Chapter 19

The convoy continued to move forward, and Lin Xinghai sat in the car, deep in thought. The words Roger had spoken were truly unexpected.

"This post-apocalyptic world is even more dangerous than I imagined! It seems I have to take a bit of a risk," he muttered to himself.

Originally, according to his plan, he would gradually become stronger, collecting blood qi when the opportunity arose, and waiting if it didn't. He couldn't take risks.

But now, he had to speed up the process of collecting blood qi.

With Lin Xinghai's anticipation, the convoy moved forward for over 20 minutes and encountered another group of zombies. However, this time the number of zombies was relatively small, only five.

Five zombies didn't pose much of a threat and were quickly dealt with. Without waiting for Roger to call out, Lin Xinghai was the first to jump out of the car to collect the origin crystals.

Roger looked at this scene with a stunned expression but just shook his head and said nothing. After all, he couldn't really interfere with personal hobbies.

Since he had previously used the excuse of observing and learning, Lin Xinghai couldn't just watch this time. He held the oscillating dagger, preparing to perform an autopsy.

To be honest, performing an autopsy was a bit strange, but after seeing it a few times and preparing mentally, he didn't feel like vomiting.

The oscillating dagger was incredibly sharp, and even without activating the oscillation function, it easily cut through the flesh and skull at the back of the zombie's head.

Soon, Lin Xinghai found a crystal about the size of a quail's egg, 3 centimeters deep in the back of the head. This was the origin crystal.

The origin crystal was crystal clear and as beautiful as a diamond.

Lin Xinghai was quite curious about why such a beautiful thing would be inside a zombie.

Using the dagger to extract it, he held it in his hand, and it felt warm and smooth like jade.

"Beep! Origin qi detected. Since the host cannot absorb it, would you like to convert it into blood qi?"

"Should I..." Looking at the system prompt, Lin Xinghai really wanted to choose "Yes."

But in the end, he had to painfully choose "No." The origin crystals had to be turned in, and he wasn't sure what would happen to the crystal if he absorbed the origin qi.

If the change wasn't obvious, he could still bluff his way through, but if it was very obvious, it would be hard to explain.

"The system mustn't be exposed; I'll just have to look for opportunities later." Lin Xinghai silently absorbed the blood qi from the zombie.

He turned his head and saw that the origin crystals from the other zombies had already been extracted. After all, there were so few dead zombies, and each person could dissect one quickly.

"Xiaohai is doing great." A mercenary passing by praised Lin Xinghai, who had already extracted the origin crystal.

Another mercenary gave him a thumbs up.

Seeing the praise from everyone, Lin Xinghai smiled on the surface but cursed in his heart.

"How can I find the opportunity to absorb blood qi when you all extract the origin crystals so quickly?" He walked toward the nearest two zombies, bent down to pretend to examine the wounds, and absorbed their blood qi.

But that was all he could do, as everyone else had already gotten back into the car.

He had to quickly return as well; otherwise, his small actions would easily arouse suspicion under the watchful eyes of everyone.

During the rest of the journey, they encountered waves of zombies every ten to twenty minutes.

The number of zombies varied, sometimes only a few, and sometimes over 20.

During this process, the amount of blood qi Lin Xinghai collected steadily increased.

After the convoy had been driving for over two hours and was about to reach Tian Shan City, he had already collected 63 points of blood qi.

"Almost there. Once we enter the city, we'll encounter more zombies. A few more waves, and I should have enough blood qi to break through." Lin Xinghai was secretly excited, not expecting everything to go so smoothly.

Suddenly, the alarm sounded again.

Lin Xinghai immediately showed a pleased expression; the alarm meant more blood qi was coming his way.

But soon, he realized something was wrong. This alarm sounded different from the previous ones, more urgent and louder.

From the display screen, he could see that this time it wasn't the zombie detector that was alarming; the corresponding screen seemed to be... the weather detector.

And more importantly, he saw the fear in the eyes of the mercenaries.

"Run! Quickly!" Roger almost shouted.

At the same time, the radio transmitted Fang Tian's urgent evacuation order.

Screech!

The 50-ton armored vehicle performed a 180-degree drift.

If the suspension and balance systems weren't excellent, the car would have flipped over.

But there was no denying that this was the fastest way to turn around. As soon as it turned, the engine roared like a beast.

The intense pushback made Lin Xinghai feel as if he wasn't in a 50-ton armored vehicle but a lightweight sports car.

In just three seconds, the speed of the armored vehicle increased from 60 km/h to 120 km/h.

And... it wasn't over yet.

The armored vehicle continued to accelerate, and through the observation window, Lin Xinghai saw the metal panels on the side of the vehicle open, revealing... rocket thrusters?

Boom!

Pale blue flames shot out, and the vehicle suddenly accelerated to an unimaginable speed.

At that moment, the entire armored vehicle seemed to be flying. Lin Xinghai couldn't estimate how fast they were going.

"We made it." Roger let out a sigh of relief and slumped in his seat. The other members were in no better shape.

Through the observation window, Lin Xinghai looked back and saw a 1-kilometer-wide tornado that had appeared where they had just passed.

It stood like a pillar between heaven and earth.

Lin Xinghai could see that the ground, whether soil or rock, was being swept up by the violent hurricane and shot into the sky.

In less than a breath, the 1-kilometer area of land had disappeared, replaced by a deep, black pit.

As the tornado moved, the pit continued to spread, gradually forming a large fissure.

"Swallow!"

Lin Xinghai couldn't help but swallow. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to believe.

"This is the most terrifying natural disaster during the Great Catastrophe: the Hell Tornado."

"The most terrifying thing about this tornado is that it appears with almost no warning."

"From its appearance to its formation, it only takes 10 seconds, with a range of 500 meters to 3 kilometers. Most creatures can't escape in such a short time." Roger finally recovered and explained.

"The Great Catastrophe is over, so why are there still such tornadoes?" Lin Xinghai asked, feeling a chill of fear. The power of nature seemed beyond human resistance.

"The Great Catastrophe is over, but various natural disasters still occasionally occur. However, the probability is very low, and you might not encounter one in a month."

"Today was really unlucky. I hope everything goes smoothly from now on." Roger frowned, as this was not a good omen.