Chapter 91

A nerd like Zhao Yi usually didn’t like drawing attention to himself.

But this time was different.

Superpowers! It didn’t get any more anime than that.

Actually, after the first zombie crisis ended, Zhao Yi had said to Gao Yuxuan, “Looking back on those two months, it was basically like living in a horror-action anime.”

“Song Jingshuo can be the protagonist.”

“Jiang Cheng is obviously the heroine.”

“Jiangbing has to be the second male lead, at least.”

“You and me? Extras?”

“Li Feng? Li Feng is the cannon fodder who drives the romance between the male and female leads forward. Though it feels like he didn’t quite do his job. He didn’t push things along very much.”

Now, just when everything seemed to have returned to normal, he had suddenly received a warning from the heroine—no, from Jiang Cheng. The sense of destiny was simply too strong.

Zhao Yi had believed Jiang Cheng without hesitation.

Then, after waking up, he accidentally touched a flowerpot, sensed something, and discovered that he had gained the superpower to control soil.

Zhao Yi seriously began to wonder whether he was living in some kind of anime.

Everything about this was just too anime-like.

Since this was an anime world, it fell within Zhao Yi’s area of expertise.

“So now we have metal, water, earth, fire, electricity, and...” He paused. “The protective barrier counts as the mental type, I guess.”

Li Jiangbing didn’t understand. “What type?”

“The five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth,” Zhao Yi explained. “Look, the only one we’re missing now is wood. Gao Yuxuan and Su Yu have special abilities.”

That explanation was much easier to understand.

In short, everyone now knew what was happening. After waking from this latest bout of unconsciousness, some people had become zombies, while others had directly become second- or even third-generation zombies. Among those who had not turned into zombies, some had suddenly gained superpowers.

What Li Jiangbing called “special abilities” didn’t sound nearly as cool or impressive as Zhao Yi’s “superpowers,” so everyone automatically chose the latter.

Li Jiangbing also thought “superpowers” sounded better, and happily accepted the term.

He glanced at Jiang Cheng.

According to Zhao Yi’s explanation, her ability fell into the special category.

But Jiang Cheng had remained silent and hadn’t raised her hand. Li Jiangbing guessed that she might not want to talk about it. Although he appeared careless and straightforward, he was actually very considerate. If Jiang Cheng didn’t say anything, he wouldn’t speak for her.

Fortunately, Jiang Cheng spoke up at that moment. “So mine would count as a special ability too.”

Everyone turned to look at her.

Jiang Cheng had already thought it through. She wasn’t an ordinary member of the group who could easily keep a low profile. She had always been the leader of the Young People’s Apartments—last time, and this time as well. She was someone everyone watched. Sooner or later, they would find out.

Rather than being discovered later and earning the negative impression of “keeping secrets,” thereby losing everyone’s trust, she would be honest now.

Of course the destined heroine would have a superpower!

Zhao Yi’s and Gao Yuxuan’s eyes lit up. “What’s your superpower?”

Jiang Cheng raised the fire ax in her hand. It was still the same fire ax she had always used. After the zombie crisis ended, the bus company had taken back its four large buses, and the two forklifts they had bought from Duoduomai had been returned as well. All those shopping carts had gone back too.

But she had kept the fire ax.

Like Song Jingshuo’s weapon, it had been sharpened before she put it away.

The fire ax vanished into thin air.

As everyone stared in astonishment, it reappeared in Jiang Cheng’s hand.

Gao Yuxuan and Zhao Yi became so excited that one punched the air while the other jabbed his finger repeatedly at empty space. It took several seconds before Zhao Yi could finally speak.

“Spatial ability! Right? It’s a spatial ability, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Jiang Cheng explained it to everyone. “I have a space where I can store things. But it’s not very large—just a small one.”

The demonstrations everyone had just given made it clear that none of their superpowers were particularly strong. Even Su Yu’s protective barrier had lasted for only a very short time, and her reaction clearly showed that using it had probably given her a headache. She had been frowning and rubbing her temples the whole time.

There was too much information to take in all at once. Everyone began buzzing with conversation and discussion, needing time to understand and absorb it all.

Li Jiangbing turned his head and looked Song Jingshuo up and down.

Song Jingshuo said irritably, “I don’t have one.”

“No?” Li Jiangbing asked, disappointed.

He had hoped that all his acquaintances would have superpowers.

Song Jingshuo wasn’t happy either.

Although everyone’s superpowers appeared weak and useless at the moment, this might only be the beginning.

Take the original zombies, for example. Their limbs had initially been uncoordinated, but now the third-generation zombies had developed intelligence. It wasn’t very high intelligence, but at least they had reached the level of knowing to run home when it rained.

The word “evolution” surfaced in his mind.

Yes, if they had to call it evolution, he could never agree that becoming a zombie was evolution.

But humans gaining superpowers was unquestionably a form of evolution.

Had he been abandoned by this evolution because he didn’t have a superpower?

Su Yu was standing right beside Li Jiangbing and heard their exchange.

She hesitated, then said, “Actually... until just now, I didn’t even know I had a superpower.”

Several people nearby stopped what they were doing and listened to her.

Su Yu continued, “It suddenly burst out just now. I was completely confused myself.”

Li Jiangbing said, “I felt mine after touching the water.”

Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan had likewise come into contact with the substances corresponding to their abilities.

Once the three of them had said that, those without superpowers couldn’t help discussing it among themselves.

“Then do we still have hope?”

Jiang Cheng spoke up.

Every time she said something, she could silence the entire crowd at once.

“Don’t worry about the superpowers for now,” Jiang Cheng said. “Go back and slowly try to sense them. Maybe you’ll have one tomorrow.”

“For now, let’s clear the buildings.”

Right, right. Everyone had experience with this.

The courtyard appeared to be free of zombies, but there could still be some inside the buildings. They had to clear out their living space first.

Jiang Cheng took out her phone and dialed a number. “Let’s go to the property-management office and get the intercoms first.”

No one answered the property-management office’s phone, which was only to be expected. Master Luo and Yang Xinyan had both received Jiang Cheng’s text messages, and Master Luo had even met with Jiang Cheng in person. He would certainly have evacuated the people from the property-management center.

Jiang Cheng called Master Luo next.

The call was answered quickly, but the voice on the other end didn’t belong to Master Luo. It was Aunt Pan.

“Hello, Little Jiang?”

Aunt Pan’s voice was lower than usual, yet very calm.

But Jiang Cheng’s heart sank. After a brief pause, she asked, “Is Master Luo still there?”

The people around her fell silent.

Aunt Pan said softly, “He’s gone. I took care of it.”

Jiang Cheng replied, “Oh.” Then, apologetically, she said, “My condolences.”

She added, “Don’t come out yet. It’s safer inside. We’ll clear the buildings shortly. We’ll talk once it’s safe.”

Aunt Pan murmured, “Mm,” and the two ended the call.

Aunt Pan hadn’t even turned on the lights.

When she woke up, it had still been daytime—brighter even than that purple-gray, heavily overcast afternoon.

Following Jiang Cheng’s instructions, they returned to Apartment 0308.

A few of the unoccupied apartments in the complex had indeed been claimed by relatives who came looking for them. But no relatives of Little White’s Dad had ever appeared, so Master Luo and his wife were still living in Apartment 0308.

Master Luo said to her, “We have to isolate ourselves separately. How about this? You stay outside, and I’ll stay in the bathroom.”

Master Luo was meticulous and good with his hands. He stretched a strip of tape across the doorframe at a low height, turning it into a tripwire.

“If you mutate, I’ll open the door from inside. When you charge in, you’ll trip over it, and I’ll, well... take care of you.”

“And if I mutate, you’ll open the door from outside. I’ll trip over it when I rush out, so hurry up and deal with me. Don’t hesitate, no matter what.”

Aunt Pan agreed. “You still don’t trust me? I can kill zombies outside without even blinking.”

Aunt Pan was a manual laborer. If Zhao Yi got into a fight with her, it would honestly be hard to say who would win.

In any case, they had set up a little trap.

When she woke up, she went to knock on the bathroom door. The sound that came from inside made her heart sink.

Master Luo had mutated into a primitive zombie. He didn’t know how to open the door.

Aunt Pan cried outside for a long time. At last, she tightened her grip on the steel pipe, pressed herself against the wall beside the door, and reached out to twist the handle.

Everything went exactly as they had agreed.

If he changed, she would deal with him. If she changed, he would deal with her. The husband and wife would handle it themselves and spare everyone else the trouble.

The tripwire worked just as they had hoped.

Master Luo charged out and immediately tripped. The bathroom opened onto the entryway, with a wall directly opposite.

His forehead slammed straight into the wall, leaving his body at an angle.

Aunt Pan gritted her teeth and brought the steel pipe down...

They would handle their own affairs and spare everyone else the trouble.

When people dealt with zombies, it was usually fine if the zombie was a stranger—or even someone they merely recognized. Their hearts had been hardened by practice.

But it was still painful when the zombie was someone familiar.

Li Jiangbing and the others had worked together to kill He Tian and the rest, but they hadn’t been troubled by it because they didn’t know He Tian.

Su Yu, however, had suffered because He Tian had been her friend.

Li Jiangbing was saddened too, because He Tian had been someone he knew and even liked.

As for Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan, they felt only the regret and pity one might have for a complete stranger.

Now Master Luo was gone, and quite a few people were upset.

Jiang Cheng, Li Jiangbing, and Cui Haiyang were especially affected.

Everyone went to the property-management office.

The fully armored group led the way, with U-shaped forks held out in front of them as they proceeded with extreme caution.

But the property-management office was deserted.

The property manager had decided not to go home that day. Making fun of Jiang Cheng had only been an excuse; the real reason was that he simply didn’t want to go home and help his child with homework.

He had plenty of empty apartments at his disposal. Many young white-collar workers had furnished their little homes beautifully, and some even had incredibly expensive mattresses that were wonderfully comfortable to sleep on.

After the finance clerk left too, the manager found an apartment with a good bed and a computer. He slept on someone else’s bed and played games on someone else’s computer.

He was having a wonderful time.

That was, until he slumped out of his computer chair and collapsed unconscious on the floor. When he woke up again, he heard the commotion in the courtyard. He crawled to the window and took a look.

The sky had fallen.

The warning from Jiang Cheng in Building Two, Apartment 0306, had actually been true!

Everyone retrieved walkie-talkies from the property-management center.

Jiang Cheng also made an announcement over the radio:

“All surviving residents, we are beginning a building-by-building sweep. Residents without armor or protective equipment should stay inside and avoid coming out if possible. At nine tomorrow morning, all surviving residents are to gather at the small plaza and report in.”

They would get everything done in one go, so they wouldn’t have to make another trip later.