Out of the Blue

"Zhou Bai."

Zhou Bai turned and saw that, for once, Elsa was not sleeping like a log. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him.

"What is it?"

Elsa said guiltily, "Zhou Bai, have I been eating too much? Did I eat our whole base into poverty?"

"Huh?" Seeing how serious Elsa looked, Zhou Bai suddenly realized that ever since class ended today, she had seemed distracted. Even at dinner, she had not begged Dr. Zhuang for a few extra spoonfuls.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Bai said, "Elsa, it has nothing to do with you. There is less food throughout the whole base, so everyone has to eat a little less each day and give Dr. Zhuang more time to find a new source of food."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true." Zhou Bai comforted her. "So Elsa has to hold on for a while too. After some time passes, you'll be able to eat more again."

"Mm!" Elsa nodded. "From now on, I'll definitely eat a little less every day. Zhou Bai, I won't steal your food anymore."

After comforting Elsa and getting her to sleep, Zhou Bai simply experimented with the power of his Primordial Spirit again.

An invisible force extended from his mind along with his thoughts. Zhou Bai raised his palm and felt the force before him continuously compressing the air. Through the small nightlight beside him, he could even see faint ripples in the air.

"30 points of Primordial Spirit Value. In terms of sheer strength, it feels like I'm stronger than dozens of burly men."

Christina said contemptuously, "What does a little strength amount to? Your Primordial Spirit power is as basic as basic gets. It has no special uses at all. What's there to be proud of?"

"What are you rushing for? Look at how fast I'm improving. Once I lie around for a little longer..." With a satisfied smile, Zhou Bai gradually drifted off to sleep.

Boom!

Zhou Bai's eyes flew open. What reached his ears was a continuous series of explosions and tremors.

"What's going on?"

Zhou Bai shot up from bed and felt as though the space above the base was being bombarded. Amid the booming explosions, the ground, walls, and ceiling all seemed to be shaking without end.

He hurriedly opened the door and looked outside. The corridor, which should have been pitch-black, was now lit by bright red emergency lights.

Doors opened one after another, revealing the children's uneasy gazes.

Rubbing her eyes, Elsa sat up from bed and looked at Zhou Bai in confusion. "What's wrong, Zhou Bai?"

Just then, Dr. Zhuang's voice echoed through the corridor over the broadcast system.

"Zhou Bai..." Violent impacts crackled through the broadcast. "Take everyone to the laboratory... Do not come out without my orders... Protect everyone..."

Boom!

Another violent explosion rang out. Dr. Zhuang roared over the broadcast, "Hurry!"

Could it be... those so-called demons? Zhou Bai froze for a moment, then immediately grabbed the bewildered Elsa and rushed out, shouting at the children still hiding in their rooms, "Everyone, come out!"

"Come out, quickly! Follow me downstairs."

Zhou Bai knew there was no time for explanations. He even used the power of his Primordial Spirit to force open the doors of several children who had locked themselves inside and refused to come out, dragging them out by force.

Watching everyone panic and try to run in all directions, Zhou Bai used the power of his Primordial Spirit to stop them while shouting, "Don't be afraid, everyone. We'll hide downstairs first. Once the doctor deals with the trouble, he'll come down to find us."

Alice stepped forward as well and shouted, "Don't worry, everyone. Zhou Bai is someone the teacher trusts. The teacher taught him all of his power. The teacher will definitely protect us. We just need to wait downstairs for the teacher to come back."

Alice clearly had a good reputation and considerable influence among the others. Combined with the fact that Zhou Bai was the oldest and had displayed extraordinary Primordial Spirit power—

Although the children present were still terrified, they ultimately followed Zhou Bai one by one through the cafeteria's ventilation ducts and ran to the laboratory on the fifth basement level. Zhou Bai twisted the grating with his Primordial Spirit power, sealing off the ventilation ducts.

Everyone else waited in the laboratory corridor, listening to the constant thunderous crashes from above, their faces filled with fear and unease.

Just then, Alice ran to Zhou Bai's side. "Zhou Bai, one person is missing. No matter how many times I count, there are only forty-one people. The teacher is upstairs, so the missing one is Bandu."

Just then, a soft boom came from inside the ventilation duct.

Everyone looked up in fear. The next moment, they saw a dark figure rush out. It was Bandu, his face cold and indifferent.

Bandu swept his gaze over the crowd, then fixed his eyes on Alice. "Let's go, Alice. While the teacher is tied up, we need to escape quickly."

As he stepped forward to pull Alice away, Zhou Bai took a step forward and blocked the two of them.

Alice hid behind Zhou Bai and shook her head. "You're not Bandu..."

Bandu explained, "Alice, I was deliberately pretending before so the teacher wouldn't notice anything strange about me and grow suspicious."

"The truth is, the last time I escaped from the base, I sent a signal to the rescue team. They're here to save us now."

"Come with me, Alice. It's too dangerous to stay here. The teacher could break free and come after us at any moment. We should hurry upstairs and meet up with the rescue team..."

Alice shook her head. "No, the outside world has already ended. We'll die if we go out."

"Lies! They're all lies!" Bandu said agitatedly. "The teacher is lying! The humans outside figured out how to fight the apocalypse long ago! He only kept us here to satisfy his own selfish desires."

Bandu's words left everyone looking at one another. But as the commotion above grew more and more intense, Bandu frowned deeply. "There's no time to explain all this. Hurry up and come with me."

As he spoke, Zhou Bai sensed a surge of Primordial Spirit power rising from Bandu's body, trying to shove him aside and sweep Alice away.

That was Bandu's full-force burst: 5 points of Primordial Spirit power.

With a thought, Zhou Bai unleashed his own Primordial Spirit power, directly blocking Bandu's attack.

Bandu might have possessed 5 points of Primordial Spirit power, but Zhou Bai had diligently lain around and piled his Primordial Spirit power all the way up to 30 points.

Not only did he easily block Bandu's attack, but the force even surged back and sent Bandu flying.

"You cultivated Primordial Spirit power too?" Bandu stared at Zhou Bai in shock. Realizing that he was no match for him, he thought for a moment and said, "I understand that you can't trust me so suddenly. But I can take you to see the evidence..."

Zhou Bai narrowed his eyes. "Alice, wait here. I'll go with him."

Alice's mind was a tangled mess. She had no idea whether she should believe Bandu's words, but upon hearing Zhou Bai's instruction, she nodded instinctively.

Survivors: 43