Curiosity spread like wildfire on the forum as countless people began asking where Xu Duoduo's dress came from. After all, it was just too beautiful!

  - "Most ability users who specialize in crafting are basically iron rice bowl holders, working government jobs. If you want customized clothing or accessories with special attributes, you either have to work hard, complete big missions, and earn vouchers for the Craftsman Department from headquarters, or you have to buy them on the black market. The only other option is to pay a high price at private shops."

  One ability user, clearly more knowledgeable in this field, decided to educate the curious forum-goers.

  - "Getting your hands on clothes with attributes is no easy feat. Private shops like this are extremely rare, and their products are outrageously expensive."

  - "One such private shop is run by Alchemist Xiao Lin, a hidden gem located near the city center. If you're interested, you can check it out. But let me warn you, this guy is a big deal. Whether or not you can even enter his shop depends on his mood. If he doesn't like you, the door simply won't open."

  The forum exploded with astonishment. A shop owner who could refuse customers? That was insane!

  The knowledgeable user gave one final warning to the rest of the forum.

  - "This alchemist has a weird temper and holds grudges. You'd better not badmouth his creations. Just so you know, that dress on the little zombie from the 3A Team? It starts at *hundreds of thousands of points*. Do you really think a dress that expensive wouldn't have anti-dirt attributes?"

  Upon reading this, the forum collectively gasped.

  - "HOW MUCH?!"

  - "Hundreds of thousands of points for a single dress?!"

  - "Oh my god, that's insane! I was just thinking how pretty it was and wanting to buy one for myself. Now I can forget about it. Boohoo!"

  - "Excuse me, I literally just tagged the little zombie to ask her where she got it. When is the forum going to add a retract-tag feature? I'm dying of embarrassment!"

  - "Hundreds of thousands of points for a dress... Is she for real? How could a newbie afford that? I guess the 3A Team's perks are just that good."

  - "So this is what it's like to live in the world of the elites, huh? A single dress costs as much as my rent for years. I can barely scrape together 2,000 points a month to pay for my apartment, living like a miser..."

  - "I don't think it's that outrageous. The 3A Special Operations Team has always been a big deal, even before the apocalypse. Now they're even more formidable. They take on the hardest and most dangerous missions, so it's not surprising they earn a ton of points. Besides, they got lucky with those mutated bat cores last time. Those alone are enough to last them for ages. Spending hundreds of thousands of points on a dress doesn't seem too crazy."

  - "And you, crying about not being able to pay your 2,000-point rent—maybe you should stop being so scared and actually take on some missions instead of complaining about being poor."

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The conversation gradually veered off-topic as people began debating whether it was worth risking their lives to take on missions.

  Xu Duoduo scrolled through the posts, her slow brain processing the flood of information. It finally dawned on her—she was famous now? Her personal page was flooded with fans calling her "wife" or "husband," complimenting her cuteness, and even asking her what it felt like to be zombified.

  The little zombie was annoyed.

  What kind of question was that? What did it feel like to be zombified? Obviously, it felt terrible.

  Her brain lagged like a bad internet connection, sometimes working fine, sometimes not. How could that be a good feeling?!

  Annoyed!

  Just then, the door clicked open. Qin Luo and Bai Shu walked in, carrying breakfast. The smell of fried food wafted into the room, making the little zombie drool.

  Xu Duoduo instinctively swallowed her saliva.

  Qin Luo and Bai Shu were still at the doorway, changing their shoes and chatting. "These people have way too much free time, spending all day gossiping on the forum. If they used that time to take on more missions, they'd be much better off."

  As Qin Luo looked up, he was startled. "Damn, Xu Duoduo, you're up so early today!"

  Bai Shu, however, immediately noticed the truth and called him out. "She hasn't changed her clothes at all. How could she have just gotten up? Plus, she's holding her tablet and looks dazed. She definitely stayed up all night online. Probably pulled an all-nighter."

  Pushing up his glasses, Bai Shu calmly laid out his deduction.

  Chen Xiaofei and Wang Weihu, still groggy from sleep, yawned as they approached the door. "Who pulled an all-nighter?" Chen Xiaofei asked.

  Qin Luo was stunned for three seconds before striding over and picking up the little zombie. "What, are you trying to turn into a dried corpse? Staying up all night? You've changed, little class monitor. How should I punish you for leading by bad example? How about writing a thousand-word self-reflection?"

  Xu Duoduo guiltily stuffed her tablet into her spatial storage and pretended to play dumb.

  After all, she often zoned out and looked absent-minded anyway.

  Qin Luo saw through her act immediately. "Ha! Playing dumb with me? Go take a shower. I'll let you off the hook this time since it's your first offense. But if it happens again, you're done for!"

  With that, he carried her like a cat, holding her under her arms, and shoved the soft, sleep-deprived zombie into the bathroom before quickly shutting the door.

  Wang Weihu, setting out the breakfast, looked at Qin Luo's antics in confusion. "What's the big deal, Qin? So what if the little class monitor stayed up all night? She's already a zombie; it's not like she can die again. Let her do what she wants."

  Bai Shu, however, disagreed. "A child needs discipline. You can't spoil them too much."

  Wang Weihu looked utterly baffled. "What?"

  Chen Xiaofei, still half-asleep and munching on the cafeteria's limited-edition fried dough stick, asked dumbly, "When did Wang become a mom? Whose mom is he?"

  Bai Shu, unfazed, opened a jar of peanut soup. "Your mom. Who else?"

  He pushed up his glasses again, smiling as he added, "And I'm your dad. Be a good boy and call me Daddy."

  Chen Xiaofei froze for three seconds before exploding. He lunged at Bai Shu, yelling, "You're dead, Bai Rat! Let's settle this once and for all! Who's your son? I'm your dad! And Wang is your mom!"

  Wang Weihu, now unwillingly cast as the "wife," glanced at Qin Luo, who was lecturing the little zombie through the closed bathroom door, then at the two idiots wrestling on the floor. He sighed deeply.

  What kind of teammates were these?

  In the end, ignoring the chaos, Wang Weihu calmly continued eating his noodles. The cafeteria's newly developed mutated beef noodle soup was absolutely delicious—springy hand-pulled noodles with rich flavor. Too bad it was expensive and hard to get. Even the fried dough sticks were rationed, with each person only allowed half a stick for 12 points.

  What a life.

  By the time the entire 3A Team sat down for breakfast, a full thirty minutes had passed.

  Qin Luo, as usual, scarfed down his food in a few bites before grabbing a towel to dry Xu Duoduo's hair. She was happily slurping on wontons made with mutated shrimp.

  Bai Shu, whose glasses now had one broken lens, sipped his peanut soup calmly. Chen Xiaofei, sporting a fresh bite mark on his face, glared as he angrily chewed his half-stick of fried dough. Meanwhile, Wang Weihu, unfazed, continued devouring his fourth bowl of noodles—ability users always had big appetites.

  "Da Qiao's points just came in this morning. I've transferred a million to each of you. Check your accounts," Bai Shu reminded them.

  Hearing about the million points, everyone perked up a bit, excited at the thought of buying new equipment.

  Qin Luo, however, brought up a serious matter. "The description of those dresses didn’t mention cleaning attributes, did it? We might need to visit that mysterious shop owner to clarify. If this causes speculation about Xu Duoduo's spatial ability, it could be trouble."