Inside the cafeteria.
By now, aside from those still queuing, most people had already sat down with a heaping bowl of rice and a small plate of potatoes, eating with pure satisfaction.
After so many days, this was hands-down the best meal they'd had.
Potatoes-something they'd hated before the apocalypse-now tasted like a gourmet delicacy.
Yang Bin and his group each had a bowl of rice and a plate of potatoes at their table. It wasn't that they didn't want anything special-the kitchen simply had nothing else.
"Gotta say, after days of bread and crackers, I never knew rice could taste this good." Chen Hao sighed with feeling.
"Mm, the potatoes are great too. Looks like their team's got a real cook," Hu Wenliang mumbled through a full mouth.
"You've gone so long without real food that anything tastes amazing. These potatoes were just thrown in a big pot with oil and salt-nothing else. Where exactly are you seeing a cooking expert?" Yang Bin said flatly.
"Uh... fair point. Seems like you know your way around a kitchen, Brother Bin."
"Brother Bin's been cooking for himself since he was ten. He even worked part-time in a hotel kitchen. You tell me if he knows how to cook." Chen Hao rolled his eyes.
"Right, right. Forgot about that." Hu Wenliang scratched his head awkwardly.
"Having this many people does help. They got food for over a thousand people ready pretty fast," Chen Hao remarked.
"Yeah. Tang Weiwei knows how to run a team. Her people have solid execution," Yang Bin said, genuine for once.
"I think so too. But I'm sure you're better than her, Brother Bin." Chen Hao's tone was firm. He never doubted Yang Bin's ability.
"Same here," Hu Wenliang agreed.
"Quit kissing my ass, both of you. Eat. Haozi, after you're done, swallow this crystal. We'll probably be clearing the path up front. Doesn't matter how many people we have-the pressure at the front is going to be brutal. So get to Tier 3 as fast as you can."
"Got it."
Chen Hao nodded, shoveled down the rest of his rice, then took the crystal Yang Bin handed over and swallowed it without hesitation.
After a long while, Chen Hao finally absorbed the crystal's energy completely and became a Tier-3 Evolver.
In the early days of the apocalypse, a team with two Tier-3 members could crush 99% of other groups.
Over an hour later, nearly everyone in the cafeteria had finished eating. Bowls scraped clean, not a grain left.
Tang Weiwei stood up again and called out: "Is everyone full?"
"Yes! Thank you, Beauty Tang!" The crowd roared back.
By now, everyone knew her name. They were all from the same school-someone always recognized someone.
She'd killed the thugs, saved those women, and now fed everyone until they were stuffed. Tang Weiwei's reputation among the survivors couldn't have been higher.
"Good. But I have bad news. That meal just now used every last grain of rice in the kitchen. There is no food left. None."
"What?!"
The color drained from faces across the room.
Some had suspected it earlier, but the moment they'd seen steaming bowls of rice, they'd shoved those doubts aside.
Now Tang Weiwei's words hit them like a thunderbolt.
"If you don't believe me, go check the kitchen yourselves," Tang Weiwei said.
The moment she finished, a wave of people rushed into the back.
They came out one by one, faces ashen.
Forget rice-there wasn't a single vegetable leaf in there. The floor was cleaner than their faces.
"Why would you do this?!" Voices rose in accusation.
"That food would've lasted three days at most, even rationed down to thin porridge. Rather than starving on watered-down gruel for three more days, isn't it better to eat one real meal? What do you think?" Tang Weiwei said with a calm smile.
"If we'd held out three more days, maybe rescue would've come! You just cut off everyone's last way out!"
The same people who'd been thanking her moments ago now glared with open hostility.
"Rescue, rescue-that's all you ever think about. Don't you know how to save yourselves?"
"If rescue never comes, are you just going to sit here and die?" Tang Weiwei's voice turned sharp.
"We're leaving soon. Anyone who wants to come, rip the legs off these tables for weapons and charge out with us. Anyone who wants to stay here and rot-suit yourselves."
She turned away without another word and walked back to her team to discuss the plan.
Behind her, expressions shifted across a thousand faces.
Truth was, after this many days, deep down most of them had already given up on rescue. They just hadn't wanted to admit it.
People were like that. As long as it wasn't the absolute last moment, they wouldn't choose to risk their lives.
Living in the cafeteria on thin porridge every day-at least they weren't dead. One more day was one more day. Maybe rescue would come eventually.
But now the food was gone. Staying here meant only one thing: starvation.
Finally, reality set in. They understood. The only way to survive was to go out there.
Someone was offering to lead them. This was their one chance. Miss it, and all that was left was a slow death.
Nobody wanted to die like that.
Soon, people started flipping tables and kicking at the legs.
A few hard stomps and the welds gave way. If one person couldn't manage it, others helped.
Before long, Table Legs were pried loose one after another. Not the sturdiest weapons, but better than bare hands.
Armed and anxious, the crowd turned to look at Tang Weiwei.
"Good. Looks like none of you want to stay here and die. Then we charge out together."
"But I'll say this upfront-it's going to be dangerous. Prepare yourselves. If you don't have the guts to kill a zombie, stay here honestly. Going out without that resolve is just throwing your life away."
"Is there anyone here who doesn't dare kill a zombie?!" Tang Weiwei's voice rang through the hall.
"No!"
Determined faces stared back at her.
They'd chosen to fight. This much, they could handle.
Tang Weiwei nodded, then walked toward Yang Bin.
Only now did the crowd notice-this powerful woman had been deferring to that man the entire time.
If they had to guess, cooking all the rice at once was definitely his idea.
After all, this was the same guy who'd openly said he'd take all the food for himself.
More than a few gazes turned hostile as they landed on Yang Bin.
They couldn't wrap their heads around it. Tang Weiwei had seventy or eighty people. Why would she seek the opinion of someone whose team had only three?
Her own people felt the same confusion.
They'd noticed it too-Sister Weiwei, who used to be so calm and decisive, seemed to second-guess herself ever since running into this guy.
"We need to get away from these people. Soon."
The handsome man named Mo Yu kept the thought to himself.
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