smoke, immediately sending Teng Hongming and his group scrambling away in a panic.

Zhang Biyun was about to scream another curse, but Teng Hongming yanked her arm, causing her to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.

”Let’s go! We’ll head back first.”

”We need to report this to the Base Chief.”

Zhang Biyun gritted her teeth. ”We can’t just let this go. Old Teng, don’t you dare chicken out. I’m telling you, this Xie Ning is a walking disaster. We can’t let her stay here. Ah!”

Teng Hongming grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her down the mountain.

Martin, Gong Pingfan, and the others hurried forward, bowing obsequiously. ”Vice Base Chief Teng.”

”Vice Base Chief, how did it go?”

”Worthless trash!” Needing an outlet for her fury, Zhang Biyun strode forward and kicked Martin. ”Are you complete idiots? What ’Miss Huang’? There is no Miss Huang!”

Martin flinched at the woman’s shrill voice and instinctively backed away.

”This is all your fault, you pieces of trash, letting her slip away right under your noses! What good are you for anything!”

Martin felt terribly wronged and muttered under his breath, ”Miss Zhang, it wasn’t that we were stupid. It was that Miss Huang...”

Seeing Zhang Biyun glaring at him, Martin quickly corrected himself. ”That Xie Ning... she’s devious and hateful. She was deceiving us the whole time.”

”She was pretending to be a First-rank Gold Ability User.”

”Moron!” Zhang Biyun cut Martin off, cursing loudly again. ”A First-stage Superpower User? Use your pig brains for once! How could that possibly be?”

”Do you really think some weak woman could drag a sickly boy all the way from Lanshan Tower Lake to Golden City, surviving the elements the entire way?”

”I swear, it’s like your eyes are smeared with pig shit! Every last one of you is impossibly stupid!”

Chai Lei, a woman with short, curly hair, was furious at being chewed out. She couldn’t stop herself from retorting, ”What gives you the right to scream at us? It’s not like you could do anything about Xie Ning, either!”

Zhang Biyun whipped her head around, her eyes filled with menace as she glared daggers at Chai Lei. ”What did you just say? Say it again.”

Chai Lei flinched under that murderous gaze, shuddering as she took half a step back.

”Enough! Let’s report to the Base Chief first!” Teng Hongming snapped, his face livid. ”Arguing here is useless. We need to find a solution.”

Xie Ning picked up the two toys from the ground, patted the dirt off, and gave them a light blow.

Zuo Li looked like she was about to die from laughter. She leaned in for a closer look. ”Where’d you get these toys? They’re surprisingly convincing.”

The sight of Teng Hongming’s group scrambling away in disarray was both hilarious and pathetic.

”I just picked them up in one of the shops at Hengyue Shopping Center,” Xie Ning said, following Zuo Li into a large, army-green tent and closing the flap behind them.

Zuo Li said hurriedly, ”That bastard Zhou Jiangye is definitely going to show up. We need to figure out a plan before he gets here.”

”Listen, sis, that Zhou Jiangye fellow may look like a perfect gentleman, but he’s rotten to the core. You absolutely can’t let him fool you.”

”Don’t worry.” Xie Ning nodded, then moved closer to Zuo Li. ”Captain, are you interested in recruiting two more teammates?”

Zuo Li’s eyes lit up. ”You’ve found more promising candidates?”

”Yeah. One of them is a normal person, but he’s got exceptional skills. He could even help you train this pack of wolf cubs you’ve got.”

As Xie Ning and Zuo Li whispered, Xiao Qi Zi, Zhou Tong, and the others stood to the side, straining their ears to listen.

But the two of them kept their voices low, so all they could catch were bits and pieces like ”train” and ”wolf cubs.”

”Ah Liang and Da Xiong, the two you recommended last time, are really great. They’ve both already reached the Second Order,” Zuo Li said with a grin. ”Anyone you say has exceptional skills must be the real deal. Where are they now?”

”Don’t be impatient. When the people from Chaoyang Base get here, I’ll point him out,” Xie Ning murmured. ”He’s with the Cannibal Team that just entered the base.”

”Cannibal Team?” The moment Zuo Li heard those two words, she felt a sense of revulsion.

Even though she’d led the raid that destroyed the Barbarian Base, she was still deeply disturbed by that goddamned ”bonfire party.”

Now, just hearing the word ”cannibal” made her react strongly.

Xie Ning nodded at her. ”It’s exactly what you’re thinking. The people in this team were previously hiding in the Jiulong Warehouse Luxury Apartments in Golden City.”

”That ordinary person you mentioned, the one with exceptional skills...”

”He was captured by them.” Xie Ning murmured a few more words in Zuo Li’s ear, then patted her shoulder reassuringly. ”Don’t worry. Just do what I say, and I promise it’ll be fine.”

Zuo Li nodded firmly. ”Alright. We’ll do it your way.”

”Captain.” The tent flap was lifted from the outside. ”Base Chief Zhou has arrived.”

Zhou Jiangye had indeed arrived.

Zuo Li pursed her lips and gave Xie Ning a light tug. ”Sis, be careful. Don’t let that refined degenerate Zhou Jiangye fool you. The man is far too cunning; you shouldn’t get deeply involved with him. You’re too naive and trusting, so you need to be extra cautious.”

Xie Ning: ...

’So this is how the captain sees me? As someone so... pure?’

Beichen shot Xie Ning a silent glance. Ever since they entered the tent, he had done his best to be invisible, drawing almost no attention to himself.

But now, hearing Zuo Li stress over and over again how ”pure” Xie Ning was and warning her not to be fooled, he found it unbearable.

So he decided to follow Chen Xiao and the others out of the tent.

’Out of sight, out of mind!’

Zuo Li lifted the tent flap, leading Xie Ning outside.

A tall, slender figure stood diagonally across from them, immaculately dressed in a suit.

This Base Chief of Chaoyang Base was clad in a custom-tailored designer suit and wore an expensive-looking watch. He was watching them with a smile in his eyes.

He looked less like a base chief and more like the scion of a wealthy family.