The road here was a six-lane, two-way street, but now it was completely blocked by twisted vehicles and scattered corpses. The closer they got to the so-called safe zone, the density of severed limbs and broken bodies increased exponentially.

Many container trucks were parked haphazardly along the roadside. Military trucks and armored vehicles had crashed into one another in twisted heaps, shattering glass all over the ground.

Residential buildings on both sides of the road had been caught in the crossfire of heavy weaponry. Their walls were collapsed and dilapidated; traces of war and destruction were everywhere.

There were even fragments of human tissue, instantly vaporized by artillery fire and fused into the rubble—a gruesome and shocking sight.

On the perimeter wall of the industrial park, the defense line was crudely reinforced by twisted metal, sandbags, and barriers hastily erected by Earth and Gold Superpower Users.

The few watchtowers on the wall had long lost their former vigilance. A couple mangled bodies of soldiers in military uniforms still hung from them. Splatters of blood and indistinguishable flesh stuck to the walls, silently recounting the tragedy that had occurred.

Night always fell exceptionally early on rainy days. By just past six in the evening, thick darkness had completely blanketed the sky, making this desolate area appear even more eerie.

Inside the wall, there was not a single sliver of light, not a sound, nor any trace of living breath. There was only a dead silence—the kind of suffocating, bone-chilling silence that sent shivers down the spine.

This was their destination: the so-called Western Decron Safe Zone.

“We can’t enter the park tonight. It’s too complex inside, and it’s far too eerily quiet,” Kevin Keane’s voice broke the silence, his tone resolute.

Just as he finished speaking, Dylan DuPont’s voice came through the walkie-talkie, carrying an unquestionable command. “Find a safe location nearby to spend the night. Stay alert.”

“Copy that.”

William Walsh was the first to respond. For Luna Dawson and her group, following the lead car meant it didn’t matter where they spent the night; anywhere was the same.

More than ten minutes later, the convoy arrived behind the park’s commercial street. They found a bed-and-breakfast with a courtyard—spacious enough to park over a dozen vehicles—and decided to take shelter there for the night.

The main building was a seven-story, minimalist white structure. Now, however, the walls were heavily stained with dark brown blood, turning the once-clean white exterior into a mottled, bizarre canvas. In the dim night, it looked like a dormant monster, silently watching the intruders.

The Gold Superpower Users in the team carefully melted the heavy lock on the iron gates. The convoy filed into the courtyard. Everyone cautiously reinforced the walls and gates before storing their vehicles. Moving in a combat formation and providing covering fire for one another, they entered the building.

The search inside the building was tense and swift. Fortunately, because roads had been blocked off and the government had mandated home quarantines before the apocalypse, there were no guests staying there.

Aside from a few highly decomposed corpses in some rooms on the second floor, they didn’t find any other bizarre creatures.

Dozens of people crowded into the third-floor dining hall. Even though it was night, the temperature remained stubbornly high, reaching thirty-nine degrees Celsius. The rain and mist outside, combined with the muggy air, the stench of rotting corpses, and the smell of blood and sweat on everyone’s bodies, created a nauseating odor that made people frown.

The male members of the Genesis Squad waved the resting female members off, signaling them to take a break. Together with the people from Omni Squad, they inspected the entire building and professionally reinforced and performed a basic cleanup of the first and second floors.

Luna Dawson gestured for the Sunset Squad members to stay put, and together, they sat down leisurely on the third floor to rest.

Before long, the Genesis Team and Omni Squad finished their tasks. Holding their water bottles, they took turns collecting purified water from the Water Ability Users.

The hot, humid weather seemed to magnify everyone’s anxiety and restlessness. Except for the Sunset Squad, of course. Upon arriving at a safe temporary base, their tense nerves finally relaxed a bit.

Resting at the dining table as well, Sharon Sloan’s eyes flashed with a dark glint as she glared at Luna with hostility.

She thought, “Isn’t this woman just relying on her powerful superpowers to avoid doing any work? My Omni people are doing all the hard labor!”

Aaron Palmer had been driving all day with intense focus. After the life-and-death street battle that afternoon, he was so exhausted upon entering the safe location that he didn’t even have the energy to speak.

He sprawled out under the pickup counter for soy milk and fried dough sticks, groaning, “Ah, the monsters here are so terrifying! They actually know how to smile, and they even gang up on us!”

Suffocated by the stench, Rhonda Dawson frowned and cracked the window open slightly. Yvonne Ford and a few other female members also subtly opened the windows to let in some fresh air.

Miles Dawson, looking half-dead, tried to lean against Kevin Keane, but the human furnace found him too hot. Kevin grabbed him by the back of his collar and tossed him next to Aaron Palmer.

With a yelp, Miles slumped motionlessly against the counter like a puddle of mud, which made Aaron cackle with amusement.

Miles pulled a bitter face and began fake-crying. “Brother Kevin, you’re so cruel.”

Kevin couldn’t be bothered to entertain these two “geniuses.” When out on missions, he and Blake Blue were as serious as could be, keeping stern expressions on their faces.

The two of them were discussing tomorrow’s route into the pharmaceutical factory with Dylan DuPont and the others. Meanwhile, Luna pulled Rhonda up to the seventh floor.

In no time, they cleared out a large three-bedroom, two-living-room suite to serve as the Sunset Squad’s resting place for the night.

By the time the men finished their discussion and came upstairs, Luna and Rhonda had already taken their showers. Feeling refreshed, they were sitting in an inflatable tent set up in the living room, enjoying the breeze from a cooling fan.

Luna had already prepared four tubs of water and placed them in the bathrooms of the different rooms.

As soon as Aaron came up, he rushed into the guest bathroom. Looking at the crystal-clear cool water in the large bathtub, he clicked his tongue in amazement. “Luna! Being with you means we don’t have to suffer even a little bit!”

Luna chuckled. “Well, you guys latched onto the right person. How could I let you all suffer?”

Aaron closed the door and, rustling as he took off his clothes, yelled out, “Those Water Ability Users from Omni downstairs are so slow, and they give out so little water. When we were surrounded by those grinning monsters today, their attack power was so weak it made me laugh. Yet they go around thinking they’re so badass, acting all high and mighty.”

Unable to bear his incessant rambling, Kevin interrupted, “Just shut up and wash yourself properly.”

Seeing that the guest bathroom was taken, Miles immediately dashed into his sisters’ master bedroom to snag its bathroom.

Blake took off his tactical vest, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and grimaced. “This damn weather. It’s so hot and humid; it’s no different from a steamer.”

Luna had already set out a spread inside the tent: cold shredded chicken, cilantro-tossed beef, Thai-style raw marinated crab, raw marinated shrimp, and garlic water spinach. For the main carbs, there was white porridge, icy Northeastern cold noodles, and sesame paste cold skin noodles.

In just one day, the temperature had risen to an unbearable level. It was so hot that no one could stomach even a bite of hot food.

“Hurry up and wash so we can eat,” she called out.

The others quickly cleaned themselves up and eagerly squeezed into the inflatable tent for dinner.

Aaron was the first to finish dressing. With a loud SPLASH, he dumped out his bathwater. Wearing a T-shirt and beach shorts, he slicked his hair back with exaggerated flair and smirked. “Heh heh. After a shower, yours truly is once again a sweet-smelling, handsome stud.”

Luna rolled her eyes. He was handsome, alright, but she couldn’t help feeling he was lacking in the brains department.

The next moment, Kevin’s large hand pressed down on Aaron’s dripping wet hair, vigorously rubbing it into a bird’s nest. “Cut the flashy moves. You’ll sweat again soon, and you’ll end up smelling sour.”

Miles couldn’t hold it in and burst into loud laughter.

As soon as they had come upstairs, Luna placed the little ones into her spatial dimension. Only after everyone had tidied up did she let Rollo out to blow-dry everyone’s hair at once. With this level of humidity, without a Wind Ability User, drying hair would be virtually impossible.

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