Chapter 48: You... awakened the second sequence?

As for that great willow in Longevity Village, Chen Ye would never forget it even if he died.

Without a flashlight, inside the pitch-black vehicle canopy where you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face.

Chen Ye only needed to reach out and touch it to recognize this was definitely a willow branch from that great willow in Longevity Village.

He remembered now.

When he had escaped from Longevity Village before, willow branches had wrapped around his ankles trying to drag him into the darkness. Fortunately, the machete soaked in black dog blood had been right beside him at the time, allowing him to cut through the branches.

This branch must have remained wrapped around his ankle when he left Longevity Village and had stayed with him until now.

Just as Chen Ye was about to toss the willow branch out of the vehicle canopy, he suddenly paused.

This was a branch from the great willow!

From yesterday until now, this willow branch had remained as fresh as if it had just been cut from the tree, his fingers could even feel the crisp, tender willow leaves.

Chen Ye pulled out his hand crossbow from his waist, stroking the crossbow's bowstring.

After the intense battles in Longevity Village, the hand crossbow's bowstring had become severely worn. It probably wouldn't last many more uses before the crossbow would snap.

Without the hand crossbow, his combat effectiveness would definitely be greatly reduced.

I wonder if this willow branch could replace the bowstring? Create a Wonder?

Captain Chu's Eavesdropping Radio had left a deep impression on Chen Ye.

If he could have a Wonder hand crossbow, his combat effectiveness would definitely be greatly enhanced.

Once the thought came, he acted.

Chen Ye placed the willow branch and hand crossbow together. Inside the pitch-black vehicle canopy, Chen Ye lay flat on his back, but the system interface had already appeared before his eyes.

"System, can the willow branch and hand crossbow be fused and upgraded?"

The system quickly gave an affirmative response.

Chen Ye felt a surge of joy in his heart.

"Can the fusion of the willow branch and hand crossbow result in an upgraded Wonder?"

The system also gave an affirmative response.

Upon receiving this answer, Chen Ye's right eye practically glowed, even his already mutated left eye shone with excitement.

Without a second thought, Chen Ye quickly confirmed the upgrade.

That was a Wonder!

According to what Nana and Chu Che had said, every Wonder had its own unique ability.

He had no idea what kind of Wonder would result from fusing the willow branch and hand crossbow.

He guessed its ranking probably wouldn't be high.

After all, the willow branch was just the most insignificant part of the great willow.

Even if it were a Wonder ranked beyond ten thousand, Chen Ye wouldn't disdain it.

As long as it was a Wonder, that was enough.

But the response he received left Chen Ye quite disappointed.

The system's cold prompt felt like a bucket of icy water being poured over his head.

After going through a series of upgrades and modifications, his more than seven thousand Slaughter Points.

Had dwindled to just over four thousand now.

Simply not enough!

The desert night's cold exceeded Chen Ye's expectations.

The temperature was dropping at an alarming rate.

By midnight, Chen Ye had even been woken up once by the cold.

Keep in mind, this was despite his physical fitness having already been enhanced, yet he still felt somewhat cold.

Chen Ye dug out his thickest clothes and piled them on himself, only then did his body feel slightly warmer.

Chen Ye couldn't help but marvel at how exaggerated the temperature fluctuations had become after the apocalypse.

Fortunately, he had upgraded the vehicle canopy during the day. If he had slept out in the open, he probably would have frozen to death outright.

Although the vehicle canopy didn't raise the temperature inside the space much, it was still far better than having nothing.

By morning, the temperature had risen again.

The temperature was most comfortable when getting up, just right for wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

The blood moon had already set.

A scorching hot sun jumped out from the horizon, golden sunlight once again dyeing the desert gold.

The white frost from last night was disappearing at a visible rate.

The camp began showing signs of life.

Some survivors emerged from the bus, covered in dust and grime.

Movement could be seen from several tents in the surrounding area.

The survivors who had stayed in tents last night were those few who had motorcycles for transportation.

These survivors hadn't joined the bus group, choosing to live independently instead.

Joining the bus had its advantages - life had some guarantees, but supplies were distributed uniformly.

After joining the bus, all supplies had to be handed over to Old Li for collective distribution.

Living independently also had its own benefits.

At least all supplies could be managed by oneself.

As long as you had supplies, life within the convoy could be even more free than before the apocalypse.

Things that couldn't be done before the apocalypse could now be accomplished with just a piece of bread.

A voluptuous woman emerged from the low-speed electric vehicle, followed by a withered-looking old man.

The old man grinned as he handed the woman a piece of chocolate, winking at her with an expression that couldn't be more lecherous.

The woman rolled her eyes at the old man and swayed her hips as she walked away.

The Zhou Sisters also emerged from their vehicle with sleepy eyes.

The temperature fluctuations last night had caught the sisters off guard.

Fortunately, the sisters had prepared in advance, taking out the down jackets they had gathered earlier to wear, thus avoiding freezing to death.

"Yawn!~~~ Sis, last night was way too cold!"

Zhou Xiaoxiao couldn't help but shiver as she remembered how she had trembled from the cold last night.

Since being recognized by other survivors a few days ago, Zhou Xiaoxiao had stopped disguising herself as a man.

The hat she used to frequently wear on her head had been removed, revealing delicate features and ear-length short hair that made her look cute, playful, and lively.

Her clothing had also been changed to women's wear, shining brilliantly under the golden morning light, not falling short of her mature and charming sister in the slightest.

No wonder the entertainment industry used to have the saying "the entire entertainment industry is waiting for her debut."

Zhou Lan smoothed the long hair behind her head, sleepiness still evident in the corners of her eyes.

"When I came to Yanzhou for filming before, I knew Yanzhou had big temperature differences between day and night, but this extreme is just abnormal."

"Xiaoxiao, next time we gather supplies, collect more cold-weather clothing."

"Got it, sis!"

"Sis, my mouth tastes awful, I want to brush my teeth!"

"No way, are you crazy? This is the apocalypse, and we're in the desert! You know how precious water resources are!"

Zhou Lan glared angrily at her younger sister Xiaoxiao.

Ultimately unable to resist her sister's wheedling, the two sisters still found a secluded spot and shared half a cup of water to brush their teeth.

University student Xiao Fu had just gotten off the bus when he saw the sisters in this breathtakingly beautiful scene, making his heart race. He quickly looked away.

The bus shook several times as a massive figure also descended from the bus, stretching luxuriously toward the sun on the horizon.

"Yawn~~~"

It was the big guy Iron Lion.

This guy had slept for a full day before waking up, his wounds mostly healed already.

You had to admit, this guy's physical fitness was simply outrageous.

Last night's low temperatures were nothing for Iron Lion, who excelled in physical prowess.

Chen Ye had taken out all his clothes last night to keep warm.

This guy had slept in the vehicle last night wearing just shorts and a T-shirt, without even covering himself with a blanket.

For an old smoker like Chen Ye, the first thing after waking up in the morning was to have a Huazi to refresh himself.

As for brushing teeth or washing face - don't even think about it.

Water resources were more precious than gold now.

"Hey, Yezi, your eyes!"

When Iron Lion saw Chen Ye, the first thing he noticed was the white pupil in Chen Ye's left eye.

One black pupil, one white pupil, giving Chen Ye a somewhat eerie appearance.

"Nothing, just awakened a second Sequence last night!"

Chen Ye hadn't planned to hide his awakening of Sequence Superpowers from the people in the convoy.

They were practically together every day.

With just these few dozen people in the convoy, trying to hide it would be impossible anyway.

Chen Ye said with complete nonchalance.

Besides, awakening a second Sequence would give him advantages during future supply distributions.

"You... awakened a second Sequence?"

The big guy Iron Lion stared at Chen Ye with his mouth agape, his simple-looking face displaying utter shock.