005, Exhausted Strength

Soon, someone who had finished watching the video spoke up in the group chat.

“Look carefully, that thing is killing zombies.”

“Oh my god, isn’t that armor? Has the ancestor’s spirit manifested? Ancestor, please save me! I’m in Building 7, Apartment 801. There are zombies wandering outside my door. Descendants are so scared, wah wah wah~”

“Building 7? That’s the same building I’m in! I’m in 7-1901. That guy came rushing from the stairs and just slaughtered three zombies in the corridor like crazy.”

The resident who first clipped and posted the surveillance video explained this. Meanwhile, another resident seeking the ancestor’s protection lit up with hope.

They began feverishly typing: “Wow, is this for real? Hey, upstairs, can you talk to your ancestor and ask them to come downstairs to help me kill the zombies outside?”

“Ancestor, your descendant is always filial and kind, wouldn’t even dare to kill an ant. If you manifest, please take care of your devoted and virtuous descendant!”

…

Qi Ran was unaware of the chatter in the group. She quickly arrived at Building 8 and, following the same method, fought her way from the first floor all the way up to the twentieth.

This time, Qi Ran slaughtered a total of 65 zombies in Building 8.

Adding that to the 73 zombies she killed in Building 7, plus the 5 zombies she dispatched while crossing the underground parking lot between the two buildings, Qi Ran had slain a total of 143 zombies.

All the zombies on the twentieth floor of Building 8 were wiped out.

Qi Ran took out her phone to check the time.

It showed 3:15 PM.

She had spent just over two hours clearing two buildings.

As the number froze in her mind, a sudden “zzzt” rang out in her thoughts.

Like a lightning bolt tearing through a pitch-black night sky, she suddenly recalled something she had almost forgotten, tossed aside in a neglected corner of her memory.

She had been reborn after ten years since the apocalypse began.

A lot had happened during those ten years.

So much so that the newly reborn Qi Ran had overlooked a crucial detail:

From Phoenix Garden to the commercial street, there was an approximately 800-meter-long bridge in between.

On this very day in her previous life, around 4:00 PM, that bridge—called Lanyin Bridge—was blown up.

Because there were too many zombies in the commercial street area.

The zombies, unable to find fresh flesh there, began to spread out.

More and more zombies were running over from the commercial street side.

The people of Phoenix Garden had no choice but to take the risk of going outside and blew up the Lanyin Bridge connecting the two places.

In her past life, on her mother’s orders, Qi Ran drove to the commercial street to bring Qi Sheng back.

They had struggled and finally, following a group of people, managed to break through the zombie encirclement by car.

But when they were still two kilometers from the bridge, they heard a loud “boom” ahead.

Qi Ran drove quickly to the vicinity of Lanyin Bridge and saw dozens of cars stopped in front.

Listening to the people there, she learned that the loud noise they heard was the explosion of Lanyin Bridge.

At that time, they had arrived at the bridge at 4:05 PM.

Working backward, the bridge was blown up around 4:00 PM.

It took about eight minutes to drive from the neighborhood to the bridge and cross it.

Therefore, Qi Ran needed to slaughter the remaining 57 zombies within half an hour.

Qi Ran had trained in dance and Taekwondo from a young age.

Her physical fitness was quite good.

But climbing two buildings in one go and killing 143 zombies had already pushed her to her physical limit.

After all, the armor she was wearing weighed about 20 kilograms.

Fortunately, the zombies weren’t very aggressive at this moment.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t dare to expend all her energy so recklessly.

Qi Ran had originally planned to rest a while after killing the zombies in the second building.

But now, if she wanted to finish off the remaining 57 zombies before 4:00 PM and complete her talent awakening, then cross Lanyin Bridge and reach the other side...

Only 45 minutes remained, which was clearly insufficient.

Even if she could climb another building and kill all the zombies there within half an hour, having just climbed twenty floors and exhausted her strength, she would need at least half an hour to rest.

Qi Ran gritted her teeth.

With a heavy step, she painfully descended the stairs.

Though taking the elevator would save more energy and time, cautious Qi Ran had firmly resolved not to gamble on that one-in-a-thousand chance.

Her strength gradually recovered as she went downstairs.

The familiar feeling from five minutes ago, when her body could no longer muster any strength, stirred Qi Ran’s indomitable spirit.

In her past life, Qi Ran had often found herself in desperate battles, fighting with her back against the wall.

She would exhaust every ounce of strength within her and grit her teeth to break through her physiological limits to face each crisis head-on.

All this was done to seize the chance to survive.

Out of ten such battles, five were for Qi Sheng.

Three were for Mu Jingchen.

Two were for Wen Wan’er.

She regarded these people as her dearest family, willing to sacrifice her life for them.

When the apocalypse arrived, and they had finally gathered together, they should protect each other and strive to survive.

Yet in reality, Qi Ran was always the one who threw herself in front to shield them.

The others each had their own beloved family or lovers to protect.

Wen Wan’er had a stepdaughter who wasn’t her own by blood but was dearer than family.

Mu Jingchen had a delicate and innocent junior sister who needed protection.

As for Qi Sheng...

Though he seemed flirtatious and reckless on the surface, Qi Ran only learned at his death how deeply he loved Chu Yan.

Chu Yan had died early in the apocalypse.

Qi Sheng had wanted nothing more than to die in her place.

Qi Ran had prevented him from crossing provinces to reunite with Chu Yan.

Because of this, when Chu Yan encountered trouble, Qi Sheng—who had already awakened the A-rank talent “Golden Secret”—could not protect her by her side.

Qi Sheng resented Qi Ran for ten years.

During those ten years, he intentionally caused trouble recklessly, implicating Qi Ran and dragging her down at critical moments.

Yet Qi Ran was blinded by familial affection and never suspected a thing.

If not for the moment before her death when she saw Qi Sheng coldly indifferent towards her near-death state, his expression chillingly heartless...

And if not for Qi Sheng’s words clearing his name to Mu Jingchen...

Those ten years would have simply flashed by like passing scenery in Qi Ran’s mind.

Only then did she finally awaken.

In the past, Qi Sheng would flirt with any beautiful woman he saw.

Strong women despised him, while weak women with protectors still bore grudges against him.

Nothing good ever came from him; all the dangers were passed on to Qi Ran.

She was repeatedly hunted, plotted against, and inexplicably rejected by powerful figures for cooperation.

In the past, Qi Ran was furious but helpless at Qi Sheng’s foolishness.

Because of the Qi family’s strict instructions, she had always believed she bore an undeniable responsibility to protect Qi Sheng.

It was only when she was on the brink of death that she suddenly realized how laughable it was to have exerted all her strength protecting him.