Chapter 52: Chapter 46: Dangerous Bus

As she walked out of the school gates, Tang Mo looked up at the sky.

The winter sun was glorious, and the sky was a deeper blue than before, like it had been a long, long time ago.

Looking around, the earth was no longer a barren expanse but was covered in vast swathes of green.

Countless towering ancient trees and low-lying tender grasses had broken through the ground, cracking the hard concrete and tiles and flipping up chunks of fresh soil.

The plants grew lush and unrestrained, with none of the awkwardness of newcomers. It was as if they had always belonged here.

The air, cleansed by the green cover, had become fresh. For a moment, Tang Mo felt like a traitor to this world.

She forgot the people struggling between life and death, forgot that she herself was in constant peril, and felt that what had befallen the Earth wasn’t an apocalypse, but a purification, a rebirth.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, Tang Mo strode forward. Her most pressing task was to find the nearest base and sell the treasures in her Space.

The giant serpent’s Poison Fang and hide were of little use to her, but if sold to the Alliance, they could be turned into deadly weapons and life-saving Defense Equipment.

The Alliance’s headquarters was in S City, but it controlled all the bases across the country. Each base had a well-established trading post and mission board, forming the most complete supply chain and holding the nation’s lifeline in its grasp.

Tang Mo had checked; the nearest base was only twenty kilometers away. Walking there wouldn’t be a problem for her. She didn’t have to worry about food, but the mutant beasts she might encounter on the way would be a bit of a hassle.

Now that the mutant beasts had just dispersed from the fog, many were still in packs. She could handle one or two now, but if she ran into a group, she’d be in trouble.

With the fog gone, the slime on the mutant beasts had vanished. Their vision, sense of smell, and agility had all increased drastically. Tang Mo didn’t dare try to outrun a whole pack anymore.

’I’m still too weak... If I were just a little stronger, I wouldn’t have to be so timid.’

Tang Mo’s original plan was to stop at small bases along the way, taking on missions to get stronger while gradually making her way toward B City.

’Looks like I’ll just have to be extra careful.’ Tang Mo tightened her grip on Wind Breaker.

"HONK HONK."

Suddenly, the sound of a car horn came from behind her.

"Hey! Going to Huacheng Base! Pay with food! Need a ride?"

A large bus sped toward Tang Mo from behind, a young man shouting from the window.

Buses like this, modified for the apocalypse, were a common sight, picking up people to take them back to a base. There were no set times or stops; encountering one was purely a matter of luck.

’Huacheng Base?’ Tang Mo mentally scanned her memory but came up blank.

But for her, one place was as good as another, so she got on without hesitation.

The driver was a burly, bald man with a full sleeve tattoo. The moment Tang Mo was on, he stomped on the gas.

"Hey, I’m Ah Lian, the ticket collector. It’s a return trip, so the price is cheap. Just give us whatever food you can spare."

The young man sitting by the window near the driver introduced himself. He looked to be in his early twenties, about the same age as Tang Mo, but his professional smile looked like it belonged to someone who had been knocked around by the world for years.

’Not a simple person,’ Tang Mo concluded internally.

The drivers and ticket collectors on any base bus were never simple people. Tang Mo knew this well.

Places where all sorts of people gathered were always prone to trouble, especially now that the social order had been shattered.

Tang Mo took off her backpack, reached inside, and pulled out the half-eaten bag of crackers from before, handing it over as her fare.

Ah Lian’s eyes lit up in surprise at the sight of the half-full bag. Compared to the crumbs of instant noodles and clumps of wild grass from other passengers, Tang Mo’s fare could be considered extremely expensive.

Ah Lian immediately felt a sense of goodwill toward this girl with the hat and the slightly dark-complexioned face.

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To avoid trouble, Tang Mo had put on a hat and smeared some dark foundation on her face.

In a good mood, he pointed her to the cleanest spot behind him. "Sit tight, we’ll be there in ten minutes."

After sitting down, Tang Mo glanced around. Besides herself, Ah Lian, and the driver, there were four other people on the bus.

A pot-bellied, balding middle-aged man carrying a leather suitcase sat next to a beautiful woman in over-the-knee boots.

There was also a middle-aged woman with a little boy. Compared to the other pair, this mother and son looked much more destitute and desperate.

Hunger was etched onto their faces.

Tang Mo averted her gaze, pulled down the brim of her hat, and prepared to rest her eyes. But before her seat was even warm, the bus screeched to another halt.

A tall man and a short man got on. Unusually, their faces showed no signs of starvation.

After getting on, they gave Ah Lian a piece of jerky and then began sizing up everyone in the bus with their eyes.

Their gazes were intensely purposeful and aggressive, making Tang Mo extremely uncomfortable.

Moreover, they had a peculiar smell about them. It wasn’t a stench, but it was nauseating.

The two men didn’t head to the back, instead taking the seats across the aisle from Ah Lian.

Tang Mo kept the two men in her peripheral vision. Her sixth sense told her they were trouble.

"Don’t move!"

A sudden shout erupted. The tall man had pulled out a watermelon knife the length of his forearm and was pointing it at Ah Lian.

The short man, meanwhile, had darted to the back and was holding a fruit knife to the middle-aged man’s throat.

The young woman screamed and scrambled away from the man beside her, moving to a seat further away.

It was clear the two men had calculated this. The only other men on the bus who might pose a threat were these two.

Tang Mo gripped Wind Breaker, calculating how long it would take to draw her blade and plunge it into the tall man’s stomach.

If Ah Lian and the middle-aged man were killed, the remaining old, weak, women, and children wouldn’t stand a chance of escaping.

Tang Mo understood the principle of mutual dependence. She wouldn’t just sit by and watch.

But Ah Lian, with a blade pointed at him, was surprisingly calm. As if he didn’t see the sharp knife just ten centimeters from him, he slowly zipped up the bag of collected food he was carrying and placed it on his seat.

Watching Ah Lian’s calm face, Tang Mo’s white-knuckled grip on Wind Breaker unconsciously loosened a bit.

"Please, I have some good stuff. I’ll give it all to you, just don’t kill me."

The middle-aged man in the back, accustomed to a life of comfort, had clearly never seen a scene like this. He threw his suitcase on the floor and went limp, his voice trembling.

At that moment, the bus was driving through a green forest. Suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes, and everyone lurched forward before steadying themselves.

.........

[A word from the author]

The book has surpassed 100,000 words. Thank you all for your continued support.

I’ve created a reader group: 399816294

Feel free to join and hang out. You can discuss the plot, pester me for more Chapters, or just chat.

I’ll release one bonus Chapter when the group reaches 100 members, and two bonus Chapters when it reaches 500.

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