TL: Moonlit
Xiao Hen’s changes were immediately reported to Xiao Jiang by Old Xue. Xiao Hen’s behavior seemed off, completely different from before. He appeared as if he had become a different person altogether—cruel, ruthless, devoid of emotions. He even treated Old Xue, who had watched him grow up, with indifference.
Xiao Jiang was left alone in the meeting room, staying up until midnight without being able to figure out what had gone wrong. He had a very bad premonition in his heart. The words Xiao Hen had said when he applied for retirement kept echoing in Xiao Jiang’s mind. Xiao Hen had asked, “If I become a zombie, would you kill me?”
What had he answered at that time?
Xiao Jiang struggled to recall. He seemed to have said that he didn’t want to waste time on such a meaningless question.
Xiao Jiang still vividly remembered Xiao Hen’s expression at that time.
He felt helpless. What had he been striving and holding on for until now? His wife couldn’t be saved, and he couldn’t protect his son. The sense of responsibility and righteousness he had held onto seemed like a joke after experiencing so much.
In this post-apocalyptic world, many people and things had changed. Familiar faces were no longer the same, and familiar things became unfamiliar. Xiao Jiang felt exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Old Xue pushed open the door and entered. “Xiao Jiang, why are you alone here? Those foreigners…”
Seeing Xiao Jiang’s desolate state, Old Xue’s words got stuck in his throat.
He turned around, closed the door gently, and sat down beside Xiao Jiang. After a long silence, he said, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Even if Xiao Hen has changed, he wouldn’t be completely devoid of humanity. At least, we were allowed to return.”
Xiao Jiang leaned back in his chair, shook his head, and spoke with a hoarse voice, “Do you think Xiao Hen… is still human?”
With a loud “boom,” the fragile trust they had built instantly collapsed.
Xiao Jiang turned his head to look at his old friend, his old subordinate, his eyes reddening. “You said he can easily cut down helicopters and make attacks appear in other places through space… When he left the central mega-city, he didn’t have this kind of power. In just a few days, how did he become so strong?”
From a normal perspective, this was not the kind of power an esper could possess. Even with the aid of energy crystals, it would be impossible to achieve such a level of strength in such a short time. Moreover, for esper abilities to upgrade, they had to break through each level’s barrier. Many espers would get stuck at these barriers for several months or even one to two years. It was impossible to have such a rapid rate of improvement.
They didn’t need to delve too deep into this question. They both knew the answer in their hearts.
Xiao Jiang calmed his emotions and said, “The foreign delegation won’t give up easily. They will definitely find a way to return to the civilized city. As long as the antidote and vaccine are in the civilized city, it won’t be peaceful there. It’s ridiculous that some of our higher-ups still naively believe that they came to help the mega-city overcome difficulties.”
“Now that they have obtained the information they most wanted about the antidote and vaccine, it’s likely that they would be delighted to see the downfall of China. If the mega-city comes under attack, they probably won’t lend a helping hand. We can’t rely on them; we must prepare an exit strategy.”
“Once the fighting starts, you take your people and escort the survivors from the third district to leave. Don’t wait for those who are unwilling to leave. If there are survivors from other districts who want to follow, we can accommodate them, but we can’t guarantee their safety. Take as many as you can.”
Old Xue was concerned about Xiao Jiang’s state. “The foreign delegation has already left. We can’t count on them; we can only rely on ourselves.”
Xiao Jiang was taken aback. “When did they leave?”
Old Xue nodded. “Shortly after the meeting ended, one delegation left. They left cursing and complaining, particularly angered by our protection of a zombie. Now they are all gone.”Xiao Jiang furrowed his brow. “They left overnight?”
Old Xue nodded again. “Yes, the last foreign delegation left half an hour ago.”
Xiao Jiang’s frown deepened. “That’s not right. They didn’t have the method to produce the antidote and vaccine. How could they be willing to leave?”
Old Xue sneered. “They probably went back to plot their next move.”
Xiao Jiang disagreed. “We shouldn’t have let them leave so easily. They have malicious intentions.”
Old Xue sighed. “Both Mo Jiang and Lei Jiang thought the same and sent people to stop them, but they almost ended up fighting. In the end, they didn’t care and let them go. Let them do as they please.”
After considering the situation, Xiao Jiang realized that since they had already left, there was no point in dwelling on it further. “You go make the arrangements. As soon as there’s a chance, evacuate immediately with your people. I’ll stay behind and cover your retreat.”
Old Xue refused. “You should take your people and leave. I’ll stay behind and cover the retreat…”
Old Xue’s words abruptly stopped as he made eye contact with Xiao Jiang. He immediately stood up and walked to the window, speaking towards the east.
Old Xue thought he misheard. “Is that the sound of bombers?”
Xiao Jiang’s expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly walked outside. “Organize personnel and prepare for evacuation! Quickly!”
Xiao Jiang picked up a landline telephone to contact Lei Jiang, Mo Jiang, and Xia Jiang. They had all heard the sound of the bombers passing by and predicted the worst outcome.
Xia Jiang, usually mild-mannered, raged over the phone, extremely furious.
The four generals rushed to the foreign delegation’s residence, only to find it empty. They had already left a while ago. It was obviously premeditated!
They had a heated argument in the afternoon and dispersed without reaching an agreement. The foreign delegation was indignant and didn’t notice anything amiss. They returned to their respective residences without any contact. After an hour, the foreign delegation left in anger.
During these few hours, foreign delegations continued to leave. The Central Metropolis thought they had gone back and no longer wanted to get involved with Huaxia’s affairs. Little did they expect that they would suddenly play dirty.
Continuous explosions could be heard coming from the east, and everyone’s faces turned extremely grim.
The four generals quickly discussed and decided to abandon the Central Metropolis and immediately evacuate, if it was even possible to do so!
Yunjing City was like a hornet’s nest, ready to explode even without provocation. Moreover, it was under a deliberate attack. If it didn’t explode under such circumstances, then it wouldn’t be a zombie-infested city.
Those damn plastic international friendships couldn’t wait a single moment to learn the whereabouts of the antidote and vaccine. They were in such a rush to sacrifice lives. Not only that, they also set a trap for the Central Metropolis, fearing that it would prevent them from taking the production methods back to their countries. They had to give the Central Metropolis something to deal with first.
Sure enough, Yunjing City exploded. The Pale Man was absorbing energy in the black pool when a bomb suddenly fell from the sky, blowing up in his face. Instantly, he became furious. Giant zombies emerged one after another, towering in the pitch-black Yunjing City. With a single palm, they swatted down airplanes, causing continuous explosions. The entire Yunjing City was illuminated.
The Pale Man emerged from the pool and let out a roaring zombie cry, to which all the zombies responded. The horde of zombies began to move away from Yunjing City, heading towards the Central Metropolis.
The Pale Man pulled up the dazed young boy covered in dirt and wiped the soil off his face. Holding the boy’s hand, he said, “Go seek revenge.”
The young boy with crimson eyes watched the man’s mouth and imitated him, saying, “Bao… cu.”The man corrected him, saying, “Revenge.”
The young boy tilted his head and looked at him, saying, “Bao… cu, bao, qiu, baoqiu, revenge…”
The boy kept repeating the word, gradually improving his pronunciation. Holding the man’s hand, he happily skipped forward, ready to seek revenge.
Wen Qingling lazily leaned against the railing and opened his eyes.
He looked up at the dark night sky and said, “It’s going to be lively tonight.”
Xiao Hen had been by his side all along. “What did you see?”
Wen Qingling slowly replied, “I saw the Central Metropolis being too clever for their own good and suffering the consequences.”
Xiao Hen remained silent, his gaze fixed on Wen Qingling.
Ever since becoming the “Sub King,” Xiao Hen couldn’t make room in his heart for anyone else or anything else. His eyes and heart were solely occupied by Wen Qingling.
This was the only emotion he managed to preserve through countless near-death experiences and struggles for survival.
His fondness for Wen Qingling, his love for him, was the one thing he didn’t want to lose, so he held onto it.
Wen Qingling reached out and hooked his hand around the back of Xiao Hen’s neck, pulling him down for a bite on his lips before releasing him.
Xiao Hen tried to kiss him back, but Wen Qingling covered his mouth and said, “You will be busy tonight. It wasn’t easy for me to build this civilized city, and I can’t let anyone destroy it.”
Xiao Hen held his hand and kissed his fingers, saying, “Don’t worry, leave it to me.”
A fleet of bombers and fighter jets roared overhead, and before reaching the skies above the civilized city, a hail of attacks rained down—they truly wanted to level the civilized city with their bombings.
Xiao Hen raised his hand and created an invisible spatial barrier that enveloped the entire civilized city. All the attacks landed on the barrier and instantly disappeared, seemingly transferred somewhere else. No matter how many attack methods they had, they couldn’t harm the civilized city in the slightest.
Wen Qingling wasn’t idle either. His terrifying psychic power swept through the air, instantly hypnotizing all the pilots.
Wen Qingling’s casual voice transmitted, “Return to where you came from. They are your enemies. Kill them all.”
A group of bombers and fighter jets circled above the civilized city and then rumbled back in retreat.
It had to be said that Yuan Chen’s provided strategy was quite good. Any problem that could be solved with hypnosis was not really a problem.
The foreign delegations that had left the Central Metropolis didn’t actually return home; they were still on Chinese soil, just hidden more discreetly. During their time in China, the bombers and fighter jets that had escorted them were hidden in this area, which had become their base of operations.
The representative from Country C expressed some concern, “If that zombie dies, how will we obtain the formula for the antidote and vaccine?”
The representative from Country M dismissed it, saying, “The kind of bombing that can kill a zombie on par with the one in Yunjing City doesn’t exist. What we want is to weaken him, inflict serious injuries, and then capture him. That’s the best approach. If he unfortunately dies, the research laboratory in the civilized city will become our spoils. Perhaps we won’t even need to capture anyone to obtain the formula for the antidote and vaccine.”
The representative from Country F worriedly asked, “If both the Central Metropolis and the civilized city are destroyed, and all the survivors in China perish, how will future world history judge us?”
The representative from Country M burst into laughter, saying, “You just mentioned their complete annihilation. No one can prove that we had anything to do with it. History is written by the victors. China’s downfall is due to the zombie virus, unrelated to us. The countries that developed the antidote and vaccine are Country M, Country C, and Country F. We are the ones saving humanity. We are humanity’s hope. In short, China is no longer relevant.”
Thinking about the glory of saving humanity, any worries instantly vanished, and the representatives of each country relaxed, waiting for good news.
Upon hearing familiar rumbling sounds, smiles appeared on the faces of the foreign delegations. “They’re back. Judging by the number of returnees, it should be a success…”