Chapter Forty: University Town

Jiang Qiyu sat on the roof of the villa, a freshly opened cup of instant noodles beside her. Two chopsticks stuck out from the cup, stirring slowly, the rising steam carrying a savory, salty aroma. In her other hand, she gripped a game console, her character on the screen performing agile rolls and slashes to dispatch monsters with lightning-fast inputs.

Every now and then, she would pause to brush away the strands of hair obscuring her vision. Beside her, a telescope had been adjusted to aim directly at the nearby quarry.

The system’s mechanical voice echoed incessantly in her mind: "Stone +1... Stone +1... Stone +1..."

As time passed, the system’s mechanical prompts grew increasingly varied, dancing through her consciousness.

"Wood +1... Wood +1... Wood +1..."
"Stone +1... Stone +1... Stone +1..."
"Log +1... Stone +1... Iron Scrap +1..."

Watching her in-game character grow stronger with every battle, her fingers moving with blurred speed, a subtle smile curled the corners of her lips. She took a light bite of the noodles, the salty, savory broth filling her mouth. She tugged at her sleeve, casting an inadvertent glance through the telescope once more.

From the direction of the quarry, the arrogant laughter of the "Big Boss," mingled with intermittent screams, drifted over like a chaotic, discordant stew. Her gaze narrowed slightly as she focused back on the game. "Quick tip: Once resources exceed capacity, you may activate Level 1 Smelting. Do you wish to continue gathering?"

The system voice chimed again.

"Iron Ore +1... Wood +1... Log +1..."

This steady accumulation of numbers gave her an inexplicable sense of satisfaction, a hoarder’s delight.

"What efficiency," Jiang Qiyu clicked her tongue lightly, taking another bite of noodles. "Looks like I’ll need to get a vehicle."

She picked up the telescope and adjusted its angle, sweeping her gaze toward the city center. It had only been a month since the apocalypse began, but from this vantage point, all of Peicheng was already a landscape of crumbling ruins. Her villa, located in the secluded CC District, could be considered a "newbie starter zone" in this end-of-the-world scenario, but other districts were not so lucky—the sprawling high-rises, the university town, and the commercial centers had all become playgrounds for wandering zombies.

In her previous life, within seven or eight months of the apocalypse, Peicheng had become like a shattered puzzle, scattered with dozens of bases of varying sizes. These bases were like lonely boats in a storm, precarious and swaying; most struggled for two or three years against the cruel reality before vanishing entirely. Some were destroyed by zombie tides, some collapsed due to internal power struggles, and others withered away due to a lack of resources.

By the third year of the apocalypse, all that remained of the once-bustling Peicheng was a single base named "Dawn," which had survived stubbornly like a cactus in the desert.

Jiang Qiyu had spent over a year at the Dawn base, witnessing countless tragedies firsthand.

Consequently, she had begun inquiring about bases in other cities. She heard that the "Coastline" base in a neighboring city had relatively lax management and more abundant supplies. She had decided to take a gamble and head for the Coastline base to seek new hope.

However, fate always seemed to enjoy playing tricks on her. She never reached the next base.

"University town, huh..." Jiang Qiyu’s eyebrows twitched as memories flooded back. She had lived there for a while in her previous life. That area had been one of the longest-surviving parts of Peicheng; some of the university students were truly clever, coming up with quite a few ingenious things for dealing with zombies.

Jiang Qiyu rubbed her brow, recalling the masterpieces of those "genius inventors" from the university town in her past life. Even in the midst of the apocalypse, those people had pushed their brilliant imagination and research capabilities to the absolute limit.

First was the sonic disruptor designed by Wang Xiao. This guy, nicknamed the "Engineering Madman," had stripped clean the discarded experimental equipment from the university’s lab building. The sonic disruptor used sound waves at specific frequencies to interfere with the zombies' hearing, causing them to fall into brief states of confusion. Wang Xiao claimed that while zombies lacked emotion and reason, their nervous systems had not fully degenerated, and the piercing effect of the sound waves could make them sluggish or even cause them to spin in circles for a short time. Although the devices were expensive to build and the effects didn't last long, they were enough to save lives by stalling a wave of zombies at a critical moment.

The chemistry department’s Zhou Rui team successfully concocted a zombie paralyzing agent. This liquid was made using the zombies’ own decayed constitution, with its main ingredient being a specific decay factor extracted from their bodies, mixed with special chemical reagents. When sprayed on a zombie, their movements would stiffen, and in severe cases, they would collapse on the spot. While it lacked lethality, the "paralyzing agent" proved immensely helpful during defense and retreats.

They had also modified some convenient mechanical weapons. The electrical engineering students were famous for their improved electric net traps; by retrofitting battery combinations, they created portable nets that could be deployed quickly, killing any zombie that touched them with an electric shock. Furthermore, Niu Hui from the mechanical engineering department had been even more inventive, designing a remote-controlled mobile cart equipped with rotating saw blades, commonly known as the "Sweeper," which could be operated remotely to clear swaths of low-level zombies in narrow streets.

In the "Dunce Academy," there were even some "underground" initiatives, such as the steam rockets made by the physics and engineering society. Using fire extinguishers filled with hydrogen and oxygen fuel, they fired projectiles with a hole-punching steam blast, jokingly called "Zombie Cannons"—they usually emitted a bright flash and obliterated swaths of zombies, though the risk of self-detonation was high.

Unfortunately, while they were brilliant, they lacked experience. Once the zombies evolved, these gadgets were simply insufficient. Jiang Qiyu remembered that those students had been almost entirely wiped out during the second wave of zombie mutations. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sigh. "Looks like I’ll have to make a trip there, and maybe snag a couple of big brains to bring back to the base for research or something."

Before her plan could be finalized, the quarry team returned early. Jiang Qiyu put down the telescope and stood up, heading toward the stairs. She was just about to open the door when she paused by the porch window; the team below didn't look right. The crowd was scattered, some were pale, their sleeves soaked with blood, and several others had eyes filled with panic and agitation.

"What’s wrong with these people?" Jiang Qiyu frowned, her gaze—a mix of suspicion and danger—sweeping across the window, taking in the emotions of the group.

Just then, Lu Yao hopped onto the roof with a light step, holding a piece of roasted jerky, a faint smile in his eyes. He caught sight of Jiang Qiyu’s speculative expression; he was happy, but his brows furrowed slightly. "Sister, the smell of blood on them is so thick... did something go wrong?" As he spoke, he tossed the jerky into his mouth and chewed it in a few quick bites.

"You certainly seem to be enjoying your food," Jiang Qiyu glanced at him irritably, then turned and pushed the door open to head downstairs.

Lu Yao followed closely behind, a flicker of dark emotion flashing in his eyes. On the surface, he was obedient, but in the second that Jiang Qiyu didn't answer, his fingers subconsciously tightened around his knuckles. Faintly, the stench of rot in the air and the oppressive atmosphere of the team drifted in; a storm seemed ready to break.