88: shock

She was throwing up so violently that she even covered her nose.

She looked down to see her clothes covered in fresh blood, an overwhelming stench assailing her, and her throat tightened again with nausea.

Knowing she could no longer tolerate the putrid smell, she immediately changed into a clean set of clothes and directly discarded the soiled ones.

She walked out of the bathroom, found an empty bottle, filled it with clean water, and began to rinse her mouth.

If anyone saw her using such clean water to rinse her mouth, they would surely curse her to death, as in the Apocalypse, such pristine water was extremely precious, especially after the tsunami.

Of course, Bai Wanning didn't care what others thought.

She would never wrong herself again.

In her previous life, she had been exploited until her last shred of value was gone; if she hadn't escaped in time, she would have likely become a living dead ghoul.

In this life, she would never suffer a loss again.

After collecting supplies, she planned to go to the warehouse.

Of course, she didn't clear out all the supplies in the supermarket to avoid arousing suspicion. So, she deliberately left some supplies in the aisle and then walked towards the warehouse, only to find more than a dozen zombies lurking outside.

As soon as they detected the scent of humans, they immediately lunged forward.

Watching the swarming zombies, Bai Wanning raised her hand and condensed a giant water scythe, instantly severing the heads of ten zombies.

After collecting the crystal cores, she quickly found the warehouse entrance.

The moment the door opened, a zombie wearing a supermarket uniform abruptly turned its head, its lifeless, grayish-white eyes fixated on her.

The zombie let out a low growl, bared its fangs, and charged directly at her.

Bai Wanning, without changing her expression, raised her hand to block it. She raised her blade and plunged it into the zombie's upper jaw. Immediately after, she condensed a water spike and thrust it into the zombie's brain, shattering its skull.

After eliminating the last obstacle, she began to clear out the supplies in the warehouse.

She only picked out the expensive and rare items, leaving ordinary supplies like bottled water and canned goods untouched in the warehouse.

Though Bai Wanning was selfish, she wouldn't cut off everyone's path to survival.

The reason she was clearing out the warehouse was that these supplies could be used to upgrade her system.

Although far from enough to activate the third level, it could reduce the difficulty, adding an extra layer of security for her.

After gathering the essential supplies, Bai Wanning was in a rather good mood.

But as soon as Bai Minghe came to mind, her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to Bai Xue, and the blood in her veins instantly boiled.

She ran a hand through her hair, wiping away the sweat from her forehead.

Her eyes were filled with wildness and a cold glint: "Bai Xue, I really want to see you."

With that, she turned and walked back to the first floor, where she saw Bai Minghe waiting for her. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where's Qiu Li?"

"I sent her back," Bai Minghe replied, "I also told her our address, so she can contact us if she ever needs help."

He knew Qiu Li was Bai Wanning's friend, and for Bai Wanning's sake, he was willing to extend an olive branch to that woman.

Bai Wanning raised an eyebrow at his answer. Though a little surprised, she merely hummed in acknowledgment.

Since that was the case, she might as well leave Qiu Li a way out.

Seeing her leave without a word, Bai Minghe hesitated for a moment but still followed her.

He asked her, "Did you run out because of that woman?"

"What does that have to do with you?" Bai Wanning asked coldly as she exited the supermarket.

Her gaze fell on the zombies surrounding her boat; they must have smelled humans, which was why they gathered there and refused to leave.

Bai Minghe saw her boat surrounded and said in a low voice, "Come with me, I have a jet ski, I'll take you back..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Wanning had already shot out like an arrow from a bowstring. Bai Minghe was startled, and before he could react, he froze in place.

"Wanning, come back!" Bai Minghe knew Bai Wanning was enraged by what had just happened, but he hadn't expected her to be so reckless.

Were these monsters something she could just deal with? They were man-eating monsters that would attack and tear apart humans, then consume their bodies as food.

But before he could rush forward and pull Bai Wanning back, the woman had already raised the knife in her hand and cleanly chopped off a zombie's head, then stomped on its body, crushing it into a bloody mess.

Black, tar-like blood gushed from the zombie's neck.

These monsters were not living beings; the blood in their bodies had already rotted, thick and putrid, utterly disgusting.

Bai Wanning was already nauseous, but now her stomach churned even more, and she couldn't help but squat down and vomit.

She was throwing up because the smell was simply too pungent and unbearable, while Bai Minghe, standing behind her, was utterly shocked by the scene before him.

The zombies themselves were already disgusting enough, but now with a severed head and blood spraying like a fountain, the stench was overwhelming.

And that smell—it was simply suffocating!

However, just as Bai Minghe couldn't help but dry heave, he saw Bai Wanning squat down and pick something up from the bloody, mangled corpse.

She even used her fingers to pick out a crystal core from the shattered head, casually tossing aside the putrid flesh clinging to it.

Upon seeing this, Bai Minghe dry heaved again.

Was this still his innocent, sweet, and lovely younger sister?

Bai Minghe suddenly felt that he no longer recognized Bai Wanning.

"This zombie is about to evolve and upgrade." Bai Wanning put away the crystal core, noticing that this one was larger and purer than usual, and a slight shock went through her.

Fortunately, she dealt with this zombie in time; otherwise, if it had successfully evolved, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

After all, it wasn't just humans who could upgrade to become dual or even triple-ability Awakened Ones; zombies could evolve too.

Of course, not all zombies were qualified to upgrade; only those that had devoured a large number of Awakened Ones and humans with supernatural abilities had a chance to advance.

Moreover, the higher their level, the more difficult they were to deal with.

She put the crystal core into her pocket dimension, her gaze falling on the group of stumbling zombies charging towards her.

She sensed that these zombies were also on the verge of evolution; if she delayed any longer, they might become a real threat. She had to deal with them quickly before they fully developed.

Bai Minghe watched Bai Wanning turn and charge into the zombie horde again, his eyes complex.

He watched his sister attack the man-eating monsters without hesitation, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He couldn't help but clench his fists; if even Bai Wanning had adapted to this life, what was he, as her brother, doing?

Bai Minghe wasn't fearless, but he understood that this was reality.

If he couldn't face everything before him and only relied on escaping and hiding, he would eventually die a meaningless death.

He had to pull himself together and stop blindly running away.

He took a deep breath, composed himself, pulled out his gun from his waist pouch, and followed closely behind Bai Wanning.

Sensing someone behind her, Bai Wanning looked back, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Why are you still here?" she asked with a frown.