Chapter 154

In this small, abandoned courtyard that had been neglected for an unknown amount of time, Xie Zhou stayed with the baby for a full half month.

The overall environment of this small yard was very warm and comfortable. One could roughly guess that the family living here before the apocalypse must have led a simple and happy life.

This kind of life became an extraordinary luxury after the apocalypse arrived. When the zombies in the vicinity had been mostly cleared out by Xie Zhou, he had no choice but to leave and embark on a new journey for the sake of the baby’s stomach.

Before leaving, Xie Zhou put the small blackboard back under the stairwell and placed two bags of compressed biscuits in the cabinet where the family used to store food.

An An hadn’t understood before why his father often showed a longing for a stable life, but the Little Zombie Zai Zai was so happy being able to lie on the rocking chair in the yard and bask in the sun every day!

His father would also stroke his head and say that if the apocalypse hadn’t happened, he would have built a small yard like this with his mother.

The yard would be full of the flowers his mother liked, and he would build a swing for both big and small friends to play on.

After leaving the small courtyard, their first destination was a commercial street that had been very prosperous before the apocalypse.

Commercial streets like this had been visited by all sorts of people after the apocalypse, so there wasn’t much left inside.

What Xie Zhou was interested in were the zombies wandering the streets of this place.

From the beginning, he had moved cautiously to avoid zombies, fearing he would invite trouble.

Now, as long as he saw a zombie, Xie Zhou wanted to go up and hack at it with his Tang sword^[1].

The number of zombie crystal cores he could use himself was very small. Most of the ones that tasted good were given to An An as snacks, while the bad-tasting ones were collected to exchange for items when they encountered survivors or bases.

An An followed behind his father with his small backpack. When his father hacked a zombie to death, he would go up to dig into the head and stuff everything into his bag.

As time passed, the drinking water stored in his space became less and less; they could no longer be as extravagant as before.

Most water resources had been contaminated. The bottled mineral water stored in various large malls and supermarkets was also becoming increasingly scarce, and it was already necessary to use it sparingly.

Water-type and Wood-type ability users, who were not very popular in the early stages of the apocalypse, had become exceptionally sought after since the acid rain started falling and the land became contaminated and eroded.

The Wood-type and Water-type crystal cores that An An hated could often be exchanged for things that Xie Zhou actually needed.

After dealing with the zombies near the commercial street, Xie Zhou wiped the stains off his Tang sword and put it away. He walked over to An An and crouched down, seeing that the small cloth bag the boy was carrying had become bulging and full. He was quite satisfied with today’s harvest.

Picking An An up in his arms, he happened to see several cars driving in this direction as he walked out.

Since zombie crystal cores had become the new currency, behavior like Xie Zhou’s wasn’t particularly eye-catching.

The person leading the group saw that he was carrying a child and immediately put away his previous dismissiveness, speaking from a distance:

“We need Water-type and Wood-type crystal cores. Do you have any?”

Before Xie Zhou could answer, An An’s small hand had already reached into the cloth bag to rummage around, quickly picking out all the ones he didn’t like to eat and clutching them in his palm.

Under the sunlight, the crystal cores emitted cyan and green light, looking exceptionally enticing.

“What do you need?”

An An opened his lips to speak, but Xie Zhou instinctively gave him a warning look, covering his back and raising his voice:

“Space-type, Lightning-type crystal cores, or clean water and vegetables and fruits.”

His loud voice successfully covered the faint “Heh heh” sound An An made.

The man exchanged a look with his companions behind him. The unspoken understanding from fighting side by side for so many years meant that some things didn’t need to be said for them to understand each other’s meaning.

Several ability users behind him searched their persons for crystal cores. They found one Lightning-type and two Space-type cores in total, put them all in a bag, and threw it toward them from a distance.

Wood-type was too bitter and Water-type was too cold; An An had always been reluctant to eat them. It would be a waste to throw them away, so Xie Zhou had always kept them.

Xie Zhou took a plastic bottle out of his backpack, which was filled with Wood-type crystal cores. He took out four of the same grade.

After throwing them over, he was about to pack up and turn to leave when the leading man spoke again to stop them.

“Water, vegetables, fruit—we have plenty on our vehicles. We also have crystal cores of other types. If you need gasoline, we can go back to the base to get some.”

“Milk powder, clothes, toys, books… as long as you ask, we can try our best to find them.”

“We really need those crystal cores. We hope you can give us a chance.”

Several Water-type and Wood-type ability users had just arrived at their base. The base leader had issued a strict order for them to search for crystal cores of these two types while out recently, as they had to keep these ability users at the base.

Nowadays, Water-type and Wood-type ability users were very rare, and high-level ones were even scarcer. They were recruited early on by major bases and protected like fragile objects.

Under these circumstances, the vast majority of bases would choose to cultivate talented ability users, as those raised this way would have a stronger sense of belonging to the base.

Cultivating a Wood-type or Water-type ability user required a lot of crystal cores. The offensive capabilities of these two types were mostly weak, and they had no self-preservation ability in the increasingly dangerous apocalypse. Joining a large base was a good choice for them.

“I need water, fruits that can be stored for a long time, and a small amount of vegetables.”

After saying that, Xie Zhou glanced at the baby in his arms and added:

“Also clothes and toys for a three-year-old boy. It would be best if you have gasoline.”

Xie Zhou had traded with many teams, after all, and he was very clear on the crystal core prices for these items.

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll wait for you here. I hope you can bring the things I want.”

“Alright.”

The leader had originally wanted to persuade Xie Zhou to go back to the base with them to rest for a night. The best outcome would be to keep him at the base to provide an extra layer of security.

After thinking it over, he suppressed the idea.

By this point, a strong person who still chose to stay outside with a child without joining any base must be used to being alone.

He had likely seen many people trying to recruit him and was probably getting tired of it. If the leader said it again, it would be easy to provoke the man’s resentment.

In order to exchange for more of the crystal cores they needed, the Team Leader spoke again:

“Do you need crystal cores of other types?”

An An urgently gripped his father’s clothes. Before he could start “Heh-ing,” Xie Zhou covered his mouth.

“Yes. Anything except Wood-type and Water-type is fine. The higher the level, the better.”

It wasn’t as if he was starving his little zombie, but every time the baby heard someone wanted to exchange crystal cores, he couldn’t wait to lean in and have Xie Zhou get some for him too.

“Alright.”

For a survivor traveling alone like Xie Zhou, it was normal to need these crystal cores to trade with others when passing through certain places.

Xie Zhou didn’t even need to explain himself; someone had already thought of all the excuses for him.

That evening, while his father was downstairs preparing dinner, An An secretly snuck upstairs to the room they planned to rest in tonight, clutching his crystal cores.

When Xie Zhou noticed the little zombie was gone, his intuition told him he should go upstairs.

On the second floor, he vaguely heard a noise coming from a certain room. He pushed the door open just a crack. Through this gap, he could see the baby rolling around on the bed.

Sensing someone watching him, An An stopped rolling around and instinctively looked up toward the doorway.

When he realized it was Dad, he ignored everything else and continued rolling happily.

Space-type Crystal Cores were the ultimate delicacy for An An. Having just secretly eaten one, the Little Zombie was now bubbling with joy.

Xie Zhou took a bite of a piece of bread. As the baby finished rolling and lay there with his feet dangling happily off the edge of the bed, Xie Zhou’s gaze gradually softened.

With the baby by his side, Xie Zhou remained happy regardless of what happened.

By the time Xie Zhou finished dinner and went upstairs, the baby had already tidied everything up and was just waiting for him to come to bed.

The two pillows, one large and one small, as well as the bedding, had all been taken out of the Space by the baby. The Little Lamb Pillow had accompanied them through many places.

As soon as Xie Zhou lay down, the baby instinctively crawled into his arms from the side. With a look of pure contentment on his face, he acted like a gentle kitten, nuzzling affectionately against his father.

The next day, Xie Zhou changed the baby into a new outfit. The little jacket was very stylishly designed, paired with loose trousers that made An An look quite handsome.

An An, who had a very clear sense of self-awareness, tilted his chin up with great pride when his father picked him up.

Xie Zhou placed a baseball cap on his head and prepared a pair of sunglasses for him to wear.

The weather was starting to turn cold, so he also put small gloves on An An to cover his black fingernails.

Aside from his exposed skin looking paler than that of an average child, he looked no different from a normal little boy.

As he consumed more and more Crystal Cores, An An’s ability level grew stronger.

Fresh fruits and vegetables placed in his Space could be stored for at least three months, even the ones that spoiled most easily.

From his outward appearance, he was becoming more and more human-like. His pupils were gradually turning into a pure black rather than the initial grayish-white.

However, it was only a close approximation. If someone observed closely, they might still find something wrong. For the sake of the baby’s safety, Xie Zhou maintained the habit of making these disguises perfect.

Xie Zhou didn’t bother preparing a detailed breakfast, eating two pieces of compressed biscuits and a carton of milk.

No one cared about the expiration dates printed on items anymore, especially since the passage of time inside the baby’s Space seemed different from the outside world.

Even Xie Zhou wasn’t entirely sure how much the baby had stored in the Space, but he could tell from the baby’s proud “waiting for praise” expression that it was definitely a lot.

When Xie Zhou appeared carrying An An, two off-road vehicles and a large truck were parked at the designated spot.

The door of the lead off-road vehicle opened first, and the man he had met yesterday stepped out.

The man raised his hand in a gesture. The driver of the large truck and another ability user jumped down, got into the off-road vehicle, and drove a long distance away before stopping.

Xie Zhou understood. The man meant for him to inspect the goods on the large truck.

More than half the truck was filled with bottled water, while the rest was stacked with crates of fruits and vegetables. Piled in the corner were the clothes and toys he had requested.

Xie Zhou only glanced briefly at the first few items before quickly looking away. Only the baby’s clothes and toys truly concerned him, so he went over to inspect them carefully.

Children were rarely seen after the apocalypse, and most newborns didn’t survive to grow up. Clothes like these had been left sitting in warehouses and were mostly brand new, with good materials and styles.

They had even considered that the child would grow, specifically providing slightly larger sizes.

Xie Zhou let the baby put everything into the Space and then got off the truck while holding him. The off-road vehicle drove back over, and the leader was holding a bag filled with various Crystal Cores.

The bag was tossed over. The cores inside were at least second-grade, looking very beautiful as if they contained flowing liquid under the sunlight.

Xie Zhou let the baby hold these “snacks” for now. He pulled out the pre-prepared Crystal Cores from his hiking backpack, which were also at least second-grade.

First-grade zombies were everywhere, but Zai Zai refused to eat their cores unless they were Space-type, and he didn’t want those cores taking up room in his Space.

The baby’s attitude of disdain was so clear that Xie Zhou simply stopped collecting them. These remaining second and third-grade cores filled a large bag.

“I’m sorry, the Space-type ability users in our base are unavailable to come out, so we only have one truck. We brought tools, so we can siphoned out most of the gasoline from these vehicles for you.”

The Crystal Cores Xie Zhou provided were slightly more than they had expected.

The Team Leader could see that Xie Zhou wasn’t ignorant of the rules of exchange. She bowed to him from a distance to express her gratitude.

Xie Zhou waved his hand, letting them get to work siphoning the gasoline. One could never have too much of such a resource, even if the motorcycle he rode didn’t consume much fuel.

Things changed very quickly in the apocalypse, and the weather was harsh and extreme. No one could guarantee what kind of life they would face next.

Hoarding more essentials like these gave Xie Zhou peace of mind.

Xie Zhou was very satisfied with this transaction. He got onto the motorcycle with An An and left immediately, having no intention of saying goodbye.

It was just an exchange of interests; as long as both parties were satisfied, extra pleasantries were unnecessary in Xie Zhou’s eyes.

Their next destination was Dawn Base. It was said that there were over twenty third-grade Wood-type ability users and fifteen third-grade or higher Water-type ability users there.

One basically didn’t have to worry about these two daily necessities in Dawn Base.

Especially for ability users, the treatment was very generous if they chose to join. Clean drinking water and fresh fruit were distributed every morning to ensure basic needs were met.

Furthermore, unlike other bases, they didn’t treat ability users as mere tools to be exploited.

For this reason, Dawn Base had a very good reputation among ability users, and many solitary ability users chose to join them.

If he weren’t traveling with the baby, Xie Zhou probably would have chosen Dawn Base as his final home among all the major bases.

“Heh heh?”

An An noticed that his father’s gaze seemed particularly soft while looking at the location of Dawn Base on the map, so he wanted to lean in and take a look too.

Xie Zhou rubbed the baby’s head. This little fellow was poking his head around without understanding anything, and was actually getting in the way.

Among the many supplies sent by the previous base, what satisfied Xie Zhou most were some early childhood picture books.

During the nights of rest while traveling over these past few days, Xie Zhou would hold the picture books before bed to teach the baby how to recognize characters and speak.

The baby would reluctantly cooperate with recognizing characters, but speaking was truly impossible. No matter how he was taught, the only thing that came out of the baby’s mouth was “heh heh.”

Yet the baby himself was completely unaware of this. Every time he finished speaking, he would obediently place his hands on his knees and wait for his father’s praise.

After Xie Zhou realized what he meant, his expression became somewhat complicated for a moment. He really couldn’t bring himself to praise the baby’s “skill” against his conscience, even if he was the biological father.

Having just let out two “heh hehs” and feeling that his “heh hehs” were excellent, the Little Zombie didn’t receive his father’s praise. He gently pushed his father’s shoulder with his hand and let out two more “heh hehs” to hurry him up.

Praise me! What are you just standing there for!

“Yes, not bad.”

Having finished his day’s lessons, An An closed the picture book, tidied it up, and put it into his small backpack. He zipped it up and put the backpack back where it belonged.

Besides teaching him to read and recognize characters, Xie Zhou also deliberately taught An An some practical life knowledge.

Although he was already powerful enough to ensure his own safety for the time being and ensure no one would bully them, he couldn’t be certain about what the future held. No one could give a definitive answer, so he had to prepare in advance.

An An clutched his Little Lamb Pillow with one hand and ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. Before Xie Zhou could pull up the quilt, he successfully burrowed into the bed and lay down.

“Baby, is that your zombie language?”

Xie Zhou leaned on his side, watching An An. He certainly didn’t think his baby was a little dummy just because he kept making “he-he” sounds.

According to his guess, it was likely that zombies and humans simply had different language systems.

Just as kittens went “meow,” puppies went “woof,” and zombies went “he-he.”

An An let out a soft “he,” his face the picture of innocence.

In truth, he didn’t know either. After all, he had never spent time socializing with other zombies. At most, he would hop onto their shoulders to gnaw on their heads, leaving no opportunity for communication.

Controlling low-level zombies didn’t require any sound; it could be done entirely through mental power.

However, An An always felt exhausted after controlling zombies, wanting nothing more than to sprawl on his father’s back and sleep for a day and a night.

After a few lessons learned from experience, An An wasn’t very keen on doing that anymore. It was better to just grab them and start gnawing.

A clear sense of foolishness was evident in An An’s dark eyes, but Xie Zhou, a father who believed his baby was the smartest in the world, failed to see it. He assumed his guess was correct.

Thinking it was his own fault for not explaining things clearly to An An, Xie Zhou changed the subject.

“Let’s sleep. Dawn Base is quite large, so there should be more Space-type crystal cores there.”

In the apocalypse, it was extremely difficult for Space-type ability users to level up. After all, Space-type zombies were incredibly rare; one might not find a single one in a year or two.

Most Space-type zombies were killed before they even realized they possessed an ability, never living long enough to see it upgrade.

Since absorbing crystal cores didn’t provide a significant boost to their powers anyway, most Space-type ability users eventually chose to save up their zombie crystal cores.

Those capable of nurturing a Space-type ability user usually possessed excellent capabilities in other areas. The terms they offered for trade were far more cost-effective than using the crystal cores themselves.

An An might have pretended to sleep to avoid his father’s nagging if they were talking about anything else, but as soon as this topic was mentioned, he perked up instantly.

He stared at his father with wide, round eyes. His expectant little expression made Xie Zhou shake his head with a laugh.

“Go ask around outside. What other zombie is as obsessed with eating crystal cores as you?”

His deep, magnetic voice carried a hint of unintentional tenderness in the darkness.

An An buried his head in his father’s chest, acting spoiled. He didn’t want to go ask those smelly Little Zombies outside.

Xie Zhou patted his back and fell asleep holding An An.

They were still a long way from Dawn Base. Fortunately, the fruits and vegetables exchanged from the previous base were enough to last Xie Zhou a long time.

They had been traveling on heavily damaged highways for nearly half a month. Toward evening, they spotted an exit leading off the highway.

Xie Zhou had a vague memory of the sign. Before the apocalypse, it was a small County Town focused on tourism with beautiful scenery. His wife had even bookmarked a travel guide for this place.

A land of fish and rice, the landscape here was especially beautiful at the turn of spring and summer, possessing the misty charm of a Jiangnan^[2] water town.

Unfortunately, after the apocalypse, most things had been destroyed. As he rode the motorcycle inside, it was hard to connect this dilapidated little place with the videos his wife had saved.

Once the motorcycle stopped, the baby jumped down of his own accord. He was always happy to reach a new place, wandering around to see if he could discover anything fresh.

Even though he had turned into a Little Zombie, he still retained the curiosity of a human child.

Xie Zhou found a room that was reasonably clean to rest in. Unlike the baby, he was still human. Traveling by motorcycle every day was exhausting for him, and he needed sufficient time to recover.

He didn’t dare stay in one place for too long. The fact that the baby wasn’t growing was a hidden danger.

Staying in one place for more than three months would make it easy for people to notice this secret and begin speculating about the baby’s true identity.

No matter how low the probability of the baby’s identity being discovered was, Xie Zhou would avoid even the slightest risk.

While Xie Zhou prepared food and rest, An An helped by gathering firewood nearby.

The temperature was quite low now. Xie Zhou had put on a down jacket, and seeing that his father was cold, a certain Little Zombie tried everything he could to help warm him up.

Xie Zhou prepared to cook a bowl of noodles for himself, adding some vegetables for dinner to supplement the nutrients a human body needed.

By the time Xie Zhou finished eating and was ready to rest, the tiny baby returned with several adult zombies carrying firewood. After they dropped the wood, he waved them away.

Once the zombies left, the baby ran to his father, looking up at him with urgent “he-he” sounds coming from his throat.

Xie Zhou leaned over and rubbed his head, praising him with a smile.

“I was just feeling a bit cold. Thanks, baby.”

An An, who had been hopping around with a bit of anxious agitation, finally calmed down upon hearing those words.

Heaven knew how much self-control he had to exert as a hungry Little Zombie to keep himself from pouncing onto those zombies’ shoulders and gnawing on their heads.

Xie Zhou reignited the dying fire. With so much wood, he didn’t need to be frugal anymore. The fire burned brightly, and he stretched out his hands to warm them.

Seeing his father’s actions, the Little Zombie understood only half of it. He imitated his father, stretching out his hands to let the fire warm his little fleshy palms.

He clenched his hands into fists and then opened them. The firelight fell on An An’s face, and the flames seemed to dance within his dark pupils.

After another three days of travel, they successfully reached the gates of a base.

This was a small base, and the inspection post at the entrance was not strict. As long as a crystal core was handed over, the guards would look the other way and let people in.

Xie Zhou had originally only intended to trade for supplies outside. However, when he overheard someone passing by mention that the brother of the base’s leader was actually keeping a Mutant Beast, he changed his mind.

In the second year of the apocalypse, plants and animals had also begun to mutate, becoming like the zombies.

Due to their natural instincts, Mutant Beasts were often more agile than humans and harder to deal with. Currently, most infections were caused by attacks from Mutant Beasts.

In the hearts of most people, there was no difference between a Mutant Beast and a zombie. Neither belonged to the human race, and both were existences that should be eliminated.

Yet the brother of this base’s leader was keeping one, and so many people knew about it. This made Xie Zhou unable to resist wanting to see what the situation was.

If possible, Xie Zhou naturally didn’t want to continue living a life of hiding. He wanted to lead a stable life with the baby.

Carrying the fully bundled-up baby to the gate, he was stopped by the guards. Just as they were about to perform an inspection, Xie Zhou placed a second-grade Wood-type crystal core on the table.

An An, held in his father’s arms, narrowed his eyes and stared intently as his father pulled out the crystal core.

Once he confirmed that what his father had taken out was a bitter, completely unappetizing Crystal Core, the Little Zombie felt at ease and rested his head back on his father’s shoulder.

The guard, who had been acting extremely arrogant, instantly changed his tune the moment he saw the second-tier Crystal Core. With a flattering smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, he said:

“Forgive my blindness, I didn’t recognize a master when I saw one. My apologies. Would you be looking to rent a house? It’s very cheap, just one first-tier Crystal Core per week.”

Xie Zhou produced two second-tier Crystal Cores and pushed them toward the man, his expression cold as he spoke:

“I’m only staying for one night. Please arrange it for me.”

In a place where he didn’t intend to stay long, Xie Zhou didn’t mind displaying his strength to minimize potential trouble.

The guard could guess that Xie Zhou was likely heading toward Dawn Base and was only stopping here for a night’s rest.

Faced with an ability user who could casually produce second-tier Crystal Cores, the guard tucked away any ulterior motives and arranged a very safe and comfortable house for him.

Before leaving, the guard couldn’t help but steal several glances at the child held in the man’s arms.

Ability users who traveled with children in the apocalypse were rare indeed; he hadn’t seen many in all these years.

Xie Zhou had wrapped An An up very tightly, but it was still obvious that the child was clean from head to toe and exceptionally well cared for.

After the guard left, Xie Zhou used a device to scan the surroundings. Once he confirmed there were no hidden cameras, he finally sat down on the sofa with An An in his arms.

“Baby, you can’t make any noise here, okay?”

Xie Zhou made a gesture as if sealing An An’s mouth shut. The little one gave a soft huff and turned his head away in a sulk, even crossing his little legs in annoyance.

“We can’t let anyone discover your identity, understand? Baby is so cute that if people knew you were a Little Zombie, they would kidnap you. Do you want to leave Daddy?”

These words successfully made An An stand up in a panic. He shook his head vigorously, letting out a series of anxious “he-he” sounds.

“So, you can’t let anyone find out you’re a Little Zombie.”

“He.”

Xie Zhou was constantly teaching An An to face the differences between himself and others.

At the same time, he didn’t want An An to feel like an outcast or be saddened by his condition.

Every time, he would praise An An as the cutest baby in the world, making the little one mistakenly believe that everyone wanted to steal him away.

Already a bit of a narcissist, the little fellow became even more conceited under his father’s constant coaxing.

Xie Zhou placed his hiking pack on a table and asked some locals about the area. He learned there was a free trade market within the base where one could find strange or unique items.

Jewelry and ornaments that were worth a fortune before the apocalypse could now be exchanged for a single piece of bread.

The Little Zombie, who had always been wandering outside with his father, had never seen such a scene. He reached out and gently tugged at his father’s sleeve.

He remembered exactly what his father had told him: he must never make those “he-he” sounds in front of others.

The uncles and aunties outside were all bad people who only thought he was cute and wanted to take him home to bully him. Only Daddy truly loved him!

Xie Zhou saw An An’s desire to go out and play, so after a moment’s thought, he asked for the specific location.

He helped the baby put on a mask, sunglasses, and a hat. An An tucked his own fingers into his gloves, already accustomed to this disguise. Once fully armed, the little guy stood on his tiptoes and reached out his arms, wanting his father to carry him.

Though called a small free trade market, it was actually just like the roadside stalls from before the apocalypse. A piece of cloth spread on the ground with a few items on top constituted a seller.

Before heading out, the father and son had agreed that if An An saw something he wanted, he should poke his father.

Because such opportunities were rare, Xie Zhou intended to buy whatever the baby wanted, provided the little one didn’t make a single sound while outside. If he did, he would get nothing.

For An An, this threat was very effective.

Gold, jade, and ancient paintings were scattered carelessly across the cloths, ignored by everyone. An An took one look and quickly looked away, having no interest in such things.

It wasn’t until he saw some fun toys that An An’s eyes lit up. He extended his index finger and gently poked his father’s shoulder, signaling for him to buy them.

While Crystal Cores were the standard currency, at these small stalls where most sellers were ordinary people, food and water were more popular.

After inquiring about the prices, Xie Zhou bought everything the baby wanted. His backpack was soon stuffed to the brim, yet in his heart, he still felt he hadn’t given the baby enough.

Their behavior in the base was indeed somewhat high-profile. By that evening, the leader of the base personally came by to ask if Xie Zhou could meet for a talk.

Since they were staying for the night anyway, Xie Zhou didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble, so he agreed.

The base leader was a middle-aged woman, Ms. Li. She wore a practical combat suit and projected a very approachable aura.

“Hello.”

Children naturally need more sleep than adults, so Xie Zhou left the baby in the bedroom when he came for the meeting.

Having just bought a pile of things today, the baby was in the middle of a playing frenzy.

Xie Zhou seriously suspected that if the baby had to choose between him and that pile of toys right now, he might actually be the one getting dumped.

Leaving the baby home to play made everyone happy.

From the moment Xie Zhou walked in, Ms. Li had been watching him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Her strength was at the very top of this base. Furthermore, because their base was close to Dawn Base, her power would be considered high-ranking even there.

Yet standing before this man, she couldn’t gauge his depths at all.

“Hello.”

“Is there something you need? My son is sleeping at home. If I’m not by his side, he gets nightmares.”

Based solely on the fact that Xie Zhou was willing to keep a child with him and had raised him so well, Ms. Li was inclined to believe he wasn’t a bad person.

“May I be so bold as to ask… what is your current ability level?”

“I’m sorry, I cannot disclose that.”

Xie Zhou wasn’t entirely sure of his specific level himself; he only knew they had encountered virtually no obstacles on their journey.

“Is your destination also Dawn Base? Actually, Dawn Base isn’t as good as the propaganda suggests. The ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality there is extreme.”

“A few days ago, trucks full of ordinary people even drove out of Dawn Base. They intended to remove those who provided no benefit to the base to reduce the pressure on their resources.”

The reason Dawn Base had maintained its status from the start of the apocalypse until now was largely due to this ruthless system.

If you weren’t strong enough, you simply couldn’t stay.

Because they kept their numbers low, their supplies were naturally abundant.

One either had to have a high ability level or possess specific value, such as researchers or close associates of the leadership.

Ms. Li had no intention of maliciously slandering Dawn Base; she gave this kind warning to everyone who passed through with that destination in mind.

A high-level ability user like Xie Zhou, who was traveling with a child, would indeed be accepted by Dawn Base, but the condition would likely be that he couldn’t keep the child with him.

Or perhaps they would put on a front of accepting the child’s existence, only to secretly dispose of him while Xie Zhou was away on a mission.

At this age, it was perfectly normal for children to be playful and prone to wandering. Even before the apocalypse, there were countless cases of children going missing.

Once such a thing happened, no matter how much anger or grief a father felt, there was simply no way to change the reality of the situation.

When a child’s disappearance became an established fact, most people who had grown accustomed to surviving in the post-apocalyptic world would choose the path that was most beneficial to themselves.

“That seems to be quite a gap from the rumors. So… which of you should I actually believe?”

Xie Zhou frowned. He didn’t actually intend to join Dawn Base; he only planned to go there and take a look. Consequently, he didn’t take Ms. Li’s words too much to heart.

Even if Dawn Base was truly as wretched as she claimed, he would only stay for a few days before leaving.

“I am merely offering a friendly warning. If you don’t believe me, you are of course free to go and see for yourself. However, before you go, I will offer you one piece of advice: no matter where you go, never leave your child behind.”

After speaking, Ms. Li took out the crystal cores he had previously given to the guard and pushed them toward Xie Zhou.

“Let’s be friends. Consider these waived.”

Xie Zhou was visibly stunned when he realized these were the exact same crystal cores he had handed over to the guard to enter the base.

“I still have some matters to attend to, so I won’t see you out personally.”

Ms. Li had come from Dawn Base years ago. While she was willing to help these people, it didn’t mean she was willing to sacrifice everything for them.

Good advice is often lost on those bent on their own destruction; offering a few words of warning was the limit of what she could do.

As Xie Zhou was leaving, he saw the younger brother of the base’s leader, as mentioned in the rumors. The boy was leading a very cute Husky. Judging by its unique pupils, it had indeed become a Mutant Beast.

Yet, the people around the youth showed no signs of unease toward the Husky. One person even walked over and rubbed the Husky’s head.

That night, Xie Zhou suffered a rare bout of insomnia. Even when he closed his eyes, sleep would not come.

He tossed and turned, adjusting his position repeatedly, but his mind remained filled with the words the base leader had spoken earlier.

If Dawn Base was truly so wretched, using various cruel elimination systems to keep only those useful to the base, how could its reputation be so prestigious?

Was it that Dawn Base had hidden its secrets too well, or was all of this just a lie she had fabricated to convince him to stay here?

Before Xie Zhou could delve deeper into his thoughts, he felt a tug on his clothes. He looked down and saw the baby looking up, dark eyes filled with pleading and urgency.

“What’s wrong, baby?”