CHAPTER 873: CHAPTER 208: MISFORTUNE IS ALWAYS UNIVERSAL. HER MISFORTUNE IS OFTEN OUR MISFORTUNE_6

As he walked outside, lowering his head, he realized that something was a bit off.

The ground was actually black, without even a hint of weeds.

He hadn’t really noticed on his way here.

He grabbed a handful of soil from the ground, brought it to his nose, and sniffed. There was an unpleasant acidic smell. This was supposed to be a farm, meaning there should be grass, and even cattle and sheep. Yet, around him, it was eerily silent, not the slightest sound.

"The ground is ruined?"

Sun Neng frowned, only able to surmise that the ground had been completely destroyed, reaching the point where not even a blade of grass could grow. But how it was done, he couldn’t believe it was man-made.

Just then.

He saw a figure approaching from a distance, surrounded by a dense green mist, becoming more distinct as it got closer.

As if a thought struck him.

Sun Neng retreated into the factory, found the cellar’s wooden board, lifted it, and hid inside.

Not long after.

He heard footsteps approaching, and then through the gap, he saw a zombie covered in pus-filled blisters, gnawing on a human corpse it held, swaying away once it sensed no presence.

"It must be the one causing this situation."

The variety of zombies was simply too many.

He had looked through the "Zombie Album," but this type of zombie was not documented in it. The closest was a kind of Mutated Zombie, but that variant didn’t have this one’s abilities.

"Truly terrifying, a zombie capable of altering the environment, the threat it poses is immense."

Sun Neng sighed.

When he emerged from the cellar, the air was still suffused with an unpleasant odor.

...

On the highway.

A pickup truck was driving along.

A little girl’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes, bewilderedly looking at the surroundings, then noticed the stranger uncle wearing glasses.

"Uncle, who are you?"

Sun Neng looked at her and smiled, "I picked you up by the roadside, you know what the situation is outside now, right?"

"I know, the apocalypse, I’ve seen it in movies."

The little girl looked around curiously, then saw the little dog in the back with wide eyes, "Uncle, this dog is so cute."

"Call me older brother, not uncle. It’s called Xiao He, and I picked it up by the roadside too. What’s your name?" Sun Neng asked.

"Han Xiaoxiao."

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"Hmm, my name is Sun Neng, a person trying to survive in the apocalypse. You can follow me from now on. Do you know about your parents?" Sun Neng asked while driving.

Han Xiaoxiao rubbed her head, "I don’t know, I don’t remember anything. But I remember my dad and mom divorced a long time ago, I was with my dad, but I don’t know where he went."

Sun Neng noticeably breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, that’s fine, take your time to find him then."

"Brother, where are we going now?"

"I don’t know, just driving around to take a look, and by the way, trying to find your dad." Sun Neng looked through the mirror at the farm growing smaller in the distance. He didn’t overthink it, didn’t say much, just stepped on the gas pedal and drove ahead.

He didn’t have a destination. Leaving Huang City Prison was just to see the outside world, and by chance, become stronger. The zombies in Huang City had been cleared by Lin Fan, leaving him just staring blankly.

Not of any use at all.

Thinking of those people in the prison.

Maybe a lot of people hoped he would die.

After all, he wasn’t exactly friendly with those guys before.

...

At night.

The gathering place.

Ji Qiuyue sat before the campfire, stirring the wood within, while glancing around. She had been probing into the gathering place’s situation, but the clues she had were really too few.

Meanwhile, in the darkness, she noticed other teams of Awakened occasionally looking her way.

Whispering secretively.

She found herself in danger now. Perhaps it was because Pang Yuan had some kind of suppressive effect on these Awakened that they were behaving so obediently. Otherwise, if Pang Yuan weren’t there, these Awakened might just tear her apart like prey.

Sun Ya and Chen Ningning were in the tent absorbing crystals.

Their powers stages were behind Pang Yuan’s, but she also knew Pang Yuan’s fourth-stage abilities were still behind truly perfected fourth-stage capabilities.

Now trying to make up for it was impossible.

Missed chances remained missed.

Pang Yuan stood up, came to Ji Qiuyue’s side, handed her a piece of bread, then sat down beside her.

"Professor Ji, why must you find out who is the mastermind behind the gathering place?" Pang Yuan asked.

Ji Qiuyue said, "Because I don’t want more people to be exploited, innocently dying at the hands of power schemers. Before the Awakened appeared, there was already a mysterious team researching the zombie virus. With the emergence of the Awakened, they are surely the target of research as well. Look at them, pretending to treat the gathering place as a nighttime refuge, but isn’t the gathering place treating them as cultivated prey?"

"If I’m wrong, then that’s best, but if I’m right, I want to find out what’s really going on."

Ji Qiuyue spoke softly.

Pang Yuan nodded, "Professor Ji, you aren’t an Awakener, are you? But why do you have abilities akin to an Awakener?"

Upon hearing the question, Ji Qiuyue chuckled lightly, "That I can’t tell you. Some things can’t be said. But just remember, Lin Fan from Huang City and Professor Xia are people you can always trust. Everything they do is for everyone’s well-being."

Pang Yuan didn’t press further, merely watching the campfire before him in silence.

Suddenly.

Bang!

Bang!

The intense booming sounds came.

Then, the terrified cries rang out.

"Zombies, zombies are attacking."

Slap!

Slap!

Slap!

The searchlights on the walls switched on. Armed personnel patrolling on the walls looked outside, immediately noticing a dense horde of zombies rushing toward the gathering place.

"Quickly, close the dome."

As the shouts came.

The equipment atop the pillars on this side activated, opening like an umbrella, sealing tightly, forming a perfect closed loop. Even if the zombies piled up like Arhat, they wouldn’t be able to enter the gathering place.

The survivors on scene all had grave expressions.

They held their weapons, ready at any moment, vigilantly watching the surroundings, for after all, zombies were still quite terrifying to them.

It wasn’t until the dome overhead was sealed.

That they finally relaxed a bit.

"Have zombies been here before?" Ji Qiuyue asked.

Pang Yuan shook his head, "No, at least not while I’ve been here, this has never happened."

And right at that moment.

Bang!

The gate of the gathering place’s passage exploded open.

Everyone anxiously looked over.

The moment they saw the emerging zombies, their faces turned pale with fright.