Chapter 450: Apocalyptic Trading System (22)

The return journey was much faster than the trip there.

But because they had to electrocute the Zombies into ash and shovel them into snake-skin bags, it still took quite a bit of effort.

By the time they returned to the entrance of the Overpass, the sky had already turned completely dark.

Xie Yongcheng used compressed car body panels to make a metal roadblock, which he placed horizontally at the entrance of the Overpass.

A line of text was engraved on the top—

【Cleanup of the Overpass surface is not yet complete; the four-kilometer mark remains heavily blocked and impassable, detour advised.】

But if someone refused to listen to the advice, moved the roadblock, and insisted on taking the Overpass, then that was up to them.

Four kilometers out, vehicles still couldn't pass; if they encountered Zombies and couldn't handle them, they could just turn around and run.

At the very least, the area within four kilometers had been cleared by them so as not to hinder escape.

Everything that needed to be done was done, and the necessary warnings were given, so the group did not linger and headed straight back to the Courtyard Residential Quarter without stopping.

They unloaded the metal materials from the roof of the Recreational Vehicle, the Zombie Ash, and the supplies from inside the vehicle.

Qin Tao did not leave immediately, but instead stood by the vehicle to help receive the items from the roof.

Although his strength was not as great as the four members of the Xie Family, he did not complain about being tired or exhausted.

The muscles in his arms were taut after exerting force, and he gritted his teeth as he carried the bags of Zombie Ash one by one into the Xie Family's courtyard, carefully avoiding the vegetables and fruits as he stacked them neatly.

Yu Baozhi was moved by the sight and invited him: "Little Qin, you've worked hard today! Take your things back and get them settled, then come to our house for dinner in a while."

"No need, I still have rice balls I haven't eaten..."

Xie Yan patted his shoulder: "If you're told to come, then come. Don't dawdle, are you a man or not?"

"..."

At critical moments, one still has to rely on reverse psychology.

Qin Tao scratched his head and agreed.

While he went back next door, Xie Yang took out a vial of Body Strengthening Fluid and handed it to Xie Yan.

This was something the family of four had discussed before going to sleep last night.

If Qin Tao passed their family's assessment today, they would give him a vial of Strengthening Fluid to take.

Of course, they wouldn't give it to him directly, but would mix it into fruit juice for him to drink, letting him think he had accidentally awakened a strength-based ability.

Just like that, Qin Tao also became a strongman capable of easily lifting a tripod.

When he discovered his own changes, he opened his mouth wide in surprise:

"Th-this is an ability? I can actually lift a metal table easily with one finger?"

"Congratulations, brother! You've awakened a strength-based ability!"

Xie Yan smiled and patted his shoulder.

Upon hearing this, Qin Tao excitedly performed several tiger-leaps, his mood still too stirred to calm down.

"Buddy, I'm so happy! I thought I wouldn't awaken an ability!"

Speaking of this, he let out an "Eh":

"That's not right! I wasn't infected by a Zombie, so how could I awaken an ability?"

"..."

The lie couldn't be kept up.

Xie Yan yawned and feigned sleepiness:

"Oh, having it is enough, who cares where it came from. Enough talk, I'm exhausted after a day of work, I'm going to sleep! We have to go out again tomorrow! You should get some sleep too! If you doze off while driving tomorrow and delay our important business, hmph hmph..."

Qin Tao was truly distracted by the change of topic, patting his chest as he said: "Don't worry, brother, I will definitely sleep early and wake up early, I absolutely won't delay our important business!"

The night passed without dreams... oh, except for Qin Tao.

He had a wonderful dream all night long.

When he woke up in the morning, he still felt it was unbelievable; he stretched out his finger to lift the wire bed he was lying on, only to find it didn't budge.

He sobered up instantly: Oh my! Could it really have been a dream? Did he actually not awaken a strength-based ability?

He was so scared he jumped up from the bed in a startle, and only then did he realize:

Psh! He was on the bed, of course he couldn't lift it!

Should he try again now?

He stood by the bed, tentatively extended one finger, hooked it lightly under the edge of the bed, applied an upward force, and gave it a lift.

The bed moved.

He had lifted a sturdy wire bed with ease using a single finger!

It wasn't a dream!

That's great!

The smile on the corners of Qin Tao's mouth stretched all the way to his ears.

Today, Xie Yang's family took Qin Tao to continue clearing Zombies from the Overpass.

The roadblock sign set up at the Overpass entrance last night hadn't been moved, which showed that no one had come here last night.

Or perhaps they had passed by, but saw the warning and didn't go onto the Overpass.

Xie Yan got out of the vehicle to move the roadblock, and after the Recreational Vehicle drove up, he put the roadblock back.

With the cooperation from yesterday, today's efficiency was clearly higher.

By three o'clock in the afternoon, they had already cleared half of the entire Overpass surface.

The return journey was the same: collecting Zombie Ash, loading compressed car body panels, and heading home with a vehicle full of supplies.

However, when they went on the third day, they discovered that a team of Ability Users had moved the roadblock and gone onto the bridge deck.

Xie Yang observed for a while through the "Little Bee," seeing that although they lacked a Metal Ability to compress the scrapped vehicles, they had apparently taken inspiration from the vehicles Yu Baozhi had stacked along the side, moving the blocking vehicles ahead to the side, and when they couldn't fit them, stacking them on top, much like playing Jenga.

Since someone else was doing their work, they would not go up onto the overpass.

Even without the Trading System, the supplies collected from the cars over the past two days were enough to keep them fed for quite a while.

"So where are we going next?" Xie Yan asked, "Should we go check out other overpasses? But the other overpasses don't seem as congested, there's no challenge."

"Then I'll go back to the Heyuan," Yu Baozhi said, "Didn't I find a box of seeds in a flower and bird market van yesterday? I want to go back and try planting them."

After two days of experience, she had fully mastered the Plant Domestication Technique; compared to clearing debris, she enjoyed growing vegetables more.

"Then let's take Mom back to the Heyuan first," Xie Yang said, pointing to a spot on the map, "And then let's go check out this Over-River Tunnel?"

The Main System said that a mother and daughter there were her Bond, and she needed to go save them.

"Ah Hao!"

Holding her fainted daughter, Zhong Yuling called out to her husband, begging bitterly:

"Xiao Shi wasn't bitten by a Zombie, and there isn't a single wound on her body. She most likely fainted from low blood sugar after being starved for these past few days. Don't abandon us mother and daughter!"

"Jiang Hao!"

On the other side of the tunnel, a seductive woman playing with a Fireball in her hand leaned against the tunnel wall and beckoned to the man:

"Hurry up and come over!"

"Wenwen!"

Without even looking back, Jiang Hao trotted through the long line of traffic and ran toward the opposite side.

Luo Wen was his college classmate and also his first love.

It was just that the year they graduated, Luo Wen's mother died in a car accident, and her father was also diagnosed with cancer that same year. Jiang's mother felt that this girl Luo Wen was ill-fated and cursed her parents, so she refused to let her son marry her no matter what, and then began mobilizing relatives, friends, colleagues, and neighbors to introduce satisfactory candidates, arranging one blind date after another for her son.

During that time, Luo Wen had been staying in her hometown accompanying her father through chemotherapy.

Every time she spoke to Jiang Hao on the phone, it was either a hurried mention that she was at the hospital and would talk later, or she was crying about her father's illness.

Jiang Hao had no one to confide his troubles in, and unable to resist his parents' pressure to marry, he had no choice but to perfunctorily go meet a few.

And then he met his current wife, Zhong Yuling.