The third service area still had no food.
After finishing the last breakfast, as the invisible leader of the team, Si Zhe directly made the decision: “Let’s exit the highway.”
The seven-seater off-road vehicle was the first to drive onto the highway ramp, followed closely by seven or eight other vehicles that had no time to hesitate and could only blindly follow.
After the apocalypse arrived, internet signals across various regions had long collapsed. Lin Weiran held a detailed map that had been downloaded and printed in the early days of the apocalypse. After studying it for a long time, she pointed to a location and said, “If we exit the highway here, we will pass through a relatively large town. It’s not far. We can replenish our supplies before getting back on the highway and continuing forward.”
Zhao Zhenyu craned his neck to look over. “Is this town big? Could all the food already have been taken?”
No one knew the answer.
Si Zhe said, “We’ll know when we check it out.”
The convoy entered the regular road, and not long after, when they saw the outline of the town in the distance, a man-made roadblock suddenly appeared ahead, completely blocking their path forward.
“Stop the car!”
A few ability users jumped out from a roadside pavilion and warily blocked the way ahead.
“Where are you from? What are you here for?”
A rough glance showed that among them, two were Tier 1 ability users. Being stationed at the entrance of the town… Could it be that this town had not fallen?
Lin Weiran stuck her head out of the car window and raised her voice. “We just came off the highway. We don’t have enough food and wanted to look around for places to resupply.”
Seeing that it was a woman, the expressions of the ability users on the other side relaxed slightly, but their tone remained extremely cold.
“Our town does not welcome outsiders. Leave at once! Otherwise, don’t blame us for being rude!”
Lin Weiran still wanted to make an effort to negotiate, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Si Zhe shaking his head at her.
“Talking won’t work. They won’t let us in no matter what.”
Lin Weiran was discouraged. “Then what do we do? This is the nearest town. If we bypass it, all that’s left are rural areas, which will make finding supplies even harder.”
It wasn’t impossible to search the villages, but… If the people in the villages were all dead, it wouldn’t be a problem. But if they weren’t, they couldn’t just barge into people’s homes and rob them, could they?
With their strong energy consumption, ability users could hardly go without food. Zhao Zhenyu had only missed one meal and was already feeling an acidic ache in his stomach.
He stared at the town ahead, eyes gleaming. “If there’s no other way, we can just force our way through! They’re just a few Tier 1 ability users. We have three Tier 1 and three Tier 2 users. Do you really think we can’t handle them?”
Seeing no one respond, Zhao Zhenyu licked his lips. “It’s just an unremarkable town. How many ability users could it possibly have? It’s not like we’re taking their lives, just grabbing some supplies.”
Si Zhe remained silent, while Lin Weiran hesitated.
They didn’t move, and neither did the people on the other side. The convoy behind them certainly didn’t dare to act rashly either.
“This town is actually being guarded. Does that mean there are no zombies inside?”
Inside a minivan, the woman driving also noticed the peculiarity and voiced her doubts.
The people in the car were all shocked. “Then, wouldn’t this place be a paradise?”
A paradise?
Su Su curled her lips slightly, her gaze filled with indifference.
Finally, just like in her previous life, she had once again arrived in this town—the place that had caused her the greatest harm.
She rolled down the car window, looked at the town in the distance, and instinctively touched her face.
“Do you have a mirror?”
Her soft words surprised her companions for a few seconds. Perhaps because of Wu Zhi’s “accident” a few days ago, Su Su, who was sharing the car with them, had barely spoken since then. Every day, she shrank into a corner like a shadow, reducing her presence to the lowest possible level.
“What do you need a mirror for at a time like this?”
Despite the complaint, her companion still took out a palm-sized round mirror from their backpack and handed it to her.
Su Su took the mirror. “Thank you.”
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her condition wasn’t great, but her skin remained as smooth and delicate as ever. Even after days of wear on the highway, it hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
Most importantly… those two scars that stretched across her brow bone, nose bridge, and down to the corner of her mouth… were gone.
Su Su stared at her reflection for a long time. It had been so long since she had looked at this face properly.
In her past life, those two ten-centimeter-long scars had accompanied her for three years. One ran from her brow bone to the corner of her mouth, while the other stretched from her left cheek to her right cheek. They ruined the beauty of her entire face, making her a scarred woman that others did not wish to look at for long.
But there were always some male ability users who had little contact with women. They didn’t mind her scars, only lusted after her body, wanting to trade a few cheap crystals for a night of pleasure.
“Stop looking.” Her companion took back the mirror. “Someone’s coming from the town.”
It turned out that after the prolonged standoff, someone had run back to report the situation. Before long, a vehicle drove out of the town and stopped a short distance away.
A man in his thirties, wearing a jacket, stepped out of the car.
“Everyone, our town does not accept outsiders. If you are looking for supplies, you will have to take a detour.”
The man’s tone was calm, but his words were firm.
Zhao Zhenyu had a short temper and couldn’t hold back the moment he heard this. He jumped out of the car and unleashed a stream of water, blasting the roadblock into disarray.
Si Zhe and Lin Weiran did not stop him. As expected, this display immediately shocked everyone on the other side.
“Mayor, he’s a Tier 2 ability user!”
The jacketed man, addressed as the mayor, furrowed his brows and cast his gaze toward the remaining men and women who had yet to step out of the vehicles.
Si Zhe and Lin Weiran exchanged a glance before stepping out in tacit agreement—one summoning fire, the other summoning lightning. The rest of their teammates didn’t stay idle either, each revealing their own Tier 1 abilities.
This display was both a show of strength and a subtle threat.
The mayor’s pupils contracted for a few seconds, his expression shifting several times. But his mental fortitude was evidently strong—after only a brief moment of shock, he quickly composed himself and put on a welcoming smile.
“We’re all ability users here. If a fight breaks out, both sides will suffer losses. How about this? I’ll make an exception this time and allow you to stay in town for a few days. As for supplies… we still have a significant population in the town, and all resources are centrally managed. However, since you don’t have many people, we can make some room and share a portion with you.”
“How does that sound?”
His words were exceptionally sincere. It was clear that the mayor was willing to part with some supplies to send these “plague gods” away—he was only waiting for their response.
Zhao Zhenyu was quickly tempted.
“Si Zhe, Weiran, should we agree to this?”
“He means to let us enter the town first, eat and drink well, then in a few days, give us some supplies to send us back on the road. Very considerate!”
Lin Weiran was somewhat displeased. “We’re not bandits.”
“And what if we were?” Zhao Zhenyu was nearly starving. “This is the apocalypse—what law still governs me?”
Si Zhe said, “It’s fine. We can trade something else for their supplies.”
Zhao Zhenyu asked, “What do we have…”
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly remembered. Crystals. The crystals they had collected along the way could almost fill a plastic bag.
Si Zhe elaborated further, “The town still has a sizable population, which means there must be ability users. We have plenty of miscellaneous crystals and First-Grade crystals on hand—someone is bound to need them.”
“I agree!”
Lin Weiran thought for two seconds. “I agree too.”
Once they all agreed, the mayor allowed the convoy to enter the town. Of course, the six ability users were let in without any trouble, but the ordinary people following behind underwent extremely strict searches to prevent anyone carrying the zombie virus from endangering the town.
When it was Su Su’s turn, she instinctively looked up and glanced at the mayor standing not far away.
The latter sharply scanned back, his gaze lingering on Su Su’s face for two seconds. He seemed to find nothing unusual and quickly looked away.
Just those two seconds of eye contact made Su Su unconsciously hold her breath.
Only when the mayor had fully averted his gaze did she subtly exhale, though her fingers still trembled slightly, and her heartbeat was faster than usual.
“Alright, you can enter the town.”
As soon as the words fell, Su Su lowered her head and blended into the crowd, entering the small town with them.
The “sizable population” that the mayor had mentioned was indeed real. In the miserable apocalyptic world, this town was like the “paradise” someone had spoken of earlier. There wasn’t a single zombie in sight, ordinary people moved about doing their work, and occasionally, some would curiously stop to observe the group of outsiders entering the town.
“Before the apocalypse, the town had a permanent population of 10,000. When that acid rain fell, thanks to the town’s quick response, we managed to notify everyone not to leave their homes and also sealed off the highways and major roads… Now, there are still four to five thousand people left. Although we have grain stored up, it’s only enough for the town’s self-sufficiency…”
The mayor walked at the front alongside Si Zhe and Lin Weiran, seemingly friendly as he revealed the town’s situation.
Si Zhe suddenly spoke. “On our way here, the nearby service areas were all completely looted…”
The mayor, understanding the implication, merely smiled.
“Our town is close to the highway. I sent people to collect supplies from the nearby service areas and also took the opportunity to clear out some of the zombies on the highway.”
No wonder. No wonder the service areas were stripped bare, and no wonder there were relatively fewer zombie hordes along this stretch of road.
The faces of the ability users darkened slightly, but the mayor pretended not to notice and led them to the town’s administrative center. The second and third floors had already been converted into rooms, while the first floor was a spacious hall.
“You all can stay here for the next few days. I’ll have someone bring over some clean living supplies later. The second and third floors only have seven or eight rooms. As for the others…” He glanced at the twenty or thirty ordinary people following behind but didn’t seem to care much. “The first floor can be used for bedding on the ground. I hope no one minds.”
Before Lin Weiran and the others could speak, the mayor suddenly seemed to recall something and lifted his face into a warm smile.
“Of course, you’re all powerful ability users, and our town does not wish to make enemies. Tonight, let me host and treat you to a good meal.”
“How about hotpot? The town doesn’t have many rare ingredients, but we still have some hotpot base stock stored up.”
Gulp.
Zhao Zhenyu swallowed his saliva.
“Hotpot sounds great! It’s been so long since I’ve had a proper meal!”
On the highway, congee and instant noodles were certainly edible, but after eating them for so many days in a row, even their appeal had worn off.
The mayor’s smile deepened. “Alright, I’ll have someone prepare it right away!”
Everyone present heard his words loud and clear.
Someone swallowed hard, already dreaming, Hotpot? Amazing! We can finally eat our fill!
But the companion beside him chuckled bitterly and shattered his illusion—
“You think it’s for you? He’s inviting those ability users. Only they are the ones the town wants to win over and be wary of.”
At the very least, for ordinary people like them who had just come off the highway, simply catching a whiff of the aroma would already be a luxury.