Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Chapter 188: Chapter 188: It’s a Mutated Species

Song You’ai had a pretty good idea of the inventory in her daughter’s little Space.

Just from all those canned goods they’d scavenged last time, they probably wouldn’t be able to finish them even in over a year.

There was no need to fight with a group of young men over a few baskets of fish.

Xiao Gu’s team had over one hundred and sixty active members. This little bit of food wouldn’t be nearly enough to go around.

Wu Meng collected the items, then pulled out two boxes of ice cream for Ji Taixian. Grinning, he gestured with his chin toward Gu Chen. "Hold on to this for Ms. Ning. It’s not for you."

As for the two boatloads of beans, Gu Chen took Xie Ning over by herself, and she took two bags of each kind.

Seeing the young woman’s long face, Gu Chen couldn’t help but chuckle. "You don’t like beans? Take some more. Your grandpa and grandma like bean porridge."

Xie Ning reluctantly took a few more, tossing them all into her separate Space before coming out with Gu Chen.

Wu Meng led his men to collect the beans, while Ji Erhuo trailed behind them, wandering around.

He picked up a few things here and there. Noticing a brand-new tea set in the wheelhouse, he swiped it...

He claimed he was taking it home for Grandpa and Grandma Song.

Gu Chen gave the young man a meaningful look. ’This idiot is more devoted to the old Song couple than to his own grandparents.’

’What a waste it was to raise this dimwit.’

Fortunately, Gu Chen and his team had driven over in four large trucks today; otherwise, they would have needed two trips to load all the steel and coal.

After everything was loaded onto the trucks, Song Youzhi glanced at the ship to the right with a strange expression. "What about that group from the City Defense Team? Didn’t they go to Ta Lake Number 23 to search for goods first thing this morning?"

It had been nearly an hour, so why was there no sign of them?

His group had searched every boat except for Number 23, the one on the far right.

He couldn’t understand why the City Defense Team was being so slow.

However, judging by its size, that ship was the largest of them all, and it even had two decks.

"There’s something wrong with that ship." Lu Wei frowned as he looked over. "Have you noticed? All the other ships have the sound of zombies roaring, but that one is completely quiet."

Everyone nodded in unison.

Yes, it was a little too quiet.

"Should we go take a look?" Everyone turned to their captain.

Gu Chen raised his wrist to check his watch. It was 10:08.

"Fengzi, take a squad and transport the fully loaded trucks back to the base first."

"Everyone else, with me."

"Mom, it might be dangerous up there. We’ll just stay here and continue practicing our zombie-killing skills," Song Shijun said, holding He Shuping back.

After all, his parents were still ordinary people. It was better for them not to get involved in something so uncertain.

Song Youyi and He Shuping nodded in agreement.

Song Youzhi and Song You’ai also stayed behind with Xiao Huang Mao to help clear out the smaller zombies that popped up from time to time.

Song Kexin, however, was eager to board the ship. Seeing that her family wasn’t stopping her, she stealthily followed behind Xie Ning and Ji Taixian.

A group of several dozen people walked to the water’s edge. Gu Chen raised a hand to stop them, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the nearby ship.

The two-deck cargo ship, docked by the shore, suddenly swayed.

With a wave of her hand, Xie Ning released a thick metal pillar, which flew across and landed on the deck with a loud bang.

Everyone immediately saw green blades spreading out from the cracks in the deck and from around the railings, grabbing onto the metal pillar and tugging at it like octopus tentacles.

"Is it seaweed?" Lu Wei took a step forward, releasing his Wood Element Ability.

The octopus-like green blades wrapped around the metal pillar and pulled hard for a while. As if unable to consume it, they instantly tossed it aside in disgust.

"Wei!" Gu Chen beckoned, telling Lu Wei to follow him closely.

"The rest of you, stay put and await orders," Lu Wei instructed before quickly catching up.

A green vine shot out from his hand, whipping swiftly toward the deck.

The octopus-like blades immediately fanned out and lunged at his vine, instantly enveloping it.

The superpower energy dissipated, and Lu Wei stared in shock and uncertainty at the seaweed-like thing.

He watched as it voraciously chewed on the remnants of his vine, as if it were some kind of delicacy.

"This thing eats Wood Element superpower energy?"

"Xinxin," Xie Ning called out.

Song Kexin immediately rushed forward excitedly and, from a distance, threw a small Fireball onto the deck.

The seaweed let out a SQUEAL. As a few of its blades withered and curled, it hastily slipped back under the water.

But by then, Gu Chen had already leaped onto the deck. A bolt of lightning struck the water, immediately causing a series of CRACKLES and POPS.

"This is strange. Don’t come over yet," Xie Ning said, also jumping onto the deck. With a wave of her hand, she pulled the metal pillar to her.

Several Metal Spikes, each over two meters long, shot out from her palm, piercing through the deck with a CRUNCH.

Ji Taixian shivered, inexplicably recalling their first meeting when Ms. Ning had beaten him so badly he was begging for mercy...

’Her Gold Ability seems to have gotten much stronger since then.’

Xie Ning could feel the Metal Spikes stabbing into a soft mass, only to be immediately and forcefully repelled, spat out with great power.

"It must be a Wood Element mutated species," Xie Ning said, looking at Gu Chen. "It can’t consume superpower energy from the Gold, Thunder, or Fire Elements. Shock it! Shock it to death!"

Gu Chen couldn’t help but laugh. "Alright. I’ll help you shock it to death."

With that, he threw several more Thunderballs into the water. The surface instantly turned light purple, filled with superpower energy that crackled and sizzled.

The sight made the scalps of the onlookers on the shore tingle.

Song Kexin also scampered onto the deck, but her feet were instantly wrapped by several soft, leafy blades.

The young girl calmly threw a small Fireball at her own feet. She instantly broke free from the leafy blades and hastily jumped onto the metal pillar, running to Xie Ning’s side.

"Xiao Gu." Xie Ning pointed to her Metal Spikes that were stabbed into the soft mass under the water. "Come zap it."

Gu Chen dashed to her side. A flash of electricity shot out, crackling all the way down Xie Ning’s two-meter-long Metal Spikes.

"The main body of that thing is attached to the bulkhead," Xie Ning said. She controlled her Gold Ability to thrust out several more spikes, coordinating with the crackling lightning to stab hard into the soft mass.

"What a huge mass of mutated plant!"

Gu Chen gestured to the shore, and a group of young men from his team immediately rushed aboard.

"Break it open," Gu Chen ordered. A few young men from the Strength System gave two mighty kicks—BANG! BANG!—and smashed a large hole in the deck.

Xie Ning dragged the huge mass of seaweed up. Seeing it still trying to move its octopus-like tentacles, she viciously stabbed it with more than a dozen Metal Spikes.

Each Metal Spike was charged with lightning. The mass SIZZLED, and a large swath of its blades instantly curled and withered.

’That looks pretty brutal.’

For some reason, this thought surfaced in everyone’s mind on the deck at the same time.

A Metal Knife appeared in Xie Ning’s hand. With a few loud WHACKS, she chopped off the messy outer tangle of blades.

She struck so quickly that everyone watching couldn’t help but flinch.

"Go see how they are," Gu Chen said with a wave of his hand. A few teammates ran into the ship’s cabins to check.

"Is this thing useful?" Xie Ning asked, turning to Lu Wei and pointing at the lump of roots she had created by chopping off all the blades.