Chapter 46: Successful Meeting Between Both Parties
After speaking, except for two superpowered individuals left behind to protect the teachers and students, all remaining superpowered individuals exited the cafeteria.
"The few people I saw came from the school gate. The direction they were killing zombies should be towards the teaching building."
After coming out, that wind-element superpowered student reported what he had just observed during his reconnaissance.
"Let's head towards the teaching building too."
There weren't many zombies near the cafeteria. The teachers and students inside had been escorted there bit by bit when the zombie virus first broke out.
After all, when they couldn't escape, the cafeteria was the only place with enough food to feed everyone.
As for other matters, they couldn't afford to worry about them anymore.
"Host, host! I just finished scouting around the school - all surviving teachers and students are in the cafeteria, no one's in the teaching building."
Chu Jiangyue followed in the middle of the group, taking down strings of zombies with each move, while the little fox took advantage of being invisible to inspect the entire school.
I never expected it would actually succeed in uncovering crucial information in the end.
Upon hearing the little fox's words, Chu Jiangyue slightly raised her eyebrows, though she didn't speak immediately—after all, everyone currently believed it was more likely that there were people in the teaching building.
"Wait, the zombies seem to be heading in another direction."
Shen Zhigui quickly noticed something amiss and promptly voiced his observation.
"I'll go up and check."
Chu Jiangyue activated her ability, using vines to secure herself to a safety window on the second floor of the nearby teaching building. With one hand gripping the vines, she swiftly swung up to the second floor.
There were zombies in the second-floor classroom as well, but Chu Jiangyue had already anticipated this. As the zombies lunged at her, she drew a Tang-style sword from her system backpack, dispatching each one with a single clean strike.
"Host, it's people coming from the cafeteria!"
The little fox, perched on Chu Jiangyue's shoulder, soon caught sight of a few teachers and students struggling to make their way toward them.
They were all awakened ability users, though it was evident they hadn't fully mastered their powers yet. Still, dealing with basic zombies or Level 1 zombies was more than enough for them.
Just then, someone looked up and spotted Chu Jiangyue standing by the second-floor window.
Unlike the excited teachers and students, Chu Jiangyue remained calm. She descended using vines and swiftly eliminated a few zombies along the way.
"Boss Chu, any updates?"
Song Chengjun was the first to step forward and ask.
Among everyone present, Song Chengjun was likely the most eager to find survivors.
"There are a few ability users heading over from the cafeteria. They seem to be either teachers or students from the school."
"The cafeteria?"
"Makes sense. When the zombie virus broke out, the cafeteria was the smartest choice compared to other places."
They could skip showers and homework, but going without food wouldn't last long.
To hold out as long as possible, the cafeteria—stocked with food—was the best option.
"So, should we head over?"
To be honest, their main goal was killing zombies. As for rescuing people, after being betrayed twice before by those they helped, Shen Zhigui had become extremely cautious about saving others.
After all, he'd never joined any official base - he could act entirely according to his own will.
"Let's go check it out. We've pretty much cleared out this teaching building anyway."
While there were usually many zombies in the school, they tended to gather in separate groups. As long as they stayed alert, there wouldn't be any problems.
"Let's rest for a while and recover our special abilities first."
The distance from the teaching building to the cafeteria wasn't short. Having just fought a horde of zombies, their special abilities were nearly depleted - going now would be practically suicidal.
Chu Jiangyue's abilities weren't actually exhausted yet, but she knew better than to stand out. She didn't want to seem different from the others because of her energy reserves.
However, when it came to energy recovery, Chu Jiangyue instinctively took out a level 1 zombie crystal core and began channeling her abilities to absorb its energy.
Many people noticed Chu Jiangyue's movements, some showing confusion, others surprise.
"What is Boss Chu doing?"
Shen Zhigui didn't think there was anything shameful about asking when one didn't understand something.
After absorbing a crystal core, Chu Jiangyue slowly opened her eyes. Hearing Shen Zhigui's question, she gave him an appreciative glance.
"Zombie crystal cores can be used to enhance abilities or restore energy. However, one must be careful when absorbing them - some cores carry attributes, and abilities of different attributes shouldn't be randomly absorbed."
Though up to now, Chu Jiangyue hadn't encountered any attribute-bearing crystal cores.
"This is indeed a new discovery. I'll need to report it to the base leader when I return. Thank you for sharing this, Boss Chu!"
Song Chengjun never expected that accepting the invitation to hunt zombies together would yield such valuable knowledge.
Chu Jiangyue smiled without responding. Could she tell them that this knowledge came from her three extra years of experience?
After learning that crystal cores could restore their supernatural abilities, everyone took out the cores they had collected from killing zombies. Those who were unsure even asked Chu Jiangyue to verify whether their zombie crystal cores had attributes and if they could absorb them.
Chu Jiangyue was generous with her knowledge and answered each query one by one.
Once everyone had taken turns absorbing the crystal cores to restore their abilities, the group began cutting through zombies as they headed toward the cafeteria.
The little fox kept Chu Jiangyue updated on the status of the teacher and student ability-users while simultaneously cheering her on in her mind.
At first, it was fine, but after a while, Chu Jiangyue felt her head buzzing from the noise.
『Stop! Be quiet! You're too loud!』
The little fox instantly fell silent.
With their abilities restored, Chu Jiangyue's group slaughtered zombies as easily as slicing watermelons, soon carving a bloody path forward.
Meanwhile, the teacher and student ability-users emerging from the cafeteria also noticed the commotion.
The despair they initially felt about being overwhelmed by zombies was now replaced with renewed hope.
"Pfft!"
Witnessing the approaching zombies getting their heads pierced by vines, the teachers and students were shocked.
This person's power is incredible. What kind of ability is this?
"They're coming! Hold on a little longer!"
They quickly realized—these must be the people Cheng Yu saw while scouting for information.
No matter what, as long as reinforcements arrived, they had hope of escaping the school.
"Host! Host! I see them!"
The little fox perched on Chu Jiangyue's shoulder leaped up for a better view.
At this close distance, not just the fox, but everyone could see them.
Noticing the pale-faced teachers and students, Chu Jiangyue pressed her lips together. Though her expression remained unreadable, the vines she controlled lashed out even more fiercely.
The sight of these exhausted survivors weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
These zombies at school were originally teachers or students here too.
Who knows what emotions they felt while killing zombies.
After eliminating the last zombie nearby, the two groups finally came face to face.