Meanwhile, Xue Lili had taken charge of the road clearance.
"Keep moving, team three! Lever that front carcass toward the curb—good! Team two, clear those loose debris pieces!"
Moving up and down the line, she personally stepped in to help lift heavy debris, completely unbothered by the dirt smearing her clothes. Whenever a student hesitated or looked pale, Xue Lili was right there, offering a steadying word or taking over the heavier weight herself.
Under her methodical direction, the gruesome blockage at the front of the bus rapidly diminished. What had initially seemed like an insurmountable mountain of corpses was steadily cleared to the shoulders of the road, opening up a clean lane for the heavy tires of the bus.
By the time the conversation with Zhao Yuan was drawing to a close, Xue Lili had already rallied the entire student body back toward the safety of the vehicle.
"Form an orderly line! Single file up the steps!" Xue Lili commanded, standing right beside the open door like a shield, checking off every single student as they boarded.
"Miss Xue, we cleared it all!" one of the boys called out proudly as he stepped onto the bus, wiping sweat from his forehead. "The road is completely open!"
Xue Lili offered him a warm, genuinely proud smile. "You all did an incredible job. Now get inside, sit down, and rest."
Out on the road, Zhao Yuan glanced down at her watch, making her unwillingness to answer further questions glaringly obvious. "Now, please head back to the bus. I need to clear the rest of this road so I can return."
Yet Gao Shen, distracted by a tactical detail, pressed on. "Return? How are you planning to get back?"
Zhao Yuan felt a flash of annoyance as she glanced down at the rapidly ticking countdown timer on her screen. "That is none of your business," she said firmly. "Now get back to the bus before the demolition starts!"
Without waiting for a response, she tapped an icon on her screen.
Something about her annoyed demeanor gave Gao Shen a sudden spike of alarm. Grabbing Cheng Xin by the arm, he pulled her along as they sprinted toward the bus where Xue Lili was ushering in the last of the students.
They were just a few meters from the open door when the ground beneath them began to violently tremble. A deafening, booming explosion shattered the air, shaking them to their very core. The force of the shockwave sent Gao Shen and Cheng Xin stumbling hard onto the asphalt near the steps.
"Get in! Fast!" Xue Lili yelled over the roar, leaning out the doorway.
Scrambling to their feet, they lunged toward the open threshold, where the driver, Rick, reached out alongside Xue Lili and hauled them violently inside.
The doors had barely clicked shut when a second deafening boom rattled the frame. Inside, the students gasped as the entire vehicle lurched from the impact. A series of successive explosions echoed through the air—five more thunderous booms—before the chaos outside finally settled into a heavy, ringing silence.
Gao Shen looked at the completely cleared stretch of pavement ahead, then at Xue Lili, who was calmly wiping grime off her hands with a handkerchief. A look of deep respect crossed his face.
"Lili... you cleared all of this already?" Gao Shen asked, still catching his breath.
"A structured plan works wonders," Xue Lili replied with a faint, tired smirk. She looked over at Cheng Xin, her expression softening. "They're all inside, safe and accounted for. What did she say?"
"She confirmed the shelter is real. We're almost there," Cheng Xin explained quickly, her eyes shining through the lingering terror.
Everyone peered anxiously out the front windshield.
Through the clearing smoke, a completely unobstructed path lay before them. The students cheered in exhilaration as they watched the lithe, leather-clad figure gracefully approach the vehicle.
"Move, before they get here!" a clear, melodious voice called out as their savior glanced toward the road behind them.
Hearing the command, the driver scrambled back to the steering wheel and turned the key, waiting for her to board. Instead, the woman remained composed on the pavement outside, mouthing a silent 'Go' before vanishing into thin air right before their eyes.
The driver didn't hesitate for a second. Utilizing every ounce of his professional experience, he floored the accelerator, sending the bus shooting forward like a bullet. Inside, the passengers sat in stunned silence, reeling from the realization that the woman who had just saved them was likely not entirely human.
The human in question, Zhao Yuan, was oblivious to their disbelief as she materialized in the quiet area at the back of her restaurant.
Standing still for a moment, she allowed her composure to settle before walking around to the main entrance. Remembering the chaotic crowd that had filled the courtyard the previous night, she was relieved to find the central compound currently empty.
Now that she had active customers present, her official shelter duties were about to begin in earnest.
Stepping into the restaurant, her first priority was to verify that all the facilities were intact before retreating to her small private quarters. After an entire night of farming, crafting, and field combat, she desperately needed a nap before the breakfast rush.
A hot, soothing shower helped loosen her tense muscles. Climbing into bed, she closed her eyes and immediately drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep, extinguishing like a snuffed candle.
Throughout the surrounding residential sector, the newly checked-in refugees rested peacefully. Filled with newfound hope for the future, a collective sense of serenity settled over the compound—a stark contrast to the brutal apocalyptic wasteland outside the walls.
Far above, staring down at a monitoring screen, Qiao Yuan mysteriously smiled. The gesture made the system shiver as the display slowly zoomed in on Zhao Yuan's peaceful sleeping face. The system played dead, quietly allowing its master to watch the girl with rapt attention. Thinking of how much effort its master had exerted to construct this sanctuary, the automated interface couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment over all the mechanical abuse it had endured along the way.
Hours later, when Zhao Yuan was awakened by her internal alarm, she remained completely unaware of the master's watchfulness as she prepared to serve her new guests.
Based on her earlier observations, she estimated a headcount of at least one hundred customers. Since each progression tier required her to serve a minimum of twenty individuals per cycle, she would need to complete at least five full dining rotations to accomplish today's operational goal.
Staring at her uniform reflection in the mirror for a few moments, she offered herself a calm smile before stepping out into the main service hall.
The alarm that had roused her didn't just chime in her quarters—it also blared throughout Block A, waking every refugee housed within the residential units.
Divided into orderly lines, the crowd streamed out of the buildings and gathered in the central square, assembling neatly in front of the primary notice board. Had Zhao Yuan seen how remarkably disciplined they were acting, she might have wondered how they had been trained so quickly.
In reality, the system had already distributed mandatory rulebooks and behavioral protocols to every occupant, detailing guidelines for all facility activities—including dining.
As soon as the crowd assembled, the display board illuminated. Recognizing that some were straining to read, the system projected glowing text directly into the air for clear visibility:
[Meal Services Protocol]
Meals will be served in the central restaurant at designated intervals with fixed menus.
All residents are divided into seven dining groups.
Customers must enter according to their assigned group number and review the mealtime requirements before entering the facility.
Strict silence is enforced within the restaurant. Customers are expected to consume their meal and exit efficiently.
Reading through the rigid regulations, a few residents felt overwhelmed, wondering why something as simple as eating had to be so complicated. Yet, despite their mild grievances, no one dared to complain given the desperate circumstances they had escaped to get here.
The members of Group 1 quickly organized themselves and marched toward the restaurant entrance, where a secondary board greeted them with additional instructions. This time, they were required to select their meal preferences from the menu and submit a pledge of payment.
Goaded by gnawing hunger, everyone registered their pledges and filed inside.
The restaurant resembled a standard dining establishment, featuring a spacious, open seating area. The only distinct feature was the kitchen counter, where patrons had to step forward to receive their selected meals.
Ordering required no verbal communication. Patrons simply stood before the counter for a brief moment before their prepared food was pushed out to them.
Watching the industrious custodian move tirelessly around the kitchen to keep up with the orders, several customers watched with a mix of curiosity and pity, wondering why anyone would willingly take on such an exhausting job.
Zhao Yuan ignored the sympathetic glances directed her way, accelerating her movements with practiced efficiency. By the time the meal window closed, the patrons were left marveling at how the custodian managed to deliver every order with absolute precision without speaking a single word.
None of them realized that the counter was equipped with an integrated neural scanner, which interpreted each customer's order and displayed it directly to Zhao Yuan the moment she looked at them.
As the residents enjoyed this rare moment of peace to socialize in the courtyard, Gao Haiming was preoccupied. He felt as though he hadn't seen Gu Shinyue in an eternity, and finding her alive here was the greatest relief he had experienced since the apocalypse began.
"When did you arrive?" he asked Gu Shinyue, clinging tightly to her hand with both of his.