Base Falls

Her body plummeted rapidly through the air, the sensation of weightlessness making Bai Xiaoling dizzy, her heart pounding.

This time, she thought she was truly doomed, cursing the two robbers who broke into her home.

Just as she was about to land face-first, Bai Xiaoling's mind conjured a gruesome image of her mangled corpse, brains splattering everywhere.

She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing only for a quick death, to avoid any prolonged suffering.

Just then, she felt something wrap around her waist and yank her hard.

Bai Xiaoling felt as if her bones were about to shatter, her stomach churning violently, making her gag and vomit.

But thanks to this sudden deceleration, when she hit the ground, Bai Xiaoling was merely dragged a few meters across the surface, not ripped apart as she had imagined.

Then, she saw Qi Xing holding Jiang Zhaosu, the two of them sitting on a strange, thick vine like they were on a swing, being gently and steadily lowered to the ground.

Bai Xiaoling: "..."

Damn it, so what if you have powers?

From their conversation earlier, it seemed they had mistakenly thought she was the sister of the man who broke in, which was why they specifically came up to the seventeenth floor to find her.

Bai Xiaoling did have a half-brother, but it wasn't the man in front of her.

Her brother's name was Bai Xiaoqing, the child of her father's legal wife.

And Bai Xiaoling's mother was her father's mistress, commonly known as "the other woman."

So Bai Xiaoling became the child of the mistress, an illegitimate child who couldn't see the light of day.

Her mother, however, died early, falling ill before Bai Xiaoling even started primary school.

Orphaned, Bai Xiaoling was taken back to the main family by her father, a man who couldn't control his desires and had children with many women, and she became siblings with Bai Xiaoqing.

She and Bai Xiaoqing had always been at odds, and Bai Xiaoqing would absolutely not risk his life to find her.

Before the apocalypse, sending people to keep her under house arrest in this well-stocked apartment was the greatest mercy that man had ever shown her.

Initially, Bai Xiaoling thought that Bai Xiaoqing was punishing her for skipping school and fooling around, using this method.

Every day, she sent him abusive messages on her phone, but Bai Xiaoqing ignored them all.

It wasn't until the zombie tide broke out, and Bai Xiaoling saw the horrific scene of people biting each other on the streets and bodies strewn everywhere, that she truly realized something terrifying had happened.

Later, even her apartment wasn't safe.

People often knocked on her door, urgently begging for help, or violently kicking it down, demanding she open it. Occasionally, the roars of zombies could be heard.

Whenever this happened, Bai Xiaoling would hide in her fully sealed safe room, terrified.

After some time passed, the sounds outside completely ceased.

With the power and internet cut off, her apartment felt like a lone boat on a vast ocean.

Bai Xiaoling often said she wanted to die, but if it came to it, she didn't want to.

However, one thing she didn't lie about was that after living alone in this apartment for over half a year, she was truly going insane from loneliness.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have given up her stable life before reaching rock bottom, risked breaking her window, and hung an SOS banner outside.

As a result, instead of a rescue team, two robbers arrived, looted her home, and almost took her life.

One side of her body was throbbing with pain, tears streaming down her face.

The male monster, holding the smaller one, spoke in a gentle tone as if afraid of scaring the child, "Don't worry, she's not dead."

"It's been a while since we've had fresh human meat, we specifically kept this one alive for Fugui."

Screw you! If you look human, can't you act like one?!

Jiang Zhaosu, her dark, almond-shaped eyes fixed on Bai Xiaoling, who was lying on the ground motionless, licked her lips and said slowly, "If she's dead, we'll eat her now."

She had already smelled the blood.

Bai Xiaoling, who had been in so much pain moments ago that she couldn't move, immediately scrambled to her feet: "Haha, I'm alive, I'm alive..."

"If you're alive, go move the supplies."

Qi Xing, his dark, sinister, and cunning fox-like eyes fixed on her, stared at her with a fake smile and said coldly, "Move everything to the car, and I'll let you live a few more days."

Encountering Jiang Zhaosu and Qi Xing, Bai Xiaoling, who had always been well-fed and clothed, truly tasted the hardships of the apocalypse. Her body ached all over, her palms were raw, but she had to endure the pain and grunt as she moved goods.

As she moved, she regretted why she had been so foolish as to hang a white cloth out the window, attracting these two living Yama Kings.

If this continued, she would either be eaten alive or worked to death.

Bai Xiaoling's mind raced, and she suddenly came up with an idea to save herself.

"Brother, are you looking for your sister?"

As they were almost done moving the supplies, Bai Xiaoling tried to strike up a conversation with Qi Xing: "I can help you."

"Oh?"

Qi Xing glanced at her dismissively, clearly not believing her words.

"Really!" Bai Xiaoling said earnestly, swearing an oath, "My brother used to be the head of the Information Department. He knows everything and can definitely find your sister."

The management of the Information Department?

It's rare for young people to hold such a position; they'd be considered part of the elite.

No wonder this young lady's apartment is so high-class, and she seemed to have precognitive abilities, stocking up on so many supplies at home in advance.

But that was only before the apocalypse.

With the zombie virus rampant and social order in chaos, it was uncertain if the girl's brother could even survive. How could he still casually mobilize data and personnel to find her like before?

The girl had stayed in her apartment for too long and hadn't faced reality yet.

Qi Xing and Jiang Zhaosu could both see that the girl in front of them wasn't very intelligent. The man and the corpse silently surveyed the desolate and ruined surroundings before looking at Bai Xiaoling as if she were an idiot.

The silence was deafening.

Although Bai Xiaoling wasn't the brightest, she wasn't so foolish as to miss their speechless expressions. She quickly said, "My brother is very capable. He got inside information before the apocalypse and sent me here. I'm still alive, so how could something happen to him!"

"Besides, after the apocalypse, he also sent crows to deliver messages to me."

"Hmm? Crows?"

Qi Xing's interest was piqued.

Weren't those the Surveillance Eyes that used to monitor him during missions?

After the apocalypse, power and internet were cut off, and all sorts of communication tools were paralyzed.

However, some Ability Users awakened Mental Abilities, allowing them to control small animals adept at hiding and moving to deliver messages.

These controlled animals were called Surveillance Eyes, and the Ability Users who performed this role were called Monitors.

One Monitor could control multiple Surveillance Eyes, quickly obtaining information from various regions.

If Bai Xiaoling's brother was a Monitor, he indeed had a chance of finding his sister.

"Yes, crows! They were really big! Their eyes were red!"

Bai Xiaoling exaggeratedly gestured the size of the crows with her hands.

"Those crows were particularly clever; they'd even use pebbles to tap on my window. When I opened the window, it would fly in with a scroll of paper tied to its claws. The paper had Bai Xiaoqing's handwriting. He told me to stay put in the apartment and that he'd come to pick me up once the base's order stabilized."

"Which base?" Qi Xing pressed.

Bai Xiaoling touched her head, thinking, "I think it was called Hurricane Base?"

"..."

Qi Xing was silent for a moment and said, "Never mind then."

"Huh?"

Bai Xiaoling asked confusedly, "Why?"

Qi Xing replied expressionlessly, "Hurricane Base was overrun by zombies a month ago. Less than ten Ability Users escaped, and they were all integrated into Chasing Moon Base. There was no Monitor named Bai Xiaoqing among them."