Chapter 545: I Can’t Handle It
Chapter 545: I Can’t Handle It
Fatty might have guessed the truth, but he kept silent and asked no questions. The rest only saw Little Mint as a timid, withdrawn child who clung to An Ran.
Only An Ran and Yun Tao knew the horrors she had endured.
An Ran’s worry wasn’t that Mint had intended Xu Li’er’s death—it was that Mint seemed to be making her the center of her world. She feared that Mint would place An Ran’s safety above everything else, losing herself in the process. And one day, An Ran might end up being the one who hurt her.
After all, people still had their own joys, sorrows, anger, and resentment.
By now, the sky had brightened. Zhan Lian returned with Luo Feifan, and Yun Tao also got in the vehicle.
Zhan Lian had been constantly modifying the bulletproof car, making it larger and sturdier. Now it contained a sofa, a table, and a bed—spacious enough to hold many at once.
As soon as Luo Feifan entered, he let out a long sigh, dragged a chair over, and dropped into it. He said to the few people watching him: “I went inside the city wall. Everything looked normal. Just an ordinary survivor gathering place. But… Lei Jiang might be there too.”
Zhang Boxun, coming in behind him, froze mid-step. His boots thudded against the floor, his brow furrowed. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again in silence.
Was Tang Siluo there as well? That was what he wanted to ask.
According to what they knew, Lei Jiang had gone north with Tang Siluo and some Wood and Water ability users. After passing through Huang County, Lei Jiang had joined up with several survivor groups and continued traveling north.
Given Lei Jiang’s skill at winning people over, it was unlikely he was living in obscurity.
Inside the city, Luo Feifan had casually inquired and found someone who resembled Lei Jiang. But this man wasn’t called Lei Jiang—he went by Chen Chaofa.
Luo Feifan then described the situation at the survivor settlement. These large gathering places were referred to as “bases.”
This particular base was the first one on the northern route—and reportedly the smallest. The further north one went, the more bases there were. This matched the rumors from the start of the apocalypse: there were fewer survivors in the south, but many more in the north.
The reason was simple—the virus had spread from south to north.
“If that’s the case,” Luo Feifan said, “we should reach out to their leader and see if they’ll take us in. If not, fine—we’ll just keep moving north and find the next base.”
At that moment, Fatty squeezed inside, grinning broadly and carrying two big baskets of freshly ripened pears.
He had no intention of revealing the team’s true strength. From the outside, they looked like nothing more than the elderly, women, children, the sick, the disabled, and a few pregnant women. If the base accepted them, good. If not, he’d just stick with An Ran—after all, he could still manage.
An Ran, feeling boxed in, lifted Doll in her arms, glanced at Fatty, and turned to Luo Feifan.
“We do need to speak with them. Be polite and ask them to make some arrangements. They could clear out some land for such a large group of so-called burdens. Houses aren’t necessary—Fatty’s people can handle it themselves.”
Fatty immediately cut in, flustered: “No, no, they can’t! We’re a vulnerable group. They need to give us a villa area. Otherwise, in this freezing weather, without houses, we’ll be doomed, won’t we?”