Jiang Cheng opened her eyes and woke up.
Moli jumped onto her chest, sniffed her nose, then sat down quietly and gazed at her.
Jiang Cheng closed her eyes and focused intently.
Before falling asleep last night, she had repeatedly sensed her spatial storage and forcibly committed that feeling to memory.
There was no mistake—her storage space had definitely… advanced again.
Zhao Yi hadn’t even swallowed his first bite of breakfast before Jiang Cheng pulled him aside to talk.
Zhang Lesi spotted them from afar and nudged Su Yu with her elbow: “Look at Zhao Yi. Why does he always look so tense around Jiang Cheng?”
Su Yu glanced over: “He’s afraid of her.”
Zhang Lesi: “…?”
Su Yu could actually understand it, but she couldn’t explain it to Zhang Lesi. Someone as easygoing as Zhang Lesi couldn’t possibly relate to people who tended to carry things heavily inside.
Zhang Lesi bit into her pancake: “…Zhao Yi wouldn’t have a crush on Jiang Cheng, would he?”
“…” Su Yu said flatly, “No.”
“I didn’t think so either,” Zhang Lesi said. “Isn’t Jiang Cheng dating Song Jingshuo?”
Su Yu said flatly again, “No.”
Zhang Lesi: “…How do you know?”
Su Yu: “You’ll know after spending enough time around them.”
The kind of chemistry between two people who are drawn to each other should be something hazy, sticky, and inseparable.
Not like two people who, the moment they get close, seem to have a data table materialize in the background—you fill in a row of numbers, I fill in a row of numbers.
Crisp gridlines. Precise values.
Nickel-and-diming every little thing.
Zhang Lesi: “They’re looking this way. Are they looking at you or at me?”
Su Yu looked up—sure enough, the two had glanced in their direction before turning back to continue their conversation.
She turned to look at Zhang Lesi, who was biting her lip.
That was exactly right—the kind of thing that turns someone who’s usually decisive and straightforward into someone anxious and clingy—that was chemistry.
Zhao Yi said: “It definitely has to do with the psyche. All the current samples show this pattern. Look at Su Yu—she’s the most typical case.”
Jiang Cheng and Zhao Yi both turned to glance at Su Yu in the distance.
Su Yu used to be closest to He Tian. Since He Tian was gone, she’d started pairing up with Zhang Lesi. Their personalities were quite different, yet they got along harmoniously—quite complementary.
Of course, aside from Sister Pan and Jiang Cheng, they were also recognized as the strongest, most unique, and most useful female superpower users. It was only natural they’d gravitate toward each other.
Humans are social creatures—everyone needs a partner.
Zhao Yi asked: “Have you experienced any psychological shock? Any major mental shift? Did that Director Guo scare you?”
Jiang Cheng dismissed it: “Things like that don’t scare me.”
[Things like that don’t scare me—what a lead-character thing to say!] Zhao Yi worked hard to keep his expression in check.
He tried so hard that, from Zhang Lesi and Su Yu’s distant perspective, he did look somewhat stiff.
But that was still better than losing control and grinning like an idiot, making people think he was crazy.
Zhao Yi tried steering the conversation in a more professional direction: “Have you overcome something, conquered something within yourself, or made some kind of change?”
Jiang Cheng lifted her eyelids.
Change? Yes, that was exactly it.
At the TV station, she’d decided to take in over five hundred refugees who looked completely lifeless. She’d announced live that the tech district was open to receive refugees.
She’d been changing ever since that moment.
Not just taking in “useful” strong people, but sheltering the weak as well.
The theories she’d read in books were interesting—she wanted to try them out.
It actually went against her own principles. Even Song Jingshuo had noticed.
The day before yesterday, five hundred refugees moved in. Yesterday, she was surprised to find her storage space could hold that many things.
Yesterday, she saved a group of people who would have died if they’d waited any longer. Today, when she woke up, her space had clearly upgraded again.
But this was different from Su Yu’s situation—where a psychological shock triggered a brain burst.
This felt more like… a reward for getting the right answer.
Jiang Cheng crossed her arms: “Don’t you find this theory a bit vague and intangible?”
Now this was something Zhao Yi could get fired up about: “Humans have only developed less than ten percent of their brains. We can’t deny infinite possibilities just because our technology can’t reach them yet. We can say with reverence that it’s the domain of gods—but we can’t simply dismiss it.”
The domain of gods.
Throwing a person’s soul into another world—that did sound like something only a god, or someone with divine power, could do.
A god manipulated her.
A god watched her.
A god commended her.
“Got it.” Jiang Cheng nodded. “Go eat now—don’t let it get cold.”
Jiang Cheng turned and walked away.
Hey, hey… so what was the reason after all? He really wanted to know too!
Zhao Yi turned away in disappointment, and as he looked up, he saw Zhang Lesi standing in the distance with her arms crossed, staring at him.
Zhao Yi: “…”
That was another person he was a little afraid of.
Zhao Yi quickly looked around for Gao Yuxuan.
Where the hell did he go—probably taking a dump!
—
“You’re right,” Zhang Lesi said. “This doesn’t even feel like me.”
Su Yu had just called out her current state.
Zhang Lesi said: “I’ll go ask him directly later.”
“If he likes Jiang Cheng…” she said, “I won’t give up easily either.”
Su Yu nearly choked on her porridge.
“Why the big reaction?” Zhang Lesi said. “Even if he likes Jiang Cheng, she’s not dating him. Of course I have to fight for it. If you want something, you have to go after it yourself. You can’t just give up that easily.”
Su Yu sighed: “We really do have different personalities.”
Zhang Lesi teased: “Right—you just sit and wait for the rabbit to hit the tree stump, huh? You just stay home waiting for someone else to make the first move. If the other person is just like you, you two can wait for each other for ten thousand years.”
Su Yu fell silent.
She watched Zhao Yi finish eating and return his tray.
Zhang Lesi stood up: “Wish me luck.”
Su Yu: “Good luck! You got this!”
Zhang Lesi went to return her tray, and when she turned around, she saw her—from far away—plant a hand on the wall, cutting Zhao Yi off.
Bold as can be.
Su Yu couldn’t help but smile, though she felt a little envious.
But envy was useless—she’d never be that kind of person, and she couldn’t learn to be.
—
The refugees from Jixiang Jiayuan came downstairs early in the morning.
With nothing to do, they’d gone to bed early and woken up early. Plus, they’d been notified yesterday to come down in the morning to collect potatoes, and there was also an announcement to be made—they had to be present.
Zhou Wang stood on a raised platform, megaphone in hand, looking out over the sea of people.
The refugees’ spirits simply couldn’t compare to the original residents’, even after a day of rest.
Zhou Wang raised his megaphone: “Those who moved in yesterday can rest today and join group activities tomorrow. But don’t leave after you get your potatoes—you can watch first, so I won’t have to repeat myself tomorrow.”
“Those who came from the TV station the day before yesterday—are you rested? If so, let’s get ready to work.”
“No one has an obligation to support others for free. This provisional government was established by residents from a few of our communities—we’ve all put in effort and it hasn’t been easy. None of us should be idle and freeload.”
“Of course, if you’re truly physically unable to do anything, don’t panic. We’ve said it before—potatoes will be provided to keep you fed. You won’t starve.”
“But if you want a better life, then let’s get moving. We’ll put in labor.”
“Labor is the most glorious!”
Zhou Wang read out the performance points system that Song Jingshuo had created.
The points for each position, the work required, the supplies that could be redeemed, and so on.
Zhou Wang shouted at the top of his lungs: “I won’t waste words. In a household, everyone pitching in makes it thrive. We’re one big family now—only when everyone contributes can everyone prosper!”
“Alright, first let’s distribute the potatoes.”
“Sign up at the tables over there. Those signing up for the combat team, come to the front—the team is about to head out, so hurry up.”
The reason Song Jingshuo had chosen potatoes was, of course, because of their astonishing yield.
Each one was the size of a basketball.
The metal-type superpower users had made iron cages as tall as a person to hold them, transported by forklift from the youth apartments to Jixiang Jiayuan.
A long line had already formed in front of the sign-up tables.
The combat team’s treatment was significantly higher than other positions—very appealing.
With armor, zombies weren’t so scary anymore—as long as you didn’t run into one of those super-mutants.
But of course, the main reason was… nobody wanted to eat potatoes every day!
All the men from President Xu’s company signed up for the combat team.
President Xu had generously set up a gym at the office, so everyone was in decent physical condition. Plus, the combat team issued armor and weapons. With so many people, if you were afraid of dying, you could just blend in and slack off in the middle.
The administrative supervisor and the HR girl also wanted to join the combat team, thinking that since they were all coworkers, they could look out for each other even while fighting zombies.
But they were rejected: “Currently, the combat team only accepts women with superpowers.”
Because ordinary people without superpowers were just relying on brute strength. For brute strength, men were sufficient, so they were prioritized.
The two were a bit disappointed.
The administrative supervisor turned her head and saw the woman in charge of Jixiang Jiayuan running around frantic, overwhelmed. Her eyes lit up, and she pulled the HR girl over to volunteer: “The two of us worked in admin and HR at our company—we’re good at management and organization.”
That was exactly what Xiao Dan needed. She hired them on the spot.
Great—the first ones from the company to infiltrate management weren’t President Xu or Director Yu, but the admin supervisor and the HR girl.
After listening to Zhou Wang’s speech, President Xu and Director Yu urged their employees to go sign up, then headed to the youth apartments for breakfast.
Many people at the youth apartments had already finished eating.
Some had already started working—sweeping the yard and hauling trash.
A group of little kids had finished breakfast and were doing morning exercises with the young auntie assigned to look after them today.
They didn’t eat for free either—there was a pile of child-sized brooms nearby. After their exercises, each of them grabbed one and carried it off to sweep the hallways.
President Xu and Director Yu watched.
President Xu nodded: “Not bad.”
No sooner had he made that observation than someone came over and slung an arm around him: “Brother Xu, have you eaten? Not yet? Eat first if you haven’t. We’re going zombie-killing today!”
President Xu: “Hold on, I—”
“What’s there to wait for? Just follow us. Don’t be scared.”
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
“We’re splitting into teams today—too many distress calls. We’re going out in separate groups to rescue people. Everyone’s going!”
“We metal-types have to go with the vehicles. Can’t do without us.”
“Let me tell you, you earn way more points with the combat team.”
“If you say ‘points’ one more time, Old Song’s gonna get mad at you.”
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
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