Hearing this, Paopao quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth and glared at Lu Xi with an adorably fierce expression.
“Big Brother is a big bully!”
Bai An’an could understand Lu Xi’s concern. After all, they had known each other for less than half a day.
On top of that, given how much he doted on his little sister, it was perfectly normal for him to feel uncomfortable letting Paopao sleep with her.
Shen Hanzhou looked at the siblings without saying anything. Considering how much Lu Xi spoiled his little sister, he would eventually give in anyway.
Besides, Paopao was a girl, and there were many things the three men would not be able to help with.
That was also one of the reasons Shen Hanzhou hoped Bai An’an would join them.
Paopao was still glaring angrily at Lu Xi, her little mouth pouting so hard that it looked like she could hang a bottle from it.
Lu Xi sighed and walked over. He bent down, picked his sister up from the sofa, and carried her toward the bathroom.
“Let’s wash our hands first. We’ll be eating soon.”
“I want to sleep with An’an Sister!”
Paopao struggled a little, although her strength was obviously no match for her brother’s.
“Fine, fine, fine. Paopao can sleep with An’an Sister tonight.”
Lu Xi finally gave in while holding his struggling sister.
Paopao instantly changed her expression and became obedient.
“Big Brother is the best. Let’s go wash our hands.”
Bai An’an watched the scene and unconsciously smiled.
Fu Shen had already finished reinforcing the windows. He opened the backpack he carried with him and took out a sleeping bag.
“Go pack your things,” he told Bai An’an. “It’s best to carry some clothes and daily necessities with you. Don’t rely too much on Lu Xi’s space.”
Bai An’an nodded.
“Okay.”
She walked into the bedroom, found a backpack, and stuffed several changes of clean clothes and some daily necessities inside.
Her habits as a medical student made her pack a small first-aid kit as well. It contained povidone-iodine swabs, bandages, and several strips of unexpired anti-inflammatory medication.
Although she had a Healing-type ability herself, she understood the principle of not revealing all her cards. Sometimes, she would still have to rely on conventional medical treatment.
When she turned around, she saw the family photograph on the bedside table.
Bai An’an walked over and picked it up, gently rubbing her fingertip over the thin layer of glass.
There were three people in the photograph.
A little girl with her hair tied in a ponytail was smiling brightly at the camera. She was wearing a school uniform and looked around fifteen or sixteen years old. Her entire appearance radiated youthful energy.
Her parents stood behind her with their hands resting on their daughter’s shoulders, smiling at the camera as well.
And then there was nothing more.
In her second year of high school, a speeding truck and an exhausted driver had changed everything.
The small car had been completely crushed in the collision, and the original owner’s parents had died at the scene.
The truck driver had been entirely at fault, but he was dead too. No amount of compensation could bring them back.
The original owner had survived on the compensation money. She lived alone in this apartment, grew up on her own, and eventually got into medical school.
Bai An’an turned the photo frame over and placed it face down on the table. She did not want to look at it anymore.
Those were not her parents, but she still felt as if she could barely breathe.
The pain of losing one’s closest family members still lingered within this body, striking her heart with full force.
In her original world, she had parents too. She had a family that was not wealthy, but was warm and loving.
Now, for some inexplicable reason, she had transmigrated into a book.
Would she have simply “disappeared” from that world?
Would her parents think that something had happened to her?
“An’an Sister?”
Paopao’s voice came from outside the room.
“Come quickly. It’s time to eat!”
Bai An’an took a deep breath and pushed those emotions down.
“Coming.”
She slipped the photo frame into the side pocket of her backpack.
She did not know why. She simply did not want to leave it behind in this apartment, a place that might never be visited again.
When she walked out of the bedroom, the living room had already changed.
The curtains were tightly drawn, and the warm yellow light from an emergency lamp illuminated the entire room.
Two sleeping bags had been placed on the floor.
Several boxes of self-heating rice were steaming on the coffee table, along with two cans of luncheon meat.
The others were gathered around the table, waiting for her to join them for dinner.
“I’m going to wash my hands.”
She quickly walked toward the bathroom.
The faucet could still barely produce some water. The flow was weak, but it was enough.
Bai An’an looked at the girl in the mirror.
Her features were delicate without being overly striking, and she looked about seventy percent similar to Bai An’an from her original world.
She made a face at the mirror.
The girl in the mirror made the same expression.
From the original owner’s memories, Bai An’an could tell that although the girl had experienced several misfortunes, she still loved life.
Bai An’an did not understand why she had become an evil supporting female character, but she would find a way to avoid the original plot and do her best to stay alive.
Bai An’an walked out of the bathroom and squatted beside the coffee table, holding her bowl of rice as she ate while secretly observing the others.
Fu Shen ate the fastest. His bowl was already empty.
Even while eating, his expression remained emotionless, as though it did not matter what he ate. To him, eating seemed to be nothing more than a way to maintain his vital functions.
Shen Hanzhou was still eating leisurely, chewing every bite very carefully as if he were tasting some expensive delicacy.
Lu Xi was squatting beside Paopao, feeding his little sister one bite at a time. His own bowl was still sitting on the table, untouched.
Looking at this scene, Bai An’an suddenly felt that it was somewhat unreal.
The synopsis of the novel she had been reading before closing her eyes in her original world and the scene of being chased by zombies in the supermarket were still vivid in her mind.
Yet now, she was sitting in her own home, eating with characters from the book.
What was more, the scene was strangely warm and peaceful.
So peaceful that she almost forgot this was the Apocalypse.
“What are you spacing out about?”
Shen Hanzhou’s voice came from across the table.
Bai An’an came back to her senses and quickly shoveled a couple of bites of rice into her mouth.
“Just thinking about something.”
“What are you thinking about?”
Thinking about how to stay as far away from you people as possible.
Of course, she could not say that.
“I was thinking… what exactly has the outside world become now?”
Bai An’an really did want to know what was happening outside.
Not long after the virus outbreak, the electricity had gone out. The communications system had collapsed soon afterward.
After the original owner completely lost contact with the outside world, the only thing she could do every day was pray for the Apocalypse to end as soon as possible.
“It really is necessary to give you a basic understanding of what’s happening outside.”
Shen Hanzhou put down his chopsticks, and for once, his tone carried a hint of seriousness.
“The first two weeks after the Zombie virus appeared were the most chaotic. The government collapsed, communications were cut off, and the military was barely able to take care of itself. Ordinary people could only run or hide. The fact that you’re still alive means you were lucky, but you also did a pretty good job of stocking up.”
Bai An’an took another guilty bite of rice without daring to respond.
She certainly did not think that was a compliment.
“In the second month after the virus outbreak, ability users began appearing among humans. The awakening rate was roughly one in five thousand. That probability might sound fairly high, but the current number of survivors is estimated to be less than thirty percent of the total population, and that number is still decreasing.”
“We still don’t know what triggers ability awakening. Some people say it’s a genetic mutation. Others say it’s the reverse evolution of the virus. There is still no definite conclusion. But one thing is certain. The appearance of ability users is the only reason humanity is still able to stand and breathe in the face of this disaster.”
“With the appearance of ability users, the zombies also began evolving.”
Shen Hanzhou’s expression became more serious.
“Ordinary zombies have no intelligence and hunt according to instinct. As long as ordinary people are brave and careful, they can barely deal with them. But the mutated ones are different after evolving. They’re much stronger, and some have even developed special abilities.”
“We encountered a mutated zombie capable of releasing corrosive liquid during this mission. Fu Shen almost…”
He did not finish.
However, Bai An’an noticed that Fu Shen, who was wiping his military knife in the corner, had frowned almost imperceptibly.
“Almost what?” Bai An’an asked curiously.
“Almost got splashed all over.”
Fu Shen answered.
Bai An’an froze for a moment before realizing that he was making a dry joke.
She did not know whether she should laugh.
After holding it in for a while, she finally decided to pretend she had not heard anything.
“The appearance of ability users helped the military and government stabilize the situation. The first large-scale survivor base was established in East China and named Dawn Base.”
Shen Hanzhou continued, “After that, other bases were established one after another. Most of them were unofficial organizations, but Dawn Base is currently the largest, has the strongest defenses, and has the most ability users. One of our tasks this time is to search for surviving ability users and bring them back to the base.”
One of their tasks.
Thinking about the secret mission he had mentioned earlier, Bai An’an made a guess.
Considering how much Lu Xi doted on his little sister, it was unlikely that he would bring her along on a mission.
That meant the Lu Xi siblings were very likely the real objective of their trip.
In other words, the one who was actually valuable was Lu Xi himself.