Studying in the Library

Xinfeng Seed Co., Ltd.

He had just walked past it, but quickly retreated. Seeing the four storefronts connected together as a seed company reminded him of something.

Vegetables in the market were very difficult to preserve.

If he could grow them himself, wouldn't that solve the problem of having food to eat?

Even if it didn't solve everything.

In the lonely circumstances of the apocalypse, gardening was also a very pleasant leisure activity.

This was, after all, the innate, genetically encoded ultimate skill of our people.

Work with your own hands, and you shall have plenty of food and clothing.

He couldn't help but look forward to it, feeling that it seemed like a very good idea.

The only problem was that growing vegetables was technical work; it wasn't just a matter of burying seeds in the ground and waiting for the harvest. There was a lot of knowledge involved.

"Got it."

He thought of a solution, then turned and ran quickly toward the distance without looking back.

His speed was fast—much faster than his usual running pace.

This was the effect of the added speed.

He easily dealt with the few zombies he encountered along the way; the Frostmourne on his back was his greatest weapon now.

Ten minutes later.

Lin Fan looked up at the building before him.

Huang City People's Library.

This library was built in a Western architectural style. A long time ago, during the War of Resistance, it had been the command post for the invaders. After liberation, it was turned into a library.

He remembered that a year ago, during urban planning, it was decided that this library occupied too much space and was located in a prime, high-value area. There were plans to tear it down and use the land for commercial purposes.

However, the leader of Huang City at the time was a man of culture who had a special fondness for literature and libraries.

He believed that in the torrent of the secular world, having a library that served as a sanctuary for the human spirit was a wonderful thing.

So, he vetoed the plan and kept the library, allowing citizens who loved to read to come here to study.

He climbed the steps, one by one. There was long-dried blood on them.

The library's main entrance was an old-fashioned Western-style bronze door, heavy and full of history.

Now, it was half-open, with bloody handprints on it.

He could imagine that something extremely dangerous must have happened here at the time. Many people had fled from inside, and many of those who were injured had stained the door with blood as they escaped.

"Sigh, why did all these things happen so inexplicably?"

He passed through the bronze door and walked inside.

The interior was huge, at least as large as a soccer field. He arrived at the registration desk, but the library staff was gone. Chairs were overturned, the computer was smashed, and the desktop was a mess.

Fortunately, the registration log was still there.

He wrote his name in the log and walked toward the interior.

Even if there was no one around, the proper procedures still had to be followed.

The library's interior was decorated in a classical style with deep colors. The surrounding walls were lined with rows of dark red solid wood bookshelves, spanning three floors in total.

In the center of the library were long tables for people to sit and read.

"I should look for the planting section."

Lin Fan stood before the library classification sign, looking at the locations marked for various types of books, and finally found what he was looking for in the northwest corner of the second floor.

He arrived at the section where the books were shelved.

"So many books. It really lives up to its reputation as the library with the most comprehensive collection in the country. A hundred years wouldn't be enough to finish reading all the books here."

He wasn't sure if the "hundred years" claim was an exaggeration or something he'd seen on TV, where a host had introduced the place, saying that even if one read for eight hours every day, it would take a hundred years to finish all the books in the Huang City People's Library.

The sea of knowledge is boundless; that saying was truly correct.

Who knew how long it would take to read it all.

Rustle!

The sound of turning pages was the only noise in the quiet library.

Lin Fan sat there with a pile of books in front of him, all of which contained knowledge related to planting.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, luffas, chives, spinach... and so on.

These were all vegetables he quite liked to eat.

The difficulty of growing them wasn't high.

According to the instructions in the books, chives seemed quite good; they could grow continuously, and you could harvest them again and again. For his current situation, they were the best food source.

At this moment, Lin Fan was immersed in the ocean of knowledge. He had never realized that accumulating knowledge and broadening one's horizons could be so pleasant.

If I had possessed this kind of dedication to learning back in my student days, perhaps I wouldn't be in this line of work.

I might have even become a scientist, a lawyer, or a doctor—who knows.

Outside.

A modified armored vehicle pulled to a stop.

This was no military vehicle, but a steel beast designed for chasing tornadoes. Its windows were made of specialized bulletproof glass, a five-ton winch was mounted to the front bumper, and the earth-gray exterior was plated in five-millimeter dead-soft steel.

The chassis was equipped with hydraulic anchors that could lock into the ground, keeping the vehicle as steady as a mountain even in wind speeds of 271 kilometers per hour.

"Old Mao, wait for us to return." The door opened, and two men and a woman stepped out. The young man wearing a baseball cap spoke up.

Old Mao, sitting in the driver's seat, flashed a smile. "No problem. We're teammates, aren't we? I won't leave until you're back."

Old Mao looked to be in his forties or fifties, with a receding hairline and a weathered, world-weary air.

Driving a vehicle like this didn't mean he was wealthy.

Before the apocalypse, he had owned an auto repair shop.

Long ago, he had watched the movie Into the Storm and was instantly captivated by the steel beasts that chased tornadoes. He had poured everything he had into the project, spending four or five years modifying this machine.

Who could have guessed that when the apocalypse arrived and zombies ran rampant, it would become one of his primary means of survival?

The two men and the woman arrived at the library entrance and exchanged a glance.

"Get your gear ready and don't split up. If there are too many zombies inside, we retreat immediately. Don't make any unnecessary noise," the woman, the only female in the group, said softly.

She was the team's field commander; she had been a corporate executive before and possessed great capability.

When the apocalypse hit, she survived by the skin of her teeth. During her flight, she encountered Old Mao in his steel beast and formed a team. Later, through their struggles against the zombies, they met the other two, eventually forming a four-person squad to seek hope in this desolate world.

"Don't worry, Boss."

The woman had short hair, giving her a sharp, capable look. Before the end of the world, she had worn her hair long and beautiful, but she had cut it off to ensure it wouldn't become a liability.

"Remember, we are here to find medical books. Don't let anything else distract you."

She reminded them once more.

Once they secured their supply lines, they needed to find medical texts—specifically books that detailed which medications to take for certain symptoms. They had no doctor in their group; if they fell ill, they were on their own.

Before the apocalypse, no one had ever worried about how to handle sickness; they had simply gone to the hospital.

But after the world fell, they realized that things once considered simple were now incredibly difficult.

As for searching the internet?

Don't even start, brother.

Even for a minor cough, searching online would lead you to believe you had an incurable disease—the kind that scared you to death.

Books were much more reliable.

The three of them walked in quietly, staying alert and watching for hidden zombies.

"Looks like we're in luck. There aren't any zombies in the library," the young man in the baseball cap said with a grin.

Just as he was about to head inside, the woman stopped him.

"Wait."

She held a blade in her hand and walked over to the stainless steel railing, tapping it lightly.

The vibrations rippled outward.

The two men behind her knew what the boss meant. They remained vigilant, ready to break through the doors, rush back to the vehicle, and flee if any zombies appeared.

After a while, there wasn't a sign of a zombie—not even a fly.

"It's safe. Go check the location for the medical section," the woman said, pointing to a nearby directory sign.

The man in the baseball cap went to check it and eventually located the section they needed.

"Come on, it's over there."

The three of them jogged over and opened the backpacks they carried.

They began placing books into their bags.

The noise was noticeable, but not excessive.

Lin Fan, buried in his studies, frowned slightly when he heard the sound. He had assumed it was a zombie, but when he realized it was living people looking for books, he couldn't help but smile.

It seemed he had encountered others who enjoyed reading just as much as he did.

"Hey, hello there. What are you looking for?" Lin Fan asked.

"Holy crap, who's that?"

The three of them, busy packing medical books, were startled by the voice right beside them. Their expressions shifted instantly, their hearts hammering against their ribs.

They were genuinely terrified; in a library that had been deathly silent, hearing a sudden voice was enough to make anyone jump.

The three of them scanned their surroundings, but couldn't see a soul.

Just as they were beginning to think it was a hallucination, the voice spoke again.

"I'm over here."

The three of them followed the sound and looked toward the second floor, where they were startled to see a figure.

Lin Fan felt helpless; the pile of books in front of him was a bit too high, blocking his head.

It was only natural that they hadn't noticed him.

"Who are you?"

The three were shocked. How could there be someone here? It was impossible.

"My name is Lin Fan, just an ordinary citizen. I ran into some issues with planting, so I came to look at some books. I didn't scare you, did I?" Lin Fan said with a smile.

"Big Sis, what's the deal with this guy?" the man in the baseball cap whispered.

The woman didn't speak, keeping her eyes fixed on Lin Fan.

She was just as confused as they were.

Who exactly was this person?

To appear alone in a library reading books under such extraordinary circumstances was truly bizarre.