Everyone ate their fill and dozed off in the vehicles.
The middle schoolers fell asleep leaning on each other’s shoulders.
There were also many zombies on the Second Ring Road, and no living people were visible outdoors.
Cui Haiyang occasionally opened his eyes to glance outside—the zombies chasing the vehicles would just throw themselves onto the blades anyway.
Only the drivers had it rough, unable to sleep at all.
When the TV station’s antenna finally came into view in the distance, the driver yelled out: “Wake up, wake up, everyone—we’re almost there!”
Everyone sat up groggily.
Some hurriedly wiped the drool from their mouths.
Jiang Cheng opened her eyes and saw the TV station in the distance.
This TV station had a long history, and its exterior design was quite old-school.
In fact, a new TV station was already under construction on East Fourth Ring Road, and by the original schedule, they were supposed to move into the new building next year.
But now, everything had stopped.
Unlike the municipal government’s massive steel gate, the TV station compound’s entrance was open—only the barrier arm at the vehicle checkpoint was lowered.
The large buses crashed through the arm and barged in.
Little Huang frowned, tilting his head slightly as he stared at the old-fashioned TV station.
He thought for a moment, then issued a warning: “Everyone, be careful. I don’t feel right.”
The people in the vehicle were quite surprised.
Jiang Cheng asked: “Do you sense danger?”
Little Huang nodded.
Little Huang hadn’t just started coming out to kill zombies yesterday—he was already a seasoned member. He’d been to schools, to the district government, into the city, into the municipal government—and he’d never said anything like this before.
This was the first time he’d warned everyone.
The two new middle schoolers were a boy and a girl.
The boy was named Li Guhang, and the girl was Chang Jiaxin.
Chang Jiaxin whispered: “What’s up with him?”
Wang Yunya whispered back: “His superpower is danger premonition.”
The newcomers suddenly understood.
Li Guhang whispered: “I thought he was a wind-type, the way he moves so awesomely.”
Wang Yunya: “Wind-types are just fast runners.”
Jiang Cheng immediately used the radio to notify the other vehicles: “Everyone, pay attention. Little Huang senses danger! Everyone must be extremely careful! Stay focused, don’t let your guard down!”
The three other vehicles replied over the radio: “Copy that!”
Zhao Yi said: “Why aren’t there any zombies in this courtyard?”
Indeed—the government compound had been packed with zombies, so why couldn’t you see any zombies in the TV station’s courtyard?
Of course, there were no living people in sight either.
Someone speculated: “Maybe they all wandered outside. The gate isn’t closed here either.”
It was only that barrier arm for vehicles—zombies could easily get out.
“That’s not it,” Zhao Yi said, pressing against the window and looking outside. “If they could get out, then zombies from outside could also get in. The probabilities should be equal.”
Everyone couldn’t help but look toward the entrance, and only then did they notice: “The zombies outside have dispersed!”
The large vehicles rumbled loudly as they drove, and zombies were highly sensitive to sound—not to mention the fresh flesh and blood on board. Zombies always chased after the vehicles.
That’s why at the municipal government, they’d left Mo Li to hold off the zombies outside, and after the convoy entered the compound, Cui Haiyang restored the steel gate to keep outside zombies from causing trouble.
But now, the zombies that had been gathered around chasing the convoy had scattered.
They hadn’t charged in, nor had they clustered at the entrance—they’d dispersed.
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances, reminding each other: “Stay alert.”
Since there were no zombies, they could get out directly. But Jiang Cheng still sent Mo Li down first. Mo Li leaped out and, upon landing, had grown to the size of a leopard.
This change in size meant that at least nearby, there was no unusual or special danger different from before.
From this, it seemed that Mo Li’s perception and Little Huang’s perception were different.
“Mo Li’s perception is closer to biological—or perhaps we could call it physical perception, like radar,” Zhao Yi summed it up briefly. “Little Huang’s… is more metaphysical.”
Jiang Cheng nodded: “Pretty much.”
Small cats and dogs could already detect movements or scents from a distance—before humans even heard or saw anything. After Mo Li’s mutation, that ability had been amplified.
Little Huang’s danger perception operated on an entirely different system.
It was very metaphysical, very fortune-teller-like—but extremely accurate.
Jiang Cheng: “Mo Li.”
Mo Li gave a “meow” and dashed into the TV station. A living scout.
Zhou Wang said: “I’ll go take a look.”
He zipped in and zipped back out, looking stunned: “There are no zombies in the lobby. Not a single one!”
Everyone exchanged glances. Jiang Cheng was the first to step toward the main entrance, and the others followed.
The first-floor lobby had a very high ceiling and lavish decor.
Facing the entrance was a grand, imposing reception desk, with passageways and turnstiles leading to the interior on both sides.
There was no one at the reception desk. The entire first-floor lobby was completely empty—not a single zombie, and of course, no people either.
But the floor was covered in many colors.
Brown in various shades.
It should be zombie blood and human blood. Zombie blood was thick and sticky, like paste, and darker in color. Even when dried, zombie blood remained darker than human blood.
There were large patches of color, drag marks, and handprints.
You could easily imagine a chaotic scene.
People screaming, zombies tearing and biting.
But where had all the people and zombies gone now?
Suddenly, loud, gasping breaths came from behind!
Those walking ahead turned around in shock—Little Huang was gasping heavily! Like he’d just finished a long run, or more like a stress response after a sudden fright.
Short and panicked.
Jiang Cheng asked in a low voice: “Little Huang?”
Little Huang forced his open mouth shut, tried to breathe through his nose, but it was still heavy and rough.
He controlled himself for a moment and said: “Wait a second.”
He turned and walked out, and the people behind parted to make way.
Little Huang stepped out of the entrance into the open space outside.
That feeling vanished instantly.
Little Huang steadied his breathing, then stepped back inside.
The suffocating, oppressive sense of danger enveloped him in an instant!
Little Huang sucked in a sharp breath.
Jiang Cheng didn’t urge him, and no one dared to speak.
Little Huang took two deep breaths and said: “As soon as I come in, the danger level spikes. When I go out, it drops to a bearable level.”
But he was standing just inside the doorway—in and out, only one step apart.
Zhao Yi thought for a moment, then looked up: “Terrain environment.”
Everyone looked at Zhao Yi.
Gao Yuxuan let out an “ah,” clearly understanding.
Some in the crowd made sounds of realization one after another—all young people.
Middle-aged folks like Zhou Wang were completely lost.
Gao Yuxuan explained to Jiang Cheng: “It’s like fighting monsters in a game. Depending on the monster’s attack attributes, the terrain might be very disadvantageous for the player. Usually we try to lure the monster out to another area where the terrain environment favors the player instead.”
Now everyone understood.
They couldn’t help but look up and glance around.
Gao Yuxuan thought for a moment: “It should be because outside is more open and we have vehicles—higher survival odds. So the difference in perception between inside and outside is huge.”
That explained the drastic contrast over just one step.
Little Huang had calmed down now: “Sister Jiang Cheng, let’s go.”
Jiang Cheng nodded.
Everyone walked up to the reception desk and saw the floor directory on the wall.
There were 11 floors total. The topmost were equipment floors with antennas and the like.
The middle floors were office areas.
The studios and such were on the lower floors.
Everyone took the stairs up.
Stairwells were supposed to have fire doors—double doors.
Now both doors lay flat on the ground.
As they entered the stairwell, someone remarked: “It’s really wide.”
The stairs were very broad—about twice the width of those in the Youth Apartments building. The space was also much more open.
On the second floor, the fire doors were also lying on the floor.
Jiang Cheng frowned and paused there for a moment.
Others noticed too: “Knocked down by zombies, right?”
Second-generation zombies were extremely strong—they could definitely smash through doors like that.
But the question was: where were the zombies?
The second floor was eerily quiet.
Back during the first zombie outbreak, everyone had cleared out office buildings and mixed-use buildings before. At that time, those buildings had few zombies, much like the residential buildings this time.
But this time, office buildings couldn’t possibly have few zombies.
Because people had been at their workplaces when it happened.
A building this large should have been like the municipal government and district government—with many zombies wandering the hallways.
Gao Yuxuan and Guo Jun were at the front. They’d switched from offense to support, specializing in crowd control and slowing—and it worked great.
Once they locked things down, the people behind would charge forward in coordination.
The moment Little Huang stepped into the second-floor hallway, his breathing quickened, his face turned pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
Wang Yunya was beside him and could feel him almost swaying—she quickly grabbed his arm: “Are you okay?”
Little Huang breathed rapidly: “It’s here!”
Jiang Cheng turned to look at him.
Little Huang said: “It’s on this floor!”
But no one could see anything—the hallway was completely empty.
Everyone grew suspicious and on edge. Though they jokingly said that third-generation zombies were smart enough “to run home when it rains,” in reality, their intelligence was a bit higher than that.
Third-generation zombies didn’t just survive and flee—they also ambushed and struck from hiding.
Deqing Li had been thrown into chaos by just two third-generation zombies.
Little Huang couldn’t describe what he felt.
If the previous feeling was “danger,” this time it was pure “death.”
Influenced by Old Huang, Little Huang had read some books on feng shui and metaphysics. He understood concepts like the “gate of life” and the “gate of death.”
He’d reflected on his own experiences and concluded that his danger-sensing movement had always placed him squarely on the gate of life.
But now, he felt suffocated.
Ahead were nothing but gates of death.
Not a single gate of life in sight.
He had nowhere to dodge.
But everyone couldn’t just turn back because Little Huang’s danger premonition was so strong.
After all, coming out to kill zombies meant taking risks.
Jiang Cheng could only say: “Everyone up front, be careful.”
Gao Yuxuan said: “I’ll go full power! Highest voltage! Strongest current!”
No more cost-effectiveness—just survival.
They were pushing forward while talking.
The hallway was empty, and the open rooms on both sides were also empty.
It was very eerie.
Those rooms were all functional spaces—each was large, with sets and equipment visible inside.
The doors were also wide—double doors—and all of them had been ripped from their frames, lying on the floor.
Ahead, they were approaching the end of the hallway, which turned a corner—more hallway beyond.
If they kept going, Little Huang would suffocate.
“Stop walking!” he finally couldn’t hold back and shouted. “Stop walking! It’s right ahead!”
The ground suddenly trembled.
An enormous thing poked its head out from around the corner of the hallway.
It was an ugly, enormous face.
An enormous body—shoulders and back scraping against the ceiling, forcing its massive head to crane forward.
This wasn’t in line with normal human anatomy; it looked more like a cat or dog.
Its huge body was like a wall of flesh, crammed into the entire hallway, brushing against the ceiling, scraping the walls.
It moved like a baboon or gorilla, its two enormous fists planted on the ground, propelling its body forward.
With every step, the ground shuddered.
Little Huang finally understood why that suffocating, deathly feeling had hit him so hard.
He had survived among zombies through precise positioning. But this giant zombie’s body completely blocked the hallway—there was no room to maneuver at all.
No gate of life—so of course it was all gates of death.
When his positioning skill failed, Little Huang was just a scrawny, not-very-strong middle schooler.
And this giant zombie was clearly intelligent. It had been lying in ambush around the corner of the hallway.
If Little Huang hadn’t stopped Gao Yuxuan from moving forward, Gao Yuxuan might already be in the monster’s mouth!
It heard them stop, so it showed itself.
That huge, ugly face actually smiled—hideous and chilling.
The wall of flesh came thundering toward them, pounding the ground.
“Holy crap, fall back, fall back, FALL BACK—!”
Gao Yuxuan screamed at the top of his lungs while frantically discharging electricity!
But even the combined maximum output of Gao Yuxuan and Guo Jun—the two strongest electric-types—couldn’t stop the wall of flesh from charging forward.
Aunt Pan reacted quickly too, instantly pulling up a wall to seal the hallway. But the next instant, the wall was shattered to pieces.
Jiang Cheng shouted: “Su Yu!”
Su Yu stepped forward, hands overlapping and pushing out. White light coalesced—a white light shield, or rather a light wall, shot forward.
The giant monster roared as it collided with the light wall.
Jiang Cheng’s voice rang out, calm and commanding: “Fall back in order! Don’t run wild!”
If everyone panicked in this crowded hallway, a stampede would break out in no time.
They had to retreat.
A monster like this couldn’t be handled by sheer numbers—especially since, as Zhao Yi had said, the terrain was completely disadvantageous to humans.
In a hallway like this, only the people in front could engage the giant monster directly; everyone behind was blocked.
Fortunately, everyone’s mental resilience had really been forged over these days, and they’d more or less become indifferent to life and death—no panicked fleeing occurred.
Ordinary civilians had developed a bit of a warrior’s discipline.
They stayed calm, retreating quickly and orderly.
Guo Yuxuan and Guo Jun also withdrew their superpowers—since they were useless, there was no point wasting them. They could both retreat quickly too.
But retreating was hard for Su Yu.
Her light wall was holding back the giant monster; she couldn’t just turn around and run.
Li Jiangbing roared: “Su Yu, hold steady!”
He charged over, knowing Su Yu couldn’t turn around. He twisted in front of her, crouched, and hoisted her onto his shoulder: “Stay steady! We’ll cover the rear!”
Su Yu felt Li Jiangbing’s strong, powerful arms support her. She sat on his arm, one hand around his neck to steady herself, the other hand always stretched forward, controlling the light wall.
Li Jiangbing ran with Su Yu in his arms, and only then did Jiang Cheng start pulling back.
But as the three of them retreated, Su Yu’s light wall moved with them—this was the farthest distance she could control.
The giant monster couldn’t break through the light wall, so it pounded furiously while pursuing relentlessly.
With every pound, Su Yu felt a dull pain in her chest.
At full power output, the protective dome could absorb attacks and impacts on its own. But clearly, the giant monster’s strength was too great—the dome couldn’t absorb everything, and the residual force rebounded onto Su Yu.
Everyone retreated while looking back—the giant monster was held back solely by Su Yu’s light wall, but they couldn’t shake it!
How much longer could Su Yu hold on?
What would happen when she couldn’t hold on anymore?
Just then, many people felt a step on their heads.
When they looked up, the figure was already gone—it was too fast.
Mo Li was too fast!
He sprinted across everyone’s heads—
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