Shen Chongyan looked at the sword in his hand, which had lost its luster. Recalling the unyielding courage from moments ago, he felt a surge of excitement. He tried to put the sword back into his mind, and with just a thought, it disappeared.
"Brother, do you remember that day you said you felt like there was a space inside your head? That's when you got your space ability."
Shen Qian nodded. "That's right."
"Back then, I felt like there was a sword in my mind, but I wasn't sure, and I couldn't use it. Just now, when I saw you were in danger, I instinctively rushed over, and it appeared in my hand."
Shen Qian's eyes lit up with excitement. "You mean, this is also an ability of yours?"
"It should be."
Shen's father and mother spoke excitedly about this, and everyone was very happy. However, amidst their joy, Jin Wenye's expression was grim.
Lin Wan was tending to his wounds and was the first to notice the change in his expression.
Her sensitive mind immediately understood Jin Wenye's thoughts.
Although they were together now, out of the four members of the Shen family, two already possessed abilities, while the Jin family had none openly.
Jin Wenye had always been a proud person, and this disparity must have made him uncomfortable.
Lin Wan decided to tell him about her own space ability. Her space contained spirit springs and could grow crops, making it more powerful than Shen Qian's space which could only store things. This should make him feel a bit better.
"That's great! This should make our journey ahead much smoother. It doesn't matter if we can't go to City A, we can find our own place to live. At worst, we'll kill all those monsters and build our own sanctuary."
Shen Qian spoke with great bravado, but as he gradually witnessed the cruelty and terror of this world, his goal of establishing a safe zone would be different from what it was now.
The others also felt hopeful about the future and chatted excitedly for a while. Seeing that it was not yet three o'clock, they decided to rest for another two hours.
Jin Wenye had also sustained some injuries earlier, so Zhu Jin voluntarily offered to guard the remaining time. Given how formidable Shen Chongyan had become, the others didn't object, only reminding him to wake them up promptly if those things returned.
After they all fell asleep, silence returned to the surroundings. The small flame flickered in the air. The two sat facing each other, waiting for dawn.
Zhu Jin inquired about the current situation from the system.
[The global death toll has exceeded ten million and is increasing every moment. Several countries have requested me to grant them access, intending to use nuclear weapons to bomb the areas where the aliens appeared.]
"Didn't you tell them that most of the aliens come from the sea?"
Many European cities are coastal. Like a mirror reflection, it's easiest for loopholes to appear in the water. Would they have to keep dropping atomic bombs into the sea?
That would cause the sea to flood in, leading to even faster deaths.
[I did, but they don't believe me and plan to bomb the cities.]
Zhu Jin pondered for a moment. If others were determined to court death, she couldn't stop them. "If they insist too strongly, grant them access, but make sure they don't endanger other countries and regions."
[Understood.] The system responded and then said, [Host, Luan Yu has replied, but she said she's very busy there and can't come for now. She might come to find you later, or you might need to go to her as soon as possible.]
The situation here was still chaotic. At least Zhu Jin had to help Shen Chongyan stabilize the basic situation before she could see what major event Luan Yu was dealing with.
"I understand."
"Were you, scared just now?"
Zhu Jin looked up and saw Shen Chongyan staring at her with bright eyes.
"I'm fine, are you?"
"I'm fine too." He adjusted his sleeves somewhat awkwardly. "It's your brother, he seems to be injured."
Jin Wenye did have some minor injuries on his hand earlier, but with Lin Wan there now, he would be alright.
"He's fine, he won't die."
Shen Chongyan's tone was a bit strange. He tentatively asked, "I heard before that you liked him, aren't you worried about him?"
"I don't like him." She stated directly, "I'm worried that if he marries Lin Wan, I won't be able to stay in the Jin family."
When Shen Chongyan heard the first part, his heart skipped a beat. He concealed his inner joy and asked, "Why?"
"He thought I was the one who saved Grandpa, so he let me be his sister. But that wasn't true, Lin Wan was the one who saved Grandpa. I was worried Lin Wan would expose me, and they would kick me out of the Jin family, which is why I targeted Lin Wan. But now the world has become like this, and I don't have to rely on them anymore, so it doesn't matter if they know or not."
Shen Chongyan: "..."
That made a lot of sense.
"So you never liked him?"
Before he returned, he had heard about Jin Wenye – a third-generation heir, a talented young man, and a man of integrity.
For such a person, it was hard for any woman not to be attracted to him.
Zhu Jin genuinely didn't like him. "I don't like him. I like... people like you."
Although he thought she was joking, Shen Chongyan couldn't help but blush.
"Miss Jin, please don't joke."
"Why would it be a joke?" Zhu Jin said seriously, "Do you think I was joking when I said I went to save you? We actually met before. I was already interested in you then. I specifically went to see you that day because I knew you were at the company. I didn't expect you to actually be trapped. Otherwise, why would I risk saving someone I didn't care about?"
This made even more sense.
It also touched Shen Chongyan's heart, making him think only of the positive aspects for a moment, completely overlooking the inconsistencies.
He also became serious.
"Are you telling the truth? You don't like Jin Wenye?"
"I don't."
"Then... then if you like me, we, we..."
"Are you confessing your love?"
His face turned even redder, and he was speechless.
"If you're going to confess, you at least need to have roses, otherwise I won't say yes."
Shen Chongyan said with a blush, "Then I'll wait until I find roses."
"Okay."
The two slowly moved closer, holding hands, feeling each other's warmth. It wasn't until the first rays of dawn appeared in the sky and the fire on the ground was about to extinguish that the others woke up.
They gathered more firewood, boiled water, and prepared food. Half an hour later, they continued their journey into the unknown.
This time, the two sat in the same car. The rest of the Shen family had noticed that their relationship was unusual. Although the three who had heard the rumors about Jin Jin weren't entirely supportive, they figured that their future was uncertain, and they didn't know how long they would live, so it was best to enjoy themselves in the moment.
007 had devised a relatively safe route for them, but they had to find their own gasoline. Zhu Jin had some in her space, but she wanted to train Shen Chongyan, so she didn't mention it.
They traveled nearly four hundred kilometers that morning. As noon approached, they finally reached a gas station. They were now far from S City, but for some reason, the sky was still hazy, as if covered by a layer of smog, giving a very bad feeling.