Rescue?

The second day after entering the game.

At dawn, the torrential rain that had poured all night finally stopped. Beneath the dark, overcast sky were vehicles smashed into a chaotic heap and zombies wandering aimlessly, oblivious to everything.

Ye Zhao was exhausted and hungry. She found a small electric pot in the break room and cooked some noodles. The bland noodles only had salt and Lao Gan Ma added to them. Though Ye Zhao had canned meat too, she felt sick even thinking about meat right now, let alone eating it.

Everyone in the shop swallowed as they watched Ye Zhao eat. There had never been much food in a barbershop to begin with, and after a whole night, their stomachs were all growling.

Using her backpack as cover, Ye Zhao took two 2-kilogram packs of dried noodles from her space and handed them out. They boiled several pots before everyone got a bowl.

Once they were full, they could start worrying about the future again.

"Is humanity finished?"

"Are those people across the street superpowered? They're amazing—they can shoot lightning and fireballs!"

"How do you awaken superpowers? I want them too!"

"Wuwuwu, I don't want to die! Will anyone come save us?"

"According to movie logic, I'm afraid the whole world has fallen. No one is coming to save us. We have to escape on our own!"

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone looked toward the girl crouching on the windowsill. Her high ponytail was tied up, and she wore black from head to toe. Her bare face was clean and fresh as she held a pair of binoculars, seemingly observing something.

They all remembered how she had suddenly appeared on the windowsill yesterday. She was agile and skilled, but more importantly, she had a gun.

The burning stares at her back were impossible for Ye Zhao to ignore, but since no one said anything, she pretended not to notice.

"Miss, why don't you just come with us? The whole world has fallen now. We'll be safer together. Only by helping each other can we survive in this harsh apocalypse!" said the barbershop owner. During the crisis, he had directed his employees in killing zombies to protect themselves, and had also rescued several passersby who had fled into the shop in a panic. Before Ye Zhao appeared, he had always been the leader of the group.

Once he spoke, the others chimed in, analyzing the benefits of strength in numbers.

Ye Zhao put away her binoculars and turned around. "I can share the food in my backpack with you. Thank you for being willing to take me in. But I won't be staying. I have things to do."

"What could be so important?" the owner said. "Don't be willful. It's chaos outside. Even if you have a gun, going out alone is suicide!"

"Yeah, it's too dangerous for you to be alone. If we stick together, we can look out for each other. Don't do anything stupid!"

"Little sister, are you trying to go home? Look at what it's like outside. If your family is all right, they'll have found somewhere to hide too. The most important thing now is staying alive!"

"..."

Of course, someone also said, "Women are meant to be pampered at home. Little sister, give me the gun. From now on, big brother will protect you and never let you suffer in the slightest! Zombies are so dangerous outside. Men should be the ones charging into battle!" The greasy man walked up to Ye Zhao, wearing an expression as though he would give his life for her, when in truth he had his eye on her gun.

Ye Zhao said, "Heh. My gun can kill zombies. It can kill people too."

With life and death at stake, Ye Zhao could understand their little schemes. She couldn't really say she hated them. When people faced a crisis, selfishness was only natural.

But if they insisted on acting like assholes, they couldn't blame her for showing no mercy.

The cold pistol spun around in her palm. The greasy man immediately took two nervous steps back. "Miss, be careful not to let it slip!"

Ye Zhao smiled and aimed the gun at him. The greasy man raised his hands and backed away. "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! I just thought a little girl like you needed looking after..."

Everyone: ...

The owner's gaze flickered, and he stopped wasting his breath.

Just then, the rumble of an aircraft suddenly came from overhead. Ye Zhao climbed onto the windowsill and raised her binoculars to the sky. Sure enough, she saw a helicopter circling at low altitude, with a bloody little lamb hanging beneath it. Drawn by the scent of blood and flesh, the zombies surged after it like a swarm.

Soon, all the zombies wandering their street had been lured away.

It seemed the government had taken action.

That was good news.

"Great! Kill all those zombies!"

"Wuwuwu, we're saved! Why couldn't they have come earlier? If they had, my girlfriend wouldn't have died..."

"Help! Save me—"

Some people even shouted for help through the windows, hoping the helicopter would take them away. Naturally, this suicidal behavior was quickly stopped by their companions.

Others began packing their things, wanting to run to a more open area to catch the helicopter's attention in hopes of leaving with it.

Before long, an earthshaking explosion rang out ahead. The zombies' low growls mixed with the roar of flames and explosions. It was practically hell on earth.

From where Ye Zhao and the others were, they could see the intersection not far away where the explosion had occurred.

Then cheers and cries for help rose from the nearby buildings. People waved flags marked SOS from their windows. Ye Zhao looked up. It seemed there were still quite a few survivors in this area.

"All you zombies can go to hell!"

"Humans are the rulers of all living things!"

"Which damned bastard came up with this zombie virus? Once I get out, I'll kill your whole family—"

Others shouted, "Brothers and sisters, can someone come out and tell us how to awaken superpowers? Can any superpowered people say something?"

"Don't keep your secrets to yourselves at a time like this!"

"Every person bears responsibility for the fate of humanity!"

"Whoever gets me out, I'll give them ten million! He'll be my dad!"

"Fuck, do you even know how to rescue people? Hurry up and save us!"

"Ah, help—"

Though their phones could not access the internet, that did not stop them from communicating through the most primitive means—shouting. Cries rose and fell between the buildings, with no one afraid of attracting the zombies' attention.

He Fei leaned against the window and asked, "Do you think Natives can awaken superpowers? They should be able to, right? That's how it goes in novels. The apocalypse virus breaks out, humans awaken superpowers, and a new era begins."

Duan Chen shook his head. "Hard to say. At least among the survivors we've rescued, no one has awakened any superpowers."

"Superpowers might be Player items, a Golden Finger that only Players possess."

"Since superpowers are so rare, if we pledge allegiance to the government and tell them we have superpowers, they'll definitely protect us, right?"

Sang Xiaoqi said bluntly, "With however many bolts of lightning you have left? If they sent you out to fight zombies, would you dare go? If they asked you to demonstrate your power, how many times could you do it?"

He Fei clicked his tongue. "I can still keep my head down for ten days, can't I?"

Sang Xiaoqi glanced at him without saying anything. He Fei felt as though he had been looked down on, but he had no proof.

Duan Fei circled his hands around his eyes like binoculars and vaguely saw a dark mass moving. "Look over there—is that black patch moving? What the hell is that? It looks kind of creepy!"

The two immediately looked over. From the massive craters left by the explosions, swarms of rats emerged. Following the scent, they found the zombies' severed limbs and quickly gnawed them apart. They crawled past in a dark tide, leaving not even bones behind. Even the zombies drawn over by the noise were not spared.

"What the hell is this? The rats mutated too? Rats eat zombies?"

"Fuck! It's exactly like those apocalypse novels—the animals mutate too. Then what about the plants?!"

"We're screwed. This world is probably doomed."