Chapter Forty-One: Trouble

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Moreover, her team was not yet suited for large-scale recruitment—the main issue was resources. After Liu Rui called out three or four times in succession, finally four young women stepped forward. Their faces were all dirty, making it impossible to discern their features; two of them handed over their battered student IDs, barely identifiable as themselves. It was remarkable that they had managed to hold onto their student IDs even in this post-apocalyptic world.

"We’re all from the same dorm room. Two of us lost our student IDs, but we have our national ID cards. Is that alright?" The young woman leading the group looked anxiously at Liu Rui, worried she might refuse.

"That’s fine," Liu Rui replied, accepting their IDs. They were all twenty-one years old, likely sophomores or juniors in university.

"Li Qianwan, right? You and your three roommates can come in. For today, just join in collecting upgrade crystals."

"Yunyun, take these four over," she instructed.

A girl named Yunyun bounced out from the group, greeting the four newcomers with a smile before leading them into the middle of the team. Fang Xia recognized Yunyun as well—a petite girl with a childlike face, quite eye-catching, especially since she liked tying her hair in twin ponytails, which bobbed up and down as she walked, making her look especially cute.

But back to the point—Fang Xia mainly knew her because she was now Liu Rui’s deputy, a detail-oriented girl Liu Rui had often praised. As for Li Xiaochun, she had long since become the team’s most formidable female warrior after Bai Xing, wielding her battle blade. She was better suited to hacking down zombies than managing affairs.

After recruiting the four new members, no one else stepped forward. Though the area seemed crowded, there were actually only about twenty people; most were still busy searching for airdrop crates.

"Brother Fang, it’s almost nine o’clock. Should we wait a bit?" Liu Rui asked after finishing the recruitment.

"Why ask me? You’re the commander now, I’m just muscle. Arrange things as you see fit."

Fang Xia trusted Liu Rui’s abilities unconditionally.

The airdrop crate in the middle of the road had already been picked clean by the girls. It was indeed a high-level crate, yielding two meal boxes, a canteen, a dagger, and a lamp.

At exactly nine o’clock, a new shower of airdrops rained from the sky. Perhaps because it was the last one for some time, the duration was doubled to ten minutes. Countless crates fell across the city. The crowd that had gathered nearby vanished in an instant.

After observing carefully for a while, Liu Rui quickly chose a direction and the women’s force set off once more.

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Following Liu Rui’s orders, the team advanced rapidly in one direction like a zombie-harvesting machine, dispatching every zombie they encountered. They ran into two second-tier zombies along the way, both easily dealt with by Fang Xia, yielding two high-level airdrop crates.

Unlike the other girls, Fang Xia sensed something unusual: there were more second-tier zombies now.

Combined with the increased output from airdrop crates that morning, Fang Xia suspected that something had changed during last night’s zombie rain. The number of second-tier zombies must have surged—a potential disaster for the human survivors.

At this stage, few people were capable of killing second-tier zombies. For this group, it was an opportunity; for most, it was a fatal threat. Fortunately, Fang Xia was with them today—if it had been Bai Xing, the team might have suffered losses after repeated encounters with second-tier zombies.

"No need to hunt for airdrop crates specifically—just keep killing. With more second-tier zombies, there will surely be more high-level crates. Let’s go big," Fang Xia said to Liu Rui, then began scanning the surroundings.

He didn’t need to deal with first-tier zombies; his focus was spotting the higher-tier ones.

Liu Rui adjusted her tactics accordingly. The team no longer took side streets, but boldly advanced along the main roads.

Fang Xia’s hunch proved correct. Within an hour, they encountered three more second-tier zombies, collecting a trove of valuable items from the high-level crates—far more rewarding than the low-level ones.

They found a spot to rest. Fang Xia generously took out over thirty self-heating hotpot meals, and within minutes, the inviting aroma of hotpot filled the air.

"It smells amazing," several girls exclaimed, their mouths watering. After days of eating rice balls, their palates had grown dull—now, with hotpot available, who would want rice balls?

The four new recruits each received a self-heating hotpot and devoured their meals ravenously. They had never realized how delicious this kind of food could be.

Not far from where they rested, another group was taking a break. Fang Xia noticed them but paid no mind—as long as they kept to themselves, there would be no trouble. If they did cause problems, he could simply deal with them all.

…

"Boss, look over there—all those young, pretty girls."

"Stop shouting—I’m not blind," the leader snapped.

This group had been nothing but street thugs before the apocalypse gave them new opportunities. With their ruthless attitude, they quickly secured their first airdrop crate, lucky enough to find a battle blade inside.

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After that, their fortune continued—they robbed without hesitation and had often preyed on isolated women.

"Skinny Monkey, size up the situation. Do you think our few guys can handle that group of women? With your scrawny, drooling look, you’ll probably get yourself hacked to pieces," one of them said.

These men hadn’t spent much time in school; street smarts prevailed over sense. They were easily distracted by attractive women, but at least one of them still had his wits about him.

His name was Chen Qingli—the second in command, a university graduate, reputedly with good grades. While in college, his girlfriend cheated on him; in a fit of rage, he killed both her and her lover in their dorm room, then fled to White City, earning a reputation as a ruthless man.

By rights, a murderer like him wouldn’t have lasted long before being caught and sentenced, but fate had other plans—the apocalypse struck. With his brutality, he established himself among the thugs and became the second-in-command, now also an entry-level fighter.

"Second Brother, don’t you want to get with those girls? And that hotpot—don’t you want some?" Skinny Monkey asked.

"If we can take them out, everything will be ours."

Just a group of women—no matter how fierce they looked fighting zombies, Skinny Monkey didn’t take them seriously. To him, women were just for one thing.

"Idiot," Chen Qingli cursed. "If you want to die, don’t drag the rest of us down with you."

"But I do have an idea—one that might bring us a big reward."

Everyone in the group, more than a dozen people, looked over—including the boss. Who wouldn’t want to embrace soft girls while enjoying a hot meal? Hearing that Chen Qingli had a plan, they were all intrigued.

"First, we spread the word about them—exaggerate a bit. Tell the other survivors this group has plenty of food, and is made up entirely of female college students."

Spreading the word made sense, but why emphasize that they were female college students?

Skinny Monkey didn’t understand, so he asked directly.

"College students—and women at that—people will easily assume they’re kind-hearted," Chen Qingli explained.