Chapter 58: Zombie Apocalypse (Extra)

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Chapter 58: Zombie Apocalypse (Extra)

Epilogue:

With the strength of a single person, he created an entirely new world. No matter how many people hated him, even to the point of resentment and fury, no one could deny the extent of his genius. He was someone who could only be described as a monster of talent. The person who brought them hope and a chance at survival in the apocalypse was also the very source of all their suffering. Yet that person was dead now, leaving behind not even a corpse. A true dust returned to dust and earth returned to earth, they no longer had any way to judge his merits or sins. But everyone knew that after this day, everything about that person would become a forbidden topic.

Perhaps, just as he had said, there would come a day when people could understand. But those who struggled to survive in the apocalypse, and those who had lost their loved ones, would never understand the sacrifices and slaughter committed in the pursuit of science and evolution. Not unless time itself could be turned back.

And so, that man’s breathtaking final dance was destined to be remembered only by those who witnessed it that day. Even the death of the strongest ability user became an unsolved mystery. That was why, when the H City safe zone expanded outward and gained nearly half again as much territory as it had originally possessed, no one knew the reason behind it. Only the ability users who lived in the center of H City understood the truth hidden within that mystery.

The center of H City would forever remain a barren wasteland. Because that place belonged to the domain of lightning. Zhang Yang, as the strongest ability user, if he had been unwilling to die, could have survived by relying on his SSS-ranked ability. Even if his ability was lightning with the greatest destructive power, he could have found a way to continue living. All paths eventually converged. At the very edge of death, a chance for rebirth could still emerge. But Zhang Yang abandoned that chance. Instead, he allowed his lightning domain to manifest into reality. This was the place where the two of them had departed from the world together. Therefore, no matter how many years passed, this land would forever belong to them.

This was Zhang Yang’s obsession. Just as domineering as he had been in life, even in death he still insisted on claiming everything that belonged to Miao Lichen. Naturally, the laboratory that had once stood in the center of the city became the core area covered by the lightning domain. The place where Miao Lichen died was not spared either. From the outside, the lightning domain appeared no different from any ordinary stretch of land. But once someone entered, they would find themselves in an entirely different world. Within the attacks of violent winds and raging storms, faint traces of golden light seemed to linger. Perhaps, many years later, this place would become a trial ground for future generations.

Yet even something forbidden, when known by enough people, will eventually be passed down through the ages. There had been a genius—or perhaps a monster of talent—who had brought about the apocalypse…

As Miao Lichen’s daughter, the one who inherited his life and bloodline, Miao Nianling never appeared before the people of H City again after that day. Disappearing alongside her was Yue Yingying, the legitimate daughter of H City’s greatest family, and the person with the strongest claim to becoming the next heir of the Yue family. Years passed. Time would inevitably dull many things, but there were also stories destined to be carried through generations.

Very few people knew that within the forbidden region at the center of H City, two people had continued to live there all along. Two women of incomparable beauty. One possessed the legendary wings of an angel and always wore an exquisite yet expressionless face. Dressed in a white research coat, she spent year after year in the laboratory, endlessly working on unknown experiments. The other girl was always smiling, constantly moving around Miao Nianling and taking care of everything for her. This was none other than Yue Yingying, who had once spent so many years living under the overwhelming pressure of Zhang Yang and Miao Lichen.

Compared to the time when Miao Lichen and Zhang Yang were still alive, she had become more mature. She had also become Miao Nianling’s most capable research assistant.

Miao Nianling’s daily life was largely managed by her as well. As someone who had once witnessed the glory of Zhang Yang and Miao Lichen in another world, Yue Yingying’s feelings toward this ending were far deeper than those of anyone else present. The protagonist once favored by the world had willingly fallen beneath the blade of his beloved, carrying a satisfied smile as he embraced his own end. And the professor who had once cared for nothing but his experiments had sacrificed himself for the sake of his only bloodline—for an artificial human who had finally gained a true soul.

Right now, Yue Yingying almost wanted to drag the original author out and give them a thorough beating. If the author had not left so many things unexplained, could this world have gone off the rails and developed into something like this? The protagonist ending up dead was one thing, but even the professor she admired so deeply had not been left behind. Yet she understood even more clearly that this world was now the reality of her life.

Perhaps… Zhang Yang and the professor really were happy. If the professor had remained nothing more than a researcher who devoted his entire existence to experiments, if he had never developed a father-daughter bond with Miao Nianling, if he had never sacrificed himself so that Miao Nianling could evolve—then his eyes would have remained fixed only on his research. No matter how much Zhang Yang did, he would never have entered his heart. In that case, the two of them would have only become resentful lovers who hurt each other until the very end.

She did not know what the professor had said in his final moments. But from Zhang Yang’s expression, she knew that whatever those words were, they had given him complete satisfaction. So perhaps everything else no longer mattered. The ending that others saw as a tragedy was, in the eyes of those who experienced it, a happy ending that no one had the right to restrain.

All they needed to do was complete the tasks the professor had left behind. Thinking of the method for creating the antidote that Miao Lichen had entrusted to her, Yue Yingying could not help but twitch the corner of her mouth. Who could have imagined that the so-called cure for the zombie virus would turn out to be the purest, most natural, completely harmless thing in existence—bathwater. Although this “bathwater” belonged to a beautiful girl whose appearance resembled the legendary angels, it still could not change the fact that it was, in the end, bathwater.

It was just a pity that if Miao Nianling bathed in order to create the antidote, those beautiful wings of hers would disappear. For Miao Nianling, that would perhaps be a devastating blow. Every cell in her body, every drop of her blood, originated from the professor. She had even taken her waterfall-like black hair and dyed parts of it white, all so that the reflection in the mirror would resemble him even more.

But even without Miao Nianling’s assurance, Yue Yingying knew that she would eventually become the one who ended the apocalypse. Because that was the professor’s wish. The most important person in Miao Nianling’s heart would always be Miao Lichen. And for Yue Yingying, the most important person in her heart was probably the person standing before her now. Miao Nianling would become the one who ended the apocalypse. But the identity of the person who created the antidote would forever belong to only one individual. This apocalypse had begun in his name. And it would also end with his legacy.

Fifty years had passed since Miao Lichen’s death. The friends and family who had once surrounded him had all eventually become nothing more than a handful of dust. Yet the apocalypse still showed no sign of coming to an end. The highest ability level in the world remained only S-rank. Because… this world would mourn the death of Professor Miao Lichen for a hundred years. That was Miao Nianling’s decision and her wish.

Since the plot had already become completely unrecognizable, she did not mind changing it even more thoroughly. The smile on Yue Yingying’s face could only be described as enchantingly beautiful, yet it carried an unmistakable sense of danger. The highest rank—SSS level. The time when Professor Miao had once said the antidote could be released was still fifty years away.

Zhang Yang Extra:

They could never become lovers, but they would remain together forever. Even if that was only one person’s wish.

Zhang Yang had always known that he was a contradictory person. Without certain restraints, he could have ended the life of someone he had been happily speaking with only moments before. It was merely that certain rules of this world had restrained him. But then the apocalypse arrived, and all those restrictions disappeared overnight. Deep within his heart, a thought slowly emerged.

This world… was the world that truly belonged to him.

Yet he still chose to wait and observe. Almost as though deliberately showing weakness, he gave the small amount of food he possessed to the people in his dormitory who had once been his classmates. The reason was simple. He knew he would definitely leave, and he needed a reason to leave.

Going to Miao Lichen’s laboratory had been nothing more than a spur-of-the-moment decision. This apocalypse seemed easy enough, but he still lacked a certain sense of security. Even as an ancient martial artist, he could not guarantee that he would never be injured by a zombie.

The answer he received was one he had already expected. He even began to question his own intelligence. The apocalypse had only just begun—how much could a biological researcher possibly know at that point? Yet even now, he still felt fortunate about the decision he had made back then.

If they had not met at that time, he and Miao Lichen might have remained nothing more than complete strangers. Perhaps they might have occasionally become acquaintances or even friends, but they would never have become what they were now—two people who cherished each other completely.

For the sake of Miao Nianling, who appeared to be an ability user, they began their long journey together. Even he, who did not believe in fate, had to admit that such an outcome had long been destined. Aside from his extraordinary martial skills, Miao Lichen seemed to have never hidden anything. He did not hide his obsession with research, nor did he hide his true cold-heartedness and indifference. He did not even conceal his disregard for life and death.

From the moment his body was used as an experimental subject, he might already have developed some suspicion. As an ancient martial artist, his internal energy had suddenly become active. Although it had happened on the very day the apocalypse began, he naturally could not simply forget about the changes occurring within his own body. And Miao Lichen, who had been beside him at the time, became the most likely suspect. However, he had been eager to obtain the jade pendant containing the storage space, so he did not pursue the matter then.

As an ancient martial artist, one could, under certain circumstances, be considered the best doctor. This statement was naturally not an exaggeration. An ancient martial artist’s understanding of the human body was absolutely deeper than that of ordinary doctors. Moreover, he had always been confident in his own abilities. When he discovered that this change improved his abilities without affecting his body, he had been genuinely delighted.

After that, things slowly began to move beyond his control. Perhaps it was because the two of them were so similar that he placed more and more of his attention on Miao Lichen, until everything gradually slipped out of his grasp. Yue Yingying’s appearance made his emotions increasingly restless, yet he subconsciously refused to investigate further, because he knew that once he did, many things would become impossible to turn back from.

Yet the things that needed to be discovered would always eventually be discovered, especially in a world where all boundaries had been stripped away, leaving only the two things: life and death. H City was a paradise within the apocalypse, so naturally it lacked no special venues, unusual professions, and countless other forms of entertainment. It was not limited by gender either.

Because of his closeness with Miao Lichen, many people had already seen through the truth, and rumors naturally began to spread. Zhang Yang was an intelligent person, so he gradually came to understand his feelings toward Miao Lichen. At that moment, the answer he had been avoiding appeared before him. The words “researcher” and “experimental subject” continued to churn within his heart, to the point where he could no longer control himself.

Therefore, he chose to use his own method to make it so that, in Miao Lichen’s life, there would be nothing except experiments and himself. Yet he became even more dissatisfied, because those experimental instruments were more important in Miao Lichen’s eyes than he was.

He was still a contradictory person. He wanted to forcibly obtain this person, yet he hoped for a response from him. He wanted to remain by his side forever, yet there were times when he wished they could sleep together in this world forever. Death was the best ending; then this person would always remain beside him.

He struggled within himself, slowly sinking from hope into despair.

A single rainfall changed everything, actually causing the person who viewed experiments as his life to change the way he lived. Yet… this period of time, which was the happiest time of his life, was nothing more than their final celebration.

To sacrifice one’s own life for the things one cherished was indeed something only Miao Lichen could do. Because he was capable of doing the same. Miao Lichen could offer himself as the final sacrifice for Miao Nianling, so how could Zhang Yang not abandon his own life because of a single sentence from him, even if he did not know how much truth that sentence contained? From the very beginning, dying together had been the path he wanted to choose. Miao Lichen had always been someone so similar to him.

Miao Lichen was the only obsession Zhang Yang had in his entire life. Rather than continue living without any purpose or pursuit, he would rather chase after that single thread of hope. At least they would share the same grave in death.

Darkness enveloped his consciousness. The lightning that had once been his weapon surrounded him, giving him his final farewell, yet he felt that he was not completely without awareness. The red-clothed man’s breathtaking dance spun before him. Faintly, he seemed to see that person’s warm smile and eyes filled with tenderness.

He knew that the curve of that smile and the warmth within it were what he had always depended on and longed for. Someone once said that at the moment of death, one would see the person they loved most coming to welcome them. So if they died together, would this be what it meant—that even in eternal sleep, they would remain together forever?

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