Chapter 1039: Large

Fists clenched tightly.

Xiong Hanzi gripped his fists tightly, staring at everything before him.

These kids have suffered enough. He couldn't imagine what those beasts had done.

Sitting aside, Lin An patted Xiong Hanzi's shoulder and shook his head slightly.

Although Ai Lin's later events haven't been told, he could imagine what happened next.

Only with Su Feiya and Ai Lin being able to move easily did they have to exert a hundred, even a thousand times more effort than ordinary people to survive.

Recalling the little girl's terrified, pleading look when she bumped into him, he could imagine how much abuse Su Feiya had suffered at the hands of other survivors during this time.

Every time they went out to find food, it was no less than a torture.

That clumsy, crawling gait, like an ugly worm on the ground, was her only way to avoid danger.

She had never seen this world in a day.

In the darkness, she used her fragile hands to feel the cruelty of this world, seeking hope to survive.

"Home" outside, beside the warehouse.

The two stood side by side; Zhang Tie lowered his head, somewhat unhappy, standing beside Lin An.

After a moment, he seemed to squeeze out a sentence from his chest:

"Lin Dui..."

"I really hate this Apocalypse..."

As he spoke, he unconsciously turned his head, looking at Su Feiya cheering and jumping around the campfire.

For some reason, he thought of many people.

There was his second uncle crushed to death in the hotel, those girls at the gas station, the maids of the Amoeba World, and also the children in the lab whose limbs were harvested..

After the Apocalypse, it seemed everywhere was sin, with not a glimmer of light to be seen.

He felt like a blind worm, clumsily following behind Lin An, searching for hope in a pitch‑black world.

Silent, Lin An shook his head without a sound; he knew what Xiong Hanzi was thinking at that moment.

After a moment, Lin An calmly spoke softly:

"There's nothing to think about."

"See and save, know and kill. That's all we can do."

Zhang Tie listened, then turned his head dejectedly, as if something had occurred to him, and asked:

"Lin Dui, can we save them?"

Hope in his eyes, Xiong Hanzi pointed at the group of children, feeling only a sour ache in his heart.

Although he was rough‑tempered and could be called brutal toward enemies, deep down he could not bear to see the weak and children suffer. He strongly opposed such scenes, fearing they might happen to Youwei, and fearing that wicked people would bully those he loved beside him.

After a pause, Lin An slowly offered a plan:

"Yes."

"After leaving food, we can contact the high level of the Soviet War Zone to have them send these children to the Safe Zone for care."

"But how long they can live, what will happen next—no one knows."

He sighed, Lin An and Xiong Hanzi exchanged a glance, then continued:

"If by saving them you mean everyone, we can't do that."

"Zhang Tie, snap out of it."

"Under the Apocalypse, we are merely travelers on a tightrope, unable to protect ourselves."

"Do you know how many such disabled people there are in the world?"

Lin An gave a bitter laugh; before meeting Su Feiya he had known the number, but had never imagined how such a group could survive in the Apocalypse.

After a pause, Lin An slowly gave the numbers:

"Before the Apocalypse, the world had six billion five hundred million disabled people... of whom about 1.5 billion were severely disabled. Hua Guo had 840 million, with 27 million severely disabled."

"After the Apocalypse, this number might drop to a tenth, but still there would be hundreds of millions."

"We, cannot save them all.."

In the silence, Xiong Hanzi was obviously stunned by the number; he stared up at Lin An in disbelief:

"Lin Dui!? How... how could there be so many!?"

"I never saw anything like that before..."

Looking back at life before the Apocalypse, the low‑ly Xiong Hanzi asked himself that he had certainly never seen any disabled people.

Shaking his head, Lin An calmly explained:

"It's simple: the severely disabled basically can't leave their homes. For them, modern society and the Apocalypse are no different."

"So it's normal that we don't see them."

Finally, Lin An suppressed his negative emotions and earnestly looked at Zhang Tie:

"If you truly want to save everything, the only way is to end this Apocalypse..."

"All of this requires strength."

"And we are doing it."

Hearing this, Zhang Tie was stunned, stood dumbfounded for a while, then nodded heavily.

After a moment, he set aside his dejected feelings and turned his body.

Carefully walking toward the squatting Su Feiya, Zhang Tie forced out an ugly smile, gave a simple grin:

"Su Feiya."

"Still want to eat canned food?"

"Do you like yellow peach?"

The night was extremely deep.

Above the gathering place outside the Thunder Spear Safe Zone.

Looking at the complex, slum-like gathering place on the ground, the cold-eyed Zhang Tie casually moved his wrist.

"Lin Dui, it seems this is it."

"According to Ailin, the Vulture Gang inside are the ones who captured them; this bunch of beasts even supplies human flesh."

"Hmm."

Nodding slightly, Lin An quickly locked onto the members guarding the periphery of the gang gathering place on the ground, a flash of coldness appearing in his eyes.

Although he asked himself he wasn't a hero, had no saintly complex, and never thought of saving everyone.

But some things ultimately touched his bottom line.

Without hesitation, after locking onto a few dozing Awakened Ones holding guns, the two rushed toward the ground like meteors falling from the sky.

"Whoosh—Boom!!"

The explosion sounded, and flames shot into the sky.

Zhang Tie, descending from the sky like a brutal beast, instantly blasted open the nearest iron door, his thick arm directly smashing the nearest guard into a pulp.

Inside the gang's stronghold stockpiled with supplies, several fierce-looking leaders listened fearfully to the huge noise outside the door.

Without time to put on clothes, several people hastily grabbed the rifles at their feet, cursing as they rushed out the door.

"Who goes there?!"

"Who's causing trouble out there?!"

The next second, a huge fist suddenly smashed through the iron door, responding to him.

Only seeing Zhang Tie, who had violently broken the door, after blasting it open with a punch, his eyes fixed tightly on the several leaders.

With a feral grin, Xiong Hanzi ignored the trembling gun pointed at him, giving a cruel smile:

"I'm the one who will kill you!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A few seconds later, the sound of bodies being blown apart accompanied by shrill screams rang out.

A few minutes later, the Vulture Gang, which had monopolized the most supplies in the gathering place, was destroyed in a sea of fire.

Standing on a piece of rubble, Xiong Hanzi ignored the surrounding fearful gazes and screams, smiling as he waved to the survivors he had rescued. However, in the firelight, those rescued survivors only dared to hurriedly offer thanks before fleeing in haste.

Turning his head, Zhang Tie grinned at Lin An:

"Lin Dui, I feel..."

"I feel much better."

Lin An smiled faintly, finding Zhang Tie's spirited appearance somewhat amusing, thinking this guy was truly a warmonger.

The entire gang gathering place was almost single-handedly destroyed by this bear.

A few seconds later, just as Lin An was about to leave, a familiar message suddenly flashed in his private messages.

Seeing the source of the message, Lin An was slightly stunned, then his eyes showed a hint of surprise.

"I'm so hungry..."

"You bad guy Lin An..."

"You left me behind again!!"

In the cave on the mountainside, Xiao Mo Ling leaned weakly against the wall, dazedly staring at her palm. Unconsciously, she couldn't help but lower her head to glance down: "How... did I get so big...?"

How... did I get so big...?