Chapter 26: The Plan — Is the Safe House Really That Important? Part 2

If the Black Tide came late, fine—but if it came a few days early, digging in at the school would mean that no matter how they struggled, they’d end up abandoning the Safe House and fleeing anyway.

Better to set the target inside Cheng’an City from the start and build the plan around the city—after all, they now had a Living Map.

The Living Map who had overheard the entire discussion, Yu Shen: “…”

Hearing Gao Lan say they’d enter Cheng’an City, Qin Xiaoxiao’s face went white. Skinny Monkey’s expression wasn’t pretty either, but seeing the others take it calmly, he forced himself to look composed.

Before Qin Xiaoxiao could answer, Gao Lan looked at Yang Haoran and Yu Shen.

“You two don’t get a say. Anyone else can leave—you two can’t. Prisoners don’t get rights.”

Yang Haoran: “…”

Yu Shen: “…”

Having swung the stick, Ji Li hurriedly followed up with a sweet date.

“Don’t worry, your skills are important, and we’ll protect you. And we’re not the stubborn type either—if we can save the Safe House, great, but if it really comes down to it, human lives matter more.”

At these words, even Qin Xiaoxiao’s complexion improved considerably. A moment later, she finally made up her mind. “I’ll go with you.”

“Good. Then let’s discuss the next steps.”

Gao Lan nodded to Ji Li, who took a notebook out of his wristband, spread it open before everyone—a hand-drawn simple map.

“The road outside the school leads in two directions. One is the Elevated Bridge, connecting Cheng’an City and the Out-of-City Expressway. Black Tide has been confirmed on both sides. Only this side is still unknown.” Gao Lan tapped the far end of the road toward the New Media Group.

“So tomorrow, I’ll take Yu Shen to scout this side. Qin Xiaoxiao and Skinny Monkey, you two go to the Out-of-City Expressway and watch the Black Tide’s movements. If there’s any sign of it heading this way, we must act immediately and lure it into Cheng’an City.”

“Can’t we just blow up the Elevated Bridge?” Skinny Monkey asked.

Ji Li shook his head. “No. This area is hilly terrain. Blowing the bridge would only temporarily stop the Black Tide from coming up the mountain—given time, they’d find a way around. And we’re not just defending one direction. Blowing it too early would trap us on this mountain.”

After waiting a while with no further questions, Gao Lan continued, “Once you drive onto the expressway, don’t go too fast—no hard braking, no honking. Use your skill to check every ten minutes, then return immediately. Skinny Monkey, use your Paper Note to update me on the situation.”

“Here at the school, Yang Haoran and Zhang Luyao will strip car speakers and batteries. Little Ji and Shen Shuyan will make explosives, then search the school’s cars and siphon the gasoline. We have four cars here in total—that’s enough.”

Actually five. Chen Zhixiong’s group had arrived in three cars, and besides the SUV missing its rear window, Ji Li also had a B-Class Car stored in his Space Bracelet.

But Gao Lan knew that car was Ji Li’s Safe House, so she deliberately didn’t mention it.

“As for searching the cafeteria and distributing supplies, that goes to Brother Chen and Lu Zihan.” Gao Lan wrote everyone’s tasks in the notebook, then looked up at Qin Xiaoxiao and Skinny Monkey.

“After you two confirm the Out-of-City Expressway situation, follow the road to find me and check this side. From now on, this job is yours—one round trip every day.”

Both understood the importance of the task and had no objection to the arrangement, nodding in agreement.

“That’s everything for tomorrow. We’ll adjust future plans as things develop.”

With that, Gao Lan snapped the notebook shut with a smack and looked around at everyone.

“If we’re lucky, we can hold the school and safely get through the remaining seventeen days. But if we’re not… I hope everyone is mentally prepared.”

The mood at the end of the meeting was somewhat heavy, but overall calm.

Chen Jianxin’s group had never directly faced the Black Tide, so no matter how great the pressure, it had limits. Yu Shen, on the other hand, was drenched in cold sweat, his face green-white, the very picture of a deserter.

Lu Zihan gave him a look, walked up to Gao Lan, and said earnestly, “Sister Lan, how about I cripple his legs so he can’t run?”

Yu Shen shuddered violently and shook his head frantically. “No, no! I won’t run! I promise! I swear!”

Shen Shuyan was wheeled over by Zhang Luyao. He adjusted his glasses. “Relax, we’ll watch him.”

Then he looked at Ji Li and asked, full of anticipation, “When’s a good time to give you my wristband?”

Ji Li thought for a moment. “Tomorrow. I’ve used up today’s skill charge. Tomorrow, just empty the wristband and give it to me.”

“Deal.”

Shen Shuyan agreed with a smile, and Zhang Luyao followed up, “I’ll wait a bit longer—once my wristband space is bigger, I’ll come find you.”

Ji Li nodded. Lu Zihan booked the day after tomorrow directly, with Chen Jianxin and Skinny Monkey queued behind.

On the way back to their temporary lodging, Ji Li couldn’t help asking Gao Lan, “Sister Lan, don’t you need item space expansion?”

Gao Lan waved a hand. “No rush. Mine’s still enough.”

It was actually a bit tight, but far more comfortable than Chen Jianxin’s group, and since her supplies were already stocked, she had no pressing need.

Ji Li nodded thoughtfully. After parting with Gao Lan, he climbed up to the rooftop again, took out the two empty 192-cubic-meter wristbands, and began duplicating.

In the end, he held an empty wristband with a space of 16x12x4—a volume of a full 768 cubic meters. He drew a deep breath, turned, and went downstairs to knock on the door of Gao Lan’s classroom.

Gao Lan had already been about to sleep. Hearing the noise, she opened the door in confusion, to see Ji Li holding out a wristband.

“Sister Lan, this is for you.”

Gao Lan was briefly stunned, then hurriedly refused. “No need, I really do have enough…”

Ji Li didn’t wait for her to finish, forcibly pressing the wristband into her hand, tossing out a “Don’t let anyone see it,” and running off.

Gao Lan held the wristband, staring blankly for a good while before pressing the button in bewilderment.

A moment later, an exceptionally loud gasp echoed through the corridor. Gao Lan stared at the wristband in shock, nearly thinking her eyes were deceiving her.

This size—it rivaled the large flat she used to own!

Holding the wristband and dazing for a while, Gao Lan returned to the classroom, transferred most of her supplies from her original wristband into the big one, then hid it among other supplies and stuffed it back into the original small wristband.

When it was done, she lay down on her floor bedding and, after a long while, sighed.

“This kid…”

The next day, everyone carried out the plan as agreed. Ji Li learned charcoal-making from Shen Shuyan, and along the way memorized the ratio for making explosives from potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal, and white sugar.

He also helped Shen Shuyan duplicate his wristband, claiming the expansion had succeeded.

Seeing the other man fondly examining a wristband of barely eight cubic meters, Ji Li scratched his cheek, feeling a little guilty.

“There’s still a dozen-plus days before we leave. We can expand it more later…”

Shen Shuyan grunted in acknowledgment, stored his supplies, and said with a smile, “When the time comes, I’ll buy a few more wristbands to upgrade, and try to get it right in one go.”

Thinking of his own “army” of one 768-cubic-meter and two 64-cubic-meter wristbands, Ji Li felt even guiltier, and started pushing Shen Shuyan’s wheelchair along.

“Anyway, uh, time to open blind boxes! Let’s go!”

“What blind boxes… Slow down!”

While Ji Li and Shen Shuyan went around the campus breaking windows and siphoning gas, Skinny Monkey and Qin Xiaoxiao were on their way back.

Skinny Monkey held the steering wheel, glancing at Qin Xiaoxiao in the passenger seat—face deathly pale, trembling nonstop—and couldn’t help asking, “Really that scary?”

Qin Xiaoxiao didn’t answer, her eyes staring blankly ahead.

Seeing her like this, Skinny Monkey thought for a moment and tried to comfort her. “Look on the bright side—as scary as it is, at least it’s not heading this way.”

“Yes…” Qin Xiaoxiao drew a deep breath, then continued in a trembling voice, “But… so big… that whole stretch… all of it…”

Just thinking of that monster made of countless arms and legs made Qin Xiaoxiao want to vomit.

Not because of the Black Tide’s horrifying, Lovecraftian appearance, nor its massive bulk that nearly blocked the entire expressway, but purely from the terrible associations born of seeing her own kind meet such a fate.

The mere thought that if she were bitten, she would fold uncontrollably and become part of that filthy, defiled mass of humanity made Qin Xiaoxiao shudder.

“Are we… really going to face a monster like that… Are Safe Houses really that important?”

“I don’t know either, but Boss Chen and Sister Lan have always been right before. Listening to them can’t hurt. Stop thinking about it—close your eyes and sleep. I’ll wake you when we find Sister Lan.”

Qin Xiaoxiao bit her lip, glanced at the car keys on the armrest box, then turned to face the passenger window, staring at her blurry reflection in the glass, nervously gnawing at her thumbnail.

In the afternoon, Gao Lan, Yu Shen, Skinny Monkey, and Qin Xiaoxiao drove back to the school in two cars, immediately seeing the small plaza piled high with supplies.

Skinny Monkey hopped out of the car in delighted surprise and dashed over to the supplies, cheeks flushed with excitement. “Boss Chen, all this came from the cafeteria?”

“Yep, this is everything. I divided it into eight shares, split evenly. For rice, flour, oil, salt, sugar and such, I suggest keeping them in Player Backpacks—a one-Point trade doesn’t get taxed. The rest goes in wristbands; if space runs short, you can temporarily store things with someone else. With Little Ji around, it’ll all fit sooner or later.”

With that, Chen Jianxin pointed at the pillows beside him. “These are what Little Ji and Little Shen found in the cars. Not necessities, so I didn’t divide them—take whatever you want…”

Before he even finished, Skinny Monkey was already gone, dragging Shen Shuyan off to trade supplies.

Chen Jianxin shook his head helplessly and turned to Gao Lan, asking hopefully, “How did it go?”

Gao Lan looked relaxed. “Pretty good. Where’s Little Ji?”

“Digging an earthen kiln in that little grove over there—says he wants to make more charcoal.” Chen Jianxin pointed at a teaching building not far off.

“Little Shen said the materials for explosives are all sufficient except charcoal is a bit short. We happened to find a shovel in the cafeteria—probably for stir-frying in big pots—so Little Ji took it to dig the kiln.”

“Then I’ll go over and fill him in on the situation.”

Chen Jianxin was briefly startled, but quickly recovered and said hurriedly, “I’ll walk you over.”

Gao Lan noted his reaction, and on the way spoke frankly: “Little Ji and I told everyone we’re partners, but after spending so much time together, I’ve honestly come to see him as family—a nephew of my own. This kid is kind at heart with sound values. Normally that’s a good thing, but in the apocalypse, who’s to say if it’s good or bad. And his skill has no offensive power, so I can’t help worrying about him.”

Chen Jianxin laughed at that. “Understandable. Though I’d say Little Ji is sharp-minded—he notices details others miss, like the whole Safe House matter. He’s just young, and underestimates how dark human hearts can be. But honestly, it’s not just him—which of us ever imagined we’d end up in something like this? We’re all just taking it one step at a time.”

Gao Lan nodded and said nothing more.

The two soon found Ji Li. He had already dug the kiln and lit the fire, and was observing the smoke.

Seeing Gao Lan arrive, he hurried over. “Sister Lan, how was it?”

“Good—no signs of danger. Qin Xiaoxiao says the Black Tide has practically occupied the whole area around the Out-of-City Expressway, lingering between the farmland and the highway. Without sound stimulation, they shouldn’t head this way for a while.” Gao Lan relayed Qin Xiaoxiao’s observations.

“No Black Tide on the other side. We drove along the road to the edge of Yu Shen’s already-revealed map. In the newly revealed map, we could see the outskirts of another town; everywhere else is hills.”