You say the cataclysm only comes after you've cleared the entire dungeon?

A huge yurt was set up in the atrium of Cuiping Shopping Mall, with a large round table moved from a restaurant inside, serving as a temporary meeting room for the command center.

When Lou Fengyue arrived at the central courtyard, the surroundings were noisy, filled with non-native residents who had been temporarily resettled, as well as some wounded people who had just been rescued.

At the entrance to the yurt, two soldiers in camouflage stood. They saw her hesitate for a moment, but still reached out to stop her.

"Comrade Loulan, a meeting is in progress inside. Please wait a moment."

Lou Fengyue stopped and shouted directly inside, "Qin Qian, it's urgent!"

The curtain was lifted from the inside, and Qin Qian peeked out, seeing Lou Fengyue standing outside. His expression was a little unnatural.

It seemed they were deliberating whether or not to let her in.

Lou Fengyue clearly had no intention of going in to participate in the meeting, and said directly, "A Class D zombie has appeared on the streets of the central district, escaping from the hotel."

"Rank D?" Qin Qian frowned, immediately turned to the side, and lifted the curtain wider. "Come in and talk."

Lou Fengyue paused for half a second, then stepped inside.

There were seven or eight people sitting around the large round table: an officer in camouflage, a doctor in a white coat, and a middle-aged woman she had never seen before.

Her hair was neatly styled, and she wore gold-rimmed glasses, exuding the capable air of a state-owned enterprise executive.

A hand-drawn map of the safe zone was laid out on the table, with various symbols marked in red and blue pencils.

"And who is this?" The middle-aged woman looked up, scrutinizing Lou Fengyue with a critical gaze.

"Loulan," Qin Qian introduced briefly, revealing little more, "the experts we invited."

The middle-aged woman's eyebrows twitched slightly, but she didn't press for details. She simply nodded, her tone neither warm nor cold: "Nice to meet you."

Lou Fengyue ignored her, walked straight to the table, took out the dark red crystal core from her pocket, and placed it on the table.

"A Class D zombie, just killed."

Everyone present was astonished.

The middle-aged woman's expression finally changed. She leaned forward slightly, staring at the dark red crystal. "How is this different from the pink crystal core we saw before?"

Lou Fengyue glanced at her, her eyes looking at her as if she were an idiot.

Qin Qian held the crystal core up to the light, his brow furrowing. "We've never encountered a crystal core of this color among the zombies we've cleared before."

"They were all low-level F-rank zombies before." Lou Fengyue put her hands in her hoodie pockets, her tone as calm as if she were reading from a textbook. "D-rank zombies are faster, stronger, and much smarter than F-rank zombies."

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

The middle-aged woman put down her pen and re-examined Lou Fengyue: "How do you know all this?"

Lou Fengyue finally looked at her properly for once: "Who are you?"

The woman paused for a moment, then introduced herself: "I am Song Qingya, the director of the Emergency Management Department of Linjiang City. I am in charge of overseeing the construction of this safety zone."

Lou Fengyue lazily gave an "Oh," and continued, "If a D-level zombie can escape from a hotel, there might be a second one, or even a C-level zombie. If any of you special police officers without superpowers go in, you'll all become zombie food."

Song Qingya pushed up her glasses, staring at the dark red crystal core in Qin Qian's hand. "Even the most powerful zombie is just flesh and blood. If the stun gun doesn't work, then use bullets."

Lou Fengyue sneered, took the crystal core back from Qin Qian, and put it in her pocket. "You can try it and see if your bullets can penetrate the head of a D-level zombie."

She turned and left, completely ignoring how ugly the group of people looked.

Song Qingya adjusted her glasses and said slowly, "Young man, you have quite a temper."

Qin Qian looked at the curtain that was still swaying slightly, sighed helplessly, and all the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.

He could only pick up the walkie-talkie and contact the special police unit, instructing them to stay away from the hotel's cordon for the time being, and that no one was allowed to enter without orders.

The detachment leader said that Comrade Loulan had already given instructions that all special police officers had withdrawn from the hotel area and were reinforcing the cordon.

Qin Qian gripped the walkie-talkie tightly. Lou Fengyue had already given instructions to the special police before she arrived, which meant that she hadn't threatened them out of anger.

Instead, they were anxious.

The idea that bullets can't penetrate the head of a Class D zombie wasn't just something she made up.

"Captain Qin, do you really believe what that girl said?" Song Qingya couldn't help but find it absurd when she saw Qin Qian's face turn ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly.

Why shouldn't I believe it?

Qin Qian slammed his hand on the table, his expression more serious than ever before, and even his tone was more forceful than usual.

"She single-handedly cleared out hundreds of zombies in Cuiping Community. If she hadn't drawn away the zombies from the south and west yesterday, the safe zone would have fallen before it could even be built."

"If it weren't for her reminder, dozens of SWAT team members would have died yesterday. She cares about the lives of her SWAT brothers, I believe her, and everyone in the SWAT team believes her."

"Believe it or not, I will absolutely not let my men take any risks!"

Song Qingya's eyebrows twitched, and she was speechless with choking.

A man in camouflage standing nearby tried to smooth things over: "Qin Qian, I don't want the brothers to take risks either, but if there are survivors in the hotel, every extra day we delay increases their danger. The central government hasn't given us any more information about the zombies. Are we just going to abandon the survivors in the hotel based on what a young girl says?"

The speaker was Chen Weiyang, the overall commander of the safe zone operation. He was also a former soldier and always followed the mission and orders.

Qin Qian pursed his lips, looked over, and said bluntly, "Loulan is not an expert invited by the Linjiang City Armed Forces Department. She is a key protected person designated by the Central Committee. Her identity information is classified. The Central Committee said that without instructions, we should follow her instructions."

The room erupted in uproar.

The group of high-ranking officials looked at each other, seemingly unable to believe that the central government would attach such importance to a young woman in her early twenties.

Chen Weiyang frowned, staring intently at Qin Qian. "What you're saying... is it true?"

Qin Qian nodded firmly. "Her understanding of the apocalypse is far deeper than ours."

Chen Weiyang slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly. "Why didn't you say so sooner? We should have brought in this talent as soon as possible!"

"She wasn't happy about it." Qin Qian shrugged, looking innocent. "She's the kind of person who won't listen to reason, and it's rare for her to come over and offer a few words of advice, but she got angry and left."

Song Qingya pursed her lips, somewhat embarrassed, and pushed up her glasses. "Where does she live? I'll go and apologize in person."

"Come on, with your methods, she wouldn't even open the door for you." Qin Qian glanced over, waved his hand, and said, "Meeting adjourned. I'll go and put in a good word. The most important thing right now is to deal with the trouble at the hotel before we talk about anything else."