Yes.
If Jiang Cheng were someone who blended into the crowd and went unnoticed, how could she have left so many unforgettable moments in everyone’s memory?
Every time, people couldn’t help but marvel, “This is Jiang Cheng for you.”
As a young woman, she’d stood out in a moment of crisis and commanded the obedience of a large group of able-bodied men.
She had to be exactly this kind of person.
By now, many people in the plaza were already convinced.
But Jiang Cheng didn’t end the topic there. Instead, she asked: “Let me ask again—did no one feel that discomfort in their head on June 15th, just like yesterday?”
She looked at the few people who’d already known about their awakened superpowers since yesterday.
But when they saw her gaze sweep over them, they all shook their heads in denial: “Yesterday was the first time. Really, nothing on June 15th.”
Jiang Cheng nodded and said: “In that case, let me be honest with all of you about something. Everyone knows I’m very strong, right? I’ve always told everyone that I’ve been strong since childhood—even stronger than some men.”
Everyone knew this.
Whenever people talked privately about “that Jiang Cheng from the provisional committee,” the conversation inevitably circled around her “beauty, ruthlessness, quick thinking, and strength.”
“I lied,” Jiang Cheng admitted openly.
Everyone was puzzled. They couldn’t figure out what there was to lie about regarding her strength. She was strong—she’d never hung back when killing zombies, and everyone had seen it with their own eyes.
Jiang Cheng said: “On June 15th, when the sky turned purple and my head felt like it was about to explode, after I woke up, I discovered that my strength had increased.”
Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan exchanged surprised glances and said in unison: “You mean—!”
These two understood the fastest. It was also because they’d been mulling over superpowers all along.
Seeing that most people still looked confused and hadn’t caught on, Jiang Cheng elaborated.
“Yesterday, many of you—just like I did both times—had headaches, and then woke up with superpowers.”
“But this wasn’t my first time. The last time was the same—although I didn’t get a superpower, my strength increased.”
“I realized something was off back then, but I didn’t find anyone else who was like me. I vaguely understood that this might be related to the zombie virus. To avoid everyone being overly sensitive and treating me as a potential zombie, I didn’t tell the truth.”
“Yesterday, the exact same thing happened again. This time, I awakened a superpower. And finally, there were others like me.”
“So I started thinking: could it be that what we call the ‘zombie virus’ is actually upgrading and modifying us humans?”
“The first time, the modification didn’t succeed. Those who didn’t turn into zombies were the ones where the modification failed. I might have been slightly successful—although I didn’t awaken a superpower, at least my strength increased. Looking back now, it was probably a basic physical upgrade.”
“Zombies, on the other hand, aren’t cases where the modification failed—they’re cases where the modification went wrong.”
“Now, the second wave has come. This time, it might be a further modification on top of the previous one. So this time, the success rate is higher—some of us have successfully evolved and gained superpowers. Others still haven’t succeeded.”
“But those who haven’t succeeded are still lucky, because at least not succeeding doesn’t mean turning into a zombie. The ones where the modification failed are the ones who became zombies.”
“This is the theory I came up with after thinking all night yesterday. I think it makes sense. What do you all think?”
Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan were the first to applaud in support: “That’s exactly what we were thinking! We think you’re right!”
These two had stayed up all night talking and had arrived at a hypothesis very similar to Jiang Cheng’s.
So when Jiang Cheng laid out this theory—matching their line of thinking—the excitement and surprise they felt was beyond what anyone else could understand.
Most of the residents at the youth apartment complex had received higher education.
When a theory was logically sound, people could accept it.
The crowd buzzed with noise as everyone couldn’t help but discuss it with those around them.
Jiang Cheng gave them two minutes, then steered the conversation back.
“So that’s why. Because I was already affected from the first time, yesterday, when I realized that the coincidence of the sky’s color and my headache happening simultaneously was exactly the same as on June 15th—for me, there was no hesitation. I immediately sent out a mass text to everyone.”
Put that way, it really was so distinctly Jiang Cheng’s character.
Yes, yes—that’s just how Jiang Cheng was.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she could make a decision immediately. This, too, was something everyone had witnessed firsthand and benefited from personally.
The question Jiang Cheng had to answer—”How did you know the virus was coming in advance?”—she had now addressed, and her response had won everyone’s approval.
People sighed with feeling: “Thank goodness Jiang Cheng has this kind of personality.”
“If it were me, I’d definitely hesitate—I probably wouldn’t have sent that text to everyone.”
“Yeah, for real.”
Su Yu especially admired Jiang Cheng in this regard—her decisiveness and resolve.
She thought it over and felt that if it were her, she’d have a hard time making the snap decision to warn everyone.
She’d definitely worry about “what if it’s just a coincidence” and “what if nothing happens and everyone blames me or mocks me.”
Most likely, she’d have her suspicions but lack the courage to notify anyone, so she’d hesitate alone and hide herself first.
That would be the decision in line with her own personality.
Jiang Cheng suddenly clapped her hands twice, cutting through the noisy chatter: “Alright, everyone, line up by building now—let’s take a head count.”
This was a job for the six building captains.
Among the six buildings, Building 1’s Wu Jiancheng, Building 2’s Jiang Bing, and Building 4’s Song Jingshuo were all still around.
Building 3’s Nie Kuizhang was dead.
Building 5’s building captain hadn’t shown up at all—no one had seen him; he probably never came back.
Building 6’s building captain had turned into a zombie—yesterday, the people from his building went up and killed him.
Now, Buildings 3, 5, and 6 all had new people stepping up. They weren’t strangers either—they were all former members of the provisional committee, and everyone had long since gotten used to working with each other.
The residents lined up in six groups to tally the numbers.
Jiang Bing saw that Wu Jiancheng was missing half his hair and was shocked: “What happened to your hair?”
Wu Jiancheng looked sour: “Don’t ask.”
Jiang Bing guessed it in one shot: “You burned yourself, didn’t you?”
He remembered Wu Jiancheng had a fire ability—it was an easy guess. He couldn’t help but laugh.
Wu Jiancheng put his hands on his hips and said: “Don’t laugh. I discovered something especially valuable that my superpower can do yesterday.”
Jiang Bing perked up: “What?”
Wu Jiancheng grinned: “Putting out fires. Bet you didn’t see that coming.”
When people talked about fire abilities, the first thing that came to mind was starting fires.
But working in reverse—that meant extinguishing them.
Last night, Wu Jiancheng had been woken up by his own fire. He opened his eyes to find half the apartment already engulfed in flames.
There was no fire department at a time like this. During a disaster, if a fire broke out, it all came down to luck.
But things were different now—Wu Jiancheng’s superpower was controlling fire.
It was hard for him to produce a fire this big, but when he wanted to put it out, wherever his ability reached, the flames would quietly die out.
More effective than a fire extinguisher.
That was truly a valuable application. It was practically a lifesaving function.
Jiang Bing couldn’t find any fault with that. All he could do was give a thumbs up: “Awesome!”
Song Jingshuo: “Get to work first!”
Jiang Bing: “Oh, right, right!”
Taking the head count was simple—everyone lined up in six groups, with ten people per group in each team, making the numbers clear at a glance.
Building 1: 69 people.
Building 2: 113 people.
Building 3: 74 people.
Building 4: 85 people.
Building 5: 47 people.
Building 6: 53 people.
Property management: 10 people.
Including the property staff, the total was 451 people.
This was why clearing the buildings had gone so fast yesterday.
Because there were only that many people.
Only that many.
As soon as the numbers were announced, the small plaza fell silent.
Last time, the complex had nearly 2,000 people. When they’d gathered in the small plaza, it had been a massive sea of people.
Everyone had already been through one zombie apocalypse, and they all understood deep down—those who hadn’t come back probably weren’t coming back.
Building 2 had the most people. Why?
Because the residents of Building 2 had the most interaction with Jiang Cheng. So they also trusted her the most, and the most of them had come back.
The building captains were mainly tallying and registering who had body armor and who had superpowers.
While they were busy, someone who’d already registered came over to ask: “Jiang Cheng, are we going to Duomai Duomai today?”
Everyone had experience now—burning bodies, looting supplies, hoarding goods.
The whole process from last time might have to start all over again.
It was actually a comforting thought, because Duomai Duomai had restocked—they should have everything now.
But Jiang Cheng didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she asked back: “Does everyone still have staple food on hand?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t even finished what I had before, but I didn’t feel secure without some food on hand, so I went to Duomai Duomai and stocked up on several bags of rice.”
“Me too!”
Even those who’d once lived a minimalist lifestyle had developed hoarding tendencies after going through the last zombie disaster.
No more minimalism—they stockpiled all sorts of things now, especially food.
“Duomai Duomai is different this time,” Jiang Cheng said. “Last time it was a weekend evening—the supermarket was closed, so it was relatively clean inside.”
“Yesterday was the afternoon—the supermarket was open for business. There must have been people inside. Not necessarily a lot, but definitely some.”
“Everyone has enough food for now. And… to be honest, I’m guessing the warehouse supplies at the supermarket are about the same as last time. But this time…”
“There are fewer people, so the supplies aren’t as urgently needed.”
Fewer people.
Just three casual words.
Where were all those people?
At work. They were the hardworking laborers who supported themselves and their families.
Trapped at their places of work, unable to come home.
It was a deeply saddening thought.
Over at the neighboring Jixiang Jiayuan, there were probably only elderly residents and housewives left by now.
Husbands and dual-income couples were likely trapped in the city.
Primary and secondary school students were trapped at school. The newly appointed Mayor Zheng had ordered schools to make up for the teaching time lost during the zombie disaster—the kids had been in school all through August.
If they couldn’t break out, they’d end up just like Renxin Hospital.
Everyone sighed.
Some people who hadn’t come downstairs yesterday were learning about superpowers for the first time.
Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan were in charge of explaining to everyone: “The most notable symptom we know of so far is a headache—like a needle stabbing you in the brain. It’s a fixed spot, with a sharp, rhythmic pain.”
Immediately, someone spoke up: “Me, me, me! I’ve been hurting since yesterday. Does that mean I’m getting a superpower?”
And it wasn’t just one person.
Speaking of superpowers, Jiang Bing felt sorry for Song Jingshuo.
A man who excelled at everything—how was he the one without a superpower? Both Jiang Bing and Jiang Cheng had one. The three of them were the iron triangle.
Watching everyone enthusiastically discuss superpowers, Jiang Bing put a hand on Song Jingshuo’s shoulder to comfort him: “It’s okay. Look, people with superpowers are still the minority.”
Indeed, those with superpowers were the minority—those without were the majority.
Most people hadn’t evolved or upgraded; they were still ordinary.
But Song Jingshuo gave him a faint sidelong glance.
“Huh?” Jiang Bing knew him too well and immediately caught on. “What? You have one? Do you have one?”
Song Jingshuo looked away.
So he did have one!
Jiang Bing was thrilled: “Why didn’t you say so if you have one? Come on, come on—what type are you? Fire? Metal? It can’t be earth, right? That doesn’t seem like you. Ugh, mine doesn’t seem like me either.”
In Jiang Bing’s mind, he should have been a metal-type. Or fire. Earth would be acceptable at a stretch.
But of all things, it had to be water.
Jiang Bing was the type who couldn’t hold anything in. He threw an arm around Song Jingshuo’s shoulder and called out to Jiang Cheng: “Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng—Jingshuo has a superpower too, but he won’t say what it is.”
Jiang Cheng came over.
Jiang Bing shook Song Jingshuo by the shoulder: “Spill it!”
With Jiang Cheng here, Song Jingshuo had no choice but to pull something out of his pants pocket.
Jiang Bing squinted at it and even leaned in to smell it: “Huh, isn’t this… isn’t this a radish?”
Leave a Reply