Chapter 41: Uninvited Guests

"There’s no limit on how many times you can enhance hearing, is it related to challenge levels? A-level can directly enhance, while C-level is just an experience card with limitations?"

Thinking about this while he turns on the tap, he suddenly feels shocked like he’s been electrocuted, his body shudders, and the water stream veers off to the side of the toilet.

The indicator light that stays on as long as there’s power has gone out?

"Hey... damn it, there’s a power outage, didn’t you guys notice?"

No time to dry off, he hurriedly pulls up his pants and rushes out of the bathroom, speaking to the two women doing push-ups.

"Power... outage?"

Zheng Xinyu can’t hold her breath due to the shocking news, and flops onto the ground with a plop.

Zhong Xiaoshan quickly stands up and runs to the light switch, pressing it repeatedly, but there’s no reaction from the light. She says disappointedly, "There’s really no power."

"Basically saying goodbye to modern life..."

Zhang Su sits gloomily on the ground, letting out a long sigh.

Not to mention computers or phones, they’re practically useless without the internet. But a lot of the food they’ve stored requires hot water to cook. With gas gone, they could still use an induction stove, but now with no electricity, there’s suddenly a sense of security being destroyed, causing a pang of panic.

They barely had time to get excited about their new ability before the power outage overshadowed it.

"Does this mean there’s no way to eat all the instant snail noodles?" Zheng Xinyu frowned as she looked at her room, feeling a sense of regret.

Zhong Xiaoshan quietly walks back to the sofa, whispering, "Actually, if it’s just cooking something, I do have a way..."

"What way?"

Both Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu turn to Zhong Xiaoshan as she speaks.

Zhong Xiaoshan feels a little embarrassed being stared at by the two. Feeling valued, she quickly says, "It’s nothing special, just starting a fire, cooking with fire."

"Right..." Zhang Su suddenly realizes, "We’ve gotten so used to modern life that we’ve forgotten primitive methods!"

Zhong Xiaoshan quickly raises her hand, saying, "I’ve learned how to create and start a fire, but starting a fire... the smoke is very heavy."

Zhang Su stands up, thinking for a moment, and says, "Zombies aren’t attracted by smoke, instead smoke affects their sense of smell, and fires are starting everywhere, no one will mind an extra black smoke. Let’s go to the hallway, it has windows for ventilation, is that convenient?"

Zhang Su is skilled in combat, but not so much in survival skills.

Zhong Xiaoshan thinks for a moment and says, "Anywhere is fine, as long as there’s wood."

Zhang Su checks the time and touches his stomach, saying, "We’ll start a fire for this meal, and eat convenience foods for dinner!"

They have plenty of snacks, but foods that don’t require cooking are limited, so they need to conserve.

No time to delay, the three start busying themselves immediately...

To gather wood, Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu went to Brother Li’s place on the 902 floor to dismantle a TV cabinet, removing the outer painted boards, the inner chipboards burn well...

Zhong Xiaoshan, meanwhile, used the stove from Zhang Su’s house to build a simple frame. It looks crude and strange, but it supports a pot quite steadily!

Zhang Su smokes regularly, so he keeps lighters at home, and even two bottles of lighter fluid, making starting a fire very simple.

After about an hour of bustling, a big pot of instant snail noodles is served on the table.

"Let’s eat!"

Zhong Xiaoshan is extremely happy; this is her first major contribution to the team, arranging a meal for everyone!

Zhang Su looks at Zhong Xiaoshan, whose face is both black and white in patches, and smiles wryly, "This won’t last forever, seems like it’s time to pick up the pace!"

"Pick up the pace... to leave here?"

Zheng Xinyu asks seriously.

Zhang Su nods, signaling everyone to start eating, and says, "In cities, or residential areas, the convenience mainly comes from stable water, electricity, gas, and network. Once these are lost, survival in the area becomes very hard!"

"Especially after a power outage, the food in fridges will go bad in as little as three to five days, at most seven to eight days, and there isn’t much convenience food that doesn’t need cooking."

Zhong Xiaoshan nods in agreement, "Brother Su is correct. Once, I was out for five or six days, a power surge happened at home, and when I returned, the smell was indescribable, I got rid of the whole fridge, had the appliance recyclers take it away at a low price..."

"Then where should we go after we leave?"

Zheng Xinyu asks the most critical question.

"The principle is to head towards less populated areas, and also consider the issues of water and food. The broad direction is definitely the rural areas near the suburbs. Most importantly, we need to get a vehicle!"

Zhang Su thinks aloud as he speaks.

Zheng Xinyu turns her head slightly toward the road, worriedly saying, "What if the roads are like that street, making it impossible to drive?"

"No, most explosions happen in residential buildings, not so much in street blocks. Look around us, the problem only occurred downstairs in this segment, having a vehicle is essential for countless options... Hmm?"

As he speaks, Zhang Su suddenly pauses, hearing a rustling sound!

"Emma, what’s that smell, it’s so bad, could it be a zombie that’s gone moldy..."

A man says in a rough voice.

"Haha, seems like the little girl is still alive! Brother Xiang, this is the smell of instant snail noodles, lots of young people love it!"

Right after, a voice with a roguish tone rings out.

"Damn, using stuff to block the hallway, really screwed up!"

The rough-voiced man called Brother Xiang stops obsessing over the strange smell and continues, "We’ve worked hard to get here, Chongzi, don’t you dare have the wrong information, if we came here for nothing, I’ll break your legs!"

The roguish man called Chongzi says, "Brother Xiang, it’s reliable, I’ve staked the place out several times before, that female influencer lives in 801, and considering the snail noodles smell, I’m 100% sure it’s her!"

"I damn well know she lives here, what I’m talking about is the food, got it? The food!" Brother Xiang snarls, obviously he’s taken great risks coming here not for a woman!

"No need to worry about that then, during her broadcast, she showed off having plenty of food and drinks, all self-heating pots, just prepared for a challenge, but before the challenge could start the zombie apocalypse occurred, damn, a little girl guarding a ton of food and drinks, she’s sure lucky!"

The roguish man can’t help but lick his lips.

"Hehehe, her good fortune is about to become ours... Chongzi, how did you find out about that precious influencer?"

Brother Xiang chuckles coldly and asks,

"Same city, nearby influencer, she lives closest to me. At first, she tricked me, saying she lived in building ten, damn, after all, she’s in the neighboring unit, hahaha!"

Chongzi can’t help but let out a wicked laugh.

"Don’t laugh so lasciviously, let me tell you, if there’s food, I’ll let you play first, if there’s no food, you’re standing aside to watch and play by yourself with your hand!"

Brother Xiang says gruffly, holding back some anger.

"Relax, relax, Brother Xiang, I won’t compete with you even if there’s food and drinks, hehe."

"Smart boy, hurry up and move this, wait a minute!"

Just as Brother Xiang is about to move the vanity, he sees spoons tied to the table legs and smiles, saying, "Also knows how to set up an alarm system, it seems besides that influencer, there are other survivors here!"