Chapter 97: The Invitation (Part 2)

"Do you all have somewhere to go? If not, why not come back to school with me? Our school has already established a safe zone; no monsters can get in."

As expected, upon hearing Kong Zhe’s words, the female teacher was momentarily stunned before naturally revealing her purpose.

Although their school had formed a protective safe zone shield, the number of awakened individuals was still too few, and the issue of food constantly troubled them.

Even if the few awakened ones searched desperately for food, it simply couldn't sustain so many people. Almost every day, someone would leave to venture out in search of another survival base.

With the continuous decrease in personnel, the range of their safe zone began to shrink rapidly. If things continued like this, it wouldn’t be long before the safe zone disappeared altogether. It would dissolve automatically due to insufficient numbers, and then both teachers and students would be doomed.

However, if they could recruit these few people, the situation would be completely different.

Not to mention the little girl, just the young man before them—based on the strength he had just displayed—was someone who could undoubtedly stabilize the hearts of everyone within the entire zone.

For them, food was as easy to come by as picking it up casually. For instance, in just a short while today, he had already hunted enough provisions to last them half a month.

If this person joined their gathering, the people at their school would no longer think of leaving. On the contrary, their numbers could gradually grow, eventually thriving and expanding into a larger safe zone.

Kong Zhe sighed after listening and stood still, contemplating.

According to his memory, a major event would occur on the ninth day after the apocalypse. His original plan was to hurry as fast as possible to reach the new city before the ninth day.

But after setting off, he realized his expectations were overly optimistic. It was already the sixth day of the apocalypse, yet they had only covered about a third of the distance to the new city.

Therefore, after the female teacher finished speaking, Kong Zhe did not answer immediately but stood quietly to think before asking, "Tell me where your school is, how many people are there, how many awakened exist? And what kinds of NPCs are present?"

Kong Zhe’s series of questions made the female teacher pause for a moment before she quickly realized that all his questions were crucial.

"Our school is not far from here, less than two kilometers away. Just take a turn ahead and you’ll reach it! Counting teachers, students, and a few local residents who joined later, we have both appraisers and apothecaries. As for awakened individuals..."

Yang Fang’s voice gradually softened. She understood their school’s conditions were poor and couldn’t attract strong survivors like him. If she revealed the truth, he might turn around and leave immediately.

Even she herself, if not for worrying about the students, would have long since left to find a better place.

But since he had asked, she could not lie. Helplessly, Yang Fang admitted truthfully, "Including me, there are six awakened... six in total..."

"Ah?"

Before Kong Zhe could respond, Xue Feifei voiced her disbelief, "Over eight hundred people, but only six awakened? How is that possible?"

"It’s... true..." Yang Fang grew anxious, unsure how to explain.

Kong Zhe, however, understood perfectly. Based on data from the previous world, the ratio of awakened to ordinary people should be two to eight. But that referred to the late apocalypse period; in the early days, the ratio would definitely be lower.

Not to mention a significant portion of people hadn’t awakened yet, and ordinary people had a much lower survival probability than awakened ones. Thus, in later stages, the proportion of awakened would obviously increase.

More importantly, three days ago, the system issued a regional task, and most awakened individuals likely chose to head to the new city after receiving it. So, many awakened from their school had probably already left.

Sure enough, the female teacher’s next words confirmed Kong Zhe’s guess.

"In fact, we used to have quite a few awakened, but most of them have gradually left over the past two days, taking with them a large number of people with awakening potential. So..."

"So, your school is actually left with mostly ordinary people who were overlooked!" Kong Zhe finished her sentence.

"This..."

Kong Zhe’s bluntness angered Yang Fang. Her face flushed red, and she instinctively wanted to refute but found herself speechless. Actually, Kong Zhe was right—aside from the few remaining awakened, the rest were those who had been left behind.

Yang Fang sighed, fully aware that her school’s conditions were poor. She could offer nothing but would only be a burden; no one would agree under such circumstances.

"I will come to your school..."

Yang Fang had given up hope, but Kong Zhe’s next words stunned her. Her heart raced, and she thought she might have misheard.

Could there still be room for negotiation?

But before she could rejoice, Kong Zhe added the second half of his sentence:

"I’ll only stay a few days, then leave."

Yang Fang’s expression fell.

Fortunately, they were to remain a few days and could try to find a way to keep him. Even if they failed to retain him in the end, at least during their days at school, the safety of the zone would be assured.

...

A thick layer of mist covered the sky, not ordinary clouds but a special gas formed by the interaction of magic and Earth’s atmosphere. It would not dissipate quickly. Thanks to it, only a vague circular outline remained where the sun should be. Sunlight could not penetrate, and the ground was noticeably dimmer.

At Jincheng University, once a bustling campus, silence now reigned. Most survivors huddled in the cafeteria.

This was the school’s food distribution point, and the daily rations were insufficient. Many chose to sleep here, both to receive food earliest and because they were too weak to move after eating so little. Lying down minimized energy consumption.

Although the number of survivors here was not large, it still exceeded the safe zone’s minimum threshold, so a small safe zone had formed automatically after the apocalypse.

From above, an invisible light membrane could be seen over Jincheng University, like an inverted bowl covering the entire campus.

This was the safe zone’s unique protective shield. Though thin, it blocked all wild beasts from entering. Inside, magic was sealed; even awakened individuals could not use their skills.

At the school gate, near the edge of the shield, about thirty students gathered. Since they were from a liberal arts class, most were girls, with few boys. All wore anxious expressions, frequently scanning the distance.

"What should we do? Teacher Yang still hasn’t returned. Could it be that..."

A girl voiced her worry but was quickly interrupted by another.

"Don’t say nonsense! It’s only been a short while. You can’t jump to conclusions!"

"Exactly! Teacher Yang is definitely alive and well. No one is allowed to curse her..."

...

Though they spoke bravely, worry was still etched on their faces; they had little confidence in their own words.

They were all Teacher Yang’s students. Not because they cared deeply for her, but because if she died, they would lose their food source.

"Look! It’s Teacher Yang! She’s back!"

At that moment, a sharp-eyed girl spotted several figures approaching and immediately recognized their teacher, excitedly shouting.

Her voice lifted everyone’s spirits; they quickly turned to look. Indeed, not far off, Yang Fang waved at them.

"Teacher, you’re finally back! I thought... sob..."

The youngest girl in the class ran up, clinging to Yang Fang and crying uncontrollably. Others showed obvious relief, with several girls’ eyes brimming with tears.

They had never imagined that the somewhat absent-minded Teacher Yang was so important to them.

Seeing her students’ expressions, Yang Fang’s eyes also moistened. She hurriedly wiped her tears, feeling moved. At this moment, no matter the hardships endured, seeing their smiles was worth it.

But crying in front of the students was inappropriate. She quickly wiped her eyes and smiled, "Don’t cry! Look what I brought back!"

Yang Fang then took out all the spiny rats stored in her inventory.

"Ah, spiny rats!"

A girl exclaimed with delight.

"So many!"

"Great! This will be enough for us to eat for half a month!"

The girls immediately began chattering happily, the previous sadness swept away, replaced by joy.

Because their school now had too many people but only a handful of awakened, they used a class division system.

Besides those waiting in the cafeteria for food distribution, the rest were assigned to six awakened individuals.

Each awakened was responsible for providing food for a certain number of students.

For them, which awakened one they were assigned to determined how much food they would receive. If an awakened was weak and could only bring back a little food or returned empty-handed, those under their care would go hungry.