Shen Yu and Yi Han had joined Zhang Chenggong’s group in the first year of the apocalypse. Ever since, Shen Yu had carried supplies for everyone without asking for anything in return.
Back then, the entire Chenggong Base had fewer than five thousand people. It was only after Shen Yu and Yi Han joined that the base began to grow.
Shen Yu was a rare mental-power and space ability user. His senses were almost as sharp as a perception ability user’s, and he could always detect danger in advance. His spatial storage was huge, so he carried all the team’s supplies.
Yi Han was a beast tamer. He could always spot mutated beasts preparing to attack the group, and he had saved them from countless losses along the way.
Though Shen Yu had accidentally eaten a life fruit and become pregnant with Zaizai, he and Yi Han had always taken care of their child themselves. They’d never been a burden to anyone. So why had the base treated their family so coldly?
Shen Yu didn’t consider himself a good person, but he wasn’t a bad one, either. Even after the apocalypse began, neither he nor Yi Han had ever hurt anyone. So why had they ended up with the fate written for them in the book?
Shen Yu truly resented them. If only these people had shown him a little concern and helped him wake up sooner, he could have gone to save Zaizai and Yi Han. Knowing what was coming but being powerless to stop it made it all the more hopeless.
Shi Lin might have meant well, but he was an idiot. And whenever Shen Yu remembered that, in the book, Shi Lin had been the one to kill him, his hatred only grew. Shi Lin disgusted him more than anyone.
Shen Yu knew he could only rely on himself now. If he couldn’t wake up today, then knowing the plot wouldn’t stop him from losing his family. He might as well have died sooner.
Three hours after Feng Qing left, Shen Yu finally struggled awake. Shi Lin hadn’t sent anyone away after the latest examination, and Xu Sheng had stayed behind, so he was the first to notice.
“Young Master Shen, you’re awake.” Xu Sheng was certainly respectful enough. It was just hard to believe he could be so coldhearted, unwilling to spend even one crystal core. Then again, Shen Yu himself must have been a failure as a person if he hadn’t made a single friend.
Shi Lin jumped to his feet. “Brother Shen, you’re finally awake! I was worried sick. Nobody’s cared whether we live or die these past two days. No one on the team would lend me a single crystal core, and they wouldn’t even find someone to treat you.”
Shen Yu couldn’t take all of Shi Lin’s complaints at face value, but the concern behind them was genuine. That sincerity was exactly what had fooled him and dealt him a fatal blow.
Xu Sheng’s face darkened. “How can you just make things up? Didn’t I just hire a healer? Besides, all the base’s supplies are still in Young Master Shen’s spatial storage. Who would dare leave him to die?”
Shi Lin snorted. “How am I making things up? If you’d been willing to spend a crystal core, Brother Shen would’ve woken up ages ago. You couldn’t even part with one level-two core. What’s there to argue about?”
Shen Yu ignored them both. He took a bottle of energy potion from his spatial storage and drank it. Once he felt a little less weak, he got up, put on his boots and coat, and headed straight to the bathroom.
He was relieved. No matter how badly he’d been hurt, he’d finally woken up before the plot unfolded. And, as luck would have it, the villainous couple from the book were at Changfeng Base, giving him a chance to save his family.
After getting himself in order, he put on his coat and headed for the door. Xu Sheng knew he was in the wrong, but he hurried to stop him. “I’ve already agreed on a price with Changfeng Base. Let’s trade for the salt first.”
Shen Yu’s answer was to dump everything they’d stored in his spatial storage onto the bed, where it formed a towering pile. The bed didn’t even collapse under it, proof that it really was sturdy.
Xu Sheng sensed something was wrong. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You can make the trade yourselves.” Shi Lin answered for Shen Yu. He’d long been fed up with these people, always taking advantage of Brother Shen.
Shen Yu had no intention of dealing with him. He opened the door and walked out. Xu Sheng tried to stop him, but a jab of mental power made him flinch. Something was wrong. How could a perception-type ability user attack with mental power?
This wasn’t the time to investigate. “Young Master Shen, you’re going too far.”
Xu Sheng was in the wrong for refusing to spend a crystal core, but Shen Yu could have recovered without wasting one. Besides, hadn’t Xu Sheng called someone to examine him? Shen Yu had been spoiled rotten.
If Shen Yu had known that was what Xu Sheng thought, he probably would have laughed. Spoiled? They really thought they had the power to spoil a mental-power space ability user. The nerve.
Even without Xu Sheng saying it out loud, Shen Yu could guess what he thought. What had happened to their family later was proof enough: give people an inch and they’ll take a mile. He’d spoiled this whole group.
Shen Yu didn’t have time to dwell on it. His baby and the baby’s father were waiting for him to save them. Why waste time worrying about a bunch of nobodies?
The Villain Comeback System in his mind had nearly killed him, but he still had to thank it. Without the system, his family’s fate would have been too horrible to describe.
Neither Xu Sheng nor Shi Lin wanted Shen Yu going out alone. “Brother Shen, wait for me!” Shi Lin followed without hesitation.
Xu Sheng gritted his teeth and went after them, too. Before leaving, he hurriedly instructed the two guards on duty, “Keep an eye on the supplies. I’ll be back.”
Shen Yu paid them no mind. If they wanted to follow, fine. He went straight to Feng Qing’s place. When Feng Qing had examined him, Shen Yu had deliberately left a mental-power mark on him.
The mark had a limited range. It couldn’t reach beyond Shen Yu’s mental-power radius, and even within range, it faded quickly. But it would last a day, which was plenty of time for Shen Yu to find Feng Qing’s home.
Feng Qing’s treatments were more effective, but most people didn’t go to him for examinations or treatment because he charged too much. He was also a homebody who rarely left his place.
Feng Qing was surprised when he opened the door. He hadn’t expected Shen Yu to recover so quickly. Shen Yu handed him a level-three crystal core. “Treat me first.”
He was in terrible shape, his mental power still in disarray. He hadn’t recovered yet; waking up by force had come at a cost. He could absorb a crystal core to recover on his own, but there was no time.
Feng Qing said nothing more. He let Shen Yu inside and began treating him. He didn’t close the door, so Xu Sheng and Shi Lin followed them in, though they stayed near the entrance and stood guard.
The room was much smaller than the guard captain’s apartment. It had a bed screened off by a curtain, two wooden chairs, and a wooden table. There was barely any room to stand.
The treatment lasted about five minutes. Feng Qing only stopped when the crystal core’s energy was spent. “Do you need more?”
Shen Yu thought he was well enough to handle what came next, so he shook his head. “Take me to the location I specify and give me two more full-body treatments. In return, I’ll reunite you with your sister.”
In the book, the only person who could take someone thousands of miles away was Feng Qing’s husband, Yan Yun, the book’s greatest villain. Without him, even knowing the plot wouldn’t have been enough for Shen Yu to change anything.
Feng Qing’s expression finally changed. “You have news of my sister?”
“I don’t have news about her. I can guarantee you’ll see her, but there’s a time limit. If you can’t reach the location I give you within two hours, the deal is off.” Shen Yu handed him the note he’d just written.
When Feng Qing saw that the location was marked with coordinates, he understood that Shen Yu knew a lot about them. “It’s too far. I’ll need a level-four crystal core, and I don’t have one.”
He didn’t suspect Shen Yu of lying. Anyone who knew what kind of ability Yan Yun had couldn’t possibly be trying to deceive them. But Feng Qing really didn’t have a level-four core.
Shen Yu took one from his spatial storage and handed it over. “In exchange for an enemy’s life.” He knew the villainous couple wouldn’t have a level-four core just lying around.
Feng Qing frowned. “If the person really deserves to die, then fine.” Even in the apocalypse, they had principles. They would never kill someone who didn’t deserve it.
Shen Yu wasn’t surprised. The villainous couple in the book had always been principled. “All right. If the deal falls through, just pay me back with a crystal core of equal value.” The deal itself didn’t matter. He was doing this to save his family.
Feng Qing nodded. “Agreed.” He quickly contacted Yan Yun through their contract, and once he confirmed Yan Yun had received the message, he packed his things with practiced speed.
“Brother Shen, where are you going? Who are you going to kill?” Shi Lin finally couldn’t hold back any longer.
Shen Yu was already irritated. “Shut up.” He didn’t just say it; he used his mental power, striking even Xu Sheng, who had started to speak but stopped himself. The attack was much stronger than last time, and this time he kept jabbing at them.
Shi Lin and Xu Sheng hurried outside under the attack. Sure enough, the mental assault stopped as soon as they left the room. Now Xu Sheng wasn’t the only one with a dark look on his face. Shi Lin looked unhappy, too, but neither dared ask another question.
Shen Yu paid them no more attention. A tall, powerfully built man had appeared inside the room, radiating an intimidating presence. He looked like someone nobody should mess with.
Feng Qing had finished packing. He quickly told Yan Yun what Shen Yu had said. Yan Yun glanced at Shen Yu, said nothing, and began absorbing the level-four crystal core.
The warning in that glance was unmistakable. Now this was what a real villain looked like: top-tier presence and strength, with an absurdly powerful ability. The villain the system had chosen couldn’t compare.
Being ruthless and cruel, wiping out an entire base just because things didn’t go your way, didn’t make you a villain. It made you scum. Some comeback story that was.
The person the system had chosen did count as a villain, but only a despicable little one from the book, a thoroughly evil character. He wasn’t even in the same league as the truly villainous couple.
Would an all-powerful system start stealing someone else’s mental power to replenish its own as soon as it arrived? Obviously not. What kind of decent system would bind itself to a scumbag?
A scumbag with a scumbag system was bound to be rejected by the world of a book that touted righteousness. Shen Yu had sensed from the start that they were trying to kill him. In a way, the world had helped him.
Shen Yu was grateful to the world for that. But if it expected his family to keep following the plot and helping the protagonists, it was dreaming. The world probably hadn’t expected him to assimilate the system and learn what was coming.
Shen Yu couldn’t think of a better word than “assimilate.” The system hadn’t disappeared, but it had lost its consciousness and become nothing more than a program, or a reference book.
The plot was still there, along with the side quests the system had issued, all laid out clearly. That was all it could do. The golden-finger rewards that were supposed to come with leveling up were gone.
Shen Yu thought the system was useless. Its world map didn’t even show coordinates. It could only give them for places he’d already visited. That was just how useless it was.
Luckily, he’d been to the place where Zaizai would be in danger. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known how to save him. And thank goodness he’d forced himself awake before the plot began. If he’d been any later, there would have been no saving Canglang or Yi Han.
In the book, Zaizai had survived for a while, which meant he was still safe for now, at least from anything life-threatening. But the trauma of seeing Canglang killed had already made him withdraw into himself.
Because it was a level-four crystal core, it took Yan Yun half an hour to absorb it. Then, without a word, he picked up his things and teleported away with Shen Yu and Feng Qing, leaving the door wide open.
Xu Sheng and Shi Lin watched the whole thing. By the time they realized something was wrong, it was too late. Shen Yu had vanished from the room, so they hurried out to ask around.
The story wasn’t hard to find out. Feng Qing had returned with the salt-trade team. Apparently, he’d spent more than a year searching the south for his sister without success, then come north to try his luck.
Yan Yun was well known, both for his teleportation ability and for having a small storage space. As long as the energy he absorbed was pure enough, he could take people and things thousands of miles away.
It was said that the couple had spent less than two years traveling from one southern survivor base to another, trading as they went. They’d only recently come north, still doing business while searching for Feng Qing’s sister.
Taking someone along wasted energy, so Feng Qing had stayed at Changfeng Base while Yan Yun traded and searched for news. If the distance wasn’t great, he didn’t need pure energy. Level-one or level-two crystal cores were enough.
After learning what had happened, Xu Sheng was devastated. If Yan Yun had needed a level-four core, they must have gone far. In other words, they’d been abandoned.
Shi Lin couldn’t believe it. “Brother Shen wouldn’t leave me behind. He’ll come back for me.”
“Shut up.” Xu Sheng was furious. He’d put up with Shi Lin before for Shen Yu’s sake, but now they’d been abandoned. Why hold back? If Shi Lin hadn’t been fairly capable, not to mention the township head’s future brother-in-law, Xu Sheng would have beaten him to a pulp.
Shi Lin was furious but didn’t dare say anything. He knew all too well whose influence he’d been relying on. It was precisely because he knew that he’d always been so reckless, mouthing off to everyone. Now things were clearly different.
He felt wronged. He thought he’d done everything he could for Brother Shen’s family. Why had Shen Yu left him behind without even telling him what was going on?