The Beautiful Top Being Pursued Relentlessly [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 17

September 26, 3022. Overcast.

After the Autumn Equinox, the weather turned cold. Extreme weather events were frequent in the apocalypse; overnight, the temperature plummeted, and by dawn, a light flurry of sleet like crushed ice drifted over the entire villa district.

However, from the moment the first sliver of light touched the sky, the sound of gongs and drums coming from the central row house hadn’t stopped. The crude, jarring music announced that at approximately 6:00 AM on September 26, 3022, the temporarily obscure and utterly unremarkable “Immortal Base” had been established.

Thud.

A thin layer of snow had accumulated on the ground. A tall, slender silhouette appeared silently on the path, holding a waist-high iron rod and spinning it casually.

Yu Yuyu’s voice followed in perfect sync. “Immortal Brother, two o’clock direction. Three of them.”

Xie Cheng swung the iron rod. His reaction was faster than Yu Yuyu’s mental sensing; the spiked surface of the rod swept through the air, thump-thump-thump, smashing into the zombies’ skulls.

Precise, efficient, and devoid of any wasted movement.

His expression was calm, his deep eyes looking straight ahead. His messy hair, now tied into two braids, swayed only slightly as he fought, never interfering with his movements.

“Zone T3, sweep complete,” Xie Cheng announced.

“This area is cleared too. I’ll call Uncle Qian over to set up the defenses immediately,” Yu Yuyu replied as she caught up.

The entire villa district had been divided into twenty-six zones. They were clearing out the zombies whether they were wandering the streets or hiding indoors one by one before implementing defensive measures.

For the past few days, everyone in Jiang Yi’s squad had been working day and night. Old Qian wasn’t far away; Yu Yuyu could use her upgraded mental ability to send him messages directly.

“How many left?” Xie Cheng asked.

“Hmm, about seven or eight zones,” Yu Yuyu replied, showing her small notebook to Xie Cheng.

On the two pages laid flat was a map of the villa district prepared by Tang Ling, with every zone clearly marked. Yu Yuyu pointed at the little colored dots. “The red ones are Immortal Brother, and the blue ones are the Captain.”

Xie Cheng looked over. “Why mark that?”

“Because the Captain said he wanted to have a contest with Immortal Brother to see who could clear the most contaminated zones.”

After saying this, Yu Yuyu performatively covered her mouth. “Oops, the Captain told me not to say anything.”

Xie Cheng: “…”

Looking at the scattered blue dots on the map, Xie Cheng offered only a one-word evaluation: “Childish.”

Yu Yuyu chimed in, “Exactly, exactly!”

“What has your Captain been busy with lately?”

For the last few days, Jiang Yi had been leaving early and returning late, acting all sneaky and coming back in the middle of the night. And he wouldn’t just come back; he insisted on slipping into Xie Cheng’s room to cause a ruckus, which meant Xie Cheng hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days. No matter how many times he scolded him, the man would come crawling back that same night, teary-eyed and rambling.

Xie Cheng hadn’t cared much about what he was doing before, but hearing Yu Yuyu mention it now, he asked out of curiosity. Being busy with other things while trying to compete with him sounded like a complete pipe dream.

Yu Yuyu: “The Captain is busy with base affairs.”

“The base.” Xie Cheng glanced back at the dilapidated, pathetic excuse for a stronghold. “Doesn’t look like there’s much to fuss over.”

“Well, that’s because there’s almost no one in the base right now.”

“So?”

Yu Yuyu used her notebook to cover half her face. “So, the Captain came up with a great idea. As long as an ability user is willing to join the Immortal Base, he gives them a bag of crystal cores.”

Xie Cheng turned slightly and gave a subtle eye-roll. “That sounds exactly like something he’d come up with.”

“Anyway, he’s recruited a few people so far. Some tried to freeload, but the Captain beat them up a few times, and they finally surrendered to his ‘personal charisma’.”

Personal charisma.

Xie Cheng brought down the iron rod in his hand, the tip neatly cracking open a zombie’s skull to stir out the crystal core. Three low-level cores the power stored within was negligible to a high-level ability user.

Xie Cheng didn’t bother picking them up, leaving them for the new laborers to collect. He continued walking and asked, “Was all that noise this morning just to welcome the newcomers?”

“Of course not! How could that be?” Yu Yuyu countered immediately. “After tricking them into the base, the Captain became super stingy. Why would he hold a welcome banquet for them?”

Yu Yuyu ran up and grabbed Xie Cheng’s sleeve, looking up with a shy smile. “The Captain prepared a big, big, big surprise for Immortal Brother.”

“Not a big shock?” Xie Cheng asked flatly.

Yu Yuyu emphasized, “A big surprise!”

“I heard you could get crystal cores in this no-man’s-land, so I came. I didn’t expect it to be a scam.”

“I saw so many people coming, so of course I had to come too. What if I missed out on some big news?”

“Immortal Base? That’s so tacky.”

“Hello? Excuse me, besides the crystal cores, is there anything else we can get here?”

“You can get the rod.”

“Oh? What kind of rod?”

“The kind that hurts a lot.”

The small garden outside the central row house was bustling with noise, resembling a crowded wet market from before the apocalypse. Xie Cheng stopped, holding his blood-stained iron rod, swept a glance over the “big surprises,” and took a step back.

“I do not accept this kind of ‘big surprise’.”

“Oh, come on! Immortal Brother, look up!”

Following Yu Yuyu’s finger, Xie Cheng looked up and spotted a vibrant splash of crimson fluttering in the wind. From the fifth floor of the row house, a large advertising banner had been dropped. The originally bright red dye had turned somewhat dull from exposure to the elements, and there were stubborn stains around the edges.

None of that mattered. What mattered was the large script on the banner, which was all too familiar to Xie Cheng.

It was Jiang Yi’s handwriting. Jiang Yi wrote exactly like this: square, stroke by stroke, without a single cursive connection. He had personally written four large characters in black ink:

IMMORTAL BASE.

It was hideous. Hideously eye-catching.

Xie Cheng retracted his gaze, gripped his iron rod, and turned around, intending to clear a few more contaminated zones. But his foot stepped lightly onto the toes of someone behind him. Xie Cheng caught a faint sweet scent a mix of cream and wildflowers that rushed over him all at once.

“Xie Cheng, Xie Cheng, Xie Cheng! Don’t you think I’m amazing?” Jiang Yi stood with his arms wide, waiting for a hug.

“Amazing?” Xie Cheng pushed him away. “Your self-perception seems to be slightly skewed.”

“Then I must be super amazing, right?”

Before Xie Cheng could respond, Jiang Yi had already grabbed his hand and led him to a good seat to introduce the “talent” one by one. “Look at them—young, strong, obedient and their ability levels aren’t weak. They’re the ideal candidates for our base!”

Xie Cheng: “And then?”

Jiang Yi stood up from the chair and stretched his arms wide, as if embracing the somewhat flimsy base before them. “And then, we’re going to lead this base and grow it well.”

The light in his eyes  was like the stars.

Xie Cheng met his gaze, his fingers slowly curling as he tapped the table. “Jiang Yi, you really are a hopelessly optimistic idealist.”

“I am not.” “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Their voices rang out at the same time.

Xie Cheng was stunned for a moment before offering a metaphor. “It’s like a rotten fruit. Its fate is already sealed; no matter how much you do, it’s futile. The only thing I can do is accelerate its decay, letting it wither faster. so it can be reborn.”

This had been his job for a long time, the creed he believed in throughout his blurry immortality. The “Destruction Division” had a better-sounding name in his heart: Metamorphosis. Hope doesn’t appear on a rotten fruit, but a complete metamorphosis does. The old form vanishes, and a new one is born.

“But Xie Cheng”

“Hmm?”

An oversized, overly brilliant smile appeared before Xie Cheng’s eyes. He heard that idiot say, “But Xie Cheng, this isn’t a rotten fruit. This is just a fruit that hasn’t grown up yet and is still a bit green.”

“It’s a little sour, but it’ll get sweet.”

****

“Our slogan is!”

The celebration for the establishment of the Immortal Base lasted until late at night. Old Qian ran up to the small balcony on the fifth floor, took a megaphone that hadn’t broken yet, and popped in some working batteries.

Below, the new ability users and the members of Jiang Yi’s squad shouted the slogan of the Immortal Base:

“SEIZE THE DAY, ENJOY THE MOMENT!”

Xie Cheng frowned and covered his ears, glancing at Jiang Yi, who was hopping around and clapping beside him. “Which ‘genius’ came up with this slogan?”

Genius?

Jiang Yi raised his hand high, proud and smug. “That would be me, obviously.”

Xie Cheng let out a cold snort. “Do you know what that sentence implies?”

Jiang Yi rested his chin on Xie Cheng’s shoulder, looking at him expectantly. “What?”

“It implies the world is ending tomorrow.”

“No, no! That’s definitely not what I meant!” Jiang Yi let out a low “awoo” and buried his face in Xie Cheng’s chest. He reached out with his fingertips, twining several strands of the hanging silver hair and clutching them tightly in his palm. The hair carried a faint, clean fragrance; he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

Xie Cheng gave the back of his head a light smack. “Where are you shoving your nose? Are you a dog?”

Jiang Yi let out a soft whine, and instead of backing away, he took an inch and wanted a mile, wrapping his arms around Xie Cheng’s waist. His palms could clearly feel the firm curve of the waist beneath the fabric. He remembered that night. Back then, his head had rested on Xie Cheng’s waist like that, rubbing his nose against it bit by bit.

It was only later, when something “dirty” got on it and earned Xie Cheng’s disgust, that his “waist-pillow” had been taken away. Can it last a bit longer this time?

Jiang Yi slowly lowered his head.

Xie Cheng stared at his body, which was twisting like a pretzel, and hoisted him up by the collar. “What now?”

“E-enjoying the moment!”

Xie Cheng: “…”

“Well, tell me as the Grand Captain of the Immortal Base, shouldn’t I lead by example and follow the base slogan?” Jiang Yi said with mock righteousness.

Only he could come up with such a reason.

Xie Cheng flicked his forehead. “An excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse, it’s not an excuse…” Jiang Yi started rambling again.

“Jiang Yi,” Xie Cheng called out suddenly.

“What is it?” Jiang Yi immediately sat up straight.

“The zombies in the base are mostly cleared out. You guys can handle the rest. I’m going out tomorrow.”

Jiang Yi asked nervously, “Where to?”

“Rising Sun Base is falling into chaos.” Xie Cheng pointed toward the distant west. “I’m going to go watch the show.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“Clingy puppy.”

Jiang Yi didn’t hesitate to hand the newly built base over to Old Qian. “I am the Clingy Puppy, Jiang Yi.”

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