Chapter 19: Encountering a Natural Disaster

The convoy pressed on, and Lin Xinghai sat in the vehicle, deep in thought. Roger’s words had caught him somewhat off guard.

“This apocalypse is even more dangerous than I imagined! Looks like I’ll have to take some risks,” he muttered to himself.

Originally, his plan was to grow stronger step by step—gathering vital energy when the opportunity arose, and waiting patiently when it didn’t. No risks. But now, he had to speed up the accumulation of this vital energy.

After about twenty minutes of travel, the convoy encountered another horde of zombies. This time, there were only five of them, a small number that posed little threat. They were quickly dispatched, and before Roger could call out, Lin Xinghai was the first to jump out and collect the crystal cores.

Roger watched this with some surprise but merely shook his head, saying nothing. After all, personal preferences were not his concern.

Previously, under the pretext of observing and learning, Lin Xinghai had refrained from getting involved, but this time he grasped a vibration dagger, preparing to dissect one of the creatures.

To be honest, dissecting a corpse felt somewhat strange, but having witnessed it a few times before and with sufficient mental preparation, he didn’t feel nauseous.

The vibration dagger was exceptionally sharp. Even without activating its vibration function, it easily cut through the zombie’s skull and flesh at the back of the head.

Soon, about three centimeters deep, he discovered a crystal the size of a quail’s egg—the crystal core.

The crystal core was translucent and beautiful, like a diamond.

Lin Xinghai was curious as to why such a lovely thing existed inside a zombie.

Carefully prying it out with the dagger, he held it in his hand and was surprised to feel a warmth and smoothness, like polished jade.

“Ding! Vital energy detected. Host unable to absorb. Convert to blood energy?” a system prompt appeared.

Looking at the message, Lin Xinghai wanted to choose “Yes!” But in the end, with a heavy heart, he selected “No.” The crystal cores had to be handed over, and he wasn’t sure what changes absorbing the vital energy would cause to the crystal.

If the changes weren’t obvious, he might slip by, but if they were too apparent, it would be difficult to explain.

“The system must not be exposed. I’ll have to wait for another chance,” he thought silently, absorbing the blood energy from the zombie.

He glanced around; the other crystal cores had already been collected. With so few dead zombies, one person dissecting one each was quite efficient.

“You’re doing well, Xiao Hai,” a mercenary passing by said, noticing Lin Xinghai had already retrieved the crystal core.

Another mercenary gave him a thumbs-up.

Though smiling at their praise, Lin Xinghai cursed internally.

“You all collect the crystal cores so fast, how am I supposed to find time to gather blood energy?” he thought as he approached two nearby zombies, bending down to inspect their wounds and discreetly collecting their blood energy.

But that was all he could do; everyone else had already gotten back into the vehicle.

He hurried back quickly, aware that any suspicious movements under so many watchful eyes would draw unwanted attention.

For the next stretch of the journey, every ten or twenty minutes, the convoy encountered waves of zombies.

The numbers fluctuated—from just a few to more than twenty.

During this time, Lin Xinghai’s accumulation of blood energy steadily increased.

After more than two hours on the road and nearing Tianshan City, he had gathered sixty-three points of blood energy.

“Almost there. There will be even more zombies in the city. A few more encounters, and I should have enough blood energy to break through,” he thought excitedly, amazed at how smoothly everything was going.

Suddenly, the alarm blared again.

Lin Xinghai’s face lit up—the alarm meant fresh blood energy was heading their way.

But soon, he sensed something was wrong. This alarm sounded different—more urgent and louder.

From the display, it was clear this was not a zombie detector alert; the corresponding split-screen showed... a weather detector.

More importantly, he noticed the terror in the mercenaries’ eyes.

“Run! Now!” Roger shouted almost hoarsely.

At the same time, urgent evacuation orders crackled through the radio from Fang Tianhe.

The fifty-ton armored vehicle screeched as it executed a 180-degree drift.

If not for the exceptional suspension and balance systems, it might have flipped.

Undeniably, it was the fastest U-turn possible. The moment it completed the turn, the engine roared deafeningly, like a wild beast.

The immense force pressed Lin Xinghai back into his seat, making him feel as though he was in a nimble sports car rather than a hulking armored vehicle.

Within three seconds, their speed surged from sixty to one hundred twenty kilometers per hour.

And it wasn’t over.

The armored vehicle kept accelerating. Through the window, Lin Xinghai saw the metal side panels open, revealing... rocket thrusters?

A blast of pale blue flame erupted. The vehicle jolted fiercely and rocketed forward at an unimaginable speed.

For a moment, the armored vehicle seemed poised to take flight. Lin Xinghai couldn’t even estimate how terrifyingly fast they were moving.

“We made it out,” Roger exhaled in relief, slumping into his seat. The others looked equally drained.

Lin Xinghai glanced back through the window and saw a tornado with a diameter of one kilometer had appeared where they had just passed.

It stood like a towering pillar bridging heaven and earth.

He watched as soil and rocks from the ground were violently swept upward by the furious whirlwind.

In less than a breath, the entire one-kilometer area had vanished, replaced by a pitch-black chasm.

As the tornado moved, the chasm expanded, gradually forming a vast crevice.

Lin Xinghai swallowed hard, struggling to believe what he was witnessing.

“This is the most terrifying natural disaster of the apocalypse: the Hell Tornado,” Roger finally regained his composure and explained.

“The worst thing about this tornado is that it appears almost without warning.”

“It takes only ten seconds to form and ranges between 500 meters and three kilometers in diameter. Most living beings can’t escape in such a short time.”

“The apocalypse is over, isn’t it? Why do these tornadoes still appear?” Lin Xinghai asked, his heart pounding with dread. He felt the forces of nature were beyond human resistance.

“The apocalypse is over, but natural disasters like this still occasionally occur,” Roger replied, frowning. “Though the chances are very low—usually less than once a month.”

“Today sure is unlucky. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly from here,” he added, his expression grim, as this was no good omen.