Chapter 015: The Broadcast from Yuncheng High School

Countless gray moths fluttered around her, scattering gray powder from the air. In a daze, Xu Zhi felt as if she had moved closer to the distant flame in the sky.

In reality, it was a distance change that was difficult to perceive with the naked eye, but somehow, Xu Zhi felt as if she had moved closer.

Instinctively, she wanted to take a few more steps forward, to get even closer, but as soon as this thought arose, she immediately recalled that before consuming the core, she had repeatedly warned herself to "stay rational."

Xu Zhi snapped out of the trance of wanting to approach the flame and realized that she was standing on a gray aerial pavilion. The path beneath her feet was made up of countless dead moths, and if she had taken one more step forward, she would have fallen from the air.

It was at the moment when Xu Zhi fully regained her consciousness that she escaped from the enchanting dream.

Upon waking up, Xu Zhi found herself unable to empathize with why she had been so fascinated by the flame earlier.

"That was really dangerous,"

Xu Zhi habitually raised her hand to rub her temples, calming her thoughts for a moment before continuing to read the book on the table.

However, after reading for less than half an hour, she suddenly heard some strange sounds coming from outside...

Someone was shouting through a megaphone, the voice was somewhat distant and indistinct, but it was gradually getting closer, sounding similar to the notifications broadcast by the neighborhood committee on a vehicle in the past.

If this sound had occurred half a month ago, it would not have been anything unusual, but now, upon hearing it suddenly, it is indeed quite startling.

"Who's so bold?"

Most humans who are still alive nowadays are living with their tails between their legs. Who dares to be so brazen and make such a commotion?

Unless... the one making the noise is not human. Xu Zhi arched her eyebrows slightly, put down the book, and walked to the window. She didn't open the window, but instead listened carefully with her ear pressed against it.

The sound from the loudspeaker outside gradually became clearer, indicating that the source was indeed approaching the old residential area. Xu Zhi heard every word of the announcement being broadcast through the loudspeaker.

"Attention all surviving citizens! We have been abandoned in this city, with no water or electricity, and under the threat of mutated animals and monsters. Humans cannot survive without unity!"

"The teachers of Yuncheng High School have joined together with the students still remaining here to establish a survivor base. The school cafeteria has ample food supplies, and among the students, there are exceptional individuals capable of venturing out to search for resources and protect everyone!

Yuncheng High School welcomes every single human who is still alive, without charging any fees. We hope that those who hear this broadcast will understand that in times of crisis, we must support and help each other!"

It was this message that was repeatedly broadcasted by the loudspeaker, and the vehicle carrying the loudspeaker slowly circled the neighborhood and then left, presumably heading to the next location for promotion.

"Ha." Xu Zhi stood at the window and let out a short, somewhat sarcastic laugh.

This broadcast is targeting those who are overwhelmed by fear and desperately seeking the safety of fellow humans. Even those who are not usually so foolish, after spending too long in the fog and being mentally affected, may overlook the danger and blindly pursue the supposed sense of security provided by the so-called survivor base.

It would be more accurate to say that those who remain at home after hearing the announcement from this vehicle and decide not to go to Yuncheng High School can be considered as individuals who can maintain their sanity in the midst of the fog.

"So those maniacs are aiming to target and harvest a group of people who are neither fully rational nor completely abnormal?"

Xu Zhi felt uneasy, as she could not fathom the reason behind the extreme hatred towards living humans displayed by these maniacs.

What could they possibly gain from killing normal humans? Or perhaps they had simply lost their sanity due to the influence of the fog and were driven to kill indiscriminately?

What would happen after they killed this wave of people?

Xu Zhi did not believe that these maniacs would let the other surviving humans go unharmed. She had no intention of saving anyone or interfering with those who fell for the trap. However, she was disturbed by the fact that there had been mysterious gatherings of unknown creatures in the city center recently, and now these maniacs were hunting and killing humans nearby.

No!

Xu Zhi's expression turned grim, and she thought to herself that she had to find an opportunity to eliminate this group of maniacs.

She knew that she couldn't escape forever. No matter where she went, she would still be within the confines of this locked-down city.

And hoping that someone else would step up and solve this problem... that was just wishful thinking.

Xu Zhi understood perfectly well that in this world, there was no one else she could rely on but herself.

"Let me think..."

After organizing her thoughts, Xu Zhi realized that her current only advantage was her followers. To address the issue of the mentally unstable individuals in the affiliated middle school, she would likely have to rely on her followers to take action.

But she only has two followers and the number of crazies is unknown ...

Xu Zhi blinked and a preliminary plan began to form in her mind.

"I'll go talk to the neighbors upstairs tomorrow and propose a new deal."

Her plan would require the assistance of the neighbor upstairs in order to be successful.

She couldn't afford to delay her actions, as she wasn't sure if the maniacs were simply killing indiscriminately or had some other ulterior motive.

If they could indeed enhance their abilities by killing humans, then leaving them unchecked would only lead to more trouble in the future.

"Ah..." Xu Zhi sighed.

The only consolation at the moment was that her bonded creatures would gain evolution points by killing the maniacs, and quite a significant amount.

However, they seemed to not drop attribute cores, or perhaps the ones they had encountered and killed so far were not strong enough to drop them?

"Maybe I can figure this out in the process as well."

She'd be in a better mood if her opponent would pop some cores.

With her mind made up, Xu Zhi shifted her attention away from the window and continued to refine her plan in her mind while reading.

By the time the night was over and the second round of hunting by the two familiars was over she counted the loot and realized that this time they had actually brought back six cores.

Four of the cores were hunted by Xiao Yi, while the dog only contributed two.

This was understandable, as weaker mutated animals did not produce attribute cores.

However, among the six cores, not all of them were of the [Blade] or [Moth] attributes. There was also a pale pinkish red core.

"A new attribute?"

At this moment, a new attribute core is not as valuable as an additional [Blade] attribute core.

The new attribute is currently only useful to her for gaining knowledge and storing it for her spiritual body. Even more disappointing for Xu Zhi is that neither of her bonded creatures has accumulated enough evolution points to level up, and the three [Blade] attribute cores they brought back are not enough to level up Xiao Yi even if they were all fed to her. "Looks like I can only hope to find a black fruit tomorrow morning."