The Chef Rules the Last Days
Chapter 98 - 96: Lakefront County

Chapter 98: Chapter 96: Lakefront County

"Ah, just rob the fuel from the car behind us," Zhao Changsheng said, perching on his legs with a pair of bewitching fox eyes, casting an annoyed glance at the vehicle behind them.

If it were indeed possible, Su Mo also thought that the idea wasn’t bad.

Unfortunately... they were not pirates after all.

Lu Chen said, "Fasten your seatbelt."

"Okay," Su Mo replied as she put away the map, sat properly, and fastened her seatbelt.

He floored the accelerator and sped away, the wheels kicking up a cloud of dust that completely covered the windshield of the car behind.

"Keep up with them," Li Chuan said lazily from the back seat to the mercenary driver.

With the security of the metal mesh, Su Mo felt safe enough to open a small window. The breeze that blew in made her shiver, "Why do I always feel like this hot summer has been constantly cooling down since the rain?"

"It’s much better than those days over forty degrees," Su Niang chimed in.

"True," Su Mo said idly as she watched the scenery outside the window where, occasionally, she could see zombies wandering in the distance—much fewer compared to the city streets.

She couldn’t help drifting into a daze until Lu Chen called out to her and snapped her back to reality.

"Close the window."

"Ah," Su Mo turned her head to see a smoking car stopped ahead with four or five Level 2 zombies tearing into two people.

At the sound of the approaching car, they immediately arched their backs and ran towards the vehicle with their sharp claws raised high, their mouths blood-red, one of them still dangling a string of intestines.

Lu Chen pressed the accelerator to the floor, and Su Mo closed the window, watching the zombies grow larger as they approached, gripping the handle on the car’s ceiling. It seemed he planned to plow straight through them.

The car accelerated rapidly and in the blink of an eye, they were upon the zombies, hitting them head-on. The row of metal spikes on the front of the car impaled the zombies’ bodies, instantly tearing them in two—half remained on the hood while the rest tumbled under the vehicle.

The violent maneuver of the lead car caused an arm of one of the zombies to violently fling backward, smashing onto the windshield of the car behind, its sharp claws flailing before finally being tossed aside.

"This thing is really useful," Su Mo said, surprised, as she leaned forward to inspect the blood-covered spikes.

Lu Chen turned the wheel and stopped next to the smoking car.

"What are you doing?" Su Mo asked curiously.

"Checking for fuel," the man replied before getting out of the car.

She took an empty jug and followed him out. On the front spikes of the car hung two half-bodies of zombies still twitching. Su Mo pulled out her Tang Blade to finish them off and then extracted the Crystal Stones to toss into her System Bag.

She followed him to the smoking car. The two bodies on the ground were beyond recognition, barely distinguishable as a couple, the man’s still-turning eyeballs indicating that the accident had happened not long ago.

"Kill... me," the hoarse whisper of pleading came. Su Mo nodded solemnly and brought the blade down onto his neck.

Staring wide-eyed, he died. She crouched down to close his eyes for him, while those sitting in the military vehicle watched with mixed emotions.

Zhao Changsheng muttered, "What a terrible way to go."

Lu Chen opened the smoking car’s fuel cap and appeared with a transparent tube in his hand, which he inserted into the fuel tank. When he pulled it out again, it was coated in fuel. Su Mo stood up, handed him the jug, and expressed her surprise, "That tube is for siphoning fuel."

No wonder he had kept it last time.

"Yes," Lu Chen confirmed as he reinserted the tube. His thin lips sucked on the tube, and a light yellow liquid crawled up it. Releasing his mouth, he slid the tube into the jug.

The pale yellow liquid was slowly pouring in, and Su Mo couldn’t help but admire the man’s foresight.

Li Chuan in the car behind squinted his almond-shaped eyes and asked, "How much fuel do we have left?"

The driver glanced at the fuel gauge and replied, "Two bars, and in the trunk, I saw a jug earlier, left by the car’s previous owner."

He didn’t elaborate, but simply instructed everyone to follow Lu Chen closely.

"Li Chuan, our goal is City B, getting you home safely is the top priority," a mercenary said with a frown, not quite satisfied with his actions.

"Don’t worry, we will make it," Li Chuan said casually as he looked out the window, the charming smile on his lips somehow sending chills down people’s spines.

The fuel was quickly topped up, nearly half a jug; Su Mo took it and threw it into the System Bag before they hit the road again.

It was the afternoon, and this was the fourth gas station they had come across in a row—all of them were empty, their fuel long siphoned off by passing travelers.

After adding the last half jug of fuel they had siphoned from the car, Su Mo couldn’t help feeling a bit distressed; not all cars would just break down on the road waiting to be drained, after all.

"Looks like we have no choice but to leave the highway," she said to Lu Chen.

"Mhm" Lu Chen nodded: "Let’s go."

The two of them got back into their car, and Zhao Changsheng leaned forward towards Su Mo’s seat: "How is it, do we have fuel?"

She shook her head and replied, "Get ready, we’re going to exit the highway."

She took out the map, glanced at it, and raised her head to speak to Lu Chen: "There’s a place called Lakefront County ahead, let’s go check it out."

"Okay," Lu Chen started the car and drove it off the ramp ahead.

"Where are they going?" asked a voice from within the car of Sheng Yuan, who had been silent and following at the rear.

"Their car is running low on fuel, don’t lose them," Sheng Yuan said thoughtfully, his arms around Jingjing.

"Brother Sheng, we’re also running low," the person in the driver’s seat said as instructed and followed closely.

As the evening darkened, their dinner was also resolved in the car, consisting of the usual bread and biscuits. Su Mo chewed listlessly and muttered gloomily, "When I make more dishes sometime, you can store them in the Space, Lu Chen. Your Level 3 Space should have expanded a lot by now."

"Sis has vision!" Jianxiong said with glowing eyes, flattering from his spot in the trunk.

"As you say," Lu Chen responded and switched on the headlights. Li Qian, having recovered some of his spiritual power after resting for an afternoon, began to work, scanning the surroundings.

"Not bad, not too many zombies," he reported.

"Then let’s find a place to stay overnight here tonight," Su Mo suggested.

They passed the desolate toll station and entered Lakefront County. The surrounding silence was profound. Su Mo looked ahead at the road illuminated by the headlights; it was narrow, just wide enough for two cars to travel side by side, with willow trees swaying on both sides and a large scenic lake on the left.

"No wonder it’s called Lakefront County," Su Mo pressed her face against the car window, barely making out the glistening ripples on the lake’s surface reflected by the moonlight.

"Is this small county surrounded by the lake?" Zhao Changsheng looked out the window, his fox-like eyes narrowing.

Su Mo turned on the small light on the car roof, opened the map, and took a look before nodding in confirmation: "Almost, it’s mostly surrounded by the lake."

"This would have been a treasure of geomancy in the past," Su Niang chimed in.

"There’s a hotel up ahead. We can clear it out and stay there as there aren’t many zombies," Li Qian, adjusting his glasses after scanning the area, suggested.

Su Mo turned off the light, put away the map, and turned to Lu Chen: "Then let’s head over there."