Power Restored!
Xiao Yi opened an electrical cabinet filled with circuit breakers. Following the labels, he quickly located the one for the second-floor kitchen.
Besides the second-floor kitchen breaker being closed, he also spotted ones marked for the master bedroom, study, and a safety room that were closed as well.
That meant the places now powered up included the second-floor kitchen, master bedroom, and study—plus this mysterious safety room, whatever it was for.
He couldn't find any breakers for the first floor in this cabinet. It must control only the second floor's power.
Scanning the labels a bit longer, Xiao Yi finally found one clearly marked: Monitoring Control Room and Emergency Defense Systems.
He pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and yanked down the breaker for the monitoring control room with force!
Click!
A sharp snap echoed as the breaker closed. Currents hummed through the distribution room, followed by the roar of the generator's motor kicking in.
Power restored!
The battery room was fully charged. With the breakers flipped, the power-hungry monitoring control room and emergency defenses were now online!
Xiao Yi glanced at his watch: 3:17 p.m.
Still time!
No time to linger. He hurried out of the power room to the iron gate beside it.
A dozen zombies outside sensed the living presence and roared excitedly at him.
Peering through the iron bars, Xiao Yi could see the front yard. The guard shack's lights were on, the perimeter wall's electrified fence was live, and the once-dim cameras glowed red again.
Power restored!
Next: figure out how to close the main gate.
To shut the gate, he'd have to move the car blocking it!
Gripping his machete tight, Xiao Yi stabbed through the bars, killing the zombies pressing against them. Then he vaulted over and crept forward cautiously, eyes scanning the surroundings.
He'd cleared most zombies from the front yard before. Now only two newcomers remained. He dispatched them swiftly and headed to the guard shack.
The shack was small, maybe a dozen square meters, with several computers displaying feeds from the front yard, back yard, main gate, and villa perimeter.
He also spotted a switch with red and blue buttons, plus three walkie-talkies on the floor. Clearly, this controlled the front gate's electric motor.
Tucking the walkie-talkies into his Space Magic Cube, Xiao Yi scanned the area and mentally mapped his plan. He approached the Lincoln, tugging at the driver's door.
Locked.
Peering through the window, he saw a man in a black suit slumped in the driver's seat, head blown open by a gunshot.
In the back sat an older man with a bite mark on his left arm. A pistol lay in his right hand.
The old man's mouth gaped wide and black as he lolled backward against the leather seat, blood and brains splattered across it and the rear windshield.
Doors and windows were locked. Breaking one would trigger the alarm, drawing hordes of zombies and massive trouble.
Xiao Yi scrapped the smash-and-grab. Instead, he shoved the car toward the gate opening.
Luckily, no parking brake. With a hard push, he got it rolling.
Once clear of the gate, he dashed back to the shack and hit the red button. The heavy iron gate ground shut with a mechanical clank-clank-clank.
Only then did Xiao Yi exhale deeply.
The entire estate was now sealed off from the outside world. No zombies could get in!
With those towering, thick walls, iron gate, and defenses, not even humans could breach it easily.
Next: clear the zombies inside the estate.
To do that, he needed the lay of the land—check the cameras for villa layout and hidden zombies.
This massive villa spanned thousands of square feet, packed with rooms in a labyrinthine setup.
Unlike ordinary homes, luxury estates like this mimicked castle designs: interconnecting chambers, convoluted paths that could trap the unwary like a maze.
Xiao Yi reentered through the villa's main door. Burned by past mistakes, he moved with extra caution this time.
Guided by Stephanie Seymour's earlier directions, he silently reached the security room door.
The villa was eerily quiet. No sign of that freakish zombie from before.
Vast as it was, with countless rooms—many ajar, most wide open—zombies had endless spots to lurk.
So Xiao Yi couldn't be sure just how many lurked within.