Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 164

The wheels of the truck rolled over the muddy road, speeding towards the military base.
The civilians, soaked and sitting inside the truck, still kept their eyes fixed on the rear of the vehicle. In the distance, they could see a blood-soaked stretch of road where the convoy had fought a life-or-death battle. Some had been left behind, some were contaminated by the infected blood, and others had been injured in the fight.
Those who had been contaminated by blood or wounded were filled with sadness and despair. Even though they had made it to the military base, they knew that they might not pass the safety inspection. Once declared infected, it meant death—worse yet, a terrifying and grotesque death. Like the infected still trailing behind the convoy, they relentlessly followed. If they got too close, the soldiers would shoot them down.
What was even more horrifying than becoming an ordinary blood ghoul was becoming an evolved blood ghoul. When the massive blood-colored creature was killed, many had seen the strange things beneath its skin. It wasn’t clear whether it was a fusion or something else, but this blood-colored monster didn’t seem to have evolved from a regular blood ghoul.
In the jostling military truck, Min Min looked at the man slumped against Yu Xi’s shoulder, his eyes closed, feeling guilty as she apologized to Yu Xi again, saying it was her fault for not watching over her brother and letting him get out of the truck.
She had already learned from Fang Lei, the doctor in their group, why Yu Xi and her brother, Yu Zhengqing, had been in the hospital.
Yu Xi had gone out to protect them, battling the blood ghouls. Meanwhile, her brother, who should have been taken care of inside the truck, had managed to leave the vehicle on his own.
She understood he was worried about his sister. If she were in his place, she would also be worried if her younger brother was outside fighting the blood ghouls.
But he was a critically ill patient. In such a brutal and unpredictable environment, it was easy for things to go wrong.
Sure enough, when Yu Zhengqing returned with Yu Xi, and they were safely in the truck, he immediately passed out. His already frail face was pale with no color.
Yu Xi’s condition wasn’t much better, but she still did her best to support him, letting him rest against her shoulder.
“It’s really not your fault. It was so chaotic at that time, how could you have watched over him?” Yu Xi shifted to a new position and corrected his head, which was sliding down her shoulder. She couldn’t help but feel frustrated—her abilities were drained, yet he was the one who collapsed after getting into the truck.
“ζ‖╓〤…” Yu Xi softly murmured the sound, surprised to find that even a system had a name. But if it were artificial intelligence, it made sense. She was just a bit taken aback that it revealed its name under these circumstances.
Min Min, overhearing half the sound, quickly responded, “Xiao Xi, did you call me? What’s the matter?”
Yu Xi smiled. “I wasn’t calling you. You must’ve heard wrong.”
“ζ‖╓〤.”
She realized her system’s name was
Xing Min
.
It sounded so similar, but for some reason, her subconscious immediately thought of these two characters: Xing Min—Star Dust’s extinction. It had a feeling of cosmic, timeless solitude.
By 3 PM, the convoy broke through the thunderstorm zone and was once again bathed in sunlight.
When the golden light streamed through the truck canopy and into the compartment, almost everyone gazed at it greedily, basking in the light.
In the apocalypse, experience is always bought with blood and tears.
The convoy sped up again, and by 5 PM, they finally reached the outer perimeter of the military base. Multiple security checkpoints had been established, and the entire convoy would undergo another round of checks.
As Yu Xi’s group descended from the truck, heading toward the queue, they noticed that the silver-gray armored RV had entered a separate secured inspection area surrounded by high wire fences.
Soon, a group of people exited one of the buildings inside, and the squad leader guarding the RV immediately went over to greet them, guiding them to the other side of the RV.
The vehicle’s body had a tear from an encounter with an evolved infected. The leader glanced at the damage and immediately instructed them to open the rear compartment.
The driver’s section of the armored RV was completely separate from the rear compartment, which housed three more soldiers in addition to the research team.
After the convoy was attacked, the soldiers had only realized the issue with the rear compartment midway through the journey. They used internal communication to contact the team inside but received no response.
Previously, after the evolved blood ghoul attacked and was killed, they had spoken with the team inside and received normal responses. They assumed everything was fine, so they continued driving. However, halfway through, they couldn’t reach the team in the back.
During their travel, to prevent falling behind the convoy, a soldier had climbed from the driver’s seat window onto the roof, making his way to the back. When he opened the rear compartment door, he was greeted by a horrifying sight—a cabin full of corpses.
The researchers and soldiers inside were all dead.
More importantly, the research subject that had been securely locked inside was gone.
The soldier panicked. He knew how critical the researchers were to the mission. The moment he realized something had gone wrong, he rushed back to the driver’s section to the situation.
Soon after, the two leaders entered the rear compartment and quickly emerged, their faces pale with shock. They rushed back to the building, urgently discussing something. One of them mentioned
Lin City
and a , but the other strongly disagreed.
Yu Xi turned to look at the man beside her, who also looked down at her. They had both heard the conversation: the rear compartment had indeed housed an infected, and it had escaped during the chaos.
Normally, ordinary infected only knew to attack, relentlessly pursuing their victims, but this one had managed to escape. It was clear this was an intelligent evolved blood ghoul.
For the Pian Mountain shelter to have kept such an evolved blood ghoul among ordinary civilians was incredibly reckless. The shelter’s rapid development in research was undoubtedly linked to its experiments on infected beings.
Such actions couldn’t have been carried out without the higher-ups’ knowledge, which meant that the administrators of Pian Mountain were extremely bold and radical.
But those who play with fire often think they can control it—ultimately, these people will be burned.
Yu Xi knew the mission to save people during the convoy battle was one thing, but now that the civilians were safely inside the military base, she had to plan for Yu Zhengqing’s long-term care.
In her eyes, this wasn’t a place to stay long-term. It wasn’t that something would necessarily go wrong, but she always played it safe. With her abilities, she could choose a more secure shelter.
There were too many people around, and Yu Xi focused her mind slightly, calling the system in her head: “It’s getting dark, let’s stay here for the night and rest. We’ll find an opportunity to leave early tomorrow morning.”
The other party received her message and once again lowered his head to look at her, nodding.
**
The number of people affected in the convoy was large, so they couldn’t finish all the inspections before sunset. Fortunately, the military base was very large, and a temporary area was isolated inside the building, specially designated for the people who hadn’t been inspected yet. All inspection personnel would continue to work overtime until all the people were checked.
Yu Xi’s vehicle was at the back of the convoy, so it was also delayed and didn’t get inspected before nightfall.
The waiting area was similar to a large dormitory, with many military cots lined up. Several supply distribution points were set up nearby, providing simple steamed buns and water for dinner. Each person could also get a bag of pickled mustard greens. There were places to fill hot water and wash up as well.
The people had all been relocated from the shelter, and each had some food supplies with them. Everyone had just survived a near-death experience, so no one wanted to save food tonight—they were preparing for a good meal.
Soon, the aroma of instant noodles and rice noodles filled the air. Various packets of marinated food and sausages were also added to the noodles, and everyone enjoyed their meal immensely.
Xiao Nan, once a delicate girl who swore never to touch instant noodles or canned meat, was now holding a cup of noodles and sighing with satisfaction, saying how delicious it was.
Wu You hesitated between ham sausage and vacuum-sealed braised chicken legs, but in the end, he bit the bullet and put both into his noodles, declaring that tonight, he was going all out!
The Min family: …
Dr. Fang Lei: …
Nurse Zhao Yu: …
The young couple: …
Yu Xi’s group of nine had enjoyed a hearty hotpot meal just yesterday, and they hadn’t lacked food during their stay at the hospital building. Now, seeing others so moved by a bowl of instant noodles, it was a mix of both sadness and laughter.
However, thinking that this would be their future life, some people’s emotions became a bit downcast.
“Don’t think too much.” The husband of the young couple comforted his wife while holding her, “As long as we can be together safely, it doesn’t matter what we eat. We’ve finally reunited with the main force. This is a military base, much safer than Pian Mountain…”
Min Min took out two boxes of milk from her backpack and handed them to her mother and brother, telling them not to waste it and to eat the steamed buns they were given first.
She didn’t rush to eat her dinner and took out two more boxes of milk before going over to Yu Xi.
“Yu Zhengqing” was half-reclining on a military cot, looking extremely tired, while Yu Xi sat on the edge of the bed, peeling an orange.
Min Min understood very well. After all, they had set off from the city early in the morning, with him driving the car. They had been traveling all day and had just experienced a life-or-death situation. Any normal person would be exhausted.
Yu Xi didn’t refuse the milk she offered but also took out two boxes of orange juice from her backpack and gave them back to her.
Min Min casually took them but didn’t leave. She didn’t come over just to deliver drinks.
Yu Xi noticed her hesitation and stood up, urging her to speak directly.
Min Min looked around, then leaned in close to her ear and whispered in a low voice, “Do you plan to stay?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You… don’t seem like the kind of person who would stay.” While others didn’t think too much about it in a life-and-death crisis, Min Min was different.
She had noticed Yu Xi had special abilities and saw her take out a gun and bullets today. What was more crucial was that she could use them skillfully, remaining even calmer and more experienced than the young team member in the vehicle during the confrontation.
Min Min believed that someone like Yu Xi wouldn’t stop here.
C country hadn’t completely fallen yet. Before the signal was completely cut off, many cities were still in normal condition, though checks were very tight in all areas. According to rumors online, some cities were even building security walls.
If it were just her alone, she could survive anywhere, but she had her mother and brother to think about.
She could endure hardships and hide underground for a lifetime, but she couldn’t bear to see her family suffer.
The large city east shelter had disappeared just like that. Although it was safe here, this was still a fallen area, and who knew how long this safety would last.
If more powerful mutated enemies showed up, could this shelter really hold up?
Trusting only herself, she knew there was no way she could take her mother and brother to a non-fallen area.
“I know it’s selfish to ask this… but if you have other plans, could you take us with you?”
After asking, Min Min’s face turned hot with both shame and hope. “I can do anything, learn anything. My brother and I will protect our mother and try not to drag you down. I don’t know how much ability you have… but if—if you’re willing…”
“Sure, we’ll rest tonight and leave early tomorrow morning.” Yu Xi nodded without hesitation.
She couldn’t drag along the whole convoy, but a small group was still manageable. Besides, once they found a safer shelter to settle in, she hoped to have someone trustworthy stay and take care of Yu Zhengqing while she left after completing her mission.
Her mechanical consciousness would retain her combat skills, but she had asked the system, and both psychic abilities and space couldn’t be kept. So having more trusted people around was a good thing.
Min Min was both excited and ashamed, staring at her speechless.
Yu Xi, as usual, motioned for her to be quiet. “Also, I want to bring one more person with us.”
Min Min looked at her: “Dr. Fang Lei?”
Yu Xi couldn’t help but touch her face. “You’re really smart.”
Min Min covered her face where she had been touched, glancing behind Yu Xi. “Is your brother hungry? He’s been staring at us… He looks a bit unhappy…”