The Authorities Arrive

[Using Prophet Skill. Current Prophet Level: 1. Skill duration: 10s.]

Under the gray, overcast sky, the once-prosperous city had been reduced to chaos. Zombies wandered the streets amid debris, while people huddled and trembled in sealed spaces. In the vast city, only scattered lights remained.

Late at night, a swarm of red-eyed rats burst from the dense forest...

They flooded into the city, scurrying across the ground, burrowing into sewers and survivors' homes. Their sharp teeth tore through iron doors, breaking through humanity's last line of defense!

In an instant, screams rose and fell throughout the silent city!

Wherever the mutant rats passed, not a blade of grass remained—only dry bones.

Even the zombies were completely devoured by them.

Ye Zhao saw the city's symbolic statue covered in a dense mass of red-eyed rats—

System: [Prophet Skill usage ended.]

[Prophet] Skill grayed out.

[CD: 24h]

Ye Zhao snapped out of the god's-eye view. She gagged twice, then couldn't hold it in any longer and ran into the bathroom to vomit violently.

Fortunately, her Constitution had already increased to 67. Otherwise, she doubted she would even live to see tomorrow's sun.

After washing her face, she sat on the edge of the bathtub and opened the Weibo app on her phone. That was right—since the apocalypse information had been made public, her Weibo had finally been unbanned.

She had gone from being a reactionary accused of inciting the masses to a hero brave enough to expose reality. Her followers on both Weibo and Douyin had surpassed ten million.

She had never expected that one day, she would become an influencer with over ten million followers.

This was also her first Weibo post since changing her automatic reply last time.

[The mutant rat swarm will breach C City within three days. Survivors in C City, evacuate as soon as possible.] She also tagged C City's major official accounts.

The moment she posted it, people immediately began leaving comments.

[No way? I'm in C City. There are zombies all outside my neighborhood, and no one has come to save us. Now there are mutant rats too? Doesn't that mean I'm definitely going to die? qaq.]

[Forget it. I'm done struggling. This isn't a world for humans anymore. I'll just wait to die.]

[Didn't they say superpowered people appeared in City X before? Is that real? Why haven't I seen any? Can someone explain?]

[The zombie virus is so terrifying. If there are no superpowered people, does humanity even have a way out?]

[How do you know what will happen in the next three days? Where did you get that information? Can you see the future?]

[...]

Ye Zhao scrolled through the comments for a while. She knew the power of a single Weibo post was negligible, and her own power was limited too, but saving even one person was worth it.

That afternoon, however, Ye Zhao saw several military trucks on the road. They had been making decent progress at first, but too many zombies had chased after the noise and blocked them in the street.

A group of soldiers in camouflage got out of the vehicles and opened fire at full force.

Ye Zhao narrowed her eyes and fired at the horde of zombies.

They were quite capable. They threw bait and set off noisemakers. As the zombies spun in circles where they stood, the group unleashed a fierce barrage, crossed the street, and arrived directly beneath the hotel where Ye Zhao was staying.

Naturally, Feng Chao and the others did not stop the soldiers from entering. They immediately opened the doors, then swiftly shut them again once everyone had taken shelter inside!

A group of survivors who had seen what happened rushed downstairs. Excited and thrilled, they cried, "Are you here to rescue us? Are you here to take us to a safe base?"

"That's great! Hurry up and take us away! These bastards won't give us food, they imprisoned us, and they won't even let us leave!"

"Hurry up and arrest them all! They killed so many people—I'm reporting them under my real name!"

"We paid to stay here, but they actually set themselves up as local tyrants! They won't give us food or water, and they even force us to fight zombies!"

"I'm the nephew of City B's Party Secretary! My uncle dotes on me. Hurry up and take me to the safe base—my uncle will reward you!"

"..."

The survivors pointed excitedly at Feng Chao and the others, weeping bitterly as they accused them of all manner of crimes.

Feng Chao rolled his eyes speechlessly. These people really changed faces every day. He had already done everything he could—at the very least, he had not let them starve to death.

Fu Lie said, "I'm not part of a rescue team. I'm Fu Lie from the First Ground Combat Team. I came specifically to find Ye Zhao." He looked at Feng Chao. "Is Ye Zhao upstairs?"

Feng Chao froze for a moment, then asked in confusion, "What are you to Miss Ye?"

"I know Ye Zhao!" A scrawny man raised his hand. "She's amazing. She's incredibly fast. I saw her suddenly appear with my own eyes, one slash taking off one head after another! She's upstairs right now, on the top floor. Every day, she takes her sniper rifle and shoots everywhere!"

This man had been kidnapped in the lobby before and had refused to join the fighting. Over the past few days, he had stayed hidden in his room, only making a fuss at mealtimes to demand something to eat and keep himself alive. Yet now, he was quite bold.

Feng Chao glanced at him and realized he had still been too kind.

But it was too late for regrets.

Fu Lie had already headed upstairs. Feng Chao's team had some strength, but they did not dare clash head-on with the military.

Ye Zhao was still sniping upstairs when Xiao Min hurried over and said, "Miss Ye, someone named Fu Lie is looking for you downstairs. He's with the military, and they look fierce!"

The moment she sensed something was wrong, she had come upstairs to warn her. She would never allow anyone to hurt her in front of her!

Ye Zhao said, "Don't panic. Have a carrot."

Holding the carrot, Xiao Min still looked at her nervously. "You know Fu Lie? Are you friends?"

Ye Zhao said, "No. I saw them downstairs just now. I'm guessing they came to find me because of the Weibo post I made."

"Weibo? What Weibo post?"

"That C City will fall within three days."

The network had not gone down yet. When Xiao Min was not out and about, she browsed online to check information from different places. Of course, she knew about the prophecy post that had recently swept every platform. She had even been shocked by how impressive its author was. But what had she just heard?

Xiao Min rarely showed surprise as she said, "...You're that 'Wronged Ghost'?"

"Wronged Ghost" had once gone viral across the internet because she was the only one with a real City X IP address!

At the time, Xiao Min had still been a carefree office worker. She had followed the gossip with her coworkers and had even speculated about who this "Wronged Ghost" was.

The entire internet had discussed it fervently then. She had never imagined that this person would become her salvation!

Ye Zhao nodded in admission. The username looked fine written out, but why did it sound so strange when spoken aloud? Next time, she should not use something so literal. She ought to pick a cuter name.

As they spoke, Fu Lie came upstairs.

The man in military uniform looked tough and cold. He had come up alone, with Feng Chao following behind him, seemingly to show his sincerity.

"Hello. I'm Fu Lie of the First Ground Combat Team." Fu Lie looked at the girl in black before him. She wore a black baseball cap, and her face seemed somewhat pale. Her body did not possess the agile strength of someone long hardened by battle; instead, she appeared rather weak. There were even several bloodstained tissues in the trash can by her feet.

Ye Zhao said, "Hello."

Fu Lie said, "Can we speak privately?"

Ye Zhao waved to Xiao Min and Feng Chao, signaling that they could leave first.

The two exchanged a glance before departing one after the other.

Fu Lie said, "I saw your latest Weibo post. You said C City will be breached by a mutant rat swarm within three days. How did you learn that information?"

Ye Zhao looked at him. "I saw it."

As expected of a soldier, Fu Lie's expression did not change in the slightest. Ye Zhao said, "Do you have other superpowered people there? Did any superpowered people evacuate before City X was nuked?"

Fu Lie's pupils contracted slightly. "...Is that something you saw too?"

Ye Zhao shook her head. "Of course not. Thirty minutes before City X was nuked, I was still lining up outside the shelter. I nearly got reduced to ashes along with everyone else."

At last, some change appeared on Fu Lie's cold face. "How is that possible? It was only thirty minutes. With your strength alone, how could you possibly escape the nuclear blast radius?" Thinking of how someone downstairs had reported that Ye Zhao was incredibly fast and could take off heads with a single slash, could she have awakened a speed ability too?

Ye Zhao rolled up her sleeve and showed Fu Lie her arm covered in red blotches. "I didn't escape."

She pointed at her head too. "My hair is gone."

Then she kicked the trash can at her feet. "I'm almost out of blood."

"I've eaten so many carrots I'm about to turn into a rabbit. I haven't stopped taking medicine either—I'm practically a medicine jar now—but I'm still not much better." If she did not only need to survive ten days in this world, she would definitely break down and cry, showing them what it meant to collapse on the spot.

She valued her life. She did not want to die at all.

Yet in just these few days, it had truly felt as though she had lived through ten lifetimes.

Fu Lie said, "..." He truly had not expected that.

Ye Zhao said, "So, did you take any other superpowered people away before the nuclear blast?"

Fu Lie said, "If you want to know, you can return to the base with me. That is classified base information. I can't reveal it to an outsider."

Ye Zhao thought, So there were some?

Over the past few days, she had deeply realized the importance of game items. Things were safe for now, but future dangers would only grow greater. She needed game items. Only game items would allow her to survive in the game world for a long time.

"I can go back to the base with you."

Whether there were any or not, she had to go and see.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.