Chapter 48: Chapter 47: Strange Phenomenon "It’s been only four or five days since the disaster outbreak, and some people have already started doing bad things. I really can’t imagine what it’s going to be like in the future." Zhong Xiaoshan was worried in her heart. If it hadn’t been for Zhang Su today, she and Zheng Xinyu would have been in trouble. Their mindset couldn’t keep up with the changes in the situation. "The main reason is that the disaster happened too suddenly, without any warning. Ordinary people simply didn’t have time to react, and nobody would store massive amounts of food at home, except for those doomsday survival enthusiasts..." Zhang Su shrugged and said, "Besides, those two people didn’t look like good fellows at all. If I remember correctly, that Brother Xiang is a thug. I saw him at the night market bossing around with the fee collectors. People like him will thrive in a world where civilization collapses and laws have no restraints because he has a black enough heart!" Zheng Xinyu gave Zhang Su an odd look and weakly said, "The black-hearted Brother Xiang got killed by someone even more black-hearted..." Zhong Xiaoshan’s lips curled up as she quickly covered her mouth, embarrassed by her smile. Zhang Su didn’t mind Zheng Xinyu’s teasing in the slightest, licked his lips, and said, "A very good teaching aid, using reality to educate you. From today onward, don’t trust anyone. I can very responsibly tell you both, even if you kill every person you encounter from now on, the percentage of mistakenly killing a good person is less than one-tenth, no, one-twentieth!" "I don’t believe it... according to what you said, there are only five good people out of a hundred?" Zheng Xinyu was somewhat unwilling to believe the future would become that cruel. "Even five good people is quite a lot, but I didn’t say the other ninety-something are bad guys. There are many people who are neutral by old standards, but I prefer to call them fence-sitters. They know how to adjust to circumstances, have no clear stance, and will lean towards whoever seems strong!" Zhang Su said flatly. Zheng Xinyu quickly said, "I think it’s great, following the strong ones isn’t dumb, right?" "You didn’t get my point. Fence-sitters aren’t following just anyone; they’re with the strongest. Once the boss has problems, the fence-sitters immediately betray. If it’s a simple job-hopping, that’s fine, but those fence-sitters could even kick one when they’re down, worse than pure bad guys!" Zhang Su showed a trace of disgust on his face, having been screwed by people like that. "You say you can’t be a good guy, or you’ll die miserably, and you can’t be a fence-sitter, so are we supposed to become bad people like Brother Xiang and them?" Zheng Xinyu asked in confusion. "Haha..." Zhang Su suddenly chuckled and then sighed, "Correct, in the future we’ll become the type we hate. When starving, we’ll steal food from the weak, and also dare to swing knives at the stronger. Survival is my only belief; I hope it’s also your only belief!" "Brother Su, I’m with you; staying alive is my only belief!" Zhong Xiaoshan had been quietly listening and thinking until now when she expressed her stance. Zheng Xinyu also nodded, with slight hesitation, "I don’t care about good or bad; anyway, I want to live, and I’ll remember what you taught me!" In the evening, Zhang Su and the two women consumed the only edible spoils, two bags of potato chips, celebrating their successful counter-attack on the assailants, along with leftover snail noodles from lunch, paired with some high-calorie Snickers bars; all three were full. "Brother Su, it didn’t use to get dark so early at the end of September in Qin City, right?" In the dim room, Zheng Xinyu sat at the spot specifically for observing outside, the curtain slightly open. She fiddled with a trash bag, about to head to the bathroom. "It’s cloudy, so getting dark earlier is normal." Zhang Su was wiping his axe, annoyed by the wall dust on it. Clearing the table, Zhong Xiaoshan chimed in, "The weather’s really abnormal this year. I’ve grown up in this area in Qin City, and it’s never been so cold in September, almost like November..." The dark skies could be attributed to cloudy weather, but the low temperatures were indeed beyond normal ranges. "Zombie viruses have also broken out, so temperature drops aren’t surprising. An early cold I can accept, but don’t keep dropping— that’s unbearable!" Zhang Su exhaled warm air, feeling the room couldn’t be more than eleven or twelve degrees. "In the past, the neighborhood used to be so lively around this time." Looking at the view from downstairs, Zheng Xinyu leaned her head against Zhang Su’s shoulder, murmuring, "This time, the kindergarten and primary school would be out, and grandparents would take kids to play downstairs. I used to be bothered by those noisy kids, couldn’t block their screams even with headphones. Now, thinking back, that’s really happiness." Those formerly happy and joyful gardens now were meeting places for zombies to roam. "Sigh... in the past every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday evenings I’d go to Wanda’s gym for a workout, then follow it up with a SPA. Now... heh, I don’t even know what day it is!" Zhong Xiaoshan shook her head with a bitter smile. In a few days, the world turned upside down, everything familiar gone. Just being alive is huge luck. Already cold, talking about heavy topics made the air feel as if it dropped another two degrees. The best remedy against cold is movement, real exercise. After a break, Zhang Su started training with the two women— a ritual they never skipped, time varied, but intensity aimed high. In combat or during training, Zhang Su never considered Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan as women. In today’s messed-up world, there was only the distinction between living and dead. If you want to survive, you must make yourself stronger! Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan naturally understood this, putting away delicacy, using all their strength, training hard. When acting coy and adorable doesn’t help survival, women can become extremely fierce— even sometimes more tempting, more dangerous. In the pitch-black room, three bodies worked up a sweat, panting hard. Without knowing the circumstances, one might let their imagination run wild... Meanwhile, at Unit 902, Building No. 4. "Xiaoyu, be good, eat properly." Qin Ya placed a cup of instant noodles in front of a small boy, about seven or eight years old. His bowl cut made him look slightly adorable, though he was all covered in dirt. On the table, a small birthday candle burned persistently. The candle, about chopstick-thick, barely emitted enough light to envelop the dining table. Compared to the afternoon, Qin Ya’s complexion had slightly recovered. Fulfilling the trust by finding the old captain’s child, he was in a good mood, increasingly grateful to the young man who helped distract the zombies. One good deed effectively saved two lives. "No, I don’t want to eat. The instant noodles taste awful. Mom said these are junk food. I’m growing, can’t eat junk food!" Liu Xuanyu stubbornly shook his head, glancing at the crumpled chip bags on the floor. A bowl of cold instant noodles wasn’t exactly appealing, but to Qin Ya, starving for two days, it was like a delicacy. Liu Xuanyu who daily munched FC-Mac-Donald’s couldn’t chew through the tough noodles. Faced with Liu Xuanyu, Qin Ya felt overwhelmed. Not married, he hadn’t expected kids could be so tough to deal with. "Xiaoyu, you must behave. There are many monsters outside now, food is scarce. This isn’t junk food, it’s life-saving. If you don’t eat, you’ll go hungry, do you want to be hungry, Xiaoyu?" However, facing Qin Ya’s threat, Liu Xuanyu didn’t budge at all, crossing his arms and turning his head: "Hmph, Uncle Qin is a bad man, hungry or not, I’m not afraid!" Under the small flame, Qin Ya had a helpless look, pondering the challenge of surviving the apocalypse with such a difficult child made him darkly dubious about prospects. He’d have to show some tough love... "Didn’t Xiaoyu say you’d want to find mom and dad? If you don’t eat well, then uncle won’t take you to find them!" "No way, Uncle Qin promised, can’t back down!" Clearly, this tactic worked better than prior threats: Liu Xuanyu immediately protested.