Chapter 52: Lin Xiaoyou

Within just a few minutes, more than thirty corpses lay sprawled across the ground.

They were the people who had abandoned Ye Piaopiao the day before—and those who had just turned on her and cursed her.

The remaining forty-odd people crouched trembling in a corner, staring at Ye Piaopiao like she was a god of slaughter, terror written across their faces.

Ye Piaopiao stuffed most of the food on the table into her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and prepared to leave.

“Master, my business is settled. Let’s go.”

She slid her long sword back into its scabbard, her expression calm. After adjusting her glasses, she acted as though the corpses strewn across the floor had nothing to do with her.

“Excellent!”

Lin Yu gave her a thumbs-up. He admired her decisive, no-nonsense manner.

The four of them descended from the unfinished building.

“Master, where are we going now?”

“I came to Tianhai City to rescue my younger sister. She’s at Tianhai University.”

Lin Yu quickly explained the situation.

“Tianhai University?” Ye Piaopiao froze.

Wasn’t that the school where she worked?

“Do you know how to get there?” Lin Yu asked hurriedly.

To be honest, he had only visited the university once, when his sister started her freshman year. He had no idea how to reach it now.

“I’m a first-year teacher at Tianhai University. I only started working there this year,” Ye Piaopiao replied. “What’s your sister’s name? Which department is she in?”

“Lin Xiaoyou, the Department of Economics and Management.”

“…”

Ye Piaopiao’s expression immediately turned strange.

What were the chances?

“What’s wrong?” Lin Yu asked, his heart tightening at her expression.

“Lin Xiaoyou is the beauty of the freshman class in the Economics and Management Department. She’s quite famous on campus. And I…”

Her voice grew slightly awkward.

“I’m her mathematics teacher.”

“…”

Lin Yu suddenly understood why Ye Piaopiao had looked so strange just now.

He was Ye Piaopiao’s master, while Ye Piaopiao was his younger sister’s teacher.

The relationship was truly complicated.

“Perhaps we should just forget about the whole master-disciple business,” Lin Yu suggested after a moment’s thought.

“No. Becoming someone’s disciple is a solemn matter, not something to be taken lightly. As for your sister and me, we can keep those relationships separate.”

“Fine. Have it your way.”

Lin Yu could do nothing but shake his head helplessly.

“But this is the apocalypse, and zombies are everywhere. Will your sister still be at the university?”

“Don’t worry. I called her in advance and told her to stay in her dormitory and not go out. I also made sure she had enough food and supplies.”

“You prepared before the apocalypse even began?”

Ye Piaopiao was startled, but then she understood. She remembered Lin Yu mentioning his ability to foresee the future.

“Let’s go. I know the way. But getting there won’t be easy. It’s only a little over sixty kilometers, yet the entire route passes through areas packed with zombies.”

“If there are only a few, kill them directly. If there are large numbers, hide first.”

Lin Yu frowned.

Tianhai City was a renowned tourist destination, with a permanent population of more than two million.

That meant the rain of zombies had brought down at least two and a half million of them.

After so much time had passed since the apocalypse began, there were probably more than three million zombies by now.

Using ordinary attacks, Lin Yu could easily kill common zombies. But even at a rate of one zombie per second, fighting continuously for ten hours would eliminate only thirty-six thousand.

His talents allowed him to launch wide-area attacks and kill much faster, but his mana could not keep up.

At Rank Zero, his mana recovered at one point per second. After reaching Rank One, the recovery rate doubled to two points per second.

It would take Lin Yu nearly ten hours to restore his mana completely.

“Piaopiao, optimize the route. We’ll adapt according to the situation when the time comes.”

“Yes, Master.”

…

Tianhai University.

Much of the campus had been reduced to ruins.

After the apocalypse arrived and zombies descended from the sky, more than forty thousand people had been trapped at the university. Fewer than five thousand had survived to this day.

These survivors had formed numerous small alliances, each occupying a different part of the campus.

They had survived thanks to several among them who had awakened special talents.

The Little Autumn Alliance was one such group. Its current stronghold was the university library.

On the second floor, more than two hundred people had gathered to discuss their plans.

“Everyone, listen up. Today, Xiaoyou and I will lead a group to clear out the zombies inside the swimming center.”

“Monkey and Yang Jian will take another team through the wall beside the swimming center. There’s a large supermarket outside. Search it for supplies.”

The speaker was a tall, handsome young man who arranged the assignments in an orderly fashion. He was the leader of the group, Zhao Qiu, a third-year physical education student.

“I disagree. I don’t want to be on your team.”

Suddenly, an unwelcome voice rang out from the crowd.

Lin Xiaoyou rose to her feet and stared straight at Zhao Qiu. She disliked him intensely.

“Xiaoyou, do this for my sake, all right? Don’t make a scene.”

A beautiful girl beside her tugged at her hand.

In the end, Lin Xiaoyou sat down angrily.

“Brothers, based on yesterday’s observations, there are two Rank One zombies inside the swimming center. Once we kill them, Brother Qiu will soon be able to advance to Rank One.”

Someone quickly stepped in to smooth things over and ease the awkward atmosphere.

“That’s wonderful! Once Brother Qiu’s strength increases, we’ll be even safer.”

“Exactly. Brother Qiu will always be the strongest.”

The students showered him with flattery.

Zhao Qiu basked in their praise. He glanced at Lin Xiaoyou, an unreadable look in his eyes.

The crowd dispersed to make their final preparations.

“Brother Qiu, once you reach Rank One, are you going to make your move against Xiaoyou?”

The girl who had pulled Lin Xiaoyou aside earlier approached Zhao Qiu. Even as she spoke, she kept sneaking glances around them.

She was Lin Xiaoyou’s roommate—and Zhao Qiu’s girlfriend—Fang Siqi.

“Hmm. As you can see, Xiaoyou’s talent is far too powerful. I must have it.”

A vicious glint flashed through Zhao Qiu’s eyes.

He had awakened an A-Rank talent: Steal.

Although it was only A-Rank and did not directly enhance his combat strength, each time he advanced by one rank, he could steal an additional talent.

On the third day after awakening, he had stolen his roommate’s A-Rank talent, Thunderstorm.

His strength had surged, and he had become the leader of this hundred-person group.

Later, he learned from his girlfriend about Lin Xiaoyou’s talent: an A-Rank ability that multiplied her strength fivefold.

Such an incredible talent had to become his.

Power was safest when it remained in one’s own hands.

“Move out!”

Once everyone was ready, Zhao Qiu waved his hand grandly and led the group toward the swimming center, cutting their way through the zombie hordes.

…

“Master, following the route we planned, I estimate that if everything goes smoothly, we should reach Tianhai University in about three days.”

Ye Piaopiao explained her plans.

“You know Tianhai City better than I do. I’ll leave everything to you.”

Lin Yu had no objections.

“Good. Then let’s fight our way out. Tianhai City is much the same everywhere—zombies have occupied every district.”

The four of them followed the streets, killing zombies as they advanced.