Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Taiyun

The three pupils in that right eye were very small, as if one pupil had split into three of varying sizes; it looked terrifying.

The woman locked eyes with Song Ge for a moment before putting her sunglasses back on. “She isn’t an Ability User.” She then pointed toward Tong Xiangyu, who was playing with the dog not far away. “That one is.”

Song Ge felt a chill. She can tell just by looking? Is that the function of the three pupils?

It seemed her own enhanced senses were indeed just a byproduct of her survival instincts rather than a “true” ability.

Qiao Minshan spoke up: “Don’t act alone anymore. It’s dangerous further ahead. Come with us. We’ve received orders from above to escort all survivors to a designated gathering point.”

Gathering point? Superiors? Orders?

Song Ge asked, “You’re in contact with the government?”

Nearby, Xiang Weijun walked toward Tong Xiangyu. Seeing this, Baibai immediately let out a warning growl! Despite his small size, he had held his own against the dog that killed a grown man; as a mutant, one bite from him would mean the end for a human.

Tong Xiangyu didn’t stop Baibai.

Xiang Weijun said to her, “Can you make him stop barking at me?”

“He’s just barking, he won’t bite you.” Tong Xiangyu had zero favorable impression of this man. Even though he claimed to be a cop and looked decent enough, her only memory was of him trying to kill Baibai.

Xiang Weijun smiled and stood half a meter away. “What’s your name? How old are you?”

Tong Xiangyu didn’t feel the need to answer.

Meeting a wall, Xiang Weijun rubbed his nose awkwardly. He had been single for thirty years and had never pursued a girl; he figured he’d have to wait for his bosses to “assign” him someone at a blind date. He hadn’t expected to experience love at first sight in a situation like this.

Since he liked her, he had to pursue her boldly. In this special environment, it was the easiest time to earn points. The more dangerous the situation, the more important a sense of security became!

Xiang Weijun proactively apologized: “Uh, sorry about earlier. I almost killed your dog.”

Despite her resistance to the group, Tong Xiangyu wasn’t the type to hold a grudge once someone admitted fault. “Forget it. You didn’t know; it was for safety’s sake.”

“Exactly!” Xiang Weijun laughed. “I like girls who are reasonable like you.”

Tong Xiangyu didn’t respond to that.

Xiang Weijun asked again, “Is your ability communicating with mutant animals?”

“No.”

“Then why is this mutant dog so obedient? Usually, even the gentlest pets become extremely aggressive after mutating and attack humans indiscriminately.”

“I don’t know.”

Xiang Weijun thought she just didn’t want to say, and rubbed his nose again. But Tong Xiangyu truly didn’t know.

“Then what is your ability?”

Hearing this question, Song Ge, who had been talking to Qiao Minshan, immediately looked over. She needn’t have worried. Tong Xiangyu had become much more street-smart; she wouldn’t say. She asked back unhappily, “Do I have to tell you?”

“No, no. Here, let me show you mine.” Xiang Weijun raised his hand toward a distance. In the next moment, the hair steamer Song Ge had put down was pulled toward him as if by a powerful magnetic force.

Tong Xiangyu was stunned.

Xiang Weijun set it down. “My hands act like magnets; I can attract any iron object within range.”

Tong Xiangyu remained calm on the surface. She called out to Song Ge: “Song Ge, stop chatting. Weren’t you going to help me finish my haircut?”

“Mhm,” Song Ge replied. She then said to Qiao Minshan, “Whether we stay with you or not depends on my friend.”

Tong Xiangyu watched Song Ge talking to the man. Since the outbreak, Song Ge had never ignored her for someone else, nor had she seen Song Ge be this patient or trusting with a stranger. Feeling a bit miffed, she left the man trying to flirt with her and walked over. “Song Ge.”

Song Ge looked at her. “Little Milk Tea, they say they can contact the government.”

Qiao Minshan added, “It’s not working well now. We were in contact two weeks ago, but for some reason, the signal has been terrible lately. Changing batteries didn’t help; we’re still looking for the cause.”

Tong Xiangyu said, “It’s likely a geomagnetic storm caused by solar flares. We’re exposed to twenty hours of sun a day; the day-night cycle is completely haywire and solar activity is frequent. It’s bound to interfere with radio communications. Can you really reach the government?”

Qiao Minshan: “Yes. Is there any way to deal with the geomagnetic storm?”

“No,” Tong Xiangyu said. Human beings couldn’t possibly interfere with solar phenomena.

At this, the girl with the bangs, Fang Fang, exclaimed, “Wow, high school knowledge! I’ve returned all of that to my teachers… are you two still students?”

Tong Xiangyu nodded reluctantly.

“Where are you from?” Fang Fang asked curiously.

Song Ge answered for her: “Kecheng.”

“Kecheng?!” Fang Fang was shocked. “You came from that far away? Just the two of you?”

Seeing Song Ge being so cooperative, Tong Xiangyu lowered her guard slightly. “Yes. What about you?”

The girl laughed. “What a coincidence. We’re from Taiyun.”

The familiar name “Taiyun” made both Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu freeze.

Qiao Minshan suggested they stop talking in the sun and find some shade. Song Ge led them into the barbershop.

Qiao Minshan didn’t hide their strength. He said they had six Ability Users in total; of the five present today, everyone had an ability except for him.

• Xiang Weijun: Can magnetize his hands to attract up to 15kg of iron within a 50-meter radius.

• Zhou Bo: Has hyperthymesia (total recall) with a focus on navigation. He remembers every street and even the number of bricks on a building after seeing it once.

• Qin Nan (the woman with sunglasses): Can see in total darkness. When using her ability, looking into someone’s eyes allows her to see through their heart. (She knew Song Ge wasn’t a mutant because she read her mind). This ability is draining and can only be used once a day.

• Fang Fang (straight bangs): Can create an “Absolute Quiet Zone” with a 1.5-meter radius. (This was why Song Ge only heard them for a split second).

Song Ge asked, “If you’re from Taiyun, do you know about Zeus?”

“Of course,” Zhou Bo said.

“You ran into them?” Xiang Weijun asked. “You didn’t join that cult, did you?”

Fang Fang added, “They definitely didn’t join, otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten out.”

Tong Xiangyu said, “We entered their base and escaped later.”

“You actually escaped?!” Xiang Weijun was shocked. He looked between the two girls. “How is their organization doing now?”

“It’s huge. Over six thousand people,” Tong Xiangyu replied.

“Shit!” Zhou Bo cursed.

Xiang Weijun cursed as well. It seemed impossible for them to grow so fast in just two months. Song Ge asked the captain for the full story.

Qiao Minshan explained that their experience was similar to everyone else’s: the outbreak, losing control, finding shelter, losing power and water. The difference was that they wore uniforms and carried guns. This gave the people of Taiyun a sense of security—the state had sent the police to save them!

They had radios and had been reporting to superiors. However, two weeks later, they discovered an organization recruiting survivors under the slogan: “The state has abandoned us; we must unite for self-defense.” Many survivors went to join them but died to monsters on the way.

The police had been protecting over a hundred civilians, but the cult’s brainwashing was powerful. Since rescue was delayed, people began to agitate. The police couldn’t point guns at panicking civilians (and they were out of bullets anyway). Once the crowd’s heart scattered, they could only let them leave.

However, some rational people still trusted the police and risked their lives to find them. The Zeus group retaliated by spreading even crazier rumors claiming the disaster was a punishment from “All-God” for the state’s neglect, that only the devout would survive, and that Zeus was the reincarnation of “All-God.”

“Reincarnation of All-God?” Tong Xiangyu said. “When we were there, everyone called him ‘Leader Zeus.'”

“Unbelievable,” Zhou Bo said. “He really did set up a cult in broad daylight.”

“But they said the organization was called ‘Chaoyang Self-Defense’ and had a flag,” Tong Xiangyu noted.

Xiang Weijun sneered. “‘Chaoyang Self-Defense’? Just a cover. They probably saw you two were educated students, so they dropped the cult talk and used a different story to trick you in. How did you get out?”

“Climbed a wall,” Tong Xiangyu said. “We were lucky. Zeus and the others were out scavenging, and someone got bitten by a mutant dog.”

Fang Fang gasped. “Bitten?! Then everyone would…”

“The person bitten was abandoned on the spot,” Tong Xiangyu said. “We used the chaos to escape.”

Fang Fang asked for more details, and Tong Xiangyu described the base’s complete facilities and sustainable operations. The group fell silent.

Finally, Qiao Minshan said, “Let’s thank that Zeus for keeping six thousand survivors alive for the state. Once we rendezvous with the main force, we’ll head back to Taiyun, crush that cult nest, and save everyone.”

After more talk in the barbershop, Song Ge decided to take Tong Xiangyu to their temporary settlement to see for themselves.

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