Even though Zhao Yi had already simplified his theory, omitting the part about higher-dimensional and lower-dimensional worlds, and only mentioned “aliens, alien civilization,” it still made Zhou Wang’s eyes go wide.
President Xu’s mouth hung open and wouldn’t close.
Many people hearing this theory for the first time had this expression.
People were stunned.
Zhou Wang felt like the top of his skull had been pried open, and a handful of Sichuan peppercorns and star anise had been forcefully scattered in, his brain stir-fried.
The middle-aged man rubbed both sides of his head vigorously, trying to understand: “So, they made zombies, they killed off the entire government, and they’re also fucking controlling the weather?”
He looked up, almost shouting: “What the fuck do they want?”
With technology that advanced, they could do anything.
Why come torment tiny humans?
If they didn’t like humans, why not just kill them all?
What’s the point of all this messing around?
“For fun, probably?” Jiang Cheng said. “Like how we squat by the roadside watching ants. Didn’t you watch them when you were a kid?”
Gao Yuxuan closed his eyes: “Fuck—!”
As a kid, squatting on the ground, you could watch for half an hour.
When you got bored and were about to leave, you’d stand up, pull open your pants, and piss on the ant nest.
That piss was the flames engulfing the city.
That piss was the extreme cold ordeal.
That piss was the earth shaking and buildings collapsing.
The room was dead silent.
After a long while, someone suddenly laughed.
A pause, then two more laughs.
Another pause, another laugh.
Between each laugh, they couldn’t catch their breath.
Like dying, like going mad.
Who wouldn’t go mad?
President Xu bent over, burying his face in his hands. After a long time, he sat up straight: “Jiang Cheng, which way do we go?”
Jiang Cheng glanced at him.
He was one of the two smartest among the first batch of refugees.
Before she’d even recruited them, they’d had the keen instinct to come seek refuge on their own. With their smart minds, they’d made their way into management.
Unfortunately, the one surnamed Yu was also gone.
Jiang Cheng didn’t answer him immediately.
Jiang Cheng lowered her eyes.
Everyone stayed silent, keeping quiet, waiting for her to think it through.
Li Jiangbing thought very simply—no matter which direction Jiang Cheng chose, he’d just follow.
Jiang Cheng raised her eyes.
Everyone held their breath.
“We split up,” Jiang Cheng said.
Everyone was stunned.
“We split up. Half go east, half go west.” Jiang Cheng said. “We split up so we won’t all be taken out at once.”
“Whichever side survives, surviving is enough.”
Half would definitely be led by her. What about the other half? Who would lead them?
Jiang Cheng’s gaze roved over the people before her.
Finally, she chose who she thought was most suitable.
“Su Yu, I’ll take half. You take half.”
Su Yu was a unique superpower user, different from everyone else, and extremely powerful.
Her shield could withstand the collapse of half a building.
She was a kind girl, universally acknowledged as a good person.
Perhaps blessed by her special superpower, she carried a kind of holy, savior-like quality.
The human heart was actually very weak, very prone to developing hollows.
That was why cults were so easy to bewitch, so easy to exploit.
The vast majority of ordinary people had to stuff something into their hearts to hold themselves up.
Song Jingshuo was of course an excellent manager, fully capable of bearing the responsibility of leading a team.
But in everyone’s eyes, Song Jingshuo was ultimately a mortal.
Under the current special circumstances, when many people’s souls were nothing but empty shells, Su Yu was the better choice.
Su Yu’s eyes blurred.
She hadn’t expected Jiang Cheng to entrust her with such a heavy responsibility.
She tried hard to hold back the wetness in her eyes, nodded firmly, and took up this heavy burden: “Okay.”
Li Jiangbing opened his mouth, looked at her, looked at Jiang Cheng, looked at Jiang Cheng, looked at her again.
As for which way to go.
Gao Yuxuan said: “How about one group goes south, one goes north. To hell with their nonsense.”
Mainly being rebellious.
“No use.” Zhao Yi said. “Their abilities are already god-level to us. If they don’t want us going south or north, they have the power to stop us from going south or north.”
“Even if the north doesn’t currently have a massive chasm, even if the south doesn’t currently have its coastline advancing, they can create it on the spot.”
True enough.
At the youth apartments’ original site, there was a massive fissure. Half the courtyard had collapsed into it.
Slanting, running through the entire community, even extending to Jixiang Jiayuan.
Bottomless.
They’d given humanity two choices: east or west.
West—terrain rising, facing an extreme cold environment.
East—zombies gathering, having evolved a Zombie Emperor.
Neither was a good destination.
Clearly just toying with humanity.
Who should go which way—Jiang Cheng said: “Roll dice.”
She had Cui Haiyang make dice—three faces “east,” three faces “west.” Fifty-fifty probability.
Jiang Cheng had Su Yu roll.
Su Yu rolled “west.”
“Good, you go west.” Jiang Cheng said. “I go east.”
She asked: “What about you all?”
She was asking the people in the room.
Song Jingshuo didn’t even need to consider: “I’m with you.”
Li Jiangbing’s forehead was covered in sweat—he couldn’t answer.
Zhao Yi and Zhang Lesi exchanged a glance, then exchanged a glance with Gao Yuxuan.
The three shared the same understanding.
“You roll,” Zhang Lesi said. “I’ll go with you.”
“You roll,” Gao Yuxuan said. “I’ll go the opposite way from you.”
Lovers decided not to separate—they’d stay together.
Partners decided to separate—because both sides should have someone to witness with their own eyes. The two of them would each be a witness on one side.
Zhao Yi rolled “east.” He and Zhang Lesi would follow Jiang Cheng.
Gao Yuxuan would go west with Su Yu.
Li Jiangbing couldn’t make the choice. Gritting his teeth: “I’ll roll one too.”
Leave it to heaven.
Heaven sent him with Jiang Cheng.
Li Jiangbing closed his eyes for a moment, accepting fate.
Some people made decisions easily, like Sister Pan: “I’ll go with Xiao Su.”
Jiang Cheng always gave people a strong, powerful impression.
Compared to her, Su Yu gave a much gentler impression.
Older women naturally felt tenderness toward the soft and weak. Although Su Yu wasn’t weak at all, Sister Pan felt Jiang Cheng already had many strong people around her, so she’d go with Su Yu.
Cui Haiyang rolled Su Yu. He high-fived Gao Yuxuan.
Zhou Wang also rolled Su Yu, deciding to obey fate.
President Xu didn’t roll—he directly chose Jiang Cheng.
The girl surnamed Su was a good person, and her superpower was good too. But not everyone could make him willingly accept a subordinate position.
Auntie Qian chose Su Yu.
“The east has zombies. If zombies come and I can’t run, I’d drag you down.” She said. “I’ll go with Xiao Su. Though it’s colder, it’s more stable. I’ll just steadily grow crops for everyone. Xiao Song goes with you, I go with Xiao Su—that works out perfectly.”
Quite a few fire-types chose Su Yu.
Because fire-type superpowers were more useful in extreme cold environments.
This wasn’t a rupture—this was partners testing the path with their own bodies, spreading the risk, seeking a way to live.
Everyone stepped out of the small house and gathered all the survivors.
Jiang Cheng stood on the rooftop, using the tin megaphone Cui Haiyang had made, and announced to everyone the decision to split and go opposite directions.
“Choose for yourselves.” She said. “If you can’t choose, roll dice.”
Someone asked: “Can’t we just stay?”
“You can. Individual will is respected.” Jiang Cheng never forced anyone to survive. She only ever saved those who wanted to live.
But she also truthfully informed them of the risk: “S City will keep having earthquakes, becoming uninhabitable.”
The vast majority, without question, would definitely follow.
Many people had obedience and herd mentality—they didn’t dare be alone.
And the water-types, wood-types, and so many fire-type superpower users were all leaving. These three types of superpowers played important roles in current survival, playing crucial roles.
Without them, survival would become very difficult.
Jiang Cheng said: “We leave tomorrow. Decide by the latest before departure.”
Everyone buzzed with discussion.
The truth about the zombie disaster and subsequent catastrophes also quickly spread.
Some went directly mad. Some refused to believe no matter what. Some felt like they were dreaming.
But it seemed that about zombies, flames, extreme cold, superpowers—it could all be explained now.
Some people made their choices.
Those who couldn’t choose for themselves could go roll dice.
At first they rolled one by one, then got annoyed. Simply a group at a time, with one person rolling.
That way, no matter which side was rolled, they could be with familiar people, adding a tiny bit of security.
And many people had already started busying themselves.
Finding vehicles.
Searching the ruins for useful things.
Especially useful plants.
Song Jingshuo and the others successfully found the remains of the cultivation layer, found several key crops.
He and Auntie Qian split these plants equally.
At night, everyone slept in the temporary matchbox houses.
In the middle of the night, another earthquake.
Everyone ran out.
Zhao Yi said: “This house should be fine, unless the ground splits.”
The houses were built by earth-types and metal-types working together. They had rebar inside, specifically for earthquake resistance.
But Zhao Yi was a terrible jinx. The moment he finished speaking, the ground split open.
A fissure ran diagonally through three rows of houses.
Though the houses didn’t collapse, the walls cracked.
Zhao Yi fell silent.
He decided to keep his mouth shut.
“They” were actually monitoring them constantly.
After this night, no one talked about staying anymore.
At dawn, everyone began busying themselves.
Jiang Cheng handed over a batch of supplies to Su Yu.
She gave her three-quarters of the coal reserves.
Because Su Yu’s side didn’t have the convenience of a spatial storage, the large cargo trucks they’d found were prioritized for them.
One of them, a seven-meter-long cargo truck, they first laid soil on it, then a layer of corpses, then more soil. Made it into a mobile farm for Auntie Qian.
Could produce anytime, anywhere.
The moment of parting arrived.
From last June until now, everyone had fought side by side, shared hardships together—and now, finally, they had to part.
Many familiar people said goodbye to each other, giving reminders and exhortations.
Jiang Cheng and Su Yu hugged each other.
The two of them—one cold, one introverted—rarely made such emotionally expressive gestures.
But this time, the two girls hugged each other tightly.
Jiang Cheng whispered in Su Yu’s ear: “Don’t hesitate when things happen. Kill when you need to kill. If you really can’t bring yourself to do it, exile them.”
Su Yu also knew her own character flaws. Her eyes blurred, and she agreed: “Okay.”
Zhang Lesi and Su Yu held hands with all four hands. Such an outgoing girl actually couldn’t speak, choking for a long time before squeezing out “Take care.”
“You too.”
Gao Yuxuan and Cui Haiyang bumped fists with Song Jingshuo, Li Jiangbing, Zhao Yi, and the others one by one: “Let’s see who survives.”
“Best if we all do.”
“And you—stop showing off so much from now on.”
“Get lost.”
Song Jingshuo said goodbye to Auntie Qian, gently hugging the old auntie.
The old auntie smiled and cried.
Zhou Wang and President Xu said goodbye. The middle-aged men were polite: “Thanks for taking care of us these past months.”
“Not at all.”
The youth apartments young people also said goodbye to Zhou Wang: “Brother Zhou, take care.”
Zhou Wang’s eyes blurred too.
It was as if he could see that day—when the Jixiang Jiayuan residents finally mustered the courage to go downstairs and fight zombies. Back then there was no armor, no standard weapons—just the breath of “I want to live.”
Just when they were about to hold on no longer, these young people came charging over like heavenly soldiers.
The bond had been forged from that moment.
In the end, everyone pretended to be busy—and it wasn’t pretending, they really were busy—loudly shouting for people to get on the vehicles and such.
They gave the last bit of time to Li Jiangbing and Su Yu.
Li Jiangbing didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t know if Su Yu would blame him for going with Jiang Cheng.
But Su Yu smiled and promised: “I’ll take good care of myself.”
Li Jiangbing felt relieved.
He said: “When things happen, take care of yourself first. Don’t always think about managing others. If something really happens, survive first before anything else.”
Because she was important to him—more important than others.
Su Yu’s vision blurred.
Everyone boarded the vehicles.
The massive convoy started up. One group headed east, one group headed west.
Partners who had held their ground for ten months parted ways here, seeking the path of survival in different directions.
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