Chapter Ninety-Three: Former Identity

A strange creature from ZM City, with a huge electrical box impaled through its body, had actually run for hundreds of kilometers. It was simply too absurd to believe.

Had the situation not been so urgent that he had to act at once, Cao Fusheng would certainly have pried that box open to see whether it concealed some crucial clue.

It was not that Cao Fusheng was overly suspicious; the matter itself was full of unnaturalness.

He could not help recalling the composite corpse-monster they had encountered in the oil depot in ZM City. Judging by the Ecological Chain, that should indeed have been a composite corpse-monster.

It was a colossal thing assembled from all manner of broken corpse-forms, and its strength was enough to place it among the third-tier corpse species. Aside from its sluggish movement, it surpassed ordinary third-tier corpse creatures in every other respect.

And then there were the footsteps in the streets. Among these three clues, the only thing Cao Fusheng could presently confirm was that the composite corpse-monster and that person were related.

Now it seemed this monkey might also have some connection to that person in ZM City.

Add to that the abnormality in the city center, the corpse creatures rampaging across the city and tearing at one another, and there had to be some great secret behind it all.

But Cao Fusheng had no time to dig into what exactly had happened there. What mattered most now was finding a way into the Sky Pillar and completing the main mission.

There was one more thing: Cao Fusheng truly could not be sure that, with his current abilities, he would still be able to walk out alive if he returned to the center of ZM City.

He glanced at his wristwatch. More than ten minutes had passed since the fight. The commotion had been huge, and it was certain to draw something over.

Stubing out the cigarette, Cao Fusheng lifted Little Night and gently set it down on the vehicle.

He had just used the Ecological Chain to check it. Its vital signs had not suffered much loss; in other words, wounds of that sort could heal themselves with time.

“All right, we’ve all rested enough. Time to move. We can’t stay here long.” Cao Fusheng tried moving his body a little. It felt sore and weak.

After intense exertion, muscles went slack once one rested; it was a common human failing.

“I’ll be done soon. I just need to bind the fracture. Help me in a moment and lift her onto the car. Her injuries can’t take any jolting.” Han Shuqing sped up her hands. In a few quick motions, she tied up Chu Wei’s worst wounds as neatly as if she were packing a parcel.

“Huff...”

Cao Fusheng’s ears twitched. He caught the faint stir of movement dozens of meters away. It seemed corpse creatures had already begun to track the sound and were gathering in this direction.

“Your internal bleeding isn’t too severe yet, but if we drag this out any longer, you’ll still die. Is there anything left in the hospital in ZZ City?”

Cao Fusheng was driving the open-top battle vehicle along the road out of the city.

In truth, he knew the question was almost pointless. Even the city where they had previously stopped had long since been stripped of usable supplies, let alone ZZ City.

The Sky Pillar should have emptied the surrounding cities for who knew how many kilometers in every direction. In this past year and more, they had probably dispatched countless action units.

Cao Fusheng even suspected that someone had been doing the same thing before the disaster ever began.

Chu Wei’s face was deathly pale. There was even a trace of dried blood at the corner of her lips. Beneath that weak exterior lay a heart covered in scars. Her team had been annihilated, and only she remained, barely clinging to life as a wounded commander with no one left under her.

“No... there probably isn’t any supply left to find in ZZ City. The surrounding cities have been stripped nearly bare. Sometimes they even send people by transport plane thousands of miles away to bring supplies back.”

Sadness filled Chu Wei’s heart, and even her words carried a tone of grief. But until the very last moment, she did not intend to reveal the most important intelligence to this stranger she had only just met.

Unless she was truly about to die.

After all, such highly classified information could not be placed in the hands of someone of unknown background.

Cao Fusheng pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. “Then tell me, how am I supposed to save you? I know a little battlefield first aid, but as for surgery, I’m completely ignorant. I’m no better than a butcher with a knife, so don’t go dying halfway there.”

In his own mind, having done this much already was more than enough. If not for the fact that she was an access pass he might never get the chance to find again, he would have long since left her behind.

Of course, rescuing the Sky Pillar was something he desperately needed to do.

But would the people inside the Sky Pillar even know about this matter? Would they not suspect his motives? After all, trying to save the Sky Pillar with only a handful of people at most was ridiculous.

Whether the guards at the gate would even let them in was another matter entirely. If they took them for intruders, they might be shot dead on the spot.

That was precisely where Chu Wei’s value could come into play. At the very least, she was a squad leader from the so-called action force and held an official post.

Chu Wei’s gaze suddenly sharpened. Looking at Cao Fusheng, who seemed to be joking, she felt a flicker of conflict in her heart.

“Don’t worry. I know my own body. I won’t die anytime soon. We’re not related in any way, and you haven’t abandoned me. I’m already deeply grateful. Thank you.”

Han Shuqing, watching Chu Wei hover on the edge of death, felt a slight tremor in her heart. She said softly, “Captain Chu, Fusheng is the kind of man whose face is cold but whose heart is warm. At times, because of principle, he can seem merciless, but he is absolutely a good person. You may not trust him now, but your opinion will change after spending more time with him.”

“Mm... I understand.”

Cao Fusheng glanced sideways at Han Shuqing, who had just handed him a good-person verdict, and could only smile helplessly to himself. Who complimented someone like that?

With a single statement, she had elevated him to the moral high ground. If he truly abandoned Chu Wei later, wouldn’t that be slapping his own face?

Fortunately, he had no such intention at the moment.

“Miss Han, what did you do before the old era ended? Somehow, you don’t seem like just some... I mean, I’m curious. The way you speak gives people the illusion that you’re very strong and self-confident.”

Chu Wei was a little embarrassed, and her face even flushed faintly. She nearly blurted out a crude insult.

The question was actually one Cao Fusheng also wanted to know, though he was not especially concerned about it. He had never asked Han Shuqing what she had done before.

After all, people of the ruined era should sever themselves from their former lives in the old era. This was a world that had been utterly overturned.

“I used to work at a law firm. I also handled a few major cases... There’s nothing much to say about it. The past is the past, after all. What does what I did in the old era have to do with anything now? Under this dark sky, who among us is not merely struggling to survive?”

Han Shuqing seemed to be answering Chu Wei’s question, but in truth her side-glance had always been fixed on Cao Fusheng, who was focused on driving.

More than anyone else’s opinion, she cared about Cao Fusheng’s.

After all, being a lawyer in the old era had placed her among the social elite, let alone one who had handled major cases.

To be honest, when she said those words, Cao Fusheng was indeed briefly taken aback. He even glanced at Han Shuqing on reflex. He had never expected this woman, who had first seemed so gentle and fragile and who had been forced to accompany him in bed, to have once been a true intellectual in the old era.

Han Shuqing noticed Cao Fusheng’s slight surprise, and a faint smile unconsciously rose at the corners of her lips.