My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 32

During the intervals while everyone was “processing” the corpses, only two more waves of zombies staggered toward them, both of which were dispatched by Ren Chenxi. She gave all the newly harvested crystal nuclei from those waves to Tang Ying. Although it pained her to part with them, Ren Chenxi hadn’t forgotten that with Tang Ying’s specific ability, obtaining nuclei on her own would be extremely difficult. Moreover, without the convenient projectiles Tang Ying provided, she wouldn’t have the proper weapons to take down these zombies efficiently.

After the two waves, the bodies of the zombies and mutant beasts in front of the house were mostly dealt with. Any extractable nuclei had been taken, and prime cuts of meat had been carved from some of the mutant beasts. Previously, they would have packed the meat into clean bags and carried it back, but this time, they had a space ability user among them…

“Sister Xi, could we store this meat in your space? If we carry it the whole way back, the smell might attract other mutant beasts with sensitive noses,” Chen Gu said, approaching Ren Chenxi with a flattering smile. “Of course, as a thank-you, you can keep a portion of the meat for yourself~” On one hand, they were in a rush to return to the base and didn’t want any delays; a large bundle of raw meat was practically an invitation for trouble. On the other hand, most space abilities included a preservation function, and they hoped the meat would remain fresh inside her space.

Ren Chenxi did not refuse Chen Gu’s request. She had plenty of slots in her backpack, so storing two large bags of meat was no issue at all. Besides, their van was already in her backpack; why fuss over two bags of meat? Thinking of the van, Ren Chenxi stored the meat and prepared to take the vehicle out.

However, Chen Gu seemed to anticipate her move and spoke up first. “Sister Xi, let’s discuss one more thing… Since we’re all going to the South Sea Base and your bus is so large, why don’t we all just ride together in one vehicle?”

“Brother Chen, just say you don’t have enough gas and want to hitch a ride to save fuel!” Yang Xiangrui, who had heard Chen Gu complaining about their low fuel the night before, unceremoniously exposed him.

Exposed, Chen Gu didn’t look embarrassed at all. Instead, he said boisterously, “I can’t help it! Our gas was already low, and we went out of our way to come save you guys, which used up even more!”

“But we’ve been driving this whole way, and we don’t know how much we have left either! I don’t even know if that half-barrel we siphoned from the gas station will be enough,” Jian Dan said, sounding even more worried about the bus’s fuel than Chen Gu was about his van.

“Ayy, at least you have half a barrel~ Use it, use it!”

“But our bus clearly burns more fuel!”

Seeing Chen Gu and Jian Dan haggling like they were at a wet market, Ren Chenxi shook her head in exasperation. “Jian Dan, forget it. We’ll take the bus.”

“Ah, but Sister Xi…”

“Don’t worry, the fuel will be enough.” As she spoke, Ren Chenxi pulled out the gasoline dropped by the monsters affected by the Grease Cards. Including the seven bottles used on the mutant wolves, she had a total of twelve 6L bottles of gasoline.

“Eh, Sister Xi, you actually have this much gas… Wait, gasoline? Doesn’t the bus run on diesel?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Ren Chenxi had checked the detailed information on the system-produced gasoline; it stated that it was universal for all fuel-consuming vehicles. Not just cars, but generators and other machinery could use it too. Regardless of the logic behind it, as long as it worked, it was fine. “The bottle just says ‘gasoline,’ but what’s inside might as well be diesel.”

How casual. If they used it so haphazardly, were they sure the bus wouldn’t break down halfway?

Despite everyone’s concerns, at Ren Chenxi’s insistence, the twelve bottles of fuel were added to the bus. Surprisingly, the bus ran smoothly all the way to the county town where Chen Gu’s group usually stayed, without any issues.

“See that? That tall building is the hotel where we usually stop to rest.” Since they were hitching a ride, borrowing her backpack space, and needing her medicine, Chen Gu now treated Ren Chenxi’s group as their own. As the bus passed a large hotel, Chen Gu specifically pointed it out to them.

“Ohh! Got it, Brother Chen, we’ll remember this hotel.” Everyone understood Chen Gu’s intention, and Jian Dan’s group immediately thanked him.

Even though they were all heading to the South Sea Base, whether they would continue to move together afterward was still a question mark. Given Sister Xi’s attitude toward the Ice Beauty, they might very well act as strangers once inside the base. In that case, the fact that the other party was willing to share the location of their temporary stronghold was considered a generous gesture.

After passing the hotel, the bus continued toward the South Sea Base. As they passed through a small town, Tang Ying, who had been staring out the window at the scenery, suddenly shouted excitedly, “Everyone look! Over there—isn’t that a supermarket? Do you think there’s any food left inside?”

Looking at the half-fallen supermarket sign Tang Ying was pointing at, Chen Gu and his team remained calm.

“Sister, don’t get excited. You only see the sign; didn’t you see that dark, ruined building behind it? That’s the supermarket. There must have been a massive explosion there when the world ended; all the supplies were incinerated. We’ve been there before hoping to find something, but there’s absolutely nothing left.”

“Sigh…”

Just as Tang Ying was looking disappointed, Ren Chenxi suddenly interjected, “Did you check the warehouse beneath the supermarket?” According to Ren Chenxi’s mini-map, there was indeed a warehouse under the building.

“Eh? There’s a warehouse under there?” Chen Gu looked at Ren Chenxi in shock. “Sister Xi, how do you know there’s a warehouse?”

I don’t know, I saw it on the map. Ren Chenxi’s lips twitched as she made up a lie on the spot. “In the city I was in before, a large supermarket had a basement warehouse. I found a lot of useful supplies there that helped me survive these past two years. So now, whenever I pass a supermarket in other cities, I instinctively wonder if they have an underground warehouse too.”

“That’s true!” Hearing this, Chen Gu turned back to Mu Ning with an eager expression. “Boss, should we go see if there’s a basement warehouse in that supermarket?”

Facing everyone’s expectant gazes, Mu Ning spoke calmly, “Return to the base first. Sun Jia needs the medicine. We can check the supermarket next time.”

“Right, Little Jia is waiting for the medicine!”

While Chen Gu’s group shifted their focus back to their injured companion, a cold smirk played on Ren Chenxi’s lips. Hmph, I won’t give you a ‘next time.’ I’ll come back here alone ahead of time. If the supplies in that warehouse are still there, I’ll take every last bit of them—not a single item left.

Of course, this wasn’t out of selfishness. In Ren Chenxi’s view, her relationship with Mu Ning was already terrible. She needed to stockpile as much as possible so she could continue to trade for water resources with Mu Ning, or perhaps with other water-type users, in the future.

After leaving the supermarket behind, the bus pressed on. The driver was now a strength-type user from Mu Ning’s team. Whenever he encountered zombies on the road, he plowed straight through them. Each time he hit one, he would let out a satisfied “Ha!”

Chen Gu and the other guys watched with envy and admiration. “Tsk tsk, a big vehicle is so convenient. You can just crush those roadblocking zombies. Look at our crappy van… Hey, Boss, let’s get ourselves a bus later, too. If not a bus, a city bus would work~”

Mu Ning didn’t bother responding to Chen Gu, but Zhang Tongqi mocked him unceremoniously, “You have a vehicle, but do you have the gas?”

They were already struggling to find fuel for a van!

By the time the bus reached the South Sea Base, it was already 11:00 AM. Ren Chenxi remembered that when they left the outskirts, the game time was roughly between 8:00 and 9:00 AM. Along the way, they had encountered other vehicles. Chen Gu had even leaned out the window to greet people in a few of them. According to him, these were all ability users from the base heading out to scavenge or complete missions.

As the bus pulled up to the main gate of the South Sea Base and the group stepped out, a massive RV happened to be driving out. It was a beautiful, luxury RV—not as rugged or sturdy-looking as the off-road RV in Ren Chenxi’s apocalypse mall, but still enough to make her envious for a moment.

“Mu Ning, you didn’t return to the base all night. Where did you go?” The RV window rolled down, and a man greeted Mu Ning with a familiar tone.

The voice sounded familiar. Once Ren Chenxi saw the man’s face clearly, her expression instantly went cold. Fan Juntian!

Although he had changed quite a bit, those disgusting, lust-filled eyes allowed Ren Chenxi to recognize him instantly.

“Huh?” Sensing someone watching him, Fan Juntian turned toward Ren Chenxi. “You… you… Ren Muhui! You’re still alive?”

Ren Chenxi could hear the teeth-grinding hatred in Fan Juntian’s voice.

Quickly adjusting her expression, Ren Chenxi feigned confusion and asked back, “Excuse me… were you a friend of my brother’s? I am Ren Muhui’s sister, Ren Chenxi.” Although she had always loathed Fan Juntian, Ren Chenxi was wise enough not to openly clash with a petty man who struck from the shadows. Especially since, two years into the apocalypse, he was driving a luxury RV—his influence in the South Sea Base must be significant. From the S-University students, she also knew his family had relocated to this base. For now, she couldn’t afford to offend him.

At least, not on the surface.

“Sister?” Fan Juntian stared fixedly at Ren Chenxi. After a long moment, he sneered. “Heh, who was friends with Ren Muhui? But… you, the sister, are much easier on the eyes than your brother was~”

“…” We have the exact same face; how can you think the current me looks better than the old me! Ren Chenxi froze with a fake smile, cursing him wildly in her head.

Fan Juntian looked Ren Chenxi up and down for a while. Once he confirmed that the person before him was indeed a woman, he carefully scanned the group that had disembarked from the bus. Seeing no sign of the person he hated, he flashed Ren Chenxi a predatory smile. “Sister, where’s your brother? Did he just dump you here alone? To be honest, instead of following that trash brother of yours, why don’t you follow me? I promise you’ll be eating and drinking the best every day…”

“She’s with me now!” Before Fan Juntian could finish his sentence, Mu Ning stepped forward with a cold face and pulled Ren Chenxi behind her.

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