Looking around at the group, Qin Shuan contemplated lying for a minute before he nodded.
"Yeah, we just noticed it a day ago and decided to go see what it was."
Feeling as though the wall of awkwardness between them had been broken, other members from the different groups began to talk. While hiding in the quiet, drafty gym, they felt human again as they shared their experiences with one another.
Seeing this, Gao Shen couldn't help but think of Cheng Xing, wondering where she was and if she was safe. The last time they had spoken was a few hours before the attacks, with her reassuring him over the phone that everything was fine on her end.
That day, she had insisted she would keep going to work, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her—especially after learning that some of her colleagues had already stopped going. She had stubbornly given him the same response: "They are kids. I can't just leave them all by themselves."
Cheng Xing was a teacher at a boarding school famous for taking in orphaned children. When the attacks began, most schools had decided to shut down so the students could return to their parents. But according to Cheng Xing, her school remained operational because it housed a couple hundred orphaned and abandoned children.
Knowing just how much she cared about those unfortunate children, Gao Shen had let her do as she wished. Now, he could only hope she was safe somewhere with her students.
"Do you really think it's a shelter?" Qin Shuan asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.
Honestly, he had wondered the same thing, but given how the massive structure resembled a fortress, he had decided to head there, believing that most survivors in the area would spot it too. Just staring at it had stirred hope in his heart, and now he hoped that Cheng Xing would also see it as a beacon of hope.
"We aren't sure, but as long as it's safe, we can use it as our shelter," Gao Haiming answered calmly, realizing his brother was deep in thought.
As the night grew deeper, everyone followed suit, settling in as they waited for the next day's hike to begin.
On the other side of town, inside a dirty school bus, two students were busy glaring at each other with unconcealed hostility.
After watching them act like that inside the bus, Jing Xuan could no longer stand the atmosphere and spoke up.
"Could you both just drop it?" he admonished angrily. "How many times do we have to tell you to settle down?"
His question was met with silence as the primary source of all the tension looked down at the floor, nonchalant.
"The world as we know it has come to an end; do you really have to fight over your fragile egos?" he asked sternly, glaring at the main culprits.
Feeling guilty, one of them couldn't take his anger-filled stare and quickly apologized.
"I am sorry, Mr. Jing. This won't happen again."
Hearing her apology, the entire bus seemed to sigh in relief before numerous eyes turned to the boy still staring nonchalantly at the floor.
Feeling their eyes on him made his skin crawl and almost shiver before he reluctantly offered an apology, dissolving the remaining tension.
"It's good that you both apologized. Next time, please don't cause such a commotion," Miss Cheng's calming voice soothed everyone.
"That's right. We are in a very precarious situation where any extra noise could get us killed. So please, next time you are dissatisfied with something, come to me and we can resolve it quietly."
Cheng Xing nodded along with Xue Lili's speech while looking around the poorly lit bus, trying to gauge everyone's expression.
Ever since they had fled the school grounds a few hours ago, everyone had been on edge, terrified for their lives. Having to break up multiple fights was deeply frustrating—especially because she was scared too, but she knew that silence was the only thing keeping them alive.
"I know you are afraid of what's to come, but didn't we agree that we needed to reach that shelter?" Xue Lili continued gently. "If we keep fighting like this, I don't think we'll make it. So please, let's stay alive and finish this journey safely."
She pleaded before calmly returning to her seat at the back of the bus. Cheng Xing did the same, her thoughts drifting to Gao Shen, wondering if he was safe wherever he was.
Back in the shelter, Zhao Yuan was completely unaware of any of this. She had spent her time harvesting wheat and had even planted a new batch before starting to process the harvested yield.
After hours of labor, a glittery shine lined her exposed skin. A thin layer of sweat covered her face, making it glow as she stood there frowning up at the still-beaming sun. Zhao Yuan remembered entering this space a few minutes before noon, yet despite all the hours she had spent working, the sun hadn't moved an inch.
Tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, she walked back into the processing plant that had materialized after she finished harvesting the wheat. The facility was somewhat different from the ones she had seen before, containing only a single, massive, intricate machine.
At first, Zhao Yuan had been confused about how to operate it, until she spotted a familiar interface panel. Having tapped through so many panels recently, she quickly managed to start the machine, which was directly connected to the harvest fields—allowing it to gather and process the wheat automatically. All she had to do was supervise and make sure it didn't overheat.
Looking at the running machine and the massive stack of processed wheat flour bags, she was stumped, glancing around in hopes that something else would appear.
As if sensing her frustration, the panel lit up with a message.
She quickly walked up to the screen attached to the running machine and read the text displayed on it. This time, it wasn't just a simple sentence staring back at her. Looking at the block of text on the screen, she stepped closer and began reading the paragraph out loud. Having not spoken to anyone since waking up, she was startled to realize her voice sounded exactly as it had in her original world:
"Processed wheat can be used to produce many more items needed to complete different levels. As a custodian, one is required to ensure continuous production and processing of wheat. Being a single raw product, wheat alone cannot be used to process the complete products required. Hence, additional farms have been unlocked to allow the custodian to produce the remaining materials needed before harvesting the wheat."