Chapter 57: Zombie Apocalypse (XV)

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Chapter 57: Zombie Apocalypse (XV)

Miao Lichen’s suggestion of taking a walk around H City really was nothing more than a walk. H City beneath the rain no longer possessed the bright, beautiful clarity of the recent sunny days. Instead, the steady drizzle veiled everything in a faint haze. The streets that were usually filled with all kinds of exchange goods were now completely deserted. The only people still moving about were, for the most part, high-level ability users.

Although this rain’s corrosive effects on ability users were far weaker than on ordinary people, and it could even serve as a catalyst for their growth. Much like how an ability user bitten by a zombie would not transform into one, they seemed to share the same evolutionary path as zombies—yet they represented two completely opposite extremes. The dividing factor between those extremes was the body’s ability to endure the process.

The higher an ability user’s rank, the greater their tolerance naturally became. As a result, high-level ability users could walk through the streets without any concern, while lower-level ability users still had to consider whether their bodies could withstand the virus.

As the strongest ability user, Zhang Yang could hardly care less about a little rain like this. His entire focus was on Miao Lichen as he tightened his grip on their intertwined hands. Miao Lichen’s entire body was concealed beneath a heavy protective suit, with layers of protection that were even more comprehensive than the research clothing he wore in the laboratory. Their joined hands were wrapped in the suit’s material, leaving them almost unable to feel each other’s warmth.

Miao Lichen completely ignored the gazes of the high-level ability users around him. Whether they were mocking, surprised, or, more than anything else, filled with contempt. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the rain that kept obstructing his vision and looked toward the western sky. That was where the sun would set, and where the bright moon would eventually rise. Yet at this moment, there was no trace of sunlight to be seen. Thick black energy churned across the sky, resembling the scenes from the fantasy novels people had read before the apocalypse.

But in a world where abilities had already appeared, a little more fantasy was hardly impossible. Anyone who had read such novels knew that when certain heavenly treasures were about to emerge, there would often be signs preceding their arrival. Miao Nianling, however, was ultimately an artificial human. In a certain sense, this world did not classify her as human at all, but rather as an item belonging solely to Miao Lichen.

In the original story, Miao Nianling never became a true mature entity until the very end. For an artificial human to develop a soul that was completely her own was, naturally, a forbidden act. Miao Lichen was a genius, but even geniuses had things they dared not touch. Miao Nianling’s purpose in being created was merely to achieve the goal of human evolution. Once that purpose was fulfilled, whether the final product, the tool itself, could reach its ideal state was something her creator would never have cared about. Forcing himself to touch a forbidden boundary because of a useless tool would never have been a worthwhile decision for the original Miao Lichen. But the person standing here was no longer the original.

“Even with the protective suit, don’t stay out in the rain for too long.” Zhang Yang’s lips moved slightly, but he swallowed back the words that followed: Your ability is only at Level 2. On some instinctive level, he believed that Miao Lichen should be capable of breaking through the restrictions placed on him by Yue Yingying’s ability. But to Zhang Yang, having Yue Yingying heal Miao Lichen had been his own mistake. He had turned that incident into a knot in his heart, something he refused to bring up again.

“Then let’s go back.” Miao Lichen gave one last glance toward the horizon. Faintly, he could sense the active energy and cells within the body of the person whose life was subtly connected to his own. His body seemed to resonate with it, as if a scorching force was quietly boiling beneath the surface, a power almost capable of burning him.

Yet in reality, there was nothing within his body except the exceptionally obedient Qixiu internal energy. Even the power of his ice ability was slowly fading away. Or rather, it was being devoured by the Qixiu internal energy. If Zhang Yang could cause his ability and internal energy to undergo a certain kind of fusion, then naturally Miao Lichen could do the same. However, due to the unchanging nature of the Qixiu internal energy, no matter how much ability energy he fused with it, the only thing that increased was the quantity of his internal energy. The Qixiu internal energy itself would never acquire the ice attributes of his ability. That was, admittedly, a rather unfortunate outcome.

Furthermore, after Yue Yingying treated his body, Miao Lichen truly became stuck at Level 2. The strength of his ability seemed incapable of increasing or decreasing—it remained forever fixed at that same level. It could almost be measured with absolute precision using a measuring cup or even a scale.

After that, Miao Lichen seemed to grow fond of this activity. Every day, he would walk several rounds around H City with Zhang Yang accompanying him. Of course, part of the reason was the endless rain. With the weather continuing for such a long time, it was simply unsuitable for hunting. The world had never lacked people brave enough to experiment. Even in the apocalypse, there were still those willing to explore the unknown.

Going out to hunt during rainy weather meant fewer competitors. With the same number of crystal cores, one might even be able to exchange for more supplies than usual. Because of this, some ability users took the risk and ventured outside. Their courage was admirable, but no organization would be handing out rewards for such recklessness. Instead, when they failed to return, everyone already knew what had happened.

Using up one’s ability energy in the rain made it much easier for the body to be eroded by the ability itself. In the end, their fate was hardly better than that of ordinary people without abilities. The only difference was that the zombies they transformed into would not be low-level Level 1 zombies. They would inherit the abilities they possessed while alive.

Zhang Yang had enough trump cards that he might have been able to hunt even in the rain. Yet for certain reasons, he chose to remain at the base. If even Zhang Yang, the strongest person in the entire base, was no longer going out to hunt during rainy days, naturally no one else would be foolish enough to seek their own death.

“I was actually starting to worry we’d end up eating through all our supplies if this continued.” A relaxed smile lingered at the corner of Zhang Yang’s lips as he stood beside Miao Lichen as he always did. If things continued like this, he truly worried that once the rain stopped, he might not be willing to leave H City to hunt again. His recent life had simply brought him too many pleasant surprises.

If someone had told him before that Miao Lichen could abandon his experiments, Zhang Yang would have assumed they were trying to deceive him. Yet that was exactly what had happened. Miao Lichen had already moved out of the laboratory nearly a month ago, and the two of them had practically been together every moment of every day. Zhang Yang knew that such an unusual change in Miao Lichen’s behavior must have a reason behind it, but he never investigated. As long as this person had no intention of leaving, nothing else mattered. And if he did want to leave, Zhang Yang had the ability to keep him here. Even if the only thing left behind was a corpse…

Although the protective suit obscured Miao Lichen’s face, Zhang Yang could still imagine the expression of enjoyment on it. Miao Lichen truly liked rainy weather. Zhang Yang did not know what he had been like before the apocalypse, but he was certain that Miao Lichen loved the rain that came after the apocalypse. Although his status as a Level 2 ability user meant he could not remain exposed to the rain for long, even a protective suit could not block his affection for it.

Watching Miao Lichen extend his hand, wrapped within the thick protective suit, Zhang Yang restrained the impulse to reach out and hold it. Instead, he simply stood beside him, quietly taking on the role of his protector. Compared to the madness at the beginning, when he wanted to bind Miao Lichen to him by force, this emotion seemed to have settled with time. Yet it had not diminished in the slightest. Its essence had never changed. If there was any difference, it was that what had once been something superficial and exposed had gradually transformed into something deeper.

“No, it won’t. Because very soon, this rain will stop.” Miao Lichen’s voice was almost a murmur, carrying a faint trace of happiness.

The constant patter of rainfall blurred his voice, so much so that even Zhang Yang, who stood closest to him, failed to hear his words clearly. Yet an inexplicable sense of unease rose in his heart. Following Miao Lichen’s gaze, Zhang Yang looked toward the western sky. Unlike the usual gray haze that covered the heavens, a brilliant radiance had appeared there, resembling the moment when the sun first broke through the clouds. But this was not a faint glow slowly emerging. In an instant, the entire world transformed from a rain-soaked landscape into a bright summer sky.

Zhang Yang instinctively grabbed Miao Lichen’s hand, sending the internal energy within his palm flowing into the other man’s body. Although Miao Lichen had no way to control this internal energy, it could at least ensure that he would not be infected by the virus and transformed into a zombie.

Zhang Yang clearly felt his internal energy stall for a brief moment. The Zhang Yang who had been standing there with half-lidded eyes, a lazy air about him, and an unchanged smile at the corners of his lips suddenly widened his eyes. This was not the first time he had attempted to use his internal energy to approach Miao Lichen’s body, but it was the first time he had ever encountered resistance. Moreover, the power system behind that resistance belonged to something he was extremely familiar with—ancient martial arts. And it was not the power of a beginner by any means.

“We are about to welcome a new beginning.” Miao Lichen had no intention of explaining. The protective suit covering his body slowly faded beneath the sunlight, transforming into countless pale, luminous particles that returned to the earth. A smile appeared on Miao Lichen’s lips. “Welcome back, Ling’er.”

“Papa.” The sudden disappearance of Miao Lichen’s protective suit was naturally caused by Miao Nianling. Her body was no longer that of a five- or six-year-old child. She had become an adult young woman. The face that resembled Miao Lichen by 70 to 80 percent had shed the innocence and childishness of youth, leaving behind an elegance that seemed to have settled deep into her very bones. Yet the faint madness hidden within her gaze, along with the killing intent she had not completely concealed, made it impossible to associate her with the smiling man before her.

Miao Nianling glared resentfully at Zhang Yang. Just as she had before their separation, she wrapped her arms around Miao Lichen and held onto him tightly. A hint of panic lingered on her face, but it gradually faded beneath Miao Lichen’s smile. Now only a few centimeters shorter than Miao Lichen, Miao Nianling still embraced him like a child clinging to her father. The sight was almost comical. But in truth, no one present was capable of laughing.

Miao Nianling’s transformation was not limited to her body alone. Behind her appeared a pair of wings resembling those of a divine being. The illusory feathers, formed from golden light, appeared far more real than any they had ever witnessed before. An angel—the divine embodiment of light and hope in Western mythology.

“Miao Nianling… she actually evolved?” Zhang Yang seemed to effortlessly push away the arms that had been tightly wrapped around Miao Lichen. He concealed the fact that his fingertips had already turned a faint crimson from the force of the contact. The smile at the corner of his lips remained unchanged, but the gaze he directed at Miao Nianling was as cold as ten thousand years of frozen ice.

When Yue Yingying arrived with the others, this was the scene before her. Miao Lichen stood there with a faint smile, as though everything happening before him had nothing to do with him at all. He showed not the slightest awareness that he was the origin of this entire incident. He only let out a soft sigh before pulling Zhang Yang back to his side. Then, little by little, he pried open Zhang Yang’s tightly clenched fingers. The skin that should have been fair had been burned and reddened, as though it had been pressed against a scorching iron.

“It is time to bring this to an end.” At some unknown point, two swords had appeared behind Miao Lichen. They were ancient and elegant, while his white hair had been tied into the most ordinary ponytail. If the Miao Lichen from moments ago had still belonged to the realm of reality, then the one before them now carried an almost dreamy quality. A pair of wings identical to Miao Nianling’s suddenly appeared behind him, only to vanish in the next instant. Golden specks of light scattered into the air and disappeared. The sky itself seemed like a young woman who had finally washed away all traces of dust and sorrow, transforming into the clear blue expanse that had existed before the apocalypse.

“This apocalypse began because of me, but it will not end because of me.” Miao Lichen’s exquisite lips trembled slightly as he spoke, yet the words that left them drove the people below almost to madness. The apocalypse had taken away how many of their loved ones? If they had once felt awe at the beginning, now there was only one emotion left. Hatred.

“Heh… one day, there will be someone who understands…” Miao Lichen continued speaking to himself as though performing a one-man play. Miao Nianling merely watched in silence, making no attempt to stop him. Only tears slowly began gathering in her eyes.

She watched as he released Zhang Yang’s hand. Watched as he danced through the air, scattering a trail of pink brilliance with every movement. The swords in Miao Lichen’s hands had never been weapons. From beginning to end, they moved around him like graceful instruments accompanying a dance. The sky was stained red with blood. In the eyes of the world, all they could see was that man’s breathtaking dance. The most vulgar shade of red had become the backdrop for the most transcendent performance. So much so that they failed to notice the faint scent of blood gradually filling the air.

And the only person stained with that blood offered no resistance. He merely walked slowly toward the figure holding the twin swords. He reached out and embraced Miao Lichen’s increasingly ethereal body, his eyes fixed upon that familiar face. Before Miao Lichen disappeared, his lips moved slightly, as though he wanted to say something. Yet in the end, no sound came out. A faint smile appeared on Zhang Yang’s lips as he looked toward the girl who was frantically rushing toward the scattered fragments of light.

“Miao Nianling, perhaps… I should thank you.” His voice did not tremble in the slightest. Yet Zhang Yang knew that his body had already begun to decay from within. That icy sensation was exactly like Miao Lichen’s ice ability. And yet, within his heart, it brought forth a faint trace of warmth.

Within that novel, there had always been a hidden secret that no one knew. Simply creating a body—whether through cloning or any other method—would not have a significant impact on this world. A true artificial human required the creation of a soul. And once an artificial human truly succeeded, another person would inevitably have to disappear as the sacrifice. This was also why the original Miao Nianling never matured into a complete adult form. A Miao Nianling who relied on Miao Lichen for survival could not truly be considered human…

The beginning of a forbidden act.

And an ending that perhaps had been destined long ago.

∇ Capture Target Zhang Yang Favorability: 100.

∇ Main Mission: Capture the Male Protagonist, Zhang Yang (Complete).

∇ Body has disappeared. Strongly recommend returning to the system space.

∇ Challenger will be returned to Lovely’s System Space.

∇ Challenger has returned to Lovely’s System Space. Cleanup for this world may be omitted.

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