When it was time to go to bed at night, Luo Ning suggested taking turns keeping watch. Zhou Yingying would keep watch for the first half of the night, while she would keep watch for the difficult second half.
Zhou Yingying looked at her and smiled without saying a word.
"What are you laughing at?" Luo Ning spread out the barely usable bedding on the ground.
Zhou Yingying warmed her hands by the fire: "It's nothing, you should go to sleep. I'll wake you up later."
Luo Ning crawled into bed, but couldn't fall asleep for a while. Looking at the hospital gown hanging there, she was filled with doubt.
"Yingying, when was the first time you saw me?" she asked. The first person she saw after waking up was Zhou Yingying, and it was Zhou Yingying who pulled her to run away together.
"Today, please?" Zhou Yingying replied.
Do you know how I got to that rooftop?
"I don't know, you were sleeping there when I got there."
"I see."
“Yeah, you’re feeling lost right now, aren’t you? I felt the same way when I first awakened, but I got used to it in a few days,” Zhou Yingying said comfortingly.
"Okay, thank you." Luo Ning was grateful to the girl for making her feel less lost in this unfamiliar world.
She gradually fell asleep, and then had some dreams that she couldn't remember. When she woke up, she saw Zhou Yingying sleeping in front of the fire, hugging her knees.
Since she didn't have a watch, Luo Ning didn't know what time it was, so she went to Zhou Yingying's side and told her to go to sleep.
However, just as she was about to shake Zhou Yingying's arm, Zhou Yingying suddenly opened her eyes and slammed her elbow into Luo Ning's head.
This is a killing technique that can kill a mutant in one blow.
Luo Ning also quickly dodged to the side, and at the same time nimbly slapped Zhou Yingying's arm with her palm.
"Ah." Zhou Yingying woke up from the pain and quickly apologized when she saw that it was Luo Ning: "I'm sorry, I thought the enemy had come, so I had a reflex. I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"I'm fine. Did I hurt you?" Luo Ning wanted to check if Zhou Yingying was injured, but Zhou Yingying dodged back a little.
"I'm fine, and even if something happens, I'll recover quickly," Zhou Yingying said with a smile.
Luo Ning was relieved. "That's good. Go to sleep. I'll keep watch."
"Okay." Zhou Yingying rubbed her arm, which had been slapped by Luo Ning, and walked to the side with a smile. When Luo Ning couldn't see her, the smile on her face immediately disappeared, and her eyes were filled with an ambiguous emotion.
Luo Ning stared blankly at her hands. She was surprised by her own reaction speed. Was this the power of the alien species?
Also, did Zhou Yingying experience something terrible in the past, which is why she is so defensive and always uses deadly moves? This has made her more wary.
The next day, after waking up, Luo Ning packed her hospital gown and took it with her. Then, she and Zhou Yingying searched for some clothes and weapons in the small town. She found an iron rod and sharpened it into spikes to use as a weapon, while Zhou Yingying found a knife and sharpened it to an extremely sharp point.
Upon seeing the iron spikes in Luo Ning's hand, Zhou Yingying paused for a moment, then asked, "Luo Ning, do you not remember anything from before?"
Luo Ning's eyes flickered: "How long ago do you mean?"
"It's the period from when I was infected to when I woke up yesterday."
"I don't remember, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just chatting and asking around. Let's go." Zhou Yingying said, slinging the knife over her shoulder, exuding a chilling aura.
Luo Ning followed her, and Zhou Yingying was still smiling carefree as she was yesterday, as if last night's events were just a trivial little episode.
After traveling south for three or four days, the number of mutant species gradually increased. In addition to animal-type mutants, there were more humanoid mutants, but most of them were unawakened and wandered aimlessly among the ruins.
"Why are there so many mutant species here?" Luo Ning found it strange. She hadn't seen many along the way, and she thought that humans had killed off most of the mutant species.
Zhou Yingying looked around and said, "We might be approaching one of the human bases. These alien species are gathered here because of the presence of humans."
Luo Ning also thought so. In the novel, the human base was surrounded by alien species for many years. If it weren't for the barriers of the magma belt and the abyss, the human would not have been able to hold out for so many years.
“We can’t go any further south, let’s change direction,” Zhou Yingying said.
Luo Ning looked ahead and then touched the flyer in her pocket: "I want to stay and see how things go. Or should we part ways here?"
Zhou Yingying hesitated for a moment: "I think I'll go with you. I don't know where we're going either."
Luo Ning nodded: "Okay, then let's be careful. If things go wrong, we'll run."
When the two climbed to the highest point of the ruins, Luo Ning discovered that there were even more alien species than they had seen before, about tens of thousands, and they were constantly gathering here.
“There might be someone nearby,” Zhou Yingying said.
However, Luo Ning did not sense any human presence, even though she hadn't seen a single person during this period.
A gust of wind blew by, and she smelled a faint odor of gasoline and smoke in the air. Following the smell, she found a plane crashed among the rubble. Judging from the burn marks, the plane had crashed about a day or two ago, but there were no human bodies. She didn't know whether the people on board had escaped or been eaten.
Looking at the scene before her, Luo Ning felt a vague sense of familiarity, as if she had seen a similar scene before.
"It must have been knocked down by the winged aliens," Zhou Yingying said, pointing to the dozens of winged alien corpses around them.
Luo Ning then noticed the winged alien creatures, and a wave of disgust washed over her, her eyes turning sharp.
That look made Zhou Yingying pause for a moment: "You seem to really hate winged aliens."
"No, I have no grudge against them," Luo Ning said calmly.
“But look at their eyes, they’re so scary,” Zhou Yingying replied.
"Really?" Luo Ning asked doubtfully for a moment, then jumped down the building and walked towards the plane wreckage.
Inside the cabin, she gently touched the charred interior, where she could see some damaged firearms and ammunition, as well as a few military uniforms.
This is a military aircraft. If the people on board are still alive, then there must be military personnel nearby.
She walked towards the front of the cabin and saw a small white rabbit doll. She picked it up from the wreckage. The rabbit's tail was charred, but the rest of it was intact.
The doll felt very comfortable to touch, soft and bouncy. She couldn't help but squeeze it, which unexpectedly triggered the recording switch inside the doll.
"Dad~ Dad." A small, round voice came out, or perhaps two voices, the babbling of a baby, somewhat unclear and bewildered.
The sound startled her, and she couldn't help but pinch her again. This time she heard it clearly; it was the voice of two children.
Clearly, this is a case of a father who brought a doll with a recording of his child's voice with him, but then left it here.
She kneaded the doll again and again, listening patiently to the two children's angelic voices.
"Why are you crying?" Zhou Yingying asked as she walked in.
Luo Ning then felt a chill on her face; she didn't realize when tears had started flowing.
"It's nothing, I just saw this doll and it reminded me of my childhood," she lied, without pressing the recorder again. Subconsciously, she didn't want Zhou Yingying to hear the two children's voices.
But Zhou Yingying had already heard it while she was outside. She glanced at the little rabbit doll and said, "Let's go upstairs, it's getting dark."
Back in the high-rise, one person remained on guard while the other rested. Around midnight, a large number of mutants arrived in the abandoned city. They were all mutated individuals, driving cars, and some of them carried weapons, resembling a small mutant army.
Among these mutants, Luo Ning saw the man who had said he wanted to join Boss Jin a few days ago. At this moment, he was standing respectfully beside an old man with white hair.
“It’s Boss Jin,” Zhou Yingying said, pointing to the white-haired old man.
Luo Ning had always thought that Boss Jin was a middle-aged man, but she never expected him to be an old man.
Beside Boss Jin were several dead humans, all with horrific wounds and teeth marks on their necks, clearly having been killed by being sucked dry.
The mutants stopped not far from them, and then Boss Jin threw the corpses out of the car. Immediately, the mutants pounced on them and devoured them.
Luo Ning felt a pang of nausea as she watched. Humans eating humans—what a cruel sight!
She wanted to leave, but when she saw the little rabbit doll, she couldn't help but stop. Perhaps the people on the plane were still somewhere in this abandoned city, and perhaps she could help them.
Just as she hesitated, Boss Jin in the car suddenly looked up in her direction, clearly having noticed her and Zhou Yingying's presence.
This old man has quite a keen sense of perception. Despite the height of the building and the considerable distance between them, he was able to pinpoint her location with remarkable accuracy.
She turned and stepped back out of Jin's sight, then said to Zhou Yingying, "Let's leave here first."
"Mmm," Zhou Yingying responded, her innocent expression from earlier in the day gone.
They left the building and disappeared into the night, like two dark elves heading away from Boss Jin.
But about ten minutes later, Luo Ning suddenly stopped, and there was an extremely faint woody scent in the air.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Yingying asked anxiously.
After a moment of silence, Luo Ning confirmed that the scent was indeed there and asked Zhou Yingying, "Can you smell the woody aroma?"
Zhou Yingying sensed it and said, "No, there's no smell at all."
Ke Luo Ning clearly smelled it. She followed the scent and this time she detected a human presence, causing her heart to skip a beat.
There really are humans here, probably the people from the plane, and they are heading towards Boss Kim's direction.
Without any hesitation, she ran towards the humans, with Zhou Yingying following behind her. However, Luo Ning was too fast, and she lost track of her in no time.
Luo Ning quickly moved through the ruins, and the smell of wood grew closer and closer, like the bright moon falling into her world.
After leaping over a collapsed building, she finally saw the source of the scent she was looking for: a human army of a dozen or so fully armed men. The man with the woody scent was at the front; he was a tall, slender, and well-proportioned adult male, crouching as he moved forward, like a beast hunting in the dark.
Even though she only saw his back, she felt as if she had seen him before, not in a dream or in a daze, but in real life.
Her heart was pounding violently in her chest, almost echoing through the night sky. She instinctively covered it with her hand to stop it from leaping out.
This human team is already very close to Boss Jin; if they go any further, they'll probably enter Boss Jin's sensing range.
What's wrong with these soldiers? Can't they hear the howling of the aliens coming from ahead?
No, they're not deaf; they're heading straight for Boss Kim.
But there are tens of thousands of aliens over there. Even if their weapons can kill the aliens, they are still made of flesh and blood.
She wanted to speak up to warn him, but that would make it easier for Boss Jin to notice. After hesitating for a few seconds, she remembered the rabbit doll she had seen earlier that day, so she took it out and threw it at the man with all her might, then immediately ducked to avoid it.
The little rabbit with its soft, white tail charred from the roasting drew a perfect parabola in the air and landed precisely in front of the man.
The group stopped instantly, and the team members reacted quickly, scouting around. The man in front looked at the rabbit in front of him, picked it up with his slender fingers, and turned to look in Luo Ning's direction.
His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief as he scanned his surroundings, trying to find the person who had thrown the rabbit.
"Retreat," Lu Xinghe said in a low voice.
He Cheng leaned closer: "What's wrong?"
Lu Xinghe's hand trembled slightly as he held the rabbit doll. He looked at the rabbit in his hand and said, "Someone threw Yuan You and Yuan Yan's dolls at us as a warning."
"Did Du Lu throw it?" He Cheng asked, looking around.
Lu Xinghe shook his head: "If he wanted to remind me, he could have used a communicator. Besides, I don't even know where I left this doll. It's unlikely that Du Lu would have found it by chance."
A strong voice inside him said, "It's the doll Luo Ning threw. She's still alive in this world. She's nearby right now."
But why doesn't she come out to meet him?
In the darkness, Luo Ning finally saw the man's appearance clearly. He was very young, extremely handsome, with an outstanding temperament and firm eyes that made it impossible to look away.
Lu Xinghe opened his mouth as if to call Luo Ning's name, but if he made a sound, they would definitely be exposed. They originally planned to use a lightning operation to eliminate those mutants who were unwilling to revert to human form, but now the plan had changed.
At this moment, the ground began to tremble slightly, and things kept falling from the surrounding buildings. Something large was rapidly approaching.
Luo Ning looked in the direction from which the tremor came and saw countless alien species running towards her.
Lu Xinghe's communicator also vibrated, and the screen displayed only one word: "Withdraw".
"Retreat towards the engineering convoy," Lu Xinghe immediately ordered.
The team immediately turned around and ran back. Luo Ning also ran with them on the rooftop. These humans were really fast. In no time, they had run a long distance.
However, many buildings have collapsed here, which will affect their evacuation speed.
Sure enough, just as Lu Xinghe and his team were halfway through their retreat, a dilapidated building suddenly collapsed due to the earthquake, and bricks and stones rained down on the squad.
"Watch out!" Lu Xinghe grabbed his teammate who was about to be hit.
The people were unharmed, but their retreat route was blocked, so they had to take a detour.
Just as they were about to head to the left, a clear, melodious female voice came from behind them: "Don't go that way, there are aliens coming from there. Follow me, I'll take you out."
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