CH 11

Bang!’ A wooden stick attacked the zombie’s legs. It lost its balance and suddenly fell backwards. Hao Jian took the crowbar and adjusted her grip and used the sharp end and slammed it on the zombie.

Hao Jian was exhausted when she had killed two zombies at once. She leaned against the tanker and looked at Lian Ru Ning, who was also catching her breath. If Lian Ru Ning hadn’t run out of the car, found a stick and helped her, Hao Jian might have been infected.

Thinking about it, she suddenly lifted her trousers and looked at her legs. Finding that there were no scars on the surface, she let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“Zombies have been killed, experience gained: +10, Points gained: +20.”

Lian Ru Ning looked around nervously and made sure that there were no other zombies around before asking, “Are you okay?”

“I’m alright.” Hao Jian waved her hand.

“Didn’t you say that the infection time is between 12 to 48 hours? Why did this person turn into a zombie right after being bitten?” Lian Ru Ning pointed at the zombie who had lost its face.

Hao Jian shook her head, “Let’s not talk about it right now, let’s hurry up and go.”

Lain Ru Ning looked at the small convenience store at the gas station and offered, “Come one, I’ll go inside and find something for us to eat.”

When they came out of the county, it was close to two o’clock in the afternoon and the clock ticks beyond three o’clock. Even if they only ate a piece of bread each, they would still have to consider their food for the evening and the next day. When given the chance, they should search for it. One should search.

“Wait a minute.” Hao Jian grabbed the walkie-talkies from the car and passed one to her, “Bring it.”

Although you shouldn’t use walkie-talkies and phone calls when in gas stations under normal circumstances, it’s an emergency and no one’s going to care about it that much anymore. Lian Ru Ning took the walkie-talkie and walked across the car on the opposite side then headed to the convenience store. Seeing her figure entering the store, Hao Jian also took out the gas gun and started to refuel the car.

The situation in the convenience store is not much better, many shelves were empty and the ground is full of scattered food. Lian Ru Ning found a box of beverage under a collapsed shelf and several other bags of biscuits, instant noodles, and an inflatable pump for the car.

“Someone’s coming.” Hao Jian’s voice echoed from the intercom.

Lian Ru Ning’s heart tightened and quietly walked to the door, holding the collected items. She then saw a car slowly stopping outside the gas station. In this situation, she has begun to question humanity and it’s hard to guarantee that the person will not attack them after seeing that Lian Ru Ning has in her hands.

“Should I go out directly?” Lian Ru Ning asked.

“Check if there’s a back door.”

Lian Ru Ning only saw an office and a storage room earlier and did not notice any back door. She want back to the storage room and took another look, spotting another door. When she opened it, she saw some debris piled up on a small flat ground and behind the fence was a green field.

“I’ll walk around from the back.”

“I’ll pick you up.” Hao Jian started the car and drove behind the convenience store, using it to block the vision of the strangers.

Lian Ru Ning placed the things in the back seat and sat down in the passenger seat in front. When they started the car, the car that they have been secretly observing also drove in. Without stopping, Hao Jian drove out the of the gas station and drove along the provincial highway to the southwest.

Hao Jian glanced at the rearview mirror and said, “I hope you won’t need to go to the toilet for the time being because we’re heading straight to Southern City next.”

Lian Ru Ning had no plans to urinate, but when Hao Jian brought it up, she suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom. To distract herself, she hurriedly asked, “What’s the matter with that zombie earlier, do you have a clue?”

Seeing that Lian Ru Ning considers her as an all-knowing sage, Hao Jian helplessly replied, “I really don’t have a clue, but I can make an assumption. I don’t know if you noticed that man’s neck just now.”

Lian Ru Ning recalled, “His neck has lost a large piece of meat, but. . .”

“Yes, the first time I saw a zombie killing someone was in Hao Fang’s house, but his mother who was killed by him did not turn into a zombie, why?” Hao Jian asked, “If the zombie virus entered the human body, calculating the expected time limit, then the person should not turn into a zombie so quickly, but why are there two different endings in the same situation?”

Lian Ru Ning also thought about it and soon discovered a difference, “Thinking about all the zombies we encountered and the people who were attacked by zombies, where were they injured?”

Hao Jian followed Lian Ru Ning’s line of thinking and calmly thought for a while before speaking, “Except for Hao Fang’s mother and the people at the gas station, without exception, the parts that the zombies attacked were below the neck.”

“Does the wound in the neck accelerate the zombification process?”

Hao Jian shook her head, “I don’t know, but my initial guess is that the zombie virus spread through blood. In addition to the varying incubation time that depends on the person’s physique, maybe it’s still related to how the people were attacked?”

“What do you mean?”

“I remember that Hao Fang bit his mother until she died, her neck was also completely broken. Without a a stent, the brain cannot control the body, right? That man, when we passed, it wasn’t sure that he has lost his life?”

When Hao Jian mentioned this, Lian Ru Ning also remembered, “The zombie did not cling to the man after attack it, instead, it attacked other living people. Because there are more attractive pray than the one it infected.”

“So suppose that the man was still breathing after being attacked by the zombie. By that time, his will was probably weak, and because the wound is on the neck, the virus is able to spread faster than when the wound is somewhere else. And the virus robs the people their ability to think. If the virus is strong, the people are weak, and if the people are strong, the virus is weak.”

“Is that the so-called ‘difference in personal physique’? Does that mean that there’s a possibility that a human can win against the virus?”

Hao Jian smiled as she shook her head, “This is just my guess, and as far as I know, there is no one who can withstand the virus at the moment. Even this self-proclaimed protagonist may not have its protagonist aura.”

“The protagonist?” Lian Ru Ning ‘pushed’ herself against Hao Jian and continued, “But I think you were handsome when you killed those zombies, just like a real protagonist.”

‘Badump–‘ Hao Jian’s heart jumped twice before quickly retracting her gaze from Lian Ru Ning and looked straight in front.

“If it weren’t for you, I might have been infected.”

“You saved me more than once, no matter how many times it wad, it won’t be enough.” Lian Ru Ning smiled.

The system analyzed Hao Jian’s strange behavior and suggested in a straight forward manner, “Host, kissing your soul mate will increase your experience by 1 and your points by 5, and making love with your soul mate will increase your experience by 20 and your points by 200 each time~”

Hao Jian almost stepped on the breaks, but fortunately she had good psychological stability and continued driving the car steadily. But Lian Ru Ning felt a little shock and immediately looked at Hao Jian, “What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

Hao Jian cleared her throat and solemnly said, “Sit down and fasten your seatbelt. Don’t block my sight.”

Lian Ru Ning went back to her seat, not fully understanding what happened to Hao Jian all of a sudden. Hao Jian saw Lian Ru Ning staring at her through the rearview mirror, feeling a little hot on her face. But without changing her expression, she said, “It’s hot, I’ll turn on the air conditioner.”

“Oh”

The cold air from the air conditioner slowly blew out, dissipating the sultry heat in the car. Lian Ru Ning seemed to be a little tired, so she leaned back on her chair and slowly fell asleep.

Hao Jian turned down the air conditioner to prevent Lian Ru Ning from catching a cold. The system just came out and spoke at this time, “The analysis on the host’s relationship with the partner is closer than the host thinks. Even without any information provided by any authoritative organization, this system can still find clues that ordinary people can’t notice and my observations will not shame my name of version 2018.”

“First, she has a name, don’t always call her ‘soul mate’ or ‘partner’, you don’t know if she really is my soul mate!” Hao Jian secretly rolled her eyes, “Secondly, aren’t those clues you claim are not provided still given to you?”

After a systematic analysis on Hao Jian’s words, the system searched for appropriate adjectives in its vocabulary and replied, “First, according to the analysis and comparison of the hormonal changes in the host’s emotions and thoughts, the corresponding interpretation of these information was found in the database. According to the records, the term in the lexicon is interpreted as ‘jealous’. Second, the clues given to the systems are provided by authoritative organizations. As a fair and honest system, this system will not use any authority to disclose such secrets.”

It was the first time that Hao Jian found a system that she wasn’t happy about, “Emmmm”. Though it should be said that it was her first time encountering the existence of such system since she didn’t know if the other systems were like it.

“This system is an independent program and do not share any connections with other systems. The host can be assured that your information will not be leaked to other systems.” The system replied.

“You have read my thoughts once again without permission. I wonder who was it that vowed that the can’t analyze my thoughts two days ago.”

“The host did not start the survival mission two days ago, and the host can only read and save the host’s thoughts.”

“In other words, just like a computer, you’re responsible for collecting information and storing it somewhere. After I started the survival mission, you will behave like a computer. My information will be submitted and processed by a similar central processing unit in your system. The device will send a feedback to your system. When I level up, you’re also upgraded?”

The system found that Hao Jian’s intellect was so scary that it decided to shut up obediently.