No. 14 Middle School was in Guangxiu District, about an hour to an hour and twenty minutes away from Technology New District by bicycle.
It was quite a distance—pretty grueling on a bike.
But Old Huang and his wife had always made a point of developing Xiao Huang in all aspects, not just academically. So they never drove him to school; they always had him ride his bike on his own.
Xiao Huang said goodbye to his classmates and left the campus. Using his “danger sense” ability, he avoided second-generation zombies along the way, taking only routes that had no zombies or only the regular kind.
Sometimes, people on upper floors would open their windows and shout “Help!” at him as he passed. He didn’t stop.
People could only save themselves, count on their closest loved ones, or count on the state.
Strangers were beyond anyone’s capacity to help.
A few times, he sensed a strong sense of danger, as if he were being watched.
He didn’t know it was third-generation zombies watching him from a distance.
Although the Youth Apartments resident forum had discussions about “zombies evolving,” he hadn’t checked the forum after the disaster ended. He knew nothing about third-generation zombies—had no idea they existed.
When he reached a stretch of road with no zombies and no sense of danger, he spotted a public phone booth by the roadside.
He stopped, fished coins out of his backpack, and used the payphone to call his mother’s cell phone.
No answer.
He called her work landline.
No answer.
Then he called the home landline.
Many families had canceled their landlines in recent years, but his family had kept theirs because of Old Huang’s work.
He kept praying that his mother had managed to save herself or been rescued and made it home.
But after many rings, no one picked up.
Xiao Huang finally hung up, didn’t even take the returned coins, and got back on his bike, pedaling furiously toward Technology New District.
Under the scorching sun, the boy’s bicycle shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
—
Technology New District, Mai Duoduo Supermarket.
The battle was fully over by past 3:00 PM.
Not only had they successfully rescued Master Guo, but they’d also gotten Brother Dong as a bonus.
Because Guo Jun had later thrown in his lot with the Youth Apartments and built up a solid, wide network of good relations, “Brother Dong” had become something of a legend in the community.
Many ordinary residents had been too focused on grabbing supplies during both outbreaks to even notice this junior supervisor among the supermarket’s dozen-plus employees.
Now they finally got to meet the legendary figure in person.
Brother Dong, meeting Jiang Cheng and the others again, looked a bit sheepish. He plastered on a smile and greeted them: “Long time no see, everyone’s doing well, huh? Haha. Ah, hahaha…”
His laugh trailed off into something dry and awkward.
Everyone was pretty speechless.
Jiang Cheng said gently, “It’s alright now. You can go home.”
Many people turned their faces away to keep from laughing.
Brother Dong’s mouth twitched.
This girl—he’d known from the very first time he met her that she was no pushover.
But Brother Dong had thick skin. He pretended not to understand her hint and laid out his request directly: “Going home is a bit dangerous. I’d like to stay and observe for a couple of days first, then leave. I heard Guo Jun say he’s living in your complex now and working for you. I can work too.”
Afraid of being turned down and not giving Jiang Cheng a chance to interrupt, he quickly listed his qualifications: “I’ve got superpowers too. I’m really strong now.”
Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow: “What kind of ability?”
Brother Dong: “I run really fast—whoosh, like the wind. Zombies can’t catch me.”
“Ah, another Wind-type,” Gao Yuxuan said, then glanced at Guo Jun.
Guo Jun nodded: “It’s true. Really fast.”
When Jiang Cheng heard Guo Jun vouch for him, she nodded too. Brother Dong thought she was agreeing—until she turned her head and called out: “Brother Zhou—! Brother Zhou—!”
Zhou Wang had pushed a ladder over and was climbing up to the top of the shelving to retrieve his ebony rolling pin.
Li Jiangbing and Zhao Yi were below, steadying the ladder for him.
Li Jiangbing was puzzled: “How did it get up there?” Zhou Wang explained the situation as he climbed.
Zhao Yi said: “Your ability isn’t suited for this weapon anymore. Your arms don’t have that much power—you can’t handle the recoil. You’d be better off switching to a blade—the sharper, the better. One swoosh, and a head goes flying.”
Zhou Wang thought about it and agreed: “You’re right.”
Li Jiangbing imagined the scene—like something out of a martial arts movie. So cool.
He was green with envy.
Today’s operation had not only rescued Guo Jun and cleared out Mai Duoduo, but also given the ability users a chance to test and hone their powers.
People like Gao Yuxuan, Zhou Wang, and Wu Jiancheng had all made breakthroughs—or at least significant progress—this afternoon. Many had figured out more effective ways to use their abilities.
It was a highly productive day.
Only Li Jiangbing was disappointed.
Because he was a Water-type, he’d chosen to fight near the fish tanks in the seafood section.
He could indeed draw more water and condense larger water balls than before, but combat had proven that his ability was useless against zombies.
He could even form water shields and water arrows—but water had no offensive or defensive power. The moment it collided with solid matter, it shattered.
He also tried, like the Electric and Fire types, to force water into a zombie’s brain—only to find it had no effect.
A zombie’s brain wouldn’t “die” from being soaked. Unlike fire and electricity, which cooked or fried the brain into inactivity, water couldn’t destroy it.
In short, today’s tests concluded that Water-type abilities were useless against zombies.
Li Jiangbing was thoroughly disappointed.
Zhou Wang had just retrieved his rolling pin when he heard Jiang Cheng calling for him: “Brother Zhou—”
Zhou Wang answered: “Yeah! Coming, hang on.”
He climbed down backward, thanked Zhao Yi and Li Jiangbing, and—rolling pin in hand—whoosh, he was gone.
Li Jiangbing: I’m tired of saying how envious I am.
He turned his head and saw Su Yu sitting on the floor against a shelf, her face pale, with traces of un-wiped blood on it. She looked nauseated and unwell.
Li Jiangbing grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewed it, and handed it to her: “You okay?”
Su Yu took a couple of sips to settle herself, waved her hand, and indicated she was fine.
She couldn’t speak—clearly from overusing her ability.
The blood on her face was obviously from a nosebleed she’d wiped away.
Li Jiangbing sighed: “Take it easy too. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Su Yu took another couple of gulps and finally managed to speak.
“I finally have an ability that can help everyone,” she said. “Besides, you were a militia member for all those days back then. You didn’t come back until the militia was disbanded.”
So she knew Li Jiangbing would understand.
Her current issue was just the side effects of practicing her ability—you could think of it as the soreness after over-exercising.
But compared to Li Jiangbing going out to dangerous zones as a militia member to kill zombies, the risks were far smaller.
Li Jiangbing did understand.
He put his hands on his hips and asked: “So, how’s your protective shield coming along?”
A faint smile appeared on Su Yu’s pale face—so weak, yet so genuinely happy.
“The radius is close to a meter now,” she said, her joy heartfelt. “Packed tight, it can fit eight or nine people—maybe even ten.”
“At that radius, I held it for a full seven minutes.”
Compared to when her ability first awakened yesterday, it was like night and day.
The progress was huge.
But Li Jiangbing still thought her face looked far too pale. And she was the only one who’d gotten a nosebleed—no one else had pushed themselves that far.
He understood and admired her dedication, but still cautioned: “Take it easy. The human body has its limits.”
That was something their fitness coach often told trainees. A coach had to be aware—if a clueless instructor pushed a newbie too hard and gave them rhabdomyolysis, things could go south fast.
Su Yu smiled at him, then lowered her head. Li Jiangbing figured she was too tired to talk and walked away.
Su Yu looked up at his retreating back.
Although Li Jiangbing was a very reliable companion in her mind, she didn’t want to tell anyone that her protective shield was different from other abilities.
When the shield started to weaken and couldn’t hold much longer, the zombies’ attacks on it would jar her brain violently.
She’d noticed that no one else seemed to have this problem.
It was a weakness of her shield, and she didn’t want anyone to know.
Nearby, a group of people were chatting.
Someone had finally awakened their ability during the battle, and others were congratulating the new ability user.
After today’s fighting, everyone had realized that even if an ability was weak when it first awakened, it could be practiced and would gradually grow stronger.
Metal, Fire, Electricity, and Wind had all shown strong offensive capabilities in combat. Earth was a bit weaker, but it had the potential to be both offensive and defensive in the future.
Water had been proven unsuitable for combat. Wood hadn’t shown anything today.
As long as it wasn’t Water or Wood, having any of the other abilities dramatically increased one’s chances of survival.
Superpowers had become something everyone wanted.
Zhou Wang zipped over to Jiang Cheng’s side in a flash: “I’m here!”
Brother Dong saw he was also a Wind-type: “Oh!”
Jiang Cheng said: “I found someone with the same ability as you. You two should chat.”
Zhou Wang looked at Brother Dong: “Looks familiar?”
“Familiar, familiar,” Brother Dong said. “I remember you—back then we said we weren’t open for business, but you insisted on coming in to buy stuff.”
Zhou Wang’s face lit up with recognition: “Oh, you’re a Mai Duoduo employee.”
“You two talk.” Jiang Cheng turned to leave. “Oh, by the way, he doesn’t have a place to stay right now. See if you can find him an empty unit in your complex.”
There were plenty of empty units in every complex—many families had been wiped out entirely.
But after so many dealings with her, Zhou Wang knew Jiang Cheng well.
This wasn’t like her.
This guy was a Wind-type. He’d proven today that Wind-type abilities were incredibly useful.
Why would Jiang Cheng, with her personality, so easily push a useful ability user off onto him instead of keeping him for herself?
Then Zhou Wang remembered something he’d overheard elsewhere.
“Is that the guy they call ‘Brother Dong’?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that’s him.”
“The one who abandoned Master Guo and a dozen other coworkers and ran off, taking a bunch of their supplies with him?”
“Hahahaha, yeah.”
“How come he’s here? Does he even have the nerve to come back to work?”
“Heard from Gao Yuxuan that he came back to settle his pay.”
“No way, hahahahaha.”
“Right? Hahahahahaha!”
Zhou Wang asked: “What’s your surname?”
Brother Dong, who was hoping this person might provide him with temporary housing, was very polite: “My surname is Dong.”
Bingo!
Jiang Cheng had already walked away.
Zhou Wang glanced at her retreating figure, the corner of his mouth twitching involuntarily.
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