」Yu Ren stepped on the bespectacled man's head and ground it hard, “I’m hungry, I want to eat. Whoever has food is my dad. Whoever dares to stop me from eating is my enemy.”
“Stop pretending to be a saint,” a guy next to him chimed in with another kick, “Want to be a good person? Why don't you go feed the zombies, they’ll definitely thank you.”
“Let’s go!”
Yu Ren stepped over the bespectacled man’s body and strode towards the stairs.
“To the fifth floor. Let’s meet that female warrior.”
……
Room 505.
Zhu Jinxiao sat cross-legged on the carpet, holding a calendar she'd found in a drawer.
She was counting the days.
Her brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
“Tsk.”
Zhu Jinxiao tossed the calendar aside and ruffled her hair in annoyance.
Counting the time, the “relative” that visited once a month should be arriving in the next couple of days.
If the girl opposite hadn't reminded her, she'd have been too busy looking for food and collecting Heartbeat Value to remember this.
If she didn't have sanitary napkins……
This meant she might have to “fight a bloody battle” in the zombie horde.
The thought was too much to bear.
Besides, the smell of blood would attract zombies, practically unfurling a “buffet open” sign for herself.
“System,” Zhu Jinxiao called out in her mind, “Does the mall sell sanitary napkins?”
【Host, yes.】The System’s voice sounded a bit gleeful, 【Sanitary napkins belong to the “daily necessities area” and are tied to the space. You haven't unlocked the space yet, so you can't access it.】
Zhu Jinxiao: “……”
She remembered the System saying that the space would unlock when the Heartbeat Value exceeded 1000 points.
Zhu Jinxiao glanced at her glaringly red balance of “-307”.
She felt like her life flashed before her eyes.
It seemed relying on the System was out.
Zhu Jinxiao stood up and walked to the balcony, peeking out through a gap in the curtains.
There was a supermarket not far downstairs.
Although it was definitely a zombie gathering place, it also meant it had the supplies she desperately needed.
Sanitary napkins, toilet paper, shampoo, body wash……
These items might not be fought over in the early stages of the apocalypse, but for girls, they were essential.
She had to go.
Compared to being bitten to death by zombies, she couldn't accept dying of embarrassment because she lacked sanitary napkins.
Zhu Jinxiao pondered.
Her current combat strength was enough to deal with three to five zombies, but if she had to storm the supermarket and retreat with supplies, the difficulty would be considerable.
And……
She glanced back at the two men in the room.
Jiang Che leaned against the headboard with his eyes closed. His face was still pale, but he seemed much better.
Shen Si sat in a chair, meticulously trimming the fur on a teddy bear's ears with small scissors.
One injured patient, one giant baby.
Taking either of them would be a burden.
Leave them in the dorm?
What if she left, and they got ambushed?
Just as Zhu Jinxiao was hesitating, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded in her mind.
【Ding! High-risk warning detected!】
【Four armed adult males detected approaching rapidly from the fourth floor, targeting Room 505.】
【System assessment: Ill intentions. Malice level off the charts. Host is advised to prepare defenses.】
Zhu Jinxiao froze for a moment.
Then, she smiled.
“They came quite quickly.”
There were quite a few male survivors in this building.
As a lone female occupying room 505, it was only natural she'd be targeted.
She just hadn't expected their moral compass to collapse so quickly.
Only the fourth day.
And they were already itching to prey on their own kind?
“Snap.”
Zhu Jinxiao bent down and pulled out a slightly bent rebar from under the bed.
Jiang Che, who had been resting with his eyes closed, heard the movement and looked up, keenly sensing the murderous aura suddenly emanating from Zhu Jinxiao.
“What’s wrong?”
Shen Si on the floor stopped his actions as well, holding the teddy bear and looking up at Zhu Jinxiao with a blank, innocent expression, his big round eyes blinking, “Sister? Are you going out?”
Zhu Jinxiao walked to the door, leaning against it, listening to the increasingly close footsteps in the hallway outside.
Chaotic, heavy.
Accompanied by undisguised vulgar curses.
“If this chick dares to resist, I’ll break her legs first.”
“Heh heh, just don't hit her face.”
The voices came through the door, crystal clear.
Jiang Che's expression darkened, his hand subconsciously reaching for the fruit knife by the bed.
Shen Si trembled in fear, shrinking into a ball and quickly scrambling to Zhu Jinxiao's legs, hugging her tightly.
“Sister… there are people outside… bad people…”
Zhu Jinxiao looked down at Shen Si, who was clinging to her like a pendant, and then at Jiang Che, who, despite his weakness, had assumed a defensive stance.
She reached out and patted Shen Si's fluffy head.
It felt nice.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Zhu Jinxiao said softly.
She looked up at the thin wooden door.
“Just a nuisance.”
Since they didn't want her to go buy sanitary napkins in peace.
Then none of them would live.Chapter 24: Only the Dead Don't Cause Trouble
The fifth-floor corridor was quiet. Yu Ren stopped.
The door of room 505 was ajar, leaving a gap the width of two fingers. The situation inside was unclear.
“Brother Ren?” the punk behind him whispered, clutching a stainless steel pipe he'd dismantled from a mop handle.
Yu Ren raised a hand, signaling for silence.
Too smooth.
The zombies downstairs had been a tough fight, but this fifth floor, despite the bodies lying here and there, was eerily quiet. This wasn't normal.
Yu Ren stared at the gap in the door. He had been in trouble before and his intuition had saved him numerous times. Behind this door, it didn't feel like a helpless lamb waiting to be slaughtered, but more like a gaping maw.
“You.” Yu Ren gestured with his chin towards the punk, “Go take a look.”
The punk’s face turned pale, and he shrank back. “Brother Ren, I…”
“Go,” Yu Ren patted the iron pipe in his palm.
The punk shivered. Compared to the unknown danger inside the door, the iron pipe in Yu Ren's hand was more terrifying. The day before yesterday, a disobedient freshman had his leg broken by this very pipe.
The punk swallowed and shuffled forward reluctantly.
Five meters. Three meters. One meter.
The punk held his breath and extended a finger, gently pushing the door open.
Closing his eyes, the punk raised the steel pipe over his head, ready to smash it down at any moment.
One second. Two seconds.
No zombies lunged out, nor did any traps trigger.
The punk opened one eye.
The dorm room was in disarray. A chair was overturned, books scattered everywhere.
A person was huddled in the corner.
Wearing a beige hoodie, the hood pulled over his head, he clutched a brown teddy bear tightly in his arms. Hearing the door open, the person trembled, squeezing himself further into the corner as if wanting to merge with the wall.
It was a guy.
The punk breathed a sigh of relief, his tense shoulders slumping.
“Brother Ren,” the punk turned back, his voice considerably louder, tinged with relief from escaping death, “No one’s here. Just a scaredy-cat.”
Yu Ren frowned and strode over.
He kicked the door open, the iron pipe slung over his shoulder, his gaze sweeping the room.
Indeed, no one was there.
Except for the trembling waste in the corner.
“Where’s the girl?” Yu Ren walked over and kicked the guy’s leg, “Hey, are you mute?”
Shen Si looked up.
His face was ashen, and his round eyes were filled with tears, looking like a frightened fawn.
“Don’t… don’t kill me…” Shen Si stammered, “I don’t have any food anymore… I really don’t…”
Yu Ren scoffed.
Useless.
This kind of person was walking rations in the apocalypse.
“Search,” Yu Ren nodded to the two college athletes behind him, “Cabinets, under the bed, don’t miss anything. The girl must be hiding somewhere.”
The two athletes immediately became excited, rummaging through the dorm with a clatter.
“Brother Ren, this cabinet is locked!” shouted the guy with the fire axe.
Yu Ren walked over, raised the iron pipe, and prepared to smash it open.
“No!” Shen Si suddenly cried out, trying to rush forward to stop him, “That’s sister’s stuff…”
“Get lost!” Yu Ren slapped him sideways.
Shen Si’s head was jerked to the side, and he fell to the ground. Clutching his face, his shoulders shook violently, clearly crying.
No one noticed that in the shadow cast by his lowered hair, there were no tears at all.
He was smiling.
A cruel, excited smile, like that of prey stepping into a trap.
With a “Bang!”
The room door suddenly slammed shut.
The light in the room instantly dimmed.
Yu Ren turned around.
Behind the door, two people had appeared at some point.
Zhu Jinxiao leaned against the door, idly twirling the rebar in her hand.
Jiang Che stood beside her, his face pale, still shirtless, gripping an unassuming fruit knife.
“Surprise.”
Zhu Jinxiao’s red lips parted, uttering a single word.
Yu Ren’s pupils contracted.
He’d been tricked.
Before he could react, the rebar in Zhu Jinxiao’s hand swung through the air, smashing directly towards Yu Ren’s temple.
Yu Ren only had time to raise his iron pipe to block.
“Clang!”
Metal clashed, sparks flew.
Yu Ren felt a violent tremor in his hand, his entire arm went numb instantly, and the iron pipe almost flew out of his grasp. This woman’s strength was ridiculously high!
Zhu Jinxiao gave him no chance to breathe.
Missing the first strike, she twisted her wrist, the rebar sliding down and smashing fiercely into the bend of Yu Ren’s knee.
“Ah!” Yu Ren screamed, falling to one knee.
Zhu Jinxiao raised her leg and kicked him in the chest.
Yu Ren flew backward like a sack of rags, knocking over a table behind him, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
At the same time.
The “coward” cowering in the corner also moved.
Shen Si released the teddy bear in his arms.
He sprang up from the ground, holding the small scissors he had been using to trim the teddy bear’s fur.
The guy with the fire axe had his back to him. Shen Si crept up behind him.
“Brother, your back is exposed.”
He whispered into the guy’s ear.
His voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of innocence.
The next second.
The scissors plunged into the guy’s lower back.
The guy’s eyes widened, and the fire axe clattered to the ground. He clutched his waist, turned back in disbelief, and saw a face smiling innocently and harmlessly.
“You…”
Shen Si pulled out the scissors, drawing a string of blood.
“So noisy,” Shen Si said with disgust, shaking the blood from his hand.
The situation reversed.
Four people, two instantly incapacitated.
The remaining guy with the dumbbell was scared stiff, holding the dumbbell and not knowing what to do.
Only the punk reacted the fastest.
He was at the door.
Closest to Zhu Jinxiao.
Extreme fear turned into rage.
“You bitch! I’ll kill you!”
The punk roared, raising the stainless steel pipe and smashing it down towards Zhu Jinxiao’s head.
If this blow landed solidly, her head would definitely split open.
Zhu Jinxiao had just kicked Yu Ren away, not yet steady on her feet.
“Careful!”
A figure blocked in front of her.
Jiang Che.
He had moved the moment the punk raised his pipe.
His brain was working at full speed.
If he didn't block, Zhu Jinxiao’s chance of injury was 80%.
If Zhu Jinxiao got injured, her combat effectiveness would decrease, and their chance of annihilation would be 95%.
If he blocked, the probability of severe injury was 60%, and the probability of death was 30%.
But he was currently a liability.
As long as he didn’t die, he could repay his debt through subsequent labor.
Exchanging a broken body for the only source of combat power.
This was a worthwhile trade.
This was Jiang Che.
Even at this moment, his mind was filled only with formulas and probabilities.
He didn’t hesitate at all, sidestepping and meeting the steel pipe with his intact right shoulder.
He didn’t close his eyes.
He wanted to clearly see the attacker’s trajectory, to buy Zhu Jinxiao time to counterattack.
However.
The expected sharp pain didn’t come. Instead, the punk flew horizontally, smashing heavily against the opposite wall, and then slid down like a puddle of mud.
That blow, after all, didn’t land.
Zhu Jinxiao retracted her leg.
She stood in front of Jiang Che, one hand in her pocket, the rebar in the other casually resting on her shoulder.
“Playing hero and saving the damsel?”
Zhu Jinxiao turned her head, looking at the somewhat dazed Jiang Che.
“Did I bring you back just to be a human shield?”
Jiang Che looked at her.
The kick just now was so fast that even he couldn’t see it clearly.
So this was the strength of a martial arts successor.
His calculation model had missed a variable – Zhu Jinxiao's absolute combat power.
“I thought you wouldn’t be able to dodge,” Jiang Che said honestly.
Zhu Jinxiao sneered, “Disappointing you, wasn't I?”
She turned around, looking at the four people lying on the ground.
Yu Ren’s leg was broken, and he was groaning on the ground.
The guy with the stab wound in his side was pale, having lost too much blood and gone into shock.
The punk was knocked unconscious.
Only the guy holding the dumbbell remained, leaning against the wall, his pants visibly wet, still clutching the dumbbell and shaking like a sieve.
“Sister is so amazing!”
Shen Si threw away the scissors and happily ran over.
There was still a drop of blood on his cheek, and coupled with his smile seeking praise, he looked particularly eerie.
“I was very well-behaved just now too, I helped sister deal with a bad guy.” Shen Si moved closer to Zhu Jinxiao, pointing at the guy lying in a pool of blood.
Zhu Jinxiao nodded, “Not bad, your acting is passable.”
She walked to Yu Ren.
Yu Ren was sweating profusely from the pain, “Don’t… don’t kill me… I didn’t recognize your greatness… I’ll scram… I’ll scram right now…”
“Scram?”
“Weren’t you so loud just now?”
“I was wrong, I was wrong, fairy hero!” Yu Ren shook his head desperately, “From now on, you’re the boss! Everyone in this building will listen to you!”
“Not interested.”
Zhu Jinxiao stood up.
She looked out the window.
The sky was darkening, the sunset was as red as blood.
There were still over forty males in this building.
If she let these few people go back, more people would know tonight that room 505 had a strong woman.
And then, more than just four people would come.
Trouble.
He was truly big trouble.
Zhu Jinxiao sighed.
“System,” she called out in her mind.
【Here, host! Are you annoyed by these scumbags? This system supports recycling trash! Although their appearance doesn't meet the standard for food exchange, it can be converted into fertilizer to nourish the space land, preparing for future farming!】
Farming?
Zhu Jinxiao raised an eyebrow.
That was a good use.
“Shen Si,” Zhu Jinxiao said.
“Here!” Shen Si immediately stood at attention.
“Lock the door.”
“Tonight, no one is leaving.”
Yu Ren’s eyes widened in horror.
“You… what do you want to do? Killing is against the law! This is a rule of law society…”
“Rule of law society?”
Zhu Jinxiao smiled.
She raised the rebar, aiming it at Yu Ren’s head.
“It’s the apocalypse now, you know that very well, don’t you?”
“Only the dead don’t cause trouble.”
The rebar fell.
The scene froze on Yu Ren’s terrified, wide-open mouth and Zhu Jinxiao’s expressionless face.Chapter 25: The Correct Way to Open a “Holy Father” in the Apocalypse
The rebar descended with a whistling sound, only a few centimeters from Yu Ren’s forehead.
“Stop.”
A hand intervened, grabbing the middle section of the rebar.
Zhu Jinxiao’s wrist paused, and the rebar stopped steadily in mid-air.
She turned her head, looking at Jiang Che, who had stopped her.
Zhu Jinxiao didn’t move, just pulled the rebar back slightly.
It didn’t budge.
This patient had quite some strength.
“Let go,” Zhu Jinxiao said.
“Cannot kill,” Jiang Che replied crisply.
Zhu Jinxiao raised an eyebrow.
She scrutinized Jiang Che from head to toe, as if looking at some novel creature.
After spending a hefty sum of 500 points to save him, was he a holy father?
At a time like this. With zombies surrounding the city and morality collapsing, this person still wanted to talk about laws and forgiveness?
The flicker of admiration Zhu Jinxiao had just felt instantly went down the drain; she hated these misguided do-gooders the most. In the apocalypse, holy fathers and mothers died the fastest and would drag their teammates down with them.
“Move aside,” Zhu Jinxiao said unhappily, “Don’t force me to beat you up too.”
Jiang Che didn’t move.
“Sister.”
Shen Si sidled over.
He was still holding the bloody small scissors, gesturing with them at the teddy bear’s head before looking up at Jiang Che with innocent eyes.
“Brother, what you’re doing is very dangerous.”
Shen Si took a step forward, positioning himself at Zhu Jinxiao’s side, creating a slight separation from Jiang Che.
“Rule number one of the apocalypse, kill the holy father first.”
Shen Si turned to look at Zhu Jinxiao, the drop of blood still on his cheek unfaded, paired with his soft smile, sending chills down one’s spine.
“Sister, hurry up and let me take care of him with one stab.”
This way, all of Sister’s future food would be his.
As he spoke, he raised the scissors to stab Jiang Che’s neck.
【Detected a strong “exclusivity” emotion in target Shen Si, attempting to gain attention through killing, Heartbeat Value +15.】
【Detected “speechless” emotion in target Jiang Che, Heartbeat Value +5.】
“You shut up too.” Zhu Jinxiao kicked Shen Si’s calf.
Shen Si yelped and leaned against Zhu Jinxiao, only to be pushed away by her in disgust.
Zhu Jinxiao looked back at Jiang Che, her meaning obvious: Give me a reasonable explanation.
“His name is Yu Ren,” Jiang Che began, speaking at a calm pace, “Third-year student in the sports department, used to hang around outside school, gathered a group of people, and is currently the local potentate of this building.”
Zhu Jinxiao scoffed, “So? Should I be afraid of him?”
“Killing him is simple.” Jiang Che pointed at Yu Ren, who was trembling like a sieve on the ground, “But what happens afterwards?”
“There are still over forty males in this building. They fear Yu Ren now because he is ruthless.