13: Frozen Science Park

In the evening, the two of them took stock of the supplies in the supermarket and moved some items to the living area for easier access.

Qin Lin also discovered a small refrigerator in the corner of the supermarket.

Although it couldn't be used without electricity now, it could be used for cooling in the future if they had a generator.

However, for such extremely cold weather, wouldn't cooling be a simple matter?

The temperature outside was incredibly low.

But Qin Lin knew that this kind of low temperature wouldn't last long... At night, the two of them lay on that small bed again.

This time, there was no tension, only the laziness after intimacy.

Su Yuran rested her head on Qin Lin's arm.

"Qin Lin."

"Hmm?"

"Today... I was very happy."

She whispered, "Even though the world has become like this, being with you makes me feel less afraid."

Qin Lin held her tighter.

"Things will get better in the future."

"Mhm."

After a moment of silence, Su Yuran spoke again:

"That RV System... what exactly is it? Why is it giving you these things?"

"I don't know."

Qin Lin told the truth.

"Maybe it's an experiment by some advanced civilization, maybe it's the world's self-defense mechanism. But whatever it is, it's helping us survive right now—that's enough."

"You're right."

Su Yuran turned over, lying on his chest, her eyes sparkling in the darkness.

"Qin Lin, we'll always be together, right? No matter what happens."

"Yes."

Qin Lin kissed her forehead.

"Always together."

Su Yuran sighed contentedly and closed her eyes.

Soon, her breathing became even and steady.

But Qin Lin was still awake.

He stared at the roof of the vehicle, feeling the warmth of the girl in his arms and listening to the ceaseless wind and snow outside the window.

The System interface automatically appeared:

[Survival Mission Progress: 3/7 Days]

[Driver: Qin Lin]

[Passenger: 1 (Bond Established)]

[Doomsday RV Lv1]

[Unlocked Modules: Basic Survival Unit, Supply Supermarket]

[Next Level Upgrade Requirement: 1 crystal stone of Any Attribute]

crystal stone.

Tomorrow, he had to start searching seriously.

To level up, to survive.

So that... the person in his arms could always have the dream of strawberry ice cream.

He closed his eyes.

But at least for now, they had each other.

They had a vehicle that could protect them and a supermarket filled with food.

In the Apocalypse, this was already paradise... At 5:37 in the morning, the temperature inside the vehicle was 18 degrees.

The first thing Qin Lin did upon opening his eyes was to look at the System interface only he could see.

survival points had already accumulated to over ninety.

After all, four days had passed since the disaster began and he received the RV mission.

At a rate of 1 survival point per hour, it would exceed one hundred points today.

There were still four days left to complete the seven-day survival mission.

But more importantly, the energy reserves had dropped to [63/100].

Three consecutive days of driving and continuous operation of the temperature control System had consumed energy faster than expected.

He gently moved Su Yuran's arm, which was resting on his chest.

The girl was sound asleep, her eyelashes casting faint shadows in the morning light.

After last night, the relationship between the two of them had undergone further changes.

They were no longer just a boyfriend and girlfriend or survival companions; there was an additional layer of deeper intimacy binding them.

Qin Lin got up and walked to the driver's cabin.

Outside the window was still a frozen world.

The iron gate of the Auto Repair Shop was half-buried in snow, and the pile of scrap cars in the yard had turned into a white hill.

The sky was leaden gray, with no sun, only a pale light leaking through the gaps in the clouds.

He started the vehicle, and the vibration of the engine woke Su Yuran.

"Are we leaving?"

She rubbed her eyes and sat up, wrapped in a blanket.

"Mhm."

Qin Lin looked at the navigation—his phone had no signal, but he had downloaded offline maps in advance.

"We're going to the technology park today."

"Will there be crystal stones there?"

"I don't know. But there are large factories, laboratories, and data centers there."

Su Yuran got out of bed and began packing things up.

She folded the blanket, checked the remaining food and water, her movements already much more proficient than three days ago.

In these three days, she had learned how to wash up with the least amount of water, how to ration daily food, and how to stay tidy in a confined space.

Survival was the best teacher.

If this had been before, she would never have done these things.

Fortunately, Su Yuran also didn't have the temper of a Young Miss.

Otherwise, her life would have been even more difficult.

The two of them had a simple breakfast—compressed biscuits with warm water.

Then Qin Lin started the vehicle, crashed through the half-open iron gate of the Auto Repair Shop, and drove onto the snow-covered street.

The technology park was in the southern part of the city.

In the past, it would have taken only an hour to drive there.

Now, Qin Lin estimated it would take at least three hours.

The streets were more desolate than three days ago.

More vehicles were abandoned on the roadside, their windows covered in thick frost.

The doors of some shops had been completely smashed open, leaving them empty inside.

Qin Lin saw several corpses lying at the entrance of a pharmacy, half-buried in snow, their twisted postures clearly indicating they had experienced a struggle before death.

"Don't look."

He said to Su Yuran.

But Su Yuran had already seen them.

Her face turned pale, and her fingers tightly gripped the edge of the seat.

"They... died fighting for medicine?"

"Possibly."

Qin Lin said calmly.

"Or maybe just for a bottle of water or a piece of bread."

The vehicle slowly moved forward.

At an intersection, Qin Lin saw a group of people.

About seven or eight of them, wrapped in thick clothing, were gathered around an overturned truck.

The truck's cargo door was open, empty inside, but those people were still rummaging, hoping to find leftover food.

They saw the RV and stopped moving.

Several pairs of eyes looked over through the wind and snow, filled with vigilance, curiosity, and—more than anything—greed.

Qin Lin didn't slow down and drove straight past.

In the rearview mirror, the group stood together, pointing and staring in the direction the RV had gone.

He had seen the emotions on these people in his previous life because he had been one of them in his past life.

Except he had still been able to maintain his principles.

"Will they chase us?"

Su Yuran asked nervously.

"They can't catch up." Qin Lin said, "And they have more urgent matters—finding food."

He was right.

In an environment of over minus forty degrees Celsius, chasing a vehicle on foot was suicidal.

Heat was consumed too quickly; without enough food to replenish it, one would be exhausted in half an hour and then freeze.

But Qin Lin remained on high alert.

In the Apocalypse, humans could sometimes be more dangerous than the weather.

Three hours later, the entrance to the technology park appeared in their view.

It was a tall metal archway with a sign that read "High-Tech Industrial Park."

The sign was covered in icicles, making faint clinking sounds in the wind.

The scene inside the park was even more eerie.

There were no residential buildings here, only neatly arranged factories, R&D centers, and data server rooms.

Most of the buildings had glass curtain walls and steel structures, appearing particularly fragile in the extreme cold.

Qin Lin saw several buildings with all their glass shattered, wind and snow blowing inside, freezing the office desks and chairs within.

What was even stranger was the temperature.

Qin Lin glanced at the RV's display screen: outside temperature -42°C.

But he remembered that when they had just entered the park, the temperature had shown -38°C.

In just a few hundred meters, it had dropped by four degrees.

"The temperature is dropping." Su Yuran also noticed.

"The further we drive in, the colder it gets."

"Mhm." Qin Lin slowed down, "This might be a clue."

He parked the vehicle in front of a building labeled "Biotechnology R&D Center."

The building's glass door was shattered, the inside pitch black like a gaping mouth.

"Wait for me in the vehicle." Qin Lin said, "I'll go in and take a look."

"I'm coming too." Su Yuran immediately said.

"It might be even colder inside, and dark, possibly dangerous—"

"I'm still coming."

Su Yuran insisted.

"I don't want to stay alone in the vehicle."

She looked at Qin Lin, her eyes filled with fear but even more with determination.

In just a few days, this once delicate Department Beauty had learned to face danger.

Qin Lin thought for a moment and nodded.

"Stay close to me. If I say run, run back to the vehicle immediately. Don't look back."

The two of them put on their thickest clothes, all prepared by Qin Lin.

Qin Lin brought an Entrenching Tool and a High-Power Flashlight, while Su Yuran took an Iron Pipe she had found at the Auto Repair Shop as a weapon.

They got out of the vehicle.