My Cherry Will Explode in the Apocalypse – CH80

Chapter 80: A Sudden Drop in Temperature

Wang Xurong and his group were escorted back to their temporary quarters to pack up. Feeling utterly humiliated, Wang Xurong was seething with anger, cursing nonstop the entire way. But no matter how powerful his lightning-type ability was, a strong dragon could not overpower the local serpent—he simply couldn’t stand up to the thousands of rifles wielded by the Southern Base’s troops.

“Boss, what about Chang Qing?” one man quietly leaned over and asked Wang Xurong while they were packing.

Wang Xurong’s expression tightened immediately. He shot a wary glance toward the doorway, and only after confirming that the soldiers who had escorted them back were standing properly outside and couldn’t hear their conversation did he relax slightly.

He glared at the man and said, “Who’s Chang Qing? There’s no one named Chang Qing in the team that came to the Southern Base this time. Remember that.”

The man froze for a moment, then quickly understood. He nodded lightly, shut his mouth, and went back to packing.

As they got into the vehicle to leave the Southern Base, Wang Xurong cast a venomous glance back and ground his teeth. “I’ll be back sooner or later!”

Damn the Southern Base—it was just cursed against him! If he ever got the chance, he would definitely return and make everyone who humiliated him today pay the price!

After the Southern Base’s team had left W City, that useless bunch of garrison troops there had suddenly become aggressive and noticeably stronger. After joining forces with the Lu family, they had even begun to put real pressure on the Wang and Hong families. Wang Xurong had long suspected that this had something to do with the Southern Base. Later, upon learning that the Southern Base possessed new types of drugs that many factions were eager to purchase, he began to scheme as well, wanting to buy some for himself. He had heard that the ability-enhancing agents were extremely effective—not only boosting the power of abilities but also helping ability users advance in rank. Truly rare and valuable stuff.

Unfortunately… his relationship with the people of the Southern Base had never been good. Back when they came to W City to study soilless cultivation techniques, he had made exorbitant demands and offended them for no reason. He worried that the Southern Base would be unwilling to sell the drugs to him.

Coincidentally, one of his subordinates, Chang Qing, had awakened an invisibility ability that allowed him to conceal his body and move silently. Wang Xurong seized upon the idea and had him turn invisible and mix in with the group entering the Southern Base. If the Southern Base refused to sell him the drugs, he planned to have Chang Qing steal them at an opportune moment.

Sure enough, the leaders of the Southern Base fobbed him off with all sorts of excuses, steadfastly refusing to sell the drugs. Only then did he order Chang Qing to act in secret—to steal the drugs, and ideally the formulas as well, to see whether they could replicate them after returning to W City and make a huge profit. For that reason, he had even given Chang Qing a grenade. If Chang Qing managed to obtain the formulas, he was to blow up the Southern Base’s research center, allowing the W City Base to rise in one fell swoop and win the favor of the major bases.

Man proposes, but heaven disposes. He had never imagined that the Southern Base was hiding such depth—advanced electronic systems and weaponry emerging one after another, awe-inspiring to behold. His seemingly perfect plan had ended in total failure!

Yet in Wang Xurong’s eyes, beneath the anger and venom, there was also a trace of greed. During the days he had spent in the Southern Base, he had to admit that its living conditions were a hundred times better than those of the W City Base. There were solar power systems; the base had lighting, air conditioning, new types of drugs, and vast quantities of weapons and equipment. It was incomparably better than what they had back home.

After he returned, he would have to think of a way to send people to the Southern Base again as undercover agents, waiting for the right moment to act.

Just as Wang Xurong was indulging in these wild fantasies, a loud bang suddenly rang out from outside the vehicle, and the car came to a screeching halt.

“What happened?” Wang Xurong’s head slammed into the roof of the car, making him bare his teeth in pain.

“Boss! This is bad! The road ahead has collapsed!”

“The road collapsed? How could a perfectly good road just collapse?” Wang Xurong said as he opened the door and got out to take a look.

On the once-flat ground, for some unknown reason, an extremely deep ravine had appeared, cutting off the road ahead.

“Damn it, what rotten luck! Is there another road nearby?”

“Boss, it looks like there’s a small side road. We’ll need to make a detour.” Someone pulled out a map and examined it carefully.

“Then take the side road,” Wang Xurong said with a frown.

The convoy changed course and turned onto a narrow side road.

What they didn’t know was that the road had already been densely planted with landmines, lying in wait for them.

After a series of thunderous explosions, a group of people leapt out from the forest and cautiously went to inspect the road. Once they confirmed that all targets were dead, they cremated the bodies on the spot, buried all the vehicle wreckage, and then vanished without a trace.

In the conference room of the Southern Base headquarters building, Zhan Yun informed Jiang Xuzhou that they were about to leave the base and head northwest.

Jiang Xuzhou frowned when he heard this. “You’re not going there because of that level-four zombie, are you?”

Zhan Yun was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Jiang Xuzhou to already know about it. “So it really is a level-four zombie?”

“That’s right.” Jiang Xuzhou sighed. “The people from the Northwest Base who came this time were extremely eager to purchase ability-enhancing agents and detoxifying agents precisely because of that suddenly appearing level-four zombie. They’ve already suffered heavy losses at its hands. And just a few hours ago, we received an emergency telegram from the Northwest Base—apparently that level-four zombie is summoning nearby zombies, and a large-scale zombie tide may occur. The situation is very bad.”

“That place is truly dangerous. Are you sure you want to go?” Jiang Xuzhou asked gravely, worry unmistakable in his eyes.

“Of course,” Zhan Yun replied without hesitation. This trip to the northwest was absolutely unavoidable for them.

“Alright. I’ll immediately assemble an elite unit to depart with you. Whatever you need, just tell me—I’ll make sure everything is provided,” Jiang Xuzhou said, determined to fully support their mission.

“Thank you, but that really won’t be necessary.” Zhan Yun exchanged a glance with Su Ruizhe and smiled. “Commander Jiang, this time we hope you’ll allow us to act on our own.”

Jiang Xuzhou paused, then sighed. “True enough. Each of you is exceptionally capable—having others along would only slow you down. How about this: I’ll prepare a crate each of detoxifying agents and ability-enhancing agents for you to take with you, along with some supplies you might need on the road. Better safe than sorry.”

With Jiang Xuzhou putting it that way, Zhan Yun and Su Ruizhe naturally had no reason to refuse and could only thank him with smiles.

“Commander Jiang, there’s one more thing we need to tell you.”

They informed him of the recent changes in the weather and their suspicion that winter was approaching, urging him to start preparing supplies for the cold season as soon as possible.

“Is winter really going to be as extreme as you say?” Jiang Xuzhou asked, half skeptical. After all, they were in the south—winter temperatures there usually only dropped to around zero degrees. He simply couldn’t imagine what minus thirty degrees would be like.

“Doesn’t the current extreme heat already say something about the situation?” Zhan Yun countered.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Xuzhou said, “Alright, I understand. I’ll have them start preparing charcoal and cotton quilts for the winter right away.”

He didn’t believe Zhan Yun and the others would joke about something like this. Preparing in advance couldn’t hurt—some things were better believed than doubted.

“Good.”

After finishing their discussion with Jiang Xuzhou, everyone returned to the mid-rise building to rest and recuperate, planning to set off the next day.

What they didn’t expect was how quickly the temperature would change.

By noon the next day, which should have been the hottest time of the day, a cool breeze was blowing, and even the sunlight seemed gentler. Instead of feeling hot, people felt cool and refreshed.

Survivors who hadn’t basked in the sun for months slowly emerged from their shelters, bathing in the warm sunlight and enjoying the refreshing breeze.

They laughed joyfully, as if celebrating the end of the scorching heat. But Zhan Yun and Su Ruizhe wore solemn expressions—they knew this kind of temperature shift was highly abnormal.

Su Ruizhe took a thermometer out of his spatial storage and found that the temperature that day was only 28°C. Compared to yesterday’s noon temperature of 41°C, it had dropped by a full 13 degrees.

“We’re leaving immediately!” In this situation, they could no longer wait until evening. The temperature was falling too fast—if they delayed any longer, they would truly be setting out amid heavy snowfall.

“Alright!”

There wasn’t much for them to pack anyway. All the useful items had basically been stored in Su Ruizhe’s space. They only dismantled the solar power generator the base had given them so it would be convenient to use on the road.

They were using flat-panel solar photovoltaic power generation equipment. Not to mention winter—even on rainy days, it could still be used. Photovoltaic power generation is a technology that directly converts light energy into electrical energy through the photovoltaic effect at semiconductor interfaces. Whether in winter or summer, on cloudy days or rainy days, as long as there was natural light, the photovoltaic generator could continue to operate—only the output in winter was lower than in summer.

Zhan Yun and the others found Gao Jian and told him that they planned to leave immediately, asking him to help pass the message on to Commander Jiang.

True to his reputation as a speed-type ability user, Gao Jian made the round trip in less than five minutes. When he returned, he was carrying two small backpacks.

Zhan Yun opened them and saw that each backpack contained fifty detoxifying agents and fifty ability-enhancing agents.

“Commander Jiang already had people find some down jackets, insulated sleeping bags, and a few electric hot-water bottles. They’ve been sent directly to your door. When you leave the base later, remember to take them. Commander Jiang also said that time was short, so he couldn’t prepare much—just be careful on the road.”

“Alright. Please thank Commander Jiang for us.”

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