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Thank you again, Melonpan, for the sponsorship
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It turns out that ever since the first disappearance of Hongxia, with the invasion of the mutants everywhere, the prison where Shi Zheng was detained in Pingnan City was not spared.
As the mutants increased gradually, the pressure on the guard officers kept mounting, ultimately breached by the mutants within the prison walls.
Among the prisoners, there were all sorts, including Shi Zheng, known for his ruthlessness, who, on top of it all, had fallen ill and fully awakened as a power-type mutant. He broke the iron bars of the prison cells and killed the mutants alive.
Shi Zheng's ferocious display made the inmates wildly admire him; soon, he wiped out the police guards within the prison and took control.
His subordinates among the prisoners included mutants and superhumans, rapidly expanding their influence. When the mutants underwent their first evolution, Shi Zheng seized the opportunity and took over the entire Pingnan City.
The surviving residents suffered in silence, forced to endure Shi Zheng's atrocities for the sake of their lives.
The group of robbers encountered today was acting under Shi Zheng's orders. Not only this route, but all other routes had traps and personnel set up by Shi Zheng, waiting for people to fall into the net.
Only 200 kilometers from the provincial capital, the military base was aware of this major trouble, but unfortunately couldn't mobilize to handle them, inadvertently allowing Shi Zheng's re-established gang, the "Wild Wolves," to thrive.
Tang Xuhai's face darkened, his hand tightly gripping the hilt of a giant sword. With a swift turn of his wrist, the sword viciously pierced into the man's body.
Fu Shiwu watched him anxiously, wanting to console but unsure of what to say.
Tang Xuhai seemed to have a sense of destiny about Shi Zheng. Shi Zheng had been captured by his hands, and now causing chaos, Tang Xuhai felt it was his responsibility to bring Shi Zheng to justice. Unfortunately, the opposition was strong, while their side included the sick, disabled, and children.
After a moment of silence, Tang Xuhai said, "Proceed with the original plan, detour."
"But, if we detour, we'll run out of fuel for our vehicles," Miao Jia said anxiously.
He had been quite comfortable these days, with solar panels spread out on the roof of their vehicle, equipped with a satellite antenna for convenience. If they ran out of fuel, they would have to travel on foot. What would happen to all their equipment?
"Abandon the vehicles!" Tang Xuhai stated decisively.
Miao Jia expressed his dissent first.
Fu Shiwu, calmly placing a hand on Miao Jia's shoulder, said, "Xuhai is right. We can't risk it. But abandoning the resources we have now will be detrimental to our future development."
Tang Xuhai furrowed his brows, his gaze heavy on Fu Shiwu.
Fu Shiwu, with determination, continued, "Abandon the vehicles, but not the modified one. Pool the gasoline from the other two cars, transfer all resources to the modified vehicle, and the rest of us will travel on foot."
Tang Xuhai relaxed slightly, nodding. "Your plan is feasible. Let's do that."
With that said, Tang Xuhai directed others to start moving, consolidating their belongings onto the modified vehicle.
Fu Shiwu and Tang Xuhai remained still. Fu Shiwu glanced at the giant sword in Tang Xuhai's hand and remarked, "Shouldn't this weapon be stored in the vehicle?"
Tang Xuhai raised his hand, as if just noticing he had been holding a giant sword all along. "No need, I'll carry it myself. It's not that heavy anyway."
Fu Shiwu looked at him in surprise and then rubbed his eyes, curious about the imposing giant sword.
"Could I hold it for a moment?" Fu Shiwu asked.
Without a word, Tang Xuhai handed him the sword.
Fu Shiwu felt its weight and almost dropped it. "It's so heavy!" he exclaimed.
He had seen Tang Xuhai handling it effortlessly, never imagining the actual weight of the sword to be so much more than he anticipated.
"Do you really not find it heavy at all?" Fu Shiwu couldn't help asking.
Tang Xuhai stroked his chin, contemplative. "I don't feel its weight much. Probably related to my metal-based ability."
Fu Shiwu nodded in understanding. Tang Xuhai looked around, walked to the vehicle's side, removed the cover of the soon-to-be abandoned commercial vehicle, and started transferring it to the modified one.
Li Jixian lay nearby on the modified vehicle, eyes closed, with a dragonbone knife still inserted in him.
Tang Xuhai's brows furrowed, and he went directly to remove the dragonbone knife.
With the knife gone, Li Jixian's wound began bleeding profusely again.
Tang Xuhai glanced at Li Jixian's face, then turned away.
"Is he dead?" Fu Shiwu peeked to see.
"Too much blood loss, most likely dead," Tang Xuhai pressed Fu Shiwu's head down, preventing him from looking more, and turned it back.
Fu Shiwu unhappily gave him a disdainful look, well aware of his habit of fussing with his hair!
Tang Xuhai, unfazed by Fu Shiwu's inadequately sarcastic look, compared the giant sword and the dragonbone knife in his hands.
Seeing him lost in thought, Fu Shiwu wisely stayed silent, avoiding interrupting.
Fu Shiwu went to help Miao Jia pack things, then directly transferred their belongings from Horn Ting and Olande's vehicles to the modified one.
After finishing, Tang Xuhai had Horn Ting get into the driver's seat while everyone else, except Wen Zhaoming, walked on foot.
"Miao Jia, you follow the car," Tang Xuhai ordered.
"Huh?!" Miao Jia was stunned. "Why?"
Tang Xuhai squinted and sneered, "I said I'd give you special training before. Have you forgotten? Not making you carry extra weight is already kind enough! Start running!"
Miao Jia shuddered, his face contorting in anguish. He was a complete tech geek, lacking in physical and combat skills.
Miao Jia cautiously negotiated with Tang Xuhai, "Brother Hai, I know you mean well, but given the uncertain situation, can't we wait until we reach the military area before training?"
Tang Xuhai brandished his massive sword, pointing it straight at Miao Jia. "No room for negotiation. Looks like you lack motivation; I'll run with you."
Swinging the sword directly at Miao Jia's backside, Tang Xuhai startled him, prompting him to sprint ahead.
Horn Ting maneuvered the vehicle, following behind Tang Xuhai.
Fu Shiwu, speechless, observed the energetic duo and caught up with their pace.
As the group moved on, the attackers fell silent, their souls gone.
Li Jixian closed his eyes. His pallid face slowly flushed, the blood beneath him gradually flowed backward from the wounds into his body. His ability to manipulate blood saved him as the group's second-in-command.
Unaware of his ability, Tang Xuhai's group narrowly missed Li Jixian's ruse.
After a while, Li Jixian rose, glowering at the direction Tang Xuhai's group had left. He slowly headed toward Pingnan City.
With dawn breaking, despite traveling on foot, those who had undergone the somewhat secretive Source Molecular cleansing felt heightened physical abilities and weren't greatly fatigued, unlike Miao Jia, who hadn't undergone mutation.
By the end of the run, even if Tang Xuhai intended to strike him, Miao Jia couldn't move another step.
Fortunately, Tang Xuhai wasn't entirely ruthless. He allowed Miao Jia to rest and checked the surrounding satellite images.
Tang Xuhai ran with Miao Jia for hours, seemingly unaffected, but he couldn't ignore Fu Shiwu's slightly hurried and heavy breathing.
Fu Shiwu's mouth was dry, his legs weary.
Despite his stoic demeanor, nobody noticed his condition among the others.
Tang Xuhai said softly, "Get in the car and rest; you're injured."
Refusing Tang Xuhai's kindness, Fu Shiwu murmured, "Just minor wounds, I'm fine. I can manage this distance."
Respecting his insistence, Tang Xuhai ceased persuading him further, as Fu Shiwu hadn't reached exhaustion yet.
To others, Fu Shiwu was an empowered individual, assumed to possess enhanced physical abilities due to his mutation. But he knew his body wasn't as sturdy as theirs, yet he didn't want special treatment.
Avoiding the Pingnan City, Miao Jia carefully plotted the route, bypassing villages and farmlands instead of following the main road.
Reaching a fork, Miao Jia exclaimed, "There's a village up ahead; I spotted vehicles!"
The group halted, gazing up the winding road.
Though the road was obstructed by mountains, the presence of vehicles suggested the possibility of finding gasoline.
Fu Shiwu pondered, "Wonder if this village has been swept by Shi Zheng's people."
Anxiously, Miao Jia said, "It probably hasn't; things inside seem orderly."
Unable to resist, Wang Dan suggested, "Let's go up and take a look."
Tang Xuhai glanced at the others and said, "Rest here, prepare food. I'll go alone."
Fu Shiwu suggested, "I'll come with you. With Zhaoming here, it should be fine."
Tang Xuhai hesitated, glanced at Fu Shiwu, and agreed, "Rest midway if you're tired; I'll return."
Fu Shiwu felt irritated; he wasn't that useless!
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