"Ah..." someone among the girls gathered in the gymnasium let out a frightened gasp.
For the many days they had been hiding here, apart from the occasional slow-witted zombie stumbling upon them, it had been relatively peaceful.
After all, this thick, heavy door had muffled a lot of the noise.
But a sound like this, a never-ending tide of zombies slamming against the door, was something they had never experienced before.
Anxiety instantly spread throughout the entire gymnasium.
"Damn it..." Li Xiaotian and his gang whispered amongst themselves, hiding in a corner.
"These brats were fine before they came in, but today, all the zombies are flooding in. They're a bunch of disasters!"
"Boss, don't be angry. There's still time. Don't worry, we'll find an opportunity to get all their supplies." a sycophantic subordinate said.
"Look at that pretty boy, he's fast as hell...
And his weapon is so eerily sharp, how do we deal with that!" Li Xiaotian gritted his teeth.
"Bang!" The zombies outside seemed to know there were people inside, and they relentlessly pounded on the gymnasium doors.
Perhaps due to their persistence, under everyone's watchful eyes, the door was directly dented with a protruding handprint!
"This is bad!" Luo Xiaole thought to herself.
Why were these zombies so tenacious!
If they continued to pound on the door, it wouldn't last much longer!
It seemed she would have to step in.
But with so many eyes watching her, she wouldn't have a chance to reinforce the door!
Not far away, Mo Chen inexplicably stood up at this moment and stretched.
His tall, straight figure immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Zhou Xiaojun: "???"
Luo Shu: "???"
The others in Mo Chen's team: "???"
Zhou Xiaojun was utterly shocked. Mo Chen never made an unnecessary movement. Why was he being so high-profile now? He couldn't understand.
Luo Xiaole was also momentarily stunned.
But she immediately realized that Mo Chen's standing height and angle perfectly blocked others from looking at her.
A great opportunity!
[Reinforcement Skill Activated: Blade of the World!]
A faint blue light flickered.
[The gate has been reinforced. Due to its large area, your account has been debited 2500, with a remaining balance of 66950 mall coins.]
Luo Xiaole's heart ached.
She hadn't even had a chance to trade again, and she had already spent another two thousand. Her heart hurt so much!
But she didn't want to trade with these people. What about her leveling-up plan?
The moment she finished reinforcing,
the roaring sounds outside the door suddenly disappeared one by one.
Perhaps because the door was too thick, the sounds of the zombies' flesh being torn apart did not reach the ears of the crowd.
After reinforcing, Luo Xiaole, deeply hiding her merit and fame, sat back down in the middle of the crowd.
And Mo Chen, at the same moment, also sat down, returning to his usual silent demeanor.
Luo Xiaole naturally noticed his actions and was somewhat dazed. Was it a coincidence?
"Listen, have the zombies outside left?"
"It seems so. They're not banging on the door anymore. My hair is standing on end!" some girls said with tearful voices, overjoyed.
Luo Shu and Zhu Hui, standing nearby, knew what Luo Xiaole had done.
They silently gave her a thumbs-up and whispered, "You've worked hard."
The two groups then sat down on either side of the basketball court line to recover their strength.
...
Time flew by, and it was already dusk.
Everyone's stomachs rumbled in unison.
Mo Chen and Luo Xiaole's team members were quite sensible in this regard. They always took their food themselves, but they controlled it to about half full.
This way, they wouldn't be undernourished and lack stamina, nor would they consume food too quickly.
However, the people sitting around Li Xiaotian's group had their food distributed by Li Xiaotian and his subordinates.
Even though Luo Xiaole's group had handed over half of their food,
the amount Li Xiaotian gave them was less than two fingers' width.
Let alone being full, it could only just fill the gap between their teeth.
If they went out to find supplies, they would faint in minutes.
Li Xiaotian stored the rest of the large amount of food in an office within the gymnasium, and he alone held the key.
He was still brainwashing others, "You don't need to eat so much. We're the ones who will be out looking for food anyway. You just need to speak less and move less, and stay here obediently."
Luo Xiaole shook her head.
On the surface, Li Xiaotian was taking all the risks, but if the zombies really broke in, or if a crisis occurred,
the people in this place would definitely not be able to run.
Li Xiaotian would have enough time to escape on his own.
What a sly old fox.
"We're all classmates, let's not make the atmosphere so stiff~" Li Wen, who hadn't spoken before, suddenly stood up.
Holding his portion of food, he walked towards the group in the gymnasium.
"These are special times, of course, we should help each other. Here's my share. If you're hungry, let's eat together."
Luo Xiaole and Luo Shu exchanged glances. What was he up to?
Why was he trying to forge camaraderie with them at this point?
It wasn't like they hadn't distributed supplies to them.
Li Wen even handed the largest chocolate bar to Li Xiaotian, "My surname is also Li, just like yours. Please take care of me in the future."
Luo Xiaole and Luo Shu finally understood with an "Oh."
So, he was trying to find a bigger patron.
It seemed their small temple could no longer accommodate this great Buddha.
However, thanks to Li Wen going to curry favor, Luo Xiaole and her group inadvertently overheard some information while they were discussing.
"Do you know the Qin family?" Luo Xiaole pricked up her ears, listening to Li Xiaotian speak so carelessly.
"Their family has been doing biological experiments since more than twenty years ago."
"My maternal grand-uncle's nephew's friend used to work in their laboratory. I heard that the research the Qin family was doing was related to improving human functions and alleviating human suffering."
Luo Xiaole was shocked. Improving human functions, not feeling pain...
How similar were these characteristics to the current zombies...
Could it be...
"It's a shame their experiments were never successful, otherwise, we wouldn't have to rely on eating to survive now! Where would we need to find supplies!" Li Xiaotian pouted, looking like he had suffered a great loss.
Luo Xiaole's little engine in her head continued to whir.
If the Qin family was indeed related to the current zombies, then it was no wonder they could take the lead and bring heavy weapons to pick up their young master.
Then, perhaps her parents were also involved in this matter...
She dared not think further.
Such a big matter, mere speculation wouldn't suffice.
She could only continue to follow the ring and look for clues.
Unfortunately, the ring didn't tell her the other party's location every night.
She couldn't even access the ring's map.
She could only wait for the other party to move, for the ring's map to appear, before she could follow.
...
Luo Xiaole finished her small biscuit and decided to close her eyes and rest for a while.
Today had been quite stimulating for her.
She needed to refresh herself and also think about leveling up.
Suddenly, a dispute broke out in Li Xiaotian's group.
"Li Xiaotian, just give me a little more. I've been hungry for days, only getting 2 small biscuits a day. As a 183cm tall man, I really can't take it!"
A very tall boy was so hungry his chest was sticking to his back.
He tightly gripped Li Xiaotian's clothes and begged pitifully.
"Give you what? 2 small biscuits aren't enough? Look at your injured foot. You can't go out and find supplies, so why eat so much!"
Li Xiaotian impatiently flung his hand away. He lost his balance and fell hard on the ground.
He spat on the ground fiercely.
"What do you mean I can't go out and find supplies? That's all an excuse. How much stuff have you secretly stashed in that office? Do you think we don't know?"
"And this foot, who was it injured by? It was injured last time while covering for you!
We run around for you every day, and you're hoarding so much food and not willing to share, are you even human!" the boy wailed in pain.