Chapter Forty-Six: The Fifth Wave of the Undead Tide

Teaming up with Xie Nai Nai was not merely a verbal agreement; it required confirmation through the system interface. In PVE mode, unless two players formed a team via the system, it was impossible for one to open the other's storage box or doors. Once teamed up, all buildings—excluding items—owned by team members became the property of the entire team. The person initiating the team became its leader, and the leader had the right to expel members from the group.

Since the shelter was built entirely by Qin Fei, he naturally became the leader of the two. Through his conversations with Xie Nai Nai, Qin Fei discovered something peculiar. According to her descriptions, the world she previously experienced seemed to be based on the game Survival on a Deserted Island. But when Qin Fei mentioned this game, Xie Nai Nai claimed she had never even heard of it; she was equally unfamiliar with the world of Seven Days to Die in which they now found themselves.

Of course, many girls never play games. It was not surprising that Xie Nai Nai had never tried Seven Days to Die or Survival on a Deserted Island. However, her three teammates in the previous world were also completely ignorant of the game world they had traversed into. This was unusual.

Qin Fei deduced that Xie Nai Nai’s real world was likely not the same as his own, but rather a so-called parallel universe. After comparing the years in which they crossed over, he discovered that Xie Nai Nai had arrived from 2018, while his own transition occurred in 2020. The situation became clear: in Xie Nai Nai's world, those games like Seven Days to Die didn’t exist. Among those who had crossed over from Qin Fei’s world, he seemed to be the only one—at least, according to Xie Nai Nai’s information.

In other words, Qin Fei alone possessed knowledge of these games’ plots and mechanics, a potentially enormous advantage. For instance, when Qin Fei traversed into the world of The Long Dark, anyone unfamiliar with the game might starve or freeze to death soon after arriving, simply because they didn’t know the map. They wouldn’t know to avoid the areas frequented by wolves or where to find food and supplies. Unlike Qin Fei, who was well-versed in gameplay and plot, others would have to painstakingly explore and gradually acquire such information.

Naturally, Qin Fei didn’t disclose this to Xie Nai Nai. She was, after all, merely a teammate encountered by chance in this journey. Next time, in a PVP world, they might well become enemies. There was no reason for him to let her know his advantage.

With Xie Nai Nai’s assistance, Qin Fei’s efficiency in crafting steel plates increased considerably. Before the fifth wave of zombies arrived, the two had managed to build four blade traps. Including the two blade traps damaged in the previous wave—which Qin Fei had repaired—he now possessed six in total.

Day thirty-five. The blood moon hung overhead. Its size was now almost perfectly round, and the difficulty of this zombie wave far surpassed all previous encounters.

Qin Fei gripped his shotgun, quietly crouched atop the high platform. He had lent his iron crossbow to Xie Nai Nai for the time being. Xie Nai Nai herself owned a pistol, but her bullets had long been depleted. Copper casings were difficult to craft, and even Qin Fei had only about fifty rounds of nine-millimeter ammunition, so he certainly wouldn’t share any with her. Aside from the shotgun and iron crossbow, Qin Fei had also rushed to create a dozen or so pipe bombs to handle overwhelming numbers of zombies.

The first wave of the blood moon was, as always, a horde of zombie dogs. The difficulty had increased this time, and with an extra person in the shelter, over a dozen zombie dogs charged out at once. However, as before, they fell into the deep pit and were swiftly impaled by the barricades within.

The subsequent waves were also repelled by Qin Fei with ease. His shelter’s defenses were now far superior to before. With six blade traps, any zombies that made it past the electric grid would be shredded by the whirling steel blades. As midnight approached, six military fat zombies appeared in the distance, spewing acidic bile toward Qin Fei.

Had Qin Fei still been using the iron crossbow, he wouldn’t have been able to hit these fat zombies. But now, armed with a shotgun, things were different. The shotgun’s power allowed him to shoot through their heads with lead pellets. After a few agonized screams, most of them exploded where they stood. Since their deaths occurred far from the shelter, their self-destruction caused no damage to it.

After dispatching the military fat zombies, Xie Nai Nai, who was crouched beside him, suddenly raised her hand and pointed into the distance. “There’s green light over there…”

Green light?

Qin Fei followed her gaze. In the distance, three figures glowing with green light were charging toward the shelter.

Damn! Mutant green-skinned zombies!

Qin Fei had already witnessed their power in the water treatment plant. He hadn’t expected three to appear at once. Perhaps because it was night, these green-skinned zombies seemed to run even faster than during the day.

“Shoot the greens first!” Qin Fei, gripping his shotgun, fired continuously at the three approaching green-skinned zombies. Xie Nai Nai switched from her iron crossbow to a thunder tube, shooting at them as well.

Yet the green-skinned zombies’ defenses were formidable, and their regenerative abilities were extraordinary. The pebbles from the thunder tube had little effect, and even the wounds Qin Fei inflicted with lead pellets healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Despite the combined firepower of Qin Fei and Xie Nai Nai, the three green-skinned zombies quickly reached the base of the platform. Fortunately, their ankles were severed by the blade traps, and they collapsed to the ground. The blade traps were indeed effective.

Yet, due to their resilient bodies, only one of the green-skinned zombies was shredded by the blades after falling. The other two regrew their feet in a short span and rose, standing outside the reach of the blade traps. They began a frenzied assault on the shelter.

Something happened—amidst the crackling sound of electric currents, the spinning blade traps below suddenly stopped. It looked like a power outage. The outer electric grid also lost power, and zombies touching it were no longer affected.

With the blade traps and electric grid disabled, hordes of zombies reached the base of the platform and began fiercely attacking the concrete pillars.

Qin Fei frowned. He guessed that the green-skinned zombies, having evaded the blade traps, had inadvertently snapped the power lines. This needed immediate repairs.

Qin Fei glanced at Xie Nai Nai and ordered, “Jump down, run a bit farther, and lead these zombies away.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m fixing the wires. The power’s out below, I have to fix it, right?”

Xie Nai Nai pouted in reluctance. “Why should I go? Why don’t you do it?”

“Do you know how to fix it? Are you an electrician?”

Qin Fei’s words left Xie Nai Nai speechless. He tapped her arm with the shotgun, urging, “Hurry up, the pillars below won’t hold much longer.”