Chapter 388: Chapter 388

Everyone gave Jing Shu a thumbs up. Sometimes, luck is really important! Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥

Just when everyone thought they had made a clean escape, another armed helicopter arrived from behind! This dashed Jing Shu’s hope of sneaking the helicopter’s frame into her space to see if there was anything usable, or at the very least, to fill her space with ore.

"Run fast, take shelter in the buildings!"

"Shh, keep it down, turn off all the lights!"

"Quick, hide under this big stone!"

The group clambered ashore, bedraggled and soaking wet. Thankfully, Tan Ke, wearing a skeleton mech, had only sustained minor injuries. Jing Shu gripped her bundle, determined to get wet herself rather than let her treasures get soaked. She too finally made it to shore. They took off running just as the helicopter began strafing the river with a relentless RAT-TAT-TAT of machine gunfire, its spotlight circling overhead in the dark sky.

Every time the helicopter circled overhead, Jing Shu’s heart pounded furiously. She had witnessed its power firsthand. But she vowed that one day, she would be that formidable too!

After flying for fifteen minutes and scouring for ten, the armed helicopter finally left. Jing Shu then heard voices from nearby—a group of Nobles’ bodyguards had arrived, accompanied by many slaves, intending to salvage the ore from the river.

As for the Canal that had been blown open, various cargo ships continued to pass by. The only one missing was the Slave King’s luxury yacht, which was probably chasing the 23 cargo ships with the helicopter. After all, in the apocalypse, food signified wealth and life, and this was all the time they could buy for Yang Yang.

"Who knows how they’ll cope with several helicopters," Lingling said worriedly.

"All we can do is pray for Old Yang’s success. Several armed choppers could definitely flatten more than twenty cargo ships," Monkey commented.

The Slave Master BOSS daring to transport so much cargo indeed showed he had the means. If Yang Yang had attempted an open heist, it would have been certain doom. But nobody expected someone to be bold enough to swap the cargoes and, ludicrously, to succeed—it was tantamount to courting disaster!

"With the captain around, you have to believe in his Combat Power," Snake Spirit said. He stripped off his clothes, revealing a toned, muscular upper body. Wounds, freshly lacerated and now pallid from soaking in water, were visible. Lingling shyly lowered her head, while Jing Shu clicked her tongue. She hadn’t expected that.

Handsome for just three seconds. The chilly breeze set in, and the group of shirtless men shivered uncontrollably.

"Let’s move, get away from here! Just in case they come back for a second sweep," Tan Ke said, carrying all their weapons. "Damn it, all the other supplies are lost."

"We’ll head back to Kolusa and regroup with Old Yang. As long as we have our weapons, it’s fine if we lose the food and supplies. With our rich experience in the wilderness, we can procure what we need, even by force," Snake Spirit said confidently, but he was immediately proven wrong.

Little Black’s tears flowed; the bedding, toothbrush, and stolen brown bread he had just collected were gone again!

At this mention, everyone looked at Jing Shu. She cherished her luggage as if it were her life, clutching it even in these life-and-death circumstances. Fresh garlic sprouts emerged from the edges of her luggage, along with lettuce she had planted a few days prior. Now, she caressed the lettuce leaves that had fallen off during the tumult, a pained expression on her face.

The main thing was, she had brought such a stack of meat! She had a dried pork leg hanging, claiming it would turn into ham. There were strips of beef ribs sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, which she said were for making dried, hand-torn beef. Even the leftover eagle-stewed rabbit from a few days ago had been turned into spicy eagle-rabbit jerky, touted as a spicy, mouth-watering dish that was great with a meal.

In the past few days at the Black Market, she had been exchanging all her Black Market Coins for flour and rice. She didn’t eat them raw; instead, she fried them in a pot. She made fried rice and fried noodles, adding Butter and sauce to create crab roe-flavored fried rice and Butter fried noodles, claiming them to be snacks.

Even more outrageous, she had collected a lot of corn and popped it into popcorn, making chocolate-flavored, brown sugar-flavored, and milk-flavored popcorn. Look at this! Is this something a normal person does in an apocalypse? So extravagant! So annoying! Every time we looked, we had to swallow hard. Should one gulp openly or try to do it sneakily?

"Keep walking straight in this direction, and we’ll reach Fred Town after fifteen kilometers," Jing Shu instructed.

They gave Tan Ke a quick bandage en route and continued on their journey in silence. With the exception of Little Black, who kept complaining that he couldn’t walk anymore, the others had undergone professional physical training. Still, even they were thoroughly exhausted by the trek.

When they finally reached their destination, they looked around in confusion.

The group realized something was off. They had intended to find an inhabited place to snatch some supplies or daily necessities, or at the very least acquire a vehicle. Instead, they found nothing but wilderness and a mountain. There hadn’t been a single house in sight the entire way!

Jing Shu’s frown deepened. Unlike the others who couldn’t see clearly in the dark, she could see everything as clearly as if it were daylight. The clearer her vision of the surroundings, the more she realized they were encountering the aftermath of tectonic movement. The abrupt mountain in front of them had been forcibly squeezed into its current location. This meant that the old maps were no longer reliable; tectonic compression had caused many areas to be displaced. What might have originally been a journey of only a few kilometers could now be hundreds, or even further.

Tan Ke took out a map, shining a flashlight on it, and said, "We’ve traveled from the Canal to this town. According to this direction, a straight trek for two hundred kilometers will get us back to Luckasa. If we manage to find a vehicle, it would only take about two hours. But after coming this far without finding anything, what does everyone think we should do now?"

Snake Spirit furrowed his brow, "Wasn’t this place supposed to be a town? There should have been supplies. Our positioning wasn’t wrong; we’re in Fred Town. But why is there a mountain here? Even if the apocalypse changes things, it can’t just erase all the buildings of a town, can it?"

Monkey, with hands on his hips, said, "We just need to keep following the road straight ahead. We’re bound to find some populated place and a vehicle. If it comes down to it, we can trek the two hundred kilometers in two days. By the time we get to Luckasa, they should be done with their task. We can meet up, settle Contribution Value, and immediately start the next mission."

The group nodded in agreement; this seemed the most reliable plan for now. Only Little Black looked forlorn. He really couldn’t walk anymore. Tired, thirsty, and hungry, he asked, "But what are we going to eat? I’m starving!"

Snake Spirit flicked his tongue, "There’s plenty to eat in the mountains."

However, Jing Shu shook her head. "I don’t agree with that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this mountain and the nearby deserted areas seem to have been squeezed over here by an earthquake. The earthquake has caused many places to shift and change. We can’t guarantee that Luckasa is still in its original location. The best course of action is to return to our previous position at the Canal and retrace our original path. At least when we came this way, Luckasa was still connected to the Canal."