boyutpedia Page 127
Page 127
“I owe her a favor, and there are many things I need to confirm with her, so it’s inevitable that I’ll have to be in contact with her for a while.”
As soon as Nie Qingyun finished speaking, someone immediately showed an indignant expression and said:
"What does President Qin think of these girls?"
"How can I just let those boys use me as a tool for venting their frustrations?"
Nie Qingyun glanced at the girls who had spoken. Clearly, these girls hadn't interacted with anyone else and were unaware of how devastating the environment for human interaction could become without order. He sighed and said:
"Although I don't approve of her style, there is one thing that is an objective fact."
"That is, excessive freedom will inevitably lead to the excessive exploitation of the weak by the strong."
"At least the girls there have a choice; they can choose to fight or become tools."
As he spoke, Nie Qingyun turned his gaze back to Yuwen Chaolu:
"You are always the leader of this team. Whether you follow me or choose not to join Qin Hehuan's group, the final decision always rests with you."
"I can offer you advice and assistance as a partner, but you are the one in charge."
In fact, Nie Qingyun had already thought of these words.
He could spare no effort to help these girls, but he was not capable of becoming a leader.
The word "leader" is not simply about controlling others; the formulation of rules and the rational management of human resources are not simple matters.
Furthermore, as the team grows, ensuring people's livelihood and making decisions on long-term development goals become increasingly difficult and challenging.
Nie Qingyun was very clear about his goal: to protect all the people who were important to him. Therefore, he had to keep himself on the path of becoming stronger at all times.
He admitted that he did not have Qin Hehuan's talent, nor could he devote that much energy to her.
However, these rather serious words didn't bother Yuwen Chaolu at all.
Their guiding principle has always been the same: cling to Nie Qingyun's coattails, and deal with everything else later.
Seeing that the girls had no intention of distancing themselves from him, Nie Qingyun had no choice but to compromise for the time being, since they would be working together for a long time to come.
After discussing business, the atmosphere at the dinner table returned to a cheerful tone.
After Nie Qingyun's gaze swept over the girls one by one, he suddenly frowned and asked:
"If I remember correctly, including Wendy and Ellie, there should be ten of us..."
"Why is one missing?"
Chapter 163: An Unusual Shopping Mall
"One is missing?" Yuwen Chaolu looked around with a puzzled expression before starting to count the number of people.
After scanning the area again, Nie Qingyun interrupted the girl, saying:
"If I remember correctly... that should be Ms. Hanagami Junko."
Previously, when Nie Qingyun helped Bai Yelinyin get her clothes, the girl with braided pigtails played a mischievous joke on him, so Nie Qingyun had a fairly deep impression of this girl.
Yuwen Chaolu looked around and found that Hanako Junko was indeed not there, so she asked the other girls:
Has anyone seen where Junko went?
"Hah---Ee!" At this moment, a girl sitting to the right of Shirayuki Rinne suddenly raised her hand and said casually:
"We ran out of sauce for the hot pot, and Junko said she'd go get some more."
Hearing this, Yuwen Chaolu's tense expression relaxed. The supermarket where the food was stored was on the third floor, and the more dangerous areas there were cordoned off with safety nets. The food on their table was all taken from the third floor, so there was no danger at all.
The other girls didn't take it seriously either, but Nie Qingyun had been stuck to the bed by Bai Yelin since he woke up and didn't know much about the layout of the mall. So, while the girls were chatting, he launched the drone.
The drone flew through the curtains used to block the view and arrived at the top of the entire mall, where Nie Qingyun finally got a general understanding of the layout.
The shopping mall has five floors, with a central atrium-like structure. Each floor has a similar structure, with glass walls separating each shop area.
Footage captured by the drone clearly shows a crowded scene on the first floor, indicating that the entire first floor has been taken over by zombies.
There were over a thousand of them. Logically, with so many zombies, even if they couldn't detect the activity on the upper level due to the distance, they should have unconsciously wandered upwards.
Out of curiosity, Nie Qingyun controlled the drone to fly downwards.
Not long after, the isolation netting at the entrance to the fire escape staircase on the second floor came into view.
There were piles of zombie corpses next to the isolation net, which meant that someone was actively killing zombies using the net. This scene reminded him of the strategy that Qin Hehuan's team had used in the main building.
As the drone moved, Nie Qingyun soon discovered a rope ladder hanging from a window on the second floor, leading directly to the first floor.
Perhaps it was due to his cautious nature, but these subtle signs always made Nie Qingyun feel somewhat uneasy.
So he looked up and asked Shirayuki Rinne, who was clinging to him:
“How long have you been here before you were trapped on Wenzheng Street?”
"About half a month..." Bai Ye Lin Yin straightened up, thought for a moment, and continued:
"When the apocalypse came, we happened to go out to buy things together, and we stumbled upon this place while we were escaping."
Upon hearing this, Nie Qingyun raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion:
“Even on weekdays, such a large shopping mall should have tens of thousands of visitors. Why are you all rushing in here? Isn’t that tantamount to suicide?”
"The situation was rather urgent at the time..." Shiroya Rinne smiled sheepishly:
"But we were lucky."
"This shopping mall has just opened and is still in the leasing stage. The shops that have already moved in are also in trial operation."
"So when we came here, there were almost no people here..."
Nie Qingyun nodded, understanding in his heart.
He was puzzled earlier because, according to the drone reconnaissance, although the mall looked somewhat desolate, most of the facilities were quite new.
Moreover, even with the isolation net in place, clearing out tens of thousands of zombies would be a task that even a well-trained and well-equipped army would not be able to accomplish in a short time, let alone for a few girls whose bodies had not yet been fully enhanced.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Nie Qingyun looked up and interrupted Yuwen Chaolu, who was raising her glass to gulp it down, and said:
"Lulu, the first floor of this mall is completely overrun by zombies. How did you manage to get in while I was still unconscious?"
"Oh, you mean this..." Yuwen Chaolu put down her cup and began to gesticulate wildly as she recounted how she led her sisters to break through the encirclement.
"Get straight to the point."
Yuwen Chaolu, who was in the middle of an enthusiastic conversation, was interrupted and pouted, saying:
"When we came back, we found that we couldn't get in through the entrance on the first floor. Just as we were about to leave, we saw someone on the second floor waving to us."
“We followed his directions and found the rope ladder leading to the second floor, and then we brought you up.”
"That uncle is a very nice person."
Hearing this, Nie Qingyun pondered for a moment, then raised his eyes and said:
Who was it that guided you up here?
"Is he a transcendent being? What kind of abilities does he possess?"
"Huh?" Yuwen Chaolu was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head, indicating that she didn't know.
Seeing this, Nie Qingyun didn't press the matter further and changed the subject:
"In other words, there were already people here before you came back."
"The installation of the isolation netting and the management of the entrances and exits were also arranged in advance by the people here."
"So, how many people are there in total?"
"How many of them have activated their data systems?"
"There are probably dozens of people... We just got back, how could we possibly know such details..." Yuwen Chaolu's voice sounded somewhat aggrieved.
But Nie Qingyun sighed and stared straight at the other person.
"You don't even know where you are, yet you dare to go into a crowd?"
"What's wrong?"
Looking at the innocent-looking girls, Nie Qingyun didn't know what to say, because these girls had never been in contact with people like Liu Zhenyu and Liu Chengyuan.
They simply don't understand how dangerous humanity will become once the [data system] is activated.
If you are not careful enough, once someone harbors ill intentions towards you, you will often find yourself trapped without even realizing how they did it.
Of course, this is not something that can be explained in a few words. These inexperienced girls can only accumulate experience slowly in the future.
As the drone continued its patrol, Nie Qingyun gradually spotted many figures on the 3rd and 4th floors.
But what struck him as odd was the sheer desolation and dejection of these people.
They huddled in small groups with acquaintances among the shops, their eyes vacant, neither actively clearing away the zombies nor taking any other action.
Logically speaking, there is enough food here, and there is also a gashapon machine. The geographical advantage is also excellent. Anyone with a little ambition would not just sit and wait to die.
Of course, it's also possible that the conditions here are so good that everyone naturally chooses to lie down.
Following the approximate location given by Shirayuki Rinne, Nie Qingyun quickly found the supermarket where food was stored, but after carefully searching the place, he still couldn't find Hanako Junko.
The apocalypse is no ordinary peaceful society. Nie Qingyun immediately sensed something was wrong, put down his chopsticks, stood up, and said to everyone with a serious expression:
"That's enough for the break. Everyone, take your weapons and let's go find Miss Junko."
The girls were taken aback by Nie Qingyun's suddenly serious tone, but since Hanako Junko had indeed been gone for quite a while, they all stood up from their chairs.
The next second, he pulled out all sorts of weapons from the [Data Space], and Nie Qingyun changed back into a tracksuit.
However, as soon as the group lifted the screen and stepped out of the glass door of the furniture store, they found that someone was already waiting there.
Chapter 164: Give Miss Junko back to me (2.4k)
Outside the furniture store, a man's figure leaned against the fence.
He looked quite ordinary, with a medium to thin build, but his distinctive "forward-facing" pompadour hairstyle was quite eye-catching.
Coupled with his very loose clothing and the cigarette in his mouth, he looked like a delinquent.
Seeing the automatic sensor doors of the store open and many people walking out, the man with the airplane haircut immediately straightened up from the railing, raised a hand, and spoke in a very casual tone.
"Hey, I thought you guys wouldn't be back for a while."
As he was speaking, his gaze unconsciously locked onto Yuwen Chaolu, who was walking at the front.
The girl's healthy skin tone paired with her refreshing short hair gave her a vibrant look, which contrasted sharply with the atmosphere of the entire mall.
Especially her full and slender legs, where you can still vaguely see distinct tan lines at the top of her thighs and the edge of her hot pants.
The delinquent with the pompadour hairstyle was momentarily stunned.
He had only heard that a new group of people had arrived at the mall, but he didn't expect that they were all girls.
And they were all so...clean.
Yes, the first impression girls have of the pompadour hairstyle isn't that it's pretty, but that it's clean.
As they walked out of the glass door in groups, he couldn't help but feel as if he were in another world.
Since the apocalypse, both men and women have been covered in dust and dirt in the harsh living conditions.
Most people are already exhausted just from living, so they don't have the energy to care about their appearance.
Therefore, Yuwen Chaolu and her group were particularly conspicuous in his eyes at this moment.
So much so that they forgot why they were waiting there, and subconsciously reached out their hands to touch the other person.
Unfortunately, his hand was slapped back as soon as it reached halfway through the air.
The force was so great that it forced the entire aircraft head backward until it hit the railing and came to a stop.
Then a tingling pain spread along the back of his hand, causing him to scream in pain and almost burn himself with the cigarette butt in his mouth.
The man with the frizzy nose spat out the cigarette butt from his mouth, then raised his head with a fierce look in his eyes.
I immediately got angry.
The world today is not the peaceful society of the past. No matter your status or who your family's daughter is, here, whoever has the strongest fist is the boss.
Every woman in this mall greets him with a smile; how could anyone dare to lay a hand on him?
Yuwen Chaolu was clearly frightened by the other party's fierce eyes and subconsciously took a step back, only to bump into a broad chest.
Once she realized what was happening, she immediately turned around and hid behind Nie Qingyun, only peeking out with half her head sticking out.