87: That resounding slap and the gaze from the abyss

The grease-stained wrench spun nimbly between Su Chen's fingers before being casually tucked back into his tactical belt.

Even through several layers of thickened soundproof steel plating, his enhanced hearing still allowed him to catch the tiny movements at the rear of the bus, like a mouse stealing oil.

He wasn't in a hurry to push open the door to the rear carriage; instead, he leaned into the shadows of the connector, his lips curling into an amused arc.

Inside the rear carriage at that moment, the air was as stagnant as glue.

Zhao Zihao's hand, which had been hidden in his sleeve, finally reached out, a piece of long-deformed chocolate lying in his palm.

The wrapper was crumpled and the edges were worn white, clearly having undergone a long period of body-heat baking in his inner pocket; it was now as soft as a lump of brown mud.

“Meng Yao,” Zhao Zihao’s voice was very low, carrying a tremor of self-inflicted emotion as he glanced warily toward the cockpit, “I know you only submitted to that upstart to protect everyone. Take this. It’s Dove, hazelnut flavor. I couldn't bring myself to eat it.”

He pressed forward half a step, trying to use his bloodshot eyes to convey an illusion called 'deep affection.' “As long as we can escape to the nearest survivor base, with my management skills and your family's wealth, we can definitely make a comeback. When that time comes, I’ll help you wash away this humiliation...”

“Slap—!!”

An incredibly crisp sound of a slap exploded within the enclosed metal carriage, even stirring up a few wisps of dust.

This slap didn't just daze Zhao Zihao; it also caused Li Qiang, who was dozing in the corner, to bolt upright with a start.

Lin Mengyao withdrew her hand, her palm slightly flushed from the excessive force.

Her peach blossom eyes, which usually held a hint of shyness, were now covered in a layer of frost.

“Zhao Zihao, is your head filled with zombie brains?”

Lin Mengyao looked at the chocolate that had fallen to the floor with disgust, as if she were looking at a piece of radioactive nuclear waste.

She pulled a wet wipe from her pocket and slowly wiped the fingers that had just touched Zhao Zihao's cheek, every movement full of contempt for his self-esteem.

“Over there,” she pointed toward the cockpit, her voice not loud, yet every word cut to the bone, “just ten minutes ago, I finished a meal of freshly sliced M9 Wagyu hot pot, with dipping sauce personally mixed by Su Chen. I’ve almost forgotten what hunger feels like, and now you’re bringing a piece of expired saccharin mixture that even a dog on his bus wouldn’t eat to talk to me about ‘salvation’?”

Zhao Zihao clutched his rapidly swelling cheek, his gaze dull and his lips trembling. “Wa... Wagyu?”

In this post-apocalyptic world where even a sip of clean water had to be traded for one's life, the impact of those two words was no less than a nuclear bomb.

His carefully constructed logical loop of 'victim resisting tyranny' was instantly blown to bits by the reality of money and the scent of meat.

“Put away that sickening self-pity of yours.” Lin Mengyao tossed the used wet wipe onto his peeling cloth shoes. “Right now, you aren't even worthy of carrying Su Chen's shoes. If it weren't for that ridiculous sentiment of being former classmates, do you think you’d be alive right now?”

Zhao Zihao’s face turned the color of pig liver. Humiliation and jealousy exploded in his chest, but just as he was about to open his mouth to argue, an invisible chill instantly pierced through the top of his head.

It was the pressure from a Second-Order Mental-type Awakened.

Qin Ya, who had been standing silently nearby, pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose.

This formerly gentle and intellectual Class Teacher now emitted an aura colder than the mist outside.

“Student Zhao,” Qin Ya’s voice was very soft, yet it was like a steel needle piercing directly into Zhao Zihao’s cerebral cortex, giving him a sense of suffocation as if being constricted by a giant python, “recognizing the situation is a mandatory course for adults. In this carriage, Su Chen is the only rule, and the only god. Anyone who tries to undermine the stability of this ark, I will... clear them out before that happens.”

That mental sting made Zhao Zihao’s knees go weak, and he fell uncontrollably to the floor, cold sweat instantly soaking through his tattered suit.

He looked at these two women in horror, finally realizing that the 'classroom order' he alone was reminiscing about had long since vanished.

“Clap, clap, clap.”

A few lazy claps broke the solemnity.

Su Chen walked out of the shadows with his hands in his pockets, looking like a director who had just finished watching a farce.

His gaze didn't even linger on Zhao Zihao for a single second, as if he were just a bag of trash waiting to be recycled.

“Alright, the sentimental segment is over.”

Su Chen walked to the window and pointed at a faint, flickering dark purple light source deep in the mist, looking like a ghost fire.

“See that? That’s the ‘Moth-luring Light,’ and it’s also the core of this area. If my perception is correct, that ‘Big Guy’ is waiting down there for dinner.”

Shen Qingqiu walked silently to Su Chen's side, holding her rusty longsword.

Her bangs were wet with sweat and stuck to her pale forehead, but her gaze remained as sharp as a blade.

“The magnetic field near that light source is very chaotic, with a kind of mental interference similar to low-frequency noise.” Shen Qingqiu lowered her voice, her gaze sweeping over Zhao Zihao who was still slumped on the floor. “That frequency will amplify the darkness in one's heart. His Light-type Ability is already impure; he could easily be contaminated or even suffer a backlash over there. Are you sure you want to bring this time bomb along?”

“A bomb?” Su Chen chuckled lightly.

As he spoke, he suddenly reached out, his slender fingers lightly resting on Shen Qingqiu’s longsword.

Buzz—

A stream of extremely pure and masculine heat instantly poured into the blade.

The originally rust-covered blade seemed to be activated by some divine power, a faint gold-red glow surfacing on its exterior. The smell of rust was instantly replaced by the dry scent of something exposed to intense sunlight.

Shen Qingqiu only felt the web of her thumb burn; this piece of common iron in her hand was now emitting a clear hum, as if thirsting for blood.

“This is ‘Holy Sun Enchantment,’ valid for half an hour.” Su Chen withdrew his hand, his tone as flat as if he were saying he’d just charged a phone. “This layer can break through the mist's corrosion and sever those invisible mental tentacles. As for whether someone will stab us in the back...”

He looked back at Zhao Zihao. There was no killing intent in that gaze, only the indifference one would have toward an ant. “In the face of absolute power, any schemes or intrigues are a joke. Let’s go.”

Roar—!!

The modified V12 Engine let out a beast-like roar. The massive riot tires crushed the gravel on the ground as this steel behemoth, like a red-hot knife, stabbed fiercely into the chaotic mist.

However, at the very moment the bus rushed out of the gas station's range, no one noticed that at the top of that abandoned building, the thick darkness suddenly writhed eerily.

A massive entity with no physical form, yet possessing hundreds of compound eyes, was silently peeling away from the heights.

It was like a drop of super jelly falling from the sky!