vncnus Chapter 9 Red Fall
Chapter 9 Red Fall
"Lily, are there any outdoor gear stores around here?"
"I didn't see it."
"Okay, do you live around here?"
"no."
"Where is it?"
"Gathering Place No. 3"
……
The two left the room, and Xu Yang asked questions intermittently, the outline of an absurd and chaotic world finally taking shape in his mind—
isolation zones, safe zones, gathering places...
And most importantly, the [Red Pendant].
That is, the drop of "blood of the sun" that Xu Yang saw in the shelter before, or more precisely, a period of time after it fell.
During this period, within the entire Red Fall's influence area, powerful creatures residing in the isolation zone will leave their nests and collectively head towards the crash site.
And the resulting impact—
During this period, many survivors living in safe zones will be more proactive in venturing deeper into the isolation zone to search for abandoned towns that have not been looted.
To be more specific, it refers to the type of town where the two of them are currently located.
……
Time flies.
On the outskirts of town, the two found a place to rest. Lily leaned against a wall, sunlight falling on her face.
His skin appeared somewhat pale.
Xu Yang sat on the ground to the side, chewing on his protein rations, occasionally stealing glances at the other person.
He believed his vision was well concealed.
"What are you looking at?"
Those red eyes looked at him.
"..."
Xu Yang smiled awkwardly, lowered his head, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.
"That's not right, let's take another look."
Undeterred, he glanced at the other person again, and a peculiar piece of information surfaced in his vision:
【Humanity】
[A 17-year-old female human with mild developmental delays due to childhood experiences. Her genes were modified during embryonic development, resulting in significantly enhanced sensory abilities and a more calm and rational mind; the trade-off is a lack of enzymes for synthesizing some essential proteins, and a slight physiological nausea associated with geometric shapes. A mutation exists within her body.]
[Note: Hey guys, I've spotted a wild, beautiful vampire girl!]
What are you babbling about?
Xu Yang noticed the word "vampire" in the note, as well as the other person's profile, which appeared unharmed in the sunlight.
It seems to be marked as "crazy" in the notes?
As for the others, it seems they now know why Lily was able to foresee danger.
Perception, variation?
Xu Yang looked at the girl's profile, lost in thought.
The latter turned his head again, somewhat puzzled.
Is there something on my face?
"No, I just take a second look because you're good-looking."
"..."
Lily took out the same protein ration from her backpack and chewed it in small bites.
"Isn't there any dried meat or similar items at the settlement?"
Xu Yang took a sip of water and casually changed the subject.
"some."
"Then why eat this? Do you think it tastes good?"
"I don't know, I've only ever eaten this."
Why?
Lily replied bluntly, "Because I'm sick."
"..."
Her tone remained cold, as if she were stating something trivial: "Vampire disease, this is the only way to supplement protein."
Xu Yang blinked. So it really is a vampire. So it can't synthesize the necessary proteins on its own and can only get them from the outside?
Following this logic, human blood could also provide the necessary proteins, right?
He glanced nervously at the girl's face.
With a blank expression, yet seemingly very focused, the girl was eating a protein bar, clearly unconcerned about what others thought.
Xu Yang felt a strange sensation in his heart.
So what am I on guard against? A girl who grew up on a protein-rich diet and is therefore stunted, who just saved my life?
He was silent for a moment, then took out the decorative bracelet he had found at the clinic earlier from his bag.
"Take this."
"What do you want?" Lily asked matter-of-factly.
"Uh, actually I don't need it."
"It's useful; you can exchange it for contribution points."
Xu Yang handed her the bracelet and said dismissively, "How about this, I'm short of some water purification tablets, could you keep an eye out for them for me?"
By this time, he had almost given up looking for the broken thing. During the time he was teaming up with Lily, he was naturally not idle either. He searched every nook and cranny of different houses, and even the toilet sink, but still found nothing.
The conclusion is that there's no such thing in this godforsaken place!
Snapped.
A small plastic bag was thrown in front of Xu Yang.
"This one?"
The voice was still cold.
Xu Yang looked at the words in his field of vision—
Water Purification Tablets *32
After a moment of silence, he picked up the bag and looked up, somewhat bewildered. "Where did you find this?"
"Sometimes I keep some in the front glove compartment of the car."
Car? Front seat drawer?
Xu Yang recalled the image of himself only ransacking the trunk, and a relieved smile appeared on his face...
"Okay, here's the bracelet, I'll take the pills."
After saying that, he got up and wandered around, eventually reaching the road, until a green helmet came into view.
"All of them are here!"
Xu Yang picked up his hat by the roadside.
[Task Completed]
In an instant, with the distribution of the reward, my body felt much lighter, and my spirits were refreshed as if my status had been refreshed. The actual increase in strength and agility made the weight of my backpack seem to have become much lighter out of thin air.
Self-sacrifice!
A glint flashed in Xu Yang's eyes. Mission accomplished, time to make a run for it!
He took a deep breath, calmed himself, waved, and called out, "Lily, when are we leaving?"
Not far away, Lily had already packed her backpack and was resting against the moss-covered wall. She heard Xu Yang's voice, which sounded like he was reporting the location to a monster, and a black line appeared on her forehead.
I have to leave right away!
The two walked along the road towards the outskirts of the city, and some rustling sounds slowly moved toward them.
……
Its bluish-black feet stepped onto the ground where the two people stood, its clumsy movements no different from those of its kind.
If I had to point out the differences—
The zombie's chest was bulging high, unlike a woman's breasts; it was just a simple, deformed lump of flesh that clung all the way up to its neck and even higher. There was also a black, slimy substance stuck to its mouth.
It followed the sound all the way to this place, but the target had already left. Only some stench lingered around, wandering aimlessly.
Until the zombie's eyes suddenly fixed on something not far away, its mouth opened, and the black sludge inside its mouth was instantly blasted out by a fierce gust of air.
"ah--"
Before it could attract any other monsters, the shrieking stopped abruptly as a thick human arm gripped its neck.
Click click click.
That was the sound of bones being twisted.
"Call me your mother!"
boom!
The zombie's head spun like a top before its entire body collapsed to the ground.
A muscular man in a vest stood to the side, wiping his hands on the ground. A bracelet on his wrist was trembling slightly.
"Hello, who is it?"
"Gu Xian, didn't I tell you to go and loot supplies? Where are they?" A voice, suppressing anger, came from the bracelet.
Gu Xian scratched his ear and said nonchalantly.
"It exploded."
"What?"
Gu Xian said somewhat irritably, "Those people are as fragile as paper. Their bones break with just a couple of bends. What can I do?"
"I'm asking about supplies."
"It exploded while I was spinning the top. These people are so selfish. They knew they were going to die and they didn't even protect my things. I just slapped them. How could I pay attention to anything else?"
"..."
"you--"
"I'm not saying anything more." Gu Xian decisively hung up the phone.
To be honest, he couldn't care less about supplies or anything like that; nothing was more important than his own pleasure. After all, he had barely escaped from that place with his life on the line.
After gaining power, what's wrong with enjoying it?
A mocking smile appeared on his lips. Before the mutation, I toiled away working for you; after the mutation, I'll still be working for you.
Did I mutate for nothing?
Some of the people in this doomsday convoy simply couldn't distinguish between the king and queen.
There is already a way to die!
As the saying goes, the first sword strike after landing is to kill the one you love. Gu Xian didn't need to learn the advanced skill of forgetting one's roots.
Self-taught skills are a fine tradition ingrained in human nature.
He usually refers to it as inheritance.
Gu Xian kicked the zombie's head away, his eyes showing some disinterest. A zombie is just a zombie after all; no one is as fun as a human.
People can even eat it.
While he was bored, his gaze suddenly fell on the ground, and he slowly picked up a package of protein rations.
His nostrils twitched slightly a few times.
"Hmm, this smells familiar, but why is there this strange, foul odor around me...?"
Gu Xian squinted, ignoring the stench emanating from the air, and stared at the food packaging for a long time. The slightly familiar smell eventually formed a small, petite figure in his mind.
is her!
A hint of hatred flashed in his eyes.
Not long ago, he met that little thing, and he thought it would be a "beautiful encounter" no different from any other.
As it turned out, the other party seemed to recognize him and turned to run away instead of obediently waiting to die, causing him to chase them all the way into a horde of monsters.
And to make matters worse, there was a shrieking zombie among them, and it took him a lot of effort to escape from the swarming monsters.
This is truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.
Gu Xian licked his lips, his gaze fixed on the distance. That tiny thing... it would be so much fun to tear it apart!
Start with your legs!