Considering the safety of Dr. Chen and the rest of the team, coupled with the early nightfall, Xiong Yan decided not to linger too long. Once everyone had regained some strength, they packed up and prepared to leave.
Fortunately, during their rest, the zombie horde did not return. Only a few stray zombies wandered in from the street, but they were quickly killed.
Before departing, Xiong Yan solemnly addressed the Morning Light Team. “If your team ever needs anything, you can come to Base No. 3 and ask for me. Just mention my name to the guards.”
Xiong Yan believed in repaying kindness with gratitude. While his power was limited in the apocalyptic world, he was determined to do whatever he could for those who had helped him. The Morning Light Team had not only assisted in fighting the zombies but also provided two vehicles for their return to the base—a favour he would never forget.
Once the rescue team’s vehicles left, Gu Yicheng brought out the Morning Light Team’s three vehicles from his spatial storage. Earlier, in the rush to help, their vehicles—loaded with supplies—had been left unattended. To ensure their safety, Gu Yicheng had stored them temporarily.
Now that the rescue team was gone, there was no need to delay.
“Chaozi, are you still unable to detect your family’s location here?” Lin Yang asked.
Jiang Jingchao glanced at the screen and shook his head. “No. Let’s wait until we get to the school.”
Since the outbreak, Jiang Jingchao had remained confident that his family was alive somewhere in B City. This belief stemmed from a special watch his mother had purchased for each family member during the summer holidays. Equipped with a unique chip, the watches could monitor vital signs like heart rate. She had insisted that everyone wear them daily without exception.
At the time, none of the men in the family understood her insistence. In hindsight, it seemed like a mother’s sixth sense.
Thanks to these watches, even though they were separated, the family could know each other’s status. The watch was connected to a terminal, and the heartbeats of his parents and younger brother still showed on the screen.
Knowing they were alive kept Jiang Jingchao calm.
The watches also had a positioning function. On the first day of the apocalypse, he could pinpoint his family’s locations—his brother was at school, and his parents were at home. However, the signals had since been disrupted, and no updates were available.
Unlike Lin Yang, who had grown used to an indifferent relationship with his family, Jiang Jingchao was close to his own. Lin Yang, unable to empathize, awkwardly patted his shoulder. “Chaozi, don’t worry. As long as they’re alive and safe, we’ll find them. We’re all here to help.”
Gu Yicheng, though silent, gave Jiang Jingchao a reassuring look.
In the previous timeline, Gu Yicheng, Lin Yang, and Jiang Jingchao had been separated when the apocalypse began. Gu Yicheng and Lin Yang were in the capital, while Jiang Jingchao was in S City for a university competition. They never reunited. Gu Yicheng later learned that Jiang Jingchao had survived and found his family, only to die in a rescue mission at the hands of a fourth-tier mutant zombie—a regret that lingered in Gu Yicheng’s heart.
In this life, Gu Yicheng had managed to intercept Jiang Jingchao in S City before his departure. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had time to ensure Jiang Jingchao’s family was safely together, leaving them scattered across B City.
—
On the way to B University’s new campus, the team drove for some time before Gu Yicheng suddenly frowned, glancing out the window. A flicker of doubt crossed his dark eyes.
Ruan Ning had just finished memorizing the campus map, noting key locations: the three gates, the philosophy dormitory, four cafeterias, and two campus stores.
Seeing Gu Yicheng’s reaction, Ruan Ning followed his gaze but found nothing unusual. The streets remained as desolate as ever, dotted with the occasional stray zombie. The once-evergreen trees had shed their leaves unnaturally, casting an air of lifelessness over the area.
“Brother, did you notice something?” Ruan Ning asked. Her earlier suspicions about the zombies trailing the rescue team resurfaced—they had behaved unnaturally, almost as if controlled by something.
Perhaps… a psychic zombie?
Psychic zombies were manageable in their early stages, but once they evolved, they could control increasingly large numbers of lower-tier zombies, amplifying their destructive potential exponentially.
“It’s nothing for now. The surroundings just feel… off,” Gu Yicheng replied, narrowing his eyes as he scanned potential hiding spots on the street.
Jiang Jingchao, overhearing, added, “Gu Bro, I haven’t detected any unusual psychic waves either.”
Gu Yicheng had already noticed anomalies during the rescue. He had asked Jiang Jingchao to investigate, but even with his second-tier psychic ability, he had found nothing.
This left two possibilities: either there was no psychic zombie, or its psychic powers were stronger than Jiang Jingchao’s, likely at the third tier or higher.
Gu Yicheng hoped it was the former. Psychic zombies were notoriously difficult to deal with, and encountering one—especially near the zombie-dense B University—would complicate their already dangerous mission.
—
The journey to B University’s west gate, which would normally take less than 30 minutes via the highway, stretched into hours due to blocked roads.
By the time they reached the west gate, it was nearly midnight.
The vehicles didn’t stop at the gate but parked near an unfinished building.
The area was eerily quiet. Unlike the busier north and south gates near neighbourhoods and shops, the west gate was a side entrance surrounded by undeveloped land. Even before the apocalypse, few people used this gate.
The silence was unsettling.
From their vantage point, B University loomed in darkness, a black void that seemed to swallow all light. The campus was a foreboding black hole, hiding countless unknown dangers.
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