Hysteria

At the critical moment, Mu Xiao decisively switched to telekinesis, locking down the movements of several zombies and preventing An Rongru from being torn apart and devoured.

"What are you still standing there for?! Get back!"

Mu Xiao barked at An Rongru. Holding several zombies in place with telekinesis was quite taxing. After all, his "Mind Force" had not been cultivated at all, and his Mind Source Force naturally had its limits. He could not restrain the zombies' movements for long. If he had not absorbed the blood of a Mutant Human earlier, he would have found it difficult to lock down several zombies at once. Moreover, whenever the zombies struggled, he had to increase the force of his telekinesis, rapidly draining the energy within his body.

"Okay..."

An Rongru knew this was not the time to marvel at surviving a disaster. Disregarding her dignified image, she hurriedly scrambled to her feet in a sorry state. But before she could retreat after getting up, Mu Xiao opened fire, picking off every zombie ahead one by one. The laser beams pierced through their heads, and their deaths were not overly bloody.

But An Rongru had never witnessed such a brutal scene. A chill rose in her heart, and she could not help recalling the horrifyingly bloody scenes from the past two days. Her stomach convulsed again. She could not even vomit despite retching, overwhelmed by nauseating misery and pain. Her entire body lost strength again, and she weakly moved to the wall, barely managing to remain standing.

Her eyes, soft and alluring as water, looked at Mu Xiao as he approached. She said sincerely, "Thank you."

"Watch what I'm doing now. If you can't bear to watch, then don't follow me. Someone like you is useless." Mu Xiao did not spare her another glance. He took out his military knife and cleanly stabbed it into a zombie's heart, cutting it open before deftly extracting the blackish-red heart. He sliced it apart and removed the Blood Beads one by one.

An Rongru looked at Mu Xiao as though she were seeing a perverted demon. Her heart filled with horror and disgust, and she instinctively wanted to look away. But when she remembered Mu Xiao's words, her entire body turned cold. Especially after truly experiencing that boundless despair just now, she could no longer avert her gaze. Enduring wave after wave of suffocating nausea, she watched Mu Xiao finish.

"The last corpse. You'll dig out the Blood Beads from its heart." Mu Xiao's face was cold as he held the military knife out before An Rongru.

"I... I can't do it." An Rongru's beautiful, gentle face was filled with fear. Tears seeped from her large, alluring eyes and fell down her cheeks as she pleaded pitifully, "I'm scared... I really am... Please let me go, okay?"

"Didn't you say before that you were willing to do anything for me?" Mu Xiao said expressionlessly. "If you can't even do something this simple, and you refuse me with such a weak excuse, then how credible is your promise? Why should I protect you and take you away?"

"How could I... How could I..."

She looked fragile as she kept shaking her head, her slightly sunken cheeks seeming even more gaunt. Mu Xiao hardened his heart and said, "As you can see, the world has already become hell. If you can't adapt to the way of survival in this hell, then I suggest you kill yourself immediately. Don't expect anything else..."

"Why are you forcing me... Why are you forcing me... You keep forcing me like this!"

Before Mu Xiao could finish, An Rongru's eyes became hollow and conflicted. Her expression turned extreme, stripped of its usual gentleness. She suddenly snatched the military knife and lunged at a zombie as if she had lost her mind, wildly stabbing the blade into its heart while crying and screaming hysterically, "Are you satisfied now?! Are you satisfied now?! Are you satis—"

Black blood splattered over her clothes, and her elegant face became streaked with dark stains, filled with an eerie madness.

"Looks like I pushed her too far." Mu Xiao frowned and stepped forward, grabbing her constantly flailing wrist to stop her madness. Otherwise, if her mind truly collapsed, then given her current physical condition, she could easily become a Mutant Human.

"Let go of me! Isn't this the kind of perverted thing you wanted me to do?!" An Rongru struggled violently. Having been toyed with by Mu Xiao again and again, she seemed to lose all reason as she shouted, venting the emotions she had suppressed until they nearly drove her mad. "You don't want money because you want my body, don't you?! If you like it, take it! I don't care about anything..."

Slap!

Mu Xiao showed no tenderness toward her,

and fiercely slapped An Rongru across the face. A red palm print instantly appeared on her already haggard face, swelling slightly. Yet she became as still as death. "If I wanted your body, I would've forced myself on you back in the room. Would I have the time to play psychological games with you?!" Mu Xiao said bluntly. Then he crouched down, pinched An Rongru's haggard yet beautiful face, and said viciously, "I'm a greedy man, but I'm also practical. If you were useless, I wouldn't care how good your figure was or how beautiful you looked. In my eyes, you would be no different from rotten meat left behind by zombies. I wouldn't have saved a burdensome deadweight like you. But now, you are qualified to be saved by me. That is because you have the strength to change yourself, and that strength is what I value—for my use."

Her eyes gradually regained their light as she looked into Mu Xiao's eyes. There was complexity and confusion in her gaze, as well as shyness and anticipation.

Mu Xiao released her face and stood up. "I'll only explain this once. Everything I do has a reason. I told you to dig out the hearts because there is something valuable inside them. It can strengthen the human body and can also be used for treatment. It wasn't some perverted act like you said. Besides, I never mutilated corpses like you did. I think you're the more perverted one."

By the end, Mu Xiao wore a faintly mocking smile.

An Rongru snapped back to her senses and saw the mangled corpse beside her. Her face turned deathly pale, and she immediately spun around and began retching violently, her body trembling nonstop.

The crashing sounds coming from the main entrance outside the Lawyer Building gradually weakened. Mu Xiao knew that his Mental Power had finally shielded this place, and the zombies outside had lost interest in it.

Mu Xiao used telekinesis to collect all the Blood Beads. He opened a room's window and threw all the corpses on the ground out through it, then closed the window again. When he stepped into the corridor, he found that An Rongru had recovered, though her entire body was covered in darkened blood, making her somewhat uncomfortable.

"I..." An Rongru wanted to explain her earlier loss of control, but for a moment, she did not know how to continue.

Mu Xiao understood from her expression that some things had to be explained clearly, or she would be unable to let go of her hopes.

Sometimes, hope was a poison! Once hope shattered, it could poison someone to death!

"Earth has already lost all order. No one can save us; only we can save ourselves." Mu Xiao saw that she wanted to ask something, yet was too frightened to voice what was in her heart. He could tell what she wanted to ask, so he said, "Don't expect anyone from the moon to come. The moon cannot be uninvolved in what happened to Earth."

"Why?" An Rongru could not suppress the anxiety in her heart.

"You're familiar with the New Human Plan, right?" Without waiting for An Rongru's response, Mu Xiao continued, "The New Human Plan is actually a massive conspiracy, a conspiracy targeting humanity on Earth. The zombies outside, and even more terrifying mutated creatures—all of it was caused by the New Human Plan. We are white mice in a cage, turned into test subjects for those genius freaks and mad scientists on the moon..."

Mu Xiao only stopped after explaining the general essentials.

"Impossible..." An Rongru murmured in despair, as though that final sliver of hope had been extinguished.

"Nothing is impossible. For example, the ability I used to hold those zombies in place just now... You've seen a lot in your life. Have you ever seen anyone with abilities like mine?" Mu Xiao used telekinesis to lift the military knife beside her and pulled it back into his hand. "Abilities like this only exist as Innate Abilities in movies."

Mu Xiao slipped the military knife back into the holster on his thigh. "I possess an Innate Ability now, which proves that I'm a New Human. And you should have felt that your body has changed as well. Take the speed at which you ran just now—do you think you could have done that before?"

Only after Mu Xiao reminded her did An Rongru realize that in such a short time, she had run all the way to the far end of the second-floor corridor. She carefully sensed her body and discovered that she truly was no longer as weak as before. Though she was still extremely hungry, it seemed as if some new change had occurred. Even her senses had become sharper than before. She could clearly feel even the slightest movement of the air.

"Then I'm a New Human too?" An Rongru asked joyfully. Setting aside her despair, she somewhat understood that if she wanted to survive, she could only rely on her own strength.

"If you weren't a New Human, do you think you would be qualified for me to save?" Mu Xiao did not want her to become too complacent, so he said, "New Humans are ranked in different tiers. And in that most critical moment just now, you still didn't unleash an attack-type Innate Ability. That proves your Innate Ability isn't offensive. It's probably a support type. As for what ability it is exactly, you'll have to discover that yourself later."

An Rongru still wanted to ask something, but Mu Xiao cut her off. "As for evolution, you'll naturally understand with time. If necessary, I'll tell you."

"Mm." An Rongru tactfully did not ask further questions. She also understood that she still had to rely on this man.

Suddenly, Mu Xiao's expression turned cold. The Killing Pressure of his former Veteran Evolution Level erupted fiercely, like a vast, surging tide. Heavy and immense, it filled the entire corridor. His emotionless gaze looked down from above at An Rongru sitting on the floor, as if assessing whether she was worthy of becoming his helper.

At that moment, An Rongru was filled with panic. She did not know why Mu Xiao had suddenly become so terrifying. It was as if an invisible mountain stood before her, its oppressive weight making it impossible to breathe. He was even more terrifying than those zombies just now. It felt as though, if that pressure descended even lightly upon her, she would be unable to muster any will to resist and would shatter completely.

Death within reach...

An Rongru clearly sensed the endless terror hidden within the man before her.

"I said I'm a greedy man. Now tell me, are you willing to devote everything to me, including your life?" Mu Xiao's eyes were cold and sharp, intimidatingly fierce. Behind him seemed to gather the force of a raging storm.

Cold sweat trickled down An Rongru's face. She wanted to say something, yet could not find the words. In the end, she silently lowered her head, as though offering up her body and dignity, and said weakly, "I'm willing to become your woman."

"Very good."

Mu Xiao replied indifferently and dispersed his pressure, but he had no intention of correcting An Rongru's words.

Strictly speaking, whether she became his subordinate or his bed partner, it would not change the fact that she belonged to Mu Xiao. There was no need to correct her.

An Rongru had thought she would feel deeply ashamed, but after hearing Mu Xiao's response, it was as though the greatest worry and burden in her heart had been lifted, as though her life had been guaranteed.

"Is this a sense of security?"

She murmured silently in her heart.