Chapter 112: Rescue Success
“Daddy, are we going to die?”
Wu Minda stared blankly at the blood seeping through the cracks in the door and the deep fissures spreading across the walls as he asked his father.
Wu Zhen’s face was deathly pale. He had been overusing his ability to control plant growth, draining his energy to the point where his vision blurred, and dizziness set in.
Even so, he forced a reassuring smile for his son.
“As long as I’m here, no. I will protect you and your mother.”
His wife, Liu Shu, had already lost all hope. She watched as the layers of the protective plant barrier her husband had woven began to peel away. The air was thick with the stench of blood and rotting zombies. The endless screams and howls that had haunted them day and night had long since numbed her.
No one was coming to save them.
She let out a bitter laugh and picked up a fruit knife she had prepared in advance.
“Husband, I’m tired. I want to take our son and leave first. I don’t want to be eaten by those disgusting monsters…”
Wu Zhen was horrified. Afraid she would actually do something extreme, he used his vines to snatch the knife from her hands. His voice was full of pain as he pleaded:
“Don’t do this! Just hold on a little longer, trust me! If we make it through tonight, we’ll survive! I promise you, if no one comes to save us by morning, I’ll give up. But please, just one more night!”
Then, he reached out to his son. “Come here, come to Daddy.”
But Wu Minda was too scared to move. He stood frozen, his eyes empty, devoid of light or any will to survive.
Seeing his wife and child like this, Wu Zhen’s heart broke, and tears streamed down his face. He gritted his teeth and squeezed out the last remnants of his ability, reinforcing the plant barrier one more time.
The door had already shattered. Countless rotting, grayish-blue zombie hands, covered in blood and filth, reached through the gaps in the protective net.
A Blood Scythe zombie slammed its massive limb against the vines, hacking and battering away, trying to tear open a gap and feast on the living inside.
Wu Zhen had no idea how long he had held on. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he heard the door burst open—followed by a rapid series of gunshots.
A golden leopard leaped into the room, its dark-gold pupils gleaming, its sharp fangs tearing through the air thick with blood and gunpowder—
“Boss Su, the rescue was a success.”
Through the static of the communicator, Su Tao barely caught the words. She repeated, “Captain Lei, what did you say? I didn’t hear you clearly.”
Lei Xing’s voice came through again. “I said—the rescue was a success. But Wu Zhen passed out from overusing his ability. His wife and child have serious knife wounds. My team performed emergency first aid, but there’s a risk of infection. Whether they make it depends on their will to survive.”
This time, Su Tao heard it clearly. Confused, she asked, “Knife wounds? How did that happen?”
Lei Xing shrugged. “Looks like his wife tried to kill herself and their kid. Luckily, she didn’t cut an artery, or they’d be dead already. Boss Su, they were the ones who didn’t want to live. If they don’t make it, you can’t blame me for failing the mission, right?”
Su Tao let out a sigh, feeling both frustrated and helpless about Wu Zhen’s wife’s actions.
“No, it doesn’t count. Thank you for your hard work. How should I deliver the half-ton of fuel and food to you?”
The moment Su Tao finished speaking, she heard wild cheers erupt from the other end of the communicator.
“Woooooohhhhhh——!”
She was stunned. “What just happened?”
Lei Xing grinned. “I had my team set fire to the outer city of Shou’an. What a shame, Boss Su, you didn’t get to see the flames lighting up the sky—it was beautiful, truly worth celebrating.”
Su Tao’s mouth twitched. Lunatic.
Lei Xing continued, “Alright then, Boss Su, we’ll meet in Dongyang in three days. Consider the supplies your welcome gift to me.”
