Chapter 41 Scurvy

The pursuit did not last very long. Zhao Qiang finally lost the trace of the dark shadow within a vast complex of shipping containers. In the distance came the murmuring sound of flowing water, and the wind blowing toward him carried a faint, earthy scent.

"A trap?" That was Zhao Qiang's first reaction. In any city, there is only one place where shipping containers cluster together—the docks. Luring him here meant the other party certainly did not intend for him to simply enjoy the riverside scenery.

The docks offered an open yet complex terrain. Towering cranes and mountains of densely stacked shipping containers turned the container yard into a synonym for a maze, save for the normal transit lanes. Anyone unfamiliar with the area would, nine times out of ten, become lost in the seemingly identical labyrinth of containers.

In such an environment, anywhere could serve as an ambush position. The night was deep, but Zhao Qiang dared not lower his guard. If he could evolve dim-light night vision, others could too, or perhaps the other party possessed technological gear like night-vision devices. Darkness was not necessarily an insurmountable barrier.

Sensing that the atmosphere was wrong, Zhao Qiang naturally pressed his entire body flat against the outer wall of a shipping container, carefully scouting toward the core area of the dock. He had mobilized all his sensory organs, and the safety of his Type 97 rifle was already off, ready to respond to any sudden situation at a moment's notice.

"Come out," Zhao Qiang said coldly to the empty air. Beyond a narrow passageway lay a small open area, about half the size of a half-court for basketball. Less than a foot away from his neck, an extremely thin, taut metal wire hung suspended in mid-air. Had he failed to notice it and blindly rushed forward, there would have been only one outcome: that thin metal wire would have sliced off Zhao Qiang's neck like the sharpest guillotine.

...

Qian Xun was deeply distressed. Quite a few people around her had begun falling ill. Without exception, the sick individuals suffered from symptoms such as generalized fatigue, loosening and falling teeth, bone and joint pain, and a multitude of petechiae and ecchymoses beneath their skin. Watching people fall ill one after another, Qian Xun was consumed with anxiety.

"Scurvy!" an experienced old sailor told Qian Xun. This strange affliction, which had plagued humanity—especially long-voyage sailors—since the Crusades of the Middle Ages, was almost unheard of nowadays. It could be entirely prevented and treated simply by regularly consuming green vegetables or fresh fruits.

Before she left, the old sailor told Qian Xun that the easiest way to cure these sick crew members was to go to a pharmacy and get some vitamin C.

Utilizing the cover of night, Qian Xun carefully navigated through the city streets. Her route had been planned out long in advance. Qian Xun carried no firearm, so she had to rely on certain minor tactics to deal with the overwhelming hordes of zombies, such as absolute silence.

Qian Xun moved like an agile cat; whether walking or running, she produced virtually not a sound, and her speed was astonishing. Often, before the zombies could even react, Qian Xun had already vanished into the distance.

Take weapons, for instance. To Qian Xun, a gun might not be a suitable weapon. Modern firearms always emitted deafening noise, and in a world crawling with zombies, noise meant exposure. Therefore, moving silently, Qian Xun chose thin metal wire, which could kill just as silently.

Qian Xun never took the initiative to engage with zombies, nor would she ever face swarms of them. She only struck when a zombie appeared directly on the path she had to take or at her destination. The metal wire would soundlessly loop around a zombie's neck and tighten instantly, slicing the creature's head clean off its shoulders as effortlessly as a sharp knife cutting through tofu.

Qian Xun had set up countless such metal wires around her area of activity, gradually forming a relatively safe route through accumulation over time. Her silent movements had never once attracted the attention of zombies, which ultimately made Qian Xun somewhat careless.

"Vitamin C, pharmacy," Qian Xun chanted silently to herself. On the mental route map in her heart, the pharmacy was located quite a distance away.

Just like usual, no zombies. Just like usual, Qian Xun chanted silently, praying not to encounter even a single zombie. She wove through the concrete jungle like a nimble cat. She had walked this route countless times; even with her eyes closed, Qian Xun would not lose her way in this district.

Finally, she arrived. Looking at the pharmacy sign not far ahead, Qian Xun finally breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't run into a single zombie! In high spirits, Qian Xun softly hummed a little tune and gave a gentle kick to a glass bottle lying at the entrance of the pharmacy.

Oh no! Zombies! Qian Xun was startled, but it was already too late. The crisp sound of the glass bottle was jarringly clear and deafening in the quiet night. *You didn't hear that, you didn't hear that,* Qian Xun prayed desperately, but God did not hear the prayers of this poor girl. In the darkness, that shadowy figure reacted instantly.

Two icy, sharp gazes swept across her in an instant. Qian Xun felt her scalp tingle and every hair on her body stand on end. Without even pausing to figure out whether the shadow was a zombie or a human, she immediately turned on her heel and fled.

That figure clung to her like a shadow. Panic-stricken, Qian Xun took the wrong route several times and even nearly collided with a trap she had set herself.

Qian Xun was fast, but that figure was no slouch either, and possessed freakishly good stamina. A fine sheen of sweat had already broken out on Qian Xun's forehead, yet that figure showed not the slightest sign of fatigue.

It must be a new type of zombie! So persistent! Thinking of the sick people back home, tears were nearly welling up in Qian Xun's eyes. She was about to reach her base, but that fellow clung stubbornly behind her, impossible to shake off.

She had to block him outside! Qian Xun gritted her teeth. Her camp was located on a cargo ship; since no one knew how to drive the behemoth, the freighter remained moored against the bank. The container dock was the camp's final line of defense, and the survivors here had relied on these maze-like containers to withstand wave after wave of attacks from the zombie army.

Along her retreat route, Qian Xun took only a few seconds to set up a trap. The rest was simply a matter of hiding in the shadows and waiting for that annoying stalker to blindly stumble into the suspended metal wire and meet their doom.

"Come out!" That stalker turned out to be human, and had stopped less than a foot away from the trap.

Qian Xun remained silent. A strange man had followed her all the way here, and it was entirely impossible to tell whether he was friend or foe. Furthermore, he appeared to be holding a gun—a dangerous signal, and at the very least, the message conveyed in his voice was not particularly friendly.

"Who are you?" Qian Xun mustered her courage. The night concealed her petite frame well, and the scattered, jumbled containers made it impossible to pinpoint the source of her voice.