Chapter 19
Chapter 19: Mission Progress
“Sister Lian Yi—what is this?”
“A good thing,” Wu Lian Yi said. “Keep it.”
Sun Wang stuffed it into his waist pouch.
The radio crackled again. “Requesting support! The supply-search squad has encountered a pack of zombie dogs!”
Wu Lian Yi signaled once. Sun Wang sprinted over, grabbed her wrist, and teleported them back to the market entrance in a blink.
The supply-search squad had already pushed a hundred meters inward. They were engaged now—gunfire and snarls echoing between storefronts. Roughly ten zombie dogs lay dead. Another ten were tearing at young soldiers who had fallen and weren’t moving.
Wu Lian Yi’s brows drew together. “You take left. I take right.”
“Roger, Sister Lian Yi!”
Sun Wang shot forward and decapitated a bulldog-sized zombie with a single fierce chop.
Wu Lian Yi wasn’t as fast, but she didn’t need to be. Her strength was obscene. She kicked a zombie poodle so hard its abdomen collapsed inward. It slammed into a pillar and went limp. Lei Yao—infused with lightning—moved like a living thing in her grip. In under five minutes, she had killed five more zombie dogs.
With the pressure off, the supply-search squad tightened the circle and finished the remaining threats. Three zombie dogs realized the tide had turned. They twisted, leapt out of the ring, and fled.
“Sun Wang,” Wu Lian Yi snapped, “don’t let them run!”
“Roger!”
He flickered and chased them down.
The soldiers began checking casualties. Those clawed weren’t executed on the spot. Their wounds were treated quickly, then they were restrained and sent away early—hopeful, desperate, clinging to the chance that some might survive. It was a clear attempt to follow the advice Wu Lian Yi had given earlier.
The squad leader came over with a grim face and dipped his head slightly. “Thank you, Miss Wu. If you hadn’t warned us earlier, it would’ve been worse. And you came back fast.”
“No need,” Wu Lian Yi said. “Split open the dogs’ heads. There’s a crystal inside. It looks like an energy core.”
The squad leader’s eyes sharpened. “Understood.” He turned to investigate immediately. A discovery like that could change how they fought.
Sun Wang returned not long after. “Sister Lian Yi. I got all three.”
He patted his waist pouch—crystal cores secured.
Behind him trailed more than a dozen people—survivors who had been hiding in the market.
One tall, skinny boy in a white T-shirt and casual shorts walked straight up with Sun Wang and stopped in front of Wu Lian Yi.
“This is my classmate, Qian Xin,” Sun Wang said, rubbing his hands. “His family sells grain and oil. He was watching the shop during summer break and got trapped here. There’s been food and water, so he held out.”
Wu Lian Yi didn’t waste time. “Has he awakened a superpower?”
“No.”
“Then he leaves with the loaded trucks,” Wu Lian Yi said. “Following us is too dangerous.”
Qian Xin didn’t argue. He flicked one look at Wu Lian Yi, then spoke fast. “My family’s warehouse stock—I’m willing to donate it all. I just want to follow the main force. I want safety and enough food.”
Sun Wang looked embarrassed. “Qian Xin, we can’t guarantee that. Sister Lian Yi and I are here on a mission.”
Wu Lian Yi’s lips curved slightly. This boy had a brain.
“Go to the squad leader,” she told Qian Xin. “Explain it. Give them the warehouse keys. Donate some, keep some. They’ll protect you in exchange. They’ll have to.”
Qian Xin bowed. “Thank you.”
Sun Wang accompanied him to the squad leader. After that, everything went smoother. Qian Xin left the market on the second military truck.
Wu Lian Yi looked at the lowering sky and went to the squad leader herself. “Captain. If we’re not returning tonight, we need a place before dark. If we get surrounded at night, we won’t slip out easily.”
The squad leader nodded. “Don’t worry. The seven-story building is cleared. All survivors inside were evacuated. We’ll take the top four floors tonight. Empty trucks return early tomorrow to keep hauling supplies. We can rest.”
That building had been cleared quickly for one reason: fear. The earlier frenzy and the sight of zombies stacking into walls had driven people out. Nobody wanted to gamble on their doors holding if a tide decided to climb.
Sunset bled out behind the skyline. Darkness swallowed the city. A few streetlights still glowed, but the streets themselves felt dead—except for the wet, ragged breathing of wandering corpses. Zombies drifted through roads and alleys like a slow infection.
On the rooftop, Wu Lian Yi stared into the city and frowned, calculating.
“Assisting the pocket world’s evolution,” she said to the communicator. “Does that mean I have to eliminate all zombies?”
“More or less.”
Wu Lian Yi’s expression went flat. If she still had her Great Ascension Stage cultivation, wiping out low-level zombies would’ve been effortless. But the pocket world’s Heavenly Dao suppressed her. She couldn’t fully unleash her strength.
“Tasker,” the communicator said, “please use surrounding resources rationally. You cannot kill all zombies alone.”
Wu Lian Yi didn’t bother replying.
Instead, she replayed what she’d seen through god’s-eye view. Zombie animals had appeared—mutant animals would follow. Tamed mutant beasts could become human allies, but they were rare, almost impossible to find on purpose.
Three months into the apocalypse, there would be a torrential rain. After that would come mutant plants—another layer of misery for humans trying to survive.
Today, she’d already told the soldiers about crystal cores in zombie animals’ heads. Those cores would become a new kind of energy source. The rest depended on how quickly humans evolved.
“Sister Lian Yi,” Sun Wang said softly as he stepped onto the roof, unable to sleep. “What are you looking at?”
“Our way forward,” Wu Lian Yi said. “The three of us are too thin on our own. We should join the army. With your superpower and mine, plus your sister’s perception ability, we’ll have a place. And we’ll have firearms and logistics. What do you think?”
Sun Wang’s young face grew serious. He touched the weapon at his waist, then nodded. “I agree. That way I can protect my sister.”