Chapter 17: Level 1 Cafeteria
Xu Siming pursed his lips, "The day before yesterday afternoon, there was a zombie on the coach we were taking. After the outbreak occurred, my father... to save those students..."
He stopped midway, choking up slightly before silently bowing his head.
"Drip..."
Crystal-clear tears fell onto the quilt, spreading into a coin-sized wet mark.
Ji Wanwan's heart clenched silently, and she let out a sigh.
After calming down a bit, Xu Siming continued, "Until his death, my father was worried about those students, even instructing me to escort them to a safe place at all costs, but they..."
Clenching his teeth, his hand on the quilt suddenly tightened, "They actually stabbed me in the back, wanted to push me out to fend off the zombies in exchange for a chance to escape. I resisted, and they wounded me, nearly killing me!
If it hadn't been for my continuous patience, bringing them here, I might already be a corpse by now!
These scumbags! They are not worthy of my father's sacrifice!"
Seeing Xu Siming's wound begin to bleed again, Ji Wanwan raised her hand to hold his clenched one, "You're still injured, don't get angry!
Tell me, those who hurt you... was it Zhang Tao and Zhu Qian?"
A cool small hand rested on the back of his own, causing Xu Siming's eyelashes to tremble, "Are you familiar with them?"
Ji Wanwan nodded, "We're from the same academy. Zhang Tao is the school bully, and Zhu Qian is no stranger to evildoing. They are not unfamiliar to me.
But rest assured, like you, I detest and even hate them. I'm here to propose a partnership with you, to join forces and take revenge for Teacher Xu!"
In her last life, Zhang Tao and Zhu Qian, in order to survive, had sacrificed many others. Xia Li died protecting her because of them.
She had never forgotten that grudge!
The vision of Xia Li being torn apart by countless zombies was vivid in her mind. In this life, she wanted Zhang Tao and Zhu Qian to experience that kind of pain of being ripped apart flesh from flesh!
The hatred in Ji Wanwan's eyes surprised Xu Siming, and he stared at her intently, "Why do you dislike them?"
Tears welled up in Ji Wanwan's eyes, "They killed my best friend..."
Those tearful eyes reminded Xu Siming of his father, causing a pang in his heart. He reached out his hand, "Okay, let's cooperate."
Ji Wanwan smiled brightly and extended her hand as well.
The moment their hands clasped together, Ji Wanwan heard the System's notification in her ear.
[Current task progress: 4992/5000]
[Task countdown: 09 minutes 59 seconds]
Ji Wanwan stiffened all over.
She had been busy gossiping and saving people all morning and had completely forgotten about the task.
Seeing her expression suddenly become serious, Xu Siming asked subconsciously, "What's wrong? Is there something you need me to do?"
Ji Wanwan looked at Xu Siming with burning eyes, "As a matter of fact, there is something you can help me with!"
Interested by that look, Xu Siming asked, "What is it?"
Ji Wanwan, "Help me buy a meal! Right now!"
Xu Siming, "?"
...
Five minutes later.
A pale-faced Xu Siming stood in front of the fast-food vending machine, having bought a duck leg rice meal.
[Beep——]
The moment he completed the payment, everything in front of him came to a halt.
[Current task progress: 5010/5000]
[Congratulations, Host, for completing the task, you have been awarded a Level 1 canteen.]
[Level 1 canteen has been issued, opening hours from early 7 to late 8, with 6 breakfast options, 15 lunch and dinner options, Host may go to select the sale items]
[Reward: Two Body Functions +10 points, please select from: Physical Strength, Endurance, Strength, Agility, Spirit, Charm]
During the past two days, using the Space Barrier to deal with Cheng Ya, Ji Wanwan distinctly felt her spiritual power being rapidly depleted.
With the reduction of spiritual power, her control over space also weakened.
So this time, she chose Spirit and Physical Strength.
The moment she made her choice, Ji Wanwan's most intense feeling was as if someone had suddenly cleared her head, significantly diminishing the encompassing sense of grogginess.
Beneath this sense of enlightenment was that familiar warmth.
Every time her body's functionality enhanced, the changes always left Ji Wanwan in awe and enjoyment.
Ji Wanwan followed the System's guidance to the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was small, with only five sets of four-seat tables and chairs. The serving area was set up in a self-service style, lined up in a row, where customers could pick their food based on personal preference.
Each serving area also had a mechanical arm that would retrieve the food as soon as the customer made a selection and completed the payment.
There was also a cabinet for taking and returning bowls and chopsticks by the serving area.
The overall style of the cafeteria was simple, refreshing, and clean.
There was a standing menu at the entrance of the cafeteria, but it was blank for the time being, waiting for Ji Wanwan to select the foods first.
Since she could choose the foods herself, she must choose what she liked to eat!
For breakfast, Ji Wanwan chose: black rice porridge, fried dough sticks, pancakes with crispy wontons, wontons, rice noodle rolls, and beef noodles.
For lunch, after picking her favorites like sweet and sour spareribs, sweet and sour pork loin, and sweet and sour carp, she selected the rest based on the most popular choices among the public.
Once the menu was set, Ji Wanwan returned to the hall.
[Beep——]
Operations resumed.
Xu Siming was momentarily bewildered.
Regaining his composure, he took out a duck leg rice and handed it to Ji Wanwan with a complex expression.
Her eyes darting, she said, "Hey, the machine's working now, huh? It just wasn't working when I tried, how strange."
She laughed twice, took the rice, and said, "Thanks a lot, Senior Brother Xu. How about this, to show my thanks, I'll treat you to a hot pot?"
Xu Siming: "?"
He always found Ji Wanwan somewhat odd.
But there's even hot pot here?
He pursed his lips, kind of craving it, "Sure."
Arriving at the cafeteria with no one else around, Ji Wanwan boldly took a small hot pot out of the System Space.
Xu Siming's pupils shook: "How did you do that?"
If she wanted to win people's hearts, of course, she couldn't keep secrets. She had to be honest and direct!
Ji Wanwan smiled brightly, "I have a space superpower. The hot pot came out of the space."
Remembering how Ji Wanwan had dealt with Cheng Ya that day, Xu Siming realized it in a flash.
His gaze towards Ji Wanwan was filled with undisguised envy.
That night, at 12 o'clock.
001 arrived at the hall to start its eviction mission.
Cheng Ya's heart-wrenching screams woke up most of the refuge's inhabitants.
In front of everyone's eyes, 001 ruthlessly drove Cheng Ya out of the refuge.
Watching Cheng Ya shivering at the refuge's door, Ji Xing's eyes were dark and unclear.
Perhaps his sister was right; it is hard to see true feelings in times of peace, but one's true nature shows in chaos. However, he always believed—
Even if chaos reigns and the world turns upside down, love will still break through all obstacles and shine in the darkness like a glimmering light, just like his sister's love for him.
After the incident with Cheng Ya, the refuge experienced rare peace for several days.
With an automatic defense that distinguished zombies, even those infected who had not yet mutated could not approach the safety perimeter of the refuge, sparing Ji Wanwan much worry.
With a versatile 001 handling sanitation and cleaning, Ji Wanwan didn't have to worry at all, and her daily routine consisted of laying back, collecting money, chatting, eating, and practicing superpowers.
After several days, Ji Wanwan visibly gained weight.
Meanwhile, her space superpower also advanced to level 2 after gaining 10 points of Combat Value, thanks to her trials.
Level 2 Space Manipulation allowed control over space within a 50-meter radius and came with an extra 30 points of spiritual power increase.
Early that day, Ji Wanwan went downstairs to the cafeteria for a meal and saw several familiar figures knocking on the refuge's door…