"Within a short period, you won't be infected, and even if you are, you won't fall ill," Li Nannan said without looking back. "Our bodies have been injected with a decaying vaccine, so rest assured."
"What is a decaying vaccine?" Jiang Ye had never heard of it.
"You can think of it as a vaccine that sacrifices the body for temporary potent immunity. After injection, you'll be immune to all poisons for a few days, but afterward, you'll develop severe organ failure. That's why this vaccine can only be injected into us 'fake people' and not civilians," Li Nannan explained.
"I understand."
The highway was eerily silent, devoid of any movement. This made the sound of boots crunching on glass shards incredibly clear.
Li Nannan and Jiang Ye climbed over the burnt black car like animals scaling rocks.
Jiang Ye found his glasses to be very useful. Some red objects were marked, and upon closer inspection, they were weapons discarded on the ground. Most were ordinary firearms, their barrels burst from explosions, but occasionally there were rocket launchers. Li Nannan picked up a four-shot rocket launcher and slung it over her shoulder, then tossed a box of rockets to Jiang Ye, making him carry it as a porter.
After advancing over a hundred meters, they discovered an armored transport vehicle.
From its appearance, it was difficult to tell what it was for, but the rear door of the armored car was open. Inside were money chests, all pried open. Purple banknotes were scattered all over the ground, piled up around them.
Jiang Ye picked up a purple bill to examine it. It featured an elegant and noble woman, presumably the ruler of Crane Star, with a denomination of 50,000 yuan.
Without a word, Li Nannan began stuffing money into her backpack, handful after handful.
Seeing this, Jiang Ye also started grabbing money.
"How's the purchasing power of Crane Star's currency?" Jiang Ye asked. "They're still using paper money? How backward. Are there any planets that use copper coins?"
"This one," Li Nannan said, holding up a purple banknote and shaking it. "It can probably buy two live chickens."
"Don't talk about chickens, let's be civilized," Jiang Ye said subconsciously.
Li Nannan shot him a glare, zipped up her backpack, and then nimbly stuffed more money into her pockets.
"Commander, I didn't realize you were so greedy," Jiang Ye teased, also stuffing money into his pockets.
"Greedy, my foot. This money can't be used on other planets, so no matter how much I pick up, I can't take it with me. I'm doing this to buy things in the city or hire people to help us. If someone is uncooperative, a wad of cash will shut them up. You're still too young to understand the wonders of money," Li Nannan lectured.
After filling their pockets with banknotes, they abandoned the armored transport vehicle and continued towards the city.
There were fewer cars ahead, but the highway was littered with corpses, at least several hundred bodies of men, women, and children, a gruesome sight. Most of the bodies had bullet holes, clearly shot to death. The fresher corpses seemed to have died only recently, while the older ones had already decomposed and swollen, forming disgusting "giant corpses."
Several wild dogs were ravenously devouring bodies by the roadside, using their paws to rip open human corpses and eat the internal organs. It was unclear how many corpses these dogs had consumed, but they were now as fat as pigs, their fur glossy and well-oiled.
Jiang Ye and Li Nannan, in unison, raised their assault rifles and opened fire!
The recoil of the firearms was minimal, but there was still a distinct vibration. The deafening roar echoed in all directions, and bullets tore through the dogs' flesh, spraying blood mist. Only one dog was startled and disappeared into the wreckage of a nearby vehicle. The rest were shot dead.
"We're screwed," Li Nannan's expression soured. "The dogs are starting to eat people. The situation in the city must be very bad."
"I had a premonition," Jiang Ye said, standing on tiptoe to look towards the end of the highway. "I haven't seen a single car pass by all this time. It's like a ghost town."
They finally reached the outskirts of the city.
The nearest large building was a supermarket.
The two entered the supermarket and discovered that money might no longer be useful.
The supermarket's doors and windows had been smashed open, and the shelves were completely empty, all looted. Several corpses lay on the ground, both employees and customers. The employees had clearly tried to defend the supermarket with firearms; one corpse still clutched a submachine gun, with golden shell casings scattered around like spent cigarette butts.
"The order has completely collapsed, food supplies are cut off, and everyone is looting," Li Nannan squatted down to examine the ground, then flipped over a few corpses. "Riots three days ago."
Jiang Ye scanned the surroundings and shouted, "Hello! Is anyone alive!"
"Anyone here?" Li Nannan also called out. "We're a rescue team! We'll take you to another planet!"
After shouting for a long time, they suddenly heard the sound of a door opening.
Jiang Ye raised his assault rifle. "Who?"
A crack opened in the cold storage door behind the supermarket's fresh food section, and a small East Asian boy emerged, carrying an axe. He looked about seven or eight years old. The boy was so thin that his eye sockets seemed to reveal his skull. He stared at Jiang Ye and Li Nannan with wide eyes.
"There are snipers outside, aiming at you," the boy said with remarkable composure. "Are you really a rescue team sent by the military?"
"As genuine as can be," Jiang Ye lowered his gun. "Come here, we'll get you out."
Li Nannan glanced out the window and immediately judged that he was lying; there were no snipers.
"There are still people here," the boy said.
Jiang Ye and Li Nannan exchanged glances and slowly walked over.
Standing at the doorway, Jiang Ye was stunned by the sight within.
The cold storage was filled with children, all around seven or eight years old, of various skin colors. Without exception, they were all emaciated. The cold storage was dark, and they quietly stared at the doorway, their eyes filled with fear and hope.
"Come out, everyone," Li Nannan said. "This is enough for one vehicle."
...
Jiang Ye drove the car across the grassland.
The car was packed with children, a total of 312 people. It wasn't exactly overloaded, as these children were as skinny as monkeys. It was a bit crowded, though, with everyone standing, chest to chest, back to back.
The only child sitting was He Fan, the one who had come out of the cold storage with the axe earlier. Li Nannan had allowed him to sit beside her and given him some dry rations.
"We're all children from the city's welfare institute, which means we're all orphans. There were six classes in total, and I'm the class monitor for Class Six," He Fan said. "The monitors of the other classes died while fighting for supplies, so I led them."
"Fighting for supplies?" Li Nannan frowned. "Tell us about the situation in the city over the past few days, and what you people have experienced during this time."
"A week ago, the city's infected population was heavily reported on television, and prices began to skyrocket. Then, more and more people got infected, and ambulances filled the streets. Our welfare institute's staff ran away one night, leaving us children behind."
"We six class monitors held a meeting to discuss what to do. The monitor of Class One and Class Two decided to seek help from the city government and report our situation. We tried calling, but we couldn't get through, and the internet was also down. The monitors of Class One and Class Two took handguns and walked to the city government. They returned not long after, saying the city was in complete chaos, there was gunfire in the streets, and everyone was looting. All the shops were smashed."