Zhang Yurou grabbed the car keys by the door and followed behind Lin Feng.
The moment they stepped outside, the thick stench of blood filled the stairwell.
As far as the eye could see, peeling walls and darkened steps were all soaked in blood.
Lin Feng made a split-second decision. He consumed the Upgrade Reserve of the Lv. 4 Red Armor Shield in his hand, switching its form from normal to Shield Armor.
A white light flashed, and the Red Armor Shield in his hand transformed into a suit of armor that covered his entire body. From head to toe, even the spaces between his fingers were snugly encased.
The Red Armor Shield had reconfigured into hundreds of modules, resembling a Golden Threaded Jade Robe. The modules were seamlessly fitted yet moved with exceptional smoothness, allowing Lin Feng to move without any feeling of restriction.
Aside from its time limit, it was flawless.
Seeing the 59-minute countdown displayed on the Shield Armor, Lin Feng didn't have time to explain to the two women behind him. Amidst their gasps of surprise, he gripped his pistol and headed upstairs.
The trail of blood led upward.
After a series of seven or eight gunshots, Lin Feng, now clad in red and silver armor, returned holding two pieces of Crimson Back Armor. They vanished in an instant, absorbed into the Red Armor Shield's reserve.
Relying on the Legendary Pistol's powerful 10 points of Damage, he had easily dispatched the two Red-Armored Beetles upstairs. The reward was enough to Upgrade both the Lv. 4 pistol and the Lv. 4 Red Armor Shield.
But Lin Feng wasn't in a hurry to do so. There were still the giant insects downstairs to deal with.
He led the two women downstairs. In front of Room 201, besides a few corpses, five Red-Armored Beetles were still devouring the survivors from the stairwell.
Lin Feng fired a few more shots, finishing them off cleanly.
After stripping them of their Crimson Back Armor, he had Zhang Yurou hand over her shield. After absorbing the five pieces of Back Armor, her Lv. 2 Red Armor Shield successfully upgraded to Lv. 4.
Lin Feng set up two buttons on the handle at the back, allowing it to switch between Back Armor and Armor Shield modes.
After he finished explaining the Red Armor Shield's functions to them, the two women gasped in amazement. Zhang Yurou's eyes were filled with love, while Chen Yanyan's face showed envy and anticipation.
Holding a shield was just too inconvenient. If it could transform into form-fitting armor like Lin Feng's, one could fearlessly face the giant insects' attacks, completely freeing up their hands. Even with a Long Saber, they could cut a swath of destruction.
After upgrading the equipment for Sister-in-law Yurou, Lin Feng led the two women down to the ground-floor entrance.
Two more Red-Armored Beetles were outside the main door, drawn by the stench of blood in the stairwell. But they were rather stupid, not realizing they could just go around the back and climb a wall to get in.
Lin Feng opened the door and easily took care of them, stripping their Back Armor and storing it in Sister-in-law Yurou's Red Armor Shield.
'Only I can perform this operation. Without the system, others can only stare blankly even if they have the equipment.'
Lin Feng had already tested it. Many of the items' functions could only be activated in his hands.
Therefore, he had to use this remaining time to upgrade Sister-in-law Yurou's equipment and build up a reserve for her as much as possible.
The Lv. 4 Red Armor Shield could only maintain its Shield Armor Form for a short hour, but based on the pattern of the pistol's Extra Attributes, future Upgrades would surely enhance it.
After leaving the residential building, there were no more Red-Armored Beetles in sight. Lin Youzhi's big Benz was parked nearby, but his body, devoured by the giant insects, was now just a pool of blood.
Lin Feng had thought Zhang Yurou would take one last look, but she walked straight to the Land Rover SUV without a backward glance. She switched the Red Armor Shield in her hand to its Back Armor form, opened the door, and started the engine.
Chen Yanyan placed the small shield in her hand and the two backpacks of supplies and equipment in the trunk, then sat in the back seat.
Lin Feng glanced back at the old home he had lived in for six or seven years. 'Perhaps this departure is a final farewell.'
After his silent goodbye, he turned and got into the passenger seat.
Zhang Yurou slowly released the brake, pulled out of the parking space, and then gently pressed the accelerator, leaving the residential complex.
Lin Feng glanced at his Legendary Pistol. He had killed nine Red-Armored Beetles in a row. Although it took ten points of Damage to accumulate one Upgrade Point, he had still gained a full twenty-seven points.
Adding the nine points left over from the previous Upgrade, Lin Feng now had thirty-six points. 'Feels like I can level up twice in a row.'
After initiating the Upgrade, he rolled down the window, searching for prey along the roadside while enjoying the breeze.
Unfortunately, he didn't see any insects along the way.
The residential complex was situated between the Suburban Area and the countryside. Three kilometers and four blocks ahead was Hai City's University City.
Hai City University was one of the four major institutions of higher learning there, a key university on the coast. Lin Feng hadn't inherited his mother's intellect; after the college entrance exams, he had ended up in the affiliated college next door, an ordinary undergraduate institution...
In truth, back then, a single word from his mother, He Yiwen, could have gotten him smoothly into Hai City University. Unfortunately, she didn't want Lin Feng to have a promising future and had never even tutored her son when he was young.
It seemed that aside from her own research projects, He Yiwen cared about nothing else.
Lin Feng used to resent this, but after both his parents disappeared one after another and the search for them proved fruitless, he had gradually let it go.
At least now he had a new family member—and his first woman.
The car drove along the intercity highway. It was a wide, three-lane road, and even with many cars abandoned after accidents, it wasn't completely blocked.
Zhang Yurou was a good driver. She looked at her man beside her and asked with concern:
"Xiaofeng, the driver's license you got before, was it for an automatic?"
Lin Feng nodded. There weren't many manual transmission cars anymore. Most young people chose automatic because it was easier, allowing them to pass all the tests in just over a month.
Zhang Yurou's brow furrowed slightly.
"If we need to keep running, it would be best to get a powerful truck. You can carry more supplies, and it can break through a Swarm's encirclement..."
"A sedan is just too small, and it doesn't hold much gas. We'd have to find a gas station every time we stop."
"Right now, only the coastal cities have fallen. But in the towns dozens of kilometers further inland, everyone is fleeing. They have more time to prepare and will take everything they possibly can."
"Planes, trains, automobiles... This will be the first time in human history that we see an evacuation and migration on such a massive scale."
"If you need to gather supplies, the Hai City District is the best place. The further inland you go, the more scarce and depleted the resources will become."
Lin Feng's expression grew solemn. He understood what Sister-in-law Yurou was saying.
However, Hai City was an international metropolis with a permanent population of over ten million. Even collecting just one ten-thousandth of the resources gathered in such a city would be enough to support Lin Feng's group in their escape from the Swarm.
But Lin Feng wanted to do more than just flee. He wanted to use the Swarm along the way to Upgrade his equipment and raise his Level as much as possible.
Only then could he secure a foothold in the future.
An Alien Zerg Race capable of waging a global war was not to be underestimated. The mere fact that they could appear on Blue Star without a sound already proved they were far beyond humanity's technological level.
But from the looks of it, they seemed to be following a technological path of bio-genetics, modification, and evolution. For now, human firepower could still halt their advance.
This breathing room was Lin Feng's opportunity.
And to successfully gather supplies and escape the Swarm, Lin Feng needed a truck that could be moved at any time, serving as a mobile camp and safe house to maneuver and skirmish with the Swarm.
"Are all trucks manual transmission?"
Zhang Yurou nodded, turning the steering wheel to bypass the crash scene ahead. A massive hundred-ton truck had crushed seven or eight sedans flat like boxes.
The dominance of a King was on full display.
The problem was, even for someone licensed for manual transmission, learning to drive a large truck wasn't easy. It required a separate Class B license.
After a moment of thought, Zhang Yurou offered a new suggestion:
"If you can't drive one, you could look around in some of the high-end residential complexes. You should be able to find automatic-transmission RVs. They don't have as much space as a truck, but they're fully equipped for living, and they're more comfortable to drive."
"And if we modify it with these shields, its Defense won't be much worse than a truck's."
Lin Feng's eyes lit up. 'That's a great idea.'
Just then, the group arrived at the edge of University City. The streets were lined with storefronts, from restaurants to various entertainment venues.
Life in University City was still rich and vibrant.
Lin Feng remembered the days of pulling all-nighters at internet cafes.
The monster-grinding, level-up games he was once addicted to had now become reality.
As he reminisced for a moment, the Legendary Pistol in his hand finished upgrading:
「Legendary Pistol Lv. 5/9, White Quality」
「Upgrade Points: 17/10, Damage: 15, Effective Range: 300m, Remaining Bullets: 700/1,000」
「Extra Attributes: Bullet Recovery, 1/1min, Spatial Magazine, 1,000 reserve bullets」
As expected, aside from an increase of five points to average Damage and four hundred reserve bullets, there were no other significant changes.
Lin Feng directly initiated his own synchronized Upgrade, while also having the Lv. 5 Legendary Pistol continue upgrading.
He had a premonition that after entering University City, he would face an even more difficult and brutal battle...
'Before that, I need to get stronger, fast!'