Inside the cockpit, Lin Qi saw multiple signals for help rising from the distant dormitory buildings.
Fluttering white bedsheets, red underwear hoisted on clothes-drying poles...
The number of survivors at Mo University was considerable, a proportion significantly higher than outside the campus.
'College students really are hard to kill.'
Lin Qi had no intention of rescuing them. The Mecha had no extra space to accommodate survivors.
A rescue would require the intervention of the Doomsday World's official forces. All Lin Qi needed to do was rendezvous with the rescue team.
The M-Class Mecha strode with firm steps, heading off campus.
...
In the dormitory area, the survivors watched the Mecha depart, their spirits sinking slightly.
"That's probably not from the rescue team. Judging by where it appeared, it must be something those bastards from the Mechanical College cooked up."
"Judging by the balancing algorithm, the School of Computer Science must have had a hand in it too."
"That thing can't rescue anyone, for sure. Let's hope it's sturdy enough. If it can meet up with the rescue team, our chances of being saved will be much higher."
Inside the dormitory buildings, the survivors were gathered together.
They weren't short on resources. As Mo University students, they had used their radios early on and received the official announcements.
They perfectly demonstrated the proactiveness of modern college students, quickly rallying other survivors and clearing the Zombies from their respective dormitory buildings.
They watched over each other from across the buildings; almost every dorm had a group of survivors of varying sizes.
The greatest loss the survivors here had experienced since the apocalypse began was the eruption of the Red Moon.
If it weren't for the Red Moon, they might have banded together and fought their way off campus long ago.
The survivors stood at their windows, communicating between buildings using large-character posters made from A1-sized drawing paper.
"Don't get anxious! Don't be rash! Don't disturb the things downstairs!"
The Mecha's appearance didn't cause a commotion. The survivors remained silent, avoiding any disturbance to the "things downstairs."
After the Red Moon, some survivors died and became Zombies, and among them, more powerful individuals were born.
Thankfully, the Mo University students were sharp and had thrown them out of the buildings beforehand.
Otherwise, that single tide of Spiritual Energy would have wiped out the survivor groups in several dormitories.
...
On his way out of Modu University, Lin Qi saw what the survivors were doing.
'It seems there's a reason why college students are hard to kill.'
He sighed briefly to himself. The Mecha's progress didn't falter in the slightest; it took about ten minutes to leave the Modu University area.
Along the way, a few Zombies occasionally charged the colossal Mecha but were unable to cause any damage.
After a few collisions, the Zombies were driven by instinct to continue their search for living creatures.
Zombies have no intelligence, but they could tell the Mecha had nothing to do with flesh and blood, so they wouldn't show much interest in it.
The Mecha's advance didn't cause any large-scale gathering of Zombies.
There was no need to activate the weapons system for the time being.
"Lin Qi, where are we going now?" Watching the Mecha's route, Xia Chu couldn't figure out what Lin Qi was planning.
This path seemed to be heading toward the center of Modu.
"To rendezvous with the rescue team. The radio hasn't had a signal for a long time."
"I scouted in this direction earlier. There was a firefight not far from here."
As Lin Qi spoke, he displayed the footage collected by the scavenger bots.
He locked the camera onto the giant Zombie.
"First, we'll deal with this giant Zombie, then we'll find the rescue team."
Lin Qi had his eyes on the giant Crimson Crystal Stone on the Zombie's head.
Regardless of whether this thing was the same as a regular Crimson Crystal Stone, it certainly didn't look like a Tier One Extraordinary Item.
Lin Qi would become a Tier Two Wizard sooner or later, so it would definitely be useful to him.
The Mecha's current position was less than five hundred meters from the location he had scouted, and the site of the firefight was now within visual range.
The surrounding buildings showed signs of being hit by explosions.
The giant Zombie was still there, constantly trying to get up, but half of its body seemed paralyzed.
'Did the rescue team manage to paralyze this giant Zombie?'
Lin Qi stopped the Mecha and frowned slightly.
He had originally thought the rescue team had actively retreated because they were no match for the giant Zombie.
But now it seemed the giant Zombie was no match for heavy firepower at all; it had already been crippled by modern weaponry.
A couple more shots at most, and the giant Zombie would be finished.
'But where was the rescue team?'
'Where did they go?'
Lin Qi slowed his approach, keeping his Spiritual Vision continuously active.
Nothing unusual appeared even as he drew close to the giant Zombie.
The giant Zombie was slightly smaller than the Mecha. Seeing the Mecha approach, its instincts sparked a desire to attack.
It reached out, clawing at the Mecha's chest—the location of the cockpit.
The Chainsaw Sword activated.
A single slash.
The Zombie's arm was severed.
'This Zombie can sense the living person inside the Mecha?'
Lin Qi made his assessment.
If the area were safe enough, an L-level Researcher's typical MO would be to conduct a brief study of this Zombie.
But this place clearly held potential risks, and Lin Qi was decisive.
The Mecha reached out directly, aiming for the Zombie's head, which already had half its skull blown off by heavy firepower.
The watermelon-sized Crimson Crystal Stone was gouged out directly by the Mecha.
Once the Crimson Crystal Stone was removed from its brain, the giant Zombie's struggling body immediately went still.
The Mecha's sensors reported data: the temperature of the Mecha's hand reached 400 degrees.
This was probably not the same type of Extraordinary Item as a regular Crimson Crystal Stone.
A 400-degree temperature also didn't seem like something you could dissolve under your tongue.
With the threat of the giant Zombie gone, Lin Qi continued to observe the surrounding environment.
Judging by the explosions and bullet traces, Lin Qi found the rescue team's position on that day.
He focused his senses in the direction of the rescue team's position.
Within his Spiritual Vision, the concentration of Spiritual Particles in that direction was clearly abnormal.
'The direction isn't on the ground. It's above...'
He looked in the direction of the Spiritual Particle anomaly.
It was a hundred-story skyscraper. The building's exterior showed no signs of anything unusual.
The distance was even beyond the range of his Spiritual Vision.
But based on the concentration of Spiritual Particles, there was definitely something on the roof.
'An Extraordinary Item? An Extraordinary Professional? Or a monster?'
Lin Qi thought a monster was the most likely possibility. Judging by the density of the Spiritual Particles, it was at least a Tier Three existence.
The rescue team had probably fallen at the hands of this monster.
"Lin Qi, why don't we go up and take a look?" Xia Chu asked softly.
Lin Qi immediately turned to look at Xia Chu. A dazed look had appeared in her eyes.
Upon hearing Xia Chu's voice, even Lin Qi felt an impulse to go upstairs and take a look.
Without a hint of hesitation, the Mecha sped back the way it came at full tilt.
'No need to look for the rescue team anymore.'
'Their location was already crystal clear.'
'And they were, in all likelihood, stone dead.'
'The pace of this apocalypse is all wrong!'
Lin Qi left so quickly that by the time Xia Chu shook off her dazed state, she was stunned to find they were already back inside the Modu University campus.