Chapter 21: Scoundrels

"Don't waste the food, kid. Eat up; we need to head out and scavenge more supplies later. I have a bad feeling about the weather."

A burly man sitting on the sofa behind him was also happily devouring a bowl of instant noodles, not even looking up.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The young man by the window, Hu Li, was seized by a violent fit of coughing, his hand shaking so hard he nearly dropped his noodle bowl. However, upon catching sight of a vehicle approaching from the distance, his excitement grew.

He immediately turned, placed his bowl on the table, and set the burly man’s bowl down alongside it. He grabbed the man’s arm and hauled him toward the window.

"You don't believe me, but it really is a Paimond!"

The burly man, Li Qi, followed, seeing the earnest look on Hu Li’s face. Then, he saw it.

It really was that approaching vehicle!

"Holy crap!"

In his excitement, he slapped Hu Li on the shoulder, sending the slender youth sprawling to the ground.

"Damn it! Li Qi, are you trying to kill me? Do you have any idea how strong you are?"

"Sorry, sorry, brother, I just got too excited. You okay?"

Li Qi hurried to help the fallen Hu Li up, his eyes never leaving the car as it drew closer.

"Xiao Hu, the car is passing by. What do we do?"

"What do you mean, 'what do we do'? You aren't actually thinking of hijacking it, are you?" Xiao Hu winced, rubbing his shoulder.

"No, I just think whoever's driving that must be a big shot. What if we follow them?"

Li Qi’s eyes sparkled. That car was his dream machine; he wanted to drive it!

"Follow them? With what? That little piece-of-junk electric scooter of yours? You think you can keep up with a land behemoth like that?"

The comment left Li Qi feeling utterly dejected. He stared at the car outside, filled with deep regret.

Then, the situation turned in an instant.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out, followed by a massive thud. The ground shook.

Li Xiaoxiao had just finished clearing the last shop when she heard the noise outside. She didn't rush out, choosing instead to hide in the shadows to observe.

Her car was parked crookedly on the side of the road, its front end embedded in a two-story building, half the vehicle buried inside.

The car was bulletproof, so Li Xiaoxiao wasn't worried about the person inside, but she was curious who had managed to get their hands on a gun.

Two minutes later, seven men emerged from a three-story building across the street. Three of them were carrying firearms.

Enemies are always recognized at first sight!

Li Xiaoxiao’s eyes filled with an irrepressible murderous intent as she looked at them. These were seven of the very men who had eaten her beloved daughter in her past life! She would recognize them even if they were turned to ash!

The seven men approached and surrounded the car. One of them reached for the door handle.

In the next instant, a female zombie lunged forward and sank her teeth into his carotid artery.

"Bang!"

One of the men with a gun fired immediately. Li Xiaoxiao flicked a stone she had grabbed from the debris; it struck the man's elbow, causing his arm to go numb. His aim skewed, and the bullet struck the thigh of another gunman standing beside him.

She had used her telekinesis to store some of the rubble from the wall impact into her space, and that was exactly what she had thrown.

"Damn it! You fat idiot, where the hell are you aiming?"

The man shot in the leg collapsed, blood gushing from the hole. His eyes turned bloodshot as he leveled his gun at the fat man.

"Bang!"

At the critical moment, a bald man kicked the barrel of the gun aside. The bullet grazed the fat man's neck, leaving only a streak of blood.

"Holy shit!"

The fat man, enraged, grabbed his gun, intending to finish the man on the ground.

"Enough!"

The bald man barked, his gaze cutting through them like a knife.

"Goddamn it! You all want to die, is that it? If you want to die, just say so, and I'll see to it personally!"

He struck them both with the butt of his rifle, his expression vicious. He snatched their guns away and tossed them to two other men.

Of these seven brutes, six had short-cropped hair, while only the leader was completely bald. They were fugitives who had escaped from a nearby prison. The bald man was a murderer with four lives on his conscience; now that the apocalypse was here, he didn't care about killing a few more.

But since it was the early days of the apocalypse and zombies were everywhere, and he hadn't yet awakened any supernatural abilities, he needed cannon fodder to survive. That was why he forced himself to hold back from killing these two idiots.

When the gunshot rang out, the female zombie had darted away and hidden, leaving only the man who had been bitten.

"Brother! Brother, save me!"

The man reached out, pleading for help.

The bald man drew a knife and, stepping forward, decapitated him. He had stolen the gun from a guard, and ammunition was scarce; every bullet had to be saved.

Li Xiaoxiao thought about the guns in her system inventory, but these pieces of trash weren't worth the ammo.

"Clatter!"

The car, lodged in the wall, shifted. With a roar, it backed out of the debris. The men behind it were caught off guard and instantly crushed beneath the vehicle.

The bald man had also been standing behind the car, but he reacted quickly, diving out of the way the moment he felt the car move.

Lin Shuangshuang slammed on the gas. The car backed out with such force that, given the narrowness of the road, the rear end immediately smashed into the building behind it, causing yet another structure to collapse.

The car was bulletproof, so the gunfire hadn't harmed anyone inside, but in the surprise of the moment, Lin Shuangshuang’s instinct was to jerk the steering wheel, causing the collision. Fortunately, the car’s impact resistance was exceptional; this minor bump was nothing.

Sitting high in the driver's seat, Lin Shuangshuang looked down at the men in front of her.

"Get out of the car! Or we’ll fire!"

The fat man snatched a gun from someone nearby and aimed it at the driver’s side.

Lin Shuangshuang found it amusing. Where did these people get the confidence to think she would fear their guns? If they wanted to hijack her car, they’d better have the life to pay for it!

Hu Li and Li Qi, who had been watching from the window, were stunned.

Hu Li, in particular, had sharp eyes; he had clearly seen the bullets strike the car without leaving a single mark. Was this vehicle fully bulletproof? Good heavens! That was a fortune on wheels!

"What do we do? The big shot is being threatened; we should go help," Li Qi urged, seeing the guns pointed at the car.

"Ow, ow, ow! Your grip is too tight! Let go!"

Hu Li smacked at the massive hand Li Qi had clamped onto his arm. Li Qi was naturally sturdy and had awakened strength-based abilities after the apocalypse, making him a powerhouse, but the guy had zero self-awareness and left Hu Li covered in bruises every day.

"Huff, huff, huff!"

Sure enough, his arm was already turning black and blue.

Down on the first floor, Li Xiaoxiao heard the commotion upstairs and raised an eyebrow. She didn't move. She was waiting.

She could kill those scumbags with a flick of her finger. But in the apocalypse, a dodder flower wouldn't last long once it lost its host. Although she had saved Lin Shuangshuang, she didn't want her to grow into a parasitic creature.

Li Xiaoxiao was waiting to see if she could pull the trigger herself.