46: Chapter 46 The car is here, how did he catch up?

In the inpatient department of the suburban hospital, the cold gray fog rolled slowly through the narrow corridor like viscous water.

The pungent smell of disinfectant in the air had long been covered by a heavy stench of rot and death. The floor was covered with dried, blackened blood, shed skin tissue, and shattered medical equipment. With every step, the faint sound of shoe soles rubbing against the filth could be heard, infinitely magnified in the dead silence of the hallway.

Wu Ran walked down the center of the corridor with steady steps, without the slightest pause or any attempt to conceal himself.

After being thoroughly baptized by the aura of the silver egg, he had long returned to his peak state. His essence, energy, and spirit were at their zenith, and his Inspiration Perception was fully active, clearly reflecting every movement within a hundred meters in his mind. The Zombies curled up in the wards on both sides, the lingering shadows of resentment lurking in the darkness, and the low-level anomalies crawling in the ventilation ducts were all perceived with absolute clarity. Even their next movements and attack intentions were predicted perfectly by his Spiritual Sense.

Having struggled and crawled through the apocalypse for so long, Wu Ran had had enough of hiding. Now, these low-level anomalies could not catch his eye at all.

On either side of his shoulders, Abao and Little Claw leaned close. Pure Yang Qi slowly diffused, forming an invisible barrier. Whenever a blind anomaly tried to approach, before Wu Ran could even order, Little Claw's sharp claw energy swept out, and a wisp of highly condensed Pure Yang Qi instantly shot out, silently annihilating it. Abao occasionally flapped his wings gently, spreading a gentle Pure Yang warmth that completely purified the invading evil mist around them, even burning away the decaying deathly aura in the air.

One man and two birds, like a blade of Pure Yang walking in the darkness; wherever they went, evil retreated and all specters fell silent.

At this moment, Wu Ran's gaze remained locked on the deepest part of the corridor, in the direction of the closed intensive care unit.

With every step closer, the rhythmic and gentle fluctuation of spiritual charm, like the breathing of life, became clearer. The light blue spiritual light penetrated the thick walls and dense fog, shining exceptionally bright in his Spiritual Sense vision, pure yet carrying an inviolable pressure of a containment object, completely out of place with the cold and violent aura of the surrounding anomalies.

This was the very purpose of his trip. He could clearly perceive that there were no hidden anomalies inside the intensive care unit. All the evil lingering nearby was deterred by the spiritual charm spontaneously emitted by this containment object, not daring to approach even half a step.

Waves of fluctuations from the containment object constantly radiated from the depths, and Wu Ran could clearly feel the wondrous power contained within these ripples.

Wu Ran did not stop, his eyes calm and rippleless. Only the last thirty meters remained before the iron door of the intensive care unit.

He was about to arrive before the containment object, completing this zero-risk Enchanting containment.

At the same time, on the wilderness highway a hundred kilometers away, the Pashanhu Convoy was plunged into an unspeakable shock and confusion.

The Caravan had already completely broken free from the Zombie tide on the outskirts of the hospital, speeding all the way west into a relatively open, hilly area with thin strange fog. Only after confirming they were temporarily safe did they slowly pull over to the side of the road for a temporary rest and treatment.

The Caravan, which had previously been besieged by the Zombie tide and had lost most of its core combat power, finally welcomed a moment of respite.

Under the guidance of Professor Qian Weiguo, Miss Gu Rui led two logistics support members to distribute all the antibiotics, trauma medicines, and mind-calming liquids brought out from the hospital, starting the treatment without a single moment of pause.

Captain Wang Xuan was heavily injured with broken ribs and a massive loss of vital energy and blood. If they had been a step later, even if his life were saved, he would have severely lost his combat capability. Miss Gu Rui continuously injected the medicinal energy extracted from the potions into his body, slowly nourishing his damaged meridians and internal organs. Captain Wang Xuan's face, which was originally as pale as paper, finally flushed with a hint of color, and the fluctuations of his Rock Sequence also gradually stabilized.

Under the effects of the mind-calming potion and the essence-strengthening liquid, the unconscious Li Wei's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and his breathing became steady and long. He was out of life-threatening danger and only needed a few days of quiet recuperation to wake up.

Assisted by the medicine, the two healing Sequencers finally found a place to put their skills to use, and all the Sequencers received relatively good healing.

Supported by the medicine, the core combat forces of the Caravan finally crawled out of their desperate situation and slowly recovered their vitality.

The ordinary Dependents on the school buses were also distributed clean drinking water and compressed biscuits. The fear and exhaustion of the past few days dissipated slightly in this temporary safety, and faint conversations finally echoed among the crowd, no longer a dead silence of panic.

The Independents bringing up the rear also pulled over at the back of the Caravan one after another to check their vehicles and refuel. Seeing the Caravan's Sequencers gradually recovering, their originally restless hearts finally settled down. Everyone breathed a heavy sigh of relief in the luck of surviving the disaster.

But as the tense medical treatment came to an end, a massive doubt began to rise in the hearts of all the Sequencers, growing larger and larger until it finally erupted into an uproar.

The first to notice something was amiss was Xue Xing, who had just breathed a sigh of relief.

Leaning against the door of his off-road vehicle after taking the medicine, his face was still somewhat pale. His gaze subconsciously swept across the entire Caravan, counting the vehicles and personnel.

The organization of the Pashanhu Convoy had always been clear and distinct.

There were seven exclusive off-road vehicles for the Sequencers, corresponding to Captain Wang Xuan, Xue Xing, Li Wei, Professor Qian Weiguo, Gu Lan, Hu Xiner, and Qin Bai. Adding Wu Ran's exclusive ride, there were eight Sequencer vehicles in total, serving as the core combat power and protective barrier of the entire Caravan.

Behind them followed three school buses packed with ordinary Dependents, as well as over twenty motorcycles and modified sedans ridden by the Independents, arranged in a staggered but orderly fashion.

But after Xue Xing scanned the lineup three times, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

Just like usual, all eight exclusive Sequencer off-road vehicles were currently in the queue.

This should have been a normal occurrence.

"What's going on? Wu Ran's car came along too?" Xue Xing's brow furrowed as he spoke subconsciously, his voice carrying a hint of unbelievable confusion.

His words instantly attracted the attention of everyone around.

Miss Gu Rui, who had just finished administering treatment and was wiping the sweat from her forehead, paused in her tracks. She suddenly turned to look at the position of the Caravan's Sequencer vehicles. After counting them once, her face also changed: "You're right! Brother Wu Ran's car also came along!"

Professor Qian Weiguo, who was looking after Li Wei, also walked over quickly upon hearing this. His gaze swept across the vehicle queue, a trace of solemnity flashing in his cloudy old eyes: "When we evacuated, everyone moved out at the same time. No vehicles fell behind, and certainly none were trapped or destroyed by the Zombie tide. Wu Ran's ride indeed followed us."

Captain Wang Xuan propped himself against the vehicle body and slowly stood straight. Though still somewhat weak from his newly recovering severe injuries, his gaze was exceptionally solemn: "Wu Ran stayed in the hospital all by himself. Without a vehicle, how is he going to catch up? This hundred-kilometer wilderness is filled with strange fog and anomalies. No matter how strong his combat power is, it's impossible for him to safely catch up with the Caravan relying on his legs alone."

With one sentence, he laid bare the issue that everyone was most worried and confused about.

Without a car, even if Wu Ran obtained another containment object, he would absolutely not be able to trek a long distance through the crisis-ridden strange fog, let alone catch up with the full-speed Caravan in a short amount of time.

Could it be that by staying in the hospital, he never planned to make it out alive?

Impossible.

Everyone immediately dismissed this absurd thought. Wu Ran was meticulous and took things step-by-step; he would never gamble with his life or court death. Since he dared to stay behind alone, he must have a foolproof plan to escape.

But with his car in the Caravan, how on earth is he going to catch up?

Could he have found another usable vehicle in the hospital?

But three years into the apocalypse, the vehicles in the city were either damaged and scrapped, or useless without fuel. Even if he could find an intact vehicle, there would be no fuel to support a hundred-kilometer journey.

For a moment, all the Sequencers gathered around, their faces solemn, their minds filled with confusion, completely unable to understand.