Chapter 53: Zombie Shanhai (4)
“Su Qiong, what happened?”
Hearing Su Qiong scream, his companions rushed over, assuming something terrible had happened.
After all, Su Qiong had never screamed so dramatically even when facing a Circle Lord.
Had he encountered a monster even more terrifying than one?
“I…” Still badly shaken, Su Qiong raised one finger and showed it to them pitifully. “I touched something dirty.”
A tiny smear of indistinct green liquid clung to his fair, clean finger. Its texture looked somewhat like thick phlegm.
“…?”
“That’s it?”
“Mm.” Su Qiong nodded.
“Oh.”
“Just wash it off. It’s fine. Everyone, disperse.”
“Su Qiong, you really need to treat that germophobia of yours.”
His companions scattered immediately, leaving Su Qiong standing there alone with his finger raised, feeling terribly aggrieved.
What was wrong with being a clean freak?
Touching filthy things really was disgusting!
After sulking for several seconds, he heard ERROR’s voice above him.
“Give me your hand.”
Su Qiong’s body reacted faster than his mind, and he held it out.
ERROR produced yet another scrap of cloth from somewhere and wiped his hand clean.
Only after confirming that not the slightest trace remained did he release him.
“Be more careful next time,” ERROR warned. “Don’t touch unidentified things recklessly.”
“Oh.” Su Qiong withdrew his hand, silently took out his wand, and began poking and prodding around with it.
The wand: “???”
So it doesn’t matter if I get dirty?
After cleaning Su Qiong’s hand, ERROR did not immediately throw the cloth away. Instead, he carefully examined the green stain.
Its appearance was strange and difficult to identify. There was nowhere in the world of IF where they could analyze its composition, so they could not determine what kind of substance it was.
Judging purely from its appearance, ERROR could only conclude that it vaguely resembled human… or zombie tissue.
“Damn it! I touched that stuff too!”
“Gross! There’s some over here as well!”
“Ugh! I was wrong. I shouldn’t have laughed at Little Pastry.”
The others pushed aside the grass and examined the area carefully. Each of them found similar viscous traces, and their expressions collapsed one after another.
Hearing them, ERROR walked around every place where they had found the substance.
When connected, the traces formed a perfect circle around the villa.
And that circle was precisely the boundary the zombies could not cross.
“If I’m not mistaken…”
ERROR tossed the stained cloth outside.
Sure enough, the moment the green substance came near the zombies, they scattered far away.
“That works too? How amazing.”
“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have called it disgusting.”
“If we collect it, won’t we become invincible?”
Su Qiong timidly hid behind ERROR. “Do we really have to collect it?”
Even if the substance repelled zombies, Su Qiong still found it unbearably disgusting.
“It’s difficult to collect,” ERROR concluded. “Besides, we can’t constantly draw circles with it wherever we go.”
“If we figure out what it is and can find more of it in this world, things will become much easier,” Yu Qimiao analyzed.
Lu Shufan asked, “Did any of you see this stuff on the way here?”
“No.” An’an paused before adding, “But I’ve seen this color somewhere.”
“Where?”
An’an shook his head, unable to remember.
Everyone immediately looked disappointed.
“For now, we’ll pay attention and see whether we encounter anything similar.” Yu Qimiao stared at the difficult-to-collect substance in thought for a long time. Then he returned inside, found several syringes in the first-aid kit, and temporarily drew up everything they could collect.
There was very little of it. Altogether, it did not even amount to ten milliliters.
“It isn’t much, but it can help during an emergency. At the very least, it should get us through the fourth street.”
According to the information Xi Huaiji had provided earlier, they might begin encountering “survivors” from the fourth street onward.
Those survivors possessed more information and might even know a method for becoming immune to the zombie virus.
As long as they could become immune, the NPCs of Zombie Shanhai would no longer be much of a threat.
“Let’s go.”
“All right.”
Using the pitifully small quantity of green substance, along with the low-level zombies Lu Shufan had previously charmed, the group advanced a cautious five meters.
More and more zombies gathered around them, baring their teeth and claws with vicious expressions.
Su Qiong became curious about how the zombies distinguished players from one another.
They could not speak. Their eye sockets were sunken, and their noses were shriveled. They seemed to have lost all five senses, yet they could still identify the players’ exact locations within a crowd of zombies.
“Hey, I want to perform a test. It may be a little dangerous.”
“Go ahead.”
His companions answered immediately, paying no attention to the word “dangerous.”
Please. They had courted death so many times in the game that danger had become their constant companion.
“I want to test how the zombies identify human locations,” Su Qiong explained. “Next, we’ll split up and emit different biological signals. Then we’ll observe whom they approach.”
“I see. This experiment is necessary.”
Until now, they had tried every possible way to prevent zombies from approaching.
But if they could stop the zombies from detecting them at the source, wouldn’t that solve the problem once and for all?
They quickly divided their roles, then scattered in every direction at lightning speed.
“Come on! I’m right here! Come find me!” Lu Shufan jumped onto a high place and leaped between several rooftops, manually creating a surround-sound effect.
The zombies appeared capable of hearing sound but could not determine its direction.
Lu Shufan made them spin in circles like a swarm of headless flies.
Several disoriented zombies collided face-first, creating an especially ridiculous scene.
An’an moved to the opposite side. Without blinking, he sliced open his arm, allowing the scent of blood to spread, then dripped it in several different locations.
The zombies were equally confused. They could not use the smell of blood to locate An’an.
Su Qiong shaped his bandages into a human figure and dressed it in the mimetic cloak.
The mimetic cloak could deceive the senses of players and NPCs. To others, the bandage figure looked no different from a real human.
Su Qiong placed the cloaked figure among the zombies and deliberately made it sway.
The zombies seemed to sense that something was there and reached out, but caught only empty air. They could not accurately grab Su Qiong’s bandages at all.
“Hearing, sight, and smell don’t seem to be the answer. Could it be taste?”
“Impossible,” ERROR denied. “The zombies haven’t captured you and tasted you.”
“Then how do they locate me so accurately every single time?” Su Qiong could not understand.
Just as he became lost in thought, Moi suddenly shouted, “I know! It’s body temperature!”
“Body temperature?”
“Moi, how did you figure that out?”
Moi retreated to a safe area and rested for a while before explaining.
“My puppet transformation has reached twenty percent. I don’t feel any different myself, but when Brother Yuntian pulled me along while we were escaping, I noticed that his palm felt extremely hot.”
“Huh?” Shi Yuntian spread his hands carelessly. “My body temperature runs high.”
“Brother Yuntian has always protected my sister and me,” Moi continued. “Even when I lost too much blood and he held me before, he never felt this hot. Then I realized my body temperature is no longer the same as a human’s.”
“May I touch you?”
After receiving permission, Su Qiong touched Moi’s cheek.
It was icy cold.
He had never touched a zombie before, but he could confidently conclude that zombies definitely lacked human body heat.
“They don’t,” An’an confirmed, having touched zombies before.
Everyone gave him indescribable looks.
Su Qiong moved farther away from him.
This person had touched zombies.
He was no longer clean.
An’an slowly produced several question marks.
“When Brother Yuntian and I appeared before the zombies separately, they chased him first,” Moi said. “Then I found several objects close to human body temperature and wore them. Only then did the zombies approach me.”
She gave her conclusion.
“Therefore, the key factor zombies use to find us is body temperature.”
“So as long as we lower our body temperature, we can avoid them.”
“But how are we supposed to do that?” Everyone became troubled.
“I can!” Hearing the proposal, Su Qiong said happily. “I can use the mimetic cloak and bandages to alter my body.”
Then he looked toward his companions.
“As for all of you… I’ve got it!”
Su Qiong brought out the familiar coffin.
“Uh.” The moment Lu Shufan saw it, unpleasant memories resurfaced.
“You can…” Su Qiong noticed his reaction and was about to speak.
Lu Shufan immediately declared, “I’ll go inside! I love coffins more than anything!”
“Hah.”
“Pathetic.”
Everyone mocked him for his attitude.
Su Qiong enthusiastically praised his coffin.
“The inside is my personal space. Once you enter, the zombies won’t detect any of your auras. The coffin is also extremely sturdy and has defensive properties.”
“That sounds excellent, but…” ERROR asked without sparing his feelings, “Can it move?”
“…No.” Su Qiong wilted.
“If only we had Wind Fire Wheels so the coffin could run by itself.”
“Where would we find such a legendary-grade item?”
“If you mean wheels that can be used for transportation, I’ve seen some,” Shi Yuntian said. “In the previous Circle, I couldn’t resist fighting someone. Halfway through the fight, he stepped onto a pair of wheels and escaped.”
“Do you remember who he was?”
“No, but I know he was one of the leaders of Everyone Survives.”
“Everyone Survives again?”
“Are we destined to clash with this guild?”
Thinking of the strategist they had abandoned earlier, Su Qiong said gloomily, “I don’t want to interact with them anymore.”
“Understandable. Borrowing an item from them would be like bargaining with a tiger for its skin.”
“If it were Guild Leader Xi Huaiji, we could at least consider it.”
“Speaking of which, how far has Xi Huaiji gone?”
“Achoo—!”
Xi Huaiji, who had already crossed the fourth street, sneezed heavily.
“Guild Leader, are you all right? Did the zombie virus infect you?”
“You’re the one who’s infected.” Xi Huaiji glared at him. “I’ve never heard that sneezing is a symptom of infection. What, is my immune system purging the virus?”
After entering the game, biological functions existed only on the surface. Metabolism and immunity had stopped long ago.
If the zombie virus were an ordinary virus, perhaps a high-level player’s immune system truly could destroy it.
Xi Huaiji dismissed the absurd thought and asked the surrounding members whether they had discovered anything.
“Yes. There must be survivors here, but the moment they noticed us, they all hid.”
“Why would they hide?” Xi Huaiji asked, puzzled. “And how do you know they’re hiding?”
“Because I found a car. The hood was still warm, but no one was nearby.”
“A car…” Xi Huaiji fell into thought. “This world’s setting involves magic. The car probably isn’t merely a normal vehicle. It may become an important item.”
“Should I drive it away?”
“Mm. Also, share the information about the fourth street with the other guild members.”
“Yes, Guild Leader.”
Xi Huaiji added, “Send a copy to Yu Qimiao as well.”
The other players were somewhat unhappy to hear that.
The fourth street had been so dangerous. They had risked their lives to cross it.
Sharing information within Extremity was their responsibility, but why give it to another guild?
Every time Xi Huaiji traded with Yu Qimiao, she was the one who suffered a loss.
She had once ranked first in the entire game, but the Orphan Alliance had claimed too many items and system rewards. Now Xi Huaiji could only remain aggrieved in third place.
This time, Extremity had entered the Circle early and seized the advantage.
They had planned to push forward in one burst and return Xi Huaiji to the top of the rankings. Why was she sharing information with the Orphan Alliance again?
“I have my reasons,” Xi Huaiji said calmly after noticing their objections. “Crossing the fourth street was already this dangerous. Beyond it are the even more dangerous Moderate and Severe Infection Zones. The Orphan Alliance is filled with powerful players, and they often employ unconventional methods. They’re more suited to scouting ahead.”
“With all due respect, Extremity has many experts as well, and we possess the numerical advantage. Everyone is willing to sacrifice themselves for you!”
“That’s right. We’re capable of scouting too.”
Xi Huaiji released a long sigh.
“That is precisely what worries me.”
“Guild Leader…”
“Everyone who has endured until now has had a difficult journey. I have a feeling that there aren’t many Circles left. Once we clear them, we’ll be able to return to reality.” Xi Huaiji looked at them. “I don’t want Extremity to suffer too many casualties.”
So even though she clearly knew she lost every time she traded with Yu Qimiao…
Even though she knew that repeatedly surrendering her advantages would only place her in an increasingly passive position and prevent her from obtaining system rewards…
Xi Huaiji still chose cooperation.
She was not merely a high-level player in IF. She was also Extremity’s guild leader and carried the responsibility of leading everyone out of the game.
“Guild Leader… I understand.”
The burly men beside her became teary-eyed from emotion.
Players outside Extremity might not understand why every member of the guild was willing to serve Xi Huaiji.
They did not know that Extremity was not risking their lives for Xi Huaiji.
Xi Huaiji was risking her life for the entire guild.
“If you understand, then follow my instructions.” Xi Huaiji looked ahead and lightly frowned.
The road before them was dangerous.
Hopefully, they could find a solution.
Meanwhile, Yu Qimiao received Xi Huaiji’s message and immediately shared it with everyone.
“The map of the fourth street is this long?”
“Guild Leader Xi has already marked the least dangerous route. There were two giant zombies on that path, but she defeated them. We only need to follow it.”
“Why would Xi Huaiji suddenly give us a guide?” After being plotted against by Everyone Survives, Shi Yuntian had developed paranoia. “Is there some conspiracy?”
“It isn’t a conspiracy. It’s an open scheme.”
“Exactly. Xi Huaiji is far smarter than those idiots from Everyone Survives. She must have realized the road ahead is too dangerous, so she wants us to scout it.”
Shi Yuntian used his brain briefly.
“Then we shouldn’t let her benefit!”
“…”
“Boss Shi.” Lu Shufan helplessly reminded him, “Do you know Xi Huaiji is nearly Level Two Hundred?”
“She’s that powerful, so why doesn’t she scout herself?”
“That’s not the point!” Lu Shufan nearly broke down. “Have you forgotten? Zombie levels are connected to player levels. If Xi Huaiji becomes infected, we’ll gain a high-level opponent with countless weapons, divine equipment, and the protection of all of Extremity.”
“Lu Shufan is right.”
“So we have to go.”
Aside from Shi Yuntian, everyone immediately understood the pros and cons.
“As long as we follow the route Xi Huaiji provided and conceal our body temperatures as much as possible, we should be able to infiltrate the fifth street quickly.”
Having said something brainless earlier, Shi Yuntian tried to redeem himself.
“Once we cross the fifth street, we’ll have completed half of this world.”
“Mr. Shi Yuntian,” Yu Qimiao called slowly. “That isn’t how games are calculated. Do you remember my pyramid theory?”
“I forgot.”
Su Qiong remembered and repeated it.
“According to the pyramid rule, twenty percent of the game contains one hundred and fifty percent of the difficulty. The eighty percent we’ve already experienced was merely an appetizer with negative fifty percent difficulty.”
Therefore, forget completing half the game.
The true game had not even begun.
After all, even after entering the fourth street, they still had not triggered the main quest.
An’an and ERROR took some ice from the villa and used it to lower their temperatures and deceive the zombies. They crossed the fourth street as quickly as possible.
Along the way, they saw the zombies Xi Huaiji had subdued.
Xi Huaiji had been ruthless. The two high-level zombies had been beaten senseless and lay crookedly on the ground. Faint pale-green traces could be seen within their misshapen bodies.
“ERROR, look at that.” Su Qiong tugged his sleeve.
ERROR looked over and expertly collected the substance into a bottle.
“We’ll test it later.”
Su Qiong verbally agreed but released ERROR’s sleeve and backed away.
Dirty.
ERROR glanced sideways at him.
If the surroundings had not been so dangerous, he would have rubbed it all over Su Qiong’s face and dirtied him.
Watching the marshmallow bristle was also entertaining.
Once they crossed the fourth street, Yu Qimiao immediately received another message from Xi Huaiji.
She was hiding inside an abandoned church. The church was similarly protected, and zombies could not enter.
Following the location, Yu Qimiao found Xi Huaiji and was shocked by how miserable Extremity’s executives looked.
Extremity was already a guild filled with experts. Anyone qualified to remain beside Xi Huaiji possessed a terrifyingly high level.
Yet now they lay sprawled all over the floor, utterly exhausted, appearing close to death and even more lifeless than the zombies.
Noticing their disgust, Xi Huaiji proactively explained, “Relax. No one here has been infected. They’re merely exhausted.”
“All right.”
Only then did the Orphan Alliance members enter the church and ask Xi Huaiji what difficult situation she had encountered.
Seeing that Yu Qimiao had already understood, Xi Huaiji did not avoid the subject. She led them to a window.
“Look over there.”
Through the window, they saw a huge group of high-level zombies standing in orderly rows, resembling a large military training ground.
At the front stood a somewhat familiar person, chattering endlessly.
Su Qiong stared for a while before recognizing him as the strategist of Everyone Survives.
He had only recently become a zombie and still retained most of his human characteristics.
“What is he doing?”
“Creating battle strategies for the zombies,” Xi Huaiji answered. “You must have noticed already. Most of the zombies here were once players who died inside the game. That includes tens of thousands of former members of Everyone Survives.”
“Don’t zombies lose their ability to think?”
“Losing the ability to think makes them easier to control.” Xi Huaiji leaned weakly against the wall and lowered her head. “I discovered that relationships of subordination from before death remain after transformation.”
“Everyone Survives was essentially a pyramid-scheme guild. Its members believed the guild leadership would guide them out of the game, so they trusted those leaders completely. The strategist only recently became a zombie, yet he already has tens of thousands of followers here.”
Su Qiong observed from afar and saw that some zombies had been transformed for a long time. Their levels were now even higher than when they were players.
Zombies had been easy to deal with because they lacked intelligence and could not cooperate.
Once they began obeying commands and studying tactics, the situation became much more difficult.
Their overwhelming numbers and contagious virus were already troublesome enough.
“If this continues, forget leaving the Circle. We won’t even see the main quest.”
“Bah!” An Extremity expert cursed angrily. “Those cowards from Everyone Survives never dared confront us directly when they were players. They only caused trouble from the shadows. Now that they’re zombies and think they have immortal bodies, they’ve become unbelievably arrogant.”
“They plotted against you too?” Shi Yuntian asked, feeling as though he had found family.
“No. They tried to sow discord, but our guild leader suppressed them.” The Extremity member looked proud. “Our guild leader is wise and mighty, unlike yours.”
His words clearly mocked Yu Qimiao for being schemed against.
“But our guild leader has a higher level,” Su Qiong said.
“He didn’t earn it himself!”
“One hundred levels higher than your guild leader,” Su Qiong added.
“…”
The Extremity executives fell silent.
A hundred-level difference was terrifying in IF.
“That level originally belonged to Su Qiong,” Yu Qimiao explained calmly. “It transferred to me only because he abandoned his player identity.”
Then he asked Xi Huaiji what she planned to do next.
The strategist had divided the former Everyone Survives members into several teams and surrounded the church completely.
Together, the two guilds had only a dozen people. Dealing with tens of thousands of tactically coordinated zombies would not be easy.
Furthermore, using human-wave tactics had always been the strategist’s specialty.
When he first became a zombie, he had been unwilling to accept it and sincerely hated Su Qiong for refusing to save him, along with the teammates who had abandoned him.
But then he discovered that because his level had been high, he retained his ability to think after transforming.
There were also enough former guild members in this Circle. At a single command, they would charge through fire and water for him and were even more useful than before.
The strategist suddenly changed his mind.
Being a zombie was far more enjoyable than hiding as a player!
For the first time, he possessed enough power to trample the experts who once looked down on him and watch them flee in misery.
What could be more satisfying than revenge?
His ego swelled enormously.
He decided to begin with the lofty guild leader of Extremity, then move on to Everyone Survives, who had abandoned him, and finally Su Qiong, who had refused to save him.
He would take revenge on every one of them.
“Listen carefully!” the strategist shouted in zombie language. “Don’t let a single one escape!”
The zombies could not speak, but they possessed a unique method of communication and all expressed their understanding.
They surrounded the church from every direction, leaving no openings.
With his hands behind his back, the strategist swaggered forward, intending to enter the church and flaunt his power.
But after taking one step, an unknown substance touched him, sending excruciating pain through his entire body.
A nearby zombie gestured to explain:
There was a substance in this world that caused zombies immense pain upon contact.
Zombies did not lose consciousness, so if they failed to move away from it, the pain would continue forever.
“What is that substance?”
The experienced zombie did not know. It only knew that humans had created it.
“Hah! Serves him right!”
“He wanted to come inside and show off? Dream on.”
“ERROR.” Su Qiong approached him. “Didn’t you want to test that substance?”
ERROR looked at Su Qiong, then at the countless layers of zombies outside.
“You want me to go alone?”
“Mm.”
“…You treat me so well.”
“Thank you. It’s what I should do.”
ERROR gave him a speechless glance and walked outside.
Su Qiong hesitated, then followed closely behind, watching ERROR use tweezers to remove a piece of cloth stained with pale-green liquid from the bottle.
“What is that?”
“A sample I collected from the zombie you defeated earlier.” ERROR carefully held the clean section of the cloth and strode beyond the church’s protected boundary.
Seeing that ERROR had dared appear, the strategist became overjoyed and opened his mouth, preparing to mock him.
ERROR seized the opportunity and shoved the cloth directly into his mouth.
In an instant, the strategist’s expression twisted in agony. He rolled across the ground in unbearable pain.
He tried to remove the cloth, but his fingers could not touch it, and his tongue could not push it out.
He could only continue rolling in torment.
“That’s it. It’s the same substance.”
“So it can be collected from zombies.” After hearing their explanation, Xi Huaiji suddenly understood. “Then this will be easy.”
If there was one thing this place did not lack, it was zombies.
“Guild Leader Xi, the difficulty will only increase from here. How about our guilds cooperate?” Yu Qimiao proposed.
“Haven’t we been cooperating all along?”
“This time is different.” Yu Qimiao spread his hands. “As you know, my item has been destroyed.”
“And?”
“I can no longer use it to force an agreement. Therefore, this time, I want to fight alongside your guild on the basis of mutual trust.”
Whenever Yu Qimiao had used his item before, Xi Huaiji had never complained aloud, but she inevitably harbored some resentment.
This time, without the system judging their exchange, the foundation of their cooperation would be trust.
In other words, this would be the first genuinely equal and fair partnership between the two guilds.
“All right.” Xi Huaiji proposed no conditions.
Cooperation worked both ways.
Yu Qimiao had come to understand her, but Xi Huaiji had also come to understand him.
Aside from his blackhearted nature, they were fundamentally the same kind of person. Without realizing it, they had developed a sense of mutual appreciation.
“Next, we need to find a way to drive away that troublesome crowd.”
The two guild leaders simultaneously looked outside.
After rolling several times and repeatedly slamming his head against the ground, the strategist finally dislodged the cloth from his mouth.
Furious, he ordered the zombies to disregard everything and infect every player inside.
“…I just realized something,” Shi Yuntian said. “In a sense, no one truly dies in this world, right? What’s the point of turning us into infected people?”
Once they became infected, they would no longer fear the virus.
Their levels were higher than the strategist’s. Wouldn’t they simply pin him down and beat him?
“How did that idiot become a strategist?” Lu Shufan complained. “His intelligence is even lower than Boss Shi’s.”
Shi Yuntian: “…”
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
“Guild Leader, there are too many of them. On average, each of us would need to handle over a thousand zombies.”
“And many are high-level zombies. This is too difficult!”
“We may not be able to do it alone. But if we cooperate…” Xi Huaiji looked to the side, her meaning obvious.
Su Qiong and An’an stepped forward together, each holding a sphere.
Xi Huaiji brought out the rewards she had received in the previous Circle.
She possessed two.
“Did you steal Everyone Survives’ item?”
There had been four Circle Lord fragments in the previous Circle, each leaving behind one sphere.
Three guilds had each handled one fragment. Logically, Extremity and Everyone Survives should have received one reward each.
“What are you imagining?” Xi Huaiji looked at him. “Entrusting a task to Everyone Survives was your first mistake. Every member of that guild combined still couldn’t defeat a Circle Lord fragment. I sent Extremity members to finish it off and recovered the item while we were there.”
“As expected of Guild Leader Xi.”
“Begin.”
The church doors opened in the next instant.
The strategist was preparing to give the order when four spheres were thrown in different directions and expanded at a terrifying speed.
Before the zombies could react, they were swallowed by ice, stone, sand, and fire.
They did not even have the strength to fight back.
Xi Huaiji walked to the strategist and planted the heel of her stiletto heavily against his face.
“My new item has a limited attack range. Normally, I could never have controlled this many. I should thank you for gathering them together and allowing me to capture them all at once.”
The strategist attempted to respond, but he could no longer produce a human voice.
Xi Huaiji kicked him aside.
Behind her, the Extremity members huddled together and whimpered.
“Guild Leader, why did you reward him?”
“I’ll lie down too! Guild Leader, step on me!”
The Orphan Alliance: “…”
Are Extremity’s executives seriously ill?
After dealing with the strategist, Xi Huaiji turned gracefully in her high heels and headed deeper into the fifth street without looking back.
Very few low-level zombies remained on this street, making it appear much more spacious.
However, most of the zombies wandering through it were high-level creatures above Level One Hundred—the troublesome kind that were difficult to handle once a fight began.
Xi Huaiji tightened her grip on her golden hairpin, swiftly knocked down a high-level zombie, avoided its venom attack, and slipped into a nearby vehicle.
It was an extended recreational vehicle, barely large enough to squeeze everyone inside.
“Get in!” Xi Huaiji ordered.
The players immediately climbed aboard.
They watched Xi Huaiji grip the steering wheel, start the vehicle, and charge toward the high-level zombies on the street.
“Guild Leader Xi, forgive me for saying something inappropriate, but you shouldn’t drive in high heels.”
“Oh.” Xi Huaiji gave him a provocative glance. “I don’t have a driver’s license, and I just ran over several zombies. Should I be arrested?”
“Not here.”
Fortunately, this was a game world.
With Xi Huaiji’s driving, she would have been wearing silver bracelets by tomorrow in reality.
The vehicle had no ability to defend against zombies, but Xi Huaiji drove recklessly fast. Before those lining the road could react, she had already sped far away.
Along the way, Su Qiong watched the surroundings, trying to locate survivors among the passing shadows.
As the vehicle passed an inconspicuous courtyard, Su Qiong heard a notification.
[System: Congratulations. You have discovered the Survivors’ Courtyard, where uninfected humans live.]
[Hint: All uninfected humans are original inhabitants of the magical world. Please cherish life.]
“Stop!” Su Qiong immediately called for the vehicle to stop and shared the information with everyone.
By now, everyone knew that “please cherish life” roughly translated to “you’re about to lose yours.”
“Should we go inside?”
“Of course. We finally found them.”
“Even if they use magic, at least they won’t trigger the zombie virus.”
The executives of both guilds reached an agreement, exited the vehicle, and slowly pushed open the courtyard’s wooden gate.
Inside was a desolate scene.
Everything was bare and overgrown with weeds. There was not a single building in sight.
Su Qiong even began suspecting the system had deliberately issued false information.
ERROR walked in front and extended one hand. Although he seemed to touch empty air, his palm made a firm pressing motion.
“As expected of original inhabitants who use magic. They hid themselves. No wonder we couldn’t find them.”
The moment he finished speaking, a little girl’s clear voice sounded.
“You actually discovered me. What are you?”
“My name is [BEEP—]. I come from another world.”
As expected, the system censored his name.
The Extremity members witnessed this for the first time and stared with their mouths open.
What had the great ERROR done for the system to censor even his name?
“Beep-Beep? I don’t know you.” The little girl assumed that was his name and addressed him accordingly. “Why did you intrude into my home?”
“No particular reason.” ERROR’s outward attitude was friendly and even sounded polite.
As long as one did not carefully examine the meaning hidden within his words—
I entered because I felt like it. Why would I need a reason?
Fortunately, the little girl was innocent and did not analyze his meaning too deeply.
Sensing that ERROR appeared friendly, she dispelled the magic and allowed them to see her house.
The instant the spell vanished, a warm, fairy-tale cottage appeared on the previously barren ground.
A sign hung beside the door, bearing the girl’s name:
Alice.
It was common, but genuinely beautiful.
She opened the door and slowly walked outside, wearing a lovely magical princess dress and matching hat. She looked incredibly dreamlike.
Only the wand in her hand was slightly inferior to Su Qiong’s.
“Friends from another world, welcome to Alice’s cottage.”
Alice invited them inside, flicked her wrist, and instantly reactivated the concealment spell.
The surroundings once more became barren land.
The zombies outside the courtyard saw nothing but an empty field and had no idea what had happened.
Alice served them black tea and desserts, then sat nearby and quietly observed them.
She had remained here for so long that it had been ages since she last saw humans.
“Thank you for the tea. It’s delicious.”
“You’re welcome.”
Alice had originally planned to ask the group to leave once they finished their tea.
After hearing Su Qiong’s praise, she changed her mind and decided they could stay a little longer.
“We’ve only recently arrived in this world and know nothing about it. May we ask you a few questions?”
“You want to know why I haven’t become a zombie, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Alice gave him an expression that said she had expected as much.
“I am the final inheritor of fairy magic. As you can see, my magic is extremely refined. Zombies can’t capture me at all.”
“Fairy magic…”
“If your magic is that powerful, why are you the only inheritor left?”
“Because fairy magic is extremely selective. Only fairies can learn it!” Alice raised her chin proudly, swept her gaze around the room, and pointed her wand at Su Qiong. “Among all of you, only you are qualified to learn fairy magic!”
“But he’s a boy.”
“Then you!” Alice pointed at Moi.
“She’s infected with the zombie virus. She simply hasn’t fully transformed yet.”
Growing annoyed, Alice pointed her wand at Xi Huaiji.
Xi Huaiji narrowed her eyes. Her overwhelming queenly presence clearly made her the type no fairy could possibly control.
Lu Shufan complained, “It seems the standards of your school aren’t particularly high.”
“Nonsense! Our school used to be very powerful. Later, the neighboring witch-magic school developed many new abilities designed specifically to counter fairy magic. That’s why we gradually ran out of inheritors.”
Alice hugged her wand and looked deeply melancholy.
“I searched for a long time but never found a suitable successor. Now there are zombies everywhere. I probably won’t find one at all.”
“Can’t your magic turn them back?”
“No. Magic has levels. Zombie magic is the culmination of every magical system. Unless an even more powerful form of magic appears, there’s no way to transform them back.”
“I see. I want to know—what is the essence of your magic?”
“Conviction!” Alice gripped her wand and answered firmly. “As long as you possess enough conviction, you can command magic! Those who became zombies were defective products with weak convictions. That’s why zombie magic could control them!”
“Conviction…” ERROR considered the word and turned to look at Su Qiong.
Su Qiong had just finished eating a dessert, and a little cream remained beside his mouth.
It was his first time tasting something so delicious, and he was completely absorbed in it.
Forget it.
He did not look like someone with much conviction.
The members of Extremity next door, on the other hand, might possess some.
“Conviction is the secret to learning magic,” Alice continued. “If you merely want to avoid becoming zombies, there’s another method.”
“What method?” everyone asked simultaneously.
Alice waved her wand again, and a mirror appeared in the air.
Inside stood an enormous monster radiating a dangerous aura.
“That is the Zombie King. It is extremely powerful and can control the entire world. It originally had two attendants.”
Alice changed the viewing angle, but only one attendant could be seen.
“The Black Attendant helps the Zombie King transform everyone into puppets. But the White Attendant betrayed the Zombie King and fled. You can obtain a method for becoming immune to the zombie virus from it.”
“Where is this White Attendant?”
“I don’t know, but people often encounter it and receive its help.” Alice thought briefly before adding, “I remember that the Zombie King later gave it a title—”
“The Red-Name Traitor.”
