Chapter 7 Is this the principal? This is unreasonable...

Expelled?

Dismissed!!

Students who are terrified of receiving a demerit, fearing it will be recorded in their files and affect their future, feel as if a bolt from the blue has struck them, leaving them completely stunned.

They simply couldn't understand how Fu Qing could so casually utter the word "expulsion".

It's only the first day of school, and I haven't even had a chance to warm up in bed before I have to pack up and leave. How am I going to explain this to my family when I get back...?

The 21 people standing there turned pale instantly.

Some of them could barely remain calm when they saw zombies, but when they heard the news that they had been fired, their legs went weak.

"I, I..."

The trio of 1111 exchanged strange glances. Zhang Han secretly winked, barely able to contain his excitement. He only calmed down after Song Rushuang pinched him. The three of them then went to observe Shi Guangyao's reaction.

It's remarkable that he could remain calm, despite his face showing the anxiety of being wrongly accused.

"There must be some mistake!"

"I didn't do anything, why are you firing me!"

"Damn! He's shameless," Zhang Han muttered. "Should I get up and report him?"

Shen Qingqing remained hesitant: "Let's wait and see."

The others, reminded by Shi Guangyao, also shouted that they were innocent.

"Exactly, what did we do?"

"They just fire you like that? Is there no justice in this world?!"

"You should always have evidence when you do things..."

Twenty-one people pleading their case together made quite a scene. Students who were unaware of the facts stirred up a commotion, whispering among themselves as they glanced at the stage with suspicion in their eyes.

They recognized Fu Qing's voice as that of the "senior" from the radio broadcast—she was the one who had summoned the zombie horde, so naturally they couldn't trust her much.

Song Rushuang was a little worried, fearing that the people on stage might give up the punishment in order to avoid trouble.

But looking at Fu Qing's expression, it seemed that she didn't care at all about the uproar from the audience.

Fu Qing really didn't care.

She listened for a while, then focused on the first person to speak: "You want to know what you did?"

Shi Guangyao was taken aback, feeling that her face seemed to say, "How could she make such a request?" He forced himself to say, "That's right, I didn't do anything, you can't fire me."

He had specifically checked before coming to the auditorium and confirmed that there were no security cameras in that corridor. Besides, given the chaos at the time, even if the three girls complained, they could simply claim they were mistaken, just like they had done earlier.

As long as he stubbornly denies it, she has no evidence.

Thinking of this, Shi Guangyao seemed to gain more confidence, and he straightened his back even more.

Fu Qing reluctantly opened the booklet again: "Since you asked, fine."

Shi Guangyao: "?"

His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Fan Hua, male, pushed his classmate into the zombie horde in order to buy himself time to escape in the third minute of the exercise, resulting in him being surrounded and killed by three zombies."

"Liu Jun, male, in the 6th minute of the exercise, in order to escape the pursuit of zombies, locked seven classmates running behind him and eleven zombies in the corridor, and locked the door of the safety passage from the inside, resulting in all seven of them being infected."

"Zhao Xinyu, male, touched and verbally provoked a female student who escaped to a toilet stall with him 14 minutes into the exercise."

"Luo Jiao, female, at the 17th minute of the exercise, got into an argument with her companion in the shelter, forcibly pushed her companion out of the room and refused to open the door, resulting in her companion becoming infected..."

...

"Shi Guangyao, male, locked three girls out of the shelter in order to monopolize the supplies in the 24th minute of the exercise, causing them to face a zombie attack. Fortunately, the three of them worked together to deal with the zombies without any casualties, but this cannot cover up the subjective malice of his actions."

Fu Qing looked up and saw the notebook, which clearly recorded the time, place, and people involved in the violations, lying beside her, like a mockery.

Are there any other questions?

Zhang Han pinched her thigh tightly, almost screaming with excitement.

She really knew!

There was clearly no one else present at the time, so how could she know? Did she have some kind of supernatural ability?

Regardless of the zombie horde's true nature, the fact that she had vented her anger was enough to change Zhang Han's opinion of her. Fu Qing's image in her eyes was now incredibly noble.

A girl suddenly stood up, pointed at a boy named Zhao Xinyu, and said with a disgusted expression, "It's him! He took advantage of the zombies outside, thinking I was too scared to run, and touched me..."

"So it was you who locked us in the corridor. The zombies were still some distance away, and everyone could have escaped."

"It was you, you killed me..."

The last sentence sounded like a vengeful ghost demanding revenge, leaving everyone stunned and feeling a sense of unease.

...A vengeful ghost that's still alive, slamming its fist on the table, howling and spitting everywhere.

The students finally understood why the 21 people had looked so fearful when their names were called and they stood up. It wasn't fear at all, but rather a guilty conscience for doing something wrong.

The victims stood up and identified the victims, which was the best evidence.

Shi Guangyao felt a thorn in his side, his face turned ashen, and then fear arose.

Like Zhang Han, he couldn't understand how she knew, but thinking of his studies, Shi Guangyao gritted his teeth and said, "Even so, you can't expel me. I didn't cause any serious consequences, and besides, which school rule says that you can't lock your classmates out?"

Fu Qing was already getting a little impatient. Hearing this, he leaned against the lectern and tapped the desktop twice with his laptop: "Thanks for the reminder. Let me introduce myself."

"I am Fu Qing, your future principal. From today onwards, I will be responsible for and manage all your activities on campus, including your food, clothing, housing, daily life, teaching, and training," she said calmly, then added, "In other words..."

"I said you can't touch girls, and that's it. I said you can't use unlucky classmates as scapegoats, and that's it. I said I'd expel you, and you'd be out of here by 8 a.m. tomorrow. Do you understand?"

Everyone: "..."

The unlucky guy who was dragged down as a scapegoat: "..."

The auditorium was completely silent; the 21 people listening were on the verge of tears.

Is this the principal? He's an unreasonable thug!

*

After all that, the 21 people who were dismissed knew they had no hope. They just lingered, unwilling to leave, hoping for a chance to turn things around.

Fu Qing was too lazy to urge him any further.

Her unreasonable speech just now completely shocked the group of sheltered flowers. They had never seen such a shameless "teacher" before. On the one hand, they were grateful to her for standing up for the innocent victims, and on the other hand, they had a terrible feeling that they were like lambs to the slaughter. They were filled with mixed feelings.

Little did they know, an even bigger "surprise" awaited them.

The curtain behind the stage had not been drawn up. At Fu Qing's signal, the lights on all sides suddenly went out, plunging the entire auditorium into darkness. Immediately afterward, a beam of projection light was turned on, illuminating the tiny dust particles that were drifting down in the air.

The words "[363 days, 19 hours, 52 minutes, and 20 seconds]" were projected onto the screen.

At the same time, all the students wearing Fangzhou University tactical watches had their wristwatches vibrate simultaneously, synchronizing with this information.

The enormous countdown was extremely conspicuous in the darkness, almost dominating everyone's vision. It ticked relentlessly, each second a gentle, rhythmic sound that resonated in unison with everyone's hearts.

"When the countdown on the screen ends, the zombies you saw today will appear on the streets and alleys of China."

The faces of the people on the stage were also blurred in the darkness.

Her tone was even somewhat flat, but her first words were like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples.

Fu Qing remembers it clearly; it was originally just a peaceful summer afternoon.

Their school started early, and the weather at the end of August was humid and hot, making people feel listless. That afternoon, she happened to have no classes and was lying on her bed with another roommate, scrolling through her phone.

Suddenly, all the group chats buzzed with a notification of a live stream link.

In the footage, the camera shakes and trembles as the female news anchor, a frequent face on the news, speaks rapidly. She has clearly rushed out the door, appearing without makeup, her long hair tied back in a neat bun, her expression anxious and flustered.

Fu Qing didn't hear clearly; her attention was entirely focused on what was behind the anchor. The crowd was tearing at each other like wild beasts, a horrific scene. Even the riot police who tried to stop them were dragged into the vortex, letting out heart-wrenching screams.

No one noticed a man quietly approaching until he suddenly pounced and pinned the female anchor down.

The live stream was cut off. In front of the black screen, Fu Qing saw the female anchor lying on the ground, blood overflowing from the corner of her lips, drawing a long line down her face, adding a bright red touch to her pale face.

Then, the public outcry exploded, only to suddenly subside.

The trending topics remained quiet for two whole days until a high-ranking official fell from a high-rise building during a live broadcast, his body mangled and bloodied right in front of the camera, at which point the situation completely spiraled out of control.

"No one knows how this virus came about. All we know is that it is highly lethal and contagious. Humans can be infected by coming into contact with the saliva of an infected person. The infected person will lose their mind and show a desire for human flesh and blood and strong aggression, turning into a 'living dead' like in movies and TV shows."

"The incubation period of the virus can range from a few seconds to several days. The only certainty is that once you are bitten by a zombie, you will become one of them, without exception."

She emphasized each word.

"In the first week of the outbreak, nearly half the population died. Many people did not even survive the first wave of attacks. However, many more did not realize that they were infected. After fleeing to shelters, the virus mutated and directly or indirectly caused the complete annihilation of many densely populated primary shelters such as shopping malls, schools, and air-raid shelters."

Fu Qing's words sent a chill down the spines of the students who had been hiding in the cafeteria, and they could almost picture countless shelters falling into the shadows.

Many of them were bitten in this way, and they fully understand how terrifying it can be if zombies appear in a densely populated, enclosed space.

Fu Qing didn't give them time to process what was happening, and continued in an almost harsh tone:

"One month after the outbreak, the global population decreased by 90%, of which about 90% turned into zombies, and the remaining 10% died on the spot due to excessive damage to their bodies."

"Transportation was paralyzed, industry came to a standstill, and the healthcare system collapsed. Basic supplies such as water and electricity were completely cut off, and people hiding in buildings began to migrate in search of food and water, which further led to more deaths."

"The authorities established shelters, but due to the unpredictable incubation period and the highly virulent nature of the virus, many shelters failed."

Those fleeing are bound to get hurt, their bodies covered in wounds, and no one knows if any of them have come into contact with zombie saliva. Even if quarantine is necessary, it's unclear how long the quarantine should last.

The virus has a long incubation period, and many people take chances, believing they are not infected, and falsely report information to sneak into crowds... Countless shelters have ultimately perished because of the selfishness of these people.

This does not include those who commit suicide due to emotional breakdown.

The rotting corpses fermented in the stifling air, and blood clogged the sewers. During that time, the air was thick with the stench of death, and the city became a living hell.

Many people later fled to remote areas such as mountains and suburbs, completely away from the crowds, and thus survived by sheer luck.

"A year after the outbreak, only a tiny minority of the global population survived, and conflicts erupted over the remaining resources of civilized society. Meanwhile, as time went on, the zombies mutated further, and the remaining population was gradually wiped out."

Those who survived to that point were all ruthless individuals, and the conflicts that occurred then, though smaller in scale, were significantly more brutal.

Song Rushuang bit her lip: "We're beset by both external and internal troubles."

Zhang Han whispered, "Showing yourselves in infighting at a time like this? How stupid! Shouldn't we be working together to fight the zombies?"

Shen Qingqing remained silent, a faint glint of light flickering in her eyes.

According to the "principal," 90% of the dead were mutated, which is billions of zombies... At this point, there is really nothing left to do except run for your life.

This also means that the lifespan of the human species has entered its final countdown.

really--

"Five years after the outbreak, the last human died."

From then on, no one remembered anything that had ever happened on this planet.

"2035 will be the last year of human history."

"The above is what will happen in the next six years."

After Fu Qing finished speaking, she paused for a moment, and the sound system that filled the hall suddenly burst into a piercing hum. However, many people only subconsciously shrugged and continued to sit in their seats, staring incredulously at the woman in front of them who had made the prophecy that humanity was about to perish.

"This is the greatest crisis in human history, but you have the opportunity to change it and continue human civilization."

"It may be decades, or it may only be a few years, or it may be thousands upon thousands of years."

Perhaps noticing the panic and confusion on the students' faces, Fu Qing's lips suddenly curved into a slight smile, breaking the rigid, almost official-sounding statement: "That being said, when Australopithecus was striving to evolve in the face of drought in Africa 2.5 million years ago, it did not think about shouldering the responsibility for the survival of mankind, so let's put it another way."

"In the one-hour simulation exercise just now, only 1,347 out of the 2,397 freshmen in the whole school survived to the end, and 1,050 died, a mortality rate of nearly 44%. Their physical condition and luck were so bad that they were even worse than the average human population in the past."

"Based on this data, more than half of you will die within one year and one week, and 99% will die within one year and one month. The longest-living person among you will only have a little over a thousand days left to live."

"Six years from now, not a single person will remain here."

As Fu Qing spoke, she seemed to see the seats in front of her, which were packed full, become empty one by one. Finally, the stage lights came on, leaving her standing alone on the stage.

For a moment, the audience seats were filled with familiar faces. Those who left had smiles on their faces, but the next second, the smiles turned into tense expressions on the students' faces.

Her expression remained unchanged: "Now I need you to make a choice. Do you leave with those 21 people at eight o'clock tomorrow morning and spend the last year of your life with your family and friends? Or do you stay and follow me to learn how to survive?"

"The principal's office is in room 301 of the administration building and is open until 9 p.m. This is the last chance to submit a withdrawal application."

Fu Qing glanced at his watch; it was almost time. "Well then, welcome again to Fangzhou University, new students. I hope every day you spend here is wonderful and unforgettable. The opening ceremony is now over. Dismissed."