Chapter 44: School

Previously, when Chu Jiangyue went out alone to distribute flyers, Shen Zhigui already knew her abilities were impressive.

So now, when Chu Jiangyue proposed cooperating, Shen Zhigui was more than willing. “Sure.”

Su Zhucheng and the others had no objections. Although Chu Jiangyue rarely left Jianglin Hotel, they had never doubted her strength.

The group didn’t open the school’s main gate but climbed over the wall instead.

If they opened the gate, the zombies might wander out, which could create trouble for anyone passing by and reduce the number of zombies they could kill.

Without even activating her powers, Chu Jiangyue climbed the school wall with ease.

Shen Zhigui and his four companions weren’t to be outdone and quickly scaled the wall themselves.

From atop the wall, the sight of densely packed zombies was immediately apparent.

Chu Jiangyue furrowed her brow. These zombies had been lingering here for so long that some might have evolved into Level 2 zombies.

“This seems like quite a lot,” Su Zhucheng said, feeling a shiver when he saw the tightly packed zombie crowd.

They had previously hunted zombie groups, but never this many.

Still, seeing that this was a school, it made sense.

The apocalypse didn’t strike on a weekend; students were present in large numbers, so a dense zombie presence was expected.

“Boss, what should we do?”

Shen Zhigui was the team’s decision-maker; whatever plan they made had to be approved by him.

“What does Boss Chu think?”

With Chu Jiangyue joining today, Shen Zhigui didn’t know her well enough to make a decision immediately.

“I’m fine with anything. You can continue with your usual tactics; I’ll go wherever.”

Chu Jiangyue knew Shen Zhigui was trying to accommodate her, but she didn’t want to disrupt the hard-earned synergy he had built with his team.

After thinking, Shen Zhigui decided to try Chu Jiangyue’s suggestion.

“Then Boss Chu, watch yourself. Once we start, we might not be able to cover you.”

He looked at her seriously while giving the warning.

Chu Jiangyue nodded. “Don’t worry. I can protect myself.”

Not only was she a power user, but no one knew she also had three more years of combat experience than others.

With Shen Zhigui’s group present, she wasn’t foolish enough to be unable to ensure her own safety.

Once confident Chu Jiangyue could handle herself, Shen Zhigui and his team each unleashed their ultimate move to clear the zombies along the wall, then jumped down.

Because Jiang He’s space-type powers didn’t enhance combat, he was placed in the middle for protection.

Chu Jiangyue waited for the right moment and jumped off the wall, quickly wrapping a string of zombies with her vines.

When she pulled them out, she also collected their zombie crystal cores, wrapped in the leaves.

[Detected: Host obtained Level 1 Zombie Crystal Core. Collect? Yes/No]

Chu Jiangyue immediately selected “Yes.”

Every time she obtained a crystal core, a collection prompt appeared, and she always chose “Yes” without hesitation.

Shen Zhigui’s team finally felt relieved seeing her simple, efficient zombie-killing method.

As long as Boss Chu was safe, they had nothing to worry about.

However, the school was filled with zombies. Even with Chu Jiangyue and Shen Zhigui’s five people working together, it was only a drop in the bucket.

The number of zombies they killed was minuscule compared to the total in the school.

After some time, Chu Jiangyue felt her powers nearly drained. The Tang Dao sword she had put away reappeared in her hand.

“There are too many zombies here. Our powers won’t last long—let’s find a way out first.”

Shen Zhigui noticed her movement and realized their powers were already depleted.

Without powers, they had no advantage against so many surrounding zombies.

“Retreat first.”

Shen Zhigui set off a trap near the wall, instantly burning that section of zombies to charred corpses.

Chu Jiangyue followed the group, retreating quickly, reached the corner, and jumped back over the wall to exit the school.

“Just the five of us… it’s still too hard to take down all these zombies.”

The recent skirmish was merely a test.

It proved that they alone couldn’t clear the entire school of zombies.

“If you think we’re too few, Mr. Shen, you can use the ID card to contact others.”

Chu Jiangyue, however, hadn’t mentioned whether there were others nearby.

Her suggestion left Shen Zhigui silent.

He didn’t like socializing; his ID card friends list only included Su Zhucheng, a few others, and Boss Chu.

“Boss Chu, the leader has no other friends besides us. I added a few people, but I don’t know if they’d come.”

More Level 1 zombies could be found at the school, but the risk was high.

“Ask them?”

Chu Jiangyue’s situation was similar to Shen Zhigui’s, so summoning others had to rely on them.

Among Shen Zhigui’s group, three of the remaining four were extroverted, so they handled the recruiting.

Meanwhile, inside the tightly closed school cafeteria, teachers and students ate the day’s tiny portion of food in a lethargic manner.

“Teacher, when can we go out?”

“Yeah, I want to go home, teacher…”

One child started crying, triggering others to cry as well.

Soon, the entire cafeteria was filled with sobbing.

The teachers looked worn-out from hunger and lack of sleep—dark circles, puffy eyes, and bloodshot eyes were evident.

“Hold on a bit longer. Rescue will come.”

In truth, they had little hope left, but as teachers, they couldn’t tell students this.

Hope kept people alive longer and gave them the will to survive.

“Teacher, don’t lie! There are man-eating zombies outside! We can’t leave!”

Hearing this, many students showed despair.

They were low on food. Even if some had powers, that only helped them kill zombies more easily—it didn’t provide food.

“Don’t worry. Our country would never abandon a single person!”

Still, when rescue would arrive was uncertain.

Compared to the cafeteria’s gloom, Chu Jiangyue and Shen Zhigui’s group outside were in high spirits.

Su Zhucheng and the others selected two people they judged to be reliable from their friends list and sent invitations.