243: Night raid

In a flash, it was the middle of the night. Ai Yue went back to the tent to rest, leaving Ai Guosheng on watch.

He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, eyes closed as he rested his mind.

He appeared to be resting, but in reality, he was listening intently to his surroundings.

An hour passed this way, and Ai Guosheng, who had been focused on every sound, started to feel a wave of sleepiness.

Suddenly, he caught a faint, lingering scent of decay in the air.

With a start, he snapped his eyes open, stood up, and frowned deeply as he looked toward the source of the smell.

For a while, there was no movement. Not daring to be careless, Ai Guosheng took a few steps forward.

Just then, a dark shadow suddenly appeared right in front of Ai Guosheng and slammed straight into the kaibaihe battle shield.

With a loud thud, a section of the kaibaihe battle shield dented inward.

Inside the vehicle, the impact made Ye Rui's head ring, and she blacked out.

At the same time, Ai Yue threw open the tent flap and dashed out.

The dark shadow then lunged fiercely at the nearby Ai Guosheng.

Startled by the pitch-black figure, Ai Guosheng instinctively waved his hand, striking the shadow with a blast of Annihilation.

"Roar! Roar!"

The shadow let out a howl of agony.

Within moments, a large hole had been dissolved into its abdomen.

Ai Guosheng didn't stop there; he threw several more blasts of Annihilation at it, but unfortunately, the shadow dodged them all.

As it drew closer, Ai Guosheng finally saw what the thing was—it was a High-level Zombie that Ai Yue had mentioned.

Ai Yue struck the dodging zombie with a bolt of lightning with unerring accuracy.

The zombie was instantly paralyzed by the electric shock.

By now, Ai Yue's Lightning Superpower had reached an extremely high level.

If it were a low-level zombie, her lightning would have turned it directly into ash.

Seizing the opportunity, Ai Guosheng unleashed dozens of Annihilation strikes on the immobile High-level Zombie.

In an instant, the zombie was reduced to ash and vanished.

With a clink, a zombie crystal core fell to the ground, shimmering under the moonlight.

Ai Yue didn't even stop to pick it up. Seeing her beloved car wrecked, she was deeply worried about Ye Rui inside.

Since Ye Rui hadn't come out after all this time, she must have been injured.

She quickly opened the door and jumped in, only to find Ye Rui's head had slammed against the alloy back of the front seat. Her head was covered in blood, and it was unclear if she was still alive.

Ai Yue reached Ye Rui in a single step and checked her over. After a moment, she let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank goodness, she had only fainted.

Ai Yue hoisted her onto her back and carried her out of the car to the open ground.

Ai Guosheng and Li Shilan hurried over with flashlights, asking anxiously, "Yueyue, is Rui Rui okay?"

"Don't worry, Mom and Dad. She's fine, she just got knocked out by the impact," Ai Yue said.

Hearing this, the two finally felt at ease.

Ai Yue cleaned and bandaged the wound, then carried her into the tent and asked Li Shilan to look after her.

She and her father, Ai Guosheng, stood guard on either side of the tent.

Ai Yue toyed with the zombie's crystal core in her hand while keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.

She actually hoped another High-level Zombie would show up; their crystal cores were very useful.

If she killed a few more, maybe her space could even level up.

Unfortunately, the horizon began to turn pale with the first light of dawn, and no more zombies appeared.

It seemed there were very few zombies in the wild; the one last night had likely just wandered there by chance.

Before long, the sun had risen high, and Ye Rui woke up.

Touching her injured head, Ye Rui was a bit dazed. What was going on? How could she get hurt while sleeping?

The violent impact had knocked her unconscious while she was fast asleep.

So, she had no idea what had happened during the night.

When she learned that a High-level Zombie had attacked and wrecked the sturdy kaibaihe battle shield, she felt truly heartbroken.

A perfectly good car, just parked there quietly without bothering anyone, had suffered such a senseless disaster.

Great, now they were without a car!

Sensing Ye Rui's petty concerns, Ai Yue poked her cheek helplessly. "It's fine. I still have other cars; I won't make you walk. Besides, only the rear compartment of the kaibaihe battle shield is dented. The front isn't damaged. I should be able to fix it."

Ye Rui asked in surprise, "Sis, you know how to fix cars? You're amazing! Is there anything you can't do?"

"In times of chaos, one has to learn a lot of things," Ai Yue replied casually.

"As expected of the sister I admire!" Ye Rui said with stars in her eyes.

Ai Yue felt a bit embarrassed by her gaze. "Cough, cough... Anyway, I'm going to fix the car."

With that, she turned and left the tent.

Hearing that Ai Yue was going to fix the car, Ye Rui was curious and followed her out.

Ai Yue walked to the back of the kaibaihe battle shield, gripped the rear hatch with one hand, and pulled hard.

With a thrum, the dented part was pulled straight out. Although it was still a bit bumpy, it wouldn't affect its use.

Ai Yue clapped her hands and nodded in satisfaction. She then opened the door and went inside to repair the damaged parts.

Watching this, Ye Rui's head started ringing again. So this was how Sister Ai Yue fixed cars!

Her method certainly wasn't something an ordinary person could learn. It was a real eye-opener.

Ignoring Ye Rui's shock, Ai Yue busied herself with repairs inside the car until it was more or less fixed.

"Mom, Dad, Rui Rui, let's eat something first. We won't be stopping specifically for meals later; we'll just eat in the car," Ai Yue said solemnly.

No one objected. After a quick meal, they set off.

Three more days passed, and they finally reached the outskirts of the Yingjin Safety Tower.

Looking at the countless zombies outside the tower, they fell silent.

"What's going on? Why are there even more zombies than the last time we were here? Weren't the Nameless Monsters driven away? Where did all these zombies come from?"

Ai Yue said, confused.

Ai Guosheng and the others shook their heads in unison. If even the well-traveled and knowledgeable Ai Yue didn't understand, they certainly wouldn't know.

Ai Yue didn't dwell on it. No matter how many zombies there were, she was determined to turn them into crystal cores for her pocket.

"Let's get ready before we head over!"

Ai Yue called out.

After changing their gear and eating a bit more, they walked toward the zombie tide.

The zombies caught the scent of fresh flesh from afar and instantly went into a frenzy.

Before Ai Yue and the others could even get close, the zombies had already rushed up to them, lunging with bared claws and teeth.

Ai Yue waved her hand, and countless bolts of lightning rained down on the zombies. Some vanished into thin air, leaving a floor full of crystal cores.

But even more zombies were just left paralyzed and twitching, their bodies crackling with electricity.

More zombies from behind rushed in to fill the gaps.

Ai Guosheng and the others also hurriedly joined the fray.