Chapter 281: Drought World 9
Several cars slowly approached from a distance, their headlights casting an immense sense of oppression.
Two years into the Drought World apocalypse, anyone who could drive was definitely not someone to mess with.
The bandits, who had been searching for someone, all felt the pressure and made way for the approaching convoy, but the vehicles stopped right there.
Several armed men got out of the cars.
The bandits, illuminated by the car lights, saw the Water Source Company logo on their chests.
“What are you doing here this late at night?”
The bodyguards, holding their guns, watched them. The bandits stammered when questioned, “We… we’re just out for a stroll.”
“Taking a walk, exchanging feelings.”
Those who set the rules certainly don’t want rule-breakers. Even outside, when questioned by Water Source Company personnel, they wouldn’t dare directly admit to gang fighting or seeking revenge.
But how could the Water Source Company be so easily fooled?
“How many feelings need to be exchanged late at night? Dozens of grown men saying such things, isn’t that disgusting?”
The bodyguards dispersed the group on the spot, but the convoy did not leave after the bandits departed. They held their guns and had lights, beginning a search in the area where the bandits had just scattered.
“Play dead.”
Chu Yian reminded Zhu Shen, then closed her eyes.
Soon, a flashlight beam shone on her eyelids, turning them bright red. In just three seconds, the light moved away.
The bodyguards quickly returned to the convoy, and the leader reported to the vehicle in the middle, “Boss, besides two corpses, there’s nothing else around.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
A handsome, indifferent profile was visible through the car window. At his command, the convoy set off again.
Just as they were about to leave, he looked back as if sensing something. His narrow eyes swept over the dark sand dunes; there was nothing there… or so it seemed!
Once the cars drove away, the two climbed out of the dirt.
“Oh my, that was too close.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Zhu Shen immediately agreed.
Chu Yian reflexively looked at him upon hearing this, then saw his bleeding nostrils and mouth, “Zhu Shen, what happened to you?”
Did those people in the cars hit his face with their flashlights?
“Are you talking about the blood on my face?”
Zhu Shen wiped it with his hand, making it even dirtier with the sand, but he smiled smugly, “Didn’t you say to play dead just now? How can I pretend to be a dead person without some blood on my face?”
Chu Yian was speechless.
For a moment, she felt like she had been subtly criticized.
She couldn’t help but cough lightly, then glanced at the full moon hanging in the sky, “It wasn’t easy to shake those people off; let’s hurry and get going.”
On the fifteenth day of the game, they had successfully survived and reached the city ruins.
The two officially began a new chapter of city survival.
And today, the Water Source Company officially issued a water depletion notice. The trading market remained open but no longer sold water to the public. This news was like a bolt from the blue, causing everyone to panic and store water even more frantically than before.
At the same time, today was the day with the most gang fights in the past month.
On the sixteenth day of the game, Chu Yian and Zhu Tianguang’s second day of city survival.
Today was another day for opening the treasure box. Chu Yian had drawn a brick in the round before last, a remote control in the last round, and this round she drew a birthday candle shaped like an unopened lotus.
Candles are good; they would allow them to see a glimmer of light in the underground world.
“Big Chu, you can’t light this!”
Zhu Tianguang reached out and felt the shape of the birthday candle, revealing a look of fear, “This must be one of those birthday candles that not only lights up when lit but also blooms into a spinning lotus. The light isn’t scary, but it will sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to us for a week.”
He knew this so clearly because he had experienced it himself when he was twelve.
He was just a child back then.
He accidentally lit a lotus candle and then found he couldn’t turn it off. Even more terrifying, even if he smashed the lotus, the light kept playing.
Finally, in the trash can of his Residential Area, the ‘Happy Birthday’ song didn’t stop until the garbage collectors arrived.
In the dark and quiet underground world, a week of ‘Happy Birthday’ playing.
That’s truly terrifying!
Grandpa Treasure Box wasn’t trying to help Big Chu in her time of need; he was clearly trying to stab them in the back.
After this explanation, Chu Yian was startled by the small object in her hand. She stuffed the item into her treasure box, then lay back down where she had gotten up.
A bit bored.
At the market district, fights had already escalated.
No one was setting up stalls or working anymore. Those with water were finding places to hide, while those without water spontaneously formed small groups, robbing along the way.
At night, three players timidly dug a pit in the darkness, then placed several plastic barrels full of water into the soil.
“This water cut-off came too fast. They said it would start on the 16th day, but it started warming up on the 6th.”
“Exactly. The water we’ve hoarded isn’t enough for us to drink, and we don’t have time to move it.”
“It’s fine, it’s not that much of a difference.”
The third player said, “As long as we can rob a bit more recently, this water will last until the end of the game…”
Before he could finish his last word, his head was smashed by a wooden club studded with iron nails, splattering blood and flesh. His confident expression didn’t have time to recede before he fell heavily.
He was still planning how to rob others, but he had already become a target for others to rob.
All three players were eliminated from the game.
And this situation was not the only one unfolding tonight… Day 17 of the game.
Chu Yian and Zhu Tianguang had been lying underground for two days, and finally, they became restless and resumed their mining life.
Outside, the struggle for water had gone mad.
The Water Source Company’s trading market reopened under these circumstances, but now they no longer bought or sold goods; instead, they provided protection. 100ml of water granted one day of protection within the market.
Capital is truly terrifying, still thinking about how to make money even at a time like this.
Day 18 of the game.
Many people outside no longer had water in their hands; they were even more frantic than the day before.
Corpses were everywhere, whether in the market or the Residential Area.
Chu Yian and Zhu Tianguang continued mining.
Day 19 of the game.
More than half of the living were merely lingering on, and some, to survive, had even started drinking urine.
Chu Yian, with Zhu Shen, was still mining.
They hadn’t dug up anything for two consecutive days, and today was another day of digging up nothing.
However, the treasure box finally showed its power once, allowing Chu Yian to draw something called a Hovenia dulcis fruit.
It looked very much like a tree trunk, but the treasure box said it was a fruit.
Since entering the game, the only food they had eaten was black brick biscuits. If black brick biscuits were edible, she could try any strange fruit.
Chu Yian picked up a piece and threw it into her mouth. As soon as she bit into it, a sweet taste burst forth in her mouth.
