"Apocalypse Base Vehicle (Upgradeable): Length: 10 meters - Width: 5 meters - Height: 5 meters."
"This base vehicle has two modes, which can be freely switched."
"Note: Each time you switch modes, it will consume a large amount of spiritual energy. Please carefully choose the deployment location to avoid wasting spiritual energy."
"1: Safe Zone Mode. When deployed, the base vehicle transforms into a 100-square-meter all-metal mobile fortress. It can withstand light weapons (assault rifles, handguns, melee weapons) and will slowly repair damage by consuming spiritual energy. Once deployed as a safe zone, it can automatically absorb spiritual energy."
"2: Armed Driving Mode. When retracted, the base vehicle functions as a heavy truck. Maximum capacity: 10 people. Maximum speed: 200 kilometers per hour. Defense power decreases by 50% while driving and continuously consumes spiritual energy."
"Apocalypse Base Structures: ??? not unlocked."
A base vehicle!?
A base vehicle that can deploy a safe zone and absorb spiritual energy!
Lin An was ecstatic as he came to his senses.
He hadn't expected that recruiting Wenyā would trigger the team function of the Savior template.
And the team function even included features similar to team scrolls, allowing him to monitor loyalty and prevent betrayal.
Not bad at all.
In his previous life, every team scroll or slave contract was incredibly valuable, requiring vast amounts of resources to exchange.
Having a way to ensure he wouldn't be stabbed in the back was something every player desired.
While monitoring loyalty wasn't as strong as the constraints of those items, it was sufficient.
As long as he noticed a drop in loyalty, Lin An could prepare accordingly and not worry about betrayal.
This saved him the trouble of searching for and exchanging these rare items in the future.
The reward was incredibly generous.
Lin An's heart was burning with excitement as he looked at the light screen again.
On the light screen, a pitch-black, high-tech armored truck slowly rotated.
Numerous weapon mounts were visible, although no weapons were installed.
At the bottom of the light screen was a 3D model of a metal module resembling a factory building, made up of sealed alloy plates, exuding a sense of security.
His heart raced.
Since his rebirth, Lin An had rarely experienced emotional fluctuations.
But the sight of the Apocalypse Base Vehicle made his heart itch with anticipation.
In his previous life, about a year after the apocalypse game began.
The world was divided into four regions, each with sixteen battle zones.
Survivors from each country grouped together, living in large and small safe zones.
And the safe zone was the foundation for players' survival!
In the apocalypse game, a safe zone was not just an area to defend against zombies.
Lin An's initial plan for a safe zone was merely a place to stay.
He never imagined establishing a safe zone that could absorb spiritual energy so early.
A true safe zone could enhance the strength of players and awakened ones.
After the apocalypse, not only did zombies appear on a large scale.
The Earth gradually became polluted with a form of energy.
People called it spiritual energy.
Animals and plants would gradually mutate under the influence of spiritual energy, turning into powerful beasts or valuable treasures.
Players could absorb spiritual energy to slowly enhance their physical bodies.
Although the process was extremely slow, it was safe.
For awakened ones who couldn't kill mutated zombies to level up in their weak state.
The best way was to absorb spiritual energy, increase their strength, and then team up to kill mutated zombies.
And the only way to extract spiritual energy was through the safe zones in the apocalypse game, which could draw free energy from the air.
Without a base vehicle, there was no way to extract the free spiritual energy from the air.
And establishing a safe zone that could extract spiritual energy required rare and special items.
These items were known as: safe tokens, which could only be obtained through system-issued quests.
These quests were often extremely difficult and time-consuming.
Without a team of ten thousand or hundreds of awakened ones, it was impossible to complete them.
In his previous life, many small safe zones were called safe zones, but they were actually just branches of medium-sized safe zones.
They didn't have safe tokens or the ability to extract spiritual energy, only defensive facilities.
Like the leader of the small safe zone Tang Wan was willing to betray him for in his previous life.
Players in these safe zones could exchange materials with medium-sized safe zones for cultivation opportunities at regular intervals.
Now, with the apocalypse only in its second day, as long as Lin An recruited three more team members, he could obtain the safe zone that every player dreamed of.
This was a delightful surprise within a surprise.
And the vehicle he obtained was not an ordinary safe zone token.
A base vehicle that could move and deploy a safe zone was worth several times more than a safe token.
Lin An's steps were light with joy as Wenyā struggled to keep up behind him.
"Wait... wait for me..."
The cold wind howled, and Wenyā almost stumbled from the chill.
Hearing her call, Lin An turned around and realized she had fallen nearly a hundred meters behind.
…
Waiting in place for Wenyā, Lin An suppressed his joy and quickly adjusted his state.
Although he was eager to receive the team task reward now, the immediate priority was to enhance his strength and kill the Stitcher to save An Jingtian and An Xia.
These two were not only the only people he cared about now but also trustworthy.
An Jingtian was a reconnaissance soldier with better basic attributes than ordinary people.
If he became an awakened one in the future, he would be a great help to Lin An.
While the team task was simple, he didn't plan to recruit people carelessly.
The team function limited the number of members, and while it seemed the limit would increase after upgrading.
Anyone added to the team would receive a strength boost and couldn't be replaced.
Naturally, he needed to choose carefully.
An Jingtian, An Xia, Wenyā.
Including him, that made four people.
One more to go.
Lin An pondered, quickly searching his memory for a candidate.
The Four Emperors and Six Kings.
In his previous life, there were ten peerless powerhouses in the Huaxia battle zone.
Four of them were fourth-order awakeners known as Emperors, each ruling over a billion people.
Six were third-order awakeners known as Kings, each ruling over millions.
And there was a third-order King in Linjiang City, who was still very weak now.
If he could recruit him while he was weak, it would be a significant help for Lin An's future establishment of a force.
"Um... I still don't know your name."
"How should I address you in the future?"
Wenyā caught up, panting, and carefully asked.
"Lin An."
"Call me whatever you like."
Lin An didn't care about titles, nor did he have any peculiar tastes.
In his previous life, many awakeners would recruit subordinates or slaves.
They would have these followers call them master.
"Then I'll call you Lin An, or Captain."
"You should be around my age, right?"
"I'm 24, just graduated from university this year."
Lin An glanced at Wenyā upon hearing this. He was also twenty-four this year, so they were the same age.
"Okay."
Wenyā, gradually accustomed to Lin An's cold demeanor, continued to ask:
"Why do you want me to join?"
"And, you seem... different from us?"
Wen Ya recalled Lin An's impressive strength and felt curious.
"I asked Li Zhiping earlier, and he said he has the player template just like me."
"My strength is 3, and his is 4."
"How much is yours?"
Lin An nodded and, after a moment of thought, decided not to hide anything.
"First, I want you to join because you are a mutant."
"Mutants can provide me with mental power, which you can understand as enhancing my strength."
"People like you are very rare. Once others discover you are an awakened one, they will fight over you."
"So, don't expose your status as a mutant to outsiders."
"Second, I am an awakened one. Unlike ordinary players, I have another set of panels besides the player template. My strength is roughly..."
"Five times yours!"
Wen Ya's heart skipped a beat.
Five times?
Isn't that like a superhero?
"Third, my strength is 12 points."
"Well, it's actually 14.4."
Lin An momentarily forgot that his full attributes were boosted by 20% through the team function.
"14!?"
Wen Ya exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise.
14 points in strength.
No wonder Lin An could smash a zombie's skull with one punch.
Lin An didn't mind Wen Ya's surprise.
If she knew that every point of strength beyond the 10-point limit equated to a 30% increase, she would be even more astonished.
If he encountered the previous Licker again, he was confident he could kill it without having to engage in a drawn-out battle.
If he drank the potion...
He could even face it head-on.
"Your attributes should also have an increase, which is one of the benefits of joining my team. You can check it yourself later."
Wen Ya quickly opened her player panel, delighted.
When she saw an entry labeled "Savior Squad Member" on her panel, her eyes widened in confusion.
Savior?
Wen Ya was puzzled; the term seemed to carry special significance.
However, since Lin An didn't explain voluntarily, she didn't dare to ask.
Lin An's already mysterious image became even more enigmatic in her eyes.
Did she perhaps encounter an extraordinary figure?
"Get on the bike."
Lin An said calmly without looking back.
Wen Ya snapped out of her thoughts and obediently followed.
Lin An mounted the motorcycle.
Wen Ya, looking at his back, climbed onto the rear seat with a flicker of emotion.
"Roar!"
The motorcycle roared to life, the body vibrating.
As Wen Ya cried out in surprise, the bike sped off.
Riding at high speed, the biting wind made her cling to Lin An's waist.
Warmth, reassurance.
After a day and night without rest and long periods of high tension.
Holding onto Lin An gave Wen Ya an inexplicable sense of security.
The motorcycle, like a black phantom, traced a line on the highway.
Moments later.
Sleepiness overcame her, and she finally fell into a deep sleep.
Unconsciously, she tightened her grip slightly.
Noticing Wen Ya had fallen asleep, Lin An slowed down a bit.
...
At the end of the highway leading into the city.
Tens of thousands of zombies gathered in dense clusters.
Thousands of cars had crashed together, leaving shattered corpses and wreckage everywhere.
In the middle of the road, atop a small mound of corpses, sat a boy.
He irritably played with a severed arm, as if searching for something.
Finding nothing, he tossed the arm away and resumed rummaging through the pile of corpses.
"No."
"It."
"Isn't."
"Here."
The childish voice was hesitant and stuttering.
Nearby, zombies clustered around the mound but dared not approach.
An empty ring.
It seemed the boy atop the mound, who appeared harmless, instilled great fear in them.
"Clang."
A zombie at the edge of the group, pushed by its peers, stumbled into the empty ring.
Losing its balance, it fell and clattered against a piece of loose metal.
The boy's head shot up, his eyes blood-red.
"Roar!"
An invisible shockwave erupted from his mouth, instantly shattering the fallen zombie.
The horde panicked.
Even mindless zombies displayed bizarre emotions under the boy's intimidation.
If Lin An were here, he would realize.
This was the instinctive fear zombies felt towards a mutant of over three levels within their ranks!
"No."
"Isn't."
"Here!"
The boy's anger and madness manifested as tangible shockwaves sweeping across the area.
In an instant, the surrounding zombies and crashed cars disintegrated into ash.
The boy finally gave up his search and stood up.
A black fragment was embedded in his small chest.
Without any wind, he began to float in the air, like a puppet moving in the void.
The boy's head turned rigidly as he scanned his surroundings.
After a moment, he adjusted his direction.
The remaining zombie horde followed him.
Their destination, Linjiang City Center!