The afternoon sun was intense, scorching the earth, while cicadas chirped incessantly from the willow trees outside. Sunlight streamed through the windows into the milk tea shop, where Fan Yunfei sat leisurely in a corner, holding a cup of sweet and delicious taro boba in his hand, gently sipping its delicate and smooth texture, as if the whole world was enveloped by this delicious drink.
Not far away, Xiao Feng was sitting at his desk, focused on his computer. Despite being in a world of disaster, he, as a primary school student, still had to continue his studies.
Meanwhile, Xu Liang was busy serving a steady stream of customers. The sweltering summer heat made the milk tea shop exceptionally busy, and Xu Liang barely stopped working from early morning until noon.
However, unlike the others, Xu Anran did not appear at the shop today. It turned out she was taking her motorcycle driving license exam and was expected to return to the shop in the afternoon.
Time flies, and more than three months have passed since I first met Fan Yunfei. The disaster is drawing ever closer, and it's not far from erupting.
During this time, Xu Anran had several more dreams. Initially, she focused on Xu Liang's train ticket leading to the waiting room of the high-speed rail, and successfully located it in her dream—in a heavily guarded shelter by the military. This way, when the zombie crisis fully erupted, they only needed to wait for the military to arrive, and then follow them to that safe haven.
As for the two subsequent dreams, they didn't have any specific target; they were just random dreams. She dreamt of how, as the number of zombies increased, a zombie horde erupted, attacking human settlements; she also dreamt that even the shelter wasn't safe, because for research purposes, the shelter would secretly capture destitute people and take them to an underground laboratory for researchers to experiment on.
In the afternoon, Xu Anran returned with a joyful expression, holding her brand-new driver's license. Upon seeing the license, everyone decided to go to a well-known nearby restaurant to celebrate with her.
That day, Fan Yunfei suddenly asked Xu Anran, "Do you know about the Passengers Mutual Aid Association?" Xu Anran replied, "Of course we know! Xu Liang and I joined that organization back in that virus world." Hearing this, Fan Yunfei quickly said, "What a coincidence, I also joined in the virus world!"
Then, Fan Yunfei curiously asked what their code names were in the mutual aid society. Xu Anran smiled and told him her and Xu Liang's code names, then asked, "And what's your code name?" Fan Yunfei replied, "My code name is 'Search'."
During the conversation, Fan Yunfei gradually learned some information about the internal structure and operation of the mutual aid association from their snippets of conversation. However, despite his repeated attempts to probe about the most crucial matter of the core members' identities, Xu Anran and Xu Liang remained tight-lipped.
They simply emphasized that they were just ordinary members of the mutual aid society, and claimed to know nothing about any other more in-depth details.
Despite Fan Yunfei's best efforts to find out more information, he ultimately failed to do so.
However, through this period of contact and observation, he had a strong, albeit vague, intuition deep down that Xu Anran was no ordinary person. After all, wherever Xu Anran was, the mysterious and unpredictable Old K always seemed to appear like a shadow.
In contrast, Xu Liang's suspicion seems negligible. Judging from his appearance alone, it's hard to connect him with Lao K; moreover, after a thorough investigation, it was discovered that the IP address Lao K used when posting originated from the computer Xu Anran was using, and according to the clues he investigated, Xu Liang did not use any computer equipment during the same period.
Time flew by, and it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon. Most students had already gone to their classrooms and begun their busy, orderly lessons. The once bustling shops were now unusually quiet, with hardly any customers in sight.
Just as everyone in the store was immersed in a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere, and even a little drowsy, a sudden shout broke the silence: "Come here, look!" Fan Yunfei, who had been leisurely enjoying his strawberry milkshake, was now shouting and pointing at the computer screen in front of him.
The group, who were still in a half-asleep state, were startled by the sudden shout. They all perked up and looked in the direction of Fan Yunfei, quickly taking steps forward to see what was going on.
On the computer screen was playing a video from the school's surveillance system. Fan Yunfei explained to everyone with a serious expression, "I hacked into the school's surveillance system, and I often use this computer to observe the situation." Before he finished speaking, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the screen.
In the video, a student walks slowly towards the podium like a zombie, his eyes vacant and lifeless, occasionally emitting low growls. Suddenly, without warning, the student opens his gaping maw and lunges at the teacher, biting his neck. Witnessing this, the other students in the classroom are terrified and rush forward to try and stop the tragedy. After a fierce struggle, they finally manage to forcibly pull the crazed student away...
The atmosphere in the room was unusually tense. After a brief silence, Xu Anran broke the ice, turning to Fan Yunfei and asking, "Where are the supplies you prepared?" "Right here," Fan Yunfei replied, picking up a bag and two enormous suitcases beside him.
Xu Anran thought for a moment, then said, "Pick out the most crucial and essential items to take with you, and pack the rest into your suitcases. Then follow Xu Liang and put these suitcases into our RV. We'll meet up again once everything is ready."
After speaking, she nodded to Xu Liang, signaling him to proceed according to plan. Xu Liang understood and immediately led Fan Yunfei to put away the suitcases. Xu Anran and Xiao Feng stayed behind to continue packing the remaining items.
After the two left, Xu Anran quickly took out three pre-prepared backpacks of supplies from her personal space. Then, she closed the shop door and quietly waited for their return.
Time passed second by second, each second seeming exceptionally long, but Xu Anran remained highly vigilant, daring not to relax in the slightest.
As soon as they returned, Xu Anran led the three of them into the library. The library was nearly empty at this time; only a few students were studying on the first floor, and the librarian was asleep at the counter. They quietly went to the top floor and locked the door.
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