Guo Jun and Gao Yuxuan were discussing the issue of precise output.
Guo Jun was very eager to master the technique of precise discharge.
“After we’ve killed off all the zombies and things return to normal,” Guo Jun said, “I’ll be able to charge my phone myself. And I can generate my own electricity for all the appliances at home! Save on the electric bill!”
“Then you’ll need a set of lead-acid batteries as backup power,” Gao Yuxuan said. “I’ve heard they’ve rolled out lithium batteries now, but they can only power small devices. But there’ll definitely be large-capacity battery packs in the future. Then we’ll be set.”
If there was suitable energy storage equipment, electricity-type superpower users could live without ever paying another electric bill.
The two of them then launched into an enthusiastic discussion about what capacity of lead-acid batteries would be enough to support a household’s normal electricity consumption.
Over yonder, Cui Haiyang was eyeing the scrapped van. It was already burned—no point wasting it. It was all metal.
Metal was great—it could be reused.
Cui Haiyang pressed his fingertip against the hood, and the hood began to deform.
He’d taken a look at the metal shoulder armor that Wu Shuchen had made and thought it was pretty good, so he decided to replicate one.
Soon, a metal shoulder armor formed from the deformed hood took shape, resting on the engine.
And during the deformation process, the metal had been refined—dust-free and impurity-free. It gleamed with a reflective sheen, simultaneously evoking a sense of vintage antiquity and futuristic sci-fi.
People around let out “Woooow” sounds of amazement.
Someone couldn’t resist: “Let me try, let me try.”
He reached out and picked up the shoulder armor.
Then immediately let go: “Ow! Holy crap! Hoo! Hoo!”
They’d forgotten—this car had just been on fire!
The flames had been snatched away by Cao Jiacai in one go, leaving the car looking clean and dry. But the metal hadn’t cooled down yet.
Cui Haiyang had only lightly touched the hood with his fingertip—actually, with the edge of his nail; his fingertip hadn’t made contact—and in that momentary lapse, he’d forgotten to warn others.
He quickly leaned in: “You okay? You okay? Go find some running water to rinse it.”
But Zhang Lesi dashed over in a flash.
Everyone wanted to improve their superpowers, but improvement required practice. So how did Zhang Lesi practice?
Suddenly a training subject appeared—Zhang Lesi wasn’t about to let it go: “I got it! I got it!”
Healing was truly a high-demand superpower.
And it really worked.
Under a faint white glow, the person exclaimed in surprise: “It doesn’t hurt anymore! It works, it works!”
Others gathered around curiously, pulling his hand over for a closer look.
Zhou Wang observed the scene on Jixiang West Street—people clustered here and there in small groups, chattering away.
He knew that the city was full of zombies, that many had died, and that many more were still trapped and struggling to hold on. Yet somehow, he felt a sense of peaceful days.
Just then, Jiang Cheng’s phone rang.
In the current environment, any phone ringing out of the blue would draw attention—because there was a good chance it wasn’t good news.
And sure enough, it wasn’t exactly good news.
The caller ID made Jiang Cheng raise an eyebrow.
It was one of the leaders from Yujing Xiangyuan.
Yujing Xiangyuan had never formed a particularly united organization. They’d always been several factions operating independently.
It was only in the later stages, when they started coordinating with the Youth Apartment, that they more or less temporarily followed Jiang Cheng’s overall direction.
Jiang Cheng had the phone numbers of those several people in her contacts. When she sent out mass messages, she sent them to everyone in her address book—including those few.
But whether they had come back or not, she didn’t know.
Jiang Cheng answered: “Hello?”
“Jiang Cheng?”
“This is she.”
“Jiang Cheng, this is Xia Hui from Yujing Xiangyuan.”
“I know. What’s the matter?”
“Jiang Cheng, I’m sorry—I didn’t believe your warning. I’m trapped at my company now.”
“Don’t apologize to me,” Jiang Cheng said.
Xia Hui hadn’t wronged Jiang Cheng—the person he’d really wronged was himself. How fortunate it was to have someone warn you in advance.
And yet he hadn’t seized that chance.
There was no such thing as a regret pill in this world. And now wasn’t the time to ask how Jiang Cheng had known in advance anyway.
Xia Hui humbly pleaded: “My parents—they’re in Yujing Xiangyuan. They’re trapped at home. There are four or five zombies in the hallway on their floor, and it’s just the two of them—they don’t have any armor either. They really have no way out… Jiang Cheng, please help.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she asked: “How’s the situation in the city?”
Xia Hui said: “Not great. We’re trapped in the office building. There are a lot of zombies on the streets—high density.”
Jiang Cheng asked: “Has anyone awakened superpowers?”
“Oh, you already know? Is this already a common thing?” Xia Hui said. “Yes—my colleague and I, the three of us have them.”
Jiang Cheng: “Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Electricity, or Other—which type are you?”
“By metal, do you mean metallic objects?” Xia Hui said. “All three of us can deform metal.”
“Three metal-types? What line of work are you in?”
Xia Hui didn’t understand why Jiang Cheng was asking all these “irrelevant” questions at a time like this. But he was asking for her help, so he patiently answered: “We’re in mechanical design and manufacturing.”
Good—Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan’s theoretical framework was broadly correct.
Of course, since they were inferring causes from results, there was bound to be some subjective speculation and skipping over anomalous data. But for now, the big-picture fundamentals were sound.
Jiang Cheng asked: “Can you make it back?”
Xia Hui was silent for a moment, then answered firmly: “I will make it back!”
“We’ve already cleared our floor. We’ve made over twenty sets of metal armor and also crafted weapons.”
“We’ve used landline phones to contact people on other floors—some of them have superpowers too. Everyone’s preparing to act together.”
“I will make it back alive.”
“But my parents need help right now, Jiang Cheng…” His voice carried a pleading tone.
A metal-type superpower user asking for help.
Jiang Cheng said: “Which building, which unit?”
Xia Hui was overjoyed.
He’d witnessed Jiang Cheng’s command ability and the Youth Apartment’s combat effectiveness a month ago. He didn’t know how many people from the Youth Apartment had survived this time, but the girl’s voice carried not a trace of panic—still so steady, so reassuring.
Xia Hui gave his home address and said with resolute force: “Jiang Cheng, I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Jiang Cheng said. “Come back alive.”
Xia Hui: “Okay!”
Jiang Cheng hung up and looked up—a circle of people had gathered around, waiting for her to give orders.
Jiang Cheng shook her phone: “We’ve got work.”
A chorus of “Wooooo!” went up from the group of superpower users who were bursting with unused energy.
Zhou Wang watched all this and felt a surreal sense of unreality.
In the beginning, going out to kill zombies had required immense courage and the resolve to die. Everyone who stepped out was a hero.
The very air had been heavy with grief the moment they left their homes.
How had things turned into this?
A group of people, upon hearing there was work to do, all had gleaming eyes and couldn’t wait.
When had everyone lost their fear of zombies? Zhou Wang thought back—it must have been the moment ordinary people got their hands on armor.
The appearance of armor had drastically reduced the risk humans faced against zombies. It allowed humans to completely shift from defense to offense, to fight zombies face-to-face.
The difference between humans and animals lies in the use of tools.
Armor had neutralized the asymmetry between zombies—who feared no injury, no pain, and no death—and humans, for whom even a small scratch could be fatal.
Zombies had been downgraded from “terrifying monsters” to “damn monsters.”
Humans no longer felt fear.
“Brother Zhou, come on—let’s put our heads together.” Jiang Cheng tilted her chin toward the inside of the compound gate, extending an invitation to Zhou Wang.
Zhou Wang: “…”
Zhou Wang could almost predict that Yujing Xiangyuan was probably in a similar situation to Jixiang Jiayuan—the young people had all gone to work in the city, leaving behind empty-nest elderly in the residential complex.
He already had one such neighborhood on his hands, but he had no choice—his own home was there too.
He really didn’t want another complex added to his plate. He didn’t want to be responsible for other neighborhoods at all.
But he had no way out—he still carried the role and responsibility of Jixiang Jiayuan’s leader, and he was reliant on the Youth Apartment’s help. All he could do was bow his head.
Especially since Xiao Huang had already quickly walked through the Youth Apartment’s gate and stopped inside, turning sideways to wait for him.
In the young people’s minds, helping neighboring communities in this situation was perfectly normal. Especially now that everyone not only had armor but also superpowers, and the zombie presence in the New Tech District was truly low.
The advantage was entirely on humanity’s side.
Under Xiao Huang’s expectant gaze, Zhou Wang could only follow along.
The meeting had started at 9:30 in the morning and was now approaching noon. After some discussion, they decided to go after lunch.
You couldn’t fight on an empty stomach.
They also needed to make some preparations.
There wasn’t enough armor for everyone, but now they had metal-type superpowers.
Currently, the Youth Apartment had a total of 22 superpower users. Including Cui Haiyang and Security Guard Xiao Wang, there were five metal-types in total.
Among the six people from Jixiang Jiayuan who had made it back alive yesterday, five were superpower users—and one of them was metal-type.
Now these six metal-types gathered together, enthusiastically manufacturing metal armor.
They aimed to ensure everyone had armor and everyone had a weapon.
In particular, when it came to weapons, someone tried making a crescent-moon spade.
They sharpened the front edge. They took a mop, removed the mop head, and used their power to directly attach the metal spade head to the mop handle—instantly creating a long-handled weapon.
Everyone had plenty of experience killing zombies by now. They gave it a try and immediately realized how perfect it was.
Li Jiangbing was the first to test it.
He swung the spade in one strike and chopped clean through a small tree that had been replanted half a year ago in the compound! The long-handled weapon kept a safe distance between the user and the zombie (or tree).
“!!” Li Jiangbing, “This one’s mine!”
Everyone laughed: “Yours, yours. Keep making more.”
But they soon discovered they didn’t have enough suitable wooden handles.
All-metal ones added too much weight and affected performance.
In the end, Zhou Wang called over to Jixiang Jiayuan. Those homes were traditional family units, and many households had conventional mops.
They went door to door and collected over thirty handles.
The metal-type superpower users made over thirty crescent-moon spades.
Among the metal-type users, Security Guard Xiao Wang had the best control.
Most of the metal-types had jobs related to machinery—only Xiao Wang was a real blacksmith.
He was the only one who had truly worked iron with his own hands, rather than through machines.
His precision in shaping metal was extremely high.
Sharpening the weapons was entrusted to him.
The other metal-type users didn’t waste their strength on that—they focused on shaping and reinforcing hardness.
Some were responsible for forming the shape, others for strengthening hardness.
The rough, unsharpened crescent spades were passed to Xiao Wang. He pinched them with his hands, and before long, the crescent edge turned thinner and sharper.
Then passed to the next person, who fixed it onto a wooden handle.
A highly practical long-handled crescent-moon spade was completed.
The superpower users had naturally formed an assembly-line workflow.
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