Chapter 16: Disaster Makes the Strong Grow

Bian Changxi nodded, though she was thinking to herself: Tomorrow, the poisonous zombies will appear. If they act then, a single misstep could mean heavy casualties. But if they don’t leave tomorrow, the number of zombies will explode exponentially, and their chances will be even slimmer. So many people missed their window and ended up trapped and dying in this city. In her previous life, she managed to escape against all odds—no powers, no physical strength, and even facing the disdain of her teammates. Chen Yisha’s loyalty was one reason, but she had to admit, luck was also on her side.

Her gaze flickered, but she stayed silent.

Cheng Haijun saw she wasn’t moved and sighed. “Forget it. I can tell you have your own resources. Our team is just a bunch of classmates who happened to run into each other and formed a group—nothing but a ragtag band. Honestly, sticking with us might be even more dangerous for you. Just be careful. Don’t worry about the car and weapons, I’ll have them returned to you right away. They weren’t always so impulsive—it’s just that everything happened so suddenly, and everyone’s still in shock. Don’t take it to heart.”

Bian Changxi was a bit surprised. Seeing the sincerity on Cheng Haijun’s face, she couldn’t help but think better of him. She smiled, “I know. It was mostly Zhang Yuwen and Wang Yan stirring things up, and I wasn’t exactly polite either.”

She pointed to her watch-like communicator. “Since this reward was given to you by Gu Xu, and you’ve fulfilled your duty, you deserve to keep it. But I’m really interested in these two communicators. Could you let me have them? I don’t have anything to trade right now, but if you trust me, consider it a favor I owe you. How about that?”

“If you want them, take them. No need to talk about favors.” Cheng Haijun quickly handed her the remaining communicator, then picked up his pistol and bullets. After a moment’s silence, he said with some frustration, “About Zhang Yuwen and Wang Yan… We ran into them while escaping from the university district. We’d met a few times at school events. They said the students from S University were spoiled and rude, couldn’t handle hardship, and liked to boss people around without knowing what they were doing. That’s why they asked to join us. I guess they thought we were better, though they don’t always cooperate…”

Bian Changxi looked at him as if she’d heard a strange story. “So they think they’re misunderstood geniuses?” She shook her head in disbelief. “With their family background and brains, they’re barely average at S University. Who are they to look down on others?”

So, Zhang and Wang were pushed out by the S University crowd, not the other way around? Cheng Haijun was surprised. “But… isn’t S University full of spoiled rich kids…?”

Realizing he’d misspoken, he trailed off awkwardly. After all, Bian Changxi was from S University.

“What’s wrong with rich kids?” Bian Changxi didn’t mind. “Captain Cheng, you should know: there are a lot of students at school, but not that many turned into monsters. In the first two days, people were relatively safe. Those who took the lead and escaped early all had a strong sense of crisis—they predicted trouble would break out in such a dense crowd. How many like that does A University have? S University had dozens.”

Those who followed later didn’t count. The first to organize an escape needed leadership skills, courage, and foresight. In her previous life, the senior who led her group out was truly remarkable—she’d heard he later held a high position at the Su City base. He, too, was a notorious rich kid before the apocalypse.

People always said S University was full of spoiled rich kids, but in reality, among the heirs of family businesses and conglomerates, even if only one in ten was truly capable, their vision and intelligence far surpassed that of ordinary people. That’s why S University had the highest survival rate among the universities in the city. At the Su City base, they even formed a sizable organization together—but that’s a story for another time.

Ten minutes later, Bian Changxi was riding her knockoff Yamaha out of the warehouse lot, under the cold glares of Zhang Yuwen, the resentment of Wang Yan, and the mixture of disdain, mockery, worry, and longing from the others. She sped away into the blood-red sunset.

She raced past bloodstained bus stops, abandoned vehicles, smashed shops, and mangled corpses. Occasionally, she saw a few people hurrying by, or brushed past groups of zombies lurking in the shadows. She didn’t slow down for a second, heading straight for Xinfeng Community at top speed. She finally parked steadily under Building 5 just before the sun set completely. Luckily, the warehouse wasn’t too far, and she was familiar with the area—otherwise, traveling at night would have been too risky.

She got off the bike, took off her helmet, and ran her fingers through her messy hair while scanning her surroundings.

There were some changes in the community. First, there were more zombie corpses on the ground, some showing signs of human casualties. The green spaces were badly damaged, some cars had been moved, and their bodies bore dents, scratches, and bloodstains.

It seemed some people had ventured out recently. Those who dared to go first gained experience, toughened themselves, and gathered information—giving them a direct understanding of how brutal the world had become. All of this was invaluable for their future survival. Those who kept hesitating and waiting would only fall further behind. There’s a reason why the strong become strong in the apocalypse.

She looked up at the surrounding buildings. Every window was tightly shut, curtains drawn so tightly that not a sliver of light escaped. But if you looked closely, you could see silhouettes standing behind many of the windows.

She pushed her bike into the building, found a blind spot out of sight of the cameras, glanced around, and placed her left hand on the handlebars. With a thought, her jade bracelet flashed with a barely noticeable cold light, and the motorcycle vanished into thin air.

Bian Changxi blinked, a pleased smile on her lips. She stowed her backpack into the bracelet as well, drew her straight blade, and cautiously climbed the stairs.

Luck seemed to be on her side. She encountered no danger from the first to the third floor. Only after checking every room in apartment 303—the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom—did she finally relax and collapse onto the sofa.

The power had long since been cut, and the apartment was shrouded in darkness and silence. Starving enough to eat a whole cow, Bian Changxi ignored her hunger and quickly pulled out her communicator, switched to “Captain Gu’s” contact, and decisively sent a call request.

Listening to the “beep beep” of the call connecting, her heart began to race.

Putting everything else aside, standing now at the forefront of the strong, holding a key that could change his fate—this feeling was something only those who’d experienced it could understand.

After about three seconds, the call was answered. A voice came through the watch: “Hello?”

Bian Changxi lowered her voice. “Gu Xu?”

There was a brief silence on the other end, faintly accompanied by gunshots and zombie howls. Someone with a booming voice was shouting for cover—the situation sounded urgent. Bian Changxi frowned. Fighting when it was nearly dark? They must have run into trouble. As she thought this, Gu Xu’s deep, steady voice came through: “Yes, this is Gu Xu. Are you the girl from yesterday?”

His voice was just as she remembered—rich, resolute, with a hint of coldness. The impressions from two lifetimes seemed to merge across time, giving her a strange sense of impact.

She forced herself to stay calm, summoned the confidence she’d gained from her previous life, and spoke clearly: “That’s right. Captain Gu, your time is precious, so I’ll get straight to the point. I don’t like owing favors. You saved my life, so I owe you. I have an interesting piece of information that might be useful to you. But first, I hope you’ll promise me: no matter what happens, don’t investigate the source of this intel, and don’t tell anyone it came from me.”

She stated her intentions upfront, fearing Gu Xu might hang up if he got impatient, and made her request seriously—this was the best way to pique his interest and ensure he took her words seriously.

With Gu Xu, beating around the bush would only get you shut down. Trying to curry favor with little tricks would leave a bad impression. Being open and straightforward, on the other hand, would earn his respect.

Unlike her vague hints to Cheng Haijun, telling Gu Xu about the poisonous zombies was a real risk. If they ever met again, he’d definitely pay extra attention to her. Since that was inevitable, it was better to leave a good impression with the strongest than to end up on his blacklist.

She held her breath, waiting for Gu Xu’s reply.

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