Back to the Apocalypse

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

They had traveled slowly and leisurely on their way to the Capital, but on the way back, they were anxious to return to Jing Sa City as soon as possible. Once they left the Capital Base, they traveled at a quick pace, and there was barely any moments of rest.

It wasn't that they weren't tired; although everyone was seated in comfortable cars and they had abundant supplies, the space was still cramped, and it was impossible for them not to feel uncomfortable and weary. Despite this, nobody was able to suppress the impulse in their hearts. It was like an unprecedented force seemed to drive them forward. Everyone was eager to reach their destination and see their future home.

The Jing Sa City that Bai Jing had described was so beautiful that people couldn't help but yearn for it. How lucky it was to have a place to call their own in this chaotic world! Even if the place wasn't big, even if the furnishings weren't complete, it was still home. How long had they gone without a home? Everyone was really looking forward to it and were willing to push on day and night for the sake of this goal.

Only Li Ran was slightly depressed. There had been no news about his brother in the Capital. The mission to find his brother had hung there in the mercenary union for over two months, and the reward had gone up from one hundred nuclei to two hundred, then up again to five hundred kilograms of grain, but everyone who came up to try and obtain the reward had only delivered him endless deceptions. He had gradually fallen from initial expectation to disappointment. Although he hadn't held out much hope right from the start, he still couldn't help but suffer in his heart when faced with the final result. All the way up to the time they left the Capital, he still hadn't smiled once.

Xu Feng had watched this child grow up. How could he not know what he was thinking about? He patted Li Ran on the shoulder, "Don't worry. If there's news in the Capital, they will send us a telegram. No news is also good news - at least you still have hope."

Li Ran pulled his lips up into an ugly smile that looked worse than crying. In fact, they all knew that his brother had most likely encountered some ill fate, but he also had no choice but to comfort himself this way now. Perhaps no news really was good news. Wasn't it like this before too? As long as he hadn't heard verifiable news of his brother's death, he refused to believe that his brother had passed away.

Xu Feng sighed again and said nothing more. Li Ran was a child who liked to split hairs, but having some hope was better than none. Any comforting words now would be superfluous - Li Ran would have to think this through on his own.

“Brother Xu, I’m alright. Don’t worry. I just feel a little sad. In fact, I was already really lucky to be able to meet up with Brother Sa and Young Master Jing. I won't let elder brother down and will definitely live well. I believe that it's the same for elder brother. He must be living in another corner of the world, and I just can't find him right now." Li Ran's black eyes were firm and confident as he spoke. That kind of unadulterated purity made others unable to doubt him, as though what he said had to be the truth.

Zhou Hua smiled and held Li Ran’s hand, a trace of heartache flashing through his eyes. "I believe you."

Li Ran raised his head and showed his first sincere smile since he'd arrived at Capital Base. "Thank you, Brother Hua."

Wei Binyi rushed over and separated their hands. His usual calmness couldn't be seen as he cried out in discontent, "Thank you is thank you, why do you guys have to touch?!" He quickly caught Zhou Hua and brought him into his arms as though afraid that he'd be snatched away by others.

Li Ran burst out into laughter, and his mood relaxed a lot. He understood that Brother Wei was just joking around in order to amuse him, and watched as the two of them started to show off their affection for one another once again. He was really happy for them. Brother Wei and Brother Zhou were so dedicated to each other and had never given up on each other even through the hardest times during the end of the world. Now, it was like they had gotten the reward that they deserved; since Brother Zhou's legs could be cured, there should be hope for his elder brother right? Weren't miracles always taking place? Even zombies could be friendly towards humans. What else was impossible?

Li Ran’s thinking had gone off in a strange direction. Perhaps his brother was a zombie now, but it was fine as long as he was living on, and he might even be trying his best to find him now …

Zhou Hua looked at his lover helplessly. Ever since his legs had been healed, this fellow had started acting so shamelessly. Didn't he feel embarrassed?

Wei Binyi didn't care about that at all as he gently rubbed his head against his lover's earlobe. Every day was like a dream for him now, and he was afraid that he might wake up someday and find out that this wasn't real. He could only feel at ease when he held his lover in his arms.

Zhou Hua’s heart clenched slightly, filled with a bittersweet kind of pain as he allowed his lover to act as he liked. He understood that his lover just couldn't feel fully reassured; ever since his legs had been broken, although his face had been fine, at the bottom of his heart, he had always felt like he was dragging A-Yi back and had unconsciously distanced himself away from him. It had been A-Yi who had ensured that he could live until today, so what harm could it do to let him act more willfully? Wasn't it just hugging? Wasn't it just getting stared at by everyone around them? He just needed to get used to it.

However, he didn't realize that his A-Yi's expression was cunning, his eyes bright as he buried his face against his neck. It wasn't clear who was scheming against who, but it was fine as long as they were both happy.

Time passed by imperceptibly, and over ten days passed in a twinkling of an eye.

The journey was suspiciously smooth. Over the past half a month, other than the occasional mutant plants, they didn't even see the shadow of a zombie.

Their original urgent mood settled down, and everyone became more cautious and alert.

Li Ran’s heart was extremely tense. He always kept in mind that he was the mental scout for the team - as a psychic ability user, his role wasn't only to explore the way, but to also have a keen intuition in the face of danger. Five days ago, he had felt very wrong, as though something that shouldn't be there had gotten mixed in.

Xiao Sa and Bai Jing also became cautious, but they weren't psychic abilitt users. While they could sense something, they couldn't find any trace of it.

They wanted to ask if anyone else had noticed something strange, but even after gathering the few psychic ability users in the team together for a discussion, they still weren't able to figure out the reason. Some people thought that perhaps they were thinking too much and were imagining things, but others felt that something must be wrong, and they should prioritize caution. However, if they were asked why, they weren't able to come up with a concrete answer.

Li Ran felt very depressed and could only lament that his abilities weren't high levelled enough to be of help to Brother Sa, and things could only remain like this for the time being. After several days passed while the strange feeling lingered, Xiao Sa finally couldn't sit still anymore. It wasn't that he was impatient, but he was unaccustomed to anything not being within his control. Since waiting hadn't borne fruit, he might as well take the initiative to attack.

That evening, they located an abandoned hotel to stay in. If anything was truly wrong, it would naturally come up then. If they had all just thought too much, well, everyone had been rushing along for so many days and must be tired. They should take a rest anyway after having remained in the car all day and night; even though he was also anxious to return, taking a little extra time didn't matter in the long run.

After the team had settled in properly, the sky was already dark. Bai Jing frowned slightly - he had constantly felt like they were being tracked, and the feeling of having a thorn pressed against his back just wouldn't go away.

After dinner, everyone separated to do whatever they needed to do. Everything was how it should be, and other than the night watch, everyone went to their own rooms to rest.

It was a quiet evening, and everyone spent the night safely.

The next day, Xiao Sa did not relax his vigilance as expected. Compared to what could be seen on the surface, he believed more in his intuition. Since he had doubts in his heart, he no longer pushed ahead at such a hard pace over the next few days ,and they would always find a place to spend the night. He refused to believe that he wouldn't be able to catch the fish trailing behind them after revealing such a big flaw.

On the fourth day, people gradually relaxed their vigilance, the weather became hotter, and everyone sweat through their clothes during the day. They found a resort to rest in that night, and wind ability users were responsible for cleaning while the water ability users took advantage of their powers to manipulate water from the river beside them and fill up the swimming pool. Everyone was comfortable after washing up and then happily fell asleep.

The group of researchers that were returning with them were amazed. They could swear that they had never felt so great even while in the Capital and started feeling much less regret over leaving. To tell the truth, they were stuck in middling positions at the Capital, and they were much better off now with Bai Jing. Other than the awkward discomfort of traveling hard for the past few days, they couldn't find any fault at all with the food or necessities they were provided with. There wasn't even a hint of danger in sight, and if wasn't for the desolation on the road and the lack of any signs of human inhabitation, they couldn't help but wonder if the apocalypse had really happened.

That night…

“Ah--” A sad scream pierced the night sky.

Bai Jing woke up immediately and flipped up from the bed.

Xiao Sa put on a coat and rushed out the door.

"Pop! Crack! Pop!" The spotlights that had been prepared long ago were switched on, and many people were gathered together in the hall a few moments later.

“It’s Yao Yao’s voice.” Sang Min’s expression was worried. It wasn't that she didn't want to go over and take a look, but she was worried that her abilities were too low and might cause more trouble. Anything that could bypass the night guard without putting them on alert definitely couldn't be easy to deal with.

“Go and take a look.” Xiao Sa replied, his voice cold. After waiting for so many days, they had finally succeeded. The pressure of a level six ability user emanated from him in an instant, and the strong killing intent he exuded made people feel terrified. He wanted to see who dared to rampage in his territory.

Bai Jing was ready to teleport at any time. Xiao Sa kicked Yao Yao's door open, and they discovered that there was a level five zombie facing Yao Yao.

Only…

Everyone's mouths fell open in shock. What the hell was going on?

The level five zombie called out a few times, and its appearance didn't seem hostile at all. After that, with a "Whoo!" sound, it flew out of the window and instantly disappeared in the night, leaving behind only a bunch of crumpled fresh flowers. Yao Yao looked like she wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or not.

After their trip to the military factory, Xiao Sa no longer had as much disgust towards the zombies. When he noticed the crowd's distorted expressions, he could almost guess what the story was, "What's going on?"

“This zombie is a little familiar.” Xu Feng frowned and pondered deeply.

“Hahaha!” Yang Lin couldn’t help laughing out loud at his slow pondering appearance, laughing so hard he could barely remain upright.

After he began laughing, everyone else who was also trying to maintain serious expressions also gave into their amusement along with him. They held back their laughter while sending Yao Yao sympathetic glances, and only Xiao Sa and Bai Jing as well as the new researchers were left in the dark.

"None of you are allowed to say anything." Yao Yao gritted her teeth and felt both angry and shy. Her beautiful eyes were rounder than copper bells.

“Haha! Okay, not telling, not telling." Yang Lin was breathless with laughter.

Bai Jing’s mind turned sharply. He looked around at everyone, then looked at the fresh flowers and hesitated, then said, "That zombie is courting you?"

“Haha…” This time, not only Yang Lin, but everyone else also burst into laughter.

Bai Jing immediately realized that he'd stumbled on the truth. He looked at Yao Yao curiously, and his eyes were also full of sympathy.

Xu Feng rubbed his forehead. Seeing that the situation could no longer be hidden, he sent Yao Yao an apologetic gaze and began to explain what had happened in the military factory. Everyone had agreed to keep it quiet back then in order not to embarrass Yao Yao, but now it seemed like… Haha… Needless to say, the zombie had really caught up. Could it be that real love was with zombies….

No wonder everyone’s expression was twisted. Bai Jing felt like it was difficult to accept but was also finally relieved. Their intuition over the past few days had been correct, and there had really been someone… No, there had really been a zombie tracking them, but the zombie's purpose was a little unusual.

Now that they knew who their 'enemy hiding in the dark' was, everything else was easy. Yao Yao made great contributions this time, and Bai Jing generously rewarded her with a lot of cosmetics to convey that she would need to take on a much larger responsibility before he calmly returned back to his room with Xiao Sa. Right now, their primary task was to find out how many zombies were on the other side, why they had come, and what their purpose was.

Bai Jing closed the bedroom door, opened the window, and then took out a bottle of spring water and placed it on the table.

“Do you want it or not? If you want it, come out." He knew that the zombie must have heard him.

“Awuuuuu---"

It wasn't long before a zombie was leaning against the windowsill and poking its head inside.

“Why are you here?” Bai Jing remembered it. Wasn't this the cute little level six zombie?

“Awu, awu!!” It was like a chicken talking to a duck.

Chicken talking to a duck - speaking in different languages and neither party understands.

Bai Jing had black lines all over his face. One was a zombie and the other, a person. Bai Jing made guesses while the zombie gesticulated, and two hours later, he finally understood what the zombie meant. One loved to eat, and the other was a pervert, so the two zombies had run away from home together and followed them.

When the little zombie saw that Bai Jing wasn't angry, he clambered into the room, grabbed the spring water on the table, and held it in its arms before jumping up and down in triumph. It even called out "Awu, awu!!!" and tried to curry favour by acting well-behaved, trying to express how many of its companions (zombies) it had driven away.

Bai Jing was left quite speechless, but based on his principles of letting nothing go to waste, the little zombie had been won over by his spring water after all. As for the other zombie, he wasn't worried at all - it was naturally left for Yao Yao to deal with. When they prepared to depart the next day, there were two extra people in the team.

The little zombie loved to be clean, and based on its surface appearance, it looked no different from human beings. Bai Jing wanted to express that raising a pet that could help out was not bad at all.

That day, instead of continuing their journey, they went to a nearby city instead. The city was in ruins, and it was impossible to tell what it had once looked like. The little zombie swaggered as it led the way, and everyone swept through the malls and picked them clean without meeting any resistance. Although they were unable to find any food, their main purpose this time was to find beautifying contact lenses, and everything else was a bonus. Given that there was no danger, not sweeping up everything they saw would simply be a waste of a golden opportunity. Jing Sa City still needed to develop, and they should prepare for any possibility.

Everyone's hands were tired from simply gathering up supplies, but they were very happy doing so--

On Yao Yao side, things were a little difficult. How was she supposed to deal with a zombie that liked beauty?!

Answer: Follow the Queen's example!

On the first day, Yao Yao was still a little afraid and tried to keep her distance from the zombie, screaming shrilly for the zombie to stay away.

The next day, she gingerly began to instruct the zombie to do some unimportant things.

On the third day, Yao Yao became sufficiently courageous and her queenly aura came out as she gave out orders that were followed immediately. She then became much more confident and self-assured.

The fourth day……

The fifth day……

By the time they arrived at Jing Sa City, the looks people sent Yao Yao's way were no longer filled with sympathy but with admiration instead. Wasn't it just too over the top to keep a zombie as a lackey?