Chapter 86: Battered and bruised

Lin Chen gripped the Purple Lightning Purification Gun and slowly opened a crack in the villa door,

poking his head out to look—standing outside was a teenager of about fifteen or sixteen, wearing a tattered anti-extreme cold jacket,

but his face was abnormally pale, and his eyes were a faint gray, clearly having already turned into a zombie.

The boy saw Lin Chen, stretched out a trembling hand, and said in a hoarse voice: "Can you... save me... I don't want to turn into a zombie..." Lin Chen didn't hesitate,

raised the Purple Lightning Purification Gun at the boy, and pulled the trigger. A pale purple current surged out,

and the moment it hit the boy, his body instantly melted into black sludge, scattering in the snow.

A cold wind blew, and the black sludge was blown away without a trace. Xia Nuan walked out from behind,

saw this scene, frowned, and said to Lin Chen: "You're too cruel! He was just a child,

maybe he could still be saved!" Lin Chen put away the gun and said coldly: "Get lost! In the apocalypse, a zombie is a zombie; there's no difference between a child and an adult. If you don't kill him, he'll kill us sooner or later!"

"How can you say that?

" Xia Nuan's eyes turned red, and tears fell,

"You weren't like this before. You used to save survivors; why have you become so cold-blooded now?" Lin Chen was enraged by her words,

and shouted at her: "If you think I'm cruel, you can get lost! No one is stopping you!"

Xia Nuan was so angry she trembled all over, rushed up, and punched Lin Chen in the chest. Lin Chen didn't show weakness,

grabbed her arm, threw her with force, and pinned her to the ground. Xia Nuan struggled to get up,

and Lin Chen pressed her head down and slammed it hard against the floor—with a "bang," Xia Nuan's head hit the floor, and blood instantly flowed out, leaving her battered and bruised.

A Kai stood to the side, trembling all over, not daring to speak, and could only watch as the two of them fought.

Lin Chen let go, looked at Xia Nuan on the ground, and said coldly: "This is the price for provoking me; don't interfere in my business again!" With that, he turned and walked into his room, closing the door.

Xia Nuan lay on the ground, tears and blood mixing together, and A Kai hurriedly ran over,

helped her up: "Sister Xia Nuan, are you okay? I'll take you to treat your wounds." Xia Nuan shook her head, her voice choked with sobs: "I'm fine... I just feel like he's changed..."

Lin Chen sat on the chair in his room, feeling full of restlessness. Just then,

the system's voice suddenly rang in his mind: 【Detected host's recent performance meets system criteria, paused service status lifted, system officially returned】. Lin Chen was stunned, then asked the system: "What about Su Qing and Zhang Hao? Are they still alive?"

【Detected Su Qing and Zhang Hao's vital signs are stable, currently in a safe state】 the system replied. Lin Chen felt a surge of joy and asked anxiously: "Where are they? Send me their location!" 【Insufficient permissions, unable to provide specific location information】 The system's answer made Lin Chen instantly angry,

and he cursed at the system: "You piece of trash! You can't even find their location, and you dare to say you've returned?

" The system didn't respond again, falling into silence.

Lin Chen cursed a few more times, his anger gradually fading, and he leaned back in his chair, falling asleep without realizing it.

In his dream, he returned to the world before the apocalypse—the sun was bright, the streets were full of people,

and his parents were sitting on the sofa at home, smiling at him: "Son, you're back?

Go wash your hands and eat." He also saw Xia Nuan, wearing a white wedding dress, standing in a church, smiling at him: "Lin Chen, let's get married."

The scene switched to Su Qing and Zhang Hao's perspective—the two were hiding in an abandoned supermarket, the supermarket's doors and windows were frozen shut, and it was pitch black inside.

Su Qing hugged her knees and sat on the ground, complaining: "Even though we're wearing protective suits that can withstand tens of thousands of degrees below zero,

we don't have food, and we'll starve to death sooner or later! Didn't you say you could find supplies? Now there isn't even a breadcrumb!"

Zhang Hao sat beside her, irritably scratching his hair: "I can't help it! I looked for several friends,

and they were either bitten to death by zombies, taken away by the Shadow Organization, or beaten to death by other survivors,

and others were frozen to death in their homes; the rest are hiding and don't dare to come out, so I can't contact them at all!"

"You're just useless!" Su Qing shouted at him, "If I had known, I wouldn't have left with you in the first place; following Lin Chen might have kept us alive!" Zhang Hao got angry too,

stood up and shouted at Su Qing: "Do you think I want this? If you hadn't insisted on grabbing that bottle of water, could we have been chased by the experimental guardians? Now you're blaming me!"

The two argued more and more fiercely, until finally they both fell silent, looking at the pitch-black ceiling, not knowing what to do about the future.

Lin Chen woke up from the dream with a start, finding himself still in the room, and it was already dawn outside.

He rubbed his eyes, remembering the scenes in the dream, feeling a sense of loss. Just as he was about to get out of bed,

he heard A Kai's voice in the living room: "Brother Lin Chen, are you awake? Sister Xia Nuan's wounds are treated; should we go find He Shao today?" ===== CHAPTER 87 =====