Su Mo drew back the curtain and saw his hurried expression, "What’s the matter?"
Seeing Lu Chen sitting inside, Jianxiong didn’t dare to come in, standing at the door with wide eyes full of panic: "Zhao Changsheng, that wretched woman, is too terrifying."
"Ah?" Su Mo wore a face full of confusion.
Li Qian, who followed over, explained in a low voice, "She wanted Jianxiong to transform into your appearance to give her a kiss."
"..." Su Mo and Lu Chen’s faces darkened in unison.
Lu Chen’s voice was chilling as he faced Jianxiong, "Did you transform?"
"Dare I?" Jianxiong wailed, attracting sideways glances from the passing soldiers.
"Where is she now?" Su Mo asked.
"I used some spiritual power to control her and knocked her out," Li Qian said with a gentle smile.
"Carry her back to Su Niang’s tent," Su Mo sighed, exasperated by the woman’s obsession with her face.
After drawing the curtain shut again, she turned to find herself facing Lu Chen’s poker-like expression.
She placed her hand on his face and rubbed it, trying to soften the icy expression, "Let’s not start the journey today, how about we take a nap?"
He caught her hand and kissed it in his palm, and his facial expression brightened.
Su Mo’s face flushed, this man was becoming bolder by the day.
Lu Chen, who hadn’t slept well the night before, also felt sleepy now and lay down holding Su Mo, his hands wrapping around her waist, resting his head against her neck.
His steady breathing tickled her neck, causing her to shrink back slightly in discomfort.
His voice sounded weary, so she stopped fidgeting, pulled the blanket over both of them, and fell asleep.
When they woke up, the sun had already set behind the mountains, and Zhao Changsheng was still unconscious in the tent.
The two emerged from behind the curtain, just in time to meet a soldier who had come to summon them.
"Admiral Rong is looking for you."
Lu Chen took Su Mo’s hand and followed the soldier.
In the olive green tent, a large map lay on the table, with Rong Bai sitting beside it, who offered tea as they arrived.
He pointed to a spot on the map and said, "We are here now; taking a detour means we have to go back to Yan City and make our way through there."
Following his gaze at the map, Su Mo saw that it was not far above Lakefront County, a large city.
Lu Chen mused for a moment then asked, "How much military strength do you have left?"
"Five hundred, including only thirty superpower users. A black rain caused me heavy losses," Rong Bai replied with a stern expression, the memory of that night casting a somber chill over him.
"Not enough, there are too many civilians; with such a large place as Yan City, you can’t protect them all," Lu Chen shook his head outright.
A large city meant a higher population, and even if they skirted around it, the nearby zombie numbers were not to be underestimated.
Rong Bai of course understood this logic. He slammed his fist on the table, "What do you suggest we do then? Are we to abandon all these people?"
To tell the truth, after being a soldier for more than twenty years, he really couldn’t bring himself to abandon these people to their fate.
"These people don’t necessarily have to go to City B. Honestly, let them choose whether to stay or go," Lu Chen sipped his tea, his demeanor cold and resolute.
Rong Bai’s lips twitched, but eventually, he agreed.
Indeed, there was no better solution than this; he should give them the opportunity to choose.
Su Mo asked, "Among these ordinary people, how many are superpower users?"
"The number is about the same as ours," Rong Bai replied.
"Such a large civilian convoy, with superpower users roughly equal in number to you, means that regular people without self-defensive abilities are the majority. If they encounter a zombie horde in Yan City, most will likely die," Su Mo said.
She was starting to understand, this army of five hundred may have gotten this far from Z city to here with quite a bit of luck on their side.
Rong Bai glanced at her, his resolute face tensed: "I’ll go talk to them in a bit."
He waved his hand, calling two soldiers over to bring dinner: "Have dinner here with me."
"Yeah," Lu Chen did not refuse this time, as Rong Bai carefully put away the map.
The soldiers brought over three large bowls of cooked instant noodles.
"This is considered good stuff nowadays," Rong Bai said as he picked up chopsticks and slurped a mouthful.
Lu Chen’s hand scratched Su Mo’s palm under the table, then he released her and started eating the instant noodles.
Su Mo smiled and said nothing, finding the occasional instant noodles actually tasted quite good.
The few people in the tent far away also received the special instant noodles prepared by Rong Bai.
Jianxiong muttered softly, "Why is Admiral Rong even preparing dinner for us?" He was planning to wait for his sister to come back and feed him.
"If you don’t eat, you’ll have nothing tonight," Li Qian said with a gentle smile, not minding at all and started eating.
After finishing the noodles, Su Mo was led by Lu Chen to follow Rong Bai to the front of the civilian convoy.
They had heard early on that the military had something to announce, so they all gathered early at the front to wait for someone to speak.
Rong Bai climbed onto the roof of a military vehicle. He cleared his throat to signal everyone to quiet down: "The path to B city is blocked by a meteor, so we’ll have to bypass Yan City."
It was merely an announcement to bypass the city, and the crowd did not react much, only the superpower users submerged within knew the severity of the situation.
"That used to be a bustling large city, preliminary estimates indicate countless zombies."
Now the crowd started to react.
"You’re soldiers, you’re supposed to protect us, right!"
"Exactly! You have to protect us!"
Most of the voices made Su Mo feel ridiculous; it had been months since the apocalypse, how could these people still not understand reality.
Rong Bai’s expression was tense, he pursed his lips and finally said, "There are too many unknown factors, I cannot guarantee your safety. My advice is for you to change your route and seek shelter elsewhere."
No sooner had he said this than the crowd below exploded in anger.
"What a joke! We pay so much tax to you guys every year!"
"That’s right! In the end, we’re the ones who’ve paid! Why wouldn’t you protect us!"
"...You should be in the front, my son is still small, how is he supposed to survive?"
The clamor grew louder, and the faces of the surrounding soldiers darkened. They knew all too well the death and hardship they had endured on this journey; having guarded these people all the way here, they were set to end up with an unfavorable outcome. Anybody would be unhappy in their shoes.
Lu Chen’s grip on Su Mo’s hand tightened, and his face fell in sync.
Sensing the pressure on her hand, Su Mo looked up at Lu Chen, then at the soldiers with a bitter expression standing in front of the civilians, and felt a pang in her heart.
Without a word, these soldiers stood by their duty, never explaining even when misunderstood, and even faced with insults, they took it all silently.
She felt she had to stand up for them and vent their frustrations.
Breaking free from Lu Chen’s grip, she directly stepped on a tire and jumped onto the hood, climbing onto the roof of the military vehicle.
Her petite figure now stood directly in front of Rong Bai; he was still taken aback when he heard her raise her voice and shout, "Have you all lost your conscience to dogs?"