Chapter 223.1

This was the biggest escape operation Room 412 had conducted since the apocalypse began. The operation had eight members, so they made for an obvious target, and not even Jun Zishu’s Chanel or Lancôme could mask their presence.

After leaving the food court, the eight fled in the direction they discussed in their plan, and they ran as quickly as if they were competing in an 800m.

When the little cuties saw the fleeing humans, they howled in excitement and let go of the meat in their hands. Then, they began chasing after the humans growling over and over. Even the ones whose eyes were damaged had wobbled after their companions.

While Jun Zishu and the others could reduce their target size by splitting up, that was a very unwise decision in their current situation. The number of enemy troops was simply too overwhelming. Even if they split up, they would still have to face a number of zombies that they couldn’t handle on their own.

Everyone in the group had varying levels of physical fitness. A minute after they began running, it became obvious who was fit and unfit.

Ren Nanying and Jun Zishu participated in physical training consistently before the apocalypse, so they ran at the forefront of the group. Of course, Ren Nanying had a slight edge over Jun Zishu since she had trained as a runner in the Athletics Department. On the other hand, Jun Zishu developed her physical fitness via dancing.

Running behind Ren Nanying and Jun Zishu were the two boys from the Music Department. Although Jiang Mubai and Chen Beimo weren’t the types to exercise often, they had bigger body structures than the girls in the group.

As for the remaining four members of the group, they ran in the order of Lin Su, Xu Qiu, Liu Yingtong, and Liu Manman.

Lin Su and Xu Qiu ran while holding each other’s hands. While doing so hindered their movements a little, they could help each other out when one of them was running out of stamina.

In Liu Yingtong’s case, she had surprisingly good stamina, her face looking as calm as always as she ran. Unfortunately, she was hindered by her short stature, so even with great stamina, she ran second to last in the group.

As for Liu Manman, the person running and struggling for air in last place, she maintained a precarious balance of being constantly three steps away from the zombie army. However, even though it looked like she could get bitten at any second, her desire to live kept her at a safe distance from the zombies the entire time.

When the group was close to reaching the Medical Building, the zombies wandering around the Medical Building sensed their companions’ summons and began making their way over as well.

“Ah!”

Liu Manman suddenly let out a cry, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

“What’s wrong, Manman?”

“My leg… Hiss… I think I got a cramp…”

Despite this situation, Liu Manman continued running with all her strength. Only, she was slowly but surely falling behind the rest of the group.

Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying briefly looked at each other. Then, they turned around and began running back.

“Argh!” Chen Beimo shouted as he looked back.

Liu Manman wasn’t the only one with problems. Lin Su’s face also looked flushed, and it seemed like it was taking her all just to keep on running.

However, the zombie army did not care for the girls’ plight as they kept up their chase. Some of the zombies had gotten so close that their fingertips were already touching the ends of Liu Manman’s long hair.

Liu Manman’s eyes teared up in fear and pain as she did her best to continue running forward.

When one of the zombies was close to reaching Liu Manman, Liu Yingtong suddenly appeared beside Liu Manman and stabbed the zombie’s head with her scalpel.

A moment later, Ren Nanying and Jun Zishu also reached Liu Manman. Then, each of them grabbed one of Liu Man Man’s arms and picked her up.

Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying were relatively tall girls, and they were both half a head taller than Liu Manman. Liu Manman could feel her legs hanging in the air when the two tall girls picked her up.

Meanwhile, after picking Liu Manman up, Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying accelerated and brought Liu Manman out of the danger zone.

Liu Yingtong was relieved to see this. Immediately, she began running faster as well.

Liu Manman was moved to tears as she felt her two feet dangling in the air. Although her arms hurt a little, she was still ecstatic nonetheless.

“Mighty warriors! This lowly one will never forget your kindness!”

“Can you shut up? Also, eat less in the future and stop ordering food deliveries. Just look at how fat you’ve become! We’re having trouble even lifting you!” Jun Zishu criticized out of habit, her harsh comment instantly replacing Liu Manman’s joy with embarrassment.

“I’m not! I’m only at 110 pounds! I… I’m not…” Liu Manman muttered, trying to salvage her reputation.

Meanwhile, Ren Nanying continued running with an expressionless face. Inwardly, though, she couldn’t help but smile.

Ren Nanying felt that surviving with this group of people in the apocalypse was a very interesting experience. These girls could always find joy in bitterness. Even though they were in a dangerous environment right now, they still managed to attract laughter with their chatter.

After the group continued running for a little longer, they finally reached the Medical Building.

“Quick! Climb up the pipe!” Jun Zishu yelled as she pushed Liu Manman toward the water pipe on the side of the building.

“Huh???” Liu Manman was a little surprised by this development, but she still followed Jun Zishu’s command and tried to climb the water pipe. Unfortunately, despite her efforts, she made no progress whatsoever.

Liu Manman was a city girl throughout her entire life, so she had no experience climbing trees. Her cramped left calf only made things even more challenging for her.

“I’ll have Liu Yingtong poke your bum with her scalpel if you don’t climb up now!” Jun Zishu threatened. Even if Liu Manman was experiencing a lot of pain right now, she needed to endure it. Surviving was their number one priority. Everything else was secondary.

“Jiang Mubai, you go next. You’re a boy, so you’ll have a better time holding on if Manman’s bum ends up sliding down onto you,” Jun Zishu said to Jiang Mubai.

“Okay.”

Jiang Mubai’s mouth twitched a little as he climbed up the water pipe after Liu Manman. He couldn’t help but feel like Jun Zishu was using this chance to take revenge on him.

Liu Manman felt her blood pressure shooting through the roof when she heard Jun Zishu’s words. This situation was too embarrassing for her. If it were before the apocalypse, Jiang Mubai’s many admirers would’ve hunted her down with knives in hand if they learned that her bum might land on Jiang Mubai’s head. Either that or they would drown her with hate messages.

When Liu Manman thought about how her bum might possibly fall onto Jiang Mubai’s head, her cramped calf no longer hurt as much. Then, exerting 200% of her potential, she climbed up the six floors with a huff and a puff.

After Liu Manman, Jiang Mubai was the second to reach the top, followed by Lin Su, Xu Qiu, Liu Yingtong, Jun Zishu, Ren Nanying, and Chen Beimo.

When the little cuties downstairs saw their prey disappearing from their vision, they began howling and growling grumpily downstairs.

“That scared the hell out of me.”

Everyone collapsed on the roof and began catching their breath, their hearts beating rapidly from fright.

“This whole experience feels more like a horror film than an actual horror film,” Chen Beimo commented as he took a quick peek down the rooftop.

“It’d be great if superheroes existed in this world. They’d take care of these little pests in no time,” Liu Manman said while massaging her calf. However, the more she massaged it, the more it hurt.

“Let me do it,” Liu Yingtong said as she sat down beside Liu Manman and massaged Liu Manman’s calf.

“It’s really embarrassing to receive such treatment. Thank you,” Liu Manman said. However, she still gladly accepted Liu Yingtong’s massage despite her words.

Lin Su: Iron Man would be great in this situation. A sweep from his laser beam will be enough to take care of an entire horde. He can also summon his Iron Legion to fight for him.

Liu Manman: I think the Hulk is good as well. He won’t have to be afraid of being bitten at all.

Chen Beimo: But won’t the Hulk take too long to clean up the zombies? Spider-Man is definitely a no-go.

Jiang Mubai: Captain America won’t do well, either. The strength of an individual is too weak in the face of a zombie horde.

Ren Nanying: The same goes for Black Panther. Though, it might be a different story if he brings high-tech weapons.

Jun Zishu: I think Thor will do well. He can smash entire hordes with his hammer.

Liu Yingtong: Why not let Thanos come?

Xu Qiu, who had never watched the Marvel series, was isolated from the conversation, and she couldn’t help but feel very confused.

Xu Qiu: Lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely.

Liu Manman: I’m OK with the Great Sage(Sun Wukong). I need him to draw circles for me.

Chen Beimo: If superheroes really existed in this world, there’d probably be explosions going off in New York every day.

Jiang Mubai: That’s right. That’s why there are no superheroes in this world. We cannot place our hopes on the supernatural. We can only rely on ourselves to survive.

As soon as Jiang Mubai finished speaking, he suddenly saw something and quickly pulled Chen Beimo over to him. Then, he kicked the zombie that had just climbed up to the roof.

Chen Beimo, who had only been one step away from death, leaned into Jiang Mubai’s arms in a daze. Then, once he snapped out of his daze, he promptly hugged his friend and said, “No! You are my superhero!”

“Ugh, get away from me. You’re disgusting,” Jiang Mubai said as he pushed Chen Beimo away.

“There’s no way to repay the gift of saving a life. How about you offer your body to him in return?” Liu Manman suggested.

“How did that zombie learn how to climb the water pipe? Or did it climb up from one of the sixth-floor windows?” Lin Su asked.

“This conjecture of yours is even scarier than if the zombie climbed up from the bottom,” Xu Qiu said.

“Be careful,” Jun Zishu said, reminding everyone not to let their guard down. She had just looked at her mental map, so she knew that the zombie Jiang Mubai kicked did not fall off the building completely. Instead, it had seemingly caught onto the water pipe again just as it was falling, and it was currently on its way back up again.

“Are all zombies so nimble now?”

“Did they evolve?”

“If they evolve and we don’t, won’t we be finished?”

While the others were talking, the zombie had climbed back to the roof again.

It was a female zombie, and her clothes had long since become torn and dirty. The zombie stood on the roof tiles on all fours like a lizard, and her sharp teeth gave off a cold glint in the sunlight. The zombie also made a gurgling sound with her throat as she looked at the humans in front of her with a face full of excitement and desire.

Jun Zishu could vaguely recognize the female zombie, and she quickly found a name in her memories as she said, “It’s Duan Chun.”

“Ah! Isn’t this your classmate who’s constantly competing for first place with you?” Liu Manman exclaimed.

Although Room 412’s residents belonged to different departments, they had a relatively good understanding of the situation in each other’s departments. Hence, Liu Manman and the others also quickly recognized the female zombie before them.

“Yes. What a pity,” Jun Zishu said. Although her inherited memories showed that the girl named Duan Chun often butted heads with the original owner, the girl was quite a talented dancer. If she continued training in earnest, she would definitely have a good future in dance. Now, though…

However, Duan Chun wasn’t the only pitiful person in this apocalypse. Anyone who hadn’t done any heinous deeds but lost their lives to these monsters was deserving of pity.

“Save your pity for later. Shouldn’t we figure out how we should deal with her first?” Ren Nanying said.

While it wasn’t particularly cramped on the rooftop, they still had limited space. If they accidentally fell off the roof, they’d either die on the spot or end up with a body full of broken bones.

However, the zombie, on the other hand, had no such concerns. Without a care in the world, she promptly lunged at Jun Zishu after getting over her excitement of seeing living humans.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu naturally wouldn’t let the zombie reach her. Immediately, she grabbed the backpack Ren Nanying had set aside and smacked the zombie with it. However, the force of the impact was insufficient to knock the zombie away, and the zombie ended up biting onto the backpack and letting out muffled noises.

When the zombie began reaching for Jun Zishu with its hands, Jun Zishu quickly released the backpack and dodged backward. At the same time, the others also quickly stepped aside to avoid hindering Jun Zishu’s retreat.

There were simply too many people on the roof. No matter which person the zombie decided to lunge at, that person would be in serious danger. So long as they got bitten or scratched even once, they’d have a high risk of getting infected.

With the zombie as the center, everyone gradually slid to the two sides of the rooftop. They also made sure to keep their bodies stable to avoid falling down the building.

Jun Zishu wanted to give the zombie girl a headshot with her knife, but it wasn’t convenient for her to do so with her current circumstances. Moreover, the zombie was relatively nimble since she used to be a talented dancer when she was still human.

Other than Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying, everyone had wisely distanced themselves from the center of the battlefield. With their physical capabilities, they’d only be adding to the chaos if they tried to help. Thus, the best thing they could do in this situation was give Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying as much room to maneuver around as possible.

Currently, the zombie was positioned on top of the roof’s middlemost ridge, while Ren Nanying and Jun Zishu each took one of the zombie’s sides.

The zombie persistently attacked Jun Zishu throughout the fight. Although Jun Zishu had diverted all of the zombie’s attacks and even found opportunities to counterattack, the zombie was too slippery for Jun Zishu to land a good strike at her head. To make matters worse, the zombie wasn’t afraid of getting stabbed in other parts of her body. So, even when Jun Zishu’s knife penetrated the zombie’s torso and limbs, the zombie simply ignored the injuries and continued lunging at Jun Zishu.

At one point, the zombie nearly scratched Jun Zishu’s face with her fingernails. Fortunately, Jun Zishu had tilted her head and avoided the attack just in time. Although Ren Nanying wanted to take this opportunity to attack the zombie from behind, the zombie had seemingly noticed her aim and turned around to lunge at her. As a result, Ren Nanying had no choice but to dismiss her ambush and deal with the zombie’s attack.

Immediately, Ren Nanying crouched down and evaded the zombie’s lunging attack. While the zombie was passing across her head, she also managed to cut at one of the zombie’s fingers with the chef’s knife she wielded. However, the blade didn’t cover the entire finger, so the finger remained attached to the zombie’s hand, and the sight looked quite miserable.

Ignoring her dangling finger, the zombie turned around and resumed attacking Jun Zishu once more.

Liu Manman: Doesn’t this zombie seem a little too attached to the goddess? She’s hardly attacking Cousin at all.

Xu Qiu: Does she still recognize faces after turning into a zombie? Is she deliberately targeting Zishu?

Lin Su: It makes sense. This person’s hatred for Zishu isn’t something new. She has always felt that Zishu had stolen her position as the Dance Department’s belle.

Chen Beimo: Is this the real-life version of holding a grudge even in death?

Jiang Mubai: You girls are too scary.

Liu Manman: Have fun being gay, then.

Liu Manman and the others might seem they weren’t concerned about the fight as they were having a light-hearted conversation among themselves, but their hearts were pounding anxiously in reality.

They’d be incredibly saddened if either of the two girls got infected. If both girls got infected… Well, they’d be finished.

Hellscythe’s Notes: