There was actually another reason why Mo Shao chose to head toward Seven Hills City—there was a top-tier Dead-binding artifact in that direction!
It was one of the Plates of the creator god, Arceus, from Pokémon!
Upon obtaining it, in addition to gaining immunity to attacks of the corresponding attribute, one could also acquire the abilities of that attribute!
Furthermore, what was there wasn’t just a single Plate; it was the Jewel of Life from Arceus and the Jewel of Life!
A single Jewel of Life was equivalent to five Plates: Water, Grass, Earth, Lightning, and Dragon! And most importantly, nobody was guarding it!
That thing was buried deep within ruins. Whoever dug it up owned it! It wasn't until the mid-to-late stages of the apocalypse that a scavenger would accidentally stumble upon it.
After all, it appeared as nothing more than ordinary ruins. If one couldn't recognize exactly what the location used to be, no one would naturally bother digging there.
Crucially, the exact locations of all the Plates would later be revealed during a super-large Retrospective Phantom event in the future!
—And several of them still hadn't been found by the very end!
...
Speaking of which, if it weren't for the fact that half of the Twelve Talismans were running around in animal forms, it would be impossible to pin down their locations...
And most importantly—there was a dog! An immortal dog!
By virtue of its immortality, that dog grew strong at a heaven-defying speed once the fantasies descended into reality!
In the early stages, finding it was impossible, and even if one did, there was no way to extract the power of the Dog Talisman from it. There was simply no way to deal with it!
—So how could anyone hope to collect them all?
Otherwise, she probably would have chosen to Dead-bind the Twelve Talismans. After all, the powers they granted were indeed very comprehensive.
...
“Um... could you take us with you? Maybe we could be of some help.”
“I don’t mind, but are you sure?”
“It’s three hundred kilometers from here. Moreover, I only know how to get there; I have no idea what kind of dangers we’ll encounter along the way.”
This was the downside of the [Pathfinding] ability.
—It only told her the direction and the distance, but it said absolutely nothing about what she would pass through or what dangers she would face.
In this post-apocalyptic world where fantasy had descended, how many obstacles would there be on the road? How many things would be capable of seeing through the invisibility of the Snake Talisman?
—She knew without even thinking that there would be a lot!
Furthermore, she couldn't just keep dodging every monster she met. Once [Order] “woke up,” she would need to level up by killing monsters.
And in a place like this, wanting to play a game of one-on-one with a monster?
Unless one encountered a powerful “Boss” unit with its own established territory, the only path was being ganged up on by a crowd.
—And it wasn’t like she could just start farming Bosses right away, right?
Mo Shao wanted to, but she didn’t have the capability yet!
...
So, in reality, she had already planned to take these people along, and she was even thinking of bringing more.
First, they could help shoulder the pressure when encountering enemies, saving her from being swarmed and allowing her to pass through the early stage steadily.
Second, in the event of a life-or-death crisis—these people could serve as “sacrifices” for the emergency.
Of course, she wouldn't go as far as to intentionally sabotage others; that wasn't her character. She would simply be “faster at running than her teammates.”
In any case, staying here and doing nothing until the end was a guaranteed death sentence. It was better for them to follow her out and take a chance.
...
“I see. Could you give us some time... we need to discuss it briefly,” Little Ka said with a slight apologetic air.
“Help yourself.” Mo Shao waved her hand dismissively and nodded, then turned back to pick at her snacks.
As long as there were enough smart people and someone to lead, they would eventually agree. The masses were always prone to blind following, after all.
Besides, most of these guys were in high school, right at the “peak of their intelligence.” They should be able to figure it out.
At most, someone might doubt the truth of her words, but they currently had no other source of information besides her.
Even if some stubborn people chose to stay behind, it wouldn't matter much. The majority would definitely follow.
As long as there were enough people to share the pressure, the school had more than enough survivors. If others wanted to stay and wait for death, then so be it.
They weren't her relatives or friends. She had already done more than enough by being helpful.
...
As for the survivors' discussion...
“I told you fantasies were coming true!” The first to speak up was a guy in glasses... though that wasn't exactly a distinguishing feature.
—After all, there were tons of high schoolers with glasses.
“Bullshit, you didn't say anything that comprehensive before!” The second to chime in was a tall guy next to him; the two seemed to be friends.
“Alright, alright, stop with the idle chatter and get down to business!” The third to bring the topic back on track was a female teacher:
“What should we do next? What does everyone think?”
Well, looking at her stylish appearance, she was probably either an English teacher or a music teacher, with English being more likely.
—High school music teachers were far too rare.
...
“Let’s just listen to her. I feel like she’s pretty reliable,” a boy who looked like a class committee member said.
“But there’s so much food here. It should last us a long time, right? Maybe we should wait for rescue?”
A somewhat timid girl weakly raised her hand.
“Didn't you hear her say this place is doomed sooner or later?” someone else said, shaking their head and asking seriously.
“But we can’t even verify if her words are true or false, can we?” Once someone started the conversation, the discussion grew lively...
“Well, the internet is down, so the military has no idea where we are. There aren't any military bases near here either.”
“And there are no important people or assets here. So even if the military were to save people, they wouldn't come for us first.”
...
Quite a few people were actively sharing their thoughts.
“Besides, we don't have any other source of information. Looking at her face, she doesn't seem like a bad person.”
“You can read faces now?”
“No, it's just a pure gut feeling.”
“Then why the hell are you even talking!”
“It’s intuition, you know~”
—Of course, there were also many people joking around. After all, there were always some big-hearted optimists, which was actually a good thing.
—Being able to lighten the mood was better than having a depressing atmosphere.
...
“Hmm... Look at all that stuff from Minecraft on her. It proves her understanding of the outside world is definitely better than ours.”
“By the way, we still don't know where she’s planning to go, do we?”
“It’s definitely safer than this crappy school regardless.”
“True.” Opinions gradually unified during the exchange. Regardless of what they thought privately, it was at least the case on the surface.
...
In the very end, everyone turned their eyes toward Little Ka, who only spoke occasionally. “I think, for this matter, we still have to see...”
As the strongest among them, her opinion was naturally very important.
“As for me, I want to go out and see for myself first, to confirm the situation outside,” Little Ka said, straightening her expression and answering solemnly.
Ultimately, their consensus was relayed to Mo Shao—though with her hearing, she had already overheard everything.
—She had even “marked” a few troublemakers along the way.
“Alright, then let’s go out.” Mo Shao nodded in response and then walked straight toward the sealed main door of the supermarket exit.
“There are still monsters at the door. I should be able to deal with one or two...” Little Ka also moved quickly, following close behind with her sword in hand.
“Yeah. I’ll handle the Gulpuff and the Mimic,” Mo Shao quickly made the tactical arrangement. “You just keep an eye on that Cruisewing.”
—In reality, she could have just dug a hole in the ceiling and built a staircase out of blocks to let everyone exit from the second floor.
But since this was a great opportunity to earn some prestige...
—Then she was definitely going to flex her muscles!
Rate on N.U.
