NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Half a Bucket for 20 Days of Chronal Energy
Dawn's pale light sliced through bulletproof windows as Xiao Yang materialized the Conquestor RV. The diesel engine's growl shattered frozen silence, its heater battling -30°C cold. Thermal camera displays flickered to life, painting the snowscape in monochrome heat signatures.
"Five rounds left," he muttered, spinning the police-issue revolver's cylinder. Ballistics data scrolled through his mind: 9mm Parabellum, effective range 50 meters. Government armories would be their next loot run - after securing Lu You's culinary genius.
Mu Wanqing emerged wrapped in three thermal layers, her steps still betraying residual soreness. Xiao Yang noted her 0.8 second delay in reaching for the offered Tang sword - acceptable combat readiness for a novice.
"Stay behind me when clearing rooms," he said, thumb caressing the blade's fuller. The gesture mirrored SWAT breach protocols he'd studied pre-collapse.
The RV's 8-ton bulk crushed ice sheets like eggshells. Mu Wanqing's grip tightened on the crash bar as they passed Wang Min's frozen corpse, now reduced to crimson ice shards beneath their tires. Survival calculus: sentimentality ÷ resource scarcity = 0.
University District, 09:47 AM. Vehicles entombed in ice created an apocalyptic slalom course. Xiao Yang's driving left 37cm clearance gaps - precise enough to avoid snaring axles, reckless enough to conserve fuel.
At Mu Guang's apartment complex, the breached gate's twisted metal sang of prior looters. Third floor, Unit 307. Three knocks, five seconds of silence, then the crowbar's shriek tearing through deadbolts.
Negative heat signatures. Mu Wanqing exhaled vapor in rhythmic puffs - 14 breaths per minute, anxiety contained.
The neighbor emerged like a moth-eaten ghost, infrared scan showing 34.2°C core temperature. "W-water..." Her chattering teeth synced with the wailing infant inside.
Xiao Yang's chronal interface glowed as he blocked Mu Wanqing's charity impulse. "Transaction protocol initiated," his voice carried the sterile tone of ATM instructions. "20 days for 12 liters. Current market rate: 2.4 days per liter."
The woman's wrist scanner pulsed blue. 354→334. Mu Wanqing's intake of 20 days lit her veins with mercury-like shimmer - precisely 172,800 seconds added to her lifespan.
"Time=Life," Xiao Yang stated as they retreated, mapping seven bathhouses within 5km radius on the RV's HUD. "Charity gets you killed before spring thaw."
Mu Wanqing studied her luminous veins. Survival arithmetic finally overriding civilian morality. "Next transaction," she said, polishing her sword, "we charge 30 days per liter."
The RV plowed through debris fields, its snowplow etching survivalist equations in the frozen waste.