Three o’clock in the morning.
With a soft beep, a protective shield successfully activated. Ten meters away, a slender figure flipped and twisted repeatedly, skillfully avoiding the densely packed infrared detectors. In the blink of an eye, she had reached the platform, where a delicate hand gently picked up the jade bracelet.
“The green color and excellent translucency are truly remarkable. All the effort we put into this was worth it!”
“Let’s go! Peter is still waiting for us!”
Another voice urged her from outside the door.
The woman holding the jade bracelet was dressed in a tight-fitting outfit that accentuated her curvaceous figure. Her short hair barely reached her ears, and when she smiled, her bright eyes and pearly teeth were striking, with graceful brows and deep, expressive eyes. There was an unmistakable air of detachment and carefree confidence about her. Even though her movements were elegant, the casual nonchalance she carried often made people overlook her beauty, only to find themselves captivated by her unique presence instead.
“Chen Xi, you have fifteen seconds!”
The person outside threw out the warning, and the woman raised an eyebrow.
“Not necessary!”
She flashed a cocky smile and, with several agile flips, vaulted out with the jade bracelet in hand, looking completely relaxed and at ease.
“My lady, be careful! This is a Warring States jade bracelet worth one billion yuan. Could you show it a little more respect?”
“Ten seconds. You lost! Besides, it may be worth one billion yuan in other people’s eyes, but to us, taking it back costs us nothing!”
The two of them were members of China’s special agent organization. They had been trained by the organization since childhood, and their orders were to retrieve this ancient bracelet. It belonged to their country, and now that it had resurfaced, they could not allow it to be auctioned off to someone else.
Across from her, Zhou gave an understanding smile. Over the years, they had seen their fair share of valuable treasures, so they did not even spare a glance at the other artifacts in the exhibition hall.
This was the most famous private collection exhibition in Britain, displaying antiques from all over the world. Its total value was impossible to estimate, and the collection was said to be worth enough to buy an entire city in Britain.
Despite the exhibition being protected by the most advanced security technology, the two of them walked out as though there were no one around. Once they reached the entrance, Chen Xi looked at the bracelet in her hand and whistled. Only then did alarms begin blaring throughout the building behind them, yet the deafening noise did nothing to disrupt their leisurely pace.
Inside the organization’s safe house, Chen Xi rubbed the bracelet in her hand and looked up at the man sitting opposite her.
“Zhou, do you know what this means?”
He gave a mocking laugh.
“Of course I do. It means it can finally return to its homeland!”
“There are still many of our treasures out there. I believe we’ll slowly bring them all back.”
Every time Chen Xi saw so many artifacts in museums that rightfully belonged to her country but were now in the possession of other nations, she felt a surge of indignation.
“However, Chen Xi, you’re still too naive. Didn’t I tell you before? Never trust anyone.”
As Zhou spoke, a short blade was suddenly driven into Chen Xi’s chest.
Chen Xi lowered her head and stared at the blade piercing her chest in disbelief. Only a second ago, the two of them had still been imagining their future together.
She and Zhou were both orphans who had been trained by the organization since childhood. She had always considered Zhou a friend, at the very least, yet she had never expected the person she trusted to be the one to deliver the fatal blow.
“Why?”
Chen Xi’s question made Zhou sigh helplessly. As he answered, he reached for the ancient bracelet on her body.
“I don’t want to live this kind of life anymore, always walking on the edge of death. Someone promised me that as long as I protected this bracelet, I would be given my freedom. You’re the organization’s best fighter, so this was the only way I could do it.”
After hearing Zhou’s explanation, Chen Xi understood everything. She curled her lips into a smile. Zhou was right about one thing. She was the organization’s number one fighter, and although she had been caught off guard, she would never allow herself to die for nothing.
Chen Xi took another step forward, allowing the blade to sink even deeper into her chest, then lightly flicked one hand against the wall.
“You think you can kill me?”
Zhou’s eyes widened to their limit. The last thing he saw was the blood at the corner of Chen Xi’s lips and the flames exploding all around them.
“Boom!”
The entire safe house was blown apart. Chen Xi had long ago modified the safe house into a defensive weapon of her own. She had prepared for everyone except Zhou, and since things had come to this, they might as well die together. She could not leave such a massive threat behind for the organization.
Their bodies were instantly torn apart by the explosion, yet Chen Xi’s hand remained tightly wrapped around the jade bracelet.
“Ugh!”
Chen Xi instinctively moved her fingers, and waves of pain coursed through her body. She opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. This was not anywhere she was familiar with.
Could she really have survived?
Impossible. That bomb had been set up by her own hands, so how could she not know its power? Her body should have been blown to pieces.
The thought of Zhou crossed her mind, but it disappeared just as quickly. The past was the past, and there was no point dwelling on it.
Chen Xi stretched out her hand and saw the ancient bracelet still perfectly intact around her wrist.
Something was wrong.
She stared at the pale, slender wrist in front of her. This was definitely not her original hand.
What was going on? Had she transmigrated? Been reborn? Or had her soul entered another body?
Before she could find a mirror to see what she looked like now, a beautiful young woman walked in. There was a faint trace of sorrow on her face, and the moment she opened her mouth, tears seemed ready to fall. She was the very picture of a delicate beauty.
“Chen Xi, are you feeling better? It’s all my fault for not taking good care of you! Sob, sob! You must never go out alone again.”
Chen Xi stared at the woman for a while before sitting up and leaning against the headboard. Suddenly, a violent pain exploded in her head, and a massive amount of memories rushed into her mind. The pain left her face deathly pale as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.
As Jiang Yali watched the woman before her writhing in pain, hatred secretly filled her heart.
Chen Xi, why didn’t you die out there?
A flash of greed appeared in her eyes as they swept toward the bracelet on Chen Xi’s wrist. As long as this woman died, the jade bracelet would be hers, and the person under Dr. Chen’s care would be her instead.
From the original owner’s memories, Chen Xi learned that this body was also named Chen Xi, while the woman standing before her was her classmate, Jiang Yali.
Half a year earlier, a laboratory in the United States had leaked a certain virus that could turn healthy human beings into bloodthirsty monsters that neither tired nor felt pain or fear. It was known as the zombie virus.
The virus swept across the entire world with unstoppable force, turning it into a living hell.
Human ability users also began to emerge. As order collapsed, people started looting supplies and fighting over resources. Even worse, various riots and acts of mutual slaughter erupted alongside the spread of the virus.
In a short period of time, the world order was completely reshaped. There were now eight major survival bases and countless smaller ones.
The original owner’s father was a renowned biochemical doctor, so even though she had never awakened an ability, the people he had asked to protect her had kept her alive until now. However, he was deeply absorbed in his research and had little time to pay much attention to his daughter.
Jiang Yali was the original owner’s classmate. When the virus first began spreading, the two of them had been traveling together. Because of the original owner’s father, someone had been assigned to protect them, allowing them to escape the initial disaster.
Later, however, Jiang Yali awakened a wood-type ability, and the protector’s allegiance shifted to her.
The original owner, meanwhile, had never awakened an ability. Until she could reunite with her father, she had no choice but to rely on Jiang Yali.
Chen Xi and Jiang Yali.
Weren’t these two names exactly the same as those in the apocalypse novel she had read?