A huge thanks to Green KiTea for their constant and unwavering support in Kofi.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Jian Xingyi and Shanhai first went to find Bai Jie, who gave them the materials. 

Now that they finally had all the materials, they still had to make a trip to the underground river to hand them in. However, since the team was still on its way to get the building materials, they had plenty of time. 

Afterward, Jian Xingyi went outside to test the sunflowers. 

Sure enough, nothing was noticeable in the field, but once transplanted into the soil, the area around the sunflowers lit up—though the range wasn’t large, since there was no other light besides the artificial lighting in the guild and the blood-red sky, the sunflowers’ glow stood out particularly clearly. 

One can imagine that if an entire area were planted with them, it could create sunlight for the whole region. Jian Xingyi held out his hand and waved it around the sunflowers; he could even feel a faint warmth. Shanhai remarked, “That’s amazing.” 

The two then went to the riverbed to hand over the items to the Thousand-Eyed Monster, crafting three containers to give to the squad leader. 

By the time the squads had successfully gathered the materials and Wu Yun and Cangshui had discovered White Sand Island, there were only 10 days left before the zombie tide. During this time, the remaining guards were busy crafting mechanisms for future use, while Jian Xingyi continued planting sunflowers and stockpiling supplies. Ten days later, the city wall construction officially began! 

Cangshui handled the design and blueprints, while Wuyun supervised the work; everyone methodically stacked the walls into place. Now that all players had gathered at Peace Mountain, the walls would span the entire mountain. Fortunately, one side was backed by the mountain’s natural slope, and another faced the lava flow of the volcano, so those two sections were spared. 

Not only were those two sides spared, but perhaps because there were so many people and the materials were easier to obtain than last time, everyone’s construction efficiency had also improved. 

Jian Xingyi stepped outside and saw that walls taller than him had been erected all around the guild. The walls featured numerous openings for observation and were embedded with various mechanisms. 

Jian Xingyi pondered for a moment and couldn’t help but admire Cangshui’s creativity. Although these mechanisms were made of wood, they looked quite sturdy. Moreover, they were all handmade by the group—similar to what he had seen in the second round, if not even better.

Not only that, but the walls were also adorned with numerous items from the Plants vs. Zombies series—it seemed everyone had thrown their successful crops up there. 

Along the base of the walls stood the cannons that had previously belonged to each guild. After careful calculation, the gun emplacements had been positioned to coordinate with the wall’s mechanisms. 

“Good morning.” Cangshui was poring over a notebook nearby. When he saw Jian Xingyi arrive, he greeted him with a smile and said, “These bricks we synthesized ourselves are indeed sturdier than the ones the system gave us.” 

Unlike last time—when everyone had to use vines to conserve bricks—this time the bricks were self-synthesized, an endless supply. So there was no need for worry, nor any need to painstakingly figure out how to design a structure that would save on bricks. 

Jian Xingyi asked, “Can we finish this within ten days?” 

“No problem,” Cangshui said, pointing to a spot nearby. “We have plenty of manpower, and… well, there are them too.” 

Jian Xingyi had lent out the chainsaws and excavators, and now dozens of these massive machines—Jian Xingyi’s chainsaws and excavators—were assisting with the work in several key areas. 

The chainsaws sped up the construction of the mechanisms, while the excavators allowed the team to quickly dig trenches along the city walls. Jian Xingyi chuckled softly, “I’m just glad I could be of help.” 

Fortunately, the VIP Store in the Great Merchant System had provided him with plenty of these items later on. 

Aside from listing food for sale every two days after the harvest, Jian Xingyi also continued to synthesize the harvested snow lotus into Hardening Potions to list in the store. However, since the city walls no longer required vines, Cangshui decided to use them elsewhere. 

“Take a look at this.” 

Cangshui pushed the wheelchair, leading Jian Xingyi to a section of the city wall. 

“Wow…” 

Before them stood a half-finished tower, with wooden planks serving as steps and branches as supports, holding up a platform. Jian Xingyi’s vines were the key items used to bind the wood together and give the tower its shape. 

Jian Xingyi was taken aback. “Are we building… a watchtower?” 

“That’s right,” Cangshui said. “A watchtower will help us keep a better handle on the battle.”

“That’s amazing.”

“But we’ve realized that vines alone aren’t enough,” Cangshui sighed. “While the vines can give the tower its shape, they don’t provide enough structural support. So I wanted to tell you that maybe you don’t need to grow any more vines—our tower plan is going to have to be scrapped. The land we save might let you do something else.” 

“Oh…!” 

Jian Xingyi nodded; today happened to be harvest day anyway. 

When Jian Xingyi got home and was about to replace the snow lotus, he paused. All right, all right—his remaining chickens and rubber trees… had finally matured! Jian Xingyi couldn’t wait to click on the chickens. 

This is S-rank, everyone…! 

A-rank snakes yield two products, both of which can be used in medicine; A-rank fish eyes can also be used in medicine, and the fish meat provides weapon bonuses just like ordinary meat. 

So what about S-rank? 

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard. 

His obsession with eggs was mainly because he loved eating them, but he never expected that eggs in this game would be so rare—and that they were currently his only 

S-rank item. 

Now, finally… time to open it! 

【Egg: High-quality protein, increases Combat Power by 80 points.】 

【Chicken Meat: High-quality protein, increases Combat Power by 80 points.】 

Jian Xingyi: “……!” 

!!! 

In other words, if he eats both the egg and the chicken, he can gain 160 Combat Power points. He also has a food bonus that adds 10% bonus from the sugarcane. If he made Sweet and Sour Eggs and Sweet and Sour Chicken, that would add another 16 points, bringing the total to 176 points! 

Oh my god… 

It might not seem like much at first glance, but if Jian Xingyi eats them, his original 256 Combat Power would jump to 432, instantly elevating him to the T1 tier of Grapevine Peak’s top-tier membership. And for players who are already T1, eating them would immediately max out their Combat Power—the value of this is absolutely staggering…!

Although this temporary boost in combat power—gained without training or real combat experience—certainly can’t compare to a player’s true combat power, at least his physical condition has improved significantly! 

Jian Xingyi thought he was dreaming. 

It truly lived up to his long-awaited expectations—it was, after all, the only S-rank product from his livestock zone! This boost was absolutely crucial, especially for them right now. 

Just then, Shanhai returned from outside. Jian Xingyi immediately set aside the terminal management and eagerly threw himself into Shanhai’s arms to share his joy. 

“Want some chicken and eggs?! Let’s try out a new dish!” 

Jian Xingyi happily served up a plate of pot-roasted chicken and egg drop soup, and the two of them enjoyed their dinner with rice. 

Shanhai was also somewhat surprised to learn about the chicken’s stats boost—it was truly a godsend. But for a player like him, whose combat stats were already maxed out, the difference wasn’t significant. He just thought… it tasted delicious. 

Sitting in the courtyard, Shanhai took a few bites and couldn’t help but marvel that ever since he’d been with Jian Xingyi, he’d been eating so well every day—the menu was almost never the same—and his life in the apocalypse was full of plenty. 

Shanhai remarked, “You could open a restaurant.” 

Jian Xingyi chuckled softly and admitted honestly, “Oh, come on—it’s all just one-click synthesis from the Synthesis Station. What does that have to do with me?” 

“But…” Jian Xingyi said, propping her chin in her hand, “If we really do manage to survive the third zombie wave, I do dream of opening a restaurant—I’m actually quite good at cooking myself.” 

“Alright.” Shanhai looked at Jian Xingyi with a gentle gaze. “Then I’ll help you out.” 

Jian Xingyi folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. “You know how to cook?” 

“No, but I can clean.” 

“Haha…” Jian Xingyi couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. “Having the top player in the entire server sweep the floor for me—that actually sounds pretty cool.” 

Shanhai, however, said, “If we really do survive and reality and the game merge, then actually… the concept of the top player will disappear, won’t it? We’ll all just become ordinary people.” 

“That’s true…!” Jian Xingyi began to daydream. “Then let’s find a beautiful, secluded spot to farm. You can help me tend the fields—it’s all hard physical labor.” 

“Sure.”

Although he didn’t know if that day would ever come, still… Jian Xingyi looked at Shanhai and suddenly felt a surge of anticipation. “Lu Yan.” 

“Hmm?” 

“Um… nothing…!” Jian Xingyi’s ears turned slightly red, and he suddenly felt too shy to say more. Shanhai stared intently at Jian Xingyi. 

Jian Xingyi stood up: “Ahem, I’m full. I’m going inside… Whoa!”

The next moment, he was yanked and fell into Shanhai’s arms. 

Shanhai wrapped his arms around Jian Xingyi from behind, rested his head on his shoulder, and repeated, “Hmm?” Jian Xingyi went completely silent. 

“Hmm?” Shanhai’s warm breath brushed against Jian Xingyi’s earlobe. 

“……” 

“Oh, well…” Jian Xingyi’s face flushed crimson. “It’s not really anything important, it’s just…” 

After struggling for a moment, Jian Xingyi said, “Oh, never mind! We’ll talk about it later.” 

Jian Xingyi pushed him away with a laugh. “I’ll tell you all about it after we’ve won the zombie tide. If we lose… telling you before I die won’t be too embarrassing… Ugh, no, we won’t lose!” 

Shanhai was at a loss for words. 

“Hey, wait…! What was that?!” Jian Xingyi’s face was still burning hot after he returned. He quickly pulled out his terminal to cool down. 

Work comes first, work comes first…! 

Jian Xingyi caught his breath, then realized he’d been so excited earlier that he’d forgotten he had an SS-rank rubber tree. SS-rank items are top-tier; although the initial growth period is long, once matured, it’s sure to be incredibly useful. 

Jian Xingyi opened it up and froze in surprise.

Great, great, great… This harvest right before the big battle is truly a godsend! 

The rubber tree yields two products: a hard trunk and rubber. Simply put, they can be used as glue and durable building materials. Jian Xingyi immediately sought out Cangshui. 

Xinghe: 【Um, we still need to keep growing the snow lotus. Our watchtower has a chance now! We might even be able to build a second-floor shooting tower!】 

Cangshui: 【?】 

Cangshui: 【Did you find something good again? / Peeks】 

Xinghe: 【Yes! / Puffs out chest】 

Another major breakthrough for the city walls! 

Ten days later. 

The sky, which had been blood-red, finally turned black—a darkness unlike anything seen before. 

Natural disasters raged all around; except for Peace Mountain and Tranquility Mountain, one could feel the very heavens and earth howling. 

The fog that had preceded the zombie tide reappeared, obscuring their vision with ink-black night and thick smoke. Without the Ark’s lighting left behind earlier, they wouldn’t have been able to see anything in the distance. 

Unlike before, there were no system announcements this time, nor the shrill, piercing wail of sirens. The surroundings were deathly silent, broken only by the howling wind. 

But the oppressive silence only made the atmosphere even heavier and tenser; everyone held their breath as they took their positions along the city wall and waited. It’s so cold… 

Jian Xingyi stood on the watchtower with Bai Jie, feeling the cold wind blowing right past them. 

Jian Xingyi was so nervous that his whole body was tense. He turned to look at Bai Jie. “Ms. Bai… aren’t you nervous at all?”

“Of course I’m nervous,” Bai Jie sighed. “But we’ve done everything we could…” 

“Besides,” Bai Jie turned to look at Jian Xingyi and smiled, “with you here, we really do feel much more confident.” 

Unlike the previous two zombie surges, this time, everyone was practically being carried along by Jian Xingyi and the other leaders. Looking down—

A row of thick, towering city walls, layered three deep on both the inner and outer sides. Not to mention ordinary zombies—even if a giant were to attack, it would be difficult to breach them in the short term. 

And within these walls lay numerous traps, including the cannons from before. That’s right—Cangshui had embedded the cannons into the walls, forming a defensive line alongside them. The cannons were flanked by pea shooters and other plant-based defenses. 

In front of the walls lay a large moat designed to trap the zombies. Once the zombies arrived, Jian Xingyi would activate the container to let lava flow into it. This way, when the zombies were trapped in the moat, they would not only be “irrigated” by the lava but also be taken care of by the weapons on the walls. 

Furthermore, the edge of the trench is lined with a row of barbed-wire fences—handcrafted by the group—designed to prevent zombies from climbing out of the trench. 

Behind the fence, sunflowers are planted in abundance, forming a sea of flowers that brings sunlight to the area in front of the city walls, slowing down the zombies. 

If nothing else, these will certainly weed out a large portion of the smaller zombies, allowing players to focus more on dealing with the Giants and the Godfather. And before this campaign, everyone also consumed plenty of food that provides buffs. 

Meat provides a 60% bonus to weapon attack power. 

Lychees provide a 100% accuracy boost and 30% bullet penetration. Sweet and Sour Chicken grants 176 combat power. 

With these bonuses, the players felt a bit more confident. At that moment, everyone stood firmly by the city walls, waiting. 

The players were divided into several teams: one team stood at the city walls, firing their guns through the openings; another crouched on the walls—these were the guild’s top fighters, ready to rush out at any moment to engage the Godfather and the Giants in close combat; and yet another team stood on a high platform. 

That’s right—with the rubber trees and vines, the elevated platforms had been successfully constructed. 

In addition to the highest watchtower where Bai Jie and Jian Xingyi were stationed—offering a view of the entire battlefield—there was another ring of even higher platforms inside the city walls where everyone could stand and fire from a distance. 

Now it had truly turned into a siege battle. 

“Thud! Thud-thud…” 

“Thud-thud-thud…” 

As the fog grew thicker, everyone heard footsteps.

No… rather than footsteps, it sounded more like some colossal, massive thing rolling across the ground, emitting a dull thud—so much so that the entire ground and the trees were shaking. 

It’s coming…! 

Jian Xingyi took a deep breath. From their vantage point on high ground, they could see clearly—a vast, moving mass of black shadows had appeared in the distance. Upon closer inspection, the black mass was filled with snarling human faces. 

The zombie horde… advancing in droves! 

The scale of this onslaught was even more terrifying than usual; it was just like a tidal wave crashing in! Bai Jie grabbed a megaphone and shouted, “They’re coming!” 

Boom—! 

The cannons fired, and all the players pulled the triggers, plunging the entire world into a ceaseless barrage of gunfire. 

Jian Xingyi took a deep breath. He really wanted to go down and help, but this time, everyone around him—including Shanhai—was in complete agreement. 

—He was not allowed to go down. 

Jian Xingyi could only watch helplessly from above, but at least he could help Bai Jie assess the situation—after all, she couldn’t keep an eye on everything by herself. 

Jian Xingyi watched as thousands upon thousands of zombies surged toward both sides of the base, with giants following close behind. The numbers of both were terrifying. The area near the main gate was the most challenging, as it was teeming with the largest concentration of giants. 

Just as they’d anticipated, a third of the smaller zombies had been wiped out by the lava in the trenches and the weapons on the walls, while another third had been taken out early by players on the high platforms, so they were still managing for the time being. 

Jian Xingyi activated his Battle Talisman. After all, it would last for three days, so he wasn’t worried it would disappear before the battle was over. 

Currently, his Battle Talisman was at Level 4, allowing him to summon 500 foot soldiers and 100 vanguards—which wasn’t exactly a small force. The players saw white figures appearing all around them, like wisps of mist. 

They charged straight across to engage the zombies head-on, helping to lighten everyone’s load. Kill! 

An hour passed.

Kill! Kill!! 

Two hours passed. Kill… 

The zombies poured in like an endless tide, appearing, appearing, advancing, advancing… 

Everyone was nearly numb from the killing. 

At first, it was relatively easy, but as time went on, the zombies grew in number and appeared faster and faster. The trenches were already filled to the brim; the lava couldn’t melt the corpses fast enough before new ones piled on top. 

Once the trenches lost their effectiveness, the zombies began tearing down the fences. 

Some of the players on the city walls were getting restless and wanted to go down to stop them, but Bai Jie stopped them all with a megaphone. 

“Save your energy! The big guy over there hasn’t made his move yet!” 

As the zombies began tearing down the fence, a louder rumbling echoed from all around. 

“Boom! Boom-boom!” 

The Godfather appeared on the other side. 

It was the one that gave everyone the most headaches—a Godfather with a modicum of intelligence, a body even larger than the standard Godfather’s, and skin so tough it was nearly impenetrable! 

And to make matters worse… a whole pack of them! Jian Xingyi was speechless. 

Now, the high-level players who had been on the city walls—including Shanhai—crossed the trenches and leaped over to engage in combat. 

Shanhai hadn’t answered the call, mainly out of concern for unexpected complications, but even as a mere mortal, he was no match for the Spirit Warriors. Leading the group, he moved across the Godfather’s shoulders, leaving a trail of fallen zombies in his wake. 

“Kill! Kill—!” 

“Charge!!” 

Screams, the clang of blades, gunfire… every conceivable sound filled the air as the battlefield around them descended into a living hell. Kill!! Endless killing.

Three hours had passed. 

Kill!! Even though they were already exhausted. The zombies felt no fatigue and kept coming in endless waves, but humans were not so resilient. Everyone had drunk Jian Xingyi’s coffee and eaten their fill before arriving, yet they were still growing increasingly weary. 

They were merely holding on—after all, they couldn’t afford to collapse. Four hours had passed. 

With the Godfather’s arrival, the fence was completely destroyed, and the sunflowers lay trampled under the zombies’ feet—not a single one remained. 

All that remained on the ground was a pile of corpses and flower debris; the sight of these zombies lying in the sea of flowers was almost ironic. The smaller zombies had been mostly wiped out; now it was mostly the Giants and the Godfather, and these Giants had begun to breach the city walls.

At the same time, within the walls, fissures were appearing in the base’s perimeter, and zombies were crawling out of them, intent on destroying the tower. 

“Prioritize taking out the fissure zombies!” 

“Repeat: Prioritize killing the zombies emerging from the fissures!” 

Bai Jie’s voice was hoarse from shouting. 

Jian Xingyi’s fingertips were trembling too; after all, looking down from such a height… the visual impact was truly overwhelming. They saw many people being bitten, injured, or losing consciousness… As long as there was a glimmer of life left, Jian Xingyi had medicine to save them, but if a player was… torn to pieces, then there was truly no hope. 

From their vantage point above, they could see everything clearly. 

If it weren’t for their responsibility as leaders, Jian Xingyi would have wanted to close his eyes. 

Along the way, ironically, more high-level players had been lost than low-level ones, because the high-level players had all charged into the zombie hordes for close combat. If anything went wrong, there was simply no way to save them. 

They were either trampled into a pulp, torn limb from limb, or bitten to pieces by the Godfather, leaving hardly any bones behind. Moreover, they could clearly see that the tall towers inside the city walls had been ravaged by the zombies until they were teetering on the brink of collapse; those players were about to fall at any moment. Five hours had passed. In the real world, the sun would be rising soon, but here, without victory, dawn would never come. Boom—

The tower collapsed. 

Crash—! 

A breach had been torn in the city walls. Jian Xingyi closed his eyes. 

At that moment, everyone realized… their chances of winning were slim.