Seeking an Alliance

The chaos continued.
Jiang Chu continued to eliminate zombies and collect Core Crystals, with Liang Tian Yong naturally following beside her.
"Do you want to form a team together? Later, if the base can't hold up, sticking together might save our lives." This was his main purpose in following her.
From several days of observation, Jiang Chu was a decisive and ruthless Awakened. Such a person was terrifying before the apocalypse, but after the apocalypse, she was the best ally.
Jiang Chu heard this, her movements uninterrupted, only turning her head to look at him: "How many people do you have?"
Liang Tian Yong knew he had piqued her interest and quickly said: "Only two, me and my brother. He's mute, but he won't be a burden in other aspects. We plan to find a way to leave the base; the water in the base is no longer drinkable. Rather than being trapped here, it's better to go out and find a way to survive. What about you all?"
Jiang Chu expressed no opinion, picked up a Core Crystal, and slowly said: "Including me, about six or seven people. Leaving the base is easier said than done?"
Liang Tian Yong paused: "We plan to find a way to go through the back mountain."
Hearing him, Jiang Chu understood that he himself didn't have a precise plan. She smiled calmly; the high terrain of the back mountain was considered a path with a low danger coefficient.
But Jiang Chu didn't make that decision. She had looked at the map yesterday and thought for an hour; going through the mountains would only allow them to walk, taking a long time and being slow, not a top choice.
Waiting for the zombies besieging the base from outside to enter, they would inevitably disperse. At that time, they could first hide on a high floor for a few days, then find a way to drive away from the front gate. From here to Yi City normally took only four hours; now, with the complex situation, it would probably take ten hours or more.
This was a dangerous path, but it suited her best.
Liang Tian Yong saw her slow to speak, hesitated for a moment, then heard Jiang Chu say: "I don't plan to go through the back gate. I intend to leave through the front gate, which is very dangerous, so it's best not to form an alliance with me, otherwise, the chance of death will be very high."
Jiang Chu spoke quite sincerely; her team members were almost all daredevils, and she was even more insane, walking a path on the edge of life and death.
Their destination was Zi City.
Liang Tian Yong was surprised. He hadn't considered forming a team with other Awakened, but those teams of dozens or hundreds of people, a mix of gold and dross, were even less safe by comparison.
"Where do you plan to go after leaving the base?"
Jiang Chu didn't need to think: "It could be B City, or it could be Yi City. I haven't thought much about it; we'll figure it out as we go."
"Get out of the way, don't hinder us from killing zombies!" The soldiers shouted.
Liang Tian Yong carefully pulled her sleeve, moving her away from the dense hail of bullets, thought for a moment, then pulled out his phone to show her some pictures.
"Zhong Jing City is the most heavily armed area right now. It's not like this so-called Safe Zone in A City, where you're all alone. Look, they've cleared one-third of the area to make a safe location, and they've also announced their willingness to accept survivors who escape there. People there have already started to resume normal life," Liang Tian Yong said decisively.
Jiang Chu looked at him with pity.
Foolish child.
In the current situation, those who could travel thousands of miles to escape to Zhong Jing City, they would certainly be willing to accept them. As for residents resuming normal life, that sounded rather unreliable.
She didn't need to guess to know that Liang Tian Yong had a dream-like vision of that city. In the early stages of the apocalypse, it was indeed one of the largest social organizations.
However, it only lasted less than three years before disintegrating.
Putting those things aside, distance was also a real problem.
"Are you sure you can rely on your two feet to cross two thousand kilometers to get there? Be a little more realistic," Jiang Chu mercilessly exposed his pipe dream.
Liang Tian Yong was simple-minded; he stood dejectedly to the side: "Then what now? Without a spiritual pillar, it's even harder. Even if we don't go to Zhong Jing City, we still plan to leave A City."
Jiang Chu looked at his naive appearance, pondered for a moment, then offered a suggestion: "Take it one step at a time. An alliance is out, but patching together to leave A City is possible, though very dangerous. However, along the way, we might find a suitable survival zone."
Liang Tian Yong's eyes lit up, feeling this was a good suggestion: "Then it's decided!"
Jiang Chu continued to eliminate zombies and collect Core Crystals. The accumulated Core Crystals might be exchanged for useful items, and they could also provide energy for her Origin Core. She hoped to reach Tier 3 soon.
In this poison outbreak, too many people had died. In this plaza area alone, she had collected 107 Core Crystals by herself.
There were also survivors who coveted them, but without the strength, they could only watch from afar.
Liang Tian Yong also followed, collecting Core Crystals, but those Core Crystals were from the zombies he killed. With an Awakened's help, the soldiers felt much relieved.
Liang Tian Yong whispered: "Keep your Core Crystals safe. Professor X previously revealed in experiments that we have Origin Cores in our brains, and zombie Core Crystals can assist Origin Cores in enhancing Awakened abilities. That's why He Li Xuan came to steal them."
"But it's strange, why hasn't anyone taken us to the lab these past few days?" He was a little annoyed, suddenly free, and somewhat unaccustomed to it.
Jiang Chu cursed inwardly; others had already left the base, having better choices, so naturally, they didn't need these test subjects.
But speaking of which, it was strange. Jiang Chu kicked away an attacking zombie. According to her understanding of this science fanatic, even with better conditions and better test subjects, he wouldn't willingly give up special new test subjects. Could it be that Qin Yan had done something there?
"I know. You should also keep your Core Crystals safe, and your friends' too."
Jiang Chu went to gather another batch, then returned to her dwelling.
A total of two hundred and three Core Crystals.
Chen Qing Qing received Jiang Chu's message and quietly waited for her return in the room.
"Many people have died," Chen Qing Qing said fearfully. "The area below is all red; the water is undrinkable. Everyone is fighting over bottled water. Many people also died in the building today. Room 1303 next to Yin Qiu is full of zombie cries; no one dares to open the door."
Even though she had followed Jiang Chu through many things, she still felt a little scared. Someone was crazy enough to poison the water; this world had gone mad.
Jiang Chu threw the Core Crystals into the room: "Our water is enough for a while; there's no need to reveal it. Don't open the door normally; caution is key."
She paused, then informed: "Don't bother with things that don't concern us, understand? And keep your mouths shut; otherwise, someone will stab us in the back at any moment."
Chen Qing Qing nodded in fright. Jiang Chu showered, and when she came out, she brought out a lot of ingredients.
A large box of rolled lamb, duck blood, tripe, basa fish, shrimp balls, offal, crispy pork, and firm tofu. In addition, there were all kinds of green vegetables. She took out two packets of hotpot base, tomato flavor and beef oil flavor, and cooked a鸳鸯 (yuan yang) hotpot.
Jiang Chu took out two 5-liter bottles of Wahaha purified water, using the water from there to cook the hotpot.
These ingredients were enough for two people.
Chen Qing Qing finished preparing the ingredients, immediately poured in the hotpot base and added water. As the base dissolved in the boiling water, the rich tomato aroma and spicy beef oil scent spread throughout the room, filling the air with fragrance.
The mobile phone message notification suddenly rang.