Chapter 32: Successful Escape

I... I'll go in first to have a look.

A Qiang volunteered.

He picked up an aluminum can and threw it into the dark depths.

"Clang... gurgle..."

The sound of the can rolling echoed in the silence, especially grating.

After waiting a long time, there was no movement at all.

"It seems... safe."

A Qiang let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't be careless."

Han Ya gave a reminder, then led the way in.

In the garage, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and the ground was sticky underfoot.

Han Ya felt out a small flashlight from her tactical vest, one of the few pieces of equipment she still had that worked.

"Click."

As the flashlight switched on, they also saw the scene of the underground garage.

Abandoned cars lay haphazardly, their bodies covered in dried bloodstains and claw marks.

Some car windows were smashed, leaving only the seat frames that had been picked clean.

On the walls, everywhere were splatters of blood that had long turned black.

"Oh my..."

Xiao Hui covered her mouth, her stomach churning.

Han Ya's gaze swept quickly under the beam of light, searching for the target.

"Found it!"

She felt a surge of joy, strode over, and yanked open the tarp.

A military-green modified jeep appeared before the three of them.

Its hull was almost completely covered with thick steel plates.

The windows were replaced with fine wire mesh, leaving only a few narrow firing ports.

The front was welded with a massive impact bumper made of H-beam steel, gleaming with metallic luster.

All four tires had been swapped for solid explosion-proof tires.

"Han Sis... this... did you make this?"

A Qiang stared at this vehicle brimming with violent aesthetics, his eyes wide.

Men are most helpless against such things.

"Hmm."

Han Ya nodded.

In the early days of the apocalypse, she relied on this military-modified jeep left by her father to lead her brother Han Yu out of the fallen zone, carving a path of survival.

Without it, she and Han Yu would likely have died long ago.

Han Ya opened the car door, and the familiar smell of leather and motor oil eased her tense nerves a little.

She carefully placed Han Yu in the back seat, then felt out from under the driver's seat a small piece of compressed biscuit wrapped in oil paper, hard as stone, and a half-bottle of murky water.

This was her last reserve.

She broke the biscuit into three pieces and handed them to A Qiang and Xiao Hui.

"Eat up, replenish your strength, we're leaving right away."

The two wolfed it down, as if they were eating delicacies from land and sea.

Han Ya didn't eat herself, but slowly fed that half-bottle of water into her brother's mouth.

Having done all that, she sat in the driver's seat, skillfully found two wire ends among a tangle of lines, and lightly touched them together.

"Zzzzt!"

A spark flashed.

"Wooom—woo-woom—!"

But Han Ya forgot that the jeep's engine was loud; suddenly starting it was tantamount to waking every mutant beast!

"Oh no! Get going!"

Han Ya's face changed.

She slammed the accelerator to the floor!

"Boom——!!!!!"

The military-modified jeep shot out in a flash, brutally smashing through the half-open roller door and bursting out of the underground garage!

The blinding grayish-white sunlight made the few people who had been in the dark instinctively squint.

However, they hadn't yet had a chance to catch their breath.

"Roar——!"

"Howl——!"

In the shadows of the ruins lining the street, over a dozen hyena-like mutant creatures that had come running at the sound now had red eyes and were howling as they flanked!

"Hold on tight!"

Han Ya gave a low shout, not slowing down but pressing the accelerator even harder!

The jeep, like a shell fired from a barrel, slammed hard into the direction where the monsters were thickest!

"Bang!!"

The nearest mutant dog didn't even have time to dodge before being flung up by the vicious horns, its body exploding into a bloody mist in midair!

"Bang! Bang-bang!"

More monsters lunged forward, madly scratching and biting the steel plates with their claws and fangs, producing a series of grating sounds that made teeth ache.

An especially burly mutant dog even leapt up, clinging to the steel mesh on the side of the cab, and flung open its blood‑filled maw to bite at Han Ya's head!

"Get lost!"

Han Ya didn't even glance at it, she jerked the steering wheel!

"Screech——!"

The whole vehicle flung its tail wildly, slamming hard into the body of an abandoned bus!

"Boom!"

The mutant dog clinging to the window was instantly squashed into a puddle of meat!

Inside the vehicle, A Qiang and Xiao Hui were already terrified, faces bloodless, gripping the handrails tightly, feeling as if their innards were about to be flung out.

Han Ya, however, acted as if nothing had happened, shifting gears and pressing the accelerator in smooth, flowing motions.

Under her control, the jeep charged like a rampaging rhinoceros, carving a bloody path straight through the monster horde!

When they finally broke out of the encirclement and flung the howls far behind them, A Qiang, still trembling with fear, glanced back.

"It's… too… thrilling…"

He muttered to himself, his gaze toward Han Ya filled with a hint of terror.

However, after the vehicle traveled another two or three kilometers forward, a strange thing occurred.

In the surrounding ruins, the mutant beasts that had been frantically chasing them, as if by prior agreement, abruptly ceased their pursuit in unison.

They paced anxiously in place, emitting fearful low growls from their throats, yet none dared step forward; in the end, unwillingly, they retreated back into the city's shadows.

The entire street fell dead silent in an instant.

"What… what's going on?"

A Qiang froze,

"They… how did they all run away?"

"They're afraid."

Han Ya's grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly, her voice carrying a tremor she herself didn't notice.

Her gaze drifted toward the distance.

There, beneath the ashen sky, a massive silhouette lay still, crawling along the ground.

Although that massive figure made no move, it kept countless mutant beasts from approaching even a hair's breadth—truly terrifying to hear!

"We… we're almost there."

Han Ya murmured to herself, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

The jeep continued down the silent street.

As the distance closed, the huge outline grew clearer and more shocking.

When they finally turned the last corner and took in the beast's full form, the three people inside the vehicle were utterly speechless.

Han Ya instinctively slammed the brake pedal.

The jeep let out a piercing screech as it halted several hundred meters away from the colossal creature.

Only now did Han Ya truly see the creature's true appearance.

It was a giant turtle over a hundred meters long, its height estimated at over twenty meters, and atop its shell rose a wall several meters high.

It seemed the buildings she had seen earlier, and the person controlling this giant turtle, must be behind that wall!

"This… this… Han Sis, are we really supposed to go over?"

Xiao Hui's lips trembled, her eyes filled with shock and fear.

Don't think their military-modified jeep had faced no pressure against those mutant beasts before.

But Xiao Hui was certain that if this giant turtle so much as stepped on them, they'd be crushed into meat patties.

A Qiang gaped, unable to utter a word.

"We've come this far—do you think we have any other choice? Now we can only pray that the other side will extend a helping hand!"

She drew a deep breath, picked up a dust‑covered megaphone from the passenger seat, trembled, and pressed the power button.