Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Chapter 185: Chapter 185: Extraordinarily Gifted

Xie Ning suddenly realized that her family probably wanted to become stronger themselves, to be armed to the teeth.

They didn’t want to just hide under her wing, complacently accepting her protection.

The young woman’s nose tingled, and she lowered her head to quickly shovel a mouthful of porridge.

’It feels so good to have the whole family together like this after the apocalypse began.’

Gu Chen found two teammates to look after the elders, while the rest boarded the RV and the small van to set off.

During this time, however, her family couldn’t help but gasp when they saw Xie Ning pull the RV out of her Space.

That goofball Ji Taixian’s jaw dropped, and he stammered, "Ms. N-Ning, how big is your little Space?"

"Not as big as you!" Xie Ning patted his shoulder encouragingly. "Honestly, when it comes to the Space Ability, you’re practically a once-in-a-generation talent. A hundred square meters at just the First Rank? You’d be considered an extraordinary figure anywhere on the Kyushu Continent."

She shot Tai Xian an encouraging ’keep up the good work, young man’ look, tossed her backpack onto a seat, and vaulted into the front passenger seat.

Ji Taixian was so puffed up by Ms. Ning’s praise, he was practically floating.

He floated onto the van in a daze, barely knowing which way was up.

Amused, Wang Zongxuan sat down beside him, fiddling with the small Crossbow in his hands.

Song Youzhi and Song Youyi also boarded the van.

Inside the RV, Song Shijun and Song Kexin sat across from their aunt He Shuping in the leather booth seats.

Song Kexin’s foot hit a large plastic bag under the booth. She dragged it out, looked inside, and gleefully pulled out several bottles of Coke.

Song Shijun noticed his mother’s anxiety. He handed her a bottle of iced tea and said with a smile, "Don’t be nervous, Mom. You can watch me kill zombies later."

He Shuping rolled her eyes at her son. "It’s not like I’ve never killed one. When your father and I were fleeing to your grandpa’s house, we killed at least two or three zombies along the way."

"Mom, the zombies now aren’t the same as before. You need to be careful and stick close to us later." Song Shijun went on to explain the zombies’ current evolutionary abilities, including their speed and strength, which left He Shuping stunned.

Xie Ning listened to the mother and son’s conversation while flipping through several sheets of paper.

Song You’ai, who was driving, glanced at the papers. "What’s that? Something from Xiao Gu?"

"Yeah, it’s the detailed rules for the base’s points exchange." Xie Ning continued flipping through the pages. "From now on, these points will be linked to households. All family members will share a single points account, identified by house number."

"The day after tomorrow, the base is opening a general store, a soft opening of sorts. Oh, and you can buy things you need with points."

Song You’ai tilted her head back, a smile spreading across her face. "I was the first to earn points for the family—fifty points! A glorious contribution."

Song Kexin took a sip of her Coke. "Fifty points? Oh, that’s from you providing water for the base this morning, right, Auntie? Sis, what can fifty points buy?"

"Fifty points." Xie Ning scanned the list. "Not bad. You can buy five kilograms of rice. Or rent a spot in the shantytown for a month."

Song Kexin’s mouth fell open. "Auntie, that’s amazing! You earned five kilograms of rice in a single day."

Song You’ai was beaming. "And that’s just because I’m a temp. The three permanent workers get a monthly salary of one thousand eight hundred points. I heard there’s also a perfect attendance bonus of two hundred points. So, they can earn two thousand points a month in total."

"Two thousand points a month... you could live pretty well in the base with that," Song Kexin said, scratching her head.

"Of course! It’s easy work, just providing a bit of water. It’s much better than being on the construction team, all covered in dirt for low pay." But then Song You’ai thought about how she had been vexed that morning, and she couldn’t help but purse her lips.

’They’re just Water Ability Users. Why do they have to act so high and mighty around people?’

"Auntie, was your first day on the job unpleasant? Did something happen?"

"Don’t get me started." Song You’ai pursed her lips again at the thought of her three bizarre colleagues. "Including me, there are only four Water Ability Users in the base."

"Aren’t there five?"

"Tsk, that’s because they were counting Xiao Bai. He’s not going to be stationed here permanently. He and his group have to return to the Capital."

"Oh," Xie Ning responded quietly.

"When I reported for duty today, you should have seen the way those three were strutting around." Song You’ai waved her hand dismissively. "Just like peacocks showing off their feathers."

"I thought they must be so capable to act like that, wondering how much water they could produce. And the result... Heh. The three of them together couldn’t even fill one small tank."

Song You’ai’s face was full of contempt. "And that little water tank only holds twenty liters when full! What good is that?"

Xie Ning smiled, pressing her lips together. "Then you must have really shown them, Mom."

"I filled five water tanks for them in one go, and I still had plenty of superpower left over." Thinking back on the dumbfounded expression of the person in charge, she couldn’t help but feel a secret thrill of satisfaction.

"Ningning, was I being too high-profile? Will it cause trouble for the family?"

Xie Ning shook her head and sighed. "It’s getting hotter and hotter, and the water shortage is severe. I heard that dozens of people at the base suffered from dehydration yesterday, and three died from heatstroke because they couldn’t be saved in time."

"Mom, if you want to help and it’s within your power, you should. Besides, we signed a confidentiality agreement with the base. They won’t leak your personal information."

Song You’ai had been worried her daughter would think she was being reckless. She let out a breath of relief. "I wasn’t doing it for the base. I just saw those poor little kids with their chapped lips, and it was heartbreaking."

"Besides, that base leader made a grand gesture yesterday afternoon by distributing supplies. Every household, thousands of them, got 200ml of water. I’m just replenishing some of it for them so they can continue to distribute water and help the refugees."

Song Kexin nodded vigorously, but then added indignantly, "Auntie, you do the work of seventeen or eighteen of them! Logically, your pay should be tripled!"

Song You’ai grinned. "Forget it. I’ll just think of it as practice for my superpower."

Then she sighed again. "Alas, I’ll just consider it accumulating some good karma for your little aunt. It’s been so long, and there’s still no news of them."

The expressions on Xie Ning and the others also grew somber.

They all knew that while the old man and old woman never said a word, their worry for their youngest daughter grew heavier with each passing day.

"Little Aunt and Uncle will definitely bring Yueyue to the safe zone here, I’m sure of it," Song Kexin said, trying to comfort everyone. "Maybe they’ll arrive tomorrow. Shouldn’t we ask the people at the main gate of the base to keep an eye out for them?"

"Kexin’s right." Xie Ning nodded, deciding she would talk to Xiao Gu about it later and ask him to help keep a look out.

The convoy had now reached the container port and was slowly pulling over to a stop.

Xie Ning heard Lu Wei shout from up ahead, "Leave a small team here to watch the vehicles! The rest of you, follow me!"

"Mom, we don’t need to put the RV away," Xie Ning said, calling for the others to hop out.