PSW - Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Before they left, Yu Yinan made sure to inform Chu Yi.
Chu Yi didn't quite understand their sudden desire to see "the apocalyptic ocean," but ability users were free to come and go. To be able to pursue such freedom in the apocalypse… was actually a wonderful thing.
"If you ever come back, you can tell me about the changes in other cities. And… the creatures in the sea have probably mutated too, right? The apocalyptic rain flows into the rivers, and the rivers rush into the sea. Even if it's diluted, the water quality must have changed." Chu Yi considered many possibilities. She thought that if Yun Lingjian were here, she would be incredibly envious of Yu Yinan and Zheng Yi's life.
She would surely want to go to the seaside, too.
Unfortunately, the shelter was still in its initial stages of construction, with everything waiting to be rebuilt. People were needed everywhere. They didn't have the freedom to seek out distant places.
Or perhaps they did, but they willingly chose to stay for the life they had here rather than chase the horizon.
"I wish you a safe journey." Chu Yi pantomimed raising a glass, toasting Yu Yinan with an imaginary cup. "I'll transfer your contribution points to your ID card on time, and the card's data will be saved. So… your points will be valid forever. This will always be your home."
After saying this, Chu Yi added, "Assuming the shelter doesn't go under."
"Okay. So… what's your real name?" Yu Yinan was very curious.
"…You don't know? Strange, I thought I'd told you." Chu Yi pushed up her glasses out of habit, looking puzzled.
"I'm Zhao Haiyue, codename Chu Yi, a mental-type ability user. I'm the person in charge of ability users at Humanity's Light Shelter." She introduced herself formally, extending a hand to shake Yu Yinan's. "I hope we can continue to work together in the future."
Four months into the apocalypse.
During their few days at the shelter, Zheng Yi had sold her old sedan to the old mechanic for 1,600 contribution points. It took the old man two days to gather the funds to pay her in full.
Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan's combined contribution points now totaled three thousand, but Zheng Yi had no intention of exchanging them for anything. She wouldn't touch Yu Yinan's points. With a balance of 1,947 in her own account, she grabbed a large snakeskin bag and went on a shopping spree at the various stalls in the shelter.
Salted duck? Two orders. Pressed salted duck? Two orders. Pressed salted fish? Two orders. Air-dried beef jerky? Two orders. Canned baby corn? Two orders. Self-heating hot pot? Two orders…
In the apocalypse, this was considered an exceptionally large transaction. The vendors were incredibly enthusiastic, giving Zheng Yi numerous discounts. In the end, she only spent 900 contribution points, and they warmly invited her to come back again.
Zheng Yi didn't waste the remaining thousand-plus points, either, exchanging them all for gasoline. Resources were scarce now, so there was no point in being picky about the grade. The price was relatively low for internal use among ability users, but if sold by the standard barrel, it would be extremely expensive.
A standard oil drum held two hundred liters, with a diameter of eighty centimeters and a height of one hundred and twenty centimeters.
For just over a thousand contribution points, she got only one barrel of gasoline, leaving her completely broke. However, this type of drum was different from the smaller, pre-packaged cans they found at gas stations; it was a full measure. This one large barrel would be enough for them to travel three thousand kilometers at their current speed.
And if they were frugal with the fuel in this System-modified vehicle, they might be able to go even farther.
Zheng Yi didn't need anyone's help. She hoisted the gasoline barrel onto her shoulder and carried it home, only setting it down once she was inside the house before storing it away. After all, she had sold the sedan, so her backpack had one empty slot after storing the barrel.
When the monthly reset occurred, Yu Yinan sincerely contributed 10 Saint Points.
…Of course, it wasn't just Yu Yinan. The moment the month reset, the system notification for Saint acknowledgment once again displayed the names Zheng Yi had noticed before—a variety of women's names.
Those women were piously believing in Zheng Yi every moment of every day, but due to system limitations, the Saint acknowledgment could only appear three times a month.
Just by waking up, Zheng Yi's Saint Points, which had been under 50, skyrocketed to 107, and the number was still slowly climbing.
'Did Yu Yinan contribute all three times?'
[You went to bed early last night.] Zero One couldn't help but sigh. [She practically just had to look at you for the acknowledgment to pop up. She only looked at you three times, and all thirty Saint Points were registered.]
Zheng Yi clearly didn't care that Yu Yinan was staying up at night just to look at her. With enough Saint Points, she went straight to the store and bought the vehicle, having Zero One send the modified car directly to her backpack.
Host: Zheng Yi
Saint Points: 57
Backpack Slots: 6
Special Abilities: Water/Healing (Beginner)
In the time it took to confirm her remaining Saint Points after the purchase, the notification sound chimed again, and the number instantly changed to 61.
Four Saint Points. Considering they didn't know Zheng Yi's true identity and were only "indirectly" acknowledging her, this was already a sign of exceptional piety.
Thinking of this, Zero One was suddenly horrified. Why did it subconsciously use the word "piety"?! Wasn't this supposed to be the acknowledgment of the saved towards the Saint? No! No! It had been thoroughly influenced.
…Fine, so be it. "Piety" was a good word anyway. It was scheduled for a long vacation and psychological counseling after the mission, so it didn't matter what state it was in now. Might as well enjoy the moment. Zero One quickly resigned itself to the situation, feeling ashamed of its momentary panic.
Even Yu Yinan was no longer shocked by Zheng Yi's actions. How could it, the great Zero One, make such a fuss? It must have been the system data update at the beginning of the month affecting its normal judgment. Yes, that had to be it.
After a normal breakfast, Zheng Yi washed the dishes and then packed up everything in the house into her backpack. Things that didn't fit well were tied up with rope. For example, the bowls and plates were placed inside a pot, which was then tied up so it could be carried by hand.
"My motorcycle's storage compartment can hold a few things," Yu Yinan said after some thought. "It should be able to fit the rest of the bottled water, right?"
The room was spacious enough to accommodate the motorcycle. Zheng Yi took the vehicle out, and Yu Yinan dismantled the mineral water cases, placing the bottles inside one by one. While Yu Yinan was busy, Zheng Yi opened her hiking backpack, stuffed the fire axe and the candy she carried with her inside, freeing up two slots. She then put the hiking backpack itself into her inventory.
Once everything was packed, Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan went downstairs together. Yu Yinan carried the pot, while Zheng Yi dragged a large duffel bag. They showed their ID cards to the guards and walked out of the shelter. Once they were a safe distance away, Zheng Yi took the armored vehicle out of her backpack and opened the trunk so Yu Yinan could put the pot of kitchenware inside. She unzipped the duffel bag and put the cases of mineral water and small iron gasoline cans from the old car in as well. As for the hiking backpack? The fire axe went back into a backpack slot, and the bag itself was tossed onto the back seat.
Zheng Yi wasn't in a hurry to organize the other supplies. She tossed the keys to Yu Yinan. "Can you drive it?"
"I think so." Although it was a modified vehicle, it should operate like any other car. Of course, it would take some getting used to.
[You can place your complete trust in us!] When it came to products from the store, Zero One became animated. [If it's from the System, it's got to be good!]
Zheng Yi did not respond.
Yu Yinan drove the modified vehicle a bit clumsily at first. It felt unfamiliar, but the controls were similar. After about ten minutes, she had gotten the hang of it completely. And…
She didn't know where Zheng Yi had gotten this modified vehicle, but it had an exceptionally good feel to it. If you asked Yu Yinan what was so good about it, she couldn't say, but it was just more comfortable to drive than other cars.
After driving for about half an hour, they saw no zombies on either side of the road. When they reached a relatively open and deserted area, Zheng Yi had Yu Yinan pull over. She took out the truck, climbed into the cargo bed, and secured the barrel of gasoline. The thick quilts and down jackets she had stockpiled earlier were also packed onto it.
Yu Yinan watched Zheng Yi organize the space and quickly realized the drawback of her storage ability. It had to be a drawback, right? The ability seemed to have a limit on the number of objects. An entire truck, even if it was fully loaded, counted as a single item and could be easily stored by Zheng Yi. But in contrast, if Zheng Yi wanted to store anything else, she had to take the truck out, place the item on it, and then store the truck again, which seemed incredibly troublesome.
Yu Yinan looked at the truck, packed to the brim with all sorts of boxes. Even without knowing what was inside them, it was clear that using this ability was bound to attract envious and greedy eyes.
It was a good thing the person with this ability was Zheng Yi.
After Zheng Yi finished organizing and stored the truck away, she glanced at Yu Yinan, who looked back at her obediently.
Zheng Yi got into the passenger seat. Now that she didn't have to pretend, she wouldn't say things in a delicate, sweet voice like, "Jiejie, driving must be so hard," "Jiejie~ you should rest for a while, let me drive," or "Jiejie, if you're tired, go rest. Don't push yourself. I'll take care of everything."
"Tell me when you're tired. Turn on the AC if you're hot." Zheng Yi leaned back in the passenger seat, adjusted the angle slightly, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes to rest.
They probably had about three hundred liters of gasoline in total. It seemed like a lot, but who knew if the shelter would be able to supply it in the future? "I'm not hot. Let me know if you are." As a fire ability user, although she couldn't cool Zheng Yi down, she herself was very resistant to heat.
"Mm," Zheng Yi replied with her eyes closed. "Then just drive. Wake me when we're out of Pujie." They would plan their specific route then and decide which coastal city to head to.
"Okay," Yu Yinan agreed.
The armored vehicle drove very smoothly. Most of the roads in Pujie were in decent condition, so it didn't jolt even at high speeds. Still, Yu Yinan didn't speed recklessly like she did on her motorcycle, instead maintaining a steady, moderate pace as she drove out of Pujie City.
The buildings on both sides receded into the distance, along with half-broken streetlights, toppled billboards, and shattered glass display windows.
A silent apocalypse, a ruined street.
In fact, Yu Yinan drove for a long distance and only saw two or three scattered, ordinary zombies. She didn't know if they had been completely cleared out or had simply wandered off. They didn't encounter a single mutated beast on their way to the edge of Pujie City.
It was too quiet, too ordinary. It was as if humanity had been driven from its original habitat, and now nothing was left behind. Yu Yinan's gaze swept over the lush grass and overgrown weeds in the city's greenbelts, then to the leafy trees sprouting from the middle of the road.
She wondered if any mutated plants were hiding there.
But this was the apocalypse—a desolate apocalypse where plants grew lush and weeds ran rampant.
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