Bai Zemin approached the window and looked outside. A look of relief flashed in his eyes momentarily before he inadvertently sighed.
"It's finally over."
The crimson flames were flames that came from a Third Order skill. While they did not have the power of a Third Order skill since they were only remnant flames, they definitely could not be considered normal flames by any means.
Back then, when Bai Zemin launched the blood trident enveloped by crimson flames and empowered by a hurricane of wind, the flames surrounded the mutated forest slowly while the gasoline and flammable oil had greatly helped to increase the power of the fire.
Therefore, even after more than two days had passed, the forest still continued to burn fiercely and during the night the crimson blaze could be seen glowing in the sky while the constant crackling sound of the flames could be heard even from the distance.
Because the wildfire was still there, the group of over four hundred survivors had no way of leaving the university. While it was true that they could have circled the site using the areas that had already burned completely, that would be risky as the tires of the buses would ignite when they came into contact with the still-hot ground due to the high temperatures.
However, apparently it had all ended sometime during the night or just before Bai Zemin woke up.
"Time to enter the real stage, little Zemin." Lilith stood up and gently closed the book in her hands as she looked at him with glittering eyes.
Bai Zemin nodded with a grave expression and walked toward the door as he replied, "It's time."
* * *
The initial floor of the library.
It was a little after seven in the morning and the survivors had just finished their breakfasts.
Some of them had satisfied smiles, others appeared to be semi-satisfied and often looked at the supplies hungrily, while others looked at the remaining small grains of white rice with discomfort.
After eating only rice for so long, many were naturally dissatisfied. However, these were those who were unwilling to work to earn the right to receive better food.
Moreover, no one dared to utter a single complaint as their somewhat frightened eyes occasionally glanced to the front where that black-haired demon who killed without batting an eyelash stood.
None wanted to die now that the hope of being embraced by the government was just around the corner. A few even believed that the heinous acts committed by Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue when they killed people would be punished by law.
Suddenly, everyone's attention was attracted by Chen He, who was walking towards the stairs before stopping to look down with a straight expression.
The voices and murmurs stopped immediately as everyone's eyes focused on him, waiting for the new announcement.
As people without any power, the right to speak they had was practically nil, and even if they spoke at the cost of risking being expelled it was likely that no one would listen as had happened in the past. Therefore, they could only listen and obey.
After a few seconds of silence, Chen He began to speak slowly: "As everyone probably already knows, the mutated forest beasts were eradicated by us, and the forest was set on fire by Bai Zemin's skill... After three days of constant burning, the mana of the mutated forest was finally consumed by the flames and all signs of mutation were turned to ashes during the last night."
The expressions on the faces of the survivors froze before the murmuring began.
"The mutation was turned to ashes..."
"That means the way is clear?"
"We can finally get out of this damn place?"
...
Surprise and joy as well as hope; these were the emotions that could be felt in the voices of all those who began to murmur helplessly.
Most of them had worked hard for the past three days so the flesh of the mutated First Order animals had been properly cared for, leaving only the flesh of the Blazing Beetle that had been corroded by the acid of the five Jiao-Lao Snakes untouched. Therefore, they were somewhat exhausted and the good news was certainly a good way to regain energy even if it was only momentary.
With a smile that delighted dozens of female students and even female teachers, Chen He announced, "Start boarding the buses in an orderly manner... We are leaving the university!"
* * *
Ten buses marched in a straight line down the ash-strewn road, carefully circling the areas that were still hot and moving through safe zones.
Although the buses moved slowly, the sound of the engines was especially loud. Still, no zombies appeared in the vicinity nor could any animal or mutated creature be seen charging to attack.
Five buses were being used to move the more than four hundred survivors while the other five were being used to move supplies. While the survivors were a little cramped, temporarily there was no other option so they had to hold on; still, no one was unhappy as this was a normal occurrence in the past.
On the roof of four of the five buses carrying supplies were four beasts over twenty meters long being loaded as their long tails dragged along the ground.
These four creatures were the Jiao-Lao Snakes that had not yet been cared for due to the lack of working tools. Their tough scales were simply too resistant and although Bai Zemin could tear them off one by one with his Xuanyuan Sword it would take him days if not a week to finish them off completely.
It was precisely for that reason that he did not work on the body of the beasts. That was the job of those who did not fight, not his. The most important thing for him was to level up and absorb the Soul Power of those who were stronger!
After approximately twenty to thirty minutes of driving at slowly embarrassing speeds to prevent tire problems, the goal was in sight.
"The exit!"
Inside one of the buses at the front, Wu Yijun exclaimed joyfully as she covered her mouth with both hands.
It wasn't just her, everyone was excited even if they restrained themselves from shouting out loud. Even Shangguan Bing Xue sighed lightly as if she was unconsciously relieving herself of a heavyweight that was weighing on her shoulders.
While the outside world could be dangerous, with hundreds of thousands and millions of zombies as well as countless mutated creatures running rampant; the university was a place where bad memories of the beginning of the end and to which if possible no one wanted to return.
Today, two weeks after the apocalypse hit this world following the arrival of an unknown entity called Soul Record on Earth, they had finally managed to overcome the first major obstacle and had entered the real world stage on which they could shine... or perish.
Sitting in one of the front seats of the first bus, Bai Zemin couldn't help but let a small smile rose on his face as he thought in his loved ones.
Although nothing was certain, hope was something that could not be lost no matter what. For without hope he would have no reason to strive and continue to move forward.