Ma Yu's Misery

One of Chen Luo's main reasons for going out was to collect crystals.

Naturally, they couldn't let the zombies they killed go to waste. Chen Luo and Su Dazhu collected crystals after killing them.

Chen Luo looked relaxed as he extracted the crystals with quick, clean movements. Su Dazhu, however, felt deeply uncomfortable handling the bloody heads.

Chen Luo's practiced hands collected crystals at least three times as fast as Su Dazhu's.

As for Dharma King, forget it. The dog didn't know how to do this job.

The two men and their dog tore through the zombie horde, soon collecting over three hundred zombie crystals.

They could have kept killing, but there was no need. Su Dazhu had already used up a lot of his strength.

They absolutely couldn't wait until they were exhausted before stopping. What would they do if they ran into danger afterward?

Over three hundred crystals would last them three days.

Chen Luo glanced at the hotel staff dormitory he had visited before and frowned. The apocalypse had broken out sometime after nine. Had Ma Yu been in her dorm, or had she been working?

He hoped she had been in her dorm. Otherwise, in a hotel this big, she would be hard to find even if she was still alive.

Honestly, Chen Luo thought Ma Yu's chances of survival were very low, around five percent. He had only come to try his luck, provided it wasn't dangerous.

They entered the staff dormitory, with Dharma King clearing the way.

The howls of collapsing zombies and Dharma King's barking soon caught the attention of someone in one of the rooms.

Through his peephole, a young man saw two men in armor. He watched Chen Luo and Su Dazhu cut down zombies as easily as chopping vegetables.

Though terrified, he still worked up the courage to crack the door open and poke his head out.

"Please, you two, save me."

Liu Wenbo was a waiter at the Cloud Arrival Hotel. He had been resting when the apocalypse broke out, alone in his dorm room. He had survived until now on his stash of snacks and two bottles of mineral water, but he felt he couldn't hold out much longer.

This time, Chen Luo didn't simply walk away indifferently. Instead, he asked a question.

"Do you know Ma Yu?"

Liu Wenbo nodded like a chicken pecking at grain.

Ma Yu was well known among the Cloud Arrival Hotel's employees. Very few didn't know her.

For one thing, her exquisite cooking skills were unmatched throughout the Cloud Arrival Hotel. For another, while Ma Yu wasn't some peerless beauty, she had a mature, confident air, pretty looks, and an outstanding presence.

She was the dream woman of many of the hotel's male employees.

Chen Luo smiled. "Do you know which room is hers?"

Liu Wenbo nodded. "Yes, but she probably isn't there. There was a huge business conference at the hotel the morning of the disaster. She was probably preparing food for it."

"Lead the way," Chen Luo said. "I'll give you something in return."

Liu Wenbo didn't dare set any conditions. These two killed zombies without so much as blinking.

Zombies were already terrifying enough in his eyes.

Although Ma Yu was unlikely to be in her dorm, Chen Luo still went to check. If she was there, wouldn't searching elsewhere be a waste of effort?

There weren't many people in the staff dormitory. Most had been on duty at the time.

Liu Wenbo pointed to a room on the fourth floor. "That's the one."

Chen Luo tried the door. It was locked, so he gestured to Su Dazhu.

Su Dazhu understood and delivered a powerful kick, smashing the door open.

Liu Wenbo's scalp prickled at the sight. If that kick had landed on him, wouldn't he have been finished on the spot?

The dorm room was empty.

Chen Luo smiled. At least he hadn't found Ma Yu turned into a zombie. Otherwise, they could have headed straight home.

Time to go search around the conference hall.

By the time Chen Luo arrived at the Cloud Arrival Hotel, Ma Yu was in a miserable situation.

When the apocalypse broke out, Ma Yu had been preparing food in the kitchen for the luncheon banquet the gathered elites would attend after the conference.

It was a major business conference attended by many business heavyweights from the Divine Capital. Even the celebrity Lin Yier had been invited.

When the apocalypse broke out, Ma Yu had fled in panic to the cold storage room beside the kitchen.

It was only one of the hotel's smaller cold storage rooms, a little over thirty square meters in size.

But its door was solid enough to keep the zombies out, and there was a switch inside. Turning it off kept them from freezing to death.

Quite a few survivors from the conference had fled toward the less crowded kitchen area.

Kindhearted Ma Yu had hurriedly ushered them into the cold storage room.

There were nine people in all, including the celebrity Lin Yier.

The room contained only some rice and vegetables. Without a fire, they couldn't cook the rice, so they barely kept themselves alive by eating raw vegetables.

Even in an enclosed space, they still had to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. No one dared go outside to do their business with zombies wandering around.

The cold storage room was over thirty square meters, but shelves filled it, leaving only enough open space to walk through.

With nine people inside, it was terribly cramped. Lying down was impossible; they could only rest sitting on the floor.

They also had to set aside a sizable stretch of space for a makeshift "toilet."

The entire room reeked, worse than a public restroom. At least public restrooms got flushed from time to time.

And the person sitting closest to this toilet was Ma Yu, the very benefactor who had brought the others to safety.

Ma Yu had never imagined things would turn out this way.

Thinking about it, though, it wasn't hard to understand. Of the nine people, everyone except Ma Yu was either a senior hotel executive, someone far above her in the chain of command, or a celebrity. The most prestigious of them was the business heavyweight Li Lin.

Even the least distinguished of the others was the head of a fairly sizable company.

As a cook, Ma Yu had the lowest status. If she didn't sit closest to the toilet, who would?

Even in this tiny cold storage room, the hierarchy was clear. None of them realized that the world had truly and utterly ended. They were still clinging to the hope of rescue.

The quality of their spots was assigned according to their status.

Ma Yu sat with her head in her hands, feeling a chill in her heart.

Beside Ma Yu sat the celebrity Lin Yier, her mouth tightly covered by a mask.

Sitting for so long had made Lin Yier very uncomfortable. She instinctively tried to stretch her legs and ended up kicking Ma Yu.

Ma Yu frowned but said nothing.

After days of confinement, however, Lin Yier was in a foul mood. She snapped, "Move farther that way."

Ma Yu froze for a moment. Even closer?

"If you want to go over there, go yourself," Ma Yu said coldly.

Lin Yier's brows drew together sharply. "Who do you think you are, compared to me? Believe it or not, once we're rescued, one complaint from me will cost you your job."

The hotel manager also chimed in. "Ma Yu, Lin Yier is an honored guest of our hotel. Watch your attitude."

Over the past few days, the hotel manager had practically treated the business heavyweight Li Lin like his own father, hoping this opportunity would inspire Li Lin to give his career a boost once they were rescued.

Ma Yu had endured more than enough mistreatment these past few days. Unable to take any more, she exploded.

"I'm a person, and so are you. What's the difference? Or are you not human?"

Lin Yier's expression turned vicious. Without a word, she kicked straight at Ma Yu.

If Ma Yu hadn't grabbed the shelving to steady herself, the consequences would have been disastrous.

The two women began fighting.

Li Lin looked displeased. He was getting on in years, already in his fifties. He had wanted Ma Yu to give him a massage, but she had refused.

Li Lin glanced at the dwindling supply of vegetables. They wouldn't last more than a few days.

His expression turned cold. "Throw her out."