Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

The light had dwindled considerably after passing through the rusty-colored clouds, appearing bleak and weak.

The last rays of light shone into the bank building, silently signaling to the survivors that morning had arrived.

The plan was finalized after discussions last night.

The goal of the first phase is quite clear: to open up the elevated road from the shopping mall to the bank, where the survivors from both sides will meet at the Zuoan Interchange, which is closer to the bank.

The bank is several hundred meters from the nearest elevated highway ramp. This section of road is quite flooded and also harbors many monsters that need to be dealt with.

The situation is better at the shopping mall; it's not only closer to the exit ramp, but also faces fewer threats from the surrounding area. More importantly, they have a relatively large manpower pool.

If the two survivor teams can successfully meet at the Left Bank Interchange, the plan will move to the second phase, which is to open a route to the hospital.

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In the bank building, Xia Zhaozhao pushed open the door to what was originally a storage room and found that Sasha was indeed there.

She was squatting on the ground, poking at the cage at her feet with great interest. Inside the cage was the first deformed fetus that had been taken in, half-dead.

Because Bai Shuyuan had never had the opportunity to conduct research on it before, this poor deformed fetus was almost forgotten in a corner.

To prevent it from completely decomposing due to lack of biomass, the survivors at the outpost would occasionally throw some kitchen waste at it.

The deformed fetus just writhed weakly, unresponsive to Sasha's prodding.

"Sasha, it's time to go, let's get going!" Xia Zhaozhao greeted Sasha excitedly.

Upon hearing this, Sasha happily stood up, left the unfortunate deformed child, and picked up the weapon assigned to her from the side—a roughly made smoothbore shotgun.

In the past few days, under the guidance of veterans and with the technical support of Bai Shuyuan, the bank outpost has produced a small number of barely usable weapons.

These simple shotguns were among the first weapons to be mass-produced, as their structure was indeed quite simple and crude, and Xia Zhaozhao could fully understand them after just a few glances.

The two barrels are tightly bound together with duct tape, and the readily available wooden planks serve as the base, together forming the gun body.

Several 18650 batteries were strapped to the bottom of the wooden board to provide ignition power, a lever switch served as the trigger, and an electric fuse replaced the primer.

The ammunition consisted of crudely made black powder wrapped in cardboard, with the barely usable bullet hole filled with a mixture of aluminum powder, rust, and magnesium powder.

This type of incendiary bomb does not contain any projectiles, so its effective range is less than 20 meters. However, once it hits, it can firmly adhere to the surface of the aggregate and continue to burn.

If the ammunition's contents were replaced with steel balls, it might fly farther, but that wouldn't make much difference, because steel balls wouldn't be effective against this kind of monster.

The two stepped out of the small room and saw Bai Shuyuan outside.

She was carefully maintaining the NTW-14.5 rifle, which was taller than her, and it was clear how much she liked this anti-materiel rifle.

However, this powerful weapon is temporarily unusable. Given the base's current industrial capabilities, it's impossible for them to produce ammunition suitable for its firing.

She collected the used bullet casings and neatly stacked them aside.

She checked the few remaining bullets again before putting the rifle back into the huge hard-shell gun bag.

She prefers to save these munitions for emergency use.

"We won't need this for now, right? Xiaobai, you're really taking good care of it." Xia Zhaozhao looked at her actions with curiosity.

"Whether used or not, any precision instrument requires regular maintenance," Bai Shuyuan said without looking up.

Beside it, leaning against the corner of the wall, was another weapon, a simple flamethrower that had just been developed.

The high-pressure nitrogen cylinder obtained from the hospital serves as the power source, connected via a pipe to a container filled with gasoline, providing enough fuel for continuous spraying for two to three minutes.

Bai Shuyuan silently stepped forward and carried the unusually heavy device on her back. The weight did not seem to affect her.

When they arrived in the lobby on the first floor, the rest of the action team had already assembled.

Old Qian, Old Wang, and Wei Yuan were all carrying a similar, simple shotgun.

Wei Yuan's fracture had not fully healed, but he was already able to shoot skillfully with one hand, since the recoil of this simple weapon was not great.

In addition to the shotgun, Feng Yue also brought a lot of Molotov cocktails.

The veteran carried two guns on his back and had ammunition pouches hanging from his waist.

"To be honest, my legs are still shaking a bit," Old Qian said with a wry smile, checking the weapon in his hand. "But it's still much better than holding that firewood stick before."

"Remember, wait until the monster gets close before you attack, don't waste ammo," the veteran simply reminded him in a deep voice.

"Damn it, we got stuck in the subway with them last time, this time it's our turn to burn them to ashes!" Old Wang cheered himself up.

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Meanwhile, at the shopping mall.

Unlike the tense atmosphere at the bank, the shopping mall was filled with a strange, magical feeling.

"Well... we have everything we need here, except for a water shortage. We've been using it sparingly these past few days, and we can't drink the water from outside..."

With a hint of awe on his face, the square-faced man cautiously approached Xiao Lü.

Little Green looked at his quail-like appearance and was speechless. She didn't say anything, but simply gathered her magic power and waved her hand.

Suddenly, the temperature inside the stronghold plummeted.

To the astonishment of Fang Lian and the others, a massive, crystal-clear block of ice, taller than a person, appeared in the center of the shopping mall.

"Wow--!!!"

The underlings behind him immediately erupted in a cacophony of exclamations.

Several quick-thinking individuals immediately rushed out, bringing back various containers and tools. They carefully chiseled at the ice, their faces radiating a pilgrimage-like fervor.

Little Green was very uncomfortable with being looked at like a god. She sighed, turned her head away, and stopped looking at these guys.

"Alright, alright, the water problem is temporarily solved," she said.

"Any other questions? Have all the preparations for departure been completed?"

"Alright, alright! We're ready to go anytime!" Square-faced replied happily, and his underlings, seeing this big shot around them, were also full of fighting spirit.

The mall didn't send out all its staff; instead, Fang Lian personally led a team of about ten of the most capable-looking individuals. Xiao Shen, Jiang Fu, and others were among them.

Their weapons were a motley collection, making it seem as if they had entered the wasteland era ahead of time.

Some people carried simple shotguns brought from the bank branch, while others held simple long-handled weapons made from steel pipes, some resembling forks and others more like long spears—simple yet effective.

These long-handled weapons serve only one purpose: to keep those disgusting aggregates at a distance, preventing them from getting close.

This is the experience they gained with their blood in the early stages of the disaster.

In the group, there were two burly men who looked quite capable, wielding machetes. This was a last-ditch effort after the monsters broke through the defenses.

The bank doesn't need this kind of setup because they already have Xia Zhaozhao.

This time, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the magical girls are more inclined to refrain from interfering too much in this operation.

The shopping mall is located on higher ground, and many areas were not flooded too deeply.

A dozen or so people walked through the mall's lobby and walked out of the mall in a grand procession, reaching the vicinity of the elevated road.

Here, there are two bread trucks with rather wild designs.

The group had carefully made their way onto the shopping mall's elevated walkway and found the two bread carts.

The vehicle is in fairly good condition. After all, these kinds of vans used for transporting goods consist of a sheet of metal, an engine, and a chassis; there's nothing that breaks down easily.

As for the unusual noises and vibrations, they're not a big deal at all.

What's truly striking is their appearance.

The vehicle was haphazardly covered with layers of sheet metal, and in some places even wire mesh removed from shopping carts.

The car windows were also sealed off with this strange barbed wire, leaving only a few firing ports.

The whole car exudes a strong sense of contemplation.

"I was thinking... installing a ram in front could send those things flying."

"I figured adding some sheet metal around the edges would make it even stronger."

"I think adding a spotlight to the roof would make it look even more authentic."

Little Green's lips twitched slightly as she looked at the two strange bread carts that seemed to have prematurely entered the wasteland era.

The art style of this world seems to be drifting further and further away from magical girls.

No, it didn't seem that close to begin with, did it?

"This is... something you modified?" she asked incredulously.

"Hehe," the square-faced man patted the car body smugly, making a "bang bang" sound.

"After those two guys died, I figured I had nothing better to do, so I just let these guys mess around with them a bit. They might not look good, but they're pretty sturdy!"

"Yeah, yeah!" a younger colleague excitedly added, "We even added an air horn to it; we took it off the truck!"

As he spoke, he was about to open the car door and press the horn.

"Stop right there!" Little Green quickly stopped him. "I don't want to attract all the monsters around here."

Everyone got into the car.

Little Green originally wanted to fly through the air and follow along, but she couldn't refuse the hospitality and was invited to sit in the passenger seat of the first car.

The vehicle started, emitting the distinctive roar of a diesel engine. The roar caused the metal panels on the vehicle to vibrate, completely masking the original abnormal noises from the bread truck.

"Hold on tight!" The square-faced man took on the role of driver, flooring the accelerator, and the thing slowly accelerated, surging forward like a turtle that had broken free of its reins.

Little Green, who was getting a taste of the post-apocalyptic culture, fastened her seatbelt, rubbed her forehead, and leaned back in her seat, feeling a bit tired.

Although the two magical girls were nothing like the normal magical girls she had imagined, Little Green missed them a little at this moment.