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Old Liu was in a bind right now. Revealing that the existing food would only last for three to five days might cause panic, but it was an unavoidable issue.

“Approximately… three to five days,” Old Liu reluctantly provided a vague answer.

“Ah, what should we do…? Will we starve to death before rescue arrives?”

“No! I don’t want to die!”

Several of the students began to chatter anxiously; Old Liu’s fears had come to fruition already…

“Hah! Is that so? You bunch of useless swine have been pigging out, I see.” Zhu Hanfang turned away from the poker game and spoke up. The two followers by his side also stopped and looked at Old Liu.

“That’s why Mr. Liu wants to send out a scouting party and find food,” Lin Feng interjected, sensing the situation escalating and feeling the need to intervene. He stepped into the center of the exhibition hall.

“I’ll be the first to venture out and search for supplies. Don’t worry, I’ll try to clear out zombies from the classrooms and reduce the threat when we gather resources,” Lin Feng may not have been physically imposing, but surprisingly, his words silenced any protests. The group nodded in agreement.

“You’re going out there? That’s crazy! What do we do if you get killed? Lin Feng, come here, I want to talk to you,” Zhu Hanfang surprisingly called out to Lin Feng. He signaled for Lin Feng to follow him to a quieter corner of the room.

Lin Feng nodded, understanding that he had to pass this test set by Zhu Hanfang. He followed him into the rest area.

“Lin Feng, my dear Lin Feng, how should I put it? Do you know who can survive in the current situation? Without being ruthless and decisive, you’ll become just like those creatures soon enough,” Zhu Hanfang closed the door and immediately began.

“If that’s all you wish to say, then I don’t think there’s a need to continue,” Lin Feng frowned. He knew he wouldn’t reach a consensus with Zhu Hanfang; in his eyes, his followers were just disposable pawns, and his classmates were burdens.

“If! If I had followed your advice and gone to the window, I would be dead now, wouldn’t I? You owe me for that. I saved that idiot Chen De too. I will agree with Old Liu’s plan, but listen to me. Survival requires ruthlessness and seizing every opportunity! On your first trip out, stay safe in a classroom. Let those fools perish one by one, and our reserves will carry us until help arrives. Got it?” Zhu Hanfang concluded.

Lin Feng refused to answer his preposterous question, opened the door and summarily walked out.

“Zhu Hanfang has agreed,” he stated curtly before walking up to Chen De, who was still unconscious after his amputation.

Not long after, Zhu Hanfang joined them. His silence hinted that he had accepted Lin Feng’s stance.

“He’s been sleeping for two days now. Lin Feng, will he make it?” a feeble voice from a girl nearby inquired as she watched the unconscious boy.

“Don’t worry, Ruolan, he’ll be fine. The wound doesn’t seem infected, and his blood is still red, so he hasn’t turned into a zombie. He’s just recovering.” For the past two days, Ruolan and a few other girls with some medical knowledge had been taking care of Chen De. Now, it seemed that his condition was improving; color had returned to his face.

“Lin Feng, if there’s nothing else, it would be best if you set off in the afternoon, post-haste,” Old Liu approached Lin Feng and said.

After all, the sooner they found food, the more secure it would be for the 21 people on the rooftop. Waiting until three days later to set out would be too late.

“Okay.”

“Choose your teammates yourself. The first time out is the most dangerous, so please choose wisely, Lin Feng,” Old Liu warned.

“Then I’ll choose Liu Tao. We’ll act as the vanguard this time. I can’t guarantee that we’ll really get the food, but I’ll try to kill as many zombies as possible,” Lin Feng turned towards Liu Tao.

Liu Tao had protected Liu Mengqi and made it to the rooftop, showing that he had some combat capabilities. For his first trip outside, Lin Feng wanted to avoid dealing with too many people and distractions, lest they got in the way of him using his full strength.

“Liu Tao, what do you think?” After explaining his thoughts to Liu Tao, Lin Feng looked at the good-natured brawny jock.

“No problem, I’m honored to be the class’s vanguard. I used to run on a daily basis before this, so I dare say my body’s getting a little rusty after all that lying around,” Liu Tao smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

“Oh right, weren’t you a school athlete, no wonder you’re so fit.” As he said that, Lin Feng’s eyes trailed down to Liu Tao’s taut, sculpted muscles, then looked back at his own stick for arms. Disappointment…

“Don’t worry; you won’t be bored later. Rest up for now and get ready to set out in the afternoon.”

“Alright.”

With the matter settled, Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief. Once the first group ventured outside, the others would likely become less afraid of doing the same. He had chosen Liu Tao to accompany him on the first expedition due to Liu Tao’s trustworthiness and strong sense of justice.

In truth, Zhu Hanfang would have been a better choice. He was ruthless, quick to act, and had a physical fitness level similar to Liu Tao’s. However, after their unpleasant conversation earlier, Lin Feng didn’t want to invite him.

Approaching the stairs, Lin Feng picked up a wooden stick that Zhu Hanfang had sharpened to a point using a small knife. Without hesitation, he thrust it at the clawing zombies below,

The spike pierced through a zombie’s head, silencing its screams. But the other zombies didn’t seem the least bit fazed as they trampled on the corpse and once again extended their hands towards Lin Feng.

Squish, squish, squish.

Lin Feng felt a slight wave of nausea. The stench of the corpses and the sight of brain matter spraying out made him uncomfortable, despite having seen similar scenes in movies. The sensation of piercing through a body with his own hands felt unsettling.

The bodies gradually accumulated into a pile, creating a makeshift staircase. The zombies behind continued stepping on the corpses, slowly approaching the stack.

“Liu Tao! Liu Tao, come down here!”

“What’s wrong?” Liu Tao walked over, covering his nose and mouth due to the foul odor.

“****, that stinks, what the heck.”

“Take this. When the zombies come, stab them in the head, and after the strike, quickly withdraw the spike and get used to this sensation,” Lin Feng handed the wooden spike to Liu Tao and went inside the room to grab an axe.

Without hesitation, and amidst Liu Mengqi and Yan Aoxue’s cries of surprise, Lin Feng jumped back down directly.

The classmates followed nervously and gathered around an equally nervous Liu Mengqi.

After seeing the corpses in school uniforms around the corner of the stairs, a few students with weaker stomachs immediately vomited. The constant retching filled the air with a nauseating smell mixed with the stench of decaying bodies that slowly wafted outside the exhibition hall’s entrance.

“Stay back for now, there’s plenty of opportunities to look in the future. Mengqi, could I trouble you to get me a piece of cloth,” Lin Feng frowned as he watched several students continue to vomit. The already sickening odor became even stronger, threatening to overpower his enhanced sense of smell

Using the cloth handed by Liu Mengqi, he tied it into a makeshift mask, somewhat alleviating the discomfort. In the meantime, the vomiting students were helped back to the exhibition room.

“Aoxue, organize the students to clean up the vomit; just toss the trash out the window, it’s not like the zombies downstairs would mind,” Yan Aoxue nodded and proceeded to assist the other students.

Unfortunately, another grim task awaited Lin Feng. He now turned his attention to the pile of mashed zombies in front of him. Brows knitted together in faint disgust and hesitation, he stooped down then removed a relatively clean pair of canvas shoes from a female zombie’s foot and tried them on.

A couple of steps later, he was satisfied with the shoes, or as satisfied as one could be after ransacking a corpse. At least now he didn’t have to risk stepping on glass shards or anything else sharp. As for clothes, he would check the classrooms later. Lin Feng didn’t want to wear clothes soaked in blood.

“And Liu Tao, I need you to cover for me when I’m returning. If you see any zombies behind me, make sure to stab them in the head -without stabbing me.” Lin Feng looked up at Lin Tao on the stairwell, the wooden spike in his hand stained with zombie blood.

“I got it, trust me,” Liu Tao waved the wooden stick confidently.

Nodding, Lin Feng quietly descended the stairs, stepping over each lifeless corpse, tightly gripping a fire axe.

Lin Feng advanced cautiously, ensuring to deliver a fatal blow to any intact zombie heads he encountered. He didn’t want to risk any movie-style scenes of zombies grabbing his feet, potentially leading to a broken leg or worse.

The staircase, which usually took only two minutes to descend, took Lin Feng over ten minutes as he ensured the ground floor was clear of any living zombies. Finally, he arrived at the stairwell’s corner and looked up to the 6th floor.

The 6th floor was eerily quiet, except for the shattered glass on the floor. Lin Feng didn’t spot any zombies in the corridor. Perhaps all the zombies had been drawn to their group near the stairwell.

Remaining vigilant, Lin Feng tightly gripped the fire axe and proceeded slowly. The entire corridor felt unnaturally empty. When he reached the door of classroom 6-1, he gently pushed it open. The room was pitch dark as all the curtains were drawn, but a faint ray of light streamed in as Lin Feng pushed the door.

Utilizing his night vision ability, Lin Feng carefully scanned the dark room and was relieved not to find any zombies. It appeared that this room had not been used before. The desks and chairs were neatly arranged and undisturbed.

He closed the door softly, not needing any light to assist him, and began his search. It was just an ordinary classroom. After a thorough examination, aside from finding a few wooden sticks and neatly stacked test papers in a cabinet at the back, he didn’t find anything else.

Gathering the test papers in a neat stack, Lin Feng brought them to the door for later use. He then used a piece of rope he found with a mop to tie the wooden sticks he scavenged from the room. Although they were just discarded items, Lin Feng adhered to the post-apocalyptic survival principle of utilizing whatever resources were available during the initial stages to increase his chances of survival.

After gently closing the door, Lin Feng tiptoed towards classroom 6-2.

His caution proved to be prudent. Inside 6-2, a zombie stood with its back turned towards him. Lin Feng had been walking quietly on his toes, so the zombie hadn’t noticed him.

Creeping up behind the zombie, Lin Feng raised the axe and swung it hard at the zombie’s head.

With the zombie’s head split in half, its lifeless body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Lin Feng surveyed the classroom. The curtains were torn down, with shattered glass and disorganized desks and chairs scattered about the room. According to his memory this was the classroom for Class 3, the same Class 3 that that homeroom teacher zombie belonged to.

Feeling the zombie’s body, he found a box of chewing gum in its pocket. The gum was encased in an iron box and looked relatively clean.

Suddenly, a series of footsteps echoed from the door that Lin Feng had just closed.