The Villainous Female Side Character Pretends to Be an Omega in the Apocalypse and Raises a Cat - Chapter 38

Chen Junyun sent someone to deliver a message to Chi Yingdong and Meng Qinghe.

In half a month, there would be a flight from Shanghai to Kyoto.

Half a month, not too long, but not too short either.

Meng Qinghe spent her days watching dramas Chi Yingdong had downloaded before the apocalypse, her life so monotonous she felt she was almost growing mold.

“How about…”

She suddenly turned her head to look at Chi Yingdong.

Chi Yingdong: “?”

Meng Qinghe scratched her cheek, her gaze drifting, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: “How about… we go kill some zombies?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she braced herself for rejection.

After all, her ability was rather useless against zombies.

Unexpectedly,

Chi Yingdong curved her lips into a smile and patted her head. “Sure, let’s go to the mission hall and take on a task.”

Meng Qinghe’s heart skipped a beat.

She covered her head with both hands, her already large eyes widening even further. “I’m not a little kitten anymore, you can’t just touch me like that.”

“Oh?” Chi Yingdong asked, “Can you still turn back into a cat?”

She missed it!

Meng Qinghe’s heart trembled. “What do you want to do?!”

“What can I do?” Chi Yingdong retorted, “I want to pet the cat.”

Meng Qinghe could hardly believe her ears.

She looked up, meeting Chi Yingdong’s smiling eyes, and a blush spread across her cheeks.

“I… I’ll go change my shoes.”

…

Once they were ready, the two left their residence and headed toward the mission hall.

Along the way, they encountered many people.

Regardless of height, weight, or appearance, everyone’s expressions grew increasingly numb.

The base had been attacked repeatedly, and ordinary residents had long accepted that death was only a matter of time, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. And no one knew when this apocalypse would end.

When they arrived at the mission hall, the white walls were plastered with densely packed mission notices.

Each notice bore a red stamp in the lower left corner, using A, B, and C to indicate the danger level of the task.

A-level missions were high-risk, so most of the notices on the wall were B-level missions, with similar content, mostly going out to collect rare supplies, such as hypertension medication or children’s cold medicine.

Chi Yingdong already had these items in his storage space, so there was no need to make a special trip for them.

Meng Qinghe picked and chose but couldn’t find a satisfactory mission, her lips unconsciously turning downward.

She felt strongly that she had to take on a mission today, but none of these appealed to her.

“How about this mission?”

Hearing Chi Yingdong’s voice, Meng Qinghe immediately leaned in to look.

The next moment, she stared at him in shock.

Chi Yingdong had chosen an A-level mission!

The mission involved searching a large pharmaceutical company’s factory in Jiangsu Province and retrieving medicines and experimental data from its warehouse.

Below the red stamp was an explanation for the mission’s A-level rating:

1. The factory was overrun with zombies.
2. Failure to retrieve the experimental data would result in mission failure.
3. The laboratory had multiple identity verification systems, requiring them to bring along a non-ability codebreaker and ensure their safe return.

After reading the official description, Meng Qinghe felt that an A-rating was almost too low for this mission!

Taking along someone with no self-defense abilities and ensuring they returned unscathed made the task doubly difficult.

Because the mission had remained unclaimed for so long, the rewards had been steadily increased.

The rewards included not only canned goods and instant noodles but also a large quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables, even a basket of strawberries.

In the apocalypse, having fresh green fruits and vegetables was already a luxury, let alone delicate and hard-to-grow strawberries.

A couple of days ago, they had visited the base’s black market, where an ordinary cabbage was being sold for the astronomical price of a hundred energy crystals.

If not for the apocalypse, who would have thought that cabbage, once sold for mere cents per pound in the market, would one day become unattainably expensive?

Meng Qinghe wasn’t particularly interested in fruits and vegetables because Chi Yingdong’s space was overflowing with them.

She glanced sideways discreetly, Chi Yingdong was focused on the mission board, seemingly considering taking on a task.

If they were really going to accept this mission…

Meng Qinghe pondered seriously: Could a team afford to have two liabilities?

She had enough self-awareness about her own capabilities.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind, and Meng Qinghe quickly grasped the key information.

Hidden inside that factory was the genetic serum she had left for the original female lead, Ye Rourou.

In the original storyline, Ye Rourou never awakened any special abilities, so the genetic serum was useless to her.

However, she gave half of it to Qiao Ying, significantly boosting his abilities and deepening their relationship.

In this life, although Ye Rourou hadn’t met Qiao Ying yet, one could never have too many good things, especially since both she and Chi Yingdong could make use of this genetic serum.

“Let’s take this mission!” Meng Qinghe was determined.

However, the mission was restricted to teams of five or more, and they currently had only two members.

Just as they were puzzling over how to solve this problem, a staff member at the mission hall noticed them and informed them that the base offered temporary team formation services.

After Chi Yingdong filled out the recruitment notice and posted it, several ability users immediately volunteered.

Meng Qinghe couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: The appeal of a third-tier ability user was truly undeniable.

The staff member compiled the list of applicants and handed it to Chi Yingdong, who skimmed through it briefly and said, “You can arrange it. We just need three people.”

Faced with the strongest ability user currently in the base, the staff didn’t dare delay and quickly selected three team members with impeccable character, temperament, and ability levels.

The departure time was set for the next day.

…

Early the next morning, Meng Qinghe was doing a final inventory of their supplies while Chi Yingdong leaned against the doorframe, a faint smile twinkling in her eyes.

“We have all these things in the space. You can take whatever you need at any time.”

Meng Qinghe retorted, “There are more than just the two of us this time. What if we expose the space by taking things out?”

“Alright, as you say.” Chi Yingdong chuckled softly.

Knowing the base’s current strength, Chi Yingdong wasn’t particularly concerned about the space being exposed, she could always claim it was one of her abilities. After all, dual-ability users weren’t unheard of these days.

But the girl’s constant consideration for her still brought her joy.

Once everything was ready, they headed to the base entrance.

The other members of the temporary team had already gathered, waiting only for the decoder.

During the wait, the five introduced themselves.

Meng Qinghe learned that the other three were Qiu Yi, an earth-ability user; Luo Zhiyin, a fire-ability user; and Han Li, a dark-ability user.

Special ability users always stood out, and Meng Qinghe couldn’t help stealing a few more glances at Han Li.

Han Li had a mature, elegant beauty with captivating fox-like eyes.

Qiu Yi was also studying Han Li when she suddenly exclaimed, “Oh!” Her epiphany drew everyone’s attention.

Embarrassed, she scratched her head and asked Han Li, “Did you play the seductive concubine in Falling Snow Turns?”

“That was me.”

Han Li was momentarily taken aback, her expression growing distant.

She looked down at the hem of her clothes, creased and stained with blood.

Though she had awakened her supernatural abilities, the constant fear of the apocalypse made her feel as if her once-glamorous acting career belonged to a past life.

“You were actually an actress!” Meng Qinghe studied Han Li with curiosity, never having imagined she would meet someone from such a profession.

Han Li smiled bitterly. “That was all in the past.”

Meng Qinghe watched her, this character who existed outside the original plot, every movement vivid and lively.

She clearly realized that this was a complete world, where every person was independent and flesh-and-blood, not just the shallow symbols she had once written.

Suddenly, a sharp, tingling pain spread through her palm as someone pinched it lightly but firmly.

Meng Qinghe glanced discontentedly at Chi Yingdong, who averted her gaze, leaving only the back of her head in view.

Yet, the grip on her wrist remained unyielding.

Was this… jealousy?

Meng Qinghe looked at their intertwined hands, then at the back of Chi Yingdong’s head.

Just then, the cryptanalyst, surrounded by staff, broke the delicate atmosphere.

Carrying a toolbox, her youthful baby face stood out.

The sun climbed higher, and the weather grew increasingly hot.

Luo Zhiyin urged, “Everyone’s here. How do we set off?”

She looked around but saw no vehicles, finally turning a puzzled gaze toward Chi Yingdong.

Chi Yingdong frowned slightly.

She had a car in her space, but it couldn’t fit everyone, and she didn’t want outsiders touching her belongings.

Just as she was about to spend two crystal cores to rent a vehicle, Chen Junyun’s people drove up in front of them.

Staring at the brand-new pickup truck, Meng Qinghe couldn’t help but inwardly admire Chen Junyun’s skill as a base leader, she certainly knew how to handle things.

The six of them officially set off.

Except for Qiu Yi, everyone else could drive, so Qiu Yi volunteered to handle cooking duties while the others took turns at the wheel.

Chi Yingdong took the first shift, and everyone tacitly pushed Meng Qinghe into the passenger seat.

The zombies near the base had been cleared out, but the road was rough and potholed after the heavy rain, so their progress was slow.

All of them were young women in their early twenties to late twenties, and they quickly grew familiar, chattering away without pause.

Qiu Yi leaned over the back of the seat, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she asked, “Qinghe, Yingdong, are you two a couple?”

A dedicated fan of attractive people, she found the contrasting pair of Meng Qinghe, the soft-looking Alpha, and Chi Yingdong, the aloof Omega, hitting all her favorite tropes.

Meng Qinghe froze for a moment.

Were she and Chi Yingdong… a couple?

Before she could sort out her thoughts, she heard Chi Yingdong murmur a soft “Mm” beside her.

“Wow!”

The backseat instantly erupted in teasing cheers.

“How did you two meet?”

“How long have you been together?”

“Who confessed first?”

A barrage of curious questions followed. Meng Qinghe lowered her gaze to the hand resting on her leg, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

Beside her, Chi Yingdong patiently answered each question.

Her enunciation was clear, her tone seemingly calm, but a closer listen revealed a subtle, almost imperceptible tenderness.

Meng Qinghe nervously picked at her fingers.

Fortunately, the topic didn’t last long. Gradually, everyone grew drowsy, conserving energy for the unknown dangers ahead.

Once steady breathing sounds came from the backseat, Meng Qinghe quietly turned to Chi Yingdong. “Earlier… were you jealous?”

“Hm?”

Meng Qinghe instinctively curled her fingers.

“Mm.”

Meng Qinghe stole a glance at Chi Yingdong from the corner of her eye, unable to decipher the meaning behind those two “hmms.”

After a long while, she finally heard Chi Yingdong ask, “Am I not good-looking?”

Meng Qinghe nodded honestly. “You are.”

Chi Yingdong pressed further, “Then you can’t just look at me. I don’t like it when you stare at others.”

“Oh…”

Meng Qinghe kept her expression neutral, but inside, her heart felt sweet and soft.

As the vehicle moved farther from the base, the surrounding greenery grew denser.

Chi Yingdong stopped the car and stared at the ivy covering the entire road ahead, instructing Meng Qinghe to wake up the others in the back seat.

Luo Zhiyin was the first to open her eyes. Upon seeing the scene ahead, she immediately understood why they had been woken up.

The larger the mutated plant, the more dangerous it was. The overwhelming ivy before them made her almost afraid to imagine its level.

“Captain, should I… try burning it with fire?” Luo Zhiyin’s voice lacked confidence.

Fire countered wood, and in the past, whenever they encountered mutated plants during missions, she would simply burn them to ashes. But the ones she had faced before were nowhere near the same level as this mutated ivy!

“It hasn’t attacked us yet. Let’s take another route. Everyone, stay alert!” Chi Yingdong said, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she began to turn the car around.

During the turn, the ivy on the ground remained motionless, but no one in the car dared to relax.

Just as the car straightened, Meng Qinghe, who had been clutching the handrail, loosened her grip slightly. Her eyes remained fixed on the road, she thought she saw the ivy move!

Before she could voice her warning, Qiu Yi from the back seat cried out in alarm, “Step on the gas!”

Chi Yingdong reacted instantly, slamming the accelerator to the floor, but the car remained completely motionless.