Chapter 43 - Too Difficult

On the northern outskirts of Dawn City, Dawn Guild Tenth Legion, Twelfth Group’s defense zone.

The aftermath of the battle was still burning everywhere, and the ground was littered with the corpses of zombies and alien species.

Women and men gamers were busy loading the bodies onto garbage trucks to dispose of them.

Many mechanics were rapidly repairing the trenches and protective nets in the area.

In the center of this defense zone, a girl with sparkling eyes, long black hair down to her waist, and a gentle face, was tiredly giving instructions to her surrounding brothers and sisters.

“Everyone, work a little harder, clean up the bodies on the battlefield.

Otherwise, the smell of blood will easily attract new monster attacks.

Also, the damaged defenses need to be fixed as soon as possible, and weapons need to be reset.”

“Sister Zhao Han, you don’t have to worry.

Leave this task to Sister Zinuo.

You’ve been commanding for so long, it’s time for you to log off and rest for a while.

“A dark-skinned uncle earnestly advised.

“Uncle Li Shi is right.”

A sister beside him agreed.

“Sister, I can handle the rest, I promise I’ll take good care of it.”

One girl who was not very tall, with long black hair and a face like a doll, yet with an unusually mature figure, assured seriously.

“I’m always confident in Zinuo’s work, so please brothers and sisters, help out more.”

Zhao Han replied with a smile.

She was indeed a bit tired.

She had been online for over 18 hours in real life, and her body was starting to give out; she needed to log off and rest.

Besides, this wave of monster attacks had ended, and there should be nothing happening for a short while.

Elsewhere, in the deserted wilderness, a tank was driving along a muddy road.

Inside the cockpit, Sun Duoxiang’s lips were dry, and his stomach was growling.

He stopped the tank and turned to Su Mo with a miserable face.

“Big bro, do you have any food or drink?

We’ve been driving all day, and our reserve fuel is running low.”

Su Mo, with his eyes previously closed, opened them and looked at Sun Duoxiang, “Do you think I would have any?

When I came in, I had nothing, absolutely nothing.

Didn’t you bring any food with you?”

“Ah, if only I had.

Wasn’t I refueling the tank?

Those oil drums were so heavy, having a backpack was just cumbersome, so I took it off.

When we got attacked, there was no time to think about grabbing the backpack.”

Sun Duoxiang replied with a gloomy face.

“Drive forward, let’s go and look.”

Su Mo replied in a deep voice.

“Okay.”

Sun Duoxiang could only tough it out and continue driving forward, not knowing whether it was just bad luck or something else.

Along the way, they encountered nothing but scattered zombies, and there was no sign of any proper buildings.

Even Su Mo’s stomach started making protesting noises.

The high-intensity combat earlier had drained a lot of his energy.

Although he had recovered a bit with the rest, he hadn’t eaten for too long.

Sun Duoxiang hesitated for a moment, fumbling in his pockets.

Finally, he found a stick of biscuit, opened the wrapper, broke it in two, and handed half to Su Mo.

“Big bro, this is all I have left.

Here, take it.”

“No need.”

Su Mo declined outright.

“Alright.”

Sun Duoxiang did not insist further.

He had some understanding of Su Mo’s character – when this guy said something, he rarely changed his mind.

So he ate the biscuit stick himself.

The tank continued to move forward, and after a long time, they arrived near a small grove of trees.

Suddenly, Su Mo said, “Stop!”

Although Sun Duoxiang was a bit puzzled, he still complied with Su Mo’s request and brought the tank to a halt.

Su Mo spoke to Sun Duoxiang briefly, “Stay here and watch the tank, I’ll go look for something to eat.”

“Okay, boss, please come back quickly,” Sun Duoxiang said with a touch of anxiety.

“I know.”

Without saying much, Su Mo lifted the lid and climbed out.

After landing, he headed straight for the small grove in front of him.

The grove seemed sparse, and the grass and trees were ash-white.

Walking into the depths of the woodland with caution, Su Mo was aware that the suburbs, although relatively safer and less monster-infested than the city, had a significant drawback.

That was the lack of resources.

Along their journey, although they had seen some buildings, those structures were ravaged beyond recognition, with nothing of use left inside.

Most crucially, they had no map of the area and were now blindly driving forward.

Going without food was just about bearable, but not drinking water could be fatal.

Su Mo wasn’t unwilling to eat the little bit of food Sun Duoxiang had offered.

He was afraid that eating would only make him thirstier, and the discomfort would worsen.

After about fifteen minutes, Su Mo found a large lake inside the small grove.

He was also somewhat surprised; he had thought finding a small stream would be lucky enough, yet here was a large lake.

Approaching the lake’s edge, he squatted down, scooped up a little water with his hands, and carefully observed the lake’s water quality.

In the deep center of the lake, a huge dark shadow was stirring.

Just as Su Mo was about to taste the seemingly clear lake water, his reflection in the water caught his eye.

On instinct, he withdrew his hand, stood up, and looked over to a large tree on the right side of the lake, only to see the branches laden with clusters of gray fruits.

Su Mo was silent for a few seconds, deducing that if the trees near the lake were contaminated, then the water must be too.

If he wasn’t wrong, it was likely undrinkable.

“Brother!”

At that moment, Sun Duoxiang’s voice came from not far away, interrupting Su Mo’s thoughts.

Soon after, Sun Duoxiang ran over.

“Why are you here?

Didn’t I ask you to keep an eye on the tank?” Su Mo asked indifferently.

“There’s no one around here, and the tank isn’t going anywhere.

I’m about to die of thirst, let me have a drink of water first,” Sun Duoxiang said, squatting down to drink from the lake.

Su Mo reached out, grabbed Sun Duoxiang by the collar, yanked him up, and warned him.

“This water is not drinkable.

Look at the vegetation around us.

If I’m not mistaken, the reason the world is filled with monsters could be due to widespread contamination.

Only a few places’ water and bottled water are clean.”

“No way, didn’t you drink some too?”

“I didn’t drink any, you can believe it or not,” Su Mo said, uninterested in arguing with Sun Duoxiang.

With difficulty, Sun Duoxiang swallowed, his reason telling him that what Su Mo said was likely true, yet he was extremely thirsty.

“Huh, why has the water turned black?”

As Sun Duoxiang was torn with indecision, he noticed the originally clear lake water suddenly turning black.

Hearing Sun Duoxiang’s words, Su Mo glanced over and his expression drastically changed.

He reached out, grabbed Sun Duoxiang’s arm, and yanked hard.

“Run!”

In an instant, the once-calm lake erupted wildly, a massive gaping maw full of sharp teeth and broken fangs appeared, exuding a venomous and foul stench.

Crack!