Chapter 1477

6a「whydoesn'thespeak？（Why doesn't he speak？」

Lin An blankly looked at the surrounding children whispering around himself, anxious and uneasy kids, his chapped lips unconsciously slightly opened.

He could tell these strange children seemed worried about his physical condition, or rather, there was also a timid, eager emotion about what he could do.

He wasn't silent because he couldn't understand; rather, faced with this situation suddenly, he had too much to consider at once.

Without spiritual power supporting him, even a slight rapid thought made his head feel like it was about to explode.

System functions disappeared, no power..

That wouldn't it mean he now lacks even the ability to contact anyone..

Even saying, including opening the Space Ring.

With difficulty turning his head, Lin An unconsciously looked at his own body.

He saw his Equipment seemingly disappear; what was once ferocious armor, mask, and suit that looked powerful had turned into ordinary plain clothes.

Perhaps the road was difficult for these children dragging him back.

He was soaked all over, his clothes covered in mud and blood clots.

The only thing left was the dim, lusterless Doomsday Ring, as if turned into cheap jewelry.

"Indeed.. can't open the ring.."

He bitterly smiled inside, feeling intense hunger in his abdomen; Lin An felt powerless for the first time, or rather after a long absence. He never imagined he would ever feel hunger again.

And in his ring was stored enough system "food" to supply over ten thousand Awakened Ones for a week.

"Restart... evade system erasure.."

"So, is it that the Savior System forcibly hid all my power, tricking the Doomsday System like feigning death?"

"Equipment missing.. should have been stored in the ring."

"To avoid detection by the system as much as possible, am I now considered a black household..."

He desperately tried to recall the last information left by the Savior System.

Lin An's mouth twitched with bitterness; he could feel the Savior System's final act was like a hamster caught stealing food, stepped on and near death, desperately dragging its little parcel everywhere to flee.

Now, he and the Savior System can only hide in a dark corner, waiting for the room's owner to "forget" them.

"A thousand hours to reboot, about a month and a half to regain power? But my current physique..."

He didn't even have the strength to clench a fist; as soon as he exerted force, Lin An felt piercing pain throughout his body.

Damn it..

With this physical condition, wanting to survive the Apocalypse is basically hell difficulty..

No need for third-rank fourth-stage Mutants to kill him; even a few Zombies rushing in could eat him alive! He's even weaker than Wen Ya back then!

「anduin！？ishegoingtobecomeazombie！？（Anduyin, is he turning into a Zombie!?)」

As Lin An struggled to sit up and examine the surroundings.

Perhaps his stiff movements resembled turning into a Zombie; as soon as he pushed himself up, the little boy in a yellow lamp hat around him screamed.

In the children's panic, a slightly taller, seventeen- or eighteen-year-old blond boy grabbed the pitchfork from the wall corner, solemnly charged at Lin An.

「getoutoftheway! i'llkillhim（Make way! I'm going to kill him！）! 」

"Wait!! (Wait!!)"

Looking at the boy rushing over, as if afraid he'd turn into a Zombie, Lin An weakly waved his hand, hoarsely speaking to indicate he wasn't a Zombie.

Helpless.

If the opponent really gave him a stab, he would likely die...

He could understand English, even without system translation; he had memorized a lot of miscellaneous stuff since third rank, especially when reading foreign documents to better comprehend the notes left by "Sunwalkers". With learning ability beyond human limits, Lin An's grasp was not bad; only his accent was still somewhat unskilled.

"You okay!?"

"Then we.."

The charging steps suddenly halted.

The boy who rushed over seemed to be the leader of these children.

Seeing Lin An's bitter smile and hoarse speech, he embarrassedly lowered his pitchfork, after a brief panic calmed down, and then seemed to ask Lin An if he wanted something to eat.

"Drip drip"

Filthy and foul, slightly corrosive acid rain fell from the tin shed.

Leaning against a relatively dry pile of firewood, Lin An held an iron box and slowly drank the gruel inside.

The iron box smelled of machine oil, and the blackish gruel in this makeshift 'bowl' seemed to be a mixture of some plant's roots and stems with slightly moldy oat flakes.

Even in the Faction: Long An, I doubt the Survivors outside the city would eat something this bad; but for Lin An, who desperately needed energy, he wasted not a single mouthful.

Even in the worst times of my Past Life... I wouldn't have eaten this...

At least, hiding in the suburbs, one could still find a bit of expired canned food...

After gulping down the last mouthful, Lin An set down the iron box and immediately saw the children squatting on the ground, apparently eyeing the gruel in his hands.

Their throats bobbed, and many of the younger ones even bit their own dirty fingers, incessantly swallowing saliva.

Seeing this, Lin An immediately realized that the situation of this group of children seemed quite dire.

The crackling campfire brought a hint of warmth; the firelight shone on the children's faces, some of them appearing dim and yellowish.

This must be abroad... judging by their features, although their faces are gaunt and their skin yellowed, one can tell they are Caucasian.

Could it be Northern Europe? An English-speaking country? It could also be North America.

Miners' helmets, the smell of machine oil, and the severe wear on their shoes and fingers suggest they were working in a mine or factory...

Just like those children who wanted to say something but dared not, only able to wait until he finished drinking.

Lin An was also observing them, observing his own situation.

If nothing unexpected happened, he must have been transmitted to the Europe-America war zone via spatial turbulence, possibly also to the North America war zone. After landing in some remote location, this group of children dragged him back.

Just with his extremely keen observation, Lin An could clearly feel that the way these children looked at him always carried a cautious, eager longing.

"Thank you."

After sensing a slight rise of strength within him, Lin An earnestly looked at this group of children who were only fourteen or fifteen.

His thanks were sincere; if he hadn't been brought back, or if he had encountered other survivors, he would very likely have become a piece of meat in a zombie's stomach.

"You really should thank us."

Unexpectedly, as Lin An spoke first, appearing to be the leader of this group, the boy who had almost stabbed him with a fork earlier quickly walked over, then crouched in front of Lin An and scrutinized him carefully.

"If it weren't for Xiao Houzi finding you, you would have been eaten by zombies in a few minutes."

"We dragged you back, it took a lot of strength."

"So you owe us your life."

"That bowl of porridge is my ration, so you additionally owe me a life."

Fingering the dagger at his waist, the boy Anduyin seemed unaccustomed to talking with people; he looked at Lin An with some wariness and some hope, and spoke earnestly.

Hearing the boy's blunt words, Lin An blinked slightly, then smiled indifferently and nodded.

The boy spoke bluntly, but he had indeed saved him; this kindness, he would naturally remember.

Seeing Lin An's acquiescence, the boy then seemed to relax, and quickly asked nervously:

"Are you an Awakened One?"

"If so, are you First Level or Second Level?"

"I saw you fall from the sky! Ordinary people can't fall from the sky!"

"But what about the power on your body? Are you hiding it, or is your body not healed yet?"

Listening to the boy's successive questions, it was obvious he cared a lot about whether Lin An was an Awakened One.

Lin An hesitated for a moment, as if thinking of something, then asked softly:

"You lot seem to have run into some trouble."

A group of children, the oldest being only about seventeen or eighteen.

Although he lacked psychic perception, relying on his own judgment, Lin An could tell at a glance that the children's situation was dire, and there wasn't even a suspected Awakened One among them.

That was obvious; given how concerned they were about his identity, they must have run into trouble that required an Awakened One to resolve.