Apocalypse Chapter 24: Dilema

Chapter 24: Dilema

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The blaring horn echoed throughout the entire gas station, and several motion-sensitive street lights slowly lit up amidst the horn, dispelling the darkness of the night sky at the gas station.

Jiang Rong climbed to the back of the forklift and activated the thermal imaging function on the night vision mirror. Standing at a high vantage point, he could see far. As long as there were people or mutated animals nearby, they couldn’t escape the thermal imaging function.

After waiting for a moment, Jiang Rong indeed saw living people.

The door of a house by the roadside slowly opened, and several people cautiously walked out. Jiang Rong couldn’t see their faces clearly, so he raised his voice in the intervals of the car horn, shouting, “Chu Qiang—Chu Qiang—Qiang, are you there?”

After shouting several times, whether it was because his voice was too small or the horn was too loud, those people stood far away, whispering to each other, hesitant to approach. At this moment, Jiang Rong regretted it a bit. If he had known, he would have prepared a loudspeaker to hang on the car and play loudly in a loop.

However, having people around was a good thing. Jiang Rong could inquire about Chu Qiang’s whereabouts from them. Just as Jiang Rong was approaching the group of people, the door of a nearby house opened, and a tall old man walked out. Even without the night vision mirror, Jiang Rong could clearly see the old man’s face. He quickened his pace, “Uncle Chu!”

Uncle Chu must have had a hard time during this time. The elegant old man looked disheveled, with dirty clothes and stubble on his chin, his eyes bloodshot. The moment he recognized Jiang Rong’s face, his bewilderment and doubt turned into disbelief, and overwhelming joy swept over the old man’s body. He trembled uncontrollably. After taking two steps forward, Uncle Chu finally let out a hoarse response, “Xiao Rong? Is it Xiao Rong?”

Jiang Rong hurried forward, “It’s me, it’s me, Uncle, I’m here to take you home.”

Before Jiang Rong could hold Uncle Chu’s hands, Jiang Xiaoheng had caught up from behind. His short legs ran fast, and with the sound of “da da da” footsteps, Jiang Xiaoheng happily threw himself into Uncle Chu’s arms, “Grandpa~ I missed you so much!”

Uncle Chu reached out and hugged the child’s tender body, squatting down and burying his face in Jiang Xiaoheng’s shoulder, “Grandpa also missed you. Baby, are you both doing well recently?” His voice choked with emotion as he spoke.

Jiang Rong looked around but didn’t see Chu Qiang and Aunt Chu. “Uncle, where are Aunt and Qiangzi?”

Uncle Chu turned his head, wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, then stood up while holding Jiang Xiaoheng, “Qiang is inside, follow me.”

Jiang Rong took two steps toward Uncle Chu’s direction, then suddenly remembered something and stopped, “Uncle, wait for me for a moment.”

A few days after the Great Crisis, the social order completely collapsed, and some people would do anything to survive. Jiang Rong had no intention of harming others but also didn’t want to be harmed. He returned to the car, took out a small first aid kit and a backpack from the trunk. After locking the car and forklift, he threw two seeds beside them.

Those were seeds of wild brambles he had picked from the mountain. Mutated seeds would grow rapidly when encountering wood-based abilities. In no time, they surrounded the two vehicles. The brambles were full of thorns, and anyone who accidentally touched them would surely suffer.

After securing his belongings, Jiang Rong reunited with Uncle Chu. He observed the expressions of the group of people who had come out earlier—some were resentful, some envious, and some indifferent. Their reactions made Jiang Rong feel that his actions just now were correct. At least this group of people would not dare to act recklessly because of his identity as a person with abilities.

Uncle Chu was so excited that he could hardly speak, “Xiao Rong, are you, are you a person with abilities?”

Jiang Rong nodded with a smile, “Yes, I awakened the ability of wood manipulation. Let’s go, Uncle, let’s go see Chu Qiang.”

The layout of the houses near the gas station was similar— the ground floor was a shop, and the second floor was for living. As soon as they entered, Jiang Rong saw a messy array of strange objects scattered in the living room, resembling car parts. There was a brazier in the center of the living room, with some charcoal remnants inside, making the already stuffy house even hotter.

In a corner of the living room, a piece of cloth was pulled over, and there were two figures lying sideways in front of it. Upon closer inspection, the elderly person turned out to be Aunt Chu, her head wrapped in blood-stained bandages, her complexion pale as she slept. The younger one was a teenage girl who looked like she was still attending school.

Standing next to the elderly and the young girl was a slightly overweight woman in her forties. When Jiang Rong entered, she smiled at him.

Uncle Chu introduced, “This is Doctor Wang Chunlan. The one sleeping is her daughter, Lei Lei. We met on the road and have been looking out for each other all the way until today.”

Jiang Rong nodded at Wang Chunlan, “Doctor Wang.” After a pause, he looked at Aunt Chu, “What happened to Aunt? And where is Qiang?”

Wang Chunlan carefully pulled back the cloth behind her, “Chu Qiang is here.”

Through the dim light of the fire, Jiang Rong saw the figure lying inside. His whole body was swollen, and his features were barely recognizable. He was only wearing shorts, and his exposed skin was purplish, looking extremely unsettling. Especially his left leg, swollen like a bucket, with the skin almost translucent from being stretched.

Jiang Rong’s scalp tingled, and he asked incredulously, “Is this… Qiang? What happened to him?”

Uncle Chu shook his head heavily, “It’s a disaster…”

Since the call with Jiang Rong was cut off, Chu Qiang had left the expressway and taken the national road. Many people got off the expressway together, so they traveled together. Chu Qiang was righteous and optimistic at first, thinking he would soon be home. He didn’t hesitate to share his supplies with the fellow travelers, so everyone got along well at the beginning.

However, the journey was not smooth sailing. Blocked roads, robbers, and unexpected attacks from mutated animals and plants were unavoidable. The speed of the group became slower, their supplies diminished, and everyone became increasingly anxious.

A few days ago, Chu Qiang tried to avoid obstacles by driving over the grass on the roadside of the gas station, only to find out that it was a patch of mutated grass. When the car drove over, the grass blades pierced through the tires, scratched the chassis, and punctured the fuel tank.

After driving a few hundred meters, Chu Qiang’s car completely broke down, and the two cars following him also lost power and couldn’t move. This mistake caused the loss of three cars in the convoy and also led to dissatisfaction among the people in the convoy towards Chu Qiang.

To make up for the loss of the convoy, Chu Qiang braved the high temperature to search for other cars that could still move on the roadside, only to be stung by a wasp. Who would have thought that such a small wasp would have such strong venom?

At first, Chu Qiang’s consciousness was clear, feeling the urgent pain at the wound. Later, his entire leg began to swell, gradually spreading to his whole body. If Chu Qiang hadn’t been an enhancement-type esper, he might have died long ago.

Instead of helping Chu Qiang and his family, the fellow travelers took advantage of the situation and turned hostile. Except for Chunlan and her daughter, the others robbed the supplies from Chu Qiang’s car trunk and drove them to another building. It was during the argument with this group of people that Aunt Chu was pushed down and hit her head, causing her injury.

Realizing that these people were unreliable, Chu Qiang took out the car radio and slowly adjusted it while he was still conscious. He repeatedly sent out distress signals, hoping that someone would hear and come to help them. After the car radio’s battery died, he dismantled the batteries from other vehicles to use. Until the venom took effect and he collapsed…

Uncle Chu cried bitterly, “It’s a disaster. If we hadn’t taken them, we would have been home long ago, and Qiang and my wife wouldn’t have suffered like this.”

Jiang Rong wanted to drag out the dozen or so people from the neighboring building and beat them up. However, he had more important things to do now. He looked at Wang Chunlan solemnly, “Doctor Wang, how is Chu Qiang’s injury now? Is there still hope?”

Wang Chunlan’s beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly, “The venom of the mutated wasp is too strong. I don’t have any medicine; I can only use conventional methods to reduce inflammation.”

Jiang Rong handed over the small first aid kit, “Take a look, see if there’s any usable medicine inside?”

Wang Chunlan opened the first aid kit and looked inside, surprised, “There’s a lot of medicine!”

Jiang Rong urged her, “Check to see if there’s any medicine that can be used.” 

He had thought that Chu Qiang and his family might get injured, so he brought some conventional medicines, not knowing if there would be any suitable ones.

Wang Chunlan searched for a moment and found a box, “We can only try; the venom of the mutated wasp is stronger than before, so it’s uncertain if it will work.”

Jiang Xiaoheng couldn’t understand what the adults were saying. He squatted in front of Aunt Chu and reached out to touch her face, “Grandma, it’s Xiaoheng, I’m here to take you home. Wake up…”

Seeing that Aunt Chu was still asleep, Jiang Xiaoheng opened his backpack. He placed the still-cool Lele Duo next to Aunt Chu’s head. Whenever he slept at Chu’s house, as long as Grandpa and Grandma put Lele Duo next to his pillow, he would always wake up in time.

Jiang Xiaoheng sat down next to Aunt Chu and stared at her face. He had already placed Lele Duo, but when would Grandma notice?

 

 

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