Chapter 110

Little Huang thought carefully before saying, “Yesterday, I could sense danger coming from far away. As soon as I felt it approaching, I could avoid it immediately—for example, by turning onto another road instead of taking that one.”

“Today, I can already rely on that sense to weave and dodge between zombies at extremely close range.”

“It’s just that when there are too many zombies, it gets exhausting. I can’t relax for even a second. Second-generation zombies can pounce in the blink of an eye, and I’ve had to dodge them by the skin of my teeth more times than I can count.”

“It takes a huge amount of stamina.”

That was why he had ended up completely drained.

The elderly men and women didn’t quite understand what “weaving” meant. But the gamers from the Youth Apartments all exclaimed, “Holy crap!”

What gamer wouldn’t envy an ability like that?

The ability itself might not be evasion, but with its help, it was practically the same as maxing out one’s dodging skill.

As for becoming so exhausted that he collapsed—kid, you charged straight into a nest of zombies! Who wouldn’t be completely spent after doing that?

The fact that he had survived alone was already impressive.

It sounded like an ability with little offensive power, but tremendous survival potential.

Jiang Cheng nodded. Seeing that his complexion had improved considerably and that he was able to sit up, she asked, “Do you want to go home and rest?”

Little Huang, however, stared at the west gate of his own residential compound across the street, his heart resisting the idea.

He didn’t dare go back to that empty home.

Zhou Wang understood perfectly. He didn’t like going home either. It was empty, and the emptiness hurt.

If he hadn’t been so busy, being alone at home would have been torture.

He sighed and was just about to tell Little Huang, “Why don’t you come stay at my place?” when Jiang Cheng said gently, “If you don’t want to go home, you can come stay with us.”

Zhou Wang: “...”

Jiang Cheng continued, “There are plenty of empty apartments on our side. They’re all small studio units, very suitable for a young person living alone. A lot of the people there aren’t much older than you—around the age of older brothers and sisters. We can all look after one another.”

Zhou Wang: “...”

Yes, this was the Jiang Cheng he knew.

The moment she heard about someone else’s superpower, she shamelessly tried to poach them right to their face, without the slightest hesitation.

The word “embarrassment” probably didn’t exist in this girl’s dictionary.

By comparison...

Zhou Wang couldn’t help glancing at Brother Dong.

Brother Dong: “...?”

Zhou Wang looked away.

Brother Dong was now considered a powerful superhuman. And he hadn’t planned on staying for long anyway; he had only wanted to spend the night there out of caution and see how things developed before returning home.

Even so, Jiang Cheng had refused to let Brother Dong stay and had immediately pushed him toward Zhou Wang instead.

Zhou Wang already knew what Brother Dong had done back then.

But he still felt that Jiang Cheng was simply too young and couldn’t tolerate the slightest flaw in anyone. Water that was too clear had no fish; when employing people, one should be willing to look past their shortcomings and take their value into consideration.

What Zhou Wang didn’t know was that Jiang Cheng wasn’t unaware of how powerful and useful Brother Dong’s ability was.

But the instant she reunited with Brother Dong, a thought had flashed through her mind—

Loyalty is more important than value.

That understanding came from the sealed memories buried deep within her mind, from Jiang Cheng’s true self.

So even after Brother Dong had made such an obvious attempt to show goodwill, Jiang Cheng had still rejected him without hesitation.

Zhou Wang actually hoped more than anything that Jiang Cheng would invite him to stay at the Youth Apartments too.

The current makeup of Auspicious Home was truly despair-inducing.

The people who had remained behind had just told him that six young and able-bodied survivors had returned from the city between noon and late afternoon. But even with those six added, the overwhelming majority of the compound’s residents were still elderly people.

With Zhou Wang’s superpower, he could practically survive under any circumstances.

But people couldn’t easily abandon their homes. He lived here, after all.

The worst part was that everyone in the compound had naturally—even quite reasonably, in their minds—assumed that he should once again become their leader, responsible for keeping everyone safe and fed.

Had they even considered how few people he had left who were capable of working or fighting?

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Little Huang was tempted.

Leaving a place filled with sorrow and changing one’s surroundings to avoid painful reminders was, after all, a form of emotional self-protection.

But Little Huang knew he wouldn’t leave Uncle Zhou.

He had quietly observed the situation just now and understood very clearly what Auspicious Home was like at present.

Uncle Zhou needed help.

So he politely declined the offer.

Jiang Cheng didn’t take it personally.

To Jiang Cheng, trying something cost nothing, and might even bring unexpected gains. But giving up without trying and missing an opportunity—that was a real loss.

At present, Auspicious Home had sixteen young and able-bodied people at most, plus the six who had just returned and Little Huang, for a total of twenty-three. That number included two high school students and one middle school student.

The only somewhat encouraging news was that five of the six young people who had returned were superhumans.

Two earth, one metal, one fire, and one electricity.

The proportion of superhumans was surprisingly high.

Or, to put it another way, people with superpowers had a higher chance of surviving.

Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan were still pestering Zhang Lesi. “Can you restore other people’s mana?”

Zhang Lesi: “...”

Zhang Lesi: “I’ll restore your high blood pressure.”

“Mana and health, my ass,” Zhang Lesi snapped. “Do you two think this is a video game? Have you lost your minds? Wake up!”

The two anime fans were scolded until they hung their heads in embarrassment.

They slunk off to chat with the several superhumans who had just returned to Auspicious Home.

Those were the only ones left. They had already interviewed every other superhuman.

Little Huang felt that he could stand now. Zhou Wang helped him up and prepared to take him home.

Little Huang was still somewhat weak, so Zhou Wang said, “Stay at my place for now. How are you supposed to eat if you’re living alone?”

He manipulated the airflow around Little Huang, making it easier for him to walk.

Little Huang felt as though his body were being gently supported by something soft. He praised him, “That superpower of yours is really convenient.”

Brother Dong followed Zhou Wang as well.

Zhou Wang asked, “When are you going home?”

“Tomorrow,” Brother Dong replied. “I’ll stay here for one night.”

“Have you gotten in touch with your family?”

“No.”

“Ah...”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Brother Dong realized that Zhou Wang had misunderstood. In the current situation, being unable to contact one’s family basically meant they were dead.

He said troubledly, “I lost my phone. I can’t find it.”

Zhou Wang pulled out his own phone. “Use mine.”

Brother Dong looked even more troubled. “I don’t remember their phone numbers.”

“...You don’t remember even one?”

“Not a single one.”

There was nothing they could do about that.

Zhou Wang arranged a place for Brother Dong to stay.

There were far too many empty homes now. Several belonged to families whose doors they had broken down to eliminate the zombies inside. The locks were still open, so Brother Dong could move right in.

Zhou Wang had been exhausted after the day’s events and didn’t feel like cooking.

He found an elderly woman he knew fairly well, spoke with her, and arranged for himself and Little Huang to share meals with her from then on.

Everyone dispersed on Auspicious West Street, returning to their respective residential compounds.

Song Jingshuo noticed that Jiang Cheng seemed distracted. He walked over and fell into step beside her. “What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”

Jiang Cheng said, “There are several buildings at Little Huang’s school. From what he said, as long as there was someone in a building, there were survivors there. In the end, several hundred students survived.”

Song Jingshuo sighed. “It’s really not easy.”

But Jiang Cheng wasn’t lamenting the hardships of minors. She said, “Zhou Wang and Old Dong searched three floors of the Development Zone government building—the fifth floor down to the third. They didn’t find any survivors.”

Song Jingshuo: “...Maybe they’re on the fourth or fifth floors?”

“It’s impossible that all the survivors went to the fourth and fifth floors,” Jiang Cheng said. “Even if there are people up there, there probably aren’t many.”

Song Jingshuo was no longer sure. “What are you getting at?”

Jiang Cheng waved it off. “Nothing. Maybe I’m just overthinking it.”

Song Jingshuo’s brow furrowed even more deeply. “Can’t you tell me?”

“I don’t have any evidence. It would sound like wild speculation, and saying it out loud would only make people doubt me,” Jiang Cheng said. “Let’s wait and see. Maybe I really am just overthinking it.”

The anomaly Jiang Cheng had noticed was extremely subtle. There were simply too few examples to support any solid conclusion.

Objectively speaking, her own subjective assumptions made up a very large part of it.

When this kind of “wild speculation” turned out to be correct, people often called it “keen insight.” But when it was wrong, it was just overthinking.

Speaking carelessly before anything was confirmed could easily cause trouble or invite ridicule. Song Jingshuo understood that very well.

He trusted Jiang Cheng.

“Then tell me once you’ve sorted it out.”

“Okay. For now, let’s wait and see whether the government makes an announcement.”

Song Jingshuo was silent for a moment. Jiang Cheng’s words implied the possibility that there would be no announcement.

The two of them continued walking in silence.

Li Jiangbing caught up with them. “What are you two doing?”

Why were they walking without saying a word? It was one thing when other people did that, but when Jiang Cheng and Song Jingshuo fell silent together, it was unsettling.

Jiang Cheng asked, “Jiangbing, can you purify water?”

Li Jiangbing: “Huh?”

Jiang Cheng explained, “Like how the ocean turned an iron plate into pure iron.”

Li Jiangbing scratched his head. “What would we need that for?”

Jiang Cheng gave him a scenario. “The water supply has been cut off, and there’s nothing but a pool of filthy water in front of us. Can you extract pure water directly from that pool for everyone to drink?”

This time, even Li Jiangbing fell silent.

He and Song Jingshuo both stared at Jiang Cheng’s face.

Song Jingshuo said, “Isn’t that a little too pessimistic?”

Li Jiangbing added, “Exactly. You saw what happened last time...”

But he couldn’t finish. Earlier that day, Jiang Cheng had already analyzed the situation for him at Duoduo Warehouse. If her analysis was correct, then this kind of situation really might occur.

Jiang Cheng, however, smiled. “How is that pessimistic? I’m being optimistic.”

At times like this, her eyes seemed especially bright.

“When I think about the superpowers the three of us have,” she said, “I feel particularly optimistic.”

Zhao Yi and Cui Haiyang came back toward them from ahead, moving against the flow of people. “Jiang Cheng!”

Zhao Yi said, “About our superpowers, the two of us...”

But Jiang Cheng narrowed her eyes and interrupted him. “Where are your glasses?”

Zhao Yi was nearsighted. Without his glasses, he might not even recognize a tree when he saw one.

But he wasn’t wearing them now.

Zhao Yi paused. Gao Yuxuan excitedly exclaimed, “Your powers of observation are really sharp.”

He slapped Zhao Yi on the back. “Go on, tell her.”

Zhao Yi said, “I don’t need glasses anymore.”