As the RV rolled steadily down the cracked highway, its massive tires crunching over scattered debris and dried bloodstains, Gu Mian spoke calmly, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting casually by the window.
Her voice carried easily through the vehicle.
GU MIAN:
"Now that we're out, we might not fight much inside cities, but in the next three months, I want every single one of you to create at least one new fighting technique that truly belongs to you."
The chatter inside the RV gradually quieted.
Everyone listened.
GU MIAN:
"For example—water abilities. Every living thing has water inside them. If you can figure out how to exploit that, even partially, that advantage alone could decide life and death."
Qin Yao's eyes lit up slightly, clearly already thinking.
GU MIAN:
"During training, I had you spend three hours a day reading cultivation novels. That wasn't for entertainment. We've already tested those ideas during sparring—now you've seen that they work."
She glanced at them through the rearview mirror.
GU MIAN:
"You can all cultivate spiritual qi now by blending mental power and spiritual energy. If we calculate properly, your combat strength is already one full level higher than your official rank."
Mu Xia straightened subconsciously.
GU MIAN:
"So before we leave this city, each of you must complete at least one new technique. I don't care if it's flashy or ugly—only that it works."
Her tone sharpened.
GU MIAN:
"During this period, I'll be busy sweeping the city and gathering resources. Remember this clearly—don't be kind to anyone we meet. I'm not interested in burdens, even if they awaken abilities."
Silence followed.
Then, unanimously—
ALL:
"Yes, Boss."
They took over an abandoned hotel in D City.
The army had already cleared most of the zombies and evacuated survivors, leaving the area eerily silent. The lobby smelled faintly of disinfectant and old blood. Broken glass glittered under dim emergency lights.
Occasionally, distant zombie roars echoed through the empty streets as stragglers wandered in from surrounding districts.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
And so training began.
The Gu family children went out daily.
They fought zombies in streets, underground parking lots, shopping centers, and collapsed residential blocks. Sometimes it was dozens.
Sometimes hundreds. Sometimes flocks of zombie birds descended from the sky, wings beating with rotten fury.
Injuries were common.
Broken bones. Torn flesh. Burned skin.
They healed. They learned. They adapted.
Meanwhile, Gu Mian's team entered nearby mines.
That was where the real hell was.
Mutated insects.
Some were the size of dogs. Some moved in swarms so dense they blackened the tunnels like flowing shadows. Ants with armored shells. Centipedes with corrosive saliva. Beetles whose wings sliced stone.
Sometimes they came in tens of thousands.
The first time, panic nearly broke them.
Then Gu Mian arrived.
The mine tunnel shook violently as the swarm surged forward.
Chittering, screeching, skittering—an ocean of legs and mandibles poured through the darkness.
"Hold formation!" Qin Yao shouted.
Water surged forward, compressing into rotating barriers. Wei Xuming's flames roared, lighting the tunnel in blinding orange.
Huo Xu slammed his metal ability into the walls, reinforcing them as Mu Xia thickened the ground beneath their feet.
Still, the insects kept coming.
Too many.
Gu Mian stepped forward.
Her eyes darkened.
Blood rippled.
In an instant, razor-thin crimson threads exploded outward, weaving through the swarm like a living net. Every insect touched stiffened—then ruptured violently as their internal fluids were forcibly extracted.
The tunnel filled with the sound of bursting bodies.
"Don't waste it," Gu Mian said calmly.
"Practice."
Her team snapped back to themselves.
Lightning arced. Wind compressed into slicing blades. Ice spears rained down. Darkness corroded shells from within. Psychic pressure crushed weaker insects into paste.
They fought for hours.
Afterward, they loosened the soil, extracted massive jade slabs—some as large as dining tables, impossibly heavy—and stored them away.
They repeated this process for months.
Fight. Heal. Refine. Improve.
And something incredible happened.
They discovered that techniques weren't ability-exclusive.
A compression method used for wind could be adapted for water.
A shaping technique used for metal could work for ice.
As long as the core principle remained, abilities could be tweaked, amplified, personalized.
It was revolutionary.
Far away, Tang Guo and Xiao San reached the national maximum-security prison in December.
Frozen zombies stood stiff in corridors, preserved by cold.
They cleared them efficiently.
The prison became a fortress.
They formed alliances—with ethical gangs, small teams, survivors who understood rules.
Xiao San's talent was terrifying.
In just a few months, he surpassed Tang Guo.
Naturally, he became base leader.
Tang Guo became his assistant.
No one complained.
They worked like gears in the same machine.
Back in D City, Gu Mian swept everything.
She even excavated small jade mines and placed them directly into her space.
She had already decided.
When everything ended—
C City.
D City.
R City.
They would all be hers.
Soon.
They left D City.
The RV crawled steadily toward the capital.
Without stopping, it would take one month.
With fighting?
Two.
At least.
In early March, one month into the journey, they encountered a horde.
Four hundred zombies.
Several level-two variants.
The road was blocked.
Gu Mian stopped the RV.
GU MIAN:
"Perfect timing. Warm-up."
The battle erupted.
Wind blades sliced through skulls. Firestorms incinerated bodies. Lightning shattered spines. Metal spikes pinned zombies to the asphalt. Ice froze legs in place while earth swallowed torsos.
Gu Mian moved like a shadow.
Blood spears erupted from corpses mid-fall, skewering the next wave.
It was brutal.
Efficient.
When it ended, they burned the remains to ash.
Coincidentally—
It was lunchtime.
They parked the RV.
Sat around it.
Some even climbed on top.
Straws dipped into bottles of juice mixed with spring water.
Hao Yun and Huo Xu lounged atop the vehicle, legs dangling, half-lying down.
HAO YUN:
"…If the apocalypse always came with lunch breaks, I'd rate it five stars."
HUO XU:
"Only five? After that workout?"
They clinked bottles lazily.
Wei Xuming leaned close to Mu Xia, whispering something that made her ears turn red.
MU XIA:
"…We're outside."
WEI XUMING:
"So?"
They were centimeters apart.
The others gagged.
QIN YAO:
"Boss, I'm being attacked emotionally."
GU MIAN:
"Same. Someone revoke their flirting privileges."
Wei Xuming grinned shamelessly.
WEI XUMING:
"Jealousy is unhealthy, Boss."
Gu Mian snorted.
GU MIAN:
"I'll make sure zombies bite you first."
Laughter rippled.
For a moment—
It felt peaceful.
Then—