Even as the large fish and strange creatures thrashed, trying to devour them, every leap they made was met with a slice from a sword, reducing them to pieces, or a blast of heat that turned them into dried fish.
The people walked beside her, naturally feeling the scorching heat in the air with her every movement.
This shouldn't be the domain of a water ability user.
Most people in such a dire situation wouldn't indulge in idle thoughts, but there were always a few exceptionally peculiar individuals. Once they confirmed their survival, they began observing their surroundings, even hoping to collect specimens of these strange fish for research, and in doing so, they began to study these two individuals who were slowly becoming legendary.
Based on what they had seen before, the girl who claimed to have awakened water abilities had only used water and drained the liquid from living beings. She hadn't employed any other abilities typically used by water ability users.
Even if she were purely a water ability user, she was undoubtedly of a higher evolutionary level than everyone else. Perhaps as her purification abilities advanced, she could control water temperature, which might explain the heat.
But that didn't make sense either. Why control water temperature when draining the water from a creature's body?
"Miss Zhao."
"Mm."
The researcher snapped back to attention, seeing his colleague looking at Zhuo Ran with eager eyes, a glow in them: "Could you, please, get us some specimens of these aquatic creatures to study?"
Zhuo Ran watched the thing that had just leaped up again. With a single pull, she drew it onto the bridge. The fish, four to five meters long, struggled incessantly on the bridge, its tail splashing water onto them.
The two researchers, disregarding the risk of being swept away by its tail, pounced like hungry tigers. They took out their portable tools and began cutting off skin and other tissues from the large fish for specimens. The fish struggled even more fiercely.
"All done?"
One researcher nodded, saying with regret, "If only we could bring it back."
Zhuo Ran also thought of something and immediately wondered if she was being foolish.
They needed food, and this thing...
"It's a pity this fish has mutated so severely; I wonder if it's edible."
"We'll know if we bring it back to try." She shouted towards the sky, "Don't kill them, put them into the space and take them back for food."
Chong Yan, who was swinging his sword with gusto, retreated with a hint of regret at the instruction. Mid-air, he collected several strange fish into his spatial storage. There were too many things in there, and they seemed to have no urge to fight each other. The dried fish and bodies of their own kind that fell into the water were ignored; they were all famished and eyeing the people passing overhead with gluttony, leaping forward without regard for their lives.
This made it convenient for Chong Yan to collect them. They had walked for over half an hour across a bridge about a kilometer long. Only when they stepped onto the land on the other side did the fish slowly retreat.
Someone sighed, "How many fish are in there?"
Looking down, the depths teemed with dark shapes, a dense mass of scales and a type of greenish skin. Those strange fish with greenish skin were clearly mutated species, not even within the range of food Chong Yan was collecting.
Everyone here, except for Zhuo Ran, believed they had mutated due to the zombie virus, becoming so strange and ugly, simply affected more severely.
But Zhuo Ran knew these creatures must have come from another dimension.
She wanted to forge Chong Yan into a savior, but if that passage wasn't opened to send them back to where they belonged, no one in this world could save them.
"Don't bother how many there are," Chong Yan retracted his sword into his spatial storage and threw himself onto Zhuo Ran. "Oh, I'm so tired."
Zhuo Ran, supporting him, chuckled, "You were killing so enthusiastically just now, I thought you wouldn't know what tired feels like."
Chong Yan leaned his entire weight on her, clinging to her like he had no bones. Whether he was truly tired or not was uncertain, but he absolutely wouldn't pass up such a good opportunity to act spoiled.
"I'm so tired!" He wiggled his body. "I want you to carry me."
Zhuo Ran laughed and picked him up.
"The people on the other side are watching us."
A researcher turned around. The people on the opposite side hadn't left and seemed to be genuinely watching them.
A soldier took out binoculars. The people on the opposite side were also using binoculars to watch them.
"Tell them we're alright. If they're heading to City H, they can wait for us to return and travel together."
A soldier prepared to use Morse code. The researcher took out paper and a pen from his backpack, quickly scribbled a few lines, and held them up in front of him.
The binoculars they were using were no ordinary ones; they were capable of astronomical observation at night, let alone transmitting messages over a kilometer with ease.
The response from the other side was much simpler: a few gestures indicating receipt and agreement to their proposal.
"They said they'll wait for us to come back. Let's hurry."
Chong Yan, in Zhuo Ran's arms, brought out their car. Then, under the watchful eyes of the people on the opposite bank and those around them, Zhuo Ran carried him into the car.
The people on the other side lowered their binoculars.
Commander Lan asked, "They've left?"
The grizzled man's eyes held a peculiar expression. "Yes, they've left."
Commander Lan detected the oddity in his tone and frowned. "Is there something wrong with them?"
"No." The man asked somewhat uncertainly, "Commander, does your wife usually… hug you?"
Commander Lan had only recently shown signs of awakening his abilities. His wife, however, had awakened much earlier. Though her offensive power wasn't strong, she was ahead of him.
The grizzled man thought, did men need to be protected by women after awakening their abilities?
Take the two leaders of the Ice Thunder Association, for instance; the woman was more formidable than the man.
Commander Lan wondered if he had misheard, looking at the man with bewilderment. "What did you say?"
The man felt that it was inappropriate to mention such a thing, even in this context. He felt a slight sense of crisis and said, "Nothing, I was… just joking."
It would be better to ask his wife about this matter.
Commander Lan glanced at him. "Let's go back."
Someone rushed forward to drag back the pieces of fish that Chong Yan had cut earlier, intending to take them back for food.
On the other side, they had already set off again.
With over nine hundred kilometers still to go to Central City, they had to make good time.
Those who had witnessed Zhuo Ran's driving speed had no objections when she took the driver's seat. Chong Yan was genuinely tired; as soon as he got in the car, he reclined the seat and lay down to sleep.
The back seats were a bit crowded, but considering his efforts, no one complained. They closed their eyes and rested, squeezed together. The two researchers whispered to each other. At first, they could understand a few words. As they talked, their language became unintelligible, much like attending a higher mathematics lecture – incomprehensible and incredibly hypnotic.
They spent the entire day on the road, not stopping even when it got dark. They had lost half a day in City B, so to make up for lost time, they had to press on.