Chapter 109 "Captain Bai, I don't know if you have..."
When Song Rushuang darted to the roof of the stadium like a monkey and began waiting for the zombies to climb to the top, then proceeded to stab their eyes one by one with her knife, performing an assembly-line-like operation, the special forces team members were completely convinced.
No one understood how what was supposed to be a chase (zombies chasing humans, humans trying to fight back) turned into a scene where Song Rushuang was running ahead, the zombies were chasing her, and Zhou Lingxi was chasing the zombies at the very back.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, but the oriole gets nothing and watches as the cicada lures the mantis into its trap and catches it all.
Is that right?
Zhou Lingxi was clearly bewildered throughout. After realizing that Song Rushuang's fighting style was completely unreplicable, she tried to return to her original approach. However, Song Rushuang disrupted her rhythm from the very beginning. Her zombies ran too far, causing Zhou Lingxi to spend a lot of extra time killing them one by one.
In terms of orthodox combat and other areas of warfare, students who have only trained for a year are actually far inferior to the members of the special forces team.
However, when facing zombies, their experience and tactical depth far surpassed that of the rest of the group.
This isn't even a matter of physical fitness or fighting ability; it's that they simply never imagined they could fight like this.
Upon discovering that these zombies could climb buildings, Zhou Lingxi was initially startled, but then she finally understood the purpose of the safety belt Fu Qing had given her. She quickly imitated Song Rushuang and fastened the buckle. Taking advantage of the fact that the zombies' hands and feet were occupied and their movements were inconvenient during the climb, she killed several of them in one go, going up and down the stairs.
Some of the zombies were killed by Zhou Lingxi before they could climb to the top floor, which somewhat reversed the one-sided disadvantage.
Unlike Song Rushuang, who waited patiently for her prey to come to her, Zhou Lingxi's approach would obviously require more physical exertion. Although she could manage, she couldn't help but feel a little envious when she occasionally looked up and saw Song Rushuang sitting comfortably on the edge of the rooftop, waiting for her to tire herself out.
In the end, Zhou Lingxi was almost a minute slower than Song Rushuang in killing all the zombies.
Considering there were no venue restrictions this time, and the zombies weren't as easy to kill as in the first round, Zhou Lingxi's speed wasn't actually slow.
Her ability to adjust her strategy in time further demonstrates her quick thinking.
But the outcome was already decided, and Zhou Lingxi didn't make excuses for himself. He frankly admitted his shortcomings: "I really didn't expect that your shout could call all the zombies away."
This competition was primarily for sparring and experience exchange, and since the two had already chatted for a while and were quite familiar with each other, Zhou Lingxi didn't hide her confusion and asked directly, "Didn't we say before the game that the zombies that belong to me would prioritize targeting me? Why are they all following you?"
Song Rushuang scratched the back of her head, pondering how to phrase the situation to make the tactic sound more sophisticated, when someone suddenly interjected, "There's no other reason, she's just too presumptuous."
When Su Huaijin was watching the game, she had already heard Xue Ran vividly describe how Song Rushuang had been praising her on the sidelines. She was so impressed that she was digging her toes into the ground. Now that she had the chance, she hurriedly stepped forward to help Song Rushuang explain, determined not to give her a chance to be modest.
"The zombies' aggro setting this round is different from the 'arena restriction' setting; it's not absolute. Last round's zombies would never leave the designated battle arena, but this round's aggro is only 'prioritized' bound to the corresponding participant. In other words, there's still a possibility of them being attracted away."
As Su Huaijin spoke, he glanced at Song Rushuang, who had already started scratching her head: "I guess when the principal said the word 'priority,' she had already decided to take your zombie with her."
It was completely intentional.
Song Rushuang chuckled: "After all, it's a competition..."
Zhou Lingxi watched with amusement as she looked around at the sky and the ground, understanding the situation perfectly.
It's likely that they all previously thought Song Rushuang and the others were just ordinary students, and they remembered that attitude, which is why they all put in so much effort to prove themselves in the competition.
How can this not be considered digging a hole for oneself to jump into?
"But I still don't understand why they wouldn't turn around when I called out to them later."
Zhou Lingxi wanted to hear more from Su Huaijin about hatred points, even if it was just information casually leaked by a Fangzhou student, it might come in very handy in the future.
Unfortunately, Fu Qing's understanding of the apocalypse was gradually built up over several years. Even though she had told her superiors and Tian Xuejun as much as she could yesterday about the most basic and important things she could think of, there were still many omissions that she would have to fill in later when she remembered them.
Moreover, the operation of a country involves multiple departments and countless staff members. Considering the confidentiality requirements at different levels, the transmission of information between different levels cannot be so efficient and timely.
Although Fu Qing confessed some information without reservation, it was subject to different levels of secrecy by the authorities when it was passed down.
For example, the "rebirth" and "past life theory" of teachers such as Fu Qing and Zhao Yunxiao are classified as top-secret information, known only to a very few top officials and Tian Xuejun, the leader of the special operations team.
Unfortunately, it is too difficult to convince everyone of the authenticity of this news. If we are not careful, it may actually reduce the credibility of the authorities.
As the most important provider of virus intelligence, Fu Qing's identity was known to slightly more people, but the number was still strictly controlled within a certain range, and each person underwent multiple identity verifications.
This group of people also knew about the existence of the system and Fangzhou. For example, Bai Xianglei and the special forces team belonged to this group.
Many more people know about the existence of the Zombie King and the organization of believers, but this information has not been widely disclosed.
Fu Qing understood that they were wary of being infiltrated by believers from within.
In short, even the information that Fu Qing has already revealed must undergo multiple rounds of review and processing before it can be passed on to lower levels. Real-time intelligence sharing is simply impossible within a large organization.
Not to mention, there were some things Fu Qing hadn't even had a chance to say.
Before arriving, one of the instructions Bai Xianglei and the others received was that everything Fu Qing and the students said was valuable and must be reported to their superiors in detail every day.
During the interaction, you can guide them to recall the parts they missed through conversation, but the team members should not take the initiative to find out what they are unwilling to talk about.
Because that might be something that someone at their level simply couldn't possibly know.
Before speaking, Zhou Lingxi also considered the matter carefully, and felt that the part about the zombie hatred value was not confidential information, so she boldly asked.
Bai Xianglei and the others also gathered to the side, pricking up their ears and listening intently.
Su Huaijin replied as expected: "This is still related to the characteristics of zombies. When zombies act together as a group, their individual sensory acuity is actually partially obscured. In other words, although the zombies in the group may sometimes sense that something is wrong, everyone is running in one direction, and their brains can't process it. Many times, after thinking about it, they put the problem out of their minds and run along with everyone else."
Team members: "?"
They were completely confused, and one of them blurted out, "Zombies can also have a herd mentality? Really?"
The others looked at Su Huaijin with puzzled eyes.
Su Huaijin suppressed a laugh: "Since zombies exist as a species, they are naturally worthy of research and analysis. If we simply treat them as mindless NPCs that need to be killed, we will overlook many characteristics that can be captured and utilized."
"These are the things the principal told us, and what we've been doing for the past year is the same thing. We keep trying to figure out the zombies' behavior patterns and then verify our guesses in actual combat. Fortunately, it turns out that this is not a waste of time."
The special forces team gradually understood, but they were still astonished.
The people from Fangzhou were actually approaching the task with the seriousness of academic research, analyzing the psychology of the zombies.
They were trying to figure out the code of conduct of an irrational creature, much like trying to understand the meaning of a madman's behavior.
What might seem like a waste of time to the average person is, in Fangzhou's case, a serious project led by teachers, followed by students, and involving repeated research and practice by everyone.
Post-apocalyptic survival and academic research are two extremely conflicting and completely unrelated things, but they have been miraculously combined in Fangzhou.
They truly forged a viable path.
The group of people who had come to their senses had rather complicated feelings.
Su Huaijin was unaware of this, because studying the habits of zombies was just a routine task for them, something they were very familiar with. She didn't realize how incredible it seemed to others.
Su Huaijin continued, "The more zombies in a group, the more difficult it is to attract the attention of individuals, and the less likely the group is to be broken up. This is why, as the apocalypse progresses, zombies gradually gather into increasingly larger hordes..."
Bai Xianglei and the others' expressions changed slightly, realizing that this might be something they could use.
Given the various heavy weapons the country possesses, a group of zombies is obviously easier to eliminate than a single zombie roaming the streets and alleys.
As they thought about it, their eyes lit up.
Fangzhou is like a treasure trove; the more you dig, the more you find. Even a casual remark can inspire you.
Having strayed a bit, Su Huaijin steered the conversation back on track: "In short, in the context of what just happened, it was Xiaoshuang's initial aggression that completely drew away the hatred. Then, during her run, she kept shouting and yelling, making it even more difficult for Sister Zhou to draw the hatred back."
The special forces team members had completely switched to listening mode. Upon hearing this, they let out a drawn-out "Oh~" and looked at Song Rushuang with admiration.
"..." Song Rushuang finally belatedly realized that she was a little embarrassed.
Su Huaijin: "But if Sister Zhou had made a bigger commotion back then, it wouldn't have been impossible for her to win back the hatred."
Zhou Lingxi stared blankly as she recalled her actions, and couldn't help but wonder if she hadn't let go a little.
But that's not right. She's never done anything like chasing after the enemy on the battlefield, begging them to turn back—how could she possibly go any further?
Zhou Lingxi's self-doubting expression brought Song Rushuang's shame to its peak.
She quietly asked Xue Ran beside her, "Was I really that exaggerated just now?"
Xue Ran affirmed, "That's right, I think you have a talent for attracting hatred. Let alone zombies, I'd really like to bite you myself."
Song, a genius-type player who attracts hatred, Ru Shuang: "...?"
She quietly stepped aside to reflect on herself.
Su Huaijin continued, "Although we currently use 'hatred value' to represent where the zombies' attention is focused, it's not a truly measurable and accurately calculable metric in the game. In actual combat, various unexpected situations can arise, so theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient; rich practical experience is still essential..."
Each person in Fangzhou killed at least a thousand zombies and experienced countless instances in the simulation pod; much of this experience is impossible to describe accurately.
Therefore, there are some things they can judge intuitively, but others cannot do.
This is another irreplaceable unique characteristic of Fangzhou students, besides their knowledge.
They had a whole year more of undisturbed training time than others.
Fuqing provided them with an extremely pure training environment free from all external distractions, allowing them to concentrate on honing their skills efficiently.
If you're not good at navigating through buildings and lurking around zombies, then practice repeatedly in a building with a complex interior environment.
If you can't fight the runner-type zombie head-on, then rent a simulated zombie and force yourself to train against the runner-type zombie for a whole week.
In a real apocalypse, such training conditions simply don't exist. After a year of repeated training, their abilities even surpassed those of people who had survived for years in a post-apocalyptic world.
After all, many of those people survived by clinging to powerful figures or moving between various shelters to avoid direct contact with zombies.
Meanwhile, the Fangzhou group was forcing themselves to face different types of zombies and trying their best to overcome all their weaknesses.
From an outsider's perspective, each of them could be considered a pentagon.
It was only within the school, among a group of equally excellent and hardworking people, that rankings were determined by differences in their areas of expertise and the upper and lower limits of their abilities.
They run far ahead of everyone else, allowing humans to find a way to survive by looking at their backs.
There are more than two thousand such students in Fangzhou.
At the age of eighteen or nineteen, one is like a blazing flame, a symbol of hope and light.
Bai Xianglei silently exhaled.
Having been in Fangzhou for only half a day, he had already lost count of how many times he had been surprised and moved.
All these emotions ultimately converge on one person.
— Fu Qing.
She founded Fangzhou and discovered and nurtured a group of outstanding students.
She also found teachers with different strengths and designed a comprehensive survival course.
Establish shelters, design different functional areas, and open up accommodation slots to eliminate students' worries.
She shared the intelligence with humanity at the first opportunity, risking suspicion and restrictions on her personal freedom, so that the system, which was originally tied to her, could bring as much benefit as possible to all of humanity.
Over there, Zhou Lingxi was still praising Song Rushuang's battle strategy. When she mentioned that Song Rushuang had thrown the zombies off the roof, Song Rushuang blushed: "That wasn't my tactic. I modified it based on a demonstration the principal gave before..."
It's just something I learned on the spot.
There was one person whose performance at the very beginning of the semester was so amazing that it left a very deep impression on everyone.
As a result, for a long time afterward, all the students in the school were particularly fond of climbing and were always thinking about how to do some crazy things while climbing.
Humans are ultimately more agile than most zombies. Climbing to a high point not only allows them to occupy advantageous terrain but also enables them to quickly eliminate zombies, taking advantage of the zombies' limited mobility during the climb.
After Song Rushuang gave a brief explanation, everyone's attention turned to Fu Qing, who was standing quietly to the side.
Bai Xianglei could fully feel the students' deep-seated trust in Principal Fu Qing.
Besides trust and respect, there was even a subtle... worship.
Considering their earlier remarks, he even began to suspect that Su Huaijin's habit of rationally analyzing and applying the characteristics of zombie species, and Song Rushuang's unconventional and bold fighting style, were all derived from learning and imitating certain characteristics of their principal.
Every move the students made bore her shadow.
Whether Fu Qing intended it or not, the school she founded has been imprinted with her strong personal style from top to bottom.
Bai Xianglei became increasingly curious about this principal.
He could hardly contain his curiosity, but he kept quiet only because Tian Xuejun forbade him from prying into Fu Qing's personal information too much.
He could only hope that one day when they went on an off-campus mission together, he would have the opportunity to see more of Fu Qing's personality besides being the principal in charge of Fangzhou.
Bai Xianglei forced himself to shift his attention to the game.
"2-0, in a three-legged series, we've already lost," he said seriously. "But we've learned a lot from the format and content of these two matches, so if you don't mind, I still hope we can finish the third leg."
“That was my original plan too.” Fu Qing nodded. “Because there’s one more thing I didn’t have time to show you.”
The team members exchanged glances, looking quite expectant.
Fu Qing led them to a different location, to the room where the simulation pods were placed.
Through the glass near the corridor, the group saw many egg-shaped devices neatly arranged inside, their surfaces outlined with simple lines, and azure light flowing along those lines. A middle-aged man was slowly lying down inside a device under the guidance of others. Just before the upper and lower "egg shells" closed, they saw several probes attached to his hands and feet.
The special forces team members were instantly excited.
This is the futuristic high-tech they imagined!
Led by Fu Qing, they rushed into the room. Before Fu Qing could introduce them, one of the simulation pods suddenly opened. The middle-aged man lying inside, who looked like the student's father, suddenly opened his eyes, struggled to jump out of the simulation pod, and just as his feet touched the ground, he suddenly lost his strength and almost sat down on the ground.
The simulation pod next to it opened as well. A student was startled to see the principal appear in front of him, and then noticed that his father had collapsed to the side.
He hurriedly helped his father up and explained to Fu Qing, "My dad just wouldn't believe how bad things were outside. He insisted on coming home, so I took him to the simulation pod to see what a zombie horde would look like..."
The student didn't say exactly what he saw that scared his father so much, but everyone can probably imagine it.
Fu Qing paused for a moment, then waved his hand: "Quickly take him out to get some fresh air."
Seeing his father's terrible expression, Fu Qing felt that if the student said a few more words, he would vomit.
Fu Qing sometimes felt that when the students attacked their own parents, it seemed no less severe than when she attacked them.
Although we know this is all to help parents grow up quickly and adapt to the apocalypse, the good intentions are good, but the results are worrying.
Watching the student carry his father, who was unable to walk, out of the classroom, Fu Qing, unusually, reflected on his parenting methods for two seconds.
Two seconds later, after reflecting on her actions, she pointed to the simulation pod and introduced it to the special forces team: "This machine can simulate many different scenarios in the apocalypse, and combine them with the mission objectives to create 'dungeons' with tasks, similar to games. Different dungeons have different themes, and students can use it to conduct targeted training."
"But the scenes inside are 100% real. If you stay there for too long, you might even confuse the virtual world with reality."
"The third test will take place in the simulation chamber. As for the content of the test..."
Fu Qing turned his gaze to Bai Xianglei: "Captain Bai, would you be interested in having a fight with me?"
Bai Xianglei was taken aback, his expression suddenly turning sharp.
His extreme curiosity about Fu Qing and her strength, coupled with the competitive spirit he had built up after losing two consecutive matches, made him feel excited whenever he thought about this battle.
"Is it okay?" Bai Xianglei asked in a low voice.
“Of course,” Fu Qing said easily. “Others can also enter the simulation pod to watch the battle.”
At this time, many students and parents have not yet returned to school, and since the current simulation pods require completing tasks to exchange for usage time, most of the simulation pods in the classrooms are empty, which is more than enough to accommodate the group of people traveling together.
The special forces team members couldn't hide their excitement at the unexpected opportunity to sit inside and experience the machine firsthand, as well as watch the two combatants up close.
Chu Hai and Zhou Lingxi couldn't help but grin. Bai Xianglei was chosen as the team leader because he was not only experienced, but also the strongest among them in terms of combat power.
Without zombies involved or any additional conditions, it's a pure one-on-one contest, and the captain has no chance of losing.
As the thought crossed their minds, they caught a glimpse of Song Rushuang and the others' expressions out of the corner of their eyes, and were immediately taken aback.
The students' faces were also filled with the same confidence.
It seems that they, like the team members, had not considered the possibility of the principal losing the game.
The two sides stared at each other, the tension even stronger than when they themselves were on the field.
The two groups were exchanging glances and subtly vying for dominance. Meanwhile, Fu Qing had already inspected the empty simulators and gestured for everyone to choose one to lie down in.
Bai Xianglei walked to his simulator, took two deep breaths, and quietly adjusted his state.
He hadn't felt that thrilling excitement before a battle had been in a long time.
It is precisely because of this utmost respect for the opponent that people are so eagerly anticipating the upcoming match.
"Oh, right." Just before lying down in the simulation pod, Fu Qing seemed to suddenly remember something, "A simple competition is not interesting. Could the competition scenario be set several years after the virus outbreak, when humanity was almost wiped out?"
"The main purpose of this competition is, after all, to exchange information," she said softly. "What will happen if we fail to stop the spread of the virus, if the number of infected continues to increase, and if the zombies win? I think you won't be uninterested."
The team members, who were about to step into the simulation pod, had somewhat stiff expressions.
They recalled what Fu Qing had just said about the simulator's near-perfect simulation capabilities, which could almost blur the lines between virtual and reality.
In other words, if they agree, will they see a completely real end for humanity?
Bai Xianglei was also momentarily dazed, his voice slightly hoarse: "Okay... I have no objection."
Perhaps having witnessed failure, they will be even more determined to avoid that "bad ending" from happening.
Fu Qing nodded: "Then, Captain Bai, see you in the dungeon."
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