translator: liu_kaixuan  editor: valvrave
jiang luushi entered the mcv and walked toward one of the rooms. upon knocking and opening the roomâs door, his expression changed a little. that room belonged to the girls, and after taking residency, they changed its decoration, making it warmer and exquisite.
after the mcvâs upgrade, it was the first time for jiang liushi to visit that room. as soon as he entered the room, a faint and delicate fragrance attacked his nostrils. it was familiar light and pleasant smell, but it was neither perfume nor air-freshener. jiang liushi couldnât help taking a deep breath through his nose to find what that smell was. not long after, he realized that it may be the so-called smell of girls. as they had been living together, jiang liushi had caught whiffs of that smell, but now that the girls were gathered together in a room, it had become stronger.
ran xiyu, jiang zhuying, ling, and li yuxin were in the room. xiang xuehai was lying on the bed, while li yuxin was sitting beside her. she was pretty exhausted.
âyuxin, itâs hard on you. you did a good job,â said jiang liushi.
li yuxin smiled and nodded.
then, jiang liushi approached the bed, looking at xiang xuehai. âyou woke up,â said jiang liushi.
earlier, ran xiyu had informed him that xiang xuehai was out of danger. currently, xiang xuehai looked pale and weak. she didnât immediately respond to jiang liushi, but just stared at him. shortly after, she revealed a smile and said in a gentle voice, âlong time no see.â
âyouâre right, itâs been a long time,â replied jiang liushi. at that, he suddenly stretched his hand and grabbed xiang xuehaiâs hand gently.
âyou can rest assured that i will do my best to deal with your campâs problem,â said jiang liushi.
upon hearing his words, xiang xuehaiâs eyes were lit up. she didnât know the reason, but jiang liushi always brought a warm feeling to her. compared to the people in base cities, xiang xuehai trusted jiang liushi way more. she knew that once jiang liushi promised something, he would do it.
âyou need to rest. after getting better, you can share more details about what happened,â said jiang liushi.
as jiang liushi was about to pull his hand, xiang xuehai tightened her grip. she shook her head and said, âiâm fine now. yuxin has helped me get rid of all the poison in my system. i can tell you now. you must have heard that plague spread through my camp, right? well, that kind of plague can turn people into zombies.â
jiang zhuying blinked her eyes and asked in confusion, âah? zombies? isnât that the virusâ infection?â
âmany people share the same thoughts, but it actually differs from the virus. whoever is infected by the plague doesnât lose their consciousness. although their bodies become like zombiesâ and their habits begin to change, they are conscious enough to know that they are humans. but gradually, they turn into rotting corpses. whatâs worse, they are conscious throughout the whole process. turning into a zombie through the virus can be considered a better and less cruel fate, than the plagueâ¦â said xiang xuehai.
li yuxinâs face turned ashen as she imagines how excruciating it was, while jiang zhuying felt uncomfortable. even ling frowned.
âhow long does it last?â asked jiang liushi.
he could imagine how terrifying that plague was. it was indeed worse than being turned into a zombie directly. the plague was simply torture aiming at both the physical body and psychology of a person. many people would most certainly choose to commit suicide than experiencing the change.
âit doesnât last for long, butâ¦many people have already diedâ¦â answered xiang xuehai with trembling lips. no matter who it was, after witnessing such mind-numbing scenes, they would be scared to death. that was the reason xiang xuehai had come to ask for help.
âmiss xiang, you can rest now. yuxin, please take care of her,â said jiang liushi and stood up.
they had arrived at the gate of qionghai city. as the sun was setting, the high wallâs long shadow covered the mcv, which had long been reverted to its tour bus form.
âiâm fine. but where are we now?â asked xiang xuehai.
xiang xuehai noticed that the light becoming dimmer, so she turned to look out of the window only to see the city walls.
âqionghai city,â replied jiang liushi nonchalantly.
âwhat?â asked xiang xuehai in bewilderment.
xiang xuehai was petrified, and how could she not be? the bounty on the shi ying squad had been issued by qionghai city, so how they have come to such a dangerous place on their own volition?
although xiang xuehai knew that jiang liushi was a mighty individual, she thought that they should avoid entering qionghai city.
âdoes jiang liushi want to fight against the military?â
âwhat do you want to do? donât you know-â
jiang liushi interrupted xiang xuehai and answered, ânaturally, i came here to kill a certain someone.â
before reaching the city, jiang liushi had proposed to the remaining members of the storm squad to take their loved ones and leave the city for good. unexpectedly, none of them rejected the proposal. since they had already suffered a crushing defeat and they didnât like the way song lingchen had treated them before the end or the fact that they were doing someone elseâs dirty job, they should turn their back on that city. maybe they could establish their own teams and factions in some smaller towns.
of course, their decision to leave would be a huge loss for qionghai city as their battle prowess was one of the main reasons it had been developed to such an extent. but now, that was of no concern to them.
âkill a certain someone?â xiang xuehai was shocked by how ordinary and calm the word âkillâ sounded from jiang liushiâs mouth. before she could have the time to say something, jiang liushi had already left.
âstop! stop!â shouted the soldiers responsible for guarding the gate.
qionghai city was a trading center, so many teams visited to do business. unsurprisingly, the guards could also gain some benefits while checking all those teams.
âstop and accept our check!â shouted the captain of the guards.
he was a bearded young man, staring at jiang liushiâs tour bus as if he was looking at a treasure. as a captain, the young man was quite good at judging the strength of a team. he had already evaluated that the team inside the tour bus was very powerful. how else could they be driving a tour bus in such a treacherous world?
moreover, the tour bus was in a pretty good shape, while its interior, which he could see through the windshield, seemed luxurious. not to mention that the driver was a pretty lady. how could the captain not be moved?
âget off! everyone get off immediately!â shouted the captain as he wanted to take a closer look at the beauty.
the captain held up his gun and shouted again, âopen your door!â. he was eager to board the tour bus and search every inch of it. however, no matter what he said, nobody opened the door.
âcaptain, whatâs the matter? why did you stop?â at this time, zhang hai shouted from behind. usually, he would call jiang liushi âbrother jiangâ, but when they were about to enter qionghai city, he addressed him as captain.
the tour busâ color had changed, and jiang liushi had temporarily covered the license plates with their teamâs logo on them so nobody would recognize them easily. but even so, coming to the gate of the qionghai city directly was also quite dangerous. even luo jiafeng couldnât expect that shi ying squad would dare to be so audacious.
jiang liushi knew that the warlordsâ speed in spreading the news could not be fast and none of them knew how jiang liushi looked like exactly. thatâs the reason jiang liushi had dared to come directly.
âoh? you have two cars? the same rules apply to you too! get off!â said the captain without looking at them at all.
however, upon hearing the tankâs rumbling sound, the captain looked at its way, and his voice was stuck in his throat. âa tank! a type 99 main battle tank at that!?â the captain was dumbfounded as he stared at the tank.
âwhat happened? why can this group of people drive a tank? itâs the highest model of equipment in service.â the captain had witnessed many squads, but he had never met such a strange squad.
generally speaking, no team could afford to drive a tank. the fuel consumption would be extremely high for any team, while it was almost impossible to find ammunition to load the main gun of a tank. therefore, without the militaryâs support, how could one find ammunition?
the guards were thunderstruck. especially after hearing the man on the tank calling for his captain, who was unexpectedly on the tour bus.
âwhatâs the matter. donât talk nonsense. just let us in,â shouted zhang hai directly. âhey! iâm talking to you!â zhang hai carried his type 81 gun, hitting the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun on the main battle tank.
the captain swallowed a mouthful saliva and asked, âhow dare you drive a tank? it belongs to the army. did you snatch it, or did you pick it up? you hand it back to the army!â the captain finally reacted. âyou are not allowed to go! follow me to the military district now!â the captain clapped the gun in his hands and called for support from his intercom. the peculiar team made him feel nervous.
âwhat did you say? say it again! i snatched a tank, and itâs none of your business,â zhang hai shouted but stopped after seeing jiang liushi waving at him.
jiang liushi intended to go to the military district, and he wanted to find someone to lead the way for them.
âyou, put down your weapons and get off from the tank immediately,â shouted the captain again.
unexpectedly, zhang hai closed the tankâs lid loudly. then, the tankâs cannon was slowly aimed at the guardâs captain. the poor man swallowed a mouthful of saliva, not daring to say a word at zhang hai.
âdonât move!â
fortunately, at that moment, the support team arrived. although it was consisted of weak individuals, they were quite confident as the behind them was the military.
the support teamâs leader was a crow-headed man. the moment he appeared, he threatened, âfollow me! let me give you a warning. if you dare to fight inside, i promise you that you will regret it!â then, the crow-headed captain looked at the guardsâ captain with a big smile. as long as they handed the tank to the military, they would all be rewarded, as a tank was a valuable weapon.
âfollow me!â shouted the crow-headed leader.
jiang liushi just smiled and said, âletâs go.â
xiang xuehai looked at that leader sympathetically. he was truly a poor fellow. never could it have crossed his mind that he was actually inviting a wolf into his house. no matter what would happen later, he would pay for his incompetence.
zhang hai threw a disdainful glance at them before following behind and entering the city.