Chapter 11: What the Heck Is That?
“Why are those two still not out yet…”
Perched up in the tree, Chaolu yawned—she’d been waiting so long she was starting to get sleepy.
Just as she was thinking that, several police cars appeared at the entrance of the villa district, seemingly about to drive out.
Police cars?
Why would there be police cars inside the villa district?
Chaolu was still wondering when she saw the police cars at the gate ram straight into the iron gate!
Chaolu was startled. This…
There was no way those people in the cars were actual police!
Real police wouldn’t smash through a gate like that!
When they’d first arrived, they had already scouted the place—inside the villa district should have been relatively safe for now, with no zombie intrusion. If they really were police, why would they destroy a safe zone like this?
“This is bad. Chaoyang and Mibao must be in trouble.”
Chaolu’s expression grew grim.
To be more accurate, she feared everyone in the entire villa district might be in trouble.
…
…
By the time Ji Ruwen arrived at Zhuhui Street in Xiao Bai’s team’s vehicle, it was already close to noon.
The car rolled slowly along the street, while a loudspeaker mounted on the front kept repeating Ji Ruwen’s voice:
“Mibao, Daddy’s here to pick you up. Where are you?”
The loudspeaker’s broadcast inevitably attracted zombies, so the team members in the car raised their guns and started shooting them.
Before long, however, the vehicle came to a halt.
The driver called out, “Captain, look ahead—seems like there was a fight!”
After all, there were piles of fallen zombies ahead.
Hearing this, the captain climbed out through the sunroof to stand on top of the vehicle and scanned the area with binoculars.
“Stop the car. Clear the area.”
“Yes, sir!”
Soon, the surrounding zombies were mostly cleared out. The vehicle doors opened, and everyone filed out in an orderly line.
After a quick survey and inspection of the scene, Dong He, who had studied forensic tracking, said, “Looks like there were survivors in this clothing store. There are also traces of people having been in the second floor of the building diagonally across from here.
“My preliminary assessment is that the reason there are so many zombie corpses down here might be because the people upstairs lured the zombies over.”
“The zombies at the entrance of the clothing store were killed with a blade,” Xiao Bai added. “Judging from the wounds, the person wielding it didn’t have much strength.”
While they were analyzing, Ji Ruwen walked into the clothing store.
He had a gut feeling—he thought Mibao might have been here.
After searching for a while, he found a stuffed toy under the curtains.
It was… Mibao’s teddy bear!
Ji Ruwen’s eyes instantly reddened.
“Mibao’s still alive. She’s still alive…”
He felt both joy and sorrow—joy that Mibao was safe, sorrow because this place wasn’t far from where he had reached last night. If he hadn’t fainted yesterday… would he have already met Mibao by now?
Would they…
…already have reunited as father and daughter?
He could only blame himself—his physical condition was too poor, his head too soft. How could one hit knock him out?
“Hey, you okay in there?”
Xiao Bai’s head poked through the glass door as he waved at Ji Ruwen.
Ji Ruwen took a deep breath and looked over at Xiao Bai. “I’m fine. The one hiding here should be my daughter. I found her toy.”
As he spoke, Ji Ruwen hugged the little teddy bear tightly.
Come to think of it, he remembered that his daughter’s favorite toy seemed to be a small crystal bunny plush. What was it called… something Lulu?
If he could find Mibao, he would definitely make her a little bunny plush with his own hands.
“From the looks of it, your daughter was probably rescued by someone,” Xiao Bai said, frowning. “But where are we supposed to look for her now?”
Ji Ruwen thought for a moment. “Maybe… she’ll go home to find me.”
“Where’s your home?” Xiao Bai asked.
Just then, the captain received a call from above.
“Some gang members escaped from Detian Prison. Liang Shaoqing, change the original route—your new mission is to capture the fugitives.”
Liang Shaoqing’s expression immediately grew serious. “Yes, sir!”
“Based on current intel, their latest escape location is—Wansen Villa District.”
Inside the clothing store, Ji Ruwen said, “My home is in Wansen Villa District, Villa No. 103.”
…
…
After leaving Wansen Villa District, the bald man and his gang drove their vehicle out of the city.
“Boss, it’s the apocalypse—why are we heading to some remote corner?”
The driver, nicknamed Monkey, yawned, looking puzzled.
“And why’d we bother switching out the police cars? Was that even necessary?”
To them, the apocalypse was their ultimate carnival.
“Idiot! You think the government can’t handle zombies like these?” the bald man snapped impatiently. “These things are so weak even a kid could take care of them. Sooner or later, they’ll all be wiped out—then we’ll still be wanted criminals!”
Monkey suddenly understood. “Boss, you really are the smart one.”
No wonder they were heading overseas.
The boss truly had foresight.
But lying bound in the trunk, Chaoyang narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard this.
He didn’t believe this apocalypse would be that simple.
Zombies were probably just the beginning.
There had to be something far more terrifying than zombies—otherwise, this place wouldn’t have fallen so quickly.
It was likely that the government was too busy dealing with more troublesome threats, which was why they had no time to focus on the zombies.
But Chaoyang didn’t dwell on that for long—he only knew one thing: human nature would always be more frightening than the apocalypse itself.
In fact, he almost wished something worse than zombies would show up.
It would be dangerous, yes, but for him, Mibao, and Chaolu, it might also be an opportunity.
He believed Chaolu would see the vehicle leaving the villa district, and she would surely find a way to follow.
“Brother, I’m a little scared.” Mibao’s timid voice sounded from the darkness of the trunk.
[Don’t be afraid, Mibao. Brother will always stay with you.]
“Don’t worry, I’m here.” Chaoyang fumbled in the dark until he sat down beside Mibao.
Before being thrown in here, he had secretly hidden a small rock.
From the moment they were tossed inside, he had been using it to grind at the ropes.
[…]
The system was speechless. Mibao had been calling for him—what did this little brat have to do with it?
But since only Mibao could hear his voice, there was no way to explain himself.
Sensing that Chaoyang was untying her ropes, Mibao was a little surprised. She was just about to ask when Chaoyang shushed her.
In the darkness, Mibao blinked, understanding she couldn’t ask—otherwise, the bad uncles in the car might hear.
“Brother Chaoyang, are we going to die?”
Chaoyang paused just as he finished untying the ropes on her wrists.
“No.” He moved on to untying the ropes around her ankles. “As long as I’m here, you won’t die.”
Mibao smiled. “Mm! I believe in Brother Chaoyang.”
[And I’ll protect Mibao too.]
“Mm! I believe in Big Brother.”
Time trickled by, and in the darkness, Mibao leaned on Chaoyang’s shoulder and began to drift off to sleep.
After more than two hours on the road, the cars finally reached the outskirts. Monkey and the others were cheering, but soon they realized something was wrong.
“Boss, up ahead… what is that?”
The bald man, who had been dozing off in his seat, yawned and opened his eyes. “What is it…”
But when he saw what lay ahead, all traces of drowsiness vanished instantly.
“Holy crap—what the hell is that!?”