Chapter 97

Li Jiangbing ran over to call Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan.

The two came hurrying over with shining eyes. As soon as they saw Zhou Wang, they asked, “Did the muscles in your legs evolve?”

“Are you a speed-type?”

“No. Neither,” Zhou Wang said. “Actually, I control air.”

He thought for a moment, then gave a more precise explanation: “Air currents.”

When he ran, his ability split apart the airflow directly in front of him. The air divided and swept around him on both sides, while the airflow behind him pushed him forward.

In reality, he was being propelled along by the air as he “ran,” expending very little of his own energy.

Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan slapped their hands together, so excited they could barely speak.

“Wind-type!”

“I told you there had to be other special abilities!”

Zhou Wang asked, “Do all of you have superpowers now?”

Jiang Cheng replied, “Only some of us.”

Jiang Cheng looked past Zhou Wang.

Zhou Wang hadn’t come alone. He had brought an entire group with him.

Half of them were elderly, and half of those elderly people were actually old women—and they were all wearing armor.

Previously, the armor had gone first to men, then to younger men, and among the young, to those who were stronger and more robust.

Jixiang Jiayuan had originally received only a hundred sets of armor in total. Many of those had gone missing after the disaster ended.

Yet now even elderly women were wearing armor. Just how desperately short of manpower was Jixiang Jiayuan?

Jiang Cheng’s words—“There are fewer people now”—had taken on a tangible form.

“Miss,” one of the old women asked when she noticed Jiang Cheng looking over. “Miss Jiang, are you going to buy Duoduo today?”

The other old women quickly chimed in. “If you’re going, take us with you!”

This was the passageway just inside the east gate. They had to walk several dozen meters farther in before reaching the open courtyard. The old men and women craned their necks to look inside, eager to see how many people the Youth Apartments had this time.

Regardless of whether it was the last trip or this one, the Youth Apartments were unquestionably the strongest fighting force in the area.

Now that all they had left were the old and weak, they wanted to cling to someone stronger.

Jiang Cheng said, “We don’t even know what the situation with Duoduo is yet. We want to observe things first.”

After thinking for a moment, she added, “You don’t need to panic so much about supplies. There are probably plenty of apartments whose occupants never made it back. If things get truly desperate, you can try coordinating with your neighbors first.”

She didn’t say steal or rob. She said “coordinate.”

Even Zhou Wang had to admit that the suggestion made sense.

Everyone understood that in a densely populated urban area, many people had certainly never made it back.

All of them were wearing armor now, and several sets had been taken from apartments they had forced their way into.

At a time like this, there was no point talking about unlawful entry, robbery, or private property. Everything had to be done according to circumstances and urgency.

Zhou Wang said, “We just came to discuss things. Our two communities are familiar with each other, and we cooperated last time. We hope to keep that cooperation going this time as well.”

Jiang Cheng asked, “How many people are there in your community altogether?”

Zhou Wang sighed. “A little over a hundred.”

“How many of them are still useful?”

Zhou Wang glanced back. “They’re all here.”

The old men and women fell silent too, watching them anxiously.

There was also someone who looked like a middle school student, with a faint down of hair above his lip. He didn’t dare interrupt either, simply listening to the adults speak.

He seemed less composed than Little Huang.

Jiang Cheng asked, “Where’s Little Huang?”

“Haven’t seen him. He should’ve gone to school,” Zhou Wang said. “If he were here, he’d definitely come looking for me. I haven’t seen his mother either. She’s a civil servant and works at the development-zone government offices. She probably hasn’t come back either.”

Old Huang’s family of three had all been people of courage and bearing. After Old Huang’s death, Zhou Wang had continued to look after Little Huang.

If Little Huang had been home, he wouldn’t have hidden away instead of coming out.

Unlike several households whose elderly members had armor at home but refused to send anyone out—or even hand over the armor.

The people from the Youth Apartments said nothing. They simply looked at the group, their faces full of helpless sorrow.

Zhou Wang understood. He said, “We’re only hoping that if you go buy Duoduo, you’ll let us tag along. We’ll just follow along and take advantage of the protection you provide on the way. Otherwise, with this bunch of old folks, we really won’t manage.”

He clasped his hands together. “Please, everyone, give us a little help.”

Jiang Cheng turned back and exchanged looks with the others.

Interestingly, if Jiang Cheng had been alone, she could have refused Zhou Wang’s request without the slightest hesitation.

But precisely because other people were present, she couldn’t bring herself to be so cold and heartless.

After all, even Song Jingshuo—the publicly acknowledged social Darwinist and self-interested elitist among the Youth Apartments—couldn’t bring himself to ignore a group of elderly people.

Everyone whose eyes met Jiang Cheng’s gave a slight nod.

Jiang Cheng said, “This situation is different from last time. Neither community has many people left, and most households still have some food stored away. There’s no need to panic. Before we decide whether to buy Duoduo, we need to observe the situation first.”

Zhou Wang also knew that things weren’t yet so urgent. He had come mainly to state his position and maintain good relations.

Jiang Cheng hadn’t agreed, but she hadn’t rejected him outright either. That was enough.

The people from the Youth Apartments had stayed just inside the east gate to receive them, with no intention of letting them deeper into the community.

Zhou Wang thanked them repeatedly before leading his people back.

Jiang Cheng and the others headed back.

Some people were still registering over by the small plaza. Those who had finished registering were already piling up corpses in preparation for burning them.

But a dispute had broken out in one spot.

When everyone went over to see what was happening, they found Su Yu.

Everyone had put on armor before coming downstairs, and Su Yu was wearing the medium-sized suit of armor she had bought.

The armor’s original owner had come looking for her and was insisting that Su Yu return it.

Su Yu refused. “I bought it with my own money. The transaction is complete.”

The man said, “I’ll give you a refund.”

“I don’t want your money,” Su Yu said.

“I’ll give you double!”

This wasn’t about money at all.

Armor could be called the greatest invention of the previous zombie crisis.

Its protective capabilities were so excellent that once humans put it on, they could attack with full force and abandon. They no longer had to focus more on defense out of fear of being injured and infected.

It had completely reversed the balance between humans and zombies.

By the later stages, people were no longer afraid of zombies at all. That psychological transformation had also rested on a material foundation.

Su Yu naturally refused again. “I don’t want your money!”

Su Yu was a member of the provisional committee. She actively participated in all kinds of activities, and many people knew her well enough to understand her personality.

The man’s thoughts shifted, and he tried a different argument. “I’m much stronger than you. When we go out to kill zombies, I’ll be far more useful than you. It’s better for everyone if I’m the one using the armor.”

Su Yu hesitated.

She had indeed been persuaded. Deep down, she felt that her combat ability was inferior to his, and that keeping a suit of armor for herself might hold everyone back.

The silly girl was about to take it off.

Li Jiangbing swore and hurried over.

He didn’t expect Jiang Cheng or Song Jingshuo to say anything fair. He knew both of them too well and understood exactly what they were like.

For Jiang Cheng and Song Jingshuo, they would definitely rather have a stronger male fighter wearing armor accompany them.

That was simply the kind of people they were.

But Li Jiangbing was different.

People naturally had those they were closer to than others. To Li Jiangbing, Su Yu was one of his own.

He couldn’t stand by and watch someone bully her like this.

The moment Su Yu moved to take off the armor, delight flickered across the man’s face. Li Jiangbing immediately stepped between them.

“What are you doing? I’m talking to you! Don’t take it off. What do you mean? You already sold it to him!”

The first “you” was directed at Su Yu; the second was directed at the man.

Li Jiangbing was already a burly man, and wearing his oversized armor made him look even bigger—like a mountain.

He blocked Su Yu completely from view.

Su Yu still wanted to explain, but Li Jiangbing cut her off and went straight after the man. “You just had to fight over the armor a woman’s wearing? There are four hundred suits of armor in our complex! Don’t you know how to go find one in someone else’s apartment? Use your brain!”

“But...”

The man did know of several neighbors who had armor but hadn’t returned this time. The problem was that getting it would mean breaking down their doors and trespassing illegally.

“But what? What ‘but’? Which building are you in? I’ll go with you.” Li Jiangbing looked around and spotted someone he knew. “Hey, you! Bring your crowbar and come with me!”

Jiang Cheng supported this plan. Armor was far too important in the fight against zombies to be left unused.

“Anyone without armor, find an apartment that has some,” Jiang Cheng said. “Jiangbing will lead a team to pry open the doors. Get all the armor out.”

Once Jiang Cheng spoke, it was as if the “official authorities” had approved the plan.

A crowd immediately gathered around them.

“I don’t have any.”

“My next-door neighbor should have a suit.”

“I know whose apartment has one.”

Li Jiangbing led a group of people without armor from door to door, searching for suits to salvage.

Bodies began to be burned in the square.

Master Luo’s body was among them.

Aunt Pan finally burst into tears. It was better that she let it out; everyone was afraid that holding it in would make her ill.

Manager Wang ran back and forth, organizing everything and doing his best to show how useful he was.

Compared with the previous time, there were far fewer bodies this time.

But the flames were still searingly hot, just as they had been before.

The feelings in everyone’s hearts, however, were different now.

There was less fear and less grief. No one was panicking. They had all been tempered by experience.

Jiang Cheng’s phone rang again.

She glanced at the screen. The caller was Li Feng.

Thank goodness—Li Feng was still alive.

Jiang Cheng answered. “Li Feng?”

But the call was disconnected immediately.

She called back, only to have the other end reject the call again. Clearly, he couldn’t answer at the moment.

Jiang Cheng didn’t call again.

The storeroom door at Maiduo Supermarket was half open.

A zombie had been wandering around inside for quite some time, pacing back and forth near the doorway. Then it was suddenly drawn by a noise outside and finally squeezed through the gap in the half-open door into the shopping area.

The storeroom was spacious, with an extremely high ceiling. The shelves were eight meters tall.

If someone looked up from below, they would see that even the highest shelves were piled with large packages of goods.

A professional mobile ladder was parked beside one of the shelves. The platform at the top of the ladder was right next to a gap in the top tier of the shelf. Large packages of goods were stacked all around it, but not in that particular spot, creating the gap.

Nothing unusual could be seen from below.

In reality, at the very top of the shelf, the stock clerks had arranged a ring of merchandise around the edges to block the view. The space in the middle had been cleared out. There was not only a small plastic stool and a folding table, but even a single mattress.

There were boxes of snacks, water, and playing cards, along with one wuxia novel and two erotic comics.

This was the stock clerks’ secret hideout.

Normally, they came up here to slack off. Even when the manager came looking, he could never find them. If they were caught again, they would simply claim they had gone to the bathroom. In reality, they would hide up above, covering their mouths as they snickered at the manager weaving through the shelves below in search of them.

Now Guo Jun and Brother Dong were hiding there. The two of them had lain flat among the merchandise, peeking out with only their eyes exposed as they watched the zombie. They waited until it finally left the storeroom and entered the shopping area.

Only then did they let out a long sigh of relief and sit up together.

Brother Dong felt that he was unbelievably unlucky.

He knew that after heartlessly taking the supplies and abandoning his coworkers back then, there was no way he would ever be able to work with them again. So when the manager had called him back to work after the disaster, he hadn’t gone. He had simply resigned.

At the time, however, the government had pressured businesses to immediately restore logistics and help ordinary people return to a normal life.

The supermarket had been swamped with work and short-staffed, so his resignation paperwork had never been processed.

Finally, things had slowed down a little in recent days, and Human Resources called him in to settle his wages.

His parents had a rural home on the outskirts of the city, where they grew vegetables, raised chickens, and worked their fields. The population density was low, and it was safe.

He had been living quite comfortably there. Yet, of all times, he had chosen to come in yesterday to collect his pay.

And that was when the second outbreak of the zombie virus happened.

Brother Dong felt especially guilty. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Heaven was punishing him for abandoning his coworkers.

Please, don’t let him die here.