HAGLTP Chapter 48

Ai Zhenzhen and Hao Si looked at Xiao Lu with admiration, as he swiftly dealt with two teachers who had been a source of adolescent trauma both in life and death, igniting a surge of camaraderie in them to follow their leader.

The academy’s super cool and invincible Xiao Lu is truly fierce!

Under Senior Sister Lin’s roar, the surrounding zombies came in an unending wave.

Xiao Lu, wielding a baguette, forged ahead alone.

But he didn’t feel overwhelmed despite the increasing number of zombies; instead, he felt more relaxed as he fought.

In the previous world, he had spent five years practicing the Extermination Sword Technique. Every move, every stance, every transition had been etched into his soul.

Now, even with just a comically oversized baguette in hand, he could still execute the sword techniques with fluidity.

At this moment, he realized that his swordplay was even smoother than in the last world.

It was a feeling hard to describe; previously, every move felt like it was shackled, but now, those shackles had vanished.

It was as if the previous world could not contain the full power of the sword techniques, while now he was in a world that could accommodate greater strength, allowing his swordplay to unleash even more power.

Even with two burdensome companions and not being a powerful ability user himself, Xiao Lu still carved a bloody path forward with unstoppable momentum.

Finally, they left the dormitory area.

Senior Sister Lin’s roar was no longer audible, and the remaining zombies had ceased their pursuit, leaving only a few weak zombies around, which were quickly dealt with.

“Whew, whew, whew…” Ai Zhenzhen and Hao Si squatted on the ground, gasping for breath while holding their battered baguette.

Although he hadn’t been injured during their escape, the baguette that had been protecting them was now battered and bruised.

Ai Zhenzhen looked at the baguette in her hands.

The baguette had valiantly collected a dozen zombie teeth. At the same time, it had sustained many injuries, its surface pockmarked like the moon’s surface. But one must admit that the traditional shield of the warrior nation was still quite powerful; even in this state, the injuries hadn’t compromised half of the baguette’s defense.

Ai Zhenzhen stroked the baguette, feeling a pang of sympathy: “Oh dear, my good partner, how did you get so hurt? If I had known, I would have treated you better.”

Hao Si said, “You didn’t hold back on cursing it when you were gnawing on it in the dormitory until your gums bled.”

Ai Zhenzhen: “That was because I hadn’t realized its true purpose! I foolishly tried to use my delicate little body to withstand the universe’s strongest shield; that was my fault, not its.”

Xiao Lu’s baguette was also nearing its limit. After continuous attacks, the hard surface had cracked and wouldn’t hold out much longer.

Ahead was a half-meter-high roller shutter door, and Xiao Lu asked the two, “What place is that?”

Ai Zhenzhen looked and said, “It should be a convenience store.”

The three entered the convenience store.

As expected, most of the edible items had been taken, leaving only some flashy chewing gum and toys.

But there were still some gains.

Ten minutes later, Ai Zhenzhen and Hao Si had exchanged their baguette for enamel pot lids, Ai Zhenzhen’s featuring a theme of blooming flowers, while Hao Si’s depicted mandarin ducks playing in water. Each of them wore a metal bucket on their heads and even wielded a metal spatula as a weapon.

This fully armed appearance clearly indicated they had graduated from the novice village.

Xiao Lu had found a sturdy iron rod as thick as his arm, dark and hard, swinging it with a whoosh, comparable to the baguette.

“Ha ha! Now we are invincible!” Ai Zhenzhen laughed heartily.

“Gurgle…” Unfortunately, his stomach betrayed him with a growl.

Ai Zhenzhen, disappointed, rubbed his belly. The invincible aura that had just risen instantly deflated; even the strong needed to eat.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t survive on chewing gum.

At that moment, Xiao Lu spoke up: “If you don’t mind, I might have something to eat.”

“Really?” Ai Zhenzhen looked at him with hope.

Hao Si adjusted his glasses, instinctively feeling something was off. If there was really food, why hadn’t he brought it out earlier?

Xiao Lu raised his hand and knocked three times in the air.

In the next moment, a thick hardcover book fell from the sky, which Xiao Lu caught with his hand.

The book was entirely black, beautifully bound, with intricate gold foil patterns on the surface, and some text written on it, but unfortunately, no one could understand it.

“So magical!” Ai Zhenzhen felt as if she were watching a magic show.

Xiao Lu: “This is my ability, called Encyclopedia.”

But its actual use had nothing to do with its name.

Xiao Lu casually flipped the book open, and inside were still those incomprehensible characters.

The illustrations provided a rough idea of what the chapter was about, but the images depicted bizarre things, and the artistry was quite strange. It was somewhat similar to the chaotic diagrams from the previous world, but the drawing skills and reliability were far inferior.

Xiao Lu searched through the jumbled lines and found an image that looked somewhat like a snack, saying to the two, “Let’s take a chance.”

The other two stared at the lines as if facing a formidable enemy.

This thing didn’t look edible at all, did it?

Xiao Lu raised his finger and lightly tapped the image three times, and then the snack depicted on the paper materialized into reality.

It seemed to be a fruit cake. The fluffy, soft cake body, the creamy sweetness, and the fragrant red fruits made it look incredibly tempting.

“Wow!” Ai Zhenzhen exclaimed in delight.

Xiao Lu generously pushed the cake toward her: “If you’re brave enough, you can eat first.”

“Then I won’t hold back!” Ai Zhenzhen’s eyes sparkled as she quickly grabbed a small piece of cake and stuffed it into her mouth.

Hao Si’s suspicious gaze darted between the cake, Xiao Lu, and Ai Zhenzhen.

He remembered that Lu Ge had said, “If you’re brave enough,” but did one need to be brave to eat a regular piece of cake? Yet he cunningly didn’t stop Ai Zhenzhen’s actions.

Under the watchful eyes of the other two, Ai Zhenzhen first chewed with a satisfied expression, her cheeks stuffed full.

“Mm—”

The next second, Ai Zhenzhen covered her mouth, as if trying to endure something. But she couldn’t hold it in; she quickly turned away and, unable to bear it, spat the cake out.

“Ugh… what is this… why does it taste like… ugh… the stinky socks my dad hides under the bed… ugh ugh ugh…”

Xiao Lu decisively threw away the cake in his hand, then took out a small notebook to record the page number he had just opened and marked it with a cross.

He concluded, “Looks like today’s luck isn’t great either.”

This was the reason why this ability was considered useless. The illustrations in the book were drawn poorly, and the words were unrecognizable; you didn’t know what was depicted, and even if you were lucky enough to find something you wanted, it might not look as it appeared, making it worse than opening a blind box.

Moreover, this ability had a long cooldown time, not allowing you to try multiple times, and it came with a huge mental energy cost.

Calling it useless was a euphemism; it was essentially a worthless ability.

After rinsing his mouth with some clean water he found, Ai Zhenzhen’s eyes were vacant, clearly in a state of gasping for air, having suffered a severe physical and mental blow.

“Ah… Mom… your son… is about to set sail…”

“Ai Zhenzhen, hold on! Stay awake, you can’t sleep, you can’t sleep!!!” Hao Si desperately shook Ai Zhenzhen’s shoulders.

Hao Si turned to Xiao Lu and asked, “He won’t die, right?”

“Theoretically, he shouldn’t,” Xiao Lu observed using the knowledge of diagnosis he had mastered in the previous world.

“Ah… Grandma… is waving at me…”

“Hold on, Ai Zhenzhen!!!”

“Ha ha, you all seem to be having a lively time.” A cold male voice with a hint of malice rang out at the door.

Xiao Lu looked toward the entrance.

The newcomer was dressed in an exquisite pure black suit, wearing black leather gloves, and a matching cashmere coat. The quality of the clothing was excellent, outlining sharp lines.

He wore gold-rimmed glasses, even meticulously pairing them with a glasses chain, and his hair was neatly combed. He didn’t look like someone struggling to survive in the apocalypse, but rather like a male model who had slipped out of a fashion show for a breather.

Such an appearance easily garnered goodwill.

If it weren’t for the obviously malicious gaze.

Before Xiao Lu could speak, the seemingly dying Ai Zhenzhen had already sprung up from the ground: “Teach, teach, teach, teach, teach, Director—”

Hao Si also looked like he was facing a formidable enemy, tense from head to toe, as if someone would pick him up and snap him in half at any moment.

To be honest, they hadn’t been this terrified even when they encountered their zombified homeroom teacher.

“Hello, Teacher Huo.” Xiao Lu remained calm and greeted the man.

The person before them was named Huo Lin, the devilish director feared by the students at the school.

Sharp-tongued, harsh, strict, cold, and ruthless, his favorite pastime was to roam the school, looking for rule-breaking students from various angles and administering the harshest punishments.

From writing self-reflections, calling parents, campus labor, detention, doubling assignments, reciting school rules, to deep self-reflections during school assemblies, his methods were numerous and varied.

It was said that even if you merely walked past him, he could find thirteen mistakes.

Even in the apocalypse, his reputation remained intact.

Huo Lin strode into the convenience store. His adult height towered over the three teenagers, and dressed in all black, he created an illusion of being shrouded in dark clouds as he stepped inside.

He frowned as he surveyed the messy convenience store, his voice cold and sharp: “Did you do this?”

Ai Zhenzhen immediately shrank into a lump: “N-no, no, no, no, no…”

Hao Si, usually calmer than her, shook his head like a rattle.

“Oh—” Huo Lin dangerously narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on the buckets on their heads, the pot lids in their hands, and the spatula set aside.

It was over; without any evidence of destruction, Ai Zhenzhen couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Xiao Lu stepped forward: “Teacher, it’s true that this isn’t appropriate, but given the circumstances, we shouldn’t focus too much on these details.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a hand clad in black leather gloves gripped his chin, the warmth of another person seeping through the glove.

It was a bit hot.

Huo Lin leaned in suddenly: “It seems our school’s prominent figures have their own ideas, don’t they?”

Xiao Lu: “…”

The silent demeanor made Ai Zhenzhen and Hao Si anxious; they kept signaling Xiao Lu, indicating that when facing such a devil, he should just back down.

But Xiao Lu remained unmoved, looking as if he was determined to court death.

Ai Zhenzhen couldn’t help but clasp her hands together and look at the ceiling, hoping that if there was a God of the Invincible, he would bless their Lu Ge and ensure he didn’t kick the bucket right now.

“Ha.” Huo Lin let out a light laugh, his laughter dangerously sharp, “Is that look in your eyes expressing dissatisfaction with me?”

He withdrew the hand gripping Xiao Lu’s chin, adjusted his glasses, and a malicious smile played at the corner of his mouth: “It seems the teacher needs to keep a close watch on you, lest you die in an unknown place due to your own foolishness.”

Upon hearing this ominous news, Ai Zhenzhen and Hao Si’s faces fell, feeling their legs go weak.

Even in the apocalypse, students still didn’t want to be in the same group as the director, let alone the most unpopular teacher in the school, Huo Lin. Help!

Xiao Lu couldn’t help but think, was this guy taking revenge for the five years he had been manipulated in the previous world?