LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 25 - Evolution.
On the car bucket, apart from Shi Tao, there was also a hypnotic ability user, who was a beautiful lady. Shi Tao, surrounded by zombies, still didn’t forget to bring a female companion, which is truly puzzling.
Shi Tao noticed the anomaly in Song Xinqi and couldn’t help but feel a hint of suspicion: “What’s wrong with you?”
Yu Xiaoxue used her claws to push away the zombies attempting to climb onto the car bucket, shaking her head and wagging her tail as she sniffed around Shi Tao. Shi Tao’s body tensed, and he began to tremble slightly physiologically in the face of the fierce beast.
The hypnotic ability user was filled with panic and grabbed Shi his arm tightly. He dared not move and, seemingly composed, said to Song Xinqi, “By the way, where’s Yu Qing? Why haven’t I seen him?”
Song Xinqi’s brows furrowed in annoyance as he kicked away a climbing zombie. “None of your business.”
Yu Qing, while Song Xinqi was facing outside the car, groggily reached out, “Someone called me?”
Song Xinqi used his finger to push him back down and whispered, “It’s none of your business.”
The screams of the zombies outside the car were noisy, drowning out their brief conversation, and others could only see Song Xinqi bowing his head, assuming he was checking for wounds on his body.
The zombies on both sides were each handled by Shi Tao and Song Xinqi, while the hypnotic ability user stood in the safest position in the middle of the car bucket connected to the car body.
The off-road vehicle, not particularly large in size, lacked the imposing aura of a truck crushing everything in its path, making it difficult to navigate through the zombie horde. Zombies’ hands constantly reached towards the car, trying to clean them out one by one.
Suddenly, there was a call from the sensing ability user ahead, prompting the hypnotic ability user to follow suit with a shout. A zombie’s hand broke through the front windshield, but it was limited by the glass, only able to reach out desperately towards the sensing ability user.
The sensing ability user, filled with fear, pressed tightly against the car door, fearing being grabbed. “There are zombies ahead, someone help!”
A bolt of lightning struck the zombie, leaving its clothes charred and emitting white smoke, but it still roared and reached towards him.
“It’s not dead yet, it’s not dead!”
The piercing scream was like a sharp needle piercing Song Xinqi’s mind, causing his face to pale even more.
He used his psychic power to erase the zombie’s will, speaking harshly, “Shut your mouth.”
The zombie’s hand, which had reached the sensing ability user’s face, lowered, shaking uneasily, as it pushed the dead hand aside and tightly gripped the steering wheel.
Three or two lightning bolts struck the zombie, causing Shi Tao’s back to sweat. The intense use of abilities left him somewhat exhausted, and he took a breath, looking towards Song Xinqi, who was responsible for the other side.
Song Xinqi’s complexion was even worse than his, but he showed no mercy in using his abilities. Behind the car, the terrifying snow leopard was in charge, her sharp claws and teeth fully grown, making it easy to tear through the zombies and throw them to the back of the car.
“Roar!” Yu Xiaoxue roared menacingly under the car.
He had indeed picked the right person.
In fact, Song Xinqi’s abilities had been rapidly depleting due to the debuff of high fever. His ability to kill was sharply reduced, but fortunately, he didn’t need to kill every zombie; controlling them to stay away from the car was enough.
And he still had more than a hundred crystal cores on him that could replenish his abilities at any time, so breaking out was not a problem.
In addition to the completely blocked main gate of the base, there was also a back door specifically for escape, and all surviving ability users rushed towards the back door.
As soon as an enhancement ability user broke through the zombies blocking the door, he saw a car passing by and immediately raised his hand high, shouting loudly, “There are people here, help me!”
Shi Tao ordered the sensing ability user, “Don’t stop!”
Seeing the car getting farther and farther away, it was simply impossible for him to escape bare-handed, the enhancement ability user gritted his teeth and increased the output of his abilities, intending to leap onto the car in one go.
However, the next moment, a bolt of lightning struck down from above him, causing his muscles to stiffen and fall backwards.
Hearing the cry of the hypnotic ability user, Song Xinqi glanced over, witnessing the whole process of the enhancement ability user being struck by Shi Tao and then being surrounded by zombies. He saw a hint of disdain in Shi Tao’s eyes.
However, another strange thing happened. The zombies that were originally chasing the car suddenly changed direction, and some of them who had already clung to the edge of the car voluntarily jumped off. The zombies rushed over like ants seeing breadcrumbs.
Even though the enhancement ability user’s body had been submerged by the zombies in front of him, the ones coming from behind still pounced one after another, forming a strange zombie bulge.
This sudden change gave them a brief respite. Song Xinqi quickly absorbed three crystal cores, replenishing all the abilities he had consumed.
Although his abilities were restored, the headache symptoms remained unchanged. This was the aftermath of using abilities for a long time, mental instability.
No matter how many crystal cores he absorbed, he couldn’t solve it. Currently, the only way to alleviate it was to rely on time… oh, and to listen to Yu Qing’s nonsense.
Shi Tao looked at the pile of zombie bulges in contemplation, surrounded by some similar bulges around them, some of which were close to them, but still heading towards the bulge.
Before he didn’t know what the bulge was for, but now seeing it form, he finally understood.
The car moved from one street to another, with many fleeing ability users and vehicles around. The honking and various shouts caused Song Xinqi to feel dizzy to some extent, immediately supporting himself against the car edge to stop his body, not letting Shi Tao notice anything wrong.
The ability users all wanted to get on the car when they saw it, sometimes even pushing their companions off to get on. There were times when people couldn’t distinguish who was more dangerous, humans or zombies.
“You damn let me up!”
“I was here first!”
Two ability users on the roof of a moving car started arguing, completely ignoring the zombies that had already climbed up, and began pushing each other.
One ability user was grabbed by a zombie at the ankle, and fell off the car. His body rolled down and blocked the front windshield of the car. There was a corner ahead, and the car crashed into the wall, the people inside panicking and trying to reverse, but it was too late.
Many people were fleeing to the back door. The more people there were, the more zombies there would be. Shi Tao gradually felt overwhelmed, unable to use his abilities several times. His gaze shifted and landed on an ability user not far from the car.
The person who had been escaping well suddenly got hit by a lightning bolt from the sky, not very powerful but enough to numb his feet. This slowed him down, and he got caught by the zombies.
Another bulge formed, and the zombies on his side all headed towards it, reducing the pressure.
His eyes flashed with a plan. He found a way to both conserve his abilities and repel the zombies.
Finally, they reached the rear door, where many other ability users were gathered. Countless zombies had formed bulges.
Some zombies blocked the entrance, while others formed bulges. Surprisingly, in the middle, there was a stretch of empty space without any zombies. They were temporarily safe.
Cold sweat soaked the back of Song Xinqi, and his ears buzzed so much he could hardly hear anything.
The sensory ability user shifted from side to side to check the situation in front. “Boss, it looks like the rear door is also blocked.”
Song Xinqi struggled to hold himself up, took a glance ahead, and saw a massive horde of zombies blocking the way. They resembled trapped beasts, with no way out no matter where they tried to break through.
At the same time, he felt the fever gradually receding.
Shi Tao’s expression was solemn as he turned to Song Xinqi, “Brother Song, we…”
He cut himself off, staring at Song Xinqi, whose face had gone pale, nearly unable to stand. His solemn expression was gradually replaced by a gleam in his eyes.
He didn’t know how many zombies would be attracted if he threw Song Xinqi down.
“Brother Song, what’s wrong with you?” His tone sounded concerned, but his face was dark. He took a step closer to Song Xinqi, who was struggling to stand, “You seem very uncomfortable.”
Before he could get close, Yu Xiaoxue stood between them, preparing to attack him.
Shi Tao’s face twisted into a smirk, gesturing to the hypnotic ability user. The hypnotic ability user stepped forward and stood in front of Yu Xiaoxue. “Look into my eyes.”
She roared, showing her sharp teeth, ready to pounce on both of them. However, as soon as her eyes met the hypnotic ability user’s, she paused, then slumped to the side, as if falling asleep.
The sound of screaming from behind the car made both the hypnotic and sensory ability users shudder. They looked at each other with fearful eyes.
“I-I was forced by him,” the hypnotic ability user knelt on the car, tears streaming down her face, pointing at Shi Tao, “Please don’t kill me, I beg you.”
The sensory ability user also wanted to say something but just looked at Song Xinqi and said, “Keep driving.”
Then, they saw a huge wave of zombies ahead, and the sensory ability user couldn’t help but tremble. “Th-there are z-zom-zombies…”
“Keep driving, accelerate,” Song Xinqi commanded.
The sensory ability user dared not resist, gritted his teeth, stepped on the accelerator, and rushed towards the rear door at full speed.
Yu Xiaoxue stared at the approaching horde of zombies, calming herself down. She extended her hand forward, making a downward gesture.
In the instant when the densely packed zombies in front of her vanished, the off-road vehicle sped out of the empty gate, breaking out of the base.
The zombies didn’t disappear; they all turned into tiny dolls, crushed under the wheels of the off-road vehicle.
The sensory ability user opened his eyes and saw the wide open outside, exclaiming, “We made it out!”
The hypnotic ability user, who had thought she was doomed, covered her mouth and started crying.
A large pool of blood splattered onto the windscreen at the front of the truck bed, leaving a shocking, bright red stain. Song Xinqi’s pupils constricted slightly as he quickly caught the collapsing Yu Qing.
Yu Qing’s face was deathly pale, starkly contrasting with the bright red at the corner of his mouth. His chest heaved violently, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.
Yu Xiaoxue whimpered, anxiously circling around the two of them.
“Yu Qing,” Song Xinqi called softly.
His eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes half-closed. “Did I succeed?”
Song Xinqi replied, “You did.”
“Great.” He smiled and made a victory sign at him. When he lowered his hand, his voice carried a hint of choking.
He didn’t know how much effect his unstable powers would have, so he used all his strength. However, the number of zombies was uncountable. The moment he activated his powers, it drained all of his energy, and it still wasn’t enough.
To make up the deficit, his body automatically converted all the energy it could summon into the power being consumed, emptying him out completely.
“Song Xinqi, my body hurts so much, everywhere hurts.”