Chapter 108 The Competition

A contest?

Bai Xianglei glanced at the students: "What are we competing in?"

If you really think about it, he's almost a generation younger than Song Rushuang and the others. No matter what the competition is, it seems like he can't win or lose.

Fu Qing seemed to notice Bai Xianglei's hesitation: "Don't worry, I'm just taking you all to see our usual training grounds. As for what we'll compete in—we'll use the students' daily training exercises."

Since it was a routine training exercise, the students were naturally more proficient at it. Bai Xianglei and the others were not embarrassed when they lost; on the contrary, they were more able to try more freely.

Moreover, Fu Qing had already figured out that Bai Xianglei and the others had come with a mission.

Besides "protecting" them, they also needed to gather intelligence about the system and Fangzhou. However, compared to foreign spies with ill intentions, they were more open about their actions, having informed Fu Qing beforehand and making no attempt to hide anything from her afterward.

Given that, they probably wouldn't want to miss the students' daily training.

Bai Xianglei and his teammates exchanged glances, and sure enough, they became interested: "Alright, let's have a match!"

The group moved to a new location in a grand procession. As they walked, Bai Xianglei stopped and looked at the playground that appeared before him.

The familiar 400-meter standard track, the basketball hoops on both sides, and the tree-lined path leading to the playground through a wire fence instantly evoked his students' memories.

Bai Xianglei's lips twitched slightly: "This is your training ground?"

Fu Qing: "Yes."

His tone was quite self-righteous.

Having just witnessed the miraculous feat of removing a lake out of thin air, Bai Xianglei had been imagining training room scenes straight out of science fiction movies all the way here—walls covered in nanomaterials, anti-gravity training chambers…

I never expected that the training ground Fu Qing mentioned would be so simple and unadorned.

That makes sense, though.

What else could be the training ground in a school besides the playground?

It's all because he was shocked by so many things today that he almost forgot that Fangzhou was originally a school.

Bai Xianglei was both amused and exasperated.

Just then, Song Rushuang, noticing something, suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, "Don't go!"

This startled everyone.

They thought they had encountered a thief and looked over warily, but unexpectedly, what Song Rushuang saw was a middle-aged man with a protruding belly, panting heavily.

The man dragged his weak legs, his face flushed, looking as if he was about to faint at any moment.

Upon seeing Song Rushuang, he weakly stammered, "I...I really can't go on..."

Song Rushuang snorted and sneered, "You've only run two kilometers? And you're already done?"

The man gave her a resentful look, then huffed and puffed as he continued on his way.

"Who is this...?" Bai Xianglei asked cautiously after the man had walked away.

Song Rushuang: "Oh, he's my dad."

Team members: "...?"

Looking again, there were many middle-aged men sweating profusely on the track, each accompanied by a young overseer. Hands on hips, offering scathing critiques, they could easily pass for ancient slave owners if they held a small whip.

Bai Xianglei was stunned. "Is this also a requirement of the principal?"

"No, it's not that. We just think they're too sedentary, and it would be hard for them to run away if they encountered zombies," Su Huaijin explained.

After saying that, he sighed again: "Alas, this generation of middle-aged people is not physically strong."

"..."

Bai Xianglei pondered silently and realized that they couldn't learn this trick either.

The government wants to mobilize the entire population to exercise, but their words are never as effective as those of their own children.

Coupled with those disgusted little expressions, anyone with a shred of parental dignity would find it unbearable.

In some respects, Fangzhou's success is truly difficult to replicate.

Bai Xianglei sighed twice, then turned to signal his teammates to take off their jackets, revealing the close-fitting combat vests underneath for easy movement: "So, what exactly is the competition about?"

Fu Qing looked in a certain direction.

It was a building, and the iron gate on the first floor was slowly opening, allowing sunlight to gradually illuminate the dim interior, revealing a row of people standing straight...?

Bai Xianglei squinted, but before he could see clearly, the group of "people" suddenly moved.

They all crouched down in perfect unison, on all fours, and then charged forward together!

The sudden burst of high speed left Bai Xianglei and his teammates wide-eyed in disbelief.

The way these people run is just like those little figures in those online videos where "your code is wrong but it still works"—they're moving forward on their hands and feet. The difference is, while it might seem funny online, seeing it in real life is incredibly bizarre.

These "people" seemed to be programmed with precision. After climbing out of the warehouse, they each randomly targeted a small group of people running on the playground and chased after them frantically.

Those who were jogging at a leisurely pace were startled and, amidst cries of "Dad, Dad!" and "Mom!", sped up. Behind them, besides the sprinting oddballs, were students shouting with relief, "Yes, yes, yes, that's how you run!"

Team members: "...??"

After running a distance, the strange people who used both hands and feet turned around one by one and gathered towards Fu Qing.

They then realized that these were actually several zombies identical to the realistic zombies that Fu Qing had handed over.

Fu Qing patted the first zombie to return on the shoulder and explained, "When no one is borrowing them, these lifelike zombies are just sitting idle in the warehouse, so I let them come out and run around when they have nothing to do."

—A random scare, then squeezing the exerciser's potential a little deeper.

"It adds a bit of fun to the otherwise tedious training," Fu Qing said.

The team members were speechless at her perverse sense of humor.

Is this what you call fun? Did you even ask the opinions of those innocent and pitiful middle-aged people on the playground who were being chased by zombies and screaming for their lives?

They suddenly realized that Fangzhou might not be such an easy place to stay after all.

Once all the simulated zombies had arrived, Bai Xianglei quickly scanned them and found that there were about twenty of them.

So, is the content of the competition related to them?

Sure enough, Fu Qing continued, "The competition is very simple. Just refer to our usual training content. There will be three rounds in total. In the first round, each team will send out one person to lead five zombies to attack. Whoever eliminates all the zombies the fastest will win."

"Killing zombies alone is not interesting. Let's add another restriction: the activity area cannot exceed the designated area."

Fu Qing gave him a look, and Qin Yufei picked up a twig and drew a small square about 15*15 meters on the ground.

“If any part of your body crosses this line, you will fail immediately,” Fu Qing said.

The two didn't exchange many words throughout the entire training session, which seemed to be their usual training routine.

The expressions of the special forces team members gradually turned serious.

Once Fu Qing had adjusted the settings for each zombie, they could no longer remain calm.

Considering that the special forces soldiers had no concept of the distinction between low-level zombies, mid-level zombies, and evolved special zombies, Fu Qing specially had each zombie stand out and warm up, demonstrating their speed, agility, strength, and so on, in order to ensure fairness.

The virus had just broken out, and there was a severe shortage of zombie samples. The team members had never seen a zombie that moved so fast!

One of them, when moving, was even more agile than a trained fighter.

After adjusting itself, another zombie's bones cracked and its body rapidly expanded. In the blink of an eye, the entire zombie grew 30 centimeters taller, exceeding two meters in height. Its hard, bulging muscles suggested it weighed at least 180 kilograms.

With this physique, a single punch can deliver a force of hundreds of kilograms, easily cracking a person's skull open.

The remaining three zombies, while not particularly special in appearance, moved much faster than the most common slow-moving zombies. Their addition was like three ordinary people joining the battle; not particularly difficult to defeat, but still capable of causing some trouble.

"Just a reminder, they are zombies, not humans. Getting scratched by their teeth carries the risk of infection and will also result in elimination."

As Fu Qing spoke, he glanced meaningfully up and down at the strong arms of the men who had taken off their coats: "Of course, if you insist on fighting like this, I have no objection."

Team members: "..."

They silently picked up their coats, which they had just taken off, and put them back on.

One person couldn't help but say, "A 15x15 grid looks big, but if six people are fighting inside, considering everyone's room to move, there's almost no room to dodge."

Is this really the kind of training the students usually do?

He glanced again at Su Huaijin, the shortest and youngest member of the group, and seriously doubted whether she could endure this kind of training.

The largest zombie could easily cause her to suffer a comminuted fracture with a single punch, and if the punch landed in the wrong spot, it could even be fatal.

Body shape, muscle mass, and bone density are all inherent disadvantages that are difficult to compensate for no matter how much training is done later in life.

Otherwise, their selection criteria wouldn't be so strict.

Su Huaijin noticed his gaze, paused, and turned to Song Rushuang, pointing to herself: "Why was he looking at me when he was talking?"

Song Rushuang: "He probably thinks you're not good enough."

Su Huaijin: "..."

The special forces soldier who had spoken quickly noticed that the petite girl, who looked like a minor, had a stern face and seemed to be angry.

He made an "uh" sound, hurriedly trying to cover it up: "I didn't mean anything by it..."

When Su Huaijin spoke again, his tone was quite normal: "How could there be no room to dodge?"

"Just kill the zombies and you'll get them!"

Unexpectedly, Su Huaijin could utter such powerful words, and this time it was the team members who were stunned.

During the campus tour, Su Huaijin explained many of the facilities and functions on behalf of Fu Qing, leading them to believe she was more of a strategist. However, when it came time to prepare for battle, the aura emanating from Su Huaijin was no less imposing than that of Song Rushuang, Qin Yufei, and the others.

After Su Huaijin finished speaking, he stepped forward and said, "Principal, let me handle the first round."

Fu Qing nodded, indicating that he didn't care.

The team members froze, looking left and right, none of them willing to step forward.

Su Huaijin had no choice but to choose people himself, and the method he used was quite simple: he just randomly picked someone. The person who was chosen was tall and very strong. Hearing this, he stepped forward with a stiff upper lip, while those who were not chosen breathed a sigh of relief.

The students next to them were looking at the group of soldiers and jokingly comforting them, saying, "Don't be too stressed."

Xue Ran even whistled: "It's not shameful to lose. After all, it's your first time dealing with zombies, so you have no experience."

It made people angry.

Fu Qing glanced at these guys who seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold, and felt that they weren't always this annoying when they first entered the elite class.

Back then, he was afraid of her whenever he saw her, and he would stutter after saying just a few words. He was always reserved and couldn't do anything freely.

As a result, she is still standing here, while even the most composed Liang Yi is mixed in with the crowd, making a fuss and laughing.

Is this because they've gotten to know each other well and finally let their true nature shine through?

Fu Qing fell into thought. Qin Yufei waited for a long time but did not receive any instructions from the principal. He then ran over and used a twig to draw another area of ​​the same size.

"The two matches will be played simultaneously to avoid the need for players to refer to each other's tactics, which is fairer," he said.

At first glance, it didn't seem like a fair match, but after Fu Qing and the students seriously added and modified many conditions, it actually created the atmosphere of two equally matched people competing.

The two walked into their respective competition areas and stood still.

The only weapon allowed in the competition was a military knife, a type of weapon that both players were used to and didn't need to adapt to.

The students around him cheered enthusiastically, and Su Huaijin clenched his fist, raised his hand, and waved it upwards.

After thinking it over, the team members stopped worrying and focused on cheering on their teammates.

The team member named Chu Hai, who was sent out to compete, felt a little embarrassed. He wanted to take a few more glances at Su Huaijin when Fu Qing said calmly, "As a reward for finishing the race, regardless of winning or losing, I will explain in detail the characteristics and fighting methods of each type of zombie. By the way, that huge zombie is called the monstrous zombie, and the other one that moves quickly is generally called the runner zombie."

"However, I've adjusted the parameters here, making it a lower-spec version, considering the limitations of the playing field. In actual combat, depending on the specific situation, they will be much more difficult to deal with."

“I’ve already reported these common zombie types to my superiors, but seeing is believing. Now you have the chance to face them head-on.” Fu Qing chuckled. “Are you ready?”

Her words invigorated the group, igniting an even stronger fighting spirit.

"3, 2, 1 - Begin."

As soon as he finished speaking, the ten zombies standing at the edge of the field suddenly started moving at the same time and rushed towards Su Huaijin and Chu Hai.

The swaying figure blocked the view, instantly engulfing Su Huaijin's figure. Chu Hai, who had been staring at her, dared not look anymore and quickly looked away.

But this brief moment of distraction before the start of the fight caused him to react a beat slower. The fastest running zombie rushed in front of him, and its explosive speed made him panic. He knew something was wrong and swung his knife while dodging. The next second, the zombie disappeared from his sight.

The onlookers could see clearly that the runner-type zombie twisted its waist in mid-air, forcibly changing its direction of travel. With one hand on the ground, it used only its arm strength to leap up again in an extremely tricky posture after landing, and ghost-like, it approached Chu Hai from behind. Its open mouth revealed sharp teeth, pointing directly at the back of Chu Hai's neck.

A single glance was enough to make everyone's expressions turn serious.

This zombie's coordination and control are nothing like a human's—no, they were never human to begin with!

The appearance of zombies is too deceptive. If Chu Hai does not change his thinking in time and continues to fight zombies with the same mindset he uses against human opponents, he will probably suffer a great loss.

The zombies had no breath or temperature, and they were silent when they got close. Fortunately, Chu Hai was no ordinary person. At the last moment, he lunged forward with agility, and at the same time, he swept his long leg backward like a whip, causing the running zombie behind him to stumble and fall to the ground.

Chu Hai was about to turn around and finish off the remaining zombies, but by then the other three, who were running a little slower, had already gotten close. He looked up and glanced at them, and his eye twitched violently.

He hadn't noticed it during the warm-up, but when the battle actually started, he realized that these three zombies weren't just physically like ordinary people.

Their approaching positions clearly formed an encirclement, gradually compressing him into their encirclement.

Behind them, the slowest-moving giant zombie was slowly approaching with an overwhelming sense of oppression.

Turning around to kill the runner-type zombie would waste time breaking through the encirclement. In an instant, Chu Hai made a decision: abandon the kill and instead, taking advantage of the brief moment when the runner-type zombie got up, he charged straight at the nearest ordinary zombie with his knife.

Ordinary zombies are completely powerless against special forces soldiers; they merely open their mouths symbolically before being easily killed.

The zombie's body fell heavily to the ground. Before Chu Hai could even catch his breath, he suddenly heard several cheers coming from not far away.

His teammates were also drawn to the attention, staring in surprise at Su Huaijin with their mouths agape.

Chu Hai was focused on the battle. Although he didn't know what had happened, a bad feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

...

On Su Huaijin's side, the runner-type zombie was the first to arrive at the start of the battle. However, she seemed to have expected it and kept a close eye on the zombie's movements. Only when the zombie opened its mouth to pounce did she calmly slide to the side at the last moment, reverse her grip on the military knife, and in the instant that her bodies crossed, the blade cut into the gap of the neck joint and stabbed upwards, instantly piercing through the brain.

The knife was inserted at this position; even a slight deviation could have resulted in it getting stuck in the occipital bone. However, Su Huaijin's choice of the angle, position, and force for insertion was incredibly precise.

The special forces team members were dumbfounded.

"Why could that zombie dodge in mid-air when it faced Chu Hai, but not when it faced this girl?" a female team member named Zhou Lingxi asked, puzzled.

Song Rushuang stood beside her and smiled as she said, "Didn't you notice that Xiao Su dodged at the exact moment the zombie opened its mouth? Although zombies have poor eyesight, in close combat, their sense of smell and hearing are not very useful for judging the opponent's movements, so they still rely mainly on sight. Xiao Su was able to dodge because her vision was slightly obstructed at the moment it opened its mouth wide."

"In the end, that brother named Chu Hai still suffered from not understanding zombies. Against a brainy player like Xiao Su, the difference was quite obvious," Song Rushuang said. "The principal announced the types of zombies that would be simulated in the realistic zombie game before the start of the competition, so Xiao Su must have been prepared in advance. When we train, the type of zombies we encounter is decided on the spot. Unless they are moving, we can't judge them at all."

It's like a game of chess, and Su Huaijin is the best player among them.

Knowing in advance what strategy her opponent would adopt, she could predict every step of the way even with her eyes closed.

Zhou Lingxi was astonished; they had indeed underestimated these students.

Before Song Rushuang could finish speaking, after a few modest words, she launched into a long and enthusiastic eulogy for Su Huaijin.

“However, we usually use daggers in training. Ordinary daggers are slightly shorter than military knives, making it difficult to stab into the brainstem from the back of the head in one go.” She gestured roughly. “I guess Xiao Su noticed the length of the military knife and decided on this tactic on the spot.”

Zhou Lingxi: "..."

How could a last-minute decision result in such a precise location selection?

It seems that these students are not only good at fighting, but also have a wealth of knowledge about human anatomy.

As the two chatted, the battles on the other side ended one after the other.

Five zombies, two of which are specially evolved with adjusted stats, and the other three are ordinary zombies, so it's not going to take long to fight them.

This battle mainly depends on the ability to adapt to the situation; often, a single action can determine the outcome of a fight against one of the zombies.

Although Chu Hai wasted some time in the first half, he gradually became more proficient after getting used to it.

Especially when facing ordinary zombies, he killed them much faster than Su Huaijin.

However, during the final struggle with the giant zombie, Chu Hai instinctively tried to wrap his arm around the zombie's neck, but was almost bitten and nearly eliminated on the spot.

His extensive experience in human combat actually became a hindrance at this moment.

The team members watching from the sidelines secretly kept this lesson in mind, so as not to be harmed by muscle memory in the next actual battle.

On the other side, Su Huaijin maintained a consistent pace throughout, as if she had rehearsed every move in her mind beforehand and only needed to execute it step by step.

When he killed the last zombie, he was just one step ahead of Chu Hai.

Back at the edge of the field, she was still breathing perfectly.

Chu Hai finally believed that this was just the students' daily training, and he was completely convinced of his defeat: "You're amazing."

Thinking about his attitude before the competition, he couldn't help but feel ashamed.

He really shouldn't have underestimated his opponent.

Even if the opponent is just a 17-year-old minor... they should be treated equally.

Thinking back to how he felt it would be embarrassing to win, Chu Hai was so ashamed he wanted to bury his head in his hands: Who would have thought that he would lose even after giving it his all?

Moreover, losing didn't make him feel ashamed at all. On the contrary, the disrespect shown to his opponent before the match, even though there was no malice involved, still made him feel embarrassed.

Chu Hai took the initiative to shake hands with Su Huaijin, and then found that the girl who had been sulking before going on stage was now all smiles.

Su Huaijin wasn't really angry at all. Upon realizing this, Chu Hai relaxed, smiled at her, and went back to his line.

Su Huaijin returned to the team, gave Song Rushuang a high-five, and exclaimed excitedly, "One to zero, yay!"

Although they were competing in their own areas of expertise... they still beat the special forces!

"It's a pity Qingqing isn't here," Song Rushuang said regretfully. "Otherwise, she definitely wouldn't have missed such a lively event."

Having witnessed how skilled the students were, Bai Xianglei was already keen on this competition. He proactively asked, "The first round is over, what about the second round?"

Only ten of the twenty simulated zombies were used; the remaining ten will likely appear in later rounds of the competition.

Bai Xianglei pondered their uses, only to find that he couldn't guess Fu Qing's thoughts at all.

Fu Qing: "The second round was based on our daily training in physical education class, and the chase with ten zombies. The venue included the entire playground and the gymnasium behind us."

After saying that, she took out two safety belts. "You need to wear these this time. There are safety ropes hanging on the outer wall of the venue. You can use them once the buckle is locked. They can ensure your safety when climbing the wall."

Their building even comes with built-in safety ropes for rock climbing.

The team members were so overwhelmed by Fang Zhou's endless stream of surprises that they became numb to it all.

Their focus shifted to another point: "Is this what you usually practice in PE class?"

Can this even be called a physical education class?!

Fu Qing was right at the beginning; seeing is believing. If they had known that Fangzhou's courses and training were this hardcore, they would never have dared to underestimate the students.

Before they arrived, Chief Tian told them that every student here had extensive experience in post-apocalyptic survival and knowledge about zombies, and therefore needed to be protected...

Who knew they were just as experienced at fighting zombies?

As they arrived, they happened to run into Zhao Yunxiao, who was on his way to the capital, and the two groups exchanged greetings. Finding that their teacher, Zhao Yunxiao, was a frail, scholarly figure, no one would assume his students were the same.

Who would have thought that Zhao Yunxiao would be the weakest one here?

Team members: Damn it, we were careless.

The primary task the officer sent them was to protect the students of Fangzhou, but Bai Xianglei and the others felt something was amiss.

Judging from this situation, do they even need me to protect them?

And that most important protected object, which was emphasized above...

They subtly turned their attention to Fu Qing, who had been low-key, cooperative, and patient throughout the process, appearing to be a model principal, trying to find something special about her through her appearance.

The latter seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, noticing their gaze, and turned around: "What's wrong?"

Team members: "N-nothing..."

They awkwardly looked away.

The second match began soon, with Song Rushuang and Zhou Lingxi representing the two sides respectively.

Because the venue was quite large, Fu Qing took out a floor plan of the stadium and showed it to Zhou Lingxi before starting, so that she wouldn't get lost indoors.

The playground is so wide you can see the whole thing at a glance, there's nothing special about it, so there's no need to provide a map.

Memorizing maps and quickly familiarizing themselves with the surrounding terrain are also part of their regular training. In addition, the stadium design is very conventional and not complicated, so Zhou Lingxi quickly nodded to indicate that he had memorized it.

After the two put on their belts, Fu Qing gave the order, and twenty simulated zombies started up at the same time, clattering and running to different corners of the playground.

"The first team to complete all kills wins."

"There are no special zombies this time. All the zombies move at the same speed as normal people. It will be more of a chase than close combat."

The rules were simple. After Fu Qing finished speaking, he gave the two of them ten seconds to prepare, and the competition began quickly.

Zhou Lingxi learned from Chu Hai's mistake and did not rush in impulsively. Instead, he chose to stand still and observe where his ten zombies had gone, so as to plan a route and achieve the most efficient kill.

Under Fu Qing's orders, the two zombies disguised their clothes as red and blue, making them easy to distinguish.

Unexpectedly, before Zhou Lingxi could find all the zombies that belonged to him, Song Rushuang had already rushed out first.

She seemed to have no strategy; she took off sprinting until she was within sight of every zombie, then suddenly stopped.

The next second, Song Rushuang took a deep breath, then suddenly yelled, "Hey—!!!"

Everyone on the playground was startled by her, and Song Jianguo, even from a distance, turned around abruptly and stared at her with trembling eyes.

If this is true for humans, then it's even more true for zombies with their keen hearing.

In an instant, all the zombies, regardless of whether they were red or blue, raised their heads and roared, then swarmed towards Song Rushuang.

The attraction was effective. Once the zombies got close enough and Song Rushuang estimated that their hatred had reached its maximum, she turned around and rushed towards the stadium without stopping.

Behind them followed a large group of zombies, running wildly and howling in a chaotic frenzy.

Zhou Lingxi watched helplessly as her group of zombies turned and ran away with Song Rushuang without looking back: "??????"

This works too?

She was completely numb and stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to do.

Realizing what was happening, he quickly followed Song Rushuang, and after a moment of hesitation, he shouted, "Don't go! I'm here!!!"

Song Jianguo shaded his eyes with his hand and, seeing this scene from afar, looked helplessly at his workout partner Zhang Feng: "What is my daughter doing?"

Zhang Feng: "..."

You ask me? How would I know?

Seeing Song Rushuang lead a group of people and run away in a hurry, while Zhou Lingxi was still futilely trying to attract the zombies' attention behind her, Bai Xianglei turned around blankly and humbly asked Fu Qing, "Actually, I've always wanted to ask, what exactly are your criteria for selecting team members?"

It feels like there's a constant stream of talented people.

Fu Qing: "..."

It's hard to say about others, but one of the reasons Song Rushuang was selected is indeed because her thought process is quite unique.

After all, not everyone can pull their roommate with a limp leg down as bait...