112 - Cinderella’s Dream: Together Forever

Chen Wan and her group entered the warehouse and began loading steel onto the carts available inside. With both Chen Wan and Yi Yi being quite strong, each managed to haul a cartful towards the RV. Meanwhile, Qin Ke and Jiang Yan Xin teamed up to maneuver another cart. After six or seven trips back and forth, they finally had enough steel. Chen Wan started transferring the steel from the pile near the RV's trunk into the compressed space, while Yi Yi and the others returned to collect metal alloys. After four or five trips, they gathered all the necessary materials. Satisfied, Chen Wan tossed the last bundle of metal alloy into the compressed space and suggested, "Let's see if there's anything else useful in the warehouse—machetes, axes, and the like are consumables, so we should grab as much as we can if available." "Sure, and also books," Jiang Yan Xin added after some thought. "There are quite a few new ones here. Let's take some back for reading. If there are any with pictures, I can use those." "Sounds good. Let's go back in for another sweep," Yi Yi nodded in agreement. Chen Wan discovered several machetes and axes on a shelf near the back. Some of the axes were in perfect condition, without a hint of rust, looking brand new. She loaded these, along with some still-sharp machetes, onto a cart and continued her search. Qin Ke, rummaging amid a pile of discarded toys, found a few unopened toy sets, thinking they'd be perfect for the young ones back home, including a child's shovel and bucket. Given that the RV had land, Zai Zai could play with these outside. Jiang Yan Xin, going through the books, found many still wrapped in plastic. She selected several novels, picture books, and children's fairy tales. Yi Yi managed to uncover numerous tools like pliers, hammers, nails, screws, and nuts, all of which were piled onto a cart. Lastly, everyone gathered an assortment of items and returned to the RV area, where Chen Wan stored them all in the compressed space. Meanwhile, two men upstairs, armed with machetes, were watching the scene below with hostility. "Damn, Lao Si, what are those people up to? Why aren't they leaving?" the man in the flower shirt said, shivering as he stared down. "Why the panic? They’re probably searching the warehouse for something. Once they're done, they’ll leave. If you ask me, Zhang Qiang and his lot shouldn’t have gone down; now they’re all taken care of," Lao Si frowned, keeping his eyes on the scene below. He and the Flower Shirt were left behind by Zhang Qiang to guard these Omega captives in the room. "What if those people come up here? Some of those women don’t seem ordinary—like they have powers just like the boss. Especially that electric foreigner lady; she’s terrifying, wiping out hundreds of zombies in seconds. I’m not ready to die yet," the Flower Shirt shuddered and began to cry. Lao Si glared at him, scolding, "Look at you, so useless. Everyone's living on the edge in the apocalypse. Zhang Qiang’s gone, but now these Omegas are ours. With food and drink here, once those people leave, we can lock ourselves in and play kings. And we have Omegas to enjoy, isn't that great?" "Yeah, you're right," the Flower Shirt chuckled, casting his gaze over the Omegas. "Lao Si, can I choose first later? I've had my eye on the woman with glasses for a while." "You’re so pathetic, but fine, you can have first go. We have plenty of time; we can play however we like," Lao Si grinned wickedly. While the two were lost in their fantasies upstairs, Chen Wan and her group had already secured all their items and were heading up to the sixth floor, just as Yi Yi suggested. As Lao Si and the Flower Shirt were joking, Chen Wan and her group entered the hallway. The Flower Shirt snapped back to reality and looked out, "Hey Lao Si, where'd those women go?" "Probably back to the RV. Our room is well hidden; it’s unlikely they’d know there's anyone upstairs," Lao Si said, though he didn’t feel entirely confident. He reassured himself that once the women left, he and the Flower Shirt could have free reign. "Good, that's good," the Flower Shirt quietly prayed, his gaze flicking to the Omegas seated on the floor. Chen Wan and her companions moved quickly; before long, footsteps echoed through the open hallway on the sixth floor. The Flower Shirt panicked completely, "Damn, Lao Si, they’re coming up here! What do we do?" "Keep your voice down, idiot," Lao Si harshly whispered, yanking the Flower Shirt's shirt. "If you keep shouting, they're going to know we're here, stupid." "Right, right, keep it quiet, keep it quiet," the Flower Shirt whispered in a trembling voice. However, the Omegas on the floor had no intention of staying quiet. A curly-haired woman deliberately knocked over a chair, its legs screeching against the floor, followed by a loud crash that echoed through the silent hallway. Lao Si glared at the curly-haired woman, eyes blazing, and slapped her across the face. Deciding to go all out, he stood guard by the door, machete in hand. The noise was unmistakable; surely, the women had noticed, and he was ready to fight. Lao Si glared at the nervous Flower Shirt, commanding, "If you don’t help, we’re both dead. We’ve got to be ready to fight." The Flower Shirt realized Lao Si was right; if Lao Si fell, he'd be doomed too. Even if Chen Wan and her group hadn't heard the noise, Yi Yi had already scanned the area and knew which room was occupied. The group made no effort to conceal the sound of their footsteps as they reached the door. Chen Wan raised her foot and kicked it in, the door falling off its hinges with a resounding thud, though it appeared she hadn't put much force into the kick. The noise startled Lao Si, who was met by Qin Ke just outside the door. He swung his machete at her, but Qin Ke sidestepped the attack, deftly disarming him with a grab. In a fluid motion, she had climbed onto Lao Si’s back, awkwardly hanging on with her legs while squeezing his neck. His struggles weakened quickly. Inside, Flower Shirt faced Chen Wan, intending to take her out. In desperation, he grabbed one of the tied-up people as a human shield, shouting shakily, "Don’t come any closer! If you do, I'll kill them! These are innocent people!" "Oh? And why should their innocence matter to us?" Chen Wan scoffed, knowing Flower Shirt wouldn't dare act recklessly. With each step forward she took, he retreated. "You, you all stay back! Aren’t you the good ones? I have a good person right here! Is a life really worth that little to you?" the man's eyes were bloodshot, a tear trailing down his cheek, evidence of how frightened he was by Chen Wan's group. "Who told you we’re good people? Besides, we don't know these folks, and even if you kill her, it has nothing to do with us." As Chen Wan kept Flower Shirt occupied, Qin Ke lifted her gun, pulling the trigger with a "bang," sending the man sprawling to the ground. Chen Wan and her group untied the captives on the floor, including the curly-haired woman held hostage. They freed them all. Except for the curly-haired woman, all the Omegas huddled together, while she turned to Chen Wan's group, thanking them, "Thank you for saving us." Chen Wan glanced at her, responding, "It's nothing. Zhang Qiang’s people are all dead. You’re safe now." After surveying her companions, she continued, "Everything’s sorted. We should get going." "Alright," Jiang Yan Xin nodded in agreement. Unexpectedly, the male Omega piped up, "Could you take me with you? I’m an Omega. I can fulfill your physiological needs." Chen Wan looked at him, puzzled, and replied, "We all have girlfriends, so we're not interested in you. Take care of yourself. If I can give you some advice before we leave, it's this: in the apocalypse, seeking help from others is useless. You'll have to figure out how to survive on your own." With that, Chen Wan and her group turned to leave. There's no way she was letting just anyone onto her RV. They had gathered almost all useful supplies from the area. While there was plenty of food left, Chen Wan decided not to bother with possibly expired items, confident that their food supply was sufficient. "We should head out and find a secluded place to start assembling the Yan Yan," Chen Wan suggested. She wanted to keep the RV's secrets safe, especially with strangers like the Omegas nearby. "Agreed. Let's go back to the suburb we visited before. Just a heads-up, though, our RV's almost out of fuel," Yi Yi reminded after some thought. "Let’s switch to electric first. Zeus just charged it up, right? Once we prepare everything for Yan Yan's body, we can hit a gas station to refuel and maybe swing by a supermarket or two to restock. We’ve used up the steel and alloy, so there’s some space freed up in the compressed storage," Chen Wan explained her plan as they walked. "No problem, we’ll follow your lead," Qin Ke replied with a smile. As they reached the RV, Chen Wan called out, "Wan Ning, Mom? Could you take Yang Yang back to the room first? We’re all covered in blood, and it wouldn't be good for him to see that." "Sure, Chen Wan," answered Jiang Wan Ning. She picked up Zai Zai who was playing on the first floor and took him to the sun simulator room, where Jiang Zhao Yuan was busy planting with pliers and a hoe, piquing Zai Zai's curiosity about the soil. Chen Wan listened until she no longer heard Zai Zai downstairs, then opened the RV door. Inside, everyone found a place to shower. Because of their concern for Yan Yan's situation, Chen Wan and Jiang Yan Xin opted for separate showers this time. The RV had an additional room on the second floor, meaning there were now four bathrooms available, more than enough for everyone. Qin Ke was the most eager, finishing her shower in about ten minutes. Yi Yi followed after her. By the time Chen Wan and the others emerged, Qin Ke was already giving Yi Yi a shoulder massage, encouraging her, "Yi Yi, I'm relying on you to bring back my girlfriend. Do a good job, and I'll owe you one." "Don't worry, haven't I always been reliable?" Yi Yi teased back, winking at Qin Ke. "By the way, to perfectly recreate Yan Yan as an android, besides the crystal core, I also need to access your memories of her. This will allow for a precise one-to-one body replication. Do you mind?" "Not at all, go ahead," Qin Ke replied, showing her complete trust in Yi Yi. Yi Yi smiled softly, placing her hand on Qin Ke’s forehead. Instantly, all of Qin Ke's memories of Shen Ming Yan were transmitted to Yi Yi’s neural processor. "It's done," Yi Yi said to Qin Ke with a reassuring smile. Turning to everyone else, Yi Yi announced, "I'll head to Qin Ke's room on the second floor for the assembly. Please don’t come in during the next three hours or so. I’ll call for you once it’s finished." Yi Yi then held up a crystal core, explaining, "This is Yan Yan's core. Time to get started." With that, Yi Yi took the crystal core and headed upstairs. (Note: The website mentioned, xbanxia.com, assures no pop-up ads.)