Chapter 51 Where Did This Transport Team Come From?

No matter how difficult the circumstances, one must never abandon the hope of victory—this is the essential psychological fortitude required of soldiers in the apocalypse.

This was Yu Shuang’s belief, and it was what she routinely preached to her squad.

The remaining members of the convoy reassembled and set off.

The night was deep, devoid of stars and moon.

The middle section of this mountain road truly featured a gentle slope, its surface strewn with gravel and shrubs.

A long line of vehicles sat parked along the road, seemingly scattered yet meticulously arranged. On the slope above, everyone lay holding their breath in their respective positions.

With Qi An gone, they no longer possessed a fallen-insect early warning system; they had to rely entirely on spy drones.

The fallen insects might not necessarily come, and no one knew when they would arrive. Perhaps they would have to lie in wait here the entire night.

Muffled thunder rolled across the pitch-black canopy of heaven. It was going to rain.

......

The off-road vehicle sped along the highway overgrown with wild grass. Su Qingran replaced the fluid bag on the temporary intravenous drip and checked on Qi An, feeling somewhat astonished.

Qi An’s consciousness drifted and sank, swirling amidst dreams and chaotic memories.

She seemed to have returned to the day Southeastern Base No. 4 fell.

Fire filled the skies, and the city was burning.

Yet the burning city had already been left behind them. Someone was clutching Qi An’s hand, stumbling as they fled toward the woods.

"It’s okay now, it’s okay now. Those bugs went after another group." The person in front stopped, his voice still trembling slightly.

He was on the verge of a level-3 mutation, and his skin had already begun to secrete mucus.

He grabbed Qi An by the shoulders: "Xiao An, help Daddy with the purification. Daddy will take you to Southeastern Base No. 2. It’s not far from here. There are better scientists there, and you can..."

"I'm not going," Qi An said, her tone shifting from faint to resolute. "I don't want to go. We can live outside, anywhere will do."

The middle-aged man, his face etched with the weariness of life, wore a look of utter disbelief before forcing a gentle tone once more: "Are you scared? Don't be afraid. You are a precious treasure, and everyone will protect you."

"I'm not going!" Qi An trembled all over, screaming at the top of her lungs.

The shock and anger drove Qi Wanquan's mutation deeper. He roared, "How can you be so selfish? You might be able to save everyone! You might be able to save this world! Is your single life more important than everyone else's?!"

Qi Wanquan's hands were like iron vises, nearly crushing Qi An's shoulder bones to pieces!

He was undergoing rapid mutation. Fear once again replaced anger, and he pleaded, "Xiao An... Xiao An, save Daddy... We don't have to go, as long as you save Daddy, Daddy will take you into the forest, take you to an abandoned village... Save me!!"

A tentacle protruded from his abdomen, wrapping viciously around Qi An's neck!

Qi An woke with a start!

Jolted awake, she opened her eyes inside the vehicle. Su Qingran was startled, then shocked.

"You're awake?"

For a moment, Qi An didn't register where she was, but the vehicle braked abruptly, causing her to lunge forward.

"You're awake?" Yang Yuning said, slamming on the brakes and staring at Qi An in disbelief.

Supported by Su Qingran, Qi An fully regained her senses. "Where is this?"

"We passed the tunnel and we're heading toward Central Plains No. 1..." Zhuang Xiao spoke as if in a dream.

Su Qingran, meanwhile, looked at Qi An’s legs—the red, festering wounds had stopped spreading and were actually healing. "Autonomic healing enhancement? Anti-toxin superpower?"

"Only we passed the tunnel? Are you taking me to the base hospital?" Qi An asked, having already guessed the answer in her heart. She couldn't help but ask, "There are fallen insects behind us! How could you abandon the convoy?"

"We couldn't just abandon you either," Zhuang Xiao said, looking slightly puzzled.

His Sister Qi hadn't even uttered a sound when bitten by a snake; why was she so emotionally unstable now?

"Is my life more important than everyone else's?" Qi An asked, raising her voice.

The other three in the vehicle were all taken aback. Yang Yuning was equally perplexed, but looking at Qi An, he said, "Your life is just as important as anyone else's. As long as there's a sliver of hope, we will do everything in our power to save you."

Qi An fell silent, speaking only after a long pause: "Thank you."

"The rest of them aren't freeloaders either. It's not like they'll die just because the four of us are missing. Don't blame yourself," Su Qingran comforted her.

Yet now that Qi An had regained consciousness, couldn't they turn back to rescue them?

"I'm fine. Contact them. We can return via another route and launch a pincer attack on the fallen insects," Qi An said.

The other three had no objections, and Zhuang Xiao switched on the vehicle-mounted radio.

They had driven for another half-hour out of the tunnel, exceeding the communication range of the walkie-talkies.

There was no response from the radio.

Before leaving, Yang Yuning had taken Yu Shuang's military tablet and hurriedly used the Starlink network to contact them.

[Qi An's poison has been cured. Does the main base require rescue?]

Outside, it was raining heavily, and network latency was severe. Five minutes later, the reply finally came through:

[The bugs are here! Yes, we need it! Hurry!!]

......

The off-road vehicle rounded a bend in the mountain road, charging back at a speed even greater than when they had arrived.

"Should we take the road we came by or the southern route?" Zhuang Xiao asked.

Yang Yuning gripped the steering wheel tightly.

This was a major dilemma. If they took the southern route, it would take them at least four to five hours to arrive, by which time everything would be over!

If they went through the tunnel again, Yang Yuning could exhaust his physical stamina to unleash his ability one more time, but once through the tunnel, he would be completely spent—guaranteed to be unable to even hold a gun!

"Damn it! That purifier was right, we really shouldn't have made this trip!" Zhuang Xiao cursed.

No one had expected Qi An to heal herself!

Qi An pressed her lips together, about to speak, when suddenly a light appeared in the rain ahead! A single point—or rather, two floating white lights, extremely tiny, but seen by everyone.

Yang Yuning eased up on the accelerator and asked uncertainly, "Is that... a car ahead?"

A car from their convoy?

Had their convoy just been attacked by fallen insects and somehow made it through the tunnel?

Or could it be a mutated creature!

"What mutated creature! That's a pair of headlights!" Zhuang Xiao shouted. "And there's more than one, there's a truck behind it too!"

The distance between the two parties had already closed. Qi An picked up the binoculars and spotted the truck trailing behind the smaller lead vehicle; it was a light truck.

Since she sensed no threat, it definitely wasn't a vehicle belonging to the fallen insects.

Was this another transport team?

Just as Li Yi had said, following the transport route they had pioneered and cleared out, were there many other teams as well?