He Ziyue muttered, “I take back my compliment to you. You clearly don’t deserve it.”
Beside her, Hua Jin was still green in the face, but still made a valiant effort to murder her with his glare.
He Ziyue begrudgingly tried placating him. “Geez, you young people don’t need to get so heated. Feelings can’t be forced, and plus, Ah Li is not a child anymore. Besides, if that guy surnamed Ye does something to upset him, Ah Li can handle it himself. He could chop someone up on his own; what business is it of yours?”
Hua Jin: “…”
Mu Yanshen: “…”
Hua Jin glared at He Ziyue—Damn, you couldn’t keep yourself from making the situation worse?
He Ziyue spared him a glance, seemingly indifferent, before abruptly changing the subject, her tone a shade stiffer than usual. “Anyway, it’s good that we saw them. We don’t know how long this journey is going to take.”
Eventually, the road ahead became slightly smoother, the way ahead illuminated with light from a few solar-powered streetlights.
Their rays were weak, barely enough to keep the road from being swallowed in shadows, but they were rays nonetheless.
Any comfort from that was minimal, but Hua Jin relaxed a little. When he spoke, his expression was unreadable. “Before the apocalypse, driving on the highway would probably take about fifteen or sixteen hours.”
He didn’t drive, but his family loved to travel.
He was no stranger to making trips to the Southern Province, though what was strange was the fact that he barely recalled anything about the place itself, rather the arduous journey there. After a day of bumpy travel, he hadn’t had the energy to go out with his family, instead spending three days lying in the hotel.
Once back in the city, he’d refused to ride in private cars ever again. His mother bought him a sleeper train ticket for the journey home, letting him sleep through the night, arriving home by daybreak.
Since then, Hua Jin had never liked long journeys, choosing to study in a university close to home.
Now though, with an unknown number of monsters blocking their way, possible injuries to account for on the way, and a car that was basically a glorified piece of scrap metal…the journey wasn’t looking good for him at all.
It was a pity, none of them had the ability to teleport instantly.
Their journey was uncomfortable, but the thought of stopping had never crossed their minds—Chu Chenli was still in the Southern Province.
Mu Yanshen was the one responsible for covering the rear. If anyone tried to ambush them from the back, they would be met with a swift death.
No one could let their guard down around Mu Yanshen, one of the best fighters in the team.
—Even after seeing Mu Yanshen’s miserable state.
Hua Jin looked at the rearview mirror again. At some point, Mu Yanshen had somehow returned to the backseat.
He turned his head to look, and this time Mu Yanshen had closed his eyes, seemingly asleep.
Mu Yanshen’s cuteness was much more pronounced when he was asleep.
Gazing at his face, unmarred by shadow, Hua Jin still found it difficult to believe that this person, whose existence was like a video game bug; always handling everything with ease and never getting injured, would one day cut such a tragic figure.
But all of this was for Chu Chenli.
If they thought about it that way, it wasn’t difficult to understand after all.
The car jolted again.
Hua Jin’s head whipped around only to catch He Ziyue staring at Mu Yanshen as well. His face rapidly lost its pallor as he growled, “Watch the road!”
He Ziyue jerked the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding steering the car off the side of the ditch.
Hua Jin’s head hit the car frame with a “bang.”
“Sorry,” He Ziyue said sheepishly.
Hua Jin cradled his head in his hands and took a deep breath. Arguing with her would be futile. After years of being partners, he had long grown accustomed to such situations.
“Let him rest for a while,” Hua Jin said in a low voice, glancing back at Mu Yanshen with a worried expression. “Let’s not mention the situation with Ah Li for the next few days. I think that Xiao Mu has been acting a bit strange lately.”
“What’s wrong with him?” He Ziyue didn’t sense anything unusual. “Isn’t he always like this? Whenever something related to Ah Li comes up, all his reason and intelligence vanishes.”
Ignoring her sarcasm, Hua Jin voiced his concern to He Ziyue in a low whisper. “Do you think he was joking when he said he wanted to kill that person?”
“No,” He Ziyue replied, “But what’s the problem with that?”
There are so many problems with that, Hua Jin thought hysterically. Although they had killed many monsters in the game, they rarely killed humans. Completing the game didn’t suddenly turn them into ruthless murderers.
“It’s been ten years, maybe that person’s feelings have changed. What if he changes his mind and ends up bullying Ah Li?” He Ziyue spoke rapidly, not giving Hua Jin a chance to interject.
As she spoke, the thought of someone bullying Ah Li wouldn’t leave her mind. She gripped the steering wheel with gritted teeth.
“They better not lay a single finger on Ah Li. Otherwise, this granny will annihilate their entire base!”
Hua Jin: “…”
Oooookay. Clearly she has an even more vivid imagination than Xiao Mu.
Hua Jin silently averted his gaze. He kept his mouth shut—he had almost forgotten that this was the psycho who had nearly dragged the whole team down together with the system.
If they were ranking the team in terms of insanity, He Ziyue easily placed within the top three.
However…
Hua Jin thought of Ah Li’s current unknown situation.
If he really was still suffering side effects from the coma, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself. And if he was being bullied by someone…
Although Xiao Mu had the ability to keep an eye on that side, having their own people protect Chu Chenli would be more reassuring.
Hua Jin shook his head, trying to shake off the morbid tone his thoughts had taken.
His face darkened unconsciously, some of his internal struggle ceasing.
When the time came, he’d keep his involvement minimal. Best to avoid killing anyone.
—
Southern Province Base, Medical Department.
Xiao Bai crawled out of his bed just as dawn broke.
His roommates, rudely roused by the rustling of his sheets, gave a bleary glance toward the time, breathing a sigh of relief when they saw it wasn’t time to get up yet. A yawn punctuated their next sentence. “Why are you up so early today?”
The roommate on the upper bunk made a dismissive noise. “He was up even earlier the day before, you know? He left before midnight.”
Xiao Bai smiled without responding, quickly packing up before bidding them goodbye and leaving.
He waited for the dormitory door to click shut before he spoke again, the words spilling out almost absentmindedly from his lips. “Didn’t they say that guy woke up? He’s not disabled, why go through all the trouble to take care of him?”
The roommate on the upper bunk sneered. “Look at how happy he is. Who knows, maybe he’s rushing off because he’s just another Xiao Liang.”
Xiao Liang had always been biased towards good-looking people.
Still half-asleep, Xiao Liang tried to defend himself, “Don’t say that. Isn’t it a good thing that he woke up? It saves you all from complaining that he’s taking up resources by lying down all the time.”
The roommate who was on the upper bunk chuckled, clearly enjoying the unexpected turn of events . “It won’t matter even if we say it to his face. Xiao Bai won’t be offended by our words anyway. We all know a certain commander doesn’t like him. Do you really think he has a chance of getting a bright future?The only reason why no one has said anything is because he just woke up. But as time goes by…”
Xiao Liang rolled his eyes and dropped the topic. He covered himself with the blanket and went back to sleep.
Oblivious to the conversation happening in the dorms, Xiao Bai finished picking up breakfast in the cafeteria. When he reached the hospital downstairs, the sun had just risen over the horizon, the medical building still deserted.
Stopping on the half-floor landing, Xiao Bai saw Xiang Renxi.
Dr Du was escorting Xiang Renxi out of his office and it seemed their conversation had just concluded.
They exchanged a few more words before parting ways.
When they passed each other, Xiang Renxi paused for a moment to look him up and down, and said with a smile, “It seems like I’ve been running into you a lot lately.”
Xiao Bai greeted him somewhat awkwardly.
Xiang Renxi nodded slightly. “You’ve worked hard.” He turned and headed downstairs.
Xiao Bai risked a glance back, only to see him instantly reverting to his indifferent demeanour.
He looked up. Dr Du had already closed his door.
Xiao Bai felt a bit puzzled, but didn’t dwell too much on it. He filed the information away and continued making his way upward, knocking on Chu Chenli’s ward.
Chu Chenli had already woken up and gave him a once-over when he entered. Feeling a bit nervous under his scrutiny, Xiao Bai couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”
Chu Chenli asked if he felt any discomfort. “Why are you always asking me this?” Xiao Bai, a bit baffled, shook his head.
Chu Chenli shook his head without answering. Xiao Bai didn’t press further. He took out the breakfast and checked on Chu Chenli’s leg, asking, “How’s your leg?”
Chu Chenli pulled back the blanket and tentatively moved his ankle. The horrifying swelling had subsided, and the ankle had recovered its former pale appearance—other than Chu Chenli looking somewhat weak, there was no major issue.
“It seems fine now.”
“Really?” Xiao Bai was surprised at the speed of his recovery. “Does it still hurt?”
“Not anymore.”
Besides the sprained ankle, the feeling of bones being out of place in his body was gradually fading. Chu Chenli stretched his fingers, feeling lighter and more agile.
The happiest person to know he recovered was probably Huang Shuyin. Upon hearing that the pain had subsided, her eyes lit up. “Does that mean we can continue training today?”
Xiao Bai tried to negotiate for more rest time for Chu Chenli, but withered under her glare. He could only agree meekly.
Watching his pitiable antics, Chu Chenli’s lips involuntarily twitched into an amused smile. When Xiao Bai turned to give him a chatising look, he was struck by the pitiful expression he wore—completely different from a certain someone.
When would that person appear?
Chu Chenli’s mind drifted as he walked. After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
“Are you alright?” Huang Shuyin asked.
A little dizzy.
But it seemed to be a symptom that had been present since the first day he woke up.
Chu Chenli shook his head and, thinking that the dizzy spell had passed for now, continued walking forward.
When he reached the ground floor, he saw a few passersby glancing at him with curiosity before hastily walking away.
They gave him a wide berth as they passed.
Huang Shuyin explained that these people were heading out for reconnaissance tasks.
As they walked to the training ground, there was no sign of Ye Lanzhou.
Huang Shuyin’s attitude toward Chu Chenli had changed dramatically. She spoke more tactfully, explaining that Ye Lanzhou was extremely busy managing the base, and his sparse visits were probably unintentional.
Despite what others said, she wasn’t lacking in emotional intelligence. Usually, she just couldn’t be bothered to expend her efforts on someone she disliked.
Behind them, Xiao Bai couldn’t stop his admiration from showing on his face. Managing such a huge base surely wasn’t an easy feat.
“Recently, development has been focused on the security system and protective shields. If we can withstand the upcoming wave of mutant attacks, there should be a relatively peaceful period afterward,” Huang Shuyin explained.
“Okay,” Chu Chenli nodded, appearing somewhat indifferent to the matter.
Huang Shuyin didn’t pursue the topic further, and they arrived at the training ground.
Once she saw the (fixed) iron door, Huang Shuyin focused only on training, forgetting anything else. When they entered the gate, she surveyed the field, clearing her throat before saying to Chu Chenli, “Let’s take it easy today. First, let’s warm up, then jog. Make sure to pay attention to your step.”
Xiao Bai couldn’t help commenting. “Why does this feel like a primary school physical education class…”
Huang Shuyin shot him a look.
Xiao Bai promptly skittered off to the side, sticking to the wall, playing the role of a devoted spectator.
Yesterday’s incident had left him with a slight phobia, but a simple exercise like jogging shouldn’t pose any risk. He parked himself in a corner to avoid being in the way.
Xiao Bai thought he’d be safe this way, but accidents and misfortune were two things that were unavoidable.
Chu Chenli had run his second lap without stepping into any holes. Just as Xiao Bai was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he was temporarily deafened by a violent detonation behind him.
He barely had time to see the alarmed expressions on Chu Chenli and Huang Shuyin’s faces before the telltale reverberations of a massive explosion tore through the air around them.
The author has something to say:
Let’s consider this as a transitional chapter~ Originally, the chapter became too long as I was writing, so I thought it would be better to split it and release it separately.
As for the cover, it was customised with the help of a designer on the day of the name change. Additionally, there were plans to change the cover for the attack title, but unfortunately, things didn’t go smoothly, so I ended up using the previous cover. It’s more or less the content of the article introduction. (：3＿ヽ）＿
