When Chen Ye saw those two lines of glowing characters, he also understood the meaning behind Chu Che leaving these messages.

"Persevere! If you persevere, you'll gain unexpected rewards!"

This sentence was likely referring to the supplies hidden within the leaf litter layer.

These supplies were abundant, including food, clothing, and daily necessities.

Right now, the survivor members were frantically searching through the leaf litter layer as if they'd gone mad.

So far, the supplies had already piled up into a small mountain beside them.

Every survivor was grinning so widely their eyes and noses seemed to disappear from their faces.

As for the convoy's earlier casualties, they had long forgotten about that.

"After persevering through this round, a miracle will occur!"

This second sentence likely referred to the convoy's rendezvous.

The reason for phrasing it this way was probably because he had just heard the news and didn't have time for details, or perhaps the information he received wasn't very detailed either.

That guy was always so mysterious.

The convoy's survivors were still rummaging through the leaf litter layer, practically turning the entire layer inside out.

"Mr. Chen, Sister Lina, I found this..."

Suddenly someone shouted loudly, holding up a piece of clothing.

Chen Ye and Xu Lina hurried over.

"This is... that Brother Dao's clothes from before!!!"

Although Chen Ye didn't recognize the owner of these tattered clothes, Xu Lina identified them at a glance.

After all, she had spent enough time interacting with the other survivors.

"It's Brother Dao's clothes, these are definitely Brother Dao's clothes..."

"What about the others?"

Xu Lina then asked.

"Haven't seen them!"

The people around shook their heads one after another.

Chen Ye looked at the supplies these people had found in their hands, along with that piece of clothing.

A suspicion began forming in his mind.

The items in this leaf litter layer were most likely left behind by people who had come here previously.

Or perhaps...

They were left behind after those Door-Opening Anomalies died.

Maybe those Door-Opening Anomalies were originally human...

This was interesting.

Back in Rong City, those Crawlers were also transformed from humans.

Later in Fog City, those Fog Slaves were also transformed humans.

And now these Door-Opening Anomalies...

Better not think too deeply about it. The more you thought, the more chilling it felt.

Just at that moment, Chen Ye's headlights flickered slightly.

Before Chen Ye could return to the vehicle to check what was happening, the headlights completely went out.

The surroundings instantly plunged into darkness.

Chen Ye slightly frowned.

Was it out of power?

That didn't seem right.

He remembered checking earlier that there were still four or five kilowatt-hours of electricity left.

How could the power run out so quickly?

This wasn't scientific.

Several flashlights soon lit up around them.

Chen Ye returned to the vehicle to check and indeed found it displayed insufficient power.

Chen Ye instantly recalled the reactions of those Door-Opening Anomalies and the Festering Figure when the lights were accidentally turned on earlier—they clearly resisted the light intensely.

Although the lights didn't have lethal effects on them, they did weaken their combat effectiveness.

Could this be the reason?

"Mr. Chen..."

Xu Lina appeared outside the vehicle at some unknown time.

"It's fine, just out of power!"

Xu Lina made an "oh" sound and didn't ask further.

"Have people clear the fallen leaves around here and light a bonfire!"

"Also arrange for breakfast!"

"And have people repair the shelter. Drive your vehicles inside too."

"Time is tight, tasks are heavy. You need to hurry!"

"Also, take this blade for temporary use!"

"This is also a Wonder. Although you can't use its abilities, it should work fine as a machete."

What Chen Ye took out was the long blade that Ding Shen had previously given him for safekeeping, asking Chen Ye to find it a suitable owner later.

Chen Ye thought, what bullshit safekeeping.

Once given to me, this thing is mine.

Even if I can't use it, it's still a Wonder, isn't it?

Plus, I have the System.

It's just that I've been too busy recently and haven't had time to deal with this guy.

And that severed arm hidden in the carriage compartment.

That was something dropped by the "Tangled Crowd."

Haven't even appraised it yet.

But this blade seemed incompatible with Chen Ye.

Up to now, Chen Ye hadn't gained this large blade's recognition.

He didn't even know this blade's name.

They say Wonders have spirits.

This blade's spirit was simply stubborn as hell.

Although he couldn't use this blade's supernatural power, the blade itself was quite sharp—though not comparable to Hatred.

But it should be sufficient for chopping trees or similar tasks as a machete.

You should know, although Ding Shen knew he wasn't completely compatible with this blade, he still treated it like a treasure, enshrining it respectfully.

Even after suffering such severe injuries in Oasis, he still remembered this blade.

With Xue Nan and Chu Che gone, Chen Ye began assigning tasks to Xu Lina.

Such a stunning beauty—others would hurry to cherish her in their palms, wishing to pamper her with good food and drink every day, treating her like a caged canary.

But in Chen Ye's eyes, Xu Lina was just labor. Whatever was troublesome or not, he threw it all to Xu Lina.

Assigning tasks to Xu Lina, he showed no courtesy whatsoever.

Xu Lina even suspected Chen Ye didn't see her as a girl.

Even though Xu Lina was already a superhuman, Chen Ye's attitude toward her hadn't changed one bit because of that—exactly the same as before.

Xu Lina felt somewhat uncomfortable inside. She opened her mouth, but ultimately said with forced firmness, "Mr. Chen, rest assured. Leave the following matters to me!"

Wait, where's your backbone?

Where's your toughness?

You're Xu Lina!

You're a superhuman now!

You're so beautiful, how can you just be Chen Ye's maid?

After dismissing Xu Lina, telling her not to disturb him except for meals, Chen Ye began calculating the resources currently at hand.

Previously driving away the second wave of the Anomaly Tide had also replenished some Slaughter Points.

How to quickly convert the Slaughter Points in hand into combat strength to resist the third wave of the Anomaly Tide—this was a very serious question.

The Monster Pickup Truck wasn't completely undamaged during the earlier resistance against the Anomaly Tide.

This also needed repairs.

Moreover, could they withstand the third wave of the Anomaly Tide?

How should the Monster Pickup Truck be strengthened and upgraded next to achieve maximum benefit?