Jianxiong scratched his head, seeing the situation, it seemed they wouldn’t need to stop the car after all. Ling Ye, sitting on his mother Su Niang’s lap, kept his head down; hearing the people in the car suggesting to throw him out or drive into a crowd of zombies made him truly afraid.
Su Niang was patting his back, comforting him over and over with her sighs of helplessness.
Their position allowed them to see the very front of the convoy. Some Evolution Species on the road were quickly taken down by soldiers on top of the military vehicles beside them with their guns raised.
Rong Bai’s vehicle slowed down as it approached them. He rolled down the window, looked around, and upon seeing Lu Chen sitting in the trunk, immediately said, "This car’s modifications aren’t bad at all."
Lu Chen gave him a glance, silently turned away, and couldn’t be bothered with him.
Knowing that he was a man of few words, Rong Bai didn’t mind it either.
Besides the occasional few cars blocking the road, they had an unobstructed drive without many zombies in sight.
It was not until noon when a huge meteorite cutting across the road brought the convoy to a halt.
Su Mo and Lu Chen got out of their vehicle and walked forward.
This meteorite was towering and mountain-like, its pitch-black surface pitted and wedged across the road, making it impossible for their vehicles to pass.
"It’s huge," she murmured, looking up.
"This is the fastest route to B City from here," Rong Bai joined the two without notice, his face growing serious.
"What about other roads?" Lu Chen asked.
"If we get off the highway, we’ll have to go into the city," Rong Bai said in a grave tone. They all understood the greater dangers of the city, especially given the large number of people in their convoy.
"We’ll camp here tonight," Lu Chen declared coldly, "Come to my tent in the evening."
Rong Bai nodded, relaying the message. Rerouting so close to noon would be dangerous by evening; indeed, it wasn’t a good idea.
Upon receiving the order to rest in place, many people just sat down where they were, outside, eating their provisions.
A soldier came over from a vehicle, "Report, Admiral Lu, Admiral Rong is asking if you would join him for lunch?"
Su Mo glanced at the man who barely few steps away returned to his military vehicle and was at a loss for words.
"No," Lu Chen refused flatly.
Anticipating they would have to spend the night on the road, Jianxiong and Li Qian set up tents.
As for meals, Su Mo thought of something. She went into the tent, took out the rice cooker, and prepared to make some rice balls.
With the tent as cover, there was no need for restraint; the soldiers outside were fully aware of who was inside and dared not carelessly let their gaze wander, each keeping to themselves.
"Let’s make rice balls for lunch, and put some sugar inside," Su Mo suggested, eager to try.
Lu Chen, sitting beside her, looked at her tenderly, "As you wish."
The tent was small, so Jianxiong and the others, knowing that Su Mo was cooking inside, didn’t come in; instead, they sat waiting hungrily in their own tents for the meal.
The small and plump rice cooker was in use as Su Mo washed the rice. After pouring the rinse water into a bowl and washing her hands to ensure no grains had escaped, she had Lu Chen dispose of the water outside.
Once the rice was done, she opened the rice cooker, and the scent of cooked rice filled the tent.
She took out a packet of sugar, spread a layer of rice at the bottom of the bowl, sprinkled a layer of sugar on it, then covered it with more rice and pressed it down with a rice spoon, creating a simple rice ball.
What she didn’t expect was that the system panel updated before her eyes.
[Name]: Handmade Rice Ball
[Used Materials]: Sugar, Rice
[Skill Level]: 50% (Efficiency Multiplier Rice Cooker bonus 20%)
[Flavor Score]: 5 (10 is the full score, the higher the score, the more the bonus points)
[Status Bonus]: Shape Simulation (Duration: 10 minutes)
"What is this now..." Su Mo was stunned again. She withdrew the panel and her gaze met the unremarkable rice bun she had casually shaped.
"The cheaper the food, the more incomprehensible the bonuses." She also sold recipes in her store, but she had never seen this kind of status before.
"Did it give a status?" Lu Chen took her rice bun and asked.
"Yes, Shape Simulation," Su Mo nodded. She now dared not offer it lightly to Jianxiong and the others. What if they transformed into someone else?
Seeing her troubled expression, Lu Chen directly took a bite of the rice bun from the bowl.
Curiosity piqued, Su Mo rubbed her hands together and asked, "Do you feel anything?"
With the precedent of Spiderman, Lu Chen had some idea about how to control these skills. He looked at Su Mo’s face and willed a change.
In Su Mo’s eyes, the tall figure of Lu Chen, at 1.9 meters, seated within the tent, instantly turned into... another her!
The key issue was that the cold expression did not match her cute little face at all.
As she kept staring at him, Lu Chen furrowed his brows, looked down at himself, and saw no changes.
"In my eyes... you’ve become me," she said softly.
Lu Chen realized and remarked, "It’s a good thing, controlled by thoughts."
"Let me taste," Su Mo said, biting into the rice bun from his hand. After swallowing a few bites, she looked at Lu Chen’s face and started to imagine his appearance.
"How is it, how is it, is there any change?" Her eyes twinkled with anticipation as she looked at Lu Chen.
The man’s frown deepened. He placed his palm directly on the face that looked identical to his own yet was making a cute expression: "Change back."
"No, I want to deliver these rice buns to them," Su Mo wriggled out of his grip, planning to make a few more to deliver to the others.
Lu Chen could hardly imagine his face having so many ’rich and varied’ expressions. He dropped the disguise and pinned her down: "Change back."
"Then kiss me," Su Mo boldly uttered, unabashedly using his looks to speak.
"You think I wouldn’t dare?" Lu Chen stared at his own face for a moment, suddenly transformed into Su Mo’s appearance, and his lips began to descend.
Su Mo quickly reacted, her palm blocking those thin lips, and she changed back: "Wrong, wrong, I don’t want to kiss myself."
Lu Chen didn’t let her off, removing the disguise and planted a kiss on her little mouth before letting her go.
With a pout, Su Mo got up and deftly shaped ten more rice buns, placed them on two plates, covered them with the plates, and then walked out.
The Shape Simulation only lasted ten minutes, so she specifically told them to wait ten minutes after eating before coming out, and not to transform at will.
As for Su Niang, both she and Ling Ye were regular people, so Su Mo gave them the rice buns directly without any explanations.
Changsheng, on the other hand, directly hid in Jianxiong and the others’ tent to eat the rice bun. The three of them were making a ruckus inside, and it was unclear what they were up to.
Su Mo returned to her own tent. Using the remaining rice, she shaped a few more buns and shared them with Lu Chen, storing the extra ones in the System Bag.
Just as she finished tidying up the tent and was about to take a nap, Jianxiong ran over from the tent next door.