Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 280: Chapter 277: She Dreamed for the First Time Ever

Even as a fellow Earth Element Superpower User, it was still incredibly difficult to find someone in such a vast, sandy area.

Chen Xing began a thorough search in the area around the people on the surface who had lost their superpowers.

After searching for a long while, she still hadn’t found anyone.

Meanwhile, the people on the surface who had lost their superpowers had already been swallowed by the sand.

And just then, she happened to see it: under the sand, an incredibly long root was sucking the dead bodies dry, leaving behind nothing but skeletons.

’So... the cacti in this desert don’t survive by absorbing water, but by feeding on human blood?’

The moment she realized the danger, Chen Xing immediately burst out of the sand.

Just then, a figure appeared on the sand.

It was the enemy’s Earth Element Superpower User.

His group had originally planned to hide beneath the sand and only re-emerge after Chen Xing was gone.

But who could have guessed that it wasn’t safe beneath the sand at all?

The sturdy earthen wall they had built offered no defense whatsoever and was demolished by a single tendril.

His teammates were instantly engulfed, and he had fled in terror.

Chen Xing was quick to react. The moment she saw the Earth Element Superpower User, she immediately absorbed him.

Following the spot where he had been standing, Chen Xing delved down and caught several more Superpower Users, absorbing them all.

’Leaving them alive would just be a free meal for the cactus monster anyway.’

After making a round and absorbing a dozen or so Superpower Users, she returned to the surface just before the cactus could attack.

’The desert is probably uncontrollable now.’

’The cactus lives underground. Who could possibly have a way to deal with it?’

’Although the creature is afraid of water, water is scarce everywhere in the world right now. Who would waste it on this place?’

Chen Xing got into her vehicle and started driving toward the nearest city.

’But, come to think of it, isn’t the Capital City the closest?’

Even so, it still took Chen Xing two days to get out of the desert.

Song Yiguo, ever responsible for the Capital City, had already dispatched a group of Water Ability Users to dig a small channel at the edge of the desert.

Although the channel wasn’t wide, it was enough to stop the desert from encroaching any further.

As for it expanding in other directions, what did that have to do with him?

This location was still half a day’s journey from the Capital City.

Along the way, Chen Xing prepared what she owed Song Yiguo.

Once she reached the Capital City, she didn’t stay long. She only told him that the cactus monster fed on human blood before leaving.

This way, even if people grew suspicious about the disappearance of the foreigners who had entered the desert looking for her, the suspicion wouldn’t fall on her.

The desert was a great distance from Hualai City. Chen Xing only needed to give Brother Xiao a heads-up, and he would know what to do.

This time, she didn’t stop by Hualai City to check in.

After making a call, she once again headed south, making her journey as high-profile as possible.

’She figured Xu Anguo and Chen Dingbang had probably gone to the South.’

The weather in the North was much colder than in the South, making it unsuitable for long-term residence.

Why the high profile?

’It would be great if people delivered themselves to her door; she could absorb their superpowers.’

She didn’t encounter anyone on the road, however. After driving for just half a day, she was forced to stop.

The weather was cold, and heavy snow had completely blocked the road.

Taking advantage of the delay, Chen Xing started to tidy up her space.

She sorted some vegetables and then tended to her livestock and poultry.

In doing so, Chen Xing realized she had to make a trip to Hualai City after all.

She had far too many supplies; there was no way she could finish it all herself, so she might as well send it to the factory district.

In the small compartments of her Jiezhi Space, there were already more than a dozen special superpowers.

The ones she was most proud of were her Defense Ability and her Healing Ability.

The Defense Ability, needless to say, would automatically activate a protective shield whenever she was in danger.

As for Healing Ability Users, there were only a few in the entire world.

Any team with a Healing Ability User treated them like an Emperor.

After all, having a Superpower User like that on your side was a guarantee of survival!

Of course, this superpower wasn’t of much use to Chen Xing herself.

She had expected to be delayed for several days, but who would have known that the weather would suddenly turn warm the very next day?

So, Chen Xing got in her small RV and first headed in the direction of Hualai City.

In a small county town, still several dozen kilometers from Hualai City, Chen Xing handed over several vehicle-loads of accumulated supplies to Brother Xiao’s people and then left.

「Two days later, she entered the South.」

The temperature remained constantly high, and even with the air conditioning on in the RV, it was still oppressively stuffy.

Especially around noon, the temperature felt like it was approaching fifty degrees.

Since she had nothing urgent to attend to, Chen Xing parked the RV on the side of the road and entered the space with Meng Hu.

Once released into the space, Meng Hu jumped straight into the pool beneath the spring.

Chen Xing, for her part, went into the house within the space.

’Maybe because my Level is higher now, the space doesn’t seem to upgrade much anymore.’

With nothing specific to do, she lay down on a bed so comfortable that the moment she hit the mattress, she never wanted to get up again.

Before long, she drifted off to sleep.

For the first time in ages, she had a dream.

In the dream, she was only twelve or thirteen years old, busily cooking in a kitchen.

And, in a corner of the kitchen, she sensed someone was there.

This person felt familiar—so familiar that her dream-self would occasionally turn to look at them and smile.

Just as the perspective began to shift toward that person, like a changing camera angle in a video, she was jolted awake by a disturbance from the outside world.

She immediately looked outside her space.

It was a group of seven men and women, peering in through the RV’s windows.

Chen Xing’s eyes immediately fell on Yu Heng, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Seeing that the RV was empty, one of the men let out a whistle. ”Whoa, an empty RV! Hey, you guys, look! Doesn’t that look like a ton of food over there?”

”You’re right! There’s rice, flour, and even bread! Oh my god, can bread that’s been around this long still be edible?”

”You’d better not touch this vehicle!” Yu Heng warned after taking a closer look. He was sure he wasn’t mistaken—this was Chen Xing’s RV.

’Chen Xing... the person who had forced him to flee the Capital City.’

’If this RV really is Chen Xing’s, then his only option is to run.’

Although he was now far from the Capital City and the Xingguang Research Institute, he still often heard news about Chen Xing.

In fact, he had recently heard that Chen Xing had acquired a terrifying power—an Instant Teleportation ability so fast that no one could even see her move.

’She was already fast enough before. If the rumors were true, then it was best not to provoke Chen Xing.’

”Yu Heng, how did you get so timid? Last time on the road, we saw a car with just a single sausage in it, and you were ready to pry the door open to get it!”

”It’s not that...” Yu Heng tried to explain.

But he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

When he turned to look behind him, he saw Chen Xing, who had appeared out of nowhere, watching them.

Or more precisely, watching *him*!

He was so frightened he jumped back, stumbling several steps before regaining his balance.

Seeing Yu Heng’s reaction, his companions couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ”You get this scared just from seeing a pretty girl? Yu Heng, I think you need to crawl back into your mother’s womb for a do-over! Haha...”

”Chen... Chen Xing, long time no see!” Yu Heng completely ignored them, trying his best to sound casual as he greeted her.