Chapter 104

No. 14 Middle School was in Guangxiu District, about an hour to an hour and twenty minutes away from the High-Tech New District by bicycle.

It was quite a distance, and biking there was tiring.

But Old Huang and his wife had always made sure Little Huang exercised in every way, not just focusing on his grades. So they never drove him to and from school, and had always made him ride his bicycle himself.

Little Huang said goodbye to his classmates and left the school. Relying on his “danger perception” ability, he avoided the Second-Generation Zombies along the way, sticking to roads with either no zombies or only Primitive Zombies.

From time to time, he heard people opening windows in nearby buildings and shouting for help. He didn’t stop.

People had to save themselves, or rely on the people closest to them, or rely on the country.

Strangers simply no longer had the strength to help.

Several times, he sensed intense danger, as if he were being watched.

He didn’t know that a Third-Generation Zombie had spotted him from afar.

There had been discussions about “zombies evolving” on the Young Residence owners’ forum, but after the disaster ended, he had stopped following the forum. He had no understanding of Third-Generation Zombies and had no idea they even existed.

When he reached a stretch of road without zombies and sensed no danger, he spotted a public phone booth by the roadside.

He stopped, fished some coins out of his schoolbag, and used the public phone to dial his mother’s cellphone number.

No one answered.

He called her work landline.

Still, no one answered.

Then he called the landline at home.

Over the past two years, many people had gotten rid of their landlines. But because of Old Huang’s job, their family had kept theirs.

He kept praying that his mother had already saved herself, been rescued, or made it home.

But the phone rang many times without anyone answering.

At last, Little Huang hung up. He didn’t even retrieve the coin that had been returned, but mounted his bicycle again and sped toward the High-Tech New District.

Under the blazing sun, the boy’s bicycle shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

High-Tech New District, Maiduo Supermarket.

By the time the fighting ended, it was already past three o’clock.

Not only had they successfully rescued Master Guo, they had also picked up Brother Dong as an extra bonus.

Because Guo Jun later joined the Young Residence community and built up an excellent and extensive network of friends there, Brother Dong’s story became a legend in the community.

Previously, most of the ordinary residents had only been focused on grabbing supplies during their two visits and had never noticed this junior manager among Maiduo’s dozen-plus employees.

This time, they finally got to meet the legendary figure.

When Brother Dong saw Jiang Cheng and the others again, he couldn’t help feeling awkward. He greeted them with an ingratiating smile.

“Long time no see. Everyone’s doing pretty well, huh? Haha... ah, haha...”

The laughter toward the end sounded rather forced.

Everyone was speechless.

Jiang Cheng said mildly, “It’s all right now. You can go home.”

Many people turned their faces away, afraid they would burst out laughing.

Brother Dong’s mouth twitched.

He had known from the first time he met this young girl that she was no pushover.

Fortunately, Brother Dong had a very thick skin. Pretending not to understand the hint, he stated his request directly.

“Going home is a little dangerous. I’d like to stay and observe the situation for a few more days before leaving. I heard from Guo Jun that he’s living in your community now and working for you. I’m pretty good at working too.”

Afraid of being rejected again and not wanting to give Jiang Cheng a chance to interrupt, he quickly laid out his terms.

“I also have a superpower. I’m incredibly powerful now.”

Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow. “What’s your superpower?”

Brother Dong replied, “I can run really fast—whoosh! I’m as fast as the wind. Zombies can’t catch me.”

“Oh, another wind-type,” Gao Yuxuan said. Then he looked at Guo Jun.

Guo Jun nodded. “It’s true. He’s extremely fast.”

After hearing Guo Jun’s confirmation, Jiang Cheng nodded as well. Brother Dong thought she had agreed to let him stay, but then she turned around and shouted, “Brother Zhou! Brother Zhou!”

Zhou Wang had pushed a ladder over and climbed up to retrieve his ebony rolling pin from the top of the shelves.

Li Jiangbing and Zhao Yi were holding the ladder steady below him.

Li Jiangbing asked in confusion, “How did it end up there?”

As Zhou Wang climbed, he explained what had happened.

Zhao Yi said, “That ability of yours isn’t suited for using this weapon. Your arms aren’t strong enough, and they can’t withstand the recoil. You’d better switch to a knife—the sharper, the better. With one whoosh, a head would go flying.”

Zhou Wang thought about it, then agreed. “You’re right.”

Li Jiangbing imagined the scene. It was straight out of a martial arts movie—so cool.

Li Jiangbing was green with envy.

That afternoon’s operation had not only rescued Guo Jun and cleared out Maiduo Supermarket, but had also allowed the superpowered individuals to test and hone their abilities.

People like Gao Yuxuan, Zhou Wang, and Wu Jiancheng had all made breakthroughs or at least significant progress that afternoon. Many had figured out more effective ways to use their powers.

It had been an extremely fruitful operation.

Only Li Jiangbing was disappointed.

Because he had a water-type superpower, he had deliberately chosen to fight in the seafood section, among the glass fish tanks.

He really could control a larger amount of water and condense larger water spheres now, but actual combat had proven that his ability was useless against zombies.

He could even condense water shields and water arrows, but water had neither offensive power nor defensive strength. The moment it collided with another solid object, it shattered.

He had also tried, like the electric- and fire-type users, to pour water into the zombies’ brains. But he soon discovered that it had no effect.

A zombie’s brain would not “die” simply because it was soaked in water. Fire and electricity were different: one cooked the brain, while the other electrocuted it, both rendering the zombie’s brain completely inactive.

In short, the day’s experiments had established that a water-type superpower was useless against zombies.

Li Jiangbing was utterly devastated.

Zhou Wang had just retrieved his rolling pin when he heard Jiang Cheng calling for him.

“Brother Zhou—”

Zhou Wang called back, “Coming! I’m over here. Hang on a second.”

He climbed down backward, thanked Zhao Yi and Li Jiangbing, and then, gripping the rolling pin, vanished with a whoosh.

Li Jiangbing: I’m tired of saying how envious I am.

When Li Jiangbing turned his head, he saw Su Yu sitting on the floor with her back against a shelf. Her face was deathly pale, and there was still blood on it that she hadn’t wiped away. She looked nauseated, as though she might throw up at any moment.

Li Jiangbing took a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her.

“You all right?”

Su Yu took two sips to settle her stomach and waved a hand, indicating that she was fine.

She couldn’t even speak anymore. It was obvious that she had overused her superpower.

The blood on her face was clearly from a nosebleed that she had smeared across her skin.

Li Jiangbing sighed. “Take it easy. Don’t push yourself so hard.”

Su Yu took several more gulps before she could finally speak.

“It’s not easy to get an ability that can help everyone,” she said. “Besides, you served in the militia for so many days back then. You didn’t come back until the militia was disbanded, did you?”

That was why she believed Li Jiangbing would understand her.

The side effects she was suffering from were merely the result of practicing her superpower too intensely—like feeling sick after overexerting herself.

Compared with the risks Li Jiangbing had faced when he went into dangerous areas with the militia to kill zombies, this was much safer.

Li Jiangbing could indeed understand her.

He put his hands on his hips and asked, “So? How’s your protective barrier?”

A faint smile appeared on Su Yu’s pale face. She looked so weak, yet so happy.

“The radius is almost a meter now.” She was genuinely delighted. “With everyone pressed close together, eight or nine people could squeeze in—maybe even ten.”

“It held at this radius for a full seven minutes.”

Compared with yesterday, when her superpower had first awakened, her current ability was worlds apart.

She had improved tremendously.

But Li Jiangbing still thought her face looked far too pale. Besides, no one else had pushed themselves to the point of getting a nosebleed. She was the only one bleeding.

Although he understood and admired her, he still cautioned her, “Take it easy. There’s a limit to what the human body can endure.”

That was something their fitness trainer often said to clients. A trainer had to know where to draw the line. If they ran into one who didn’t, they might work a new client so hard they developed rhabdomyolysis, which could easily lead to serious trouble.

Su Yu smiled at him, then lowered her head. Li Jiangbing assumed she was too tired to talk and walked away.

Su Yu looked up at his retreating back.

Although Li Jiangbing was an extremely reliable partner in her eyes, she didn’t want to tell anyone that her protective shield was somewhat different from other superpowers.

When the shield was nearing its limit and beginning to weaken, the zombies’ attacks against it would hit her brain with tremendous force.

As far as she could tell, no one else experienced anything like that.

It was a weakness of the shield, and she didn’t want anyone to know about it.

Nearby, several people had gathered and were talking.

Someone had finally awakened a superpower during the battle just now, and the others were congratulating the new superpowered individual.

After today’s battle, everyone had realized that although superpowers were weak when first awakened, they could be trained and would gradually grow stronger.

Metal, fire, electricity, and wind had all displayed powerful offensive potential in battle. Earth was somewhat weaker, but it was clear that, in the future, it would be an ability capable of both offense and defense.

Water had been proven unsuitable for combat. Wood had not shown what it could do today.

In any case, as long as someone possessed anything other than water or wood, their chances of survival immediately increased by a great deal.

Superpowers had become something everyone wanted.

Zhou Wang came hurrying over to Jiang Cheng. “He’s here!”

Brother Dong recognized that he was a wind-type user as well. “Hey!”

“I found someone with the same type of superpower as yours,” Jiang Cheng said. “You two can talk.”

Zhou Wang looked at Brother Dong. “You look familiar.”

“We’ve met, we’ve met,” Brother Dong said. “I remember you. Back then, when we said we weren’t doing business anymore, you insisted on coming in to buy things.”

Zhou Wang suddenly remembered. “Oh, you worked at Duoduo.”

“You two chat. I’m leaving.” Jiang Cheng turned to go, then remembered something. “Oh, right. He doesn’t have anywhere to live at the moment. See if you can find him an empty apartment in your residential complex.”

Every residential complex had empty apartments—many belonged to families who had all died.

But after dealing with Jiang Cheng so many times, Zhou Wang knew her quite well.

This wasn’t like Jiang Cheng at all.

This man was a wind-type user, and he had already proven today that wind was an extremely useful superpower.

Given Jiang Cheng’s personality, why would she so casually hand such a useful superpowered person over to him instead of bringing him under her own wing?

Zhou Wang suddenly remembered a conversation he had overheard elsewhere earlier.

“Is that the ‘Brother Dong’ guy?”

“Yeah, yeah, I think that’s him.”

“The guy who abandoned Master Guo and more than a dozen of his coworkers, then ran off with a load of everyone’s supplies?”

“Hahaha, yeah, that’s him.”

“What’s he doing here? He actually has the nerve to come back to work?”

“I heard from Gao Yuxuan that he came back to settle his wages.”

“Holy crap, hahaha!”

“Right? Hahahahaha!”

Zhou Wang asked, “What’s your surname?”

Brother Dong was very polite to the person who might provide him with temporary lodging. “My surname is Dong.”

Just as he thought!

Jiang Cheng had already turned and walked away.

Zhou Wang glanced at her back, the corner of his mouth twitching despite himself.