“What’s going on? Shouldn’t the male lead have already awakened his ability by now?”
【I don’t know! I can only monitor his vital signs. He’s in serious danger—his life signs are below 30%! He could die any moment!】
“Locate him for me! I’m heading over immediately!”
Chen Xi hurriedly shoveled the items from her room into her portable space, opening the door while asking the system.
【Understood, Host. The male lead is currently in a large shopping mall near his office in the city center, about 20 kilometers from you. Normally, driving without traffic would take 20 minutes.】
【What should we do? The apocalypse is still ongoing, the roads are dangerous, and there are zombies—how will you get there?】
“How long can he hold on?”
【Probably less than an hour.】
Alright, there’s still time.
Chen Xi changed clothes while heading downstairs, hoping to find a car that could run.
Passing the second floor, Aunt Xu saw her rushing down and asked, “Xiao Xi, where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Aunt, my friend might be in danger. I need to go find him.”
“Then I’ll come with you.” Aunt Xu started gathering her things.
“No, Aunt, my friend is in the city center—it’s quite far. I can go alone,” Chen Xi quickly refused.
“Xiao Yang is also in the city center. I was planning to go find him anyway. He hasn’t come back these past few days, and I’ve been worried something happened to him.”
Without letting Chen Xi refuse, Aunt Xu slung on her backpack and went out with her.
Chen Xi had no choice but to go together with Aunt Xu.
Outside, Chen Xi found a car with slightly damaged doors. The key was still in the ignition—likely the owner had turned into a zombie and left.
She sprayed perfume on herself, Aunt Xu, and the car—using most of the bottle—but in this urgent situation, it didn’t matter.
Aunt Xu looked puzzled but didn’t ask; she just followed Chen Xi’s lead.
About half an hour later, they arrived at the mall where the male lead was located.
Thanks to the perfume, zombies didn’t constantly pounce on the car. Chen Xi drove while Aunt Xu dealt with occasional zombies.
The apocalypse had begun at midnight, so the roads were mostly clear. During normal daytime traffic, cars wouldn’t have made it through.
“Xiao Ba, scan the male lead’s surroundings.”
【Understood, Host. The male lead is currently on the third floor. There are about thirty zombies moving there, with more streaming in from other floors. Counting the male lead’s group, there are five humans surrounded by zombies!】
Chen Xi checked the system map. Sure enough, five small green dots were clustered on the third floor, surrounded densely by red dots representing zombies, with countless more red dots steadily approaching…
Her scalp went numb.
Oh my god. Did he stumble into a zombie nest? How are there so many?
“How am I supposed to get there? Even if he has abilities, he can’t fight them off. And I don’t have any abilities yet!”
Thinking about abilities, Chen Xi was speechless.
Since the original owner hadn’t awakened abilities, Chen Xi had none either. She had disguised herself as a power-type ability user using the milk from the system, but without real abilities, facing this many zombies could be deadly.
But there was no time to dwell—more zombies were shambling toward the mall entrance.
Thankfully, zombies couldn’t climb walls yet. Otherwise, the entire exterior would be crawling with them.
“My god, how are there so many zombies?” Aunt Xu was startled.
With no time to think, Chen Xi grabbed Aunt Xu and rushed out of the car, running into the mall and slamming the doors shut.
Inside the mall, Chen Xi finally calmed down. It didn’t make sense that so many zombies were attracted here. Outside, they hadn’t noticed anything. Was it their scent? Something else?
Something felt off, but Chen Xi didn’t have time to ponder. The priority was clearing the zombies inside.
Though the doors kept outside zombies at bay, there were still over 200 inside. Chen Xi realized that even with Aunt Xu and the five humans on the third floor, they might not be able to handle them all. The male lead and his group were probably exhausted by now.
The plan was clear: get the main group out first.
Right! The zombie-repelling perfume! She couldn’t forget the system.
Still, the male lead and his group must be carrying something attracting zombies. Would the perfume work?
The immediate goal was to clear the surrounding zombies, reach the male lead, spray the perfume, and escape quickly.
Chen Xi and Aunt Xu still had over an hour left on their perfume’s effect—enough time.
Chen Xi grabbed a laser sword from her space and handed her short sword to Aunt Xu. With Aunt Xu’s shocked gaze, she charged forward.
The laser sword, truly a futuristic product, cut down row after row of zombies without them getting near.
Chen Xi was ecstatic—the system was amazing!
Layer by layer, they cleared the first, second, and third floors. Aunt Xu was stunned, as were the remaining five humans.
Xiao Yang hadn’t expected it—he had only gone out with Huo to gather supplies, and suddenly they were swarmed by zombies.
Huo got scratched while protecting Deng Tong from an attack, and the rest fled when they saw him injured, including Deng Tong.
Xiao Yang was furious, wanting to confront them, but before he could, zombies drawn by the scent of blood approached.
They fought desperately, but their abilities were too weak to handle so many. Huo remained unconscious, and they were near collapse.
At that moment, a girl in a tracksuit, mask, and hat appeared, wielding a laser sword straight out of a sci-fi movie. She cut down zombies row by row…
Then sprayed perfume haphazardly at the five of them.
Xiao Yang knew he would never forget this scene.
Soon, another familiar figure arrived…
“Mom!” Xiao Yang cried, seeing her.
“Xiao Yang? What are you doing here?” Aunt Xu exclaimed in delight.
“I was collecting supplies with my boss… wait, where’s Huo?”
Xiao Yang turned to see Huo still unconscious. The girl crouched beside him, checking his condition.
He tried to intervene but was stopped by his mother.
“Don’t worry, Xiao Xi is examining him.”
“Xiao Xi? The girl from upstairs?” Xiao Yang was stunned—she had always seemed small and weak. How could she be so capable now?
“Yes, she’s been taking care of me all these days…”
“Aunt, we should leave here now, or more zombies will be attracted,” Chen Xi interrupted, having finished quickly bandaging the male lead.
“Right, let’s get to a safe place quickly.” Everyone nodded in agreement.