Chapter 127
When it came to vehicles, it still had to be the 535s.
To be honest, everyone had grown particularly attached to the four 535 buses and two forklifts from last time. The 535s were enormous. When all four drove into the residential complex, they practically filled the entire little plaza. Later, when people from the central bus terminal came to drive them away, everyone actually felt a little lost when the plaza suddenly opened up again.
When the two forklifts were driven back to Mai Duoduo, everyone had gathered around to see them off as well.
The 535s were too big to drive around casually, but who could resist trying out a forklift? Almost everyone had given it a go. By now, they were all little forklift experts.
But Mai Duoduo’s forklifts had already been driven back to them—two of them, in fact.
Once the 535s returned, it felt as though they had gone back to the atmosphere of two months ago.
Only, many of the neighbors from back then would never be coming back.
This time, Cui Haiyang led the team.
Li Jiangbing felt a little disappointed.
“You’ve led a team before, and so have I,” Jiang Cheng consoled him. “They should get to do some work too.”
Li Jiangbing squatted there and watched the convoy leave. All the metal-element ability users had gone. Gao Yuxuan and Guo Jun had gone too, as had Aunt Pan—even Zhou Wang had gone.
Simply put, all the powerful ability users had been dispatched.
And he was the only one left behind.
There was work to do at the residential complex as well.
With Aunt Pan gone, there was no one left to cook for Property Management. The uncles, aunties, and older sisters had stepped up to take a trial shift.
But Jiang Cheng had recruited them for more than just cooking for Property Management, so the little kitchen there would definitely be inadequate in the future. They needed a proper large kitchen.
As it happened, there was one ready-made.
There was a café inside the clubhouse. Before that, however, the owner had actually run a small restaurant there.
The portions were tiny despite the oversized plates, and the restaurant relied entirely on pretentious presentation to charge exorbitant prices, treating the residents like fat sheep to be fleeced. The residents quickly grew disgusted with it, and the restaurant soon went under.
That was why it had been converted into a café.
But the owner had spent quite a bit of money renovating the kitchen, and he couldn’t bear to tear it out. He had always hoped that he might find some fool willing to rent it as a restaurant one day, allowing him to collect the rent.
No one ever rented it, so it remained a café.
The kitchen, however, was still there.
Jiang Cheng and the others reopened the door the clubhouse owner had locked and tore down the rental advertisement and phone number.
When they went inside, all the kitchen equipment was still there, merely covered in a layer of dust.
After checking, they found that it ran on natural gas rather than cooking oil. That was excellent news. If it had needed oil, it would have been troublesome; there was nowhere to get any now.
They turned on the faucet. Since it had not been used for so long, the water that came out at first was slightly discolored, but it soon ran clear.
Li Jiangbing resigned himself to his fate. Several enormous water balls floated in front of him, following as he moved. They spun as they went and washed the entire kitchen.
By the end, the water balls had turned murky, while the kitchen was spotless.
“How convenient,” Jiang Cheng praised him.
Then she added, “You should know that every girl dreams of having this ability.”
That was true. The girls had said as much themselves.
Especially the ones with long hair: “It would make washing your hair so easy!”
Li Jiangbing had just gained one more possible direction for his future career.
Cui Haiyang’s team was very efficient at getting the buses. They returned an hour later.
The 535 bus terminal was only three stops away from the youth apartment complex. The roads were completely empty—not a single car, person, or zombie in sight.
There were fewer buses parked at the terminal than last time, because the suburban express buses operated on a tidal schedule.
In the morning, large numbers of buses departed from the technology district for downtown, carrying people to work.
In the afternoon, empty buses were sent back downtown. Starting in the evening, large numbers of buses departed from downtown again, bringing the exhausted working people back home.
This time, however, no buses had returned on August 29.
A packed bus could hold around 150 to 200 people. To be safe, they drove four buses back.
The terminal had its own repair shop and warehouse, which contained a large quantity of supplies, mostly metal materials.
The metal-element ability users were like mice let loose in a granary. Everything they saw, they wanted to carry away.
Unlike earth-element ability users, who had an inexhaustible supply of material beneath their feet, or fire-element ability users, who used their own supernatural power as fuel, metal-element ability users needed metal.
Water-element abilities required water, while metal-element abilities required metal.
Every supernatural ability had its own advantages, as well as its own limitations.
This time, because the outside environment was relatively calm and there were very few zombies on the streets, the youth apartment complex and Jixiang Jiayuan did not block off Jixiang West Street as they had last time.
The four large buses drove straight onto West Street and stopped outside the east gate. They called Jiang Cheng.
“We’re here.”
Zhou Wang, Aunt Pan, Guo Jun, Gao Yuxuan, Cui Haiyang, and several metal-element ability users waited inside the buses for everyone to come out through the east gate and board.
They chatted about how many people might have survived at the school, occasionally turning their heads to look outside.
The residential complex’s east gate was right outside the bus windows. Beyond the gate was a broad walkway. You had to walk quite a distance before you could see the inner courtyards, gardens, and little plaza.
“They’re coming,” someone said.
Everyone looked over. Sure enough, a large group was making its way toward them from inside the complex.
But Aunt Pan let out a surprised “Huh?”
“What’s Cao Jiacai doing over there?”
Several security guards stood at the east gate with their backs to the outside.
They were all wearing security uniforms.
Gates and security guards went together like a matched set. No one found it strange to see guards standing at the entrance, so they had not paid them any attention at first.
It was Aunt Pan who recognized her familiar coworkers from behind.
Once she pointed it out, everyone took a closer look. Sure enough, the man standing in the middle of the group of guards was Cao Jiacai.
Was he standing there to wait for Jiang Cheng and the others so they could board the buses together?
Why were two residents standing with him as well?
Of course not. He was standing there to play roadblock.
Cao Jiacai wanted to usurp power, and he wanted to do it with great fanfare. Wang Haotian had given him the idea: only by seizing power in front of a large crowd could he establish his authority, making people fear him and submit to him.
Cao Jiacai thought it made perfect sense.
He had to ascend the throne in a blaze of glory, under the gaze of the entire crowd.
Watching Jiang Cheng and the others approach, Cao Jiacai took a deep breath, preparing to face the grandest moment of his life.
He led his people forward to meet them and shouted, “Halt!”
Everyone actually stopped.
The little black cat leaped down from a nearby tree and landed on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder. Jiang Cheng gently patted its head to reassure it.
Li Jiangbing stepped forward. “What are you doing?”
Cao Jiacai shot back, “What are you doing?”
The utterly pointless exchange left everyone speechless.
Jiang Cheng took a step forward and called out clearly, “Master Cao, there are survivors at Gaoxin High School. We’re going to rescue them. Are you coming?”
Oh? She had called him Master Cao.
When had Jiang Cheng ever treated him with anything but indifference? And now she was speaking to him so gently, politely, and courteously.
Cao Jiacai knew that he was no longer the down-and-out, invisible middle-aged security guard he had once been.
The attention he was receiving from her only made him swell with pride.
“I’m not going!” he shouted sternly. “And you’re not allowed to go either!”
Everyone was stunned.
Li Jiangbing raised his voice too. “What are you talking about? We’re on our way to rescue people!”
“Rescue them? You idiots, listening to some little girl!” Cao Jiacai began acting like everyone’s father, pointing and lecturing them. “What do outsiders have to do with us?”
“We’re not lacking food or clothes. We can guard Mai Duoduo, move all the supplies back here later, and live a safe, comfortable life!”
“It’s all because of this Jiang Cheng that you’ve been led around by the nose, running off to save this person and that person every day.”
Cao Jiacai stuck out his belly. “Jiang Cheng, let me make this clear: from today onward, you don’t call the shots anymore!”
“Starting today, everyone listens to me!”
“From now on, I’m the boss of this complex!”
He pointed at Young Zhao, Young Song, Young Wu, Young Zhang, and Young Su—the people with superpowers. “And the rest of you, get over here. From now on, you answer to me. Stop following Jiang Cheng around like idiots. What does a woman know, anyway?”
Cao Jiacai was convinced that, with a speech as powerful as his, everyone would come rushing over the moment he raised his arm and called out to them.
In some rural areas, a village bully’s word was law. No one dared disobey.
But he had forgotten that this was a city—and not just any small city. This was S City, a massive metropolis of more than twenty million people.
People here had entirely different ideas. Their values were completely different too.
He thought, Why bother saving unrelated people? He assumed that if everyone no longer had to listen to Jiang Cheng, fight, or make sacrifices, and could simply lie around the complex eating and drinking, everyone would be thrilled.
Instead, not a single resident voluntarily came over to his side.
Everyone looked at him strangely. Some were stunned, some bewildered, some speechless, some disdainful. A few even looked at him with pity.
That last expression was especially unbearable.
Why wasn’t this going the way he had imagined?
“Are you all deaf?” Cao Jiacai shouted, starting to lose his temper from embarrassment.
Wang Haotian quietly reminded him, “The fire.”
Cao Jiacai suddenly realized. Right—he had to show off his strength.
Wu Jiancheng had been determined to master the ability to keep a flame burning in his hand without end. Cao Jiacai, however, had managed it naturally the day before.
He didn’t even need to carry several lighters in his pockets as backups, the way Wu Jiancheng did. A tiny flame was always dancing playfully around his fingertips.
Cao Jiacai raised his hand. With a whoosh, a massive fireball appeared in front of him.
The bodies of fire-type superpowered individuals had already been altered by their abilities, so they no longer felt heat or pain from burning.
Other people weren’t so lucky. The moment the huge fireball appeared, it failed to intimidate the people across from him and instead scalded his own allies first.
Young Wang and Little Zhao, the two superpowered security guards, had been standing behind Cao Jiacai on either side, looking like his personal guards. Wang Haotian, his scheming adviser, had also moved closer to Cao Jiacai so they could speak privately.
The wave of heat rolled over them. All three let out yelps and jumped backward.
Behind them stood one of Wang Haotian’s companions, two ordinary cleaners, and one ordinary security guard—all people Cao Jiacai had won over.
Other than Manager Wang, Yang Xinyan, Aunt Pan, and Security guard Fang, everyone else in the property-management staff had sided with Cao Jiacai.
The security guards and cleaners no longer wanted to work. Cao Jiacai had promised that anyone who followed him would enjoy good food and drink from then on. These people, who were not particularly educated, believed him.
Security guard Fang, however, had been too close to Jiang Cheng and the others, acting as their lackey and follower. Cao Jiacai had directly excluded him from his “inner circle.”
Over the past two days, Cao Jiacai had made several lewd jokes at Yang Xinyan’s expense. The young woman had told Manager Wang, but he could do nothing except advise her to avoid Cao Jiacai.
Yang Xinyan could never support Cao Jiacai.
As for Manager Wang, he understood all too well that by following Jiang Cheng and the others, he could at least preserve his dignity as a human being. If Cao Jiacai took power, a petty man from the bottom who had suddenly risen would first trample on the people who had once stood above him.
Yes, that meant Manager Wang—the property manager.
Cao Jiacai had intended to intimidate everyone, only to scald his own people instead. The scene was simply too ridiculous. Asking everyone not to laugh would have been unreasonable.
Li Jiangbing: “Pfft—pfft—ugh—”
Li Jiangbing really did try to hold it in, but he just couldn’t.
The crowd behind Jiang Cheng also erupted in laughter.
Even outside the east gate, Cui Haiyang and the others stood up inside their vehicle to look through the windows. The atmosphere had seemed tense, and they had been preparing to get out.
Then this happened.
“Holy crap.” Gao Yuxuan had always been easy to amuse. He was bent over the large car window, laughing so hard he could barely stand.
Aunt Pan couldn’t bear to watch. “Sigh...”
The ridiculous scene put everyone at ease.
Cao Jiacai, humiliated and furious, shouted, “What are you laughing at?”
Jiang Cheng walked forward a few steps and called out clearly, “Master Cao, if you have a problem with me, we can discuss it when we get back. Right now, let’s go save those people first. The school is full of underage children. They’ve sent out a distress signal. We can’t simply ignore them.”
Some people in the crowd actually felt that Jiang Cheng had walked too far ahead. But many were still laughing, and it would have been awkward for them to speak up.
Cao Jiacai had raised his arm and shouted his rallying cry, yet no one had rushed over in excitement to pledge allegiance to him. He was furious.
“I’m telling you all, following Jiang Cheng gets you nothing—and you still have to work!” he said. “Follow me, and none of you will have to work anymore. You can lie around every day, eating and drinking!”
But who would collect the trash? Who would sweep the grounds? Who would kill the zombies? Did he think the world could run itself? Someone had to do the work.
When all was said and done, he was just Liu Hongwang with a superpower.
Many of the residents couldn’t help rolling their eyes.
Still receiving no response, Cao Jiacai grew increasingly agitated.
He glared viciously at Jiang Cheng. It was all her fault. Who knew what kind of spell she had cast over the others? They listened to her no matter what.
Whenever she told them to work, they obediently went and did it. What a witch.
Jiang Cheng was exceptionally beautiful.
At first, Cao Jiacai had thought that as long as she obediently stepped aside, he would keep her around for his own use later.
But now he knew he had to teach the people on the other side a lesson.
They thought he didn’t dare, did they?
These city folk, these college students, were used to obeying the law. They assumed that just because they themselves wouldn’t dare do something, he wouldn’t dare either.
How naïve.
He had to kill one as a warning to the rest.
He had to behead someone.
Jiang Cheng could not be allowed to live.
It didn’t matter. There were still several pretty women in the complex. Su Yu and Zhang Lesi were both attractive—more than enough for him.
A real man couldn’t let himself be distracted by beauty.
Cao Jiacai’s sinister gaze swept over the people behind Jiang Cheng.
Li Jiangbing was closest to her, followed by Song Jingshuo. Neither of them was particularly useful.
Wu Jiancheng.
Wu Jiancheng was fire-type, so he had to be wary of him.
Why hadn’t they made a move yet? How annoying. Was she still outside their range?
Jiang Cheng took another step forward. “Get out of the way. You’re in the way.”
Hurry up. Make your move. I’ve already come this far.
From inside the vehicle, Zhou Wang peered through the gates and also felt that Jiang Cheng had advanced too far.
Li Jiangbing felt the same.
Only Song Jingshuo stared at Jiang Cheng’s back.
He had remained silent because he and Jiang Cheng had already discussed Cao Jiacai in advance. Jiang Cheng was absolutely not defenseless against Cao Jiacai, nor was she naïve.
As she moved closer, one step at a time, the words “lure the enemy” flashed through Song Jingshuo’s mind.
She had said, That line.
Yes. Song Jingshuo understood now. Jiang Cheng was provoking Cao Jiacai into crossing that line first.
The overall moral standards at the Young Adult Apartments were very high. No one could kill another human being who was neither infected nor a criminal without cause.
But Cao Jiacai was too powerful. Expelling him would be useless and might even invite retaliation.
Song Jingshuo understood exactly what Jiang Cheng intended to do.
She needed Cao Jiacai to be the one who crossed the moral line first. That way, she could claim “self-defense” with a clear conscience.
Only then would everyone accept it, and the overall moral standards of the Youth Apartments could be preserved without corrupting the atmosphere.
With zombies swarming the entire world, once someone set a bad example, things could quickly spiral downward. This had already been proven by many residential compounds during the first zombie disaster.
But everything Jiang Cheng was doing depended on one premise: that she had the strength to overpower Cao Jiacai.
Jiang Cheng never did anything she wasn’t sure she could pull off.
Song Jingshuo’s only remaining question was this—what exactly was Jiang Cheng’s trump card?
Li Jiangbing felt that Jiang Cheng had gone too far ahead. Uneasy, he caught up with her in a couple of strides. “Are you done yet? We still need to hurry—”
Now!
Cao Jiacai let out a furious roar.
A huge fireball shot toward them!
Its target wasn’t Jiang Cheng. It was Li Jiangbing!
The fireball streaked past Jiang Cheng and engulfed Li Jiangbing from head to toe. He became a man on fire!
Shouts and screams erupted all around them.
Jiang Cheng shouted, “Wu Jiancheng!”
Wu Jiancheng and Zhang Lesi simultaneously broke into a sprint.
Wu Jiancheng ran faster than he ever had in his life!
Li Jiangbing was his best buddy. If he let Li Jiangbing die here, he would never be able to forgive himself.
Wu Jiancheng stretched out his hand, his palm already feeling the scorching heat.
Put it out!
Put it the hell out!!!
But then he heard another wave of terrified cries from behind him.
Countless people screamed at the top of their lungs, “Jiang Cheng!”
A fireball even larger than the one that had struck Li Jiangbing shot toward Jiang Cheng.
The attack on Li Jiangbing had been meant to lure Wu Jiancheng away.
A fire-type ability could both start fires and put them out—but Wu Jiancheng couldn’t be in two places at once.
Song Jingshuo’s pupils contracted sharply. Before his mind could even process what was happening, his body was already charging forward.
Zhao Yi charged ahead.
Su Yu charged ahead.
Many others rushed forward before their minds had even caught up.
Jiang Cheng!
In their field of vision, the crimson fireball came straight at her. Its blazing light turned Jiang Cheng’s slender back into a black silhouette.
There was still a little black cat perched on the girl’s shoulder. Everyone had long since grown accustomed to seeing Jiang Cheng like this.
There was no doubt about it—the little black cat would die alongside Jiang Cheng.
But ever since June 15, Jiang Cheng had been constantly defying expectations.
This time was no exception.
In Zhao Yi’s pupils, the silhouettes of the girl and the cat suddenly separated.
The little black cat leaped into the air.
Why was that black shadow expanding so rapidly?
It was growing huge!
The enormous black shadow charged straight at the fireball.
The gigantic body collided with the fireball.
The fireball shattered into pieces and went out in midair.
Cao Jiacai didn’t even have time to react.
The enormous black shadow had suddenly smashed through the fireball and was now lunging straight at him.
All Cao Jiacai saw were stark-white fangs.
What was that thing?
How could it be so huge?
This wasn’t scientific.
The flames on Li Jiangbing’s body went out. Zhang Lesi knelt on the ground, casting a healing spell over his burns while staring blankly ahead with her mouth hanging open.
Li Jiangbing lay on the ground, his head tilted backward. With the world upside down before his eyes, he too stared blankly with his mouth open.
A great many people were standing there with their mouths open.
Because that was the normal human reaction to shock.
Song Jingshuo’s question finally had an answer.
A giant beast.
Black fur.
Green eyes.
Cao Jiacai was clenched between its jaws like a tiny fish.
Sharp, snow-white teeth had pierced straight through his body.
Bright-red human blood dripped onto the ground.
His body, doomed but not yet completely dead, twitched spasmodically.
Jiang Cheng walked forward.
The girl looked so small and delicate before the giant beast.
“It’s more comfortable transforming outdoors, isn’t it?” Jiang Cheng said with a smile.
The house had been too small. When Mo Li expanded to his maximum size indoors, he had to press against the ceiling. It was uncomfortable for him.
“Go on, spit him out. Don’t keep biting him,” Jiang Cheng said.
The black giant obediently turned its head and spat Cao Jiacai onto the ground—right at Wang Haotian’s feet.
Wang Haotian sat on the ground, his whole body trembling. He had wet himself.
Everyone watched as Jiang Cheng raised her hand.
The giant beast leaped into the air.
Its enormous body rapidly shrank, finally transforming back into the little black cat everyone knew so well.
Every person had come up with a name of their own for the little black cat.
Black Civet, Little Black, Blackie, Two-Black, Coal, Coalball—people often called him whatever they pleased. They used their own names, and no one cared whether the little black cat recognized any of them.
Gao Yuxuan was especially fond of provoking him, and the little black cat had even scratched him on the butt once.
No one had ever imagined that the little black cat who so often lounged on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder was actually a monstrous beast like this.
Jiang Cheng turned around and gently scratched the little black cat on the head.
“Let’s go. We’re heading to Gaoxin Middle School,” she said.
Zhao Yi only wished Gao Yuxuan were in the car right now.
He was trembling with happiness.