Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 199: Chapter 196: A Different America

Chen Xing refused to believe it.

Nightingale wasn’t dead. ’He’s impressive, I’ll give him that,’ she thought. ’He must have had a chance to escape when things got dangerous.’

But... if someone you saw die with your own eyes, whose Crystal Core you took yourself, wasn’t actually dead? What was she supposed to do after killing someone and taking their Crystal Core from now on?

She was certain Hao Wenli had died!

If Nightingale had definitely sent this photo, then she was actually starting to believe Hao Wenli wasn’t dead.

He had told her he’d seen how Hao Wenli disappeared.

She immediately tried to call the number back, but it wouldn’t connect.

Chen Xing felt helpless.

She wanted to go to the United States immediately to confirm whether it was true or not.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to rest.

After a knock on the door, she entered Song Yiguo’s office.

Song Yiguo was on the phone, so Chen Xing sat down in the chair opposite him to wait.

Even now, her heart was in turmoil.

’How did Hao Wenli survive?’

’From the looks of it, she seems completely fine.’

’I’m sure I took her Crystal Core!’

Thinking about it now, if Hao Wenli wasn’t dead, her parents’ behavior made a little more sense.

Otherwise, how could they be so nonchalant about getting revenge for their daughter?

”I have something to tell you. You’re going to be shocked!” Song Yiguo said, putting down the phone. He saw Chen Xing lost in her own world and interrupted her thoughts.

Chen Xing looked up at him. ”What is it?”

’Nothing could be more shocking than Hao Wenli being alive.’

”Hao Wenli isn’t dead!”

Chen Xing was speechless. ’So, Nightingale isn’t dead, and what he said was true?’

”How do you know?”

Song Yiguo glanced at his phone. ”News from the United States! Not only is Hao Wenli alive, but Nightingale also appeared there. But... he vanished again just as quickly!”

Chen Xing showed Song Yiguo the text message on her phone and couldn’t help but snort coldly.

Song Yiguo stared at the photo, looking at it over and over again, before pointing at Hao Wenli. ”Look, something seems off about her!”

Chen Xing followed his finger with her eyes.

In one of the photos, Hao Wenli was facing the camera and smiling, but her face was as stiff as if she’d had plastic surgery.

Or rather, it was even stiffer than that.

”She doesn’t look like a normal person anymore!” Song Yiguo thought she looked more like a zombie.

”I want to go to the United States. Can you arrange a plane for me?” Chen Xing had run out of patience.

Whether it was true or not, she would figure it out if she saw it with her own eyes.

’As for the danger?’

’Nightingale probably doesn’t want me in danger just yet. He hasn’t seen 00007.’

Song Yiguo summoned Vice General Du, originally intending for him to accompany Chen Xing, but she refused.

”You don’t have many capable people with you right now; Vice General Du must stay by your side,” she explained. ”Just lend me the Universal Translator!”

Two hours later, Chen Xing was on a plane bound for the United States.

Besides the pilot, there was also a backup co-pilot.

Chen Xing brought Meng Hu along, thinking it was for the best. A larger group would be more easily exposed.

It was just before dawn when the plane landed at an airport in a remote town in the United States.

At this time, the United States, much like the Capital City, had shifted from heavy snow to summer weather.

She told the pilot to leave first and that she would contact them when she needed to return, then disembarked with Meng Hu.

She could have left Meng Hu behind on this trip, but she didn’t feel at ease leaving it in the safe zone.

Who knew if the Lu Family would try to do something to Meng Hu again?

It was safer to bring it along.

Once the plane was out of sight, she took a small car out of her spatial storage.

After putting Meng Hu back into her storage, she drove toward her destination: the capital of the United States.

Along the way, she was attacked twice by upgraded zombies but managed to evade them both times.

After upgrading, these zombies weren’t excessively fast yet. A fast-moving vehicle could still easily shake them off.

But as more time passed, the zombies’ abilities would continue to improve, and eventually, they would become too fast to outrun with a car.

Chen Xing smoothly reached the outskirts of the U.S. capital, Walton. She could see several entrances, all built high up and accessible only by sheet-metal elevators.

Song Yiguo had given her a brief introduction to this place.

The entire city was still operational, but the lower three floors of all the buildings had been completely sealed off. People lived on the levels above.

There were also interconnected bridges between buildings. Some of these bridges even had vendors doing business, where one could buy daily necessities.

At night, all these bridges would be closed to prevent crime.

To enter Walton, Chen Xing had to alter her appearance.

After all... quite a few people knew who she was.

The United States’ Great Commander, Blake, had met her. What if they had set up an automatic recognition system?

By the time Chen Xing appeared below the entrance, she looked like a completely different person.

She wore a drab, long dress that covered most of her body, resembling a woman from the Middle East with only her eyes showing.

She wore colored contacts and false eyelashes, and took out an ID she had prepared in advance.

To avoid giving herself away if she spoke, she pretended to be deaf and mute.

She was a little nervous as the scanner identified her.

They checked her backpack, but seeing only some food without any packaging, they let her pass.

Song Yiguo had been meticulous. He had uploaded her fake identity into the network in the shortest time possible.

Once inside the city, Chen Xing headed for the address Song Yiguo had given her.

It was located in a mid-to-high-end area of the city.

In this city, status was like the floor levels—the more important you were, the higher up you lived.

’Looks like Hao Wenli is living well!’

She checked several elevator entrances before finding one that ordinary people could use. Just as she was about to get on, someone tapped her on the back from behind. ”Atilla...”

Chen Xing turned around.

”Aren’t you Atilla? You look so much like her, I thought you were. Oh, I’m sorry!” The Middle Eastern man who had mistaken her for someone else apologized.

Thanks to the Universal Translator, Chen Xing understood what he said. She just nodded and turned to get on the elevator.

’This guy is either a con artist or he’s testing me.’

’How could he tell I look like anyone, bundled up like this?’

The Middle Eastern man got on the elevator as well, standing right in front of Chen Xing.

Although his back was to her, Chen Xing could feel that he was paying attention to her.

The elevator stopped several times, but the man didn’t get off.

When Chen Xing was ready to exit, the man stepped off first. Before leaving, he deliberately glanced back and gave Chen Xing a polite nod.

Chen Xing gave him no reaction and followed him off the elevator.

According to the intel, Hao Wenli had appeared on the revolving bridge up ahead.

The bridge was a hub, connecting to at least eight different places, which meant the search area was much larger.

It was almost noon, and some snack shops were actually open for business?

And there were quite a few customers.

’It seems people in the United States are still doing pretty well!’

As she passed by a snack shop, she happened to see that same Middle Eastern man again.

”Atilla, I know it’s you! I’d recognize you even if you were turned to ash! What? You think I wouldn’t recognize you just because you changed your identity? Come on... for old time’s sake, let me treat you to a meal!” As he spoke, he reached out to grab Chen Xing.