F-City Base
“Ah, someone save me! Why are there suddenly so many zombies? I do not want to be eaten! I will definitely survive.”
The man hiding behind the door muttered neurotically to himself, the footsteps occasionally echoing from outside making his entire body tremble.
A little girl anxiously searched for her mother’s figure. Turning a corner, she spotted that familiar piece of clothing.
“Mom!”
She was both happy and confused as to why her mother was lying on the ground. She ran over, only to discover a monster inside the room. The monster heard her voice and stared straight at her.
The entire F-City base fell.
Twelve hours earlier
The broadcast announcer stationed at the signal tower to monitor surrounding movements suddenly began shaking uncontrollably as he gripped his binoculars.
“Hey, what is wrong with you?” His colleague, irritated by the violent shaking of the table, turned his head with an unfriendly expression. Just as he was about to say something, he caught sight of the announcer’s ghostly expression.
“Quick! Tell the leader quickly!”
He gripped his colleague’s arm tightly. “A massive horde of zombies is surging toward the base from the two o’clock direction. Their marching speed is estimated at twenty kilometers per hour, and they are expected to land at the F-City base by seven o’clock tonight.”
Seeing his colleague’s doubtful and alarmed face, he shouted again: “Go notify the leader!”
“Oh, oh.” Snapping out of it, the colleague wiped away cold sweat while nervously dialing the internal line with trembling hands. His expression turned increasingly despairing as time ticked by.
A strong, ominous premonition surged within his heart. Struggling to steady his breathing, he asked, “What is happening?”
“I tried several times. No one is answering.”
He bolted upright and sprinted toward the leader’s quarters, only to find that all the high-ranking officials had vanished.
The wide-open doors and the belongings left behind indicated that the people inside had anticipated the zombie tide in advance and quietly fled the base, leaving only low-level espers behind.
They had been abandoned.
Su Lang was captured two kilometers outside the A-City base.
The abdomen where he had been kicked still throbbed dully. Spitting out a mouthful of blood and foam, he discovered that his entire body was suspended in midair by two chains.
His lower half maintained a half-kneeling posture, the fabric of his trousers corresponding to that area already worn through by the rough ground. Stabbing waves of pain radiated from his scabbed knees.
The sound of shuffling footsteps echoed, and Su Lang forced his eyes open.
The stone-paved prison cells of the base were originally built to hold violent criminals who committed intentional murder or betrayed humanity. Illuminated by a single light bulb, the polished leather shoes in his field of vision walked along the steps and stopped right before him.
The young man wore a long black trench coat, the crisp fabric outlining his tall frame. With every movement, he radiated the unquestionable, powerful aura of someone in a position of authority. Dressed entirely in black, his whole person was so dark and deep that he practically merged with the night.
“Where is You An?”
The chilling, emotionless voice rang out. Su Lang raised his head, the corners of his mouth splitting open into a grin. His swollen, bruised eyes made this smile somewhat terrifying.
“You really became the leader? Cough, cough. Congratulations.”
Song Chengyu lowered his gaze coldly, looking down at him from above. “Answer my question.”
“How would I know such a thing?” Despite saying this, Su Lang’s eyes flashed with undisguised malice.
“Besides, why are you so certain You An was abducted? What if he abandoned you and willingly crawled into Xin Jian’s bed?”
Seeing the bulging veins on Song Chengyu’s tightly clenched right hand, Su Lang felt supremely gratified. Knowing he faced certain death upon capture, he simply indulged his tongue, letting his words grow increasingly vicious.
“Then he truly made the right choice, seeing as Xin Jian told me personally that You An’s type is his absolute favorite. To have the person you hold so dearly defiled by another.” At this point, he even opened one eye to appreciate the young man’s expression.
“Song Chengyu, I almost feel sorry for you.”
His abnormally excited voice echoed through the cramped cell. The black-haired young man stood frozen in place like a statue, finally reacting after a few seconds.
“Leader.” The guard beside him hesitated slightly.
“Open the door.”
“Yes.”
The pair of black leather shoes in his field of vision drew closer and closer. The atmosphere grew terrifyingly quiet, and Su Lang swallowed hard as ungrounded panic welled up inside him. His hair was grabbed brutally by a hand and yanked backward. The pain of feeling as though his entire scalp was about to be peeled away made him gasp with his mouth wide open.
“Did you not understand my words?”
Song Chengyu materialized an ice blade in his palm, whispering beside his ear: “Rest assured, I will control my strength. You will not die.”
The next instant, the agony of the sharp blade piercing into his ear made his eyes fly wide open.
“Ah.”
The piercing, agonizing pain caused him to twist and convulse wildly like a dying fish on a cutting board. The iron chains clanked loudly, and his wrists strained so hard against the iron rings that layers of skin and flesh were nearly scraped raw.
His eyeballs bulged from the unbearable pain, as if they might pop out of their sockets. Incapable of any rational thought, he desired only release.
“Just kill me! Kill me. If you have the guts, kill me right now, Song Chengyu!”
Song Chengyu stopped driving the blade handle inward. Fresh red blood dripped along the ice blade, landing on the stone-paved floor.
Su Lang wriggled backward like an insect. Recovering slightly, he wheezed in a breathy, thread-like voice: “Pity. Even if you kill me, he will not stay with you.”
Song Chengyu suddenly let out a cold snort.
“So what?” The young man’s tone was breezy, yet it chilled anyone to the bone.
“Whoever he is with, I will kill.”
With that, Song Chengyu ignored the look Su Lang gave him as if staring at a monster. “I will give you one last chance. If you tell me You An’s location, I can grant you a quick death.”
“Otherwise, I will not let you die easily.” A cruel, murderous intent flashed through those pitch-black eyes.
“I will shatter your bones piece by piece, dig out your eyes, and have a healing-type esper treat you, keeping you barely hanging on to life even if you only have a single breath left.”
Hearing these words, Su Lang trembled like chaff in the wind, his previous arrogance thoroughly extinguished as if doused by a basin of ice water.
“Madman! You are a lunatic!”
“It seems you prefer the second option.”
Su Lang gritted his teeth and lowered his head defeatedly. “I will tell you.”
“Leader!”
“What is it?” Receiving the answer, Song Chengyu released his grip and stood up.
The man ran down hurriedly, handing a confidential letter over. Song Chengyu tore it open, his expression shifting slightly.
“What do we do?”
The young man tucked the letter back into his pocket, his voice resonant and powerful. “Gather all attack-type espers. Prepare for battle.”
“To avoid any prolonged complications,” he tilted his head, casting a glance at Su Lang who thought he could escape amidst the chaos. “Now, kill Su Lang.”
“My sleeping beauty, have you not slept enough yet?”
A hand brushed against the cheek of the person on the bed. Rough fingers traced from the youth’s smooth forehead down to those closed, pretty eyes, feeling the subtle flutter of long eyelashes as if teasing a butterfly.
A thumb calloused by friction grazed over full, rosy lips, watching them get kneaded into an even more bruised state, resembling a flower bud on the verge of oozing sweet nectar.
This gesture was ambiguous and seductive, carrying a hint of crude wantonness. You An frowned slightly in his sleep, wanting to brush away that annoying hand, only to hear a low chuckle from the man.
Xin Zhou stood by the doorway, watching this scene. Clenching his teeth, his bloodshot eyes flashed crimson, and the fine cultivation and manners he had maintained for over twenty years nearly shattered.
Xin Jian glanced toward him, his smile subduing slightly as he frowned. “What kind of expression is that?”
“I thought we brought him here to protect him! You never said you were going to treat You An.” Xin Zhou trailed off, unable to continue.
“Is today the first day you have known me?” Xin Jian sneered. “Do not think I cannot see what is on your mind.”
“Do not worry, I will not let him ruin the bond between us brothers. He is merely a pretty little plaything. Once I grow tired of playing with him, I will hand him over to you.”
The young man lowered his head, his dark hair falling forward to precisely conceal the hatred burning in the depths of his eyes.
“Mhm.” You An slowly drifted awake. Opening his eyes, he discovered that the surrounding scenery was completely different from before.
Subconsciously, he searched for the figure of Song Chengyu, the presence that gave him a sense of security, only to lock eyes with an unfamiliar face.
“Why is it you?!” This perverted old man!
“Because you certainly would not have come willingly. After all, you did not come looking for me that entire day.” Seeing the youth’s expression instantly turn vigilant, Xin Jian smiled warmly. “So I had no choice but to invite you over.”
As he uttered the word invite, his gaze landed meaningfully on Xin Zhou.
You An followed his line of vision. The young man kept his head bowed to avoid his gaze, making You An realize instantly that this youth was the one who had drugged and knocked him out.
He knew very well that Song Chengyu was currently frantically devouring crystal cores to level up. The political climate of the A-City base was about to undergo a drastic upheaval. You An had no desire whatsoever to get entangled with the Xin family, a faction viewed as a thorn in the protagonist shou’s side, right in the middle of this critical juncture.
Yet while he wished to avoid trouble, the Xin family refused to let him go.
“Wait. Why would the protagonist shou kidnap a cannon fodder like me?” You An was completely baffled.
Tangyuan was also struck speechless. The plot had truly veered completely off course into outer space.
“Get out.” Xin Jian waved a hand at Xin Zhou, who still lingered by the doorway. The latter paused, then crumbled under Xin Jian’s increasingly icy gaze.
Only the two of them remained in the room. You An’s fingers gripped tightly onto the blanket wrapped around his body. Unforgetting that he was still wearing a dress, his confidence instantly dwindled further.
The man chuckled playfully at the sight. “No need to hide, I have already seen it all.” With that, he leaned over and pressed forward, frightening the youth into shrinking backward in sheer dismay.
“What are you doing? Do not come closer!”
Xin Jian grabbed his bare ankle and pulled him toward himself. Clearly enjoying this hide-and-seek flirtatious game, he deliberately lowered his voice, “You ask what I am doing? You are so clever, can you not guess?”
“You are truly disgusting.”
The youth’s ankle was also exquisitely pretty, pale cyan veins wrapped beneath thin porcelain-white flesh with delicate bone structure. The man found himself unable to put it down, even lowering his head to press a light kiss against it.
He smiled. “Disgusting? When you strip it all away, you are nothing more than a level one spatial esper relying entirely on this skin of yours to latch onto Song Chengyu.”
You An had his ankle touched by Song Chengyu before, but unlike the other’s touch, the spot touched by Xin Jian felt as though some living creature were crawling over it, generating a wave of nausea and revulsion throughout his body.
Could anyone save him? Watching the man draw closer and closer, a sense of despair rose within his heart. You An thought frantically, suddenly remembering Xin Zhou, who had just walked out.
His only leverage was the other’s guilt. If he had not walked too far yet,
“Xin Zhou. Xin Zhou! Why did you bring me here? How could you do this to me! Are you outside the door? Please save me.”
A hand clamped around the youth’s porcelain-white, delicate chin, applying enough pressure to make You An frown in pain.
In his field of vision was Xin Jian’s smiling face, those deep green pupils reminiscent of a treacherous serpent radiating faint danger.
“Calling another man’s name in my bed is not a good idea.”
With that, the man’s other hand cupped the back of You An’s head, preparing to kiss him down.
Urgent knocking sounded from outside the door. “Leader, someone is looking for you.”