Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 48

To get to Eastern District One from Southern District One, they had to cross the entire district. Before the apocalypse, the trip would’ve taken just an hour and a half by aircraft. But now, they had no choice but to drive, constantly slowing down, changing lanes, and navigating around abandoned vehicles and collapsed obstacles. The journey was endlessly prolonged.

Before the apocalypse, Southern District One was one of the bustling metropolitan areas. It was massive and when disaster struck, the traffic collapsed almost instantly. Even now, many of the abandoned cars still contain the corpses of the infected.

Strangely, though, they hadn’t seen any living zombies, not just near the explosion site but even in the areas further away.

Southern District One was eerily quiet with only two cars moving through the streets.

One was a gray-white off-road vehicle.

The other was a neon green sports car.

Bai Chuan insisted on driving with the top down. His windblown dark green hair, paired with the neon green of the car, stood out starkly against the bleak, ruined cityscape.

The journey was calm. Too calm. And the calmer it was, the more on edge everyone became.

In the sports car, Tang Mary, seated in the passenger seat, glanced at Bai Chuan. “What are you thinking about? What’s so special about that Lin Bai that she’s caught your attention?”

“President Tang, this isn’t something you should be concerned about.” Bai Chuan had no intention of telling Tang Mary anything about Lin Bai.

Staring at the road ahead, his eyes flickered with thought. Over the past three days, he hadn’t gotten any information about his boss from Lin Bai.

However, after seeing Lin Bai, he was even more certain that his boss was alive.

Those three days weren’t a complete waste. At the very least, he had learned that Lin Bai joined Lou Tiannan’s team midway, getting into the vehicle from Western District Seven, and she had been with that little girl who called her ‘Mom.’

No one knew better than him that Lin Bai couldn’t possibly give birth. Androids hadn’t been developed to that level yet. If the child wasn’t Lin Bai’s, could she be his boss’s daughter? Then there was the doll in the little girl’s arms, crafted by his boss… Maybe it really was a possibility.

“Bai Chuan!”

Tang Mary’s sharp cry jolted him back to reality.

He looked up just in time to see a massive fireball coming straight at them from out of nowhere. There was no time to think. On instinct, he yanked the steering wheel left to avoid crashing into the off-road vehicle ahead.

The sports car’s superior handling shone at that moment. It spun 180 degrees, barely dodging the fireball. But the off-road vehicle ahead wasn’t so lucky. The fireball was already crashing toward it.

Bai Chuan slammed on the brakes and immediately sprinted toward the off-road vehicle. Lin Bai could not be hurt!

Tang Mary watched his retreating figure with a thoughtful expression.

The fireball had appeared out of thin air, giving them almost no time to react. Even Lou Tiannan, as fast as he was, couldn’t avoid it. The impact was inevitable.

He managed to slam on the brakes just in time. The car skidded to a halt for half a second before the fireball smashed into the front of the vehicle. The heat wave fractured the windshield and the temperature inside the car skyrocketed.

At the last moment before the glass shattered, Elena’s ice spread across the windshield, buying Lou Tiannan and Zhu Liang a few precious seconds.

Lou Tiannan pushed the brake pedal to the floor, bringing the car to a full stop. But before they could escape, another fireball shot toward them.

The attack was different. It was fast, precise, and deadly, aimed to kill.

Just from those two fireballs, it was clear that whoever was behind the attack was at least as powerful as Lou Tiannan!

There was no way to dodge.

Lou Tiannan kicked the door open and leaped out, throwing himself between his team and the incoming fireball. It was so close it nearly scorched his nose but just in time, he activated his power.

His muscles tensed, arms bulging as he gathered energy. Sweat dripped down his rugged face as he caught the fireball head-on and pushed it back!

It bought his team the precious seconds they needed. Everyone scrambled out of the vehicle, immediately preparing for battle.

Their location was terrible; right on the district border, in an open area, and almost no cover. The only building nearby was the checkpoint tower marking the boundary between Southern District One and Eastern District One.

And it was obvious that the attacks were coming from that building.

Their enemy had the high ground, while they were completely exposed.

“Lu Jia, Zhu Liang, provide cover. Song Yan, Zhou Yu, get inside that building and try to take it down,” Lou Tiannan ordered swiftly.

The enemy’s abilities were strong and they had the advantage of being hidden while Lou Tiannan’s group was exposed. Fighting like that would put them at a severe disadvantage. They had to force the enemy out, only then would they have a real chance. Otherwise, they would just be slowly worn down.

The four who received orders immediately sprang into action. Elena and Wen Xiaxia also instinctively provided cover for them. Smoke grenades were thrown, filling the open area with dust and haze. Using the smoke as cover, they moved swiftly toward the checkpoint tower.

Fireballs rained down from all directions, making their advance incredibly difficult.

Just as Lin Bai was staying on guard, Bai Chuan suddenly grabbed her and pulled her aside. “Stay away from Lou Tiannan and the others. Qiu Tu is targeting him, not you. Hurry up and hide!”

Bai Chuan silently mouthed the words, implying that an android should be fully aware of its body’s limitations. Fire and explosions were not something she should be messing with. Otherwise, she might not even realize how she ended up falling apart.

“Qiu Tu?” The moment Bai Chuan spoke the name, everyone’s ears perked up. It finally dawned on them that someone with such powerful fire abilities could only be either Lou Tiannan or Qiu Tu, one of the strongest fire-based ability users in the apocalypse.

Lin Bai’s eyes flickered and she quickly yanked her hand away from Bai Chuan, jumping back three steps.

Boom!

A fireball crashed right into the spot where she and Bai Chuan had just been standing.

“I should be staying away from you,” Lin Bai said, eyeing Bai Chuan’s glaringly green hair. “You really should shave that off.”

Bai Chuan, now covered in dust and debris from the explosion, shook his long green hair and muttered, “Is it that obvious?”

“Very obvious,” Elena chimed in from the side.

Everything around them was covered in dust and ash, except for Bai Chuan’s vibrant green hair, which stood out like a beacon. Even Tang Mary’s red hair wasn’t as eye-catching.

But it wasn’t just fire-based attacks coming their way. Metal arrows and bullets were also being fired at them from time to time, making Bai Chuan a walking target.

Elena tilted her head, dodging the red laser sight of a sniper rifle aimed at her. Without hesitation, she traced the trajectory and fired an ice arrow in return. A second later, a scream echoed from inside the tower.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yu and Song Yan had taken advantage of the chaos to get closer to the tower but the Blood Bone members stationed on the ground floor made it difficult to advance.

Ducking away from another fireball, Tang Mary was growing increasingly frustrated. Why had she even gotten caught up in the fight? She was innocent!

Seeing her expression, Bai Chuan casually added, “President Tang, your Guangming Tower was blown up by Blood Bone, you know.”

Tang Mary: “!!!”

As if that wasn’t enough, Bai Chuan continued, “In fact, maybe blowing up your tower was just a diversion so Blood Bone could steal your crystals.”

For some reason, Tang Mary felt like he had a point.

Without another word, she swung her arm and a three-foot-long spiked club appeared in her grasp. With the unstoppable momentum of a warrior queen, she charged straight toward the checkpoint tower.

A moment later, screams erupted from inside. The ordinary ability users stood no chance against her, falling like weeds under her attacks.

Zhou Yu and Song Yan took advantage of the chaos to slip inside. Amidst the fierce battle, they quickly installed explosive devices. After setting them up between the first and second floors, they didn’t go any higher, as more ability users had gathered on the second floor. Going up further would be too dangerous. Before leaving, Zhou Yu used chewing gum to stick one of the explosive devices to the stairwell railing on the upper level.

He swiftly tossed two or three more before giving Song Yan an ‘OK’ gesture. The two then retreated together.

Seeing Zhou Yu and Song Yan coming out, Tang Mary wasn’t foolish. She fought while slowly backing away from the Blood Bone ability users. Once they were outside the blast radius, Song Yan pulled out a miniature detonator and quickly pressed it twice.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions erupted inside the checkpoint tower, leaving gaping holes and sending Blood Bone ability users flying.

But to their disappointment, the tower’s structure was incredibly sturdy. Normally, four to six of those explosives would be enough to bring down a six-story building. Yet they had just planted at least ten and the building didn’t even shake.

All they managed to do was blast holes in the walls where the charges were placed but the tower itself remained solid.

Zhou Yu couldn’t help but curse, “What the hell?! Who the hell was in charge of quality inspection for this checkpoint tower in Southern District One? How is it this damn sturdy?! How much material did they use?!”

“You might want to watch your mouth,” Song Yan said, pointing at a dust-covered notice board on the outer wall. Under the quality inspection section, Minister Xiang Cheng’s name was prominently listed.

Zhou Yu immediately shut up. So it was their minister? Alright then, never mind!

Still, the explosions weren’t completely useless. At the very least, they had inflicted heavy casualties on the Blood Bone members on the first and second floors.

That move seemed to have enraged Qiu Tu who was hiding in the shadows. The fireball attacks became even fiercer. The open area was scorching hot due to the battle between Lou Tiannan and Qiu Tu. But Qiu Tu was extremely cunning. His fireballs came from all directions, in a seemingly random and chaotic pattern, making it impossible to pinpoint his location.

But Lin Bai?

She was an android.

Her vision far exceeded that of an ordinary person. By analyzing the fireballs’ trajectories and angles, she could instantly map out their origin points in her mind, allowing her to pinpoint Qiu Tu’s location. As another fireball attack came, she turned to Lou Tiannan and said, “Thirteenth floor, fourth and fifth windows on the left.”

Lou Tiannan immediately launched a powerful black flame fireball at the position Lin Bai had called out.

The fireball crashed through the window but there was no response. It was almost as if it had been swallowed up.

Lou Tiannan fired a few more in succession but there was still no reaction. However, the attacks on them also ceased.

Lin Bai adjusted her vision focus and caught sight of a reflection in the thirteenth-floor windows where someone was moving quickly.

“Thirteenth floor, eleventh window on the left,” she reported.

Lou Tiannan followed her call and launched another attack.

“Thirteenth floor, seventh window on the right.”

The moment Lin Bai spoke, Lou Tiannan’s fireball was already in motion, flying straight for the target.

On the thirteenth floor, Qiu Tu’s brows furrowed into a deep frown.

What the hell? Did Lou Tiannan gain some kind of divine vision? How does he keep knowing exactly where I am?

Without hesitation, Qiu Tu flipped down two floors, landing on the eleventh. He had barely reached the window when, before he could even use his ability, a black flame came hurtling straight toward his face.

This is some serious supernatural bullsh*t!