Someone Outside the Door?

That night, Zhou Bai lay down early. His room and the corridor outside were shrouded in darkness.

To conserve the base's resources, the entire base cut power early every night and sank into complete darkness. Only the small nightlight beside the bed remained on, giving off a faint glow.

The children also usually went to bed early.

Yet Zhou Bai, lying in bed, could not fall asleep. His mind was still occupied with thoughts about the base.

"This is too strange. This base... no matter how I look at it, it's far too strange." He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Elsa, who was sleeping soundly beside him. "If this is an apocalypse base, why are they all children?"

"Compared to adults, children are weaker, have no skills, and are less resistant to illness. Their only advantage is that they're easier to control."

"And with so many children, not a single one of their parents or relatives came to this base with them. That's too much of a coincidence."

"And them... they don't even know countries like China, the United States, or the United Kingdom..."

Zhou Bai recalled the information he had gathered from talking with the children these past few days, constantly summarizing and sorting it out in his mind. "Much of what they know is completely different from what I know... They've never even heard of the history and geography I know.

But in terms of knowledge, at least the mathematics, physics, and natural sciences these children had learned in the base were the same as what I knew. Many things used in the base were also not much different from those in modern society..."

"Was the so-called apocalypse real?"

Thinking of this, he thought of Dr. Zhuang again. Not only had the man built this base to escape the so-called apocalypse, but he was also responsible for teaching the children all kinds of knowledge within the base.

"But all of that can be explained. Maybe he's just some madman messing around, and outside is still the perfectly normal Earth. The biggest problem..." Zhou Bai raised his palm and stared at the much younger, pale, thin, weak hand, his expression shifting unpredictably.

"I became younger, but I didn't become more handsome... No matter how I think about it, I can't make sense of this shit."

"And..."

Zhou Bai looked at the unmoving Laziness Qi Value on the panel, irritation rising in his heart. Why isn't the Laziness Qi Value increasing no matter how I lie down? Is my posture wrong?

Over the past few days, Zhou Bai had discovered that the Auxiliary System could no longer be used. However, the power of his 10 points of Primordial Spirit Value remained, giving him at least some means of self-defense.

Zhou Bai tried using the power of his Primordial Spirit to lift the table and chairs beside him from a distance. He secretly estimated that 10 points of Primordial Spirit power could exert roughly the strength of four or five adults.

Ah, if only I'd had this ability in my original world. Then when I was lying in bed playing games, I'd never have to get up to fetch things again...

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed outside the door.

Zhou Bai: Footsteps? Is someone outside?

He was just about to get up and open the door when Elsa's earlier words suddenly surfaced in his mind.

While chewing on the bedsheet, Elsa reminded him, "Zhou Bai~~ remember, once you go to sleep at night, don't go outside. No matter what sounds you hear outside, don't go out, okay?"

"Sounds? What sounds are there at night? Lots of people getting up to pee?"

Elsa froze for a moment, frowned, and sank into deep thought as she chewed on the bedsheet.

"I forgot..."

Zhou Bai turned his head to look at the neighboring bed. Elsa had kicked off her blanket and was sprawled out in the shape of a starfish, smacking her lips as she muttered in her sleep, "Zhou Bai~~~~ I'll just lick it! I won't eat it! I'm not hungry~~~"

Zhou Bai said, "This bottomless pit sleeps like the dead every day. Of course she can't hear anything outside."

Just then, the footsteps in the corridor drew closer and closer. They seemed to stop right in front of Zhou Bai's door, and then the footsteps abruptly vanished.

It... came to my door?

In the silence, Zhou Bai seemed able to hear his own heartbeat, yet he did not hear the footsteps resume.

Someone's been standing behind the door?

Feeling the stillness in the darkness, Zhou Bai could not help climbing out of bed. He walked to the room door, pricked up his ears, and listened for movement outside.

The eerie silence made Zhou Bai tense up as well. Just as he was wondering what to do next, the entire door suddenly shook. Then came the sound of the doorknob turning again and again.

Someone's opening the door?

But because Elsa had locked the door earlier, although the tightly shut door kept making the sound of its lock turning, it never opened.

After a while, the lock stopped turning.

Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was the sound of a palm slapping against the door.

Seeing the door shake violently under the pounding, Zhou Bai was startled out of his wits.

"Who is it?" he shouted toward the door. "Who's outside?"

The moment Zhou Bai shouted, the movement behind the door abruptly stopped.

Zhou Bai swallowed and stood still, pricking up his ears as he continued listening for movement behind the door.

In the pitch-black silence, all was hushed. It was as though whoever had been behind the door had vanished.

Zhou Bai could not help wanting to turn and wake Elsa, but the instant he turned around, a face covered in white fur appeared before him, its scarlet eyes staring fixedly at him.

The last thing Zhou Bai remembered was the violent power of his Primordial Spirit surging from his mind and crashing viciously toward the other party.

The next morning, in a hazy blur, Zhou Bai felt someone shoving him hard.

"Zhou Bai!"

"Zhou Bai!"

"Stop sleeping in! If you keep sleeping, I won't be able to stop myself from eating all your breakfast!"

Zhou Bai's eyes snapped open. That bizarre monster face was still flashing through his mind, and he said uneasily, "Last night... something came in last night!"

"Did it?" Elsa asked strangely. "I slept just fine. I didn't hear anyone come in."

"It wasn't a person!" Zhou Bai said, fear lingering in his heart. "It was something else... I..." He looked at the bed beneath him. "Did you help me back onto the bed?"

"No. When I woke up this morning, I saw you sleeping in your own bed, Zhou Bai. You were sleeping so soundly." Elsa said, "I locked the door last night too. Who could have come in?"

As she spoke, Elsa walked to the door and checked it. "The door's still locked. Zhou Bai, did you have a nightmare?"

Zhou Bai also got up and checked the door. It was indeed locked, and he could not help feeling doubtful. Was it really just a nightmare last night? There were only Elsa and me in this room? Wait...

His brow suddenly twitched hard. He could not help looking at Elsa beside him, a possibility surfacing in his mind.

If the door really had not been opened last night, and there had really only been Elsa and him in the room, then that white monster face... could it have been Elsa?

At that thought, his entire body went cold with terror.

But then again, he was lying safely in bed. Could last night really have been only a nightmare? But that dream had been far too real.