Chapter 43

The group of them split into two separate groups after coming out of the weapon store. Actually, some of them wanted to go along with Bai Yi’s group, but gave up on that idea after seeing that they gathered together without informing anybody else.

This was also the reason why Bai Yi directly asked Old Harvey for weapons and didn’t openly ask who wanted to go to the research facility. If he’d asked that way, then there would’ve definitely been some extra people in the team and honestly speaking, Bai Yi didn’t feel at ease with these extra people. After the incident with Yu Han, Bai Yi didn’t want to waste energy on internal struggles and schemes.

Bai Yi looked at the people gathered around him… 1. Bai Yi, 2. Momo (Pet: Sharpei), 3. Hong Qi Hua, 4. Woolf, 5. Heloise, 6. Martin, 7. Mavis, 8. Sara, 9. Little Warner (Pet: Pupu). Although the addition of Little Warner was unexpected, Hong Qi Hua already told him the reason and Bai Yi could still accept him entering the team as he was a child.

These people formed a real team, a real united team!

Woolf was now 2.5 meters tall with his muscles bulging out all over his body. His mouth became somewhat like a combination of a crocodile, dog, and cow, and his mouth that protruded outwards contained incomparably sharp teeth. On the surface of Woolf’s body, thick armoured skin started to appear, and behind his butt grew a thick and short tail. His right hand transformed into a sharp claw with curved nails, but it was definitely much more nimble than an animal’s claw.

Sharpei’s body grew to twice its previous size and it was almost 1.5 meters long now. Its skin was broken in multiple places as if pulled apart, revealing the bright red muscles underneath. Even so, there was no bleeding, and its skin now looked somewhat like that of the Tentacle Slug. Overall, Sharpei looked as different as it could be from its previous silly appearance. Now only one word could be used to describe it – sinister!

Bai Yi himself experienced great changes as well. Countless soft fur and colourful patterns spread out from his eyes and reached up to his chest. Other than not having any wings, Bai Yi completely looked like a hairy giant butterfly now.

If Bai Yi was a big butterfly, then Momo was a small butterfly. However, Momo’s change was a lot milder than Bai Yi’s, and her coloured patterns were dimmer as well.

Everyone else similarly had some changes, but they were not considered too big.

Bai Yi observed everyone seriously, and all who met his eyes gave a smile.

“Together, all of us… will survive and return to a safe world!” Bai Yi stretched out his right hand. Starting from Hong Qi Hua, everyone else also put their hands on top of Bai Yi’s and smiled. Even Little Warner stood with everyone as Hong Qi Hua held his hand. Momo at the end even jumped up and hung from everyone’s hands, and all of them immediately starting laughing out loud upon seeing her childish actions.

Sharpei and Pupu stayed outside and didn’t enter as they couldn’t pass their genes to the rest.

Happy and free laughter sounded from everyone’s mouth, and none of them had laughed this carefreely ever since New Zealand changed.

……

“Now then, let us begin our plans. Are all the cars and supplies ready?” Bai Yi looked at Martin. Over the past two days, Bai Yi didn’t just lie in bed all day. Ever since he woke up, Bai Yi began planning for their path in the future. Going to Tongariro National Park Research Facility wasn’t as easy as just saying it. The world outside had become extremely dangerous, so they had to make plenty of preparations early.

“En, everything’s prepared. With one heavy truck with a container, a lot of things can be stored inside. There’s also two off-road vehicles, and one of them is a convertible, along with another sports car. They’re more than enough for everyone to sit in.” Martin answered.

“Other than food, are other things like medicine and first aid supplies ready?” Bai Yi asked again, and Mavis and Sara immediately nodded their heads.

“Then let’s load the vehicles up and set out!” Bai YI nodded.

“Your injuries are still very severe, aren’t you going to continue resting?” Woolf asked.

“No need, resting on the road is the same as well. Now that Yu Han has left the base, we must hurry up as well. It wouldn’t be good if we let him reach the research facility first.” Bai Yi shook his head. What a regret, his heart had softened for a moment because of Khina, and now he had to be on guard against an enemy at all times.

When Bai Yi’s group finished loading up their vehicles and opened the main entrance to the base, everyone else was surprised. Just when did Bai Yi’s group finish all their preparations? Also, leaving so confidently like that with not even the slightest hint of worry, weren’t they afraid of encountering monsters?

The four cars drove out from the main entrance of the base, and everyone else looked on from the sides. As the cars passed the entrance, everyone’s line of sight crossed each other, and in their eyes contained various thoughts and emotions. From now on, everyone walked forward based on their own choices, and nobody knew what would happen in the future.

The gazes of people who were once friends crossed and watched as the cars drove farther and farther away into the distance.

Bai Yi, Woolf and Sharpei sat in the convertible leading the group. Following right behind them were Martin and Little Warner, who sat in the heavy truck. Their only role was to drive the truck well since they wouldn’t be able to help if there were any sudden incidents. After them were Mavis, Sara, and Momo who sat in the sports car. Hong Qi Hua and Heloise sat in the last off-road car. Although both of them were girls, they showed very outstanding performances during this period of time, so they should be able to handle any unexpected situations.

“Bai Yi, where are we headed to?” Woolf asked. Recently, Woolf had been recuperating from his wounds, so he was unable to help out with the preparations that Bai Yi had been secretly making. He couldn’t use his muscles, and obviously his brain wasn’t too useful either, so making Woolf think and plan ahead was just torturing him.

“Otorohanga Middle School!”

“There… But why?”

“Because Otorohanga Middle School has an ecological park; it was where students learned about animals. We won’t be able to find any special animals inside, but the more common ones should be there.”

“Ecological park?”

“You idiot, you forgot about our plan to actively fuse genes so quickly?” Bai Yi laughed and scolded. After Bai Yi’s reminder, Woolf suddenly recalled the matter. Bai Yi and Hong Qi Hua did raise this matter a few days ago, but after the encounter with the monsters and his severe injuries, he’d basically forgotten all about it.

It had been one week since the appearance of monsters in Otorohanga to now, and those who were initially in the city were either dead or had already escaped. Even if there were survivors, they would’ve definitely hidden themselves away at a safe and quiet place, so the entire city now was incomparably silent. The entire city was just like a ghost town, and they could only hear the sounds of their cars driving down the road.

Bai Yi drove the car while Woolf and Sharpei sat in the back of the convertible. With their sizes now, it was impossible to enter a normal car. Woolf cautiously carried a submachine gun while being on guard, fearing that a monster might jump out from anywhere. Sharpei laid on top of the car with its ears perked up slightly, the muscles bulging out from underneath its broken skin, appearing extremely sinister.

Suddenly, Sharpei turned its head, and Woolf pointed his submachine gun towards the side of the street.

The rest of them also instantly reacted and looked towards that direction. A large dog about the same size as Sharpei appeared over there. There were various characteristics of other lifeforms on its body, and it looked at everyone with hesitation in its eyes. Cats and dogs were the most common pets that humans had, however in comparison, dogs were more loyal to humans. This dog apparently did not have any plans to attack them.

“Should we kill it?”

“Woof!” Suddenly, Sharpei stood up and gave a loud bark over to that side. The large dog immediately replied with two barks after hearing Sharpei, and retreated towards the street behind them. Seeing the other dog leave, Sharpei laid down on the car again.

“What did Sharpei do?”

“Probably making the other dog leave, although they’re transforming into different types of monsters, they’re still of the same species. Sharpei probably didn’t want the other dog to throw away its life for no reason.” Bai Yi explained. Hearing Bai Yi’s words, Sharpei lightly barked a few times as if replying to Bai Yi’s words. Bai Yi was surprised for a moment, his explanation was purely a guess, it couldn’t be that Sharpei understood him?

Suddenly, they heard the sound of wings fluttering, and a big bird with wingspan over a meter wide flew over an apartment in the distance. Such a big bird definitely could not be found in a city in normal times, and an experimental monster wasn’t just this big either. Apparently, this bird had evolved naturally over this period of time.

Everyone inevitably got a fright seeing the big bird fly up, but seeing that the bird wasn’t a threat, they immediately let out a breath of relief.

They met several animals that were in their initial stages of evolution along the road, but Bai Yi’s group finally reached Otorohanga Middle School safely.

“Strange, there aren’t any monsters!” Woolf said somewhat dim-wittedly.

“Not strange, actually Hong Qi Hua had already analyzed this before. The three monsters we encountered before – the Giant Crab Alligator, Tentacle Slug and Armoured Shark Tortoise are all aquatic monsters. Based on Otorohanga’s topography, it’s located at a dispensary of the Waipa River. The research facility there is probably used for researching aquatic creatures. After so many days, these water creatures should’ve left through the river long ago.” Bai Yi explained.

“In reality, these cars were found by Martin and Heloise two days ago. This proves that all the giant monsters from the research facility have all left the city.” Bai Yi added.

“Oh, so that’s the case!” Woolf nodded.

……

The school was dead silent, and the convoy entered in a straight line and stopped in the middle of the spacious school field. Everyone got out of the cars and stood on the wide field. The trees and bushes on the edges of the field swayed gently in the wind while the sun in the sky shined brightly, giving everyone a feeling of peace.