This rescue operation went much faster than expected; they had thought it would take a long time.

Qin Luo also noticed the improvement in his physical abilities, though his supernatural powers were still not usable. Every time he tried to use them, his body felt like it was being pricked with needles, likely due to excessive exhaustion.

He needed to take care of himself.

There were more than six hundred survivors gathered together, and it was quite overwhelming to see them all in one place.

After counting the numbers, their team had to notify the nearby logistics team to send a car to pick them up.

The survivors, upon seeing someone come to rescue them, were filled with overwhelming gratitude, and many were brought to tears.

“Thank you, thank you! We thought we were going to die here, thank you so much!” the young man leading them kept repeating as he clung to Qin Luo’s hand. It was said that he was the manager of a hotpot restaurant on the fourth floor, and like Zhao Gang and his wife, he had gathered people together and kept them safe during the crisis.

“I’ll never forget that day. It happened just after six o’clock, during a busy time when people were out shopping. Suddenly, someone in the mall started showing symptoms, and word spread quickly among the staff.”

The young man handed over a video on his phone, showing the early stages of the zombie outbreak—one man suddenly biting his pregnant wife.

At first, well-meaning people tried to stop him, but they too were bitten.

“Fortunately, I received the warning message. I have a bit of paranoia, so when I read the message, I immediately felt uneasy. I kept thinking about it, and when I heard screams from downstairs, I rushed to warn my colleagues not to go outside, and I gathered everyone from the fourth floor into the restaurant. Soon, people from the second and third floors followed.”

“We’re the ones who survived. We did our best to save those we could.”

Thanks to the restaurant’s supplies, they managed to sustain themselves, eating and drinking as sparingly as possible.

The young man was able to successfully contact the headquarters and send out a distress signal because he had read the “Survival Handbook.” It said that phone signals would eventually fail, so he kept trying until he successfully reached the rescue department.

Wang Weihu couldn’t help but praise him, “You’re really impressive. You’re calm and collected. If you hadn’t gathered everyone into the restaurant, these five hundred people might not have survived. You’ve done something truly remarkable.”

The young man, embarrassed, scratched his head, “Everyone would have done the same. I was just doing what I could.”

He was just an ordinary worker with no special education. Never had he expected to become a pillar for so many people in the post-apocalyptic world. He led them, trying to improve their living conditions, and he even comforted the other survivors, which is why they all survived.

While White Shu was writing the report, he suddenly noticed a problem, “If the foot traffic was normal, why were there so many zombies in the mall?”

When they arrived, the mall was filled with zombies.

The young man quickly answered, “Because there were zombies outside too, and people thought the mall would be a safe place, but… the mall was hell.”

The revolving doors were jammed with zombies, unable to move.

Everyone sighed, but there was nothing they could do. The apocalypse had come, and survival of the fittest was the law of nature, with a little luck involved.

Qin Luo patted the young man’s shoulder, “We’ll report the situation honestly. The headquarters will reward someone like you for your outstanding performance.”

The young man was very modest, “I didn’t do much. People like you are the real heroes! At first, I thought a large rescue army would come, like in the movies, but instead, only a few of you showed up. After seeing the supernatural abilities you all have, I’m even more in awe!”

The young man introduced himself as Ding Shengjie, and then asked, “Brothers, how can I become like you? The Survival Handbook didn’t say anything about it.”

He said he wanted to be as cool as them and help save more people.

Qin Luo smiled and told him to wait, “Maybe the base will figure it out in the future.”

Wang Weihu, placing a hand on Ding Shengjie’s shoulder, chuckled, “Alright, young comrade, you should rest now. Thanks for your cooperation. We’ve gathered all the information. Tomorrow, a bus will come to take you all to the base.”

The nearest base was in H City, with others further away in A City and B City. Currently, those three bases were holding up; other cities were still very dangerous.

White Shu observed the survivors, “H City’s base is almost full. This batch likely won’t all go there.”

Qin Luo agreed, “A City’s base is less crowded; some will probably be sent there.”

They were discussing the matter when they noticed Chen Xiaofei and Xu Duoduo playing with candy to calm down some of the children. A group of kids, with dazed eyes, huddled anxiously in their parents’ arms.

Even worse, some children had lost their parents—over twenty of them were left without anyone to care for them.

They were quietly crying.

Chen Xiaofei couldn’t bear it and discussed with Xu Duoduo. They took out some candy and gave each of the children a handful, tucking it into their pockets.

The air inside the building wasn’t great.

Some survivors were clean, while others were dirty, but they didn’t mind each other.

Once Qin Luo and White Shu finished their tasks and reported the mission’s success, they walked over to check on what Chen Xiaofei and Xu Duoduo were doing.

“Children shouldn’t eat so much candy, it’ll ruin their teeth,” White Shu said coldly.

The children froze, shrinking back in fear, afraid to cry. Their eyes were so full of sorrow, it was heartbreaking.

Chen Xiaofei quickly responded, “Hey, what are you doing? Don’t scare the kids. Life is tough enough, so let them eat some candy. And stop looking at us like that! We’re not playing, we’re doing serious work!”

Through the kids, they gathered the exact location of a food warehouse in C City.

The roads were so winding that even GPS wouldn’t help; it was hard to find if you weren’t a local.

Some of the older children, around ten years old, could understand and helped by drawing a map. As soon as she finished drawing it, the little girl pouted and started crying, “This is the last box of crayons my mom bought me… sob, waah!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the little girl broke down in tears, startling the three men and one zombie nearby.

Xu Duoduo hurriedly took out some chocolate and stuffed it into the girl’s mouth, trying to stop her from crying. The last thing they needed was a zombie hearing her cries.

Chen Xiaofei squatted down to comfort the child.

White Shu, meanwhile, took the crayon drawing and studied it, “Hmm, this is good. The little one is quite talented. Did you learn to draw before?”

Qin Luo reached out and gently patted the girl’s head, “Don’t cry. You did well. Your mom would be proud of you.”