25: Chapter 25 The Forest?

"Mr. Chen! Can you hear me?" The voice came from downstairs; it was Wang Yalan.

"What is it?"

Chen Ze had said that Wang Yalan was not allowed to come up to the fourth floor without his permission, and she had clearly taken that to heart.

"Mr. Chen, the power has been out for too long. My... no, our refrigerator is going to defrost. There are still some popsicles I bought before inside. Would you like to try one?"

Wang Yalan stood on the stairs, turning her back and not daring to look toward the rooftop, for fear of displeasing Chen Ze.

Popsicles? On such a hot day, having a cold, refreshing popsicle certainly sounded nice.

Chen Ze turned to head downstairs, but just then, he caught a glimpse of a striking patch of green in the distance, creating a stark contrast with the gray, hazy landscape.

"Huh?" Chen Ze let out a soft exclamation and frowned, peering into the distance.

However, because the distance was too great, it was really hard to see the specifics; he could only vaguely make out that patch of green flickering in and out of sight.

"Damn, what on earth is that?"

An idea struck him. Chen Ze immediately took out his phone, which was about to run out of battery, opened the camera, and zoomed in to 20x.

The image on the phone screen was very blurry, but it was enough to make the hair on Chen Ze's body stand on end in shock.

"That... is that a forest?"

Seemingly unable to believe his own eyes, Chen Ze hurriedly called Wang Yalan up to help him confirm.

The latter had been waiting on the stairs, and seeing Chen Ze rush down in a flurry, she almost dropped the popsicle in her hand.

"What's wrong? Mr. Che..." Before she could finish, Chen Ze had already brought her to the top floor and pointed at the phone.

"Look carefully, is that a forest over there?"

Wang Yalan followed the direction of Chen Ze's finger and looked at the blurry image on the phone screen.

She squinted slightly, scrutinized it for a good while, and a look of disbelief appeared on her face.

"It seems... it really is a forest. But how is this possible? In this apocalyptic environment, with cracked earth everywhere, how could a forest suddenly appear?"

"It really is a forest!" Chen Ze murmured.

He didn't know what was in that forest, but based on his day spent lurking in the communication channel, he had never heard any other survivors mention a similar place.

The unknown often meant danger, but it was also accompanied by opportunity.

Chen Ze frowned slightly, deep in thought.

He might seem to have no worries about food or drink right now, and even possessed some leveled items, but no one knew how deep the waters of this Fortress survival game truly ran.

How strong the zombies would become in the future, plus the special events mentioned by the system, were like a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

If he wanted to survive, he had to become stronger faster, and the forest before him might just be the opportunity.

Having figured this out, the look in Chen Ze's eyes became a bit firmer.

"Go! I must go and take a look!"

Wang Yalan was slightly stunned upon hearing this. "Mr. Chen, what are you saying? Go? Go where?"

Chen Ze checked the time; it was two o'clock. There were still six or seven hours until the zombies appeared, which should be enough time for him to make a round trip.

"I plan to go check out that forest!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yalan immediately became anxious. "Mr. Chen, have you lost your mind? Going to that forest so rashly is too dangerous! We know nothing about it; it might be full of unknown, terrifying creatures inside."

"The unknown is exactly where the opportunity lies. To survive in this different world, we must be faster than others and stronger than the zombies!"

Chen Ze immediately began packing his gear, and Wang Yalan didn't say anything more.

The man before her was completely different from her former husband; one was decisive and bold, while the other was timid, weak, and afraid of death.

At this moment, she felt an inexplicable sense of security in her heart, as if as long as this man was around, any problem could be solved.

This time when Chen Ze went out, he not only brought his f-class tang dao but also a full four arisaka type 38 rifles, all fully loaded with ammunition.

It was mainly because reloading the arisaka type 38 rifle was too troublesome; if he encountered a special situation, there would be no time to reload, so he would have to switch guns.

"You just stay in the Blockhouse!" Chen Ze instructed Wang Yalan. He pointed to the arisaka type 38 rifle he was leaving behind and continued, "If you spot any suspicious people, shoot immediately, don't hesitate!"

Wang Yalan opened her mouth, wanting to persuade Chen Ze to go tomorrow instead, but in the end, she didn't say it. She knew that even if she did, it would be useless; the other party had already made up his mind.

"Stay safe, come back early!" "Mm!"

Chen Ze nodded, put on his f-grade backpack, which contained not only his weapons but also some food and water.

As soon as he stepped out of the Blockhouse, Chen Ze immediately felt a wave of scorching heat hit him, and sweat began to pour from his body uncontrollably.

"Damn this weather! No wonder the zombies don't come out during the day; I guess they can't handle it either!"

With a popsicle in his mouth, Chen Ze set off directly toward the direction of the forest.

They say that looking at a mountain from a distance is enough to exhaust a horse; previously, from the Blockhouse, that forest hadn't seemed too far, but now that he was traveling on foot, he realized the journey was quite long.

After walking for a full hour, Chen Ze hadn't even seen a shadow of the forest; everywhere was gray, hazy land and sparse Fortresses.

Ninety-nine percent of those Fortresses were ordinary houses; although some were single-story and others were detached, most were quite common.

There were also some more unique Fortresses. He saw a large green trash can turned upside down on the ground, standing a full seven or eight meters high.

Even more absurdly, there were some in the sky. It was a standard hot air balloon, and he clearly saw a woman in the basket quietly poking her head out to look in his direction.

"There is always someone better, and something higher!"

Chen Ze had originally thought that his Blockhouse must be the top-tier Fortress, but looking at it now, there were plenty of people with good luck.

The forms of the Fortresses were even more bizarre, and perhaps some big shots had Fortresses that were even more heaven-defying than his.

However, despite saying that, Chen Ze was still quite confident. His Blockhouse had an SSS-grade talent; as long as he could obtain enough strong talents, no one would be a match for him.

The survivors along the way were very vigilant. Most saw Chen Ze and stayed far away, and only a very few dared to muster the courage to come forward, attempting to beg him for some food.

Chen Ze naturally knew the principle of not flaunting wealth. Without waiting for those people to speak, he took out his f-class tang dao and put on a "strangers stay away" expression.

Regardless of whether those people were truly pitiful or harbored malicious intent, once they saw Chen Ze brandish the f-class tang dao, they immediately retreated far away and dared not approach again.

After walking for another while like this, there were completely no more survivor Fortresses to be seen on the road.

Chen Ze looked back and could only vaguely see the hot air balloon Fortress hanging in mid-air.

Checking the time, more than two hours had passed since he set off.

Chen Ze took a bottle of mineral water from his f-grade backpack, drank more than half of it in one gulp, and poured the rest directly over his head, only then feeling a bit more refreshed.

"Damn it, where the hell is that damn forest? Could it be a mirage?"

Chen Ze began to doubt himself. He decided to walk for another half hour; if he still couldn't find the forest, he would turn back immediately. Otherwise, once it got dark, without the protection of the Fortress, those zombies would surely rip his heart and lungs out.

Just at this moment, Chen Ze suddenly noticed that the air seemed to have become a bit more humid and hot, and a damp, rotting-wood scent wafted toward him.

He quickened his pace, rapidly climbed up the hillside in front of him, and suddenly, the view before his eyes opened up.

Looking at that somewhat surreal scene, Chen Ze could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart and exclaimed aloud.

"Holy crap! This! This is absolutely magnificent!"