Zhao Yi, being the kind of otaku who loved anime and manga, usually wasn’t one to stand out or draw attention to himself.
But this time was different.
Superpowers! That was way too anime-like, wasn’t it?
In fact, right after the first zombie crisis ended, Zhao Yi had said to Gao Yuxuan: “Looking back on these past two months, it feels like we’ve been living in some kind of intense, blood-pumping action anime.”
“The male lead would have to be Song Jingshuo.”
“The female lead, of course, is Jiang Cheng.”
“Jiang Bing? He’d at least be the second male lead.”
“You and me? Extra?”
“Li Feng? Li Feng is the cannon fodder who pushes the male and female lead’s relationship forward. But honestly, he didn’t really do a great job—didn’t seem to push them much.”
Now, today, everything seemed to have returned to how it was before. Then suddenly, they received a warning from the female lead—no, from Jiang Cheng. The sense of fate was overwhelming.
Zhao Yi didn’t hesitate to believe Jiang Cheng.
After that, when he woke up and accidentally touched a flowerpot, he felt a connection and discovered he had the superpower to control soil.
Zhao Yi genuinely began to wonder if he was living in some kind of anime.
Everything, absolutely everything, was so anime-like.
And since it was anime, it fell right into Zhao Yi’s territory.
“Right now, we’ve got metal, water, earth, fire, lightning, and… the protective shield counts as psychic, I guess,” he summarized.
Jiang Bing didn’t understand: “What ‘element’?”
“You know, metal, wood, water, fire, earth,” Zhao Yi said. “See, right now we’re only missing wood. Gao Yuxuan and Su Yu have special abilities.”
That made it much easier to understand.
In short, everyone now understood the situation. After this bout of unconsciousness, aside from some people turning into zombies, some becoming second-generation or even third-generation zombies, a portion of those who hadn’t turned had suddenly awakened superpowers.
“Superpowers” sounded way cooler and more flashy than Jiang Bing’s term “special abilities,” so everyone naturally went with the former.
Jiang Bing agreed that superpowers sounded better, so he gladly accepted it.
He glanced at Jiang Cheng.
According to Zhao Yi’s explanation, Jiang Cheng’s ability would also count as a special one.
But Jiang Cheng hadn’t said a word and hadn’t raised her hand. Jiang Bing felt she probably didn’t want to talk about it. Although Jiang Bing seemed rough and carefree, he actually had a strong sense of boundaries. Since Jiang Cheng wasn’t speaking up, he wouldn’t speak for her.
Fortunately, at that moment, Jiang Cheng spoke up: “In that case, mine is also a special ability.”
Everyone looked at her.
Jiang Cheng had already weighed her options. She wasn’t just an ordinary person in the crowd who could easily blend in. She had always been the leader of the youth apartment complex—last time, and this time too. She was someone people watched. Eventually, everyone would find out anyway.
Rather than being discovered later and earning a negative impression of “hiding things,” losing everyone’s trust, it was better to be honest now.
See? How could the fated female lead not have superpowers!
Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan’s eyes lit up: “What’s your superpower?”
Jiang Cheng raised the fire axe in her hand—her weapon was still that fire axe. After the zombie crisis ended, the four city buses from the bus company were returned, the two forklifts from Duomai Duomai were returned, and all those shopping carts were returned too.
But she kept the fire axe.
And like Song Jingshuo, she had polished it before putting it away.
That fire axe vanished into thin air.
As everyone looked on in surprise, it reappeared in Jiang Cheng’s hand.
Gao Yuxuan and Zhao Yi were so excited that one pumped his fist in the air and the other tapped frantically at the air before finally managing to speak: “Spatial ability! Isn’t it! Isn’t it a spatial ability?”
“Yes,” Jiang Cheng clarified for everyone. “I have a space where I can store things. But it’s not big—just a small one.”
From everyone’s earlier demonstrations, it was clear that no one’s superpower was very strong.
Even Su Yu’s protective shield only lasted for a very short time, and her expression clearly showed she was probably suffering from a headache—she kept frowning and rubbing her temples.
There was so much information all at once. Everyone buzzed with chatter and discussion, needing time to process and absorb it all.
Jiang Bing turned and looked Song Jingshuo up and down.
Song Jingshuo said irritably, “I don’t have one.”
Jiang Bing was disappointed: “Nothing?”
He had hoped everyone he knew would have one.
Song Jingshuo wasn’t happy about it either.
Although the superpowers everyone displayed were weak and seemed useless, this was likely just the beginning.
Think about it—the original zombies could barely coordinate their limbs, but now third-generation zombies had developed intelligence. Not super high intelligence, but at least they’d reached the level of “knowing to run home when it rains.”
The word “evolution” unexpectedly surfaced in his mind.
Yes, if you had to call it evolution, he definitely couldn’t agree that zombification was evolution.
But humans gaining superpowers was undeniably evolution.
He didn’t have superpowers. Had he been left behind by this evolution?
Su Yu was standing right next to Jiang Bing and heard their exchange.
She hesitated for a moment, then said, “Actually… until just now, I didn’t even know I had superpowers.”
Several people nearby stopped to listen to her.
Su Yu continued: “It just suddenly burst out earlier. I was completely confused myself.”
Jiang Bing said, “I felt it when I touched water.”
Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan had also awakened their abilities through contact with their corresponding elements.
Since several of them had spoken up, those without superpowers couldn’t help but discuss among themselves: “Does that mean we still have a chance too?”
Jiang Cheng spoke.
Every time she said something, she could instantly command the attention of the entire room.
Jiang Cheng said: “There’s no rush with the superpower business. Everyone go back and feel it out slowly—maybe you’ll have one tomorrow.”
“For now, let’s clear the buildings first.”
Right, right, right—everyone had experience with this.
The courtyard looked clear of zombies for now, but there might be some inside the buildings. They needed to clear out their living space first.
Jiang Cheng pulled out her phone and dialed: “Let’s go to the property management office first and get the walkie-talkies.”
No one answered the property management phone, which was expected. Because Master Luo and Yang Xinyan had both received Jiang Cheng’s text message, and Master Luo had even met up with her in person—he would have definitely evacuated the people at the management office.
Jiang Cheng then called Master Luo’s number.
The call was answered quickly, but it wasn’t Master Luo speaking—it was Sister Pan: “Hello, Xiao Jiang?”
Sister Pan’s voice was lower than usual, very calm.
But Jiang Cheng’s heart sank. She paused, then asked: “Sister, is Master Luo still there?”
The people around her went quiet for a moment.
Sister Pan said softly: “He’s gone. I took care of it.”
Jiang Cheng gave an “oh” and said apologetically: “My condolences.”
Then she added: “Don’t come out for now. It’s safer inside. We’ll clear the buildings in a bit and talk more once it’s safe.”
Sister Pan hummed in acknowledgment, and the two ended the call.
Sister Pan hadn’t even turned on the lights.
Because when she woke up, it was still light out—brighter than the purplish, overcast gloom of that afternoon.
They had followed Jiang Cheng’s instructions and returned to apartment 0308.
A few of the empty, ownerless apartments in the complex had indeed been claimed by relatives who showed up. But Little Bai’s father’s relatives never appeared, so Master Luo and his wife continued living in 0308.
Master Luo had told her: “We need to quarantine separately. Here’s what we’ll do—you stay outside, and I’ll stay in the bathroom.”
Master Luo was meticulous and handy. He stretched tape horizontally across the bathroom doorframe at a low height to act as a tripwire.
“If you turn, and I open the door from inside, you’ll trip if you charge in, and then I’ll… take care of you.”
“If I turn, and you open the door from outside, I’ll trip if I rush out. You deal with me right away—don’t hesitate, you can’t afford to hesitate.”
Sister Pan agreed: “You don’t need to worry about me. I don’t blink an eye when I kill zombies out there.”
Sister Pan was a physical laborer. If Zhao Yi got into a fight with her, it’d be hard to say who’d win.
Anyway, they set up that little booby trap.
When she woke up, she went to knock on the bathroom door. The sound that came from inside made her heart turn cold.
Master Luo had turned into a regular zombie. He couldn’t open the door.
Sister Pan cried by the door for a long time. Finally, she gripped her steel pipe tight, pressed herself against the wall next to the door, and reached out to turn the handle.
Everything went just as they’d agreed.
If he turned, she’d deal with him. If she turned, he’d deal with her. In short, the couple would handle their own business and not cause trouble for anyone else.
The tripwire worked as expected.
Master Luo rushed out and was tripped immediately. In this apartment layout, the bathroom door opened onto the entryway, facing a wall directly opposite.
Master Luo’s forehead slammed straight into the wall, his body angled sideways.
Sister Pan raised her steel pipe and, gritting her teeth, brought it down…
Handle your own affairs yourself—don’t cause trouble for others.
When people dealt with zombies, if it was someone they didn’t know, or even someone vaguely familiar, it was usually fine. Their nerves had been toughened up.
But it still hurt when it was someone they knew.
Earlier, when Jiang Bing and the others teamed up to kill He Tian and her group, it was fine because they didn’t know He Tian.
But Su Yu was in pain because they were friends.
Jiang Bing also felt sad because it was an acquaintance he had good feelings toward.
Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan felt a faint regret, like that of a pure bystander.
Master Luo was gone. Several people felt the loss.
Jiang Cheng, Jiang Bing, and Cui Haiyang especially.
Everyone went to the property management office.
The Quanjia team took point, with U-shaped forks thrust forward, keeping a careful guard.
But the management office was completely empty.
The property manager had decided not to go home today—actually, watching Jiang Cheng make a fool of herself was just an excuse. He really just didn’t want to go back and help his kid with homework.
Now he had a bunch of empty apartments at his disposal. Many young white-collar workers had decorated their little homes really nicely. Some of the beds had expensive mattresses that felt amazing to lie on.
After the accountant left, the manager went and found a unit with a good bed and a computer. He slept in someone else’s bed and played games on someone else’s computer.
Living the good life.
Until he slumped from the computer chair to the floor and passed out. When he woke up and heard the commotion in the courtyard, he crawled to the window and looked out—his world collapsed.
Jiang Cheng’s warning from 0306 in Building 2 had actually been real!
Everyone got the walkie-talkies from the management center.
Jiang Cheng also made an announcement over the PA system: [To all surviving residents—we are now beginning to clear the buildings. Residents without armor or protective gear should stay inside and try not to come out. Tomorrow at 9 AM, all surviving residents are to gather at the small plaza for roll call.]
She took care of everything in one go, so they wouldn’t have to make another trip later.
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