Chapter 29: Arrangement

Although no specific leader was elected, it was almost certain that Dong Junwei, Tang Jing, and Chen Mu would make major decisions for the nine-member team in Class 4 of Grade 12.

Regarding Zhao Xiaoyan's life and death situation, Chen Mu refrained from expressing opinions, leaving it naturally to the former two to decide.

However, it was evident that Dong Junwei and Tang Jing, who were well aware of Wei Dalei's relationship with Zhao Xiaoyan, just like Chen Mu, were not willing to make such a decision.

As a result, the final decision-making authority fell to Wei Dalei.

Wei Dalei held a somewhat special position within the team. Given his restless personality, he was naturally not involved in making significant decisions. However, being the team's foremost combat power, nobody would want to offend him, no matter who they were.

Clearly, Old Wei didn't expect that after going around in circles, the final decision would still rest with him.

Looking at Zhao Xiaoyan's pitiful appearance, Wei Dalei finally had to agree.

After nodding, he actually felt relieved, as Zhao Xiaoyan had said. About 90% of the team's combat power was concentrated between Chen Mu and himself, and perhaps it would be safer to follow them.

Since the departure was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, Chen Mu didn't participate in the construction of the base during these two days. He secluded himself to practice his abilities.

However, the rest of the team had plenty to do.

For instance, sticking posters on the walls of their plastic house.

After all, there were gender differences, and it had been uncomfortable not having them before. After a while, they finally made some improvements.

On the boys' side, they used the long knife Chen Mu crafted to cut towels into two small pieces and laid them in the room, giving it a somewhat tatami-like feel.

During these two days, Dong Junwei devoted herself to making bombs.

Following Chen Mu's advice, everyone collected a pile of pebble-sized stones (relative to the current human size).

Because they were now much smaller in stature, and with improved proficiency and mental power, Dong Junwei could now produce around ten of these smaller-sized bombs in a day.

...

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

Now, it has been a full five days since the apocalypse arrived, and everyone seems to have gradually accepted and adapted to their current life. However, they remain largely ignorant of the outside world.

After the last attack, Chen Mu became even more cautious. He and Wei Dalei took turns patrolling outside the door for a short while, though they dared not venture too far, as they vividly remembered what happened to Gu Ping.

Since then, no one else has visited their location—whether with good or ill intentions. Chen Mu refused to believe that the entire school had only those three people left. There must be others, hiding somewhere, struggling to survive or develop their abilities.

Will those people pose a threat to them? Or could they all unite and cooperate to overcome the challenges together?

Chen Mu didn't want to speculate about others recklessly, but regardless, strengthening oneself would always be the right choice.

His goal of going out to find food wasn't just to quell his hunger, but primarily to train himself. He needed to adapt to this new world both mentally and physically, not just mastering his special abilities.

Before leaving, Chen Mu did two things.

Firstly, he re-modified the flatbed cart. With his current abilities, anything he made was far superior to his previous works. The once-used flatbed cart was almost like new, much sturdier, and smoother, with significantly reduced noise.

Secondly, he trained everyone, especially the remaining three boys, on how to defend against enemies.

If the attackers were animals, they could simply hide inside the house and be relatively safe. However, if they encountered other humans, the trouble might be even greater. Chen Mu's advice was to negotiate using words as much as possible, even if they had to humble themselves and seek pity. Survival came first, and because Tang Jing was with them, Chen Mu felt less worried.

His concern was that they might encounter people like the ones from the last attack, who didn't bother with words and attacked directly.

In such cases, they could only respond with force.

In the past two days, Dong Junwei worked tirelessly and finally managed to make 35 hand grenades. While these grenades might not be very effective against large animals like rats, they should be able to scare away creatures like the centipede that killed Gu Ping.

However, their true usefulness would be against human-sized adversaries.

After growing up, Dong Junwei's bombs were no longer like firecrackers from the past. Chen Mu once witnessed a small grenade she made blast a small pit on the wall. If it detonated on a person, they would either die or be severely injured.

During this period, Chen Mu emphasized to everyone, including the girls, that physical training should be a top priority. In such an environment, every bit of physical strength could increase their chances of survival.

Especially, he urged them to practice their throwing abilities.

The purpose was obvious: with Dong Junwei continuously providing them with bombs, they only needed to act as gunners.

In the end, Chen Mu and Wei Dalei each carried only two hand grenades.

It's not that they didn't want to carry more, but they were afraid that carrying too many might lead to accidental collisions, resulting in self-inflicted explosions. With 31 grenades left at the base, Chen Mu felt somewhat reassured.

In addition to this, he also made a sharp weapon for each person as self-defense.

Before departing, they all wished each other a safe journey.

After all, this time was different from the last water-fetching trip; the cafeteria area was much larger. If they couldn't find food easily, they might have to spend the night outside.

...

The three of them set off in a car.

Chen Mu's knowledge of the cafeteria was limited to the front hall, where they ate. But most of the food was undoubtedly concentrated in the back kitchen, a place that ordinary students like Chen Mu couldn't access.

Fortunately, Tang Jing had an uncle who worked in the cafeteria.

Tang Jing had explained the layout of the back kitchen in detail to Chen Mu, even drawing a floor plan on the ground and speculating about some possible places where food might be stored.

Their first target was the steaming room in the kitchen, not for rice but for flour.

Since they couldn't cook directly, using flour to make bread would be a better option than rice.

Most importantly, according to Tang Jing, the steaming room contained all the condiments needed in the cafeteria.

After several days without salt, their mouths were now completely devoid of any flavor.

Humans still needed to replenish salt, especially in the summer when sweating profusely. Drinking only water could lead to problems sooner or later.

With a clear objective in mind, Chen Mu followed the planned route.

After walking for a while, Wei Dalei started caring for Zhao Xiaoyan, asking if she was feeling hot or tired. Soon after, he let her sit on the flatbed cart and pushed her along the way.

With his crush seated on the cart, Wei Dalei was in high spirits. He tried to keep the cart steady as much as possible while humming popular songs out of tune.

It seemed a bit like Zhu Bajie carrying his wife.

Chen Mu walked behind them, looking at the two with a smile on his face.