Later, when he was jolted awake, he saw his comrade circling the car incessantly while his daughter shrieked for help in a high-pitched voice. His eyes instantly turned blood-red. Grabbing the nearest object, he lunged forward to fight. However, his strength was no match for his comrade—especially not after the man had mutated. During the struggle, he managed to hit the switch for the electric gate, leading the zombie outside. No matter what, he had to save his child’s life.
Liu Hongwei recounted the events. His daughter had already fallen asleep in his arms, and he didn’t dare let her go; the previous ordeal had left him completely traumatized.
“If you’re asking me, I don’t know what happened either. I had some wine before bed last night and slept like the dead. I only heard the noise after my daughter’s voice had already gone hoarse from screaming.”
Everyone looked at each other. They had originally hoped to find someone to give them direction, but now that the Village Chief was just as clueless, things became difficult. Still, believing he was a quick thinker, they sent someone to explain the overall situation to him.
“Last night, my wife went to the bedroom first while I was in the living room watching a ball game. Suddenly, she rushed out of the room. I thought something was wrong, but when I saw her face, I was nearly scared to death—it was completely unrecognizable. She tried to bite me. Seeing that something was wrong with her, I got frantic. I don’t know how it happened, but suddenly a vine sprouted up beside me and tied her up. She’s not right, but she’s my wife; I couldn’t bring myself to kill her, so I locked her in the room. Later, the village loudspeaker turned on, and a young man said there was some kind of virus. He said some people get infected and turn into zombies, just like my wife. There’s no medicine. If you don’t kill it, it will bite you to death and turn you into a monster just like it.”
He stretched out his hand, and after a moment, a green vine actually sprouted from the ground. He showed it to everyone, saying, “This must be the ‘Ability’ that young man mentioned. For now, I can only produce vines. I can’t really strike people, but I can tie them up.”
Those nearby who had no abilities looked on with faces full of envy. Those who did have abilities began to showcase them one by one: some could control water, some metal, and others earth… Liu Hongwei observed them and noted that they could be categorized into roughly five types, subtly corresponding to the Five Elements. He wondered if there was some hidden mystery behind it.
He nodded and said, “I have a general understanding of the situation now. However, I don’t have an ability yet, and I don’t know when one might trigger. I can’t protect you. Do you have any plans for what comes next?”
Someone replied, “Hongwei, we came here specifically to discuss that with you. Even though you don’t have an ability yet, you’re sharp and have a lot of ideas. Having an ability is just a difference in physical strength; it doesn’t mean a person is good at using their head.”
Liu Hongwei cupped his hands in a gesture of respect and said, “I’m honored that you all think so highly of me. Then I’ll share my thoughts, and everyone can raise any suggestions or objections.”
“Fine, you go first, and we’ll discuss any issues afterward.”
Being the Village Chief, Liu Hongwei naturally possessed some competence. After learning about the development of the situation, he said, “We must gather together; we can’t fight this alone. Many of the able-bodied young men from our Xiping Village have gone out for migrant work. The ones left behind are mostly women, the elderly, and children. If everyone stays scattered in their own homes, it’ll be too easy to be attacked. Plus, if someone runs out of food, no one else will know. I suggest we live together so we can look out for one another. We should pool our food and distribute it collectively, and organize teams to search for more supplies. This will maximize our chances of preserving our lives and strength.”
This was clearly a well-thought-out plan. The fact that Liu Hongwei could come up with it so quickly proved he was indeed a fast thinker with clear ideas regarding personnel placement.
The others also felt it was a good idea. If every household lived separately and had to search for food daily, it would consume a massive amount of physical energy. Moreover, some families had no able-bodied men left, and their survival probability would drop significantly. By living together and pooling their strength, it was clearly more beneficial for them.
“I think it’s doable, but is there a place in the village big enough?”
They were only a few households right now, but while Xiping Village wasn’t huge, its population wasn’t small either. Ordinary residential houses definitely couldn’t accommodate everyone.
Liu Hongwei frowned; this was clearly an issue.
“I know a place,” someone suggested. “Let’s go to the village primary school. Yesterday was Sunday, so the children were on holiday and there’s hardly anyone there. It won’t take much effort to clear out any dangers. Besides, the school has classrooms and a cafeteria, so we won’t have to worry about a place to eat and sleep.”
Hearing this, Liu Hongwei immediately smiled and said, “That’s a great idea. Let’s go to the village school. Here’s the plan: those of you with cars, drive them. Go house to house to call out the survivors and get them out first. Then, I’ll take a few people to check out the school. Once we’ve confirmed it’s safe, everyone will move there together.”
“Alright, let’s do it that way. Let’s go! We’ll split into several routes and get it done quickly before anyone else gets bitten.”
Once everyone had left, Liu Hongwei carried his sleeping daughter back to her room. He rubbed his brow. Just now, he had habitually begun organizing and commanding, but now he felt the weight on his shoulders was exceptionally heavy. While the phones were still working, he called his wife—who had gone back to her parents’ home—several times, but no one answered. His heart sank halfway; in this situation, the odds were likely not good.
Yun Zhuan was on the sofa practicing his ability, focusing primarily on the precision of his control. He was currently like a blacksmith with mediocre skills; the things he forged were always slightly off. He was constantly trying to refine his accuracy.
Suddenly hearing someone calling at the gate, Yun Zhuan quickly set aside his practice. He walked to the door and looked out through the peephole. It was a few people he didn’t recognize, though they all looked healthy. However, given the current circumstances, it wasn’t impossible for people to take advantage of the chaos to loot. Since Lin Po’s parents were upstairs, he had to be cautious.
He opened the main door of the house but kept the courtyard gate closed. Standing in the yard, he asked, “Who are you? Is something the matter?”
Yun Zhuan spoke in Mandarin. Hearing this, a villager asked, “You’re not from our village?”
Yun Zhuan shook his head and said, “I’m a friend of Lin Po. I came here for a trip these past couple of days.”
At that moment, someone in the car said, “Lin Po is the son of this family.”
“Oh, I wanted to ask, has your family suffered any losses? Is everyone still alive? We plan to head to the village primary school together. Do you want to come?”
Normally, if someone asked if your family was still alive, you might get angry, but given the current situation, they had to confirm the number of survivors in every household.
Fortunately, the people they encountered knew what was happening and weren’t offended. Instead, they were desperately waiting for someone to arrive, as it meant they were no longer isolated and helpless.
Yun Zhuan thought for a moment and said, “No one is injured here, but we won’t join you for now. We have our own car, and your vehicle can’t hold that many people anyway. Go check on the other houses first.”
The villagers weren’t upset at being rejected; in fact, they were quite happy. This young man was right; they were just driving an ordinary van. Since the Lin family could handle themselves, it was better to go help those more in need.
“Alright then, stay safe. Once we’ve cleared out the primary school, we’ll notify you again.”
“Okay, thank you. You’ve worked hard.”
After seeing them off, Yun Zhuan went back upstairs and told Lin Chuansen about the situation.
Lin Chuansen pondered for a moment and said, “Wait until Xiao Po gets back. We’ll tell him about it and then consider what to do.”
Yun Zhuan nodded, though he had a hunch that Lin Po wouldn’t choose to live with the others.
The Lin Po they were thinking about was currently hard at work. The Space hadn’t given him any “one-click harvest” cheat; it required his physical labor. Fortunately, he didn’t feel tired within the Space; otherwise, with so many crops, he truly would have worked himself to death trying to finish.
Compared to rice and wheat, which required secondary processing, Lin Po chose corn. This stuff was filling and shelf-stable, making it an excellent choice for emergency rations. Additionally, he picked some fruit, such as mangoes and apples; taking these out wouldn’t seem strange for the season.
He had tested it before: the crops grown here had healing properties. However, now that everyone had abilities, if they ate some, they wouldn’t think it was the food’s doing; they would assume it was the effect of their abilities. This way, Lin Po wouldn’t have to worry about explaining anything.
These crops were the ones originally growing in the Space. Aside from being able to alleviate some physical discomfort, Lin Po hadn’t discovered any other uses for them yet. As for the seeds on the antique shelf, he hadn’t started planting them. The characters carved on the shelf made him feel those seeds weren’t so simple; he didn’t want to waste them easily. He would wait until the situation stabilized a bit before researching how to use them.
As Lin Po broke off the corn cobs, he turned things over in his mind. Because his body didn’t feel fatigue, there were no ill effects other than the boredom of mechanized labor.
“In the future, I definitely have to put a harvester in here,” Lin Po muttered resentfully under his breath. He estimated the amount of corn he had picked and saw it was about enough, so he stopped. Looking back, he discovered that the spots where the corn stalks had been were now empty, and new sprouts were already pushing up from the ground.
Lin Po rested his chin on his hand and murmured to himself, “So, it won’t help me harvest, but it’s willing to help me plant?”
Lin Po observed carefully, and it was indeed the case. The corn stalks left behind after he broke off the corn would disappear on their own, and new sprouts would grow back in the soil. Even the mango and apple trees he had picked clean would bloom and bear fruit again.
Time here was not static; the flow was the same as outside, but the speed at which plants grew and matured was very fast. It seemed that while he couldn’t use this as a fresh-keeping storage space, using it as a farm for circular harvesting was quite good.
In that case, he couldn’t plant the seeds from the antique shelf inside the Space, because the layout here was already fixed. There was simply no room to spare for him to plant things. As for the areas where external objects were placed, those were clearly non-planting zones designated by the Space; the ground there wasn’t ordinary soil at all, but a material Lin Po had never seen before.