At midnight, the three of them and one cat climbed to the Rooftop again to watch the stars.
No matter how exhausted they were, stargazing every night was non-negotiable. It was the key to staying ahead of everyone else.
They watched until five in the morning, then headed back to the dormitory to catch up on sleep.
Over the next few days, the group went out to kill zombies during the day and returned to the dormitory at night to sleep and stargaze.
After the Cafeteria incident, Yang Bin grew even more cautious. Every time, he confirmed and re-confirmed there was no danger before making a move.
Fortunately, Tier-3 Zombies were becoming more numerous. Each one still had a crowd of lesser zombies around it, but with more targets available, it was easier to find openings.
In three days, Yang Bin's group killed eight Tier-3 Zombies in succession.
Once Hu Wenliang also advanced to Tier 3, the remaining Tier-3 Crystals all went to Yang Bin, pushing his strength to Tier-3 Limit.
After Tier 3, it took seven Tier-3 Crystals to reach the limit.
Each tier demanded more crystals than the last. The further you went, the harder it got.
At Tier-3 Peak, Yang Bin's raw strength broke through one thousand kilograms, reaching over eleven hundred. That already surpassed the limits of the human body.
By his estimate, normal Tier-3 strength should fall around 700 to 900 kilograms. The reason he exceeded a thousand was the additional strength gained from cultivation.
Cultivation gave him over thirty kilograms of strength per day-roughly a hundred every three days. After seven or eight days of practice, he'd accumulated over two hundred extra kilograms.
That surplus alone was enough to crush any Tier-3 expert at the same level.
Chen Hao and Hu Wenliang had each gained over eighty extra kilograms. It didn't sound like much, but cultivation was about accumulation. Given enough time, the advantage would be enormous.
Fewer than a thousand people remained alive in the school. Out of over thirty thousand, less than a thousand survived. The ratio was horrifying.
That number still included the five hundred who escaped from the Cafeteria.
With Tang Weiwei's help, they'd managed to get out of the teaching building.
Now, several powerful teams had emerged across campus. Many of their members had already reached Tier 2 and could handle normal zombie hordes without much trouble.
As strength grew, so did ambition. Combined with the school's dwindling food supply, friction between teams was constant as they fought over resources.
Even Yang Bin's group ran into a few teams that tried to strong-arm them into joining because of their small numbers. Every one of them got beaten until they were crying for their mothers.
Eleventh Day of the Apocalypse, in the Graduate Dormitory...
"Bin-ge, we're out of food. We need to go find some today." Chen Hao rummaged through his backpack with a helpless expression.
"The whole school's probably running dry by now. All the bigger supermarkets have been claimed by the stronger teams. It's not going to be easy." Hu Wenliang frowned.
"Looks like it's about time to leave the school." Yang Bin sighed.
Honestly, he was a little reluctant.
The school was dangerous, sure, but it was enclosed. Outside zombies couldn't get in. Compared to the world beyond the walls, it was far safer.
Plus, they knew the campus inside and out. Once they left, the difficulty of survival would spike dramatically.
But there was no choice. The school only had so much food. Staying forever wasn't an option.
"Let's go. We'll hit a big supermarket first, solve today's food problem, and leave the school tomorrow."
"Got it."
The three shouldered their backpacks and left the dormitory, heading toward one of the larger supermarkets on campus.
When they arrived, the supermarket entrance was shut tight.
Yang Bin activated True Vision Eye and scanned the interior. Forty to fifty people inside.
That wasn't his concern, though. What mattered was whether there was food.
He swept the place. The outer Shelves were picked clean-but the back storage room still had a decent amount.
Good enough.
Yang Bin smiled, stepped forward, and knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" someone inside called out, alarmed.
"Hey, classmate. Open up. We're just here to grab some food." Yang Bin kept his tone polite.
"No food here. Try somewhere else," the person replied.
"Whether there's food or not, we'll see for ourselves once we're inside. Better open up. This door isn't exactly sturdy-be a shame if it got damaged."
"I said there's nothing! Piss off! You break this door and I'll kill you!" someone snarled.
The words barely left his mouth before a loud bang echoed through the space. A massive hole appeared in the middle of the Rolling Shutter Door, a foot punching clean through from outside.
Then a pair of hands gripped the edges and tore the metal apart. Three figures stepped through the gap like they owned the place.
"!!!"
"What the fuck! You broke our door! You got a death wish?!" The man at the front-brown-dyed hair, veins popping in his neck-erupted.
Someone behind him grabbed his sleeve, voice shaking. "Li-ge, it's... it's those three!"
"I don't care who-" The man got a clear look at the trio. His face went slack. "...Shit."
"Uh... Captain Yang. Didn't realize it was you. My bad." He switched to an apology so fast it was almost comical.
"You know me?" Yang Bin raised an eyebrow.
"Who on campus doesn't know you by now?" The man laughed bitterly.
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm that famous?"
"You, uh... might not be aware, but the teams around here put together a list of groups you absolutely do not mess with." The man lowered his voice. "You three are number one."
"There's a ranking like that? News to me."
"You guys keep to yourselves. You barely interact with other teams, so it makes sense you wouldn't know. Besides, this is the kind of info we need to stay alive. You... probably don't."
"Fair enough. I don't really care either way. Got food?"
The man hesitated, but ultimately didn't dare lie. "...Some."
He turned to the people behind him. "Go to the storage room. Bring out the food."
"But-"
"Now!!"
"...Fine."
They shuffled toward the back, faces grim.
Food was the foundation of survival. Their own supply was running low, and nobody wanted to hand it over to strangers.
But they'd run into these three bandits. Hand it over or get it taken-those were the only options.
A few minutes later, they returned with two boxes. One of crackers, one of bread.
"There you go. Is that enough?" the man asked carefully.
Yang Bin tossed their three backpacks over.
"Pack these up for us. And grab a few bottles of water while you're at it."
"Sure." The man didn't dare refuse.
Shortly after, all three backpacks were stuffed full. The man handed them back along with several bottles of mineral water, then hesitated before speaking.
"Captain Yang... with your kind of strength, why not recruit more people? All the teams on campus are at each other's throats. I think you could easily unify them."
"Not interested."
Yang Bin turned and left with the other two. No hesitation, no lingering.
"Li-ge, they took so much... when the boss gets back, he's gonna kill us." One of the underlings looked like he was about to cry.
"What was I supposed to do? We ran into those three bandits. If the boss asks, tell him the truth. He's welcome to go get it back himself."