On the Fine Art of Being a Spectator

Before going downstairs, Bai Yaoyao deliberately glanced back at the woman holding the child, worried that she might have been too frightened to understand what she had said.

Hmm...

My voice should have been gentle enough, and pretty polite, right? Only after seeing the woman stand up did she feel reassured enough to head downstairs.

There were no living people on the eleventh floor. The apartment on the left was manageable: just one young male zombie, which Xiaomi killed with a single slash.

The family of five on the right had all been infected. After killing the zombies, Bai Yaoyao even took a closer look at their wounds. Had they really been that unlucky? The whole family had turned?

Only after examining them for a while did she realize that the first to be infected must have been the seven- or eight-year-old child. The adults probably hadn't had the heart to kill the child, then had been bitten themselves, dooming the entire family.

Otherwise, how could four adults have failed to overpower one child?

Xiaomi couldn't help sighing over it, but Bai Yaoyao had long since grown accustomed to such things. After seeing enough of them, she had learned to accept them.

After swiftly eliminating the zombies, she took a look around the apartment. Households with elderly family members usually kept some rice, flour, cooking oil, and the like stocked up.

Working on the principle that every little bit counted, Bai Yaoyao collected all the unopened bags of flour and rice from the cupboards. There were five or six bags altogether.

The Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed, so there were also mooncakes, fruit, milk, and other gifts from various households.

The apocalypse hadn't been going on long, and none of it had expired, so she simply put it all into her storage space.

She didn't put it with the supplies she had purchased, instead setting aside a separate area for it. Although there wasn't much room for fussiness in the apocalypse, this food had still spent all this time sitting alongside zombies.

If she could avoid eating it, she would. She could keep it for emergencies or trade it away.

There were no survivors on the tenth floor either. Two elderly people had lived in the apartment on the left. Neither had turned, but both had stopped breathing.

Bai Yaoyao looked around their home and found that there was no food left at all, which gave her an idea of how they had died. It was a heartbreaking thing, but seeing the two elderly people nestled tightly against each other, she also felt that they had found a measure of happiness.

Bai Yaoyao gathered herself and continued clearing the building floor by floor. She killed any zombies she found and searched the homes for supplies. If the occupants were still alive, she told them to wait for the announcement before coming downstairs.

"Hello, the official rescue team is here. Pack your things, and once you hear the announcement from downstairs, you can come down," Bai Yaoyao recited smoothly.

A young man was curled up on the sofa. He looked almost skeletal, with sunken eyes and barely any life left in him.

"You... why did you only come now?! My wife died... I killed her with my own hands. She turned into a monster. Sob... it's all your fault. Why... did you only come now?!

"Just leave... I don't want to live anymore. Let me die!"

Bai Yaoyao couldn't really understand him, nor did she want to bother with this young, dejected man who didn't seem particularly bright. Not wanting to live in the apocalypse was easy-far easier than trying not to die.

Why save someone who had no will to live?

"All right. Sorry for disturbing you."

With that, Bai Yaoyao called Xiaomi over and continued to the next floor.

The man sat blankly on the sofa. What? Aren't they the authorities? Aren't they going to try to talk me around? I'm a victim, after all. I was planning to use this chance to ask for some supplies. How could they just leave?

What the hell do you mean, "sorry for disturbing you"?!

Bai Yaoyao felt that they were making good progress on her side. She wondered how the others were doing.

She felt like an old mother. She wanted her companions to grow stronger quickly, yet worried about them getting hurt. It was as though she had suddenly acquired a whole brood of grown sons and turned straight into an overworked, fretful mother...

As she thought about it, Bai Yaoyao couldn't help laughing.

Watching Sister Yaoyao bump into walls one moment and laugh to herself the next, Xiaomi felt a little bewildered. What had gotten into her? Even Monkey wasn't like this. Xiaomi couldn't help sighing. Everyone in Dark Night bore some responsibility for Sister Yaoyao turning out this way.

Xiaomi scratched their head in confusion, wanting to ask something but holding back. Somehow, it felt like that would earn a beating.

Forget it. I'll talk it over with Fat Brother tonight.

They didn't encounter any more oddballs after that. Once they had finished clearing the building and come downstairs, they found that they were the first ones back. The other buildings still hadn't been fully cleared.

"Captain Bai, you've... the zombies... uh, you've finished clearing them?" the young soldier asked blankly.

"Yes, all done. We'll go help elsewhere." After answering with a smile, Bai Yaoyao took Xiaomi to Building Two.

Before they even reached the entrance, they heard fighting. Bai Yaoyao detected four level-two zombies.

Lulu and Peiqi were in Building Two, and facing four level-two zombies together was a little difficult for them. Peiqi only had a healing ability, so she mostly charged in with a butcher knife. Although Lulu's lightning ability was powerful, the cramped space made it difficult to use effectively.

Hearing the commotion, Xiaomi hurried over, asking along the way, "Sister Yaoyao, which floor?"

"The third floor. Go ahead!" Bai Yaoyao answered.

Xiaomi turned back. "Okay-huh? You're not coming?"

"If I went, what would be left for you to do? I'm going to Building Three to find Fat Brother." With that, Bai Yaoyao left.

Xiaomi looked bewildered. Whoa, Sister Yaoyao's showing off again. That was pretty cool. When will I get to pull something like that...?

By the time Bai Yaoyao reached the entrance to Building Three, Fat Brother and Monkey had pretty much finished clearing it too. Their skills complemented each other perfectly, making their teamwork smooth.

"Sister Yaoyao, that was fast!" Monkey spotted Bai Yaoyao from a second-floor window and jumped straight out.

"You two weren't slow either. Let's go. Buildings Four, Five, and Six-one each."

"Sure thing! Sister Yaoyao, let me tell you, I nearly slapped an idi-"

"Watch out!"

Bai Yaoyao suddenly sensed danger, and every hair on her body stood on end. She kicked Monkey over toward Fat Brother, then used Teleportation to move aside while flinging a Spatial Blade behind her.

The instant the skill struck, the zombie became visible.

"A level-three invisible zombie!"

Bai Yaoyao was certain that this zombie hadn't been there when she first scanned the area. The only explanation was that it had heard the noise and come over afterward.

Fortunately, it had charged straight at her. Otherwise, someone would definitely have been hurt or killed.

Without another word, Bai Yaoyao swiftly pulled a bucket of green paint from her storage space. Before the zombie could turn invisible again, she dumped the entire bucket over it, barely wasting a drop.

"Holy shit! You tried to ambush me? I'll beat you to death! Go on, turn invisible again if you've got the guts, you little green zombie!" Monkey yelled.

Bai Yaoyao relaxed a little now. Invisible zombies didn't have any other special tricks; their main advantage was ambushing people. Once that protection was stripped away, they were no different from ordinary zombies.

Just then, Xiaomi, Peiqi, and Lulu heard the noise and hurried over too.

Bai Yaoyao took out a small folding stool and a video camera, then retreated to one side to record the whole thing.

"Go get it, everyone." Bai Yaoyao adjusted the focus and even found a moment to cheer them on.

The young soldiers nearby were braced for a major battle and were about to rush over to help. Seeing Bai Yaoyao's outrageous maneuver, they suddenly weren't sure whether they should.

When Captain Bai waved at them, then tossed over a case of soda and two bags of sunflower seeds, the corners of their mouths twitched.

All right, then. The fine art of being a spectator.

Everyone understood what to do.

Following Bai Yaoyao's example, they sat down and watched attentively, though they were too embarrassed to touch the snacks and drinks.

The longer they watched, the more they felt that the people fighting out there were exceptionally skilled. That was definitely not something they could have developed in the few short days since the apocalypse began. Their seamless teamwork also made them look more like a team that had worked together for years.