Lin Mingmei looked at Gao Lang in surprise.
“It’s quiet around here. As long as you all stay careful, no zombies should come nearby. Do I really need to stay?”
Of course you do, Gao Lang grumbled inwardly.
Someone still has to clean this place up.
However, Lin Mingmei’s next sentence instantly wiped those thoughts from his mind.
“I’m going out to look for food.”
Gao Lang’s expression changed immediately.
“Then hurry and go,” he said without hesitation. “Just come back quickly.”
Lin Mingmei gave a slight nod.
“Since both Qin Yueming and I will be gone, stay alert. Don’t wander around, and don’t make noise.”
If anything happened to her human superpower reservoir, all her hard work would go to waste.
Still, she absolutely had to head out.
She was still thinking about the huge stockpile of rice, flour, grain, and oil in the warehouse, not to mention the mountain of zombie corpses outside.
Who knew what useful surprises she might find?
The moment the thought crossed her mind, the black ball inside her space began bouncing around excitedly, urging her to hurry.
Retracing her earlier route, Lin Mingmei soon found the zombies Qin Yueming had killed previously still lying where they had fallen.
After checking every corpse carefully, she dragged them aside and burned them all.
Then she returned to the warehouse.
Without hesitation, she swept every supply inside directly into her space.
Afterward, she turned toward the zombie corpses outside and began searching them thoroughly.
To her surprise, she actually found another crystal nucleus.
It was completely transparent and roughly the size of a pearl.
The black ball instantly became excited.
“Give it to me! Hurry, give it to me!”
Lin Mingmei hesitated.
This crystal nucleus was transparent, unlike the previous one. She wanted to see whether absorbing it herself could strengthen her power-type ability.
Only by becoming stronger could she seize more superpowers and crystal nuclei from others in the future.
“Master, don’t be silly,” the black ball hurriedly advised. “Once the spiritual spring finishes upgrading, the benefits you’ll receive will far exceed a tiny crystal nucleus like that!”
After a moment of thought, Lin Mingmei agreed.
A crystal nucleus this small probably would not improve her strength much anyway.
It was better to feed it to the black ball and see what happened.
Since she had already accomplished everything she came out for, Lin Mingmei stopped lingering and quickly headed back.
As she approached the classroom, she pulled a sack of rice out of her space and slung it over her shoulder.
In one hand, she carried a pack of bottled water.
In the other, an electric rice cooker she had taken from a roadside shop.
Then she strode briskly toward the classroom and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Gao Lang’s cautious voice came from inside.
“It’s me,” Lin Mingmei answered deeply.
The door immediately swung open.
“What took you so long? Wait… where did all this come from?” Gao Lang stared at her in complete shock.
Lin Mingmei ignored him entirely and walked straight inside to put the supplies down.
Luo Xinxin immediately came over to inspect them.
The moment she saw what was inside, disgust instantly spread across her face.
“What kind of garbage is this? I want actual food! What’s the point of rice?”
Meanwhile, Zhang Rui looked delighted.
“This is great! We can finally cook a proper meal.”
Lin Mingmei glanced at her.
“Then hurry and cook while the electricity is still working.”
Zhang Rui’s expression shifted slightly, but she said nothing. Silently, she carried the rice cooker and supplies off to search for an outlet.
Luo Xinxin pouted unhappily.
“You were gone for so long just to bring back a sack of rice? I want meat! And vegetables!”
“Then go out and find them yourself,” Lin Mingmei replied coldly.
That single sentence instantly shut Luo Xinxin up.
“Gao Lang, look how she talks to me!” she complained angrily.
“Xinxin, these are special circumstances,” Gao Lang comforted patiently. “Just endure it for now. Once you get home safely, you can eat whatever you want.”
It took him a long time before Luo Xinxin finally calmed down.
Meanwhile, Lin Mingmei acted as though she heard absolutely nothing.
Looking around the room, she realized that during her absence, none of the three had bothered cleaning anything at all.
Left with no choice, she found a relatively clean corner, sat down, and closed her eyes to rest.
Not long afterward, the fragrant smell of freshly cooked rice slowly filled the classroom.
At the same moment, Qin Yueming and Ke Haiyang finally returned.
They were carrying a girl between them.
Both men were covered in blood and looked utterly exhausted.
Zhang Rui immediately rushed over anxiously.
“Haiyang, are you alright? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“I’m fine,” Ke Haiyang panted heavily. “Brother Qin is incredibly strong. I wasn’t injured.”
As he spoke, he carefully lowered the unconscious girl onto the floor.
Her eyes were tightly shut, her teeth clenched together. Even after being laid down, her limbs twitched occasionally.
“Zhang Rui, hurry and give her the medicine,” Ke Haiyang urged anxiously. “Jiajia’s fever is getting worse. She’s burning up so badly it’s terrifying.”
The moment Zhang Rui heard the name “Jiajia,” her face darkened noticeably.
Grinding her teeth, she shot Wu Jiajia a resentful glance before reluctantly pulling a box of medicine from her pocket.
She quickly fed Wu Jiajia two pills.
By then, Qin Yueming had already noticed the rice and bottled water nearby.
He walked over, picked up two bottles of water, handed one to Ke Haiyang for Wu Jiajia, then carried the other over to Lin Mingmei.
“You… went out alone earlier?”
“What else?” Lin Mingmei lazily lifted her eyelids. “Did these things magically fly in here themselves?”
Qin Yueming immediately sensed her bad mood.
He wanted to comfort her, but he had no idea where to begin.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally sat beside her and lowered his voice.
“What are your plans?”
Lin Mingmei frowned slightly.
“What do you mean?”
“After we finish resting, I plan to find a vehicle and take Xinxin out of here,” Qin Yueming explained quietly. “She also wants to bring Gao Lang along.”
“No.”
Lin Mingmei instantly sat upright.
Her voice was sharp and absolute.
“Gao Lang cannot leave with you.”
Qin Yueming forced out a faint smile.
“Then come with us too. Jiangbai City is no longer safe.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Lin Mingmei leaned back against the wall again, her voice low and heavy.
“You can all go wherever you want. I’m staying here. And Gao Lang is staying too.”
“But Gao Lang wants to leave with us,” Qin Yueming stated bluntly.
He felt she needed to clearly see Gao Lang’s attitude. Perhaps then she would finally realize this relationship was not worth clinging to.
Lin Mingmei fell silent.
Naturally, she had no intention of telling Qin Yueming that even if she had to break Gao Lang’s legs herself, she would still keep him here.
After all, once she harvested his fire-type superpower, he would be useless to her anyway.
Seeing her silence, Qin Yueming assumed she had been hurt by his words.
“You really should come with us,” he advised gently. “The military base will definitely be safer. Besides, they urgently need capable people right now. With your abilities, securing a good position wouldn’t be difficult.”
Lin Mingmei remained silent.
When she said she would not leave, she meant it.
No amount of persuasion would change her mind, and she had no interest in wasting energy explaining herself.
At that moment, Gao Lang came over to call everyone to eat.
A pot of plain white rice without any side dishes felt like an unimaginable delicacy to starving people.
Even Luo Xinxin, who had complained endlessly earlier, was now stuffing mouthful after mouthful into her mouth.
Lin Mingmei herself lacked nothing food-wise, so she only took a few bites for appearance’s sake before claiming she was full.
Then she quietly moved aside and began secretly observing the feverish Wu Jiajia.
Will she awaken a superpower?
What kind of superpower will it be?
And how can I kill her without anyone noticing?
But then again… she never offended me.
Wouldn’t killing her just like this be wrong?
Wrong?
In my previous life, I never offended anyone either.
So why did they all treat me like that?
It felt as though two tiny voices were screaming furiously inside Lin Mingmei’s head, making her temples throb painfully.
After finishing his meal, Qin Yueming walked over and noticed Lin Mingmei staring intently at Wu Jiajia.
Naturally, he misunderstood her expression.
“She already had an extremely high fever when we found her,” he said softly in comfort. “Whether she survives now depends entirely on her own willpower.”
Lin Mingmei abruptly snapped back to reality.
Quickly suppressing the greed in her eyes, she lowered her gaze and nodded silently.