Published: January 31, 2025
The tennis court and the playground were separated by a small road. Ye Zhongming had already cleared out the zombies here before.
He smoothly arrived at the main entrance of the tennis court. Ye Zhongming looked around, and perhaps because there were fewer people when the apocalypse started, it looked no different from usual from the outside.
In fact, Ye Zhongming felt a bit anxious in his heart; he was afraid that the Secret Realm Key wasn't here. After all, in his previous life, he had hidden in a building not far from here and hadn't noticed any abnormal lights at all.
Suddenly, a series of intense gunshots rang out from the south side of the city, causing Ye Zhongming, who was about to enter the tennis court, to stop. He looked at the sky in the distance, which was faintly illuminated by gunfire; that should be the location of the armed police force headquarters. It seemed that the armed forces in the city were still organizing a counterattack.
However, there was a slight dimness in Ye Zhongming's eyes. He knew that although the country's armed forces would still be an important power in the world in his previous life, they were not capable of changing much. Rescue efforts were only effective within a very limited scope. As for the extermination of human enemies, after trying a few large-scale operations in the first year of the apocalypse, there were no more organized actions.
This was inevitable because the enemies of humanity were too powerful. For ten years of the apocalypse, humanity remained in a passive state.
After silently wishing them good luck, Ye Zhongming entered the tennis court.
The city had lost power, and the tennis court was pitch black. If Ye Zhongming had not been a one-star evolver, he might have had trouble seeing anything. As he passed through the lobby, he dealt with two zombies, presumably staff who had stayed behind, and aside from that, he encountered no other dangers.
The tennis court had two floors. The first floor was the competition area, with only one court surrounded by many spectator seats. The facilities were very advanced and frequently hosted city-level tennis competitions. The second floor was mainly for training and teaching, with only standard courts and no spectator seats.
The first floor was spacious, and one could see the end at a glance. Everything here seemed normal, with no signs of abnormalities.
Ye Zhongming's heart sank. Not finding the key on the first floor meant hope was cut in half. Suppressing his slight disappointment, he quickly went up to the second floor.
The second floor was divided into three areas: a resting and bathing area and two court areas. He began searching the areas counterclockwise, only to become more and more disappointed. Could it really be that the Secret Realm Key wasn't here? Or had those teachers and students lied to him?
Before long, he finished inspecting the two independent court areas, but there was nothing to be found.
Could it be in the remaining, smallest resting area?
With his last bit of hope, Ye Zhongming walked over. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly ducked behind a partition, as voices drifted out from the resting area.
"We've been watching for so long, what do we do now? Don’t everyone just stay silent."
The voice was urgent, tinged with... some complaint.
A few seconds later, another person said, "What to do? You were the one who said to come see what was going on, and now someone’s dead, and you ask us what to do?"
This person was clearly dissatisfied with the first speaker, but what was the situation with someone dead?
Ye Zhongming didn’t move, instead, he continued to listen intently.
"Who knew this would happen? That damn thing actually bites people! Lin Li, I’m telling you, don’t talk to me in that tone. The dead person was my brother, not yours, and you have no right to lecture me."
"Alright, everyone, let’s keep it down and think of a solution. Should we work together to go in and kill that mad dog, or should we just leave?" This third voice had a heavy nasal tone, making it somewhat uncomfortable to listen to.