"Aaaah, Qin Luo! Am I seeing things?! A whole batch of canned goods just disappeared!" Chen Xiaofei screamed.
Bai Shu rubbed his eyes again and again, then cried out as his entire worldview shattered, "How can a zombie have an ability?! We're only in the early days of the apocalypse!"
The Apocalypse Survival Handbook hadn't mentioned anything like this. What was going on?
Qin Luo was startled too. He looked down at Xu Duoduo, then up at the space that had emptied out. "Bai Shu, Xiaofei, go check. Are they really gone? Or is this some kind of illusion ability?"
His voice was taut with tension. Spatial abilities were incredibly rare and precious, after all.
Xu Duoduo sighed helplessly and waited patiently for Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei to investigate. They even walked into the spot where the canned goods had been, moving through it without any trouble. The cans really had been stored away.
To demonstrate her Skill Point, once the two of them moved away, she brought the goods out and put them away several times in succession, leaving all three men dumbstruck.
Finally, Qin Luo covered his face with one hand, incredulous but also a little delighted. "All right, all right, that's enough. We know what your ability is now. You don't have to keep demonstrating."
Only then did Xu Duoduo stop reaching out and settle back into holding firmly around Qin Luo's neck. Her thinking was simple: she was clumsy, and with Qin Luo here as her personal transport, of course she had to hold on tight.
Chen Xiaofei was still questioning reality. "Good grief, this really isn't a dream, is it? Help. That's so much stuff! Little Class Monitor's space isn't small, either!"
He blurted that out belatedly, then suddenly remembered something and hurriedly covered his mouth, lowering his voice. "So we need to keep this secret for her, right?"
Qin Luo gave him a look that said, No kidding. "Are you stupid enough to tell anyone about this?"
Chen Xiaofei quickly shook his head.
Bai Shu had calmed down a little by now. "The most important thing right now is figuring out how big Little Class Monitor's space is and exactly how much it can hold."
Chen Xiaofei's eyes lit up too, and he stared intently at Xu Duoduo.
Xu Duoduo leaned closer against Qin Luo, a little dazzled by Chen Xiaofei's ridiculously bright stare. But she wanted to collect supplies too. Otherwise, was she supposed to leave her space sitting there as decoration?
She had to prove useful so they would be willing to take her along. More importantly, she knew them well, and their character was beyond reproach.
They had been classmates for three years, after all.
Xu Duoduo pointed at another pile of canned goods, then patted Qin Luo's shoulder to signal him to head over.
With those long legs of his, Qin Luo reached it in just a few strides. Then came the moment of magic: wherever the little zombie in his arms pointed, he obediently moved over, and she collected pile after pile.
Chen Xiaofei's expression went from delight to surprise, then shock, and finally numbness.
Bai Shu nearly fried his brain from sheer joy too. He tried to push up his glasses and once again found nothing there. Finally, he withdrew his hand, stuffed it into his pocket, and said, "We're set now!"
Little Class Monitor was a gigantic mobile warehouse! They could scoop up as many supplies as they wanted!
Could life get any better?!
Chen Xiaofei shed tears of excitement too. "We'll never have to beg everyone under the sun for a handful of supplies again!" They could get everything for free!
Bai Shu, meanwhile, couldn't stop thinking about the gasoline along their route. That was the truly vital supply, along with the medicines in hospitals and pharmacies.
Those things were still badly needed in the early days of the apocalypse and could be incredibly useful.
Qin Luo carried Xu Duoduo around, collecting supplies as they went. Every so often, he muttered, "Can you still manage? Don't push yourself if you can't store any more. The zombie virus already damages your brain. Don't overdo it and turn yourself into a little idiot."
Xu Duoduo gave him a speechless sidelong look, then simply patted his shoulder to tell him to keep moving.
Seeing her little look and gestures, Qin Luo couldn't help laughing. He didn't know why, but discovering that she still had her human awareness made him happy.
"I never thought I'd run into you. We didn't keep in touch after graduation, either. Did things go well for you after that?"
Xu Duoduo paused at that, pressing her lips together without a sound. After graduating from middle school, they had scattered like dandelion seeds, each ending up in a different corner of the world.
Things had actually gone quite well for her afterward. Every day, she had been busy studying, studying, and studying.
If she could speak, she would have liked to ask how he'd been doing, too. Why had he suddenly joined the military, along with Bai Shu and the other two?
Unfortunately, she couldn't get the words out. Opening her mouth only to babble would be far too embarrassing.
Xu Duoduo refused!
So she kept her mouth shut and swiftly stored all kinds of canned goods in her space. The individual compartments within the many-sided Rubik's Cube Space gradually filled up.
Qin Luo didn't seem to need an answer, either. After saying a few things to himself, he spent the rest of the time carrying her from place to place while she kept collecting, until every last supply in the warehouse had been stored away.
The entire huge warehouse was empty now. Even their voices echoed.
Chen Xiaofei couldn't have been more satisfied. Just thinking about all those supplies belonging to their squad felt amazing! He went off to inspect another warehouse next.
That would make it easier for Qin Luo and Xu Duoduo to collect the supplies. It had to be said that this cannery was very clean, so gathering the canned goods was hassle-free.
Just as they reached the second warehouse, rumbling thunder sounded ahead.
The vibrations made it feel as though the ground itself was shaking.
Xu Duoduo looked up. Thick, frighteningly dark clouds loomed in the distance, with lightning flickering constantly through them before striking down a moment later.
Then thunder exploded beside her ears.
A large hand suddenly settled on the back of her head, pressing it against his chest and covering one of her ears at the same time. "Don't listen. You'll go deaf." That damn mouth of Qin Luo's! Honestly!
Xu Duoduo sighed regretfully. Such good looks, such a handsome face, and yet he had to have that mouth. It really ruined the mood.
Seeing the thunderstorm ahead, Bai Shu immediately glanced at his watch, took a tablet out of his storage-space card, and snapped a rapid series of photos before uploading them to headquarters' database.
"These thunderstorms keep getting worse. Good grief, the factory buildings have pretty good lightning protection. Hopefully they can withstand this one."
Chen Xiaofei looked out into the distance too, then went to stand guard for Qin Luo and Xu Duoduo.
Although they had cleared the zombies out of the factory grounds, there was always the risk of one or two stragglers, or some other mutated animals.
The four members of their squad might usually mouth off and joke around, but they never dropped the ball when it mattered. When it was time to get serious, they were more serious than anyone.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly after that.
Xu Duoduo's space was so enormous that emptying three large warehouses was effortless. Compared with the space within her Sea of Consciousness, this amount of supplies was practically nothing. It didn't even make a ripple.
Seeing the thunderstorm spreading toward them, Bai Shu raised his voice to hurry them along. "It's almost here! Qin Luo, you two, hurry! Get into the factory buildings for shelter first!"
Before you continue