Chapter 230 - 220: Departure
Chapter 230: Chapter 220: Departure
The day Tang Mo set out, the weather was exceptionally good.
The sun was bright, warming her skin.
The weather had been so good recently it made one feel that being alive wasn’t so hard after all.
Tang Mo’s destination this time was Donglin City. It was a coastal city, and Tang Mo had always loved cities by the sea.
According to the map from Sand Town, Donglin City was one of the cities that had a glyph.
Tang Mo chose Donglin City as her first stop not only because she loved the sea, but for a more important reason: she wanted to confirm a bold suspicion she had.
If that suspicion turned out to be true...
Then humanity would soon have to face things far more terrifying than their current reality.
Tang Mo didn’t say goodbye to Qin Ling before she left. She had never been fond of farewells.
People you’ll see again don’t need goodbyes.
Qin Ling sent Tang Mo a message.
"Safe travels."
"Let’s both do our best," Tang Mo replied.
Each striving on their own, to meet again at the summit.
Perhaps that phrase perfectly described the state of Tang Mo and Qin Ling’s relationship.
They were more than just lovers; they were friends, the best of comrades-in-arms.
Tang Mo had entrusted Xiao Tao to Xu the Third. Qin Ling’s training system was well-established and would allow Xiao Tao to mature as quickly as possible.
Once again, it was just one person and one beast, Tang Mo and Jingjing, setting off on the road.
Donglin City wasn’t far from S Base. A helicopter could make the trip in half an hour.
On foot, it would take about a month.
But Tang Mo still chose to go on her own. A path forged with her own two feet held more value.
For Tang Mo, who could travel at high speed, a month-long journey would only take two weeks.
She had all sorts of stored food, a warm sleeping bag and quilt, and Jingjing to keep her from getting bored. The journey could hardly be considered arduous.
「Ten days later...」
Tang Mo walked along an abandoned highway, nibbling on a piece of bread while trying to summon her spiritual power.
She didn’t know how to use her spiritual power to make herself fly yet, but through constant practice, she could already make small objects around her levitate.
Tang Mo let go of the bread.
Instead of falling, the bread was held aloft by a surge of spiritual power and began to float upward.
Thankfully, there was no one else on the road. Anyone who saw this would have jumped out of their skin.
Satisfied, Tang Mo grabbed the bread again. ’If the bread can fly, it’s only a matter of time before I can too,’ she thought.
"Me too, me too!"
Ever since Jingjing learned to talk, it had been getting more and more chatty.
It clamored for Tang Mo to make it fly too. Tang Mo gave it her best shot...
And failed.
Jingjing’s weight was currently increasing at an incredible rate.
It hadn’t grown much in size, but its weight had reached the point where even Tang Mo found it a bit difficult to carry.
"Jingjing, you need to go on a diet," Tang Mo advised.
"Hmph."
Miffed at being too heavy to be lifted, Jingjing unhappily turned its head away and tried to lift itself with its own spiritual power.
It was a mutant beast with the Spiritual Attribute. ’If Momo can do it, I can too if I try hard enough!’
And so, the person and the beast both continued to wrestle with their spiritual power.
Just as Tang Mo was completely focused on sensing her spiritual power, she suddenly felt something bump against her leg. Looking down, she saw a little girl of about five, her arm covered in blood, who had run into her.
"Little one, are you okay?"
Before the girl could speak, several men appeared out of nowhere and charged toward Tang Mo, their faces masks of fury.
"Daughter, what’s wrong? Did this woman hurt you?"
The men rushed up to Tang Mo indiscriminately. Without bothering to help the little girl up, they furiously snarled at Tang Mo.
Tang Mo understood instantly. She’d run into a scam.
She couldn’t help but find it a little funny. ’It’s the apocalypse. What’s the point of pulling a scam like this?’
’Even if I had done it—hell, even if I’d actually killed the girl—what could they do about it out here in the middle of nowhere?’
Besides, she didn’t know what these men were after, but it was most likely a robbery.
’But if they really wanted to rob me, why sacrifice a child for it?’
’Wouldn’t it be better to just get straight to the point?’
"Sweetie, just say the word. Daddy will make it right for you," one of the men continued.
Tang Mo crossed her arms and watched the scene unfold as if it were a farce.
’This journey has been getting boring. A little diversion is nice.’
The little girl who had fallen at Tang Mo’s feet slowly got up. Clutching her arm, she walked over to the men, then pointed at Tang Mo with her uninjured hand. She didn’t speak, but her meaning was perfectly clear.
The little girl’s wound wasn’t fake. Her upper arm had been viciously slashed by a sharp object, and it was still gushing blood.
Ever since Tang Mo had started using her spiritual power for healing, she had become able to see all kinds of injuries with great clarity, as if she had become a real doctor.
The wound on the girl’s arm was fresh. The pain from such an injury was beyond what a child of her age should be able to bear.
But the little girl just bit her lip, not even letting out a whimper, as if she couldn’t feel the pain at all.
Tang Mo quickly reached a few conclusions. ’The girl isn’t their biological child—even a vicious tiger won’t eat its own cubs. This isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this. They’re probably a whole gang.’
"So? What do you want?"
Tang Mo genuinely didn’t understand what they were trying to achieve by going to all this trouble.
’It’s the middle of nowhere. If they wanted to rob me, they wouldn’t need to put in so much effort, right?’
Seeing the fearless expression on Tang Mo’s face, the men exchanged a look.
One of them spoke up.
"You don’t understand the rules in Huaxi City, do you? In Huaxi City, harming a child under the age of seven is a felony! We’ve already recorded everything. As soon as we report this to the Alliance center, you’re finished."
"And then?"
Honestly, Tang Mo still didn’t quite understand how she was "finished."
"You’re heading to Donglin City, right? The only remaining path to Donglin City goes through Huaxi City. Once the Huaxi Alliance learns what you’ve done, you’ll never be able to enter Huaxi City."
Hearing this, Tang Mo was starting to get it. ’So if I don’t handle this properly, I’ll have to turn back the way I came, right?’
"Not only that, the Huaxi Alliance will also post your photo at the mission center. From then on, you’ll face an endless series of manhunts."
After speaking, the man looked smugly at Tang Mo, expecting to see an expression of terror on her face.
"I see."
What none of them expected was that not only was the woman before them not afraid, she actually gave a satisfied nod.
’Is she insane?’