"Don’t look back! Keep your eyes on the road!"

"Grip the steering wheel! Don’t let your hands tremble! Don’t crash!"

"Calm down. Trust me. We can get out of here!"

Lin Feng kept shouting encouragement. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to drive, but after the Mother Empress appeared, the scattered Red-Armored Beetle Swarm behind them went into a frenzy, charging the RV at top speed.

This forced him to lean out, raise his pistol, and fire continuously at the swarm of thousands upon thousands of Red-Armored Beetles behind them.

He had to slow them down and put some distance between them and the RV.

Luckily, these creatures were much slower than the Black Spine Zergs, moving at only twenty to thirty miles per hour. Once the RV hit eighty, it quickly left them behind.

But Lin Feng didn’t let his guard down. Who knew when a few Black Spine Zergs might suddenly dart out and flip the RV.

He had to remain extremely vigilant, constantly watching their surroundings. Just as Qin Hu had said, they wouldn’t be safe until they were more than thirty kilometers away from the Mother Empress.

Fortunately, this RV was a high-spec model from a premium brand like Benz, and its control system was excellent.

Coupled with the previous owner’s modifications, the vehicle remained exceptionally stable even at a hundred miles per hour, with no violent shuddering.

The roar of the RV’s engine droned on.

Yet at this moment, it was the most reassuring sound in the world.

With Lin Feng’s encouragement and reassurance, Chen Yanyan wiped away the tears and snot born from her terror and gradually composed herself.

The two stinging slaps to her face had also shocked her numb, stiff limbs back to life. Fueled by a massive surge of adrenaline and the warm current from her recent Upgrade, a steady stream of Power flowed through her.

Only then did she overcome her fear and start this mad, apocalyptic drive.

After a tense but ultimately safe drive away from the Swarm, the two finally dared to catch their breath.

Lin Feng pulled back in from the window and stared into the rearview mirror.

"Slow down a little. Maintain seventy or eighty miles per hour. They can’t catch us now. Just don’t crash."

"At the next intersection, there’s a highway on-ramp. We’re getting on it."

Chen Yanyan nodded, slowly easing her foot off the gas pedal she had floored, and reduced their speed.

At that moment, Lin Feng’s own level 9 Upgrade completed. His Attributes hadn’t changed much:

「Lin Feng, lv9/9」

「Life Value 50, Physique 45, Spirit 50」

「Over-level Ability: Hawkeye lv11, Divine Arm lv11」

「Equipment: Divine-level Pistol lv9/9 (Upgrading)」

Other than his Life Value and Physique increasing by five points each, Lin Feng’s Spiritual Attribute had surged this time, jumping a full nine points to reach 50.

The mental trauma from seeing the Zerg Race Mother Empress was swept away, and the weight on his heart lifted.

The result of his earlier Identification flashed before his eyes:

「Mother Empress, lv32/39」

「Life Value 12k, Physique 2.1k, Spirit 2.5k」

「High Tier unit of the Zerg Race. Breeder and commander of Low Tier Zergs. Possesses extremely high Life Value and Spiritual Value. A frontline base for the Zerg Race. Its Defense Power is immense, but its movement speed is extremely slow.」

Lin Feng’s jaw dropped at these incredible stats.

’A Life Value of twelve thousand, combined with immense Defense Power... even a high-yield missile couldn’t finish it off, could it!?’

Unless humanity deployed its ultimate weapon—a Nuclear Bomb—Lin Feng couldn’t imagine any other way to kill such a world-ending, gargantuan beast.

Furthermore, the file from the Federation Research Institute stated that the real reason the Zerg Race Mother Empress was so difficult to kill was that it only emerged from underground to launch an attack. It would surface, release massive Low-tier Zerg Swarms, and command their assault.

The rest of the time, it either hid deep underground or was surrounded by numerous flying units that served as sentries. Any human aircraft or missile targeting would be detected in advance by these flying Zergs.

That was why the Mother Empress was so difficult to kill.

Not only was it tough as nails, but it also had a "god’s-eye view" of the battlefield, allowing it to understand the overall situation and command Low Tier units to absorb Damage for it.

Humanity’s ranged attacks couldn’t breach its Defense, and ground forces couldn’t hold back the tide of the Swarm. This was why they were being pushed back, unable to reclaim the lost coastal territories.

Lin Feng took a deep breath. He and Chen Yanyan had only one thought in their minds: ’Run!’

’The farther, the better!’

After another ten-plus kilometers, they soon reached the spot where the other vehicle had been parked.

Qin Hu had already led Zhang Xuan and a few others out of the residential area. However, many people from the school bus behind them still wanted to scavenge for more supplies. The driver and the remaining survivors on the bus were at the entrance, calling for them to assemble so they could leave.

This spot was less than twenty kilometers from the South District where the Mother Empress had appeared. It was well within the Black Spine Swarm’s attack range and not safe at all.

Lin Feng didn’t hesitate for a second. He told Chen Yanyan to keep driving, just to slow down slightly. As they drove past, he opened his window and yelled:

"Run! Get on the highway!"

With that, their vehicle kicked up a cloud of dust and sped off to the west.

Seeing Lin Feng and his companion fleeing in such a panic, Qin Hu’s expression darkened. He was reminded of a piercing shriek he’d faintly heard moments ago while scavenging inside...

Due to the distance and the buildings in the way, Qin Hu hadn’t been able to make it out clearly.

But his cautious instincts told him not to linger. He urged the others to return so they could leave ahead of schedule.

That was how he’d run into Lin Feng and his companion in their new RV. And when he heard Lin Feng yell "Run!", he finally placed the shriek. He’d heard it once before, on the battlefield.

Qin Hu’s expression shifted from grim to worried, and finally, to sheer terror.

"Go! Get in the car! We can’t wait any longer!"

With that, Qin Hu jumped into the passenger seat, urging the driver, Zhang Xuan, to start the engine and go.

Though confused, Zhang Xuan obeyed Qin Hu’s order. He floored the gas and pulled out, asking as they drove,

"What’s going on...?"

Qin Hu took a deep breath. Instead of answering directly, he asked a question of his own.

"In Hai City’s South District, did you see a massive gathering of Worker Zergs? You know, the bugs with the red Back Armor, all piled up together?"

Zhang Xuan glanced at the two women in the back seat. The three of them exchanged a look and nodded in unison.

"Yes. On the main plaza of Hai City University’s campus."

That cleared up Qin Hu’s confusion. "I see," he said, a hint of grim understanding in his voice.

"It’s just as I feared. We’re lucky we left when we did. If we’d been even a moment slower getting out of the city, we would have been buried in a sea of Zergs!"

Zhang Xuan was even more baffled, as were the two women in the back.

"Just focus on driving! Don’t crash! Follow this road all the way to the end. The main convoy has probably already evacuated the Suburban Area. We need to catch up to them!"

Qin Hu stared into the rearview mirror, his heart still pounding with fear as his thoughts drifted back to the day before.

"Wherever you see Worker Zergs gathered like that, it means they’re digging tunnels underground."

"That piercing shriek from a moment ago... did you guys hear it?"

"That was the cry of a colossal Zerg. We call it a Land Broodmother. It’s like an aircraft carrier, capable of deploying massive numbers of Soldier Zergs."

"And that’s when it happened. The moment the Land Broodmother shrieked, countless Black Spine Zergs charged us."

"The entire line collapsed. We lost more than half our people. We had been so ambitious, planning to launch a counter-offensive to retake Hai City. Instead, we were forced on the defensive, doing what little we could to slow the Alien Zerg Swarm’s relentless advance inward..."

After he finished, Qin Hu fell into a long silence. The car became deathly still.

Finally, Liu Yueqi looked out the window and asked quietly,

"Commander Qin... how many times have you Upgraded?"

Seeing only the school bus behind them and no sign of a pursuing Swarm, Qin Hu let out a long breath.

"I’ve killed several Soldier Zergs. According to the researchers who were with our unit, I’ve surpassed nine upgrades and reached the Tier One Awakening Early Stage."

"The Superpower I’ve Awakened is a common one—a massive boost to my Physique. They call it Berserker."

"It lets me drastically increase my Physique for a short period. I used it earlier when I leaned out to take that shot. That’s how I was able to keep my body steady and badly wound that Soldier Zerg."

Perhaps it was the relief of having survived, but the normally taciturn Qin Hu suddenly became talkative, as if pouring out his story was the only way to relieve the churning fear in his heart.

He was the only one here who had witnessed it: a sky black with Black Spine Zergs, their fearless, suicidal charge, and the horrific sight of the human front line being annihilated, with fewer than one in ten surviving.

The other three in the car swallowed nervously. None of them had realized they had just been mere hundreds of meters and a few hours away from death.

"Come on. We’re lucky that guy turned back and saw what was happening in the city. Otherwise, by the time we figured it out, it would’ve been too late to escape."

Qin Hu watched the RV speeding ahead of them. It wasn’t going that fast, and Zhang Xuan’s sedan quickly caught up. They followed it onto the highway, heading west.

On the school bus trailing behind, of the twenty-some survivors, a third were now gone, leaving only about ten people, including the driver.

The others, greedy for a few more supplies, had been left behind in the residential complex to face their doom.

The thrilling escape continued for over half an hour.

When they saw the distant highway choked with traffic and soldiers with guns trying to maintain order, the scene was a cacophony of chaos...

Lin Feng finally let out a long sigh of relief.

After a frantic forty-kilometer dash, putting them nearly a hundred kilometers from Hai City, they finally caught up with the main exodus.

’We’re out of danger for now!’

Just then, a notification caught Lin Feng’s attention. He glanced down at the gleaming black pistol in his hand:

「Tier Jumping Upgrade complete!」

「Blast Gun lv10/19, Red Quality」