The three of them climbed Zhongyuan Building once more. Yang Bin activated True Vision Eye the moment they reached the top.

From up here, nearly the entire campus lay spread before him. Under True Vision Eye, every corner was visible in sharp detail.

Unlike yesterday, the school was no longer a landscape of only zombies. After a full sweep, he counted over a dozen separate groups fighting zombies-men and women both.

"The temptation of crystals is no joke," Yang Bin sighed.

"When it's life or death, of course it is," Chen Hao said.

"If most people weren't trapped in the Cafeteria, this number would multiply several times over," Yang Bin said.

"Think the ones stuck in the Cafeteria hate the school leadership by now?"

"No question. Even if the leadership's intentions were good, the outcome is something those students will never accept." Yang Bin's tone was flat, certain.

Just as he predicted, the school Cafeteria had already erupted into chaos.

Once the authorities announced the truth about crystals, the students who'd been simmering with resentment finally boiled over.

They'd thought coming here meant no more empty stomachs.

Instead, it was watery porridge every day. Never enough to feel full.

Now zombies surrounded the building on all sides. Going out to hunt crystals wasn't even an option.

Meanwhile, videos flooded the internet-people showing off their surging strength after consuming crystals. Some were even posted on the campus network.

The trapped students felt sick with frustration. Curses aimed at the school leadership grew louder by the minute.

"This is your fault! If you hadn't made us gather in the Cafeteria, we could be doing fine out there!"

"Exactly! Feeding us a little porridge every day-what are we, livestock?!"

They'd completely forgotten that they came to the Cafeteria precisely because they had nothing to eat. Without that porridge, most of them would already be dead from starvation.

The Principal watched these furious students, his heart heavy with sorrow.

"Was I wrong? Perhaps. If I hadn't worried so much about them, none of this would have happened."

"The apocalypse... is truly terrifying."

Zhongyuan Building.

Yang Bin didn't need long to lock onto several targets.

As expected, Tier-2 Zombies had increased noticeably. In just a short while, he'd spotted over a dozen. Some were buried deep in hordes-untouchable. But the ones he'd marked were isolated enough to kill.

"Targets confirmed. Let's move."

"Mm."

The three descended quickly and headed toward the first target.

They arrived to find a group of people already closing in on those zombies.

Yang Bin frowned. He'd chosen this target first specifically because he noticed people nearby and wanted to beat them to it. Too late.

It wasn't that he feared being scooped. Honestly, those twenty-odd people had no chance against a Tier-2 Zombie.

He was worried they'd scream and shout, pulling every zombie in the area toward them. That would make it impossible for his group to act.

But stopping them now was already too late. They'd charged.

In their minds, twenty-something people against four or five zombies meant the advantage was theirs.

The zombies spotted the crowd and surged forward with excitement. Leading the charge was the Tier-2 Zombie.

Two men at the front-one wielding a Fire Axe, the other a Tang Saber-swung hard at the creature.

Credit where it was due: anyone brave enough to hunt zombies had at least prepared decent weapons.

But their miscalculation was about to cost them in blood.

Both blades connected with the zombie's skull. Against a Tier-1 Zombie, those strikes might have been lethal.

This was a Tier-2 Zombie. The weapons cracked its head open, but the wound wasn't fatal.

The zombie tackled one of them to the ground instantly. Its jaws clamped onto his neck.

The raw strength of a Tier-2 Zombie left him no room to resist.

The others went pale. The man with the Tang Saber hacked at the zombie's back, carving a deep gash.

Useless. The zombie spun and lunged at him.

His reflexes were sharp-he threw himself sideways in a roll, barely dodging the pounce.

"Special Zombie! This is definitely a Special Zombie-it's got a crystal!" he shouted, voice trembling with excitement the moment he was clear.

They'd killed several zombies already. This was their first Special Zombie.

"But... can we actually beat it?" someone asked, voice tight.

"Other people can do it-why can't we? Everyone rush it together! I refuse to believe we can't kill this thing. Once we do, we're set!" the man yelled.

Fear flickered across the others' faces, but the thought of what a crystal could do for them overrode it. They charged.

They'd come out here to kill zombies and take crystals. Finally encountering a Special Zombie-how could they back down?

What they didn't know was that Special Zombies had levels too.

The fight devolved quickly. Weapons rained down on the zombie from every angle.

The Tier-2 Zombie barely flinched.

Every time it struck back, someone dropped-dead or dying. Within moments, several bodies lay still.

A Tier-2 Zombie. As if they could kill it. The other four ordinary zombies, at least, were hacked apart by the rest of the group.

"Bin-ge, why don't we step in? We get the crystal, and we save them too. They're classmates, after all." Hu Wenliang's expression was pained.

Yang Bin glanced at him. "You think if we save them, they'll be grateful? They won't. They'll try to fight us for the Tier-2 Crystal."

"No way. They have to know they can't beat this thing. If they keep going, they're all dead."

"Heh." Yang Bin's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Then let's bet on it. If I'm right, you never bring up saving people to me again. If I'm wrong, I'll wash your underwear for a month."

Hu Wenliang was still a student. He hadn't lived through enough to see things clearly. In his mind, saving these people was effortless for their group-a simple good deed. He'd overlooked human nature.

He wasn't like Chen Hao. Chen Hao followed Yang Bin's lead without question, never doubting a word.

Hu Wenliang wasn't that blind. So Yang Bin decided to let reality teach the lesson.

He'd seen the crazed look in those people's eyes. He knew exactly how obsessed they were with crystals. If his group stepped in, those people wouldn't see rescuers. They'd see thieves coming for their prize.

"Fine." Hu Wenliang nodded. It wasn't that he doubted Yang Bin. Some things just needed to be seen firsthand.

On the battlefield, the group of twenty-plus had already lost half their number. Several more were wounded-and their fate was sealed. They'd turn soon enough.

Finally, panic broke through. They abandoned all thought of crystals and ran.

The zombie didn't let them go. It gave chase, closing the distance on the fleeing crowd.