Burt furrowed his brows; they were quite audacious, openly demanding to meet with the highest-level authorities and all the awakened individuals. But so be it. He sneered internally, thinking he had been wondering how to keep them around. Since they were willing to come inside, that suited his intentions just fine. "I'd like to see what tricks you can come up with," he thought.
With a firm decision in mind, Burt didn't waste any time and responded directly, "If you do have something very important, I can introduce you."
"But let me make one thing clear upfront, if you have any ulterior motives and are trying to infiltrate for other reasons, don't blame us for not being accommodating."
Inside the academy's meeting room, over forty people occupied the spacious hall. The crowd was divided into two groups: one consisted of students, numbering 19, who sat together in clumps, appearing impatient. The other group sat around the presidential platform, which included school leaders and teachers, led by eleven students.
On the opposite side of the presidential platform, Dirk, Arnold, Lynn, Clark, and Sandra were sandwiched between the two factions.
"Did you hear the news?" One of the students in the clustered group, a dark-skinned athlete, glanced at Dirk, who sat at the forefront, and whispered to his companion.
"These are the people who killed Red-Hair man and claimed they have something important."
"Red-Hair man is dead?"
The male student appeared surprised but didn't show any particular emotion. "He's dead; it happens. He managed to offend quite a few people. But they dared to kill one of our own."
"Why didn't the awakened individuals from the academy apprehend them?"
"Didn't I tell you? They told Burt they have something important to discuss. I guess they'll act after the meeting."
The meeting room was chaotic, with people talking and debating, and another group of female students entered mid-session to watch the proceedings.
Dirk remained silent as the students on his left side carried on their discussions, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Although their voices were not loud, every word was clear to him.
"Silence!" On the presidential platform, an overweight middle-aged man with an annoyed expression shouted. His efforts didn't have the desired effect, as only the teachers and students behind him perked up slightly.
"Dirk... comrade, I am Gerard, the President of LJ City Academy. Please go ahead and state the purpose of your visit."
Gerard was somewhat polite in his tone, but there was a hint of impatience in his eyes.
Dirk looked toward the platform and began speaking slowly, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have three purposes for this visit."
Getting straight to the point, Dirk didn't intend to waste much time on pleasantries.
"First, I want to inform all of you that in six months, there will be a zombie outbreak within the entire LJ City Academy area. There will be over three million zombies actively tracking and attacking humans."
A moment of silence followed.
"What nonsense is this!?"
"A zombie outbreak with three million zombies?"
Before Dirk could continue, the whole meeting room erupted into chaos.
"Kid? Where did you get this information from? A zombie outbreak and active attacks? Do you think we've never seen zombies?"
A student in sportswear stood up, his face full of hostility as he pointed at Dirk.
"As long as we don't go looking for trouble to attract zombies, they'll stay where they are!"
"Laughable! Is this your so-called important news? You can't even make up lies properly!"
On the presidential platform, the school leaders maintained their composure and didn't join in the mockery. However, their impatience was becoming increasingly evident.
Dirk remained unfazed, silently observing the crowd before him. It was true that he had no concrete evidence to prove his claims. People were often reluctant to believe bad news until it was too late.
"Friend, if I remember correctly, your name is Dirk, right?"
Gerard on the presidential platform cleared his throat and looked at Dirk with curiosity.
"First, let's assume what you're saying is true, that zombies do possess the ability to actively attack us. LJ City Academy has survivors scattered across various locations. There's no reason for them to target us exclusively. If it's just isolated zombie outbreaks, I don't think we have much to worry about."
Behind Gerard, Lenny let out a soft chuckle. As one of the leading figures among the school leadership, he was growing impatient.
Zombies? Even if they come in the tens of thousands, so what? With so many awakened individuals in the academy, there's no need to be concerned.
Dirk, Lynn, and Arnold exchanged glances and sighed inwardly. Arnold had once described the power of a zombie horde to them. While awakened individuals were not afraid of scattered zombies, facing a horde of more than thirty thousand was truly terrifying.
Even if you could slaughter them in large numbers, the continuous influx of zombies would deplete your physical strength and mental energy, ultimately leading to a miserable death at the hands of the undead.
"First, let me explain why the zombies would primarily target the academy."
Ignoring the mocking looks from the crowd, Dirk continued in a serious tone, "As you mentioned, the academy is home to a large number of awakened individuals, and zombies, as well as mutants, are far more sensitive to awakened individuals than regular humans. So when the first outbreak occurred, the academy, with its significant number of awakened individuals, was the first in their path."
"The academy is located in a plain with the only barrier being the rear mountain. Now, think about what will happen when the zombie horde attacks."
Dirk paused, allowing everyone to digest this information. There was another crucial point Clark had shared with them – within the academy, there was a stable spiritual energy node that attracted not only zombies but also a significant number of mutants.
Because of this, in the previous timeline, although LJ City Academy had a large number of awakened individuals and was among the first to establish a safe zone, it still suffered heavy losses. If it hadn't been for the appearance of a tremendously powerful awakened individual among the students, one of the Six Kings, the "Demon Hunter," who managed to turn the tide, LJ City Academy wouldn't have survived for even a year, and it would have been annihilated.
While Dirk's explanation sounded logical, few people in the room took it seriously. Gerard glanced at Lenny behind him and sensed his impatience. He decided to wrap up the meeting. As for the deceased fire elemental awakened individual, he wasn't from their side anyway. The awakened individuals from the student group were unlikely to let these people off easily.
"Well, first of all, on behalf of the academy, I'd like to express our gratitude to Comrade Dirk for raising these questions."
"We will carefully consider the possibility of this matter. After discussions, we'll decide how to proceed."
Gerard spoke with an air of officialdom, maintaining a diplomatic tone. After all, they had said what they had to say. They could take their time discussing the matter.
Seeing that Gerard was eager to end the meeting, Dirk didn't hesitate to drop a bombshell. This was part of the plan he had discussed with Arnold and Lynn in the car—how to handle the situation if the academy didn't take the zombie outbreak seriously.
"If you think the zombie outbreak is just a minor issue," Dirk said, "then I can tell you something else."
"The second point is that one year from now, a global cataclysm will occur."
"There will be geological disasters, extreme weather events that will happen continuously."
"All animals and plants will mutate, from large creatures to tiny pests, and they will pose a significant threat to us."