"Boss, all the crystals are here, take a look!"
Chen Wenjing held out a handful of crystals to An Nuan.
The mechanical bird opened its mouth. After An Nuan poured the crystals into its mouth, it spat one back to her.
"Here, here, upgrade, upgrade!"
"This color is so ugly!"
The garish color reminded her of a toilet, and she imagined it would have a smell when swallowed...
"It suits you, it suits you, it suits you very well!"
"Got it, wait a moment."
An Nuan took out the dumplings she had cooked that morning from her space. She packed them in a plastic bag and hung it around the mechanical bird's neck.
The mechanical bird tilted its head, nudged her face gently with its beak, flapped its wings a few times, and flew away.
An Nuan signaled for everyone to get in the car and prepare to go home. Chen Wenjing suddenly stopped.
"One, two... there are over forty people, some of them are ability users but the exact number is unknown. They have vehicles too! They're heading this way."
An Nuan quickly put the snow rover into her space.
Things that didn't belong to this era couldn't be exposed in front of others yet.
As soon as she put her things away, she saw the convoy approaching them.
The lead vehicle looked like a Transformer, with a huge snow-clearing tool installed at the front, clearing the way for them.
"Did you kill all these?"
The man in the passenger seat lowered the window and took off his goggles.
He raised an eyebrow at An Nuan and her companions, "You have superhumans among you, right? I'm a superhuman too, I can control the wind."
He demonstrated, swirling a small clump of snow around his hand.
An Nuan exchanged a look with Luo Luo, who immediately stepped forward.
A team full of ability users was too conspicuous.
Chen Wenjing and Hai Changfeng's abilities were too enviable and had to be hidden from public view.
Xiao Long was too young, still a little koi, and couldn't be discovered either.
Luo Luo was the most suitable candidate.
"I am, I can control vines."
Luo Luo conjured two vines.
The man whistled, "Cool! We have a plant-type ability user in our team too, but she can only make a few flowers for now. But this is good too, adds a bit of fun!"
"Wow, a tiger!"
"What tiger, a lion, it must be a lion!"
The people in the convoy behind spotted Juanzi and Daizi. The appearance of the two cats startled the man.
He exclaimed in surprise, "Are they mutants! How did you tame mutants!"
"What mutants, you're so rude! They're my cats, they just suddenly grew a bit bigger these past couple of days."
"Really."
The man was quite clever and didn't dwell on the mutant cats. He glanced at An Nuan's team.
[Five ordinary people, traded for two mutated creatures and one superhuman, is it worth it? But their combat power should be good, after all, they killed so many zombies. At least the person with vines is quite powerful.]
Chen Wenjing secretly tugged at An Nuan's hand, her eyes filled with ferocity.
An Nuan understood, of course.
No one was foolish. Why would anyone save them for no reason?
It was all a decision made after weighing the benefits.
Others in the team had contributed more or less, allowing them to gather together.
The leader, the most powerful, was likely this man.
An Nuan spoke first, "Do you need anything else? If not, we're leaving. It's too cold, and it's not safe out here."
"Don't go, my name is Guo Tao. Would you be willing to join my team?"
"No."
The six of them said in unison. Guo Tao cursed inwardly, [Holy shit, they're pretty tough!]
Just that tough!
An Nuan even disdained his team, thinking joining them would only slow down her quality of life and reduce her drawing speed.
Just as they were about to leave.
The woman in the back seat also stretched her head out, "Stop! You killed so many zombies, you must have gotten a lot of supplies? We're out here searching for survivors. If you got supplies, you should share some. We have more people, and our consumption is high."
"Auntie, have you ever seen anyone fighting zombies for food? We killed zombies, not people."
Chang Kai Tong coldly turned his head, and the woman immediately exploded.
"How dare you speak like that! Don't think you can say whatever you want just because you're young. No one here will indulge you."
"We don't need you to indulge us either. We can just go our separate ways, minding our own business. There's no need to force ourselves together, right Guo Tao?"
[They can kill so many zombies, they must be extraordinary. Best not to offend them. Let's see what happens first.]
Guo Tao smiled, "Don't misunderstand, we have no intention of harming you. We just want to see if there's anything to trade."
"No."
An Nuan flatly refused, leaving Guo Tao momentarily speechless.
[Damn, this woman is spicy!]
Chen Wenjing glared at him fiercely, wanting to hack him with her laser knife.
"Meow!"
"Roar! Roar roar roar!"
The two cats screamed frantically, tugging at An Nuan and Luo Luo, urging them to drill into the ruins of the stone wall.
An Nuan felt the snow vibrating and the air swirling. She instantly understood.
"Avalanche! It's an avalanche! Quickly find cover!"
An Nuan led the team into the ruins.
Guo Tao reacted quickly too, immediately signaling his convoy to drive to the side and form a wall of vehicles. Those who were fast enough ran into the ruins.
Chang Kai Tong had just finished organizing his space when a deafening roar came from outside, shaking the entire space.
Everyone waited in fear for a while. The noise and vibration gradually lessened, but there was still a sense of shaking.
There was a turtle-shaped mountain south of Wenfeng Road, which was likely where the avalanche originated.
For the time being, everyone dared not go out and remained huddled in the cave.
Chang Kai Tong's original intention was to protect his own small team, but he didn't expect so many people to follow.
He frowned and complained, "It's so crowded!"
"Shh, let's keep our distance from them."
An Nuan was also very annoyed. She had finally gathered enough crystals and just sent them to Hei Yan when she encountered this group of people.
If it weren't for them, An Nuan would be comfortably bathing and eating late-night snacks at home!
It was fortunate that the mechanical bird had already left, otherwise, there would be another hassle now.
An Nuan found an empty spot. The few of them, along with the two cats, squeezed together and it was still comfortable.
Guo Tao had his men count their numbers and confirmed that six people were missing.
"It seems they didn't make it in time to escape and were buried by the avalanche. Ting, distribute some food to everyone. We might have to spend the night here."
Liu Ting took out a bag from her embrace. It looked small, but its capacity was enormous. She distributed water and biscuits to over thirty people. It seemed there was still more inside.
Guo Tao brought over some biscuits and water.
"Take this, consider it a gift to a friend."
"No need, you keep it for yourselves. We won't eat it."
"Don't be polite. We're in the same boat now, it's only right to help each other."
[Once you eat my food, you'll be too embarrassed to refuse my conditions.]
Guo Tao's gaze fell on Luo Luo, with an air of determined possession.