Ji Chaoxi only smiled obediently.
She obediently ate breakfast and obediently followed them out of the apartment.
The moment they stepped outside, they came face to face with Murong Zhuo.
Beside him stood a tall young woman, around twenty years old. She wore a black sports outfit, had neat short hair, and striking, well-defined features. Her aura was calm and cold.
Murong Zhuo’s gaze swept over them, then behind them, before he asked casually, as if just making polite conversation.
“You didn’t come back last night. We were all worried.”
It was obviously just surface-level courtesy.
Ji Chaoxi stayed silent, letting Ye Jiming answer.
Wearing Bai Xuan’s youthful, harmless face, Ye Jiming smiled brightly.
“Sister Chaoxi was saving people at the hospital until late at night. After that, we just found a place to rest.”
Murong Zhuo nodded and did not press further. He glanced at Ji Chaoxi, then ultimately chose not to mention Feng Ruijie’s matter.
Instead, he introduced the girl beside him.
“This is Tang Ci. She’s the captain’s cousin and also an Ability User from Yuzhou Base. We’re going to the mission center. Do you want to come with us?”
Ji Chaoxi nodded lightly at Tang Ci in greeting, her expression unchanged—but inside, a storm surged violently.
That name was the same as the “female protagonist” the system had mentioned.
The system had said Ye Jiming, the villain, would fall in love with her. Then, due to a series of events, that love would become obsession, then hatred—and eventually lead to the world’s destruction.
Should she interfere?
No… forget it.
She was just a cannon fodder character who could not even escape. The protagonist and the villain were both the strongest existences in this world—there was no place for her to intervene.
At the same time, Tang Ci studied the slender girl in front of her, especially those clear eyes.
In a world like this, to still maintain such purity—it was rare.
She felt a natural goodwill rise in her.
She stepped forward and extended her hand with a smile.
“Hello. You’re Ji Chaoxi, the mutated Wood Ability User, right? I was busy repairing the energy grid damaged by the beast attack yesterday, but I heard about your achievements and wanted to meet you. I didn’t expect to see you so soon—this really is fate.”
Ji Chaoxi shook her hand.
“I just did what I could.”
“I like people who do what they can,” Tang Ci said warmly, her star-like eyes filled with a smile. “Can we be friends?”
Ji Chaoxi answered very straightforwardly.
“Of course.”
Murong Zhuo looked at the two of them with slight surprise, then subtly signaled Tang Ci with his eyes.
Tang Ci simply smiled and said to Ji Chaoxi, “I’ll take you to the mission center. If you have beast cores, you can exchange them for same-type ability cores…”
The Yuzhou Mission Center Hall was crowded.
Ji Chaoxi even spotted familiar faces from the hospital the day before.
Tang Ci smiled faintly.
“How does Yuzhou Base compare to your Longcheng Base?”
“It’s much bigger than ours,” Ji Chaoxi answered honestly.
“Then… do you want to stay?”
“I’ll pass. Longcheng Base needs Ability Users more.”
Of course Ji Chaoxi wanted to stay—or even go farther away—but with Ye Jiming here, all such thoughts were meaningless.
“That’s a pity,” Tang Ci said, sounding genuinely regretful.
At that moment, a group of people walked toward them, apparently having just completed a mission.
The leader saw Tang Ci and sneered.
“Isn’t this Tang Ci—the captain who got her entire team killed? How do you still have the face to live? If it were me, I would’ve died alongside the beast horde yesterday. No shame in dying like that.”
Laughter erupted behind him.
Another man added coldly, “You people are her new team, right? Be careful. She got her last team killed. Stick too close to her and you won’t even know how you died.”
The surrounding crowd began to watch.
Some curious. Some hostile. Some eager for drama. Some clearly resentful toward Tang Ci.
Ji Chaoxi glanced at Ye Jiming.
Ye Jiming smiled back faintly, as if he already understood everything.
Murong Zhuo’s brows were tightly furrowed.
Tang Ci’s expression turned cold.
“They died. Their revenge—I will take it back one by one. As for you… a bunch of deserters have no right to speak of them.”
“Tang Ci!” the man shouted furiously, releasing his ability.
But before anything could happen—
“Private fighting is prohibited in the mission hall!”
He immediately withdrew his power, glaring at her.
“Just you wait.”
They left in anger.
Tang Ci sneered softly.
“Cowards.”
The words were not loud, but the group heard it clearly. Their faces twisted with rage, but they could only endure it.
As they left, whispers spread through the hall. Some even openly insulted Tang Ci.
Tang Ci merely glanced at them.
A faint flash of purple lightning flickered in her eyes.
The man who had been speaking immediately turned pale and shut his mouth.
“Let’s go look at beast cores,” Tang Ci said calmly.
“Alright,” Ji Chaoxi replied.
She felt genuine admiration for Tang Ci’s composure.
If it were her… she would probably suffocate under all this.
Then suddenly—
A hand grasped hers.
Ji Chaoxi turned sharply.
Ye Jiming, still wearing Bai Xuan’s face, smiled at her gently.
Her heartbeat faltered slightly. She looked away quickly.
She pulled her hand back.
But this time, Ye Jiming did not insist. He simply followed behind her, gaze fixed on her slightly reddened ears.
His chest filled with a complicated, almost addictive feeling—satisfaction, yet hunger for more.
He lightly bit his tongue, forcing himself to stay patient.
Be patient with my wife.
Wife…
He silently repeated it several times, his lips curling.
Then he remembered how she had called him “husband” last night—soft, obedient, almost intoxicating.
He couldn’t help himself.
He reached out and held her hand again.
This time, Ji Chaoxi did not resist.
Murong Zhuo, watching this, silently mourned for Feng Ruijie for three seconds.
He disliked what Feng Ruijie had said yesterday, so he could not bring himself to ask Ji Chaoxi to help him.
And somehow… he had a feeling this whole situation involved that seemingly harmless boy—who was probably anything but.
Feng Ruijie had joined their team recently. For the past two months, Murong Zhuo’s impression of him had been neutral.
Everyone knew Feng Ruijie had a woman he was close with, but he never admitted it.
When he first joined, he had even tried to curry favor with the team leader and Qi Ran, but quickly backed off once he understood his position.
That, at least, made him seem tolerable.
Attraction to powerful and beautiful people was human nature.
But now, Feng Ruijie clearly had feelings for Ji Chaoxi—and since they had known each other before the apocalypse, they could be considered acquaintances.
Yet after Ji Chaoxi chose Bai Xuan, he had lashed out with those words.
Anyone would struggle to accept that.
Murong Zhuo’s gaze swept over the crowd still hostile toward Tang Ci.
He sighed inwardly.
In this world, the line between good and evil, right and wrong, had long since blurred.
Only life and death remained.