The more useless Wen Yu acted, exposing her flaws—arrogant, clueless, greedy, and lustful—the happier Lin Yitang became.
The more Wen Yu messed up, the more likely Pei Ye would grow tired of her on his own.
Then Lin Yitang could subtly manipulate Song Yu, and Wen Yu, that cannon-fodder character long destined to die, would inevitably follow her predetermined ending…
Lin Yitang was inwardly delighted. When she came back to her senses, she noticed everyone was heading out.
She followed Song Yu and learned that Pei Ye had decided to check upstairs.
According to Ye Xin, this entire building was full of tech companies.
Where there’s tech, there are bound to be materials—now that they were idle, they might as well see if there was anything useful to take home.
The building had 32 floors.
Climbing all at once was unrealistic, so they started looting from the second floor.
The second floor housed a game company. There probably weren’t many useful materials, but everyone was excited, so they searched anyway.
Lin Yitang went straight to the pantry, finding some tea, coffee packets, and snacks.
Song Yu followed.
Cen Mo and Ye Xin split the task of searching the cubicle drawers. Many of the game company engineers were bald, and the drawers contained few snacks—but lots of cigarettes. Cen Mo and Ye Xin were delighted.
Wen Yu and Pei Ye headed directly to the upper-floor offices.
The mutation had happened so suddenly that the offices weren’t locked, and doors opened with a push.
The offices were very youthful in style.
Behind the massive desks were glass display cases.
Half of one case held various ancient-style cartoon figurines—game merchandise.
On the other side of the case lay a long sword.
Wen Yu opened the glass door and drew the sword.
Its blade gleamed sharply.
Pei Ye, behind her, remarked just in time: “It’s a Tang sword.”
So this was the legendary Tang sword. She drew it fully, inspecting the blade from every angle, then handed it to Pei Ye.
“Looks perfect for chopping heads.”
She had various cold weapons in her space but hadn’t had a chance to use them. This Tang sword looked valuable, but she wasn’t particularly attached to it.
Besides, swords were for palace guards—she had her ion gun, no need for it.
Pei Ye received it and sheathed it, his expression calm but eyes glinting with satisfaction.
He gave a low hum, and the two continued exploring the office.
The office of a young, overindulgent CEO had game consoles, AR equipment, neck and waist massagers, even a massive massage chair.
Wen Yu was speechless.
Either the CEO knew how to indulge, or his health was poor—probably both.
She collected everything into her space, including the massive, luxurious desk and all electronics on it.
In the break room, they found bottles of fine liquor, stacks of cash, watches, and suits. Wen Yu didn’t hesitate, taking even the wardrobe.
By the time they finished, others had gathered outside.
Lin Yitang and Song Yu collected snacks and tea packets; Cen Mo and Ye Xin grabbed cigarettes and condoms. Gu Feng was unusual—he went to the janitor’s closet and took two huge bags of toilet paper, a case of hand soap, a case of toilet cleaner, and five large bags of black trash bags.
Wen Yu twitched, but still collected everything, placing it separately for easier distribution at the villa.
They continued to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors, repeating the same process—until the 6th floor, where things changed.
There were zombies.
Pei Ye led the charge, drawing the Tang sword and slicing through three zombies in three strokes. The office zombies were decapitated instantly, leaving the others untouched.
Gu Feng was envious, asking to try the Tang sword.
Pei Ye tightened his grip and glared: “Focus on collecting supplies.”
Pouting, Gu Feng went back to the janitor’s closet.
Pei Ye carefully wiped the blood off the sword with a soft cloth, then instinctively looked for Wen Yu.
She was staring blankly at a display cabinet. Pei Ye walked over and asked what was wrong.
Wen Yu pointed at the cabinet: “This company makes temperature-regulating clothing—not the cheap ones on Taobao that deceive customers—but real black-tech apparel. It lets people feel comfortable at 26°C in temperatures ranging from minus 20 to plus 40 degrees.”
Pei Ye checked the description below the cabinet and nodded: “If the temperature gets problematic later, these will be crucial. Let’s find where the stock is.”
Wen Yu nodded. They began searching.
Lin Yitang watched from afar, her expression dark and unreadable.
She wanted to act alongside Pei Ye to build rapport, but after the coffee shop incident, he treated her coldly. If she got too close now, he’d be annoyed. So she swallowed her frustration and continued with Song Yu.
Wen Yu and Pei Ye soon found the design department.
Besides producing blueprints, they also made sample garments, so all the company’s fabrics were there—three large rolls, enough for everyone to have two sets of clothing. They quickly collected the rolls along with the finished samples.
Since zombies were already on the upper floors, they grew more cautious.
On the 10th floor, they found a drone company.
The display cabinets held all drones the company had released since its founding—eleven in total.
Wen Yu took them all, regardless of usability.
Two were solar-powered. Pei Ye’s eyes lit up, and he searched carefully, finding some small solar panels.
Though small for powering a whole villa, they were better than nothing.
On the next floor was a software company. Exhausted and expecting nothing useful, they didn’t enter—until a desperate voice called out:
“Help! Is anyone there?”
Wen Yu and Pei Ye exchanged a glance.
In the apocalypse, sentimentality is a liability. Both felt indifferent… until they heard a lecherous male voice:
“Hmph, shout all you want, no one’s coming. But go ahead, I like the show!”
Everyone’s expressions changed. Lin Yitang saw her chance to shine and rushed in, shouting for him to stop!
Her voice gave hope to the desperate woman, who screamed even louder for help.
Lin Yitang loved being seen as the savior.
She imagined Pei Ye and the others would think she was brave and kind.
A faint smirk tugged at her lips—until she noticed zombies patrolling the office area.
Hearing the noise and sensing human presence, they immediately lunged at Lin Yitang.
Luckily, Song Yu stayed close, tossing several fireballs to temporarily save her.
Lin Yitang, still shaken, patted her chest.
She caught Wen Yu’s gaze—Wen Yu looked stiff but resentful, glaring back, utterly confused.
Pei Ye stepped forward, placing himself between them, blocking her line of sight.
He furrowed his brow, then declared without doubt:
“Are you raising zombies?”