《No Time》


 Extra: Info about the ML

    Extra: Info about the ML

    Hey everyone!^^

    So, most of you probably know by now that the MC and ML will meet up in about a year!

    That''s going to be in chapter 70+!

    I love the ML a lot, and I know that Xiao Yu will eventually love him too~

    I''ll talk a little about the ML since everyone''s so curious about him:

    1) He''s younger than Xiao Yu(only a couple years younger)

    2) He''s spoiled, a brat, but is reasonable

    3) Super handsome! And tall too~

    4) He''s very smart! One of the smartest people on earth! A genius!

    5) He really wasn''t Xiao Yu''s past lover(but going further will spoil things, so I''ll shush myself! 0x0)

    6) ML doesn''t have muchmon sense

    7) ML doesn''t know how to take care of himself

    8) ML is actually a normal human!

    9) ML doesn''t really get emotions. He''s usually confused about why people act this or that way

    10) Thest thing about ML is that he''s like a child. He acts like a child, but when it gets serious, he does try to be stern, which fails miserably in front of Xiao Yu.

    The list above was in ament, so it was hidden to most people as I didn''t properly post about it. But since you guys are my Webnovels group, I''ll tell you guys some more...

    Secret Files: More about the ML

    1) ML is pretty much spoiled and a brat because he''s too proud of himself. But that''s what got him killedst time.

    2) ML''s parent(guardian more like) is a person I mentioned before(not telling you who~)

    3) ML likes sweets! Even more than Shui Yu''s love of sweets & food!

    4) He can''t eat anything spicy and likes to drink milk.

    5) ML is also a regressor like MC except he made a time machine instead.

    6) ML''s death is definitely rted to zombies. Whether they caused it or not, I''m not telling yet.

    7) ML is... well, really stupid if the topic''s not about science.

    8) ML getting close to MC has a motive! But the motive is a secret for now!

    9) ML is scared of being alone.

    10) ML eventually falls in love, but MC falls in love first with all the dumb things that ML does. But ML doesn''t realize his own feelings until it''s almost toote.

    11) ML has many rivals for love. One particrly being Little Blue!

    12) I like ML a lot. He''s one of my favorites. He really does change MC''s thinking.

    All in all, he''s a cute little- nevermind, a cute tall rascal who''s a tidbit innocent, ruthless, and mischevious.

    Ok, conclusion, if you guys have any more questions about the ML, feel free toment!

    I''ll also dly proofread your theories about the past life of MC and ML!

    Bye for now! ^^

 Q & A

    Q & A

    *Don''t read if you don''t want spoilers!*

    Hi everyone! I''m finally back from my several summer camps! They were part slight torture, overly friendly counselors, some weird kids(including myself of course), and no sleep! How fun! Well, I''ll upload the chapter sometime next week... I didn''t realize that I''ve been putting the story off for practically a month...

    Anyways, here are some answers! ^^

    Q: Would xiaoi ever find another man or would we have basically zomhuman xing x humani?

    A: Xiao Lai will find another love! But this love will be hard to attain but sweet in the end! And this time, he''s the one being pursued!

    I wanted to write about Zhang Xing''s "death" and his rejection because not everyone gets a happy ending and not everyone is epting. Love isn''t always mutual. Zhang Xing, for instance, was epting of LGBTQ folks, but he didn''t want to be one of them. That''s understandable and it''smon in real life.

    I was tempted to make Zhang Xing disgusted by the confession, but I thought that that would be too much...

    Q: I can''t remember if this has been mentioned, but is there set stages for zombie evolution?

    A: "Zombies were sensitive to smell and sound. They stayed in the dark and didn''t daree out into the light for too long until they were level 3 or mutants."

    "Level one zombies are stronger than humans and more like Olympic athletes and are very fast, unlike the slow zombies in old movies. But they are also very stupid and corroded. A scratch or bite will turn you into one of them in half an hour so I took precaution and wrapped my clothes in the duct tape. I didn''t bring any specialized clothing, so this would have to do for now."

    "Every zombie has a core but level one cores aren''t very useful. They only help a little with leveling up."

    The above are quotes from previous chapters that I wrote but never specified on... Yeah, there should be levels... I''ll make a chartter to make it easier to recognize them! ^^;

    Q: Do you take pleasure in torturing us, readers?

    A: Hmm... As an author yes... If I was a reader, I''d probably hate myself too! ^^

    Q: What''ll happen to Xiao Bing''s love life?

    A: Wolfina -

    "I think she will be spunky and that even if she fell in love it would be a war and thanks for the hard work author."

    She gave the first answer for Xiao Bing''s future, so I''ll go along with it!

    Q: Something I had in mind was that will we see the parents of the MC again? Not to be mistaken, I dislike them, but I would like to know how they ended up.

    A: Eh... Well, yes, you''ll see them again. But not too soon. In this life, they don''t live very good lives.

    Q: bout that, what is the range of age creatures in this apocalypse is?

    A: Good question! I was hoping someone would ask this!

    Mutant Animals: Definitely longer lives, probably 80 for most animals. For specific creatures, maybe they''ll be like legendary bosses and live up to thousands of years...

    Mutant nts: I''d have to say, unless they''re destroyed, they''ll thrive.

    Zombies: I think they''ll "live" forever...

    Regr Humans: At most 60 because they probably can''t take the inhumane conditions of the newly turned world. Ey, get it? Inhumane? ...Shouldn''t have tried. Sorry.

    Regr nts & Animals: Their life spans would be shorter because they probably won''t be able to survive with stronger mutated species around and the changed environment won''t be nice to them.

    Ability-Using Humans: They live at least 130 years and they age a lot less too. So even if they''re really old, they''ll look considerably more youthful.

    Zombie-Reagent Humans: With the addition of the zombie reagent, Shui Yu''s people will live very long lives. I''m thinking 300 at the very least and longer. But then I have to take ount of the poption too... Well, I guess themunity''s just going to get bigger.

    Q: I think the questions no 3 will she be able to get true love or not

    A: Xiao Bing will find true love someday. Maybe. I just can''t imagine who her partner will be... ^^; And when she does fall in love, it''ll be a huge mess for her and everyone else around her. Not bad trouble probably since I hate soap opera drama, but the good and weird trouble.

    So, hope you guys liked it and ask more questions! I like interacting with you guys... I don''t seem that weird or scary, do I?

 Indefinite Hiatus

    Indefinite Hiatus

    Hi everyone.

    I''ll be brief.

    I''m going to take a break, just like the title suggests.

    My mom passed away peacefully on November the 1st.

    I need to focus on taking care of my siblings, going to school, albeit it being through zoom, and auditioning for colleges and conservatories.

    Of course, I''ll finish the story properly.

    I want to give Shui Yu a happy ending after all.

    Thanks for your understanding.

    I may not be on Webnovel or Inkstone for a while, so if you have anything you want to ry to me, either email me through  or find me at discord: thisworldofmine1#4209.

    Thanks for your time.

 Chapter 1: Do-over

    Chapter 1: Do-over

    "AHHHHH!"

    I screamed as the horrible stench of blood wafted around me and pain shot through my head. Huh? Just before, my throat couldn''t produce any noise from being torn... What was happening?

    "Miss, your boy is a loud child! He''ll grow up healthy~"

    "Ah... let me see him..."

    The woman reached out her trembling hands as she looked lovingly at me whom she was holding.

    ''Wait, where is this? A clean environment? Lively people? I''m sure I died by being used as bait. Where is this?!''

    I am freaking out. I mean, who wouldn''t be after they thought they were dead but are actually alive? And the environment change is really too much. The drastic difference of hell and heaven is more like it. Besides the smell of blood, it''s too different. Scary how it is, a mere stark contrast is enough to frighten me.

    I chuckled in my head and was wondering what to do in this strange environment.

    Ah, wait.

    I seemed to have be a baby...

    "Why isn''t he crying? Nurse, is it bad for a baby to not cry? I mean he screamed once but he hasn''t cried yet..."

    The youngdy holding me asked the cheerful nurse.

    "No no, please don''t worry. Babies don''t start to cry tears until at least two weeks. And although it is a little strange that he isn''t crying out, don''t worry, it happens sometimes. Would you like to see your husband and child? They looked quite anxious to see you!"

    The voice of the cheerful nurse disappeared and I was left in my new mother''s arms.

    I didn''t know if I had gone back in time or went to another dimension.

    Why was I not freaking out?

    Obviously, because I read plenty of stories like these in the past, when everything was normal. I always dreamt of being a character in those books anyway.

    It didn''t seem to be a wuxia or xianxia world. Not fantasy either, maybe sci-fi? Or, did I really go back into the past or go to a parallel dimension?

    I heard a door squeak open and hurried footsteps entering.

    Was it the doctor that the nurse mentioned or my new father and older sibling?

    "Honey, are you alright? Should I get you something?"

    A henpecked man...

    "Mom, let me see the baby."

    A demanding child...

    "He''s ugly."

    So what? I''m still a baby! I bet when you were a baby, you were even more ugly than me!

    "Don''t say that. He''ll grow handsome after a few months. And you were like this too! Perhaps even uglier."

    My new mother spoke up for me. Thumbs up!

    The doctor checked me out a momentter and the nurses carried me off to the baby monitor room.

    I had to stay there for 37 hours. I got bored enough to start counting the hours.

    The day my new mom was being discharged, I was named.

    Shui Yu.

    The name I had in myst life.

    It really was too strange...

    Did I reallye back in time? But how, and why? Why me, not that I mind, but why?

    During the apocalypse, I only touched water during the red phase.

    I got assigned to being a healer and was taughtbat only by an old man who was a pretty powerful martial artist. So, I should have had ck belts in Kung Fu, Karate, and Tai Chi... but that stuff doesn''t work against highly advanced zombies...

    Anyways, currently, I am in my new home. I guess it could be said to be my old home now.

    It turned out to be true. The fact that I went back in time.

    My mother''s name was still "Fan Ling".

    My father''s name was still "Shui Wang".

    My older brother''s name was still "Shui Jing".

    And my name''s still "Shui Yu".

    Babies can''t see much but my old apartment''s smell was noticeable. And I did notice that their voices were familiar after a while. I even knew my family members'' footsteps from the way they walked, so it was easy to figure out what was going on.

    I guess I''ll have to grow up a bit before I can see what my family looks like and confirm properly.

    Hopefully, I did go back in time. I think I did, but it''s not like those characters who just do anything and change the future so haphazardly. They instantly know when they went back in time.

    It''s not that I''m not smart, I do have a pretty high IQ. It''s just that, who would ever remember being a baby? I only know that it takes a year to start walking and about 14 months for a baby to walk properly, I know this from taking care of my younger siblings. And who expects a baby to see everything with itsck of functionality? It''s so hard to try to even move my arms, let alone twisting my neck to look at people!

    In China, 2XXX, it was said to not have changed much. The economy got a little better. Our idols and actors got a bit more well-known. The 2-child policy was diminished. Girls were a bit more prized since they were undoubtedly rarer than boys but as the 2-child policy was destroyed, they all got equal treatment. At least, that''s what I learned in history ss.

    Anyways, I guess I''ll have to wait till I''m a year old to properly get around...

    My second child doesn''t speak much.

    He doesn''t babble, cry, or whine.

    He looks a little disgruntled when he has to drink milk.

    Only when exactly a year passed, he suddenly stood up and started walking on his birthday.

    That really did surprise us.

    Ah-Jing just looked wide-eyed, but my husband and I screamed out of joy.

    Our second child just looked at us nkly.

    We really wonder if our child has low intelligence or is a genius...

    Ah-Yu doesn''t y with the toys we bought for him.

    He likes to watch the tv though.

    Strangely, the educational programs that I pick always turn into survival programs and the animal kingdom.

    Ah-Yu also likes to hoard things.

    He hid marshmallow candies in his baby stroller and I only found out when he picked one out while I was talking to another fellow mother.

    Iter got home that day and had my husband dismantle the baby stroller.

    There were about 300 pieces of candy...

    No wonder the baby stroller was getting heavier by the week...

    Ah-Yu just stared at us like it wasmon sense to do this and looked aggrieved as we put the candy in the trash since we didn''t know when they would or had already expired.

    Sigh, I just don''t get our Ah-Yu.

 Chapter 2: Family Problems

    Chapter 2: Family Problems

    I''m 4 years old now.

    My little brother''s already been born and is 2 years old. His name is Shui Lai.

    My parents dote on him much more than me since he''s the youngest.

    I don''t care, he deserves it. He was the first one to die in the apocalypse when dad pushed him out to the zombies to escape.

    This time, he won''t die. I''ll save him and push out my parents instead.

    Oh, today''s the day the incident will happen.

    The incident, it ruined our mom''s life and she turned abusive because of it.

    "Kyaa!"

    Yup, herees that high-pitched scream.

    My mom was calling on her phone while stirring the soup.

    She identally dropped her phone in and put her hand in the pot to retrieve it. She, fortunately, realized that it was a bad idea and hurriedly retrieved her hand, but knocked the pot over. She jumped away, but some of the boiling soup still got on her leg.

    She told me to call my dad through the house phone.

    Obviously, you''re supposed to call the ambnce first!

    After calling the ambnce, I called dad.

    I could hear the activity going on in the background.

    A young woman''s giggles.

    Slurps and moans.

    Disgusting.

    Dad hurried home after the call.

    The ambnce was already here and was transporting mom out of the apartment.

    Our neighbors got outside to see what themotion was about.

    Mom was crying because it hurt too much for her.

    Psh, even children during the apocalypse didn''t feel a thing when burned like that! Just go through it!

    Well, maybe my standards are a bit too much...

    Mom was checked by a doctor immediately.

    Her leg was treated, but he then said something that would affect our lives from then on.

    Mom had bone cancer.

    It was one of the early stage cancers that could be easily treated.

    Expensive, a million yuan, but it was ok, right?

    Who would have imagined at that time, dad was having an affair with another woman, and that he was giving most of his paychecks to buy things for her?

    Our family wasn''t rich, and it wasn''t poor either, but having most of the life savings end up in an outsider''s hands was really not good at all. That woman spent most of her time shopping and going to night clubs.

    Imagine what mom looked like when dad told her that it was too much to pay for treatment.

    She looked absolutely livid! mes were officially ready to shoot out from her eyes~

    Haha, this was too funny for me.

    My parents, who imed to love us, did nothing for us during the apocalypse.

    Killing off Shui Lai.

    Making Ge take care of their portion of hunted zombies.

    Making me work for them exclusively and trying to use me to curry favor with the higher-ups.

    Even our sister was sold off by them.

    To appease our mother, dad had careful sex with her, mindful of her burnt leg. For thest time, but mom didn''t know that.

    I guess this was how sister was born, no wonder mom hit her the most...

    So, after about 2 months, mom found out that she was pregnant again.

    By that time, Dad rarely came home, making excuses that work was too much. Mom believed him and was still the ever-faithful wife.

    Dad always looked ufortable when mom asked him where he had been.

    Mom got plenty of hints that Dad was cheating on her but she still stubbornly stuck to her imaginations and acted her part.

    In the 7 months that she was pregnant, she was hinted at, again, again, and again.

    Since it was bad for the baby to be within a depressed mother, mom always acted cheerful and happy.

    Ge and Xiao Lai didn''t know what was going on.

    My Ge was 6 years old and went to kindergarten every day, missing the actions that lead up to mom''s abuse. Xiao Lai went to daycare with me since he turned 2 years old. They were still too young to understand and I didn''t want them to be blemished by the acts soon toe.

    I told them not to disturb mom and they listened.

    I was nicest to them. I was respected. I always made the right choices at the right time. Well, it''s also because I love them while my parents don''t.

    Mom didn''t take care of Xiao Lai properly and was always out of the house these days, hanging out with her friends.

    So I took care of Xiao Lai and Ge. To be honest, I kind of spoil them a lot... My siblings are the only people who care for me, I have to properly care for them too.

    My parents are always gone during the weekends. Mom goes out with her friends, Dad goes to visit the girl he was having an affair with.

    They always leave us plenty of money to spend on food.

    We always eat instant noodles and go outside exploring instead. Saving up the money, I stash excess under the refrigerator.

    The day our sister was born, dad wasn''t there.

    The nurses thought mom was crying because of happiness. How wrong they were.

    To be honest, my younger brother, Shui Yu, is kind of weird.

    He doesn''t seem to like our parents.

    He doesn''t like to sit still.

    He doesn''t act his age.

    Well, I guess he''s what they call a genius.

    But he''s much better than our parents.

    Although he''s younger, he knows how to do many things.

    I feel quite embarrassed due to how much he spoils us.

    I''m supposed to be the eldest, but I can''t do much...

    But, I really don''t get my younger brother.

    Why does he prepare for everything?

    What is he preparing for?

    How does he know everything?

    Why does he look at our youngest brother like he feels sorry for him?

    Why is he always so uncaring to our parents?

    Why does he look so mockingly at them all the time?

    Why is he so...

    There are many questions I would like to ask, but Xiao Yu says God doesn''t exist, so I can''t expect answers.

    But, as long as he doesn''t look at us with the scary eyes that he looks at our parents with, I''m fine.

 Chapter 3: First day of school

    Chapter 3: First day of school

    I''ve saved up 10,000 yuan over this year. That should be about $1,560 in U.S. dors.

    As a 6 year old, I go to kindergarten in the elementary school now. It''s the same school that my Ge goes to.

    Xiao Lai has to go to daycare alone while my little sister, Shui Bing, has to stay home with mom.

    This worries me a lot.

    But Xiao Lai is a kid with a much higher IQ than me, so he''ll be fine on his own. He''s pretty responsible.

    For Xiao Bing... mom hasn''t started being abusive yet thankfully.

    So, today''s my first day of school. I hope it goes well.

    "Hello, ss! I''ll be your teacher for the whole year! Please address me as Ms.Sun. Now, we''ll be ying a game to introduce ourselves. It''s called two truths and one lie! After saying your name, say two things that you did and one thing that you didn''t. And the other ssmates have to guess one which is a lie. Ok, let''s start with this youngdy over here!"

    Ms.Sun is still as enthusiastic as always. She was also my 5th grade teacher, so I still remember her pretty well, and she''s currently teaching children how to lie... wow...

    "Um, my name''s Li Qing, nice to meet you guys. Um, I can ice-skate, I ate a frog before, I can y the violin."

    Li Qing ate a frog before. She can y the violin. She can''t ice-skate.

    I already know the answers but I''ll let the other kids try it out.

    As soon as they figured it out, girls and boys alike swarmed around.

    "Did you really eat a frog?"

    "Wasn''t it disgusting?"

    "Ew, why would you do that?"

    Li Qing sumbed to the pressure and started crying.

    Typical first day of school...

    Everyone gradually introduced themselves and it soon became my turn.

    "I''m Shui Yu. I have 1,000 yuan. I have 4 siblings. I''m hungry."

    Everyoneughed at thest one and tried guessing.

    "You can''t have 1,000 yuan, right?"

    I faked a smile, as always, and nodded slightly. But in truth, they were all lies.

    Instead of 1,000 yuan, I have 10,000.

    Instead of 3 siblings, I have 3 and a 1/2. My half-sister should have been born by now.

    And how could I ever be hungry? To prepare for the apocalypse, I already trained my stomach. During the apocalypse, you wouldn''t be able to eat every day. Starving became a daily feature.

    Who would find out though?

    Diriring!

    The school bell rang and it was time for lunch.

    Ms. Sun led us to the cafeteria and we were given trays filled with school lunch.

    They looked as disgusting as ever...

 Chapter 4: About the Apocalypse

    Chapter 4: About the Apocalypse

    I think I figured out how I came back in time.

    I have a weird Peridot ring that my grandmother gave me when I was 100 days old. She died when I was still not one.

    I wore the ring everywhere. Keeping it on a chain when my fingers were still too small and putting it on my finger when it fit.

    Peridots are gemstones often found in meteorites.

    I had the space element, a ce to store stuff in but I never told anyone about it, not even my siblings. The space element kept things fresh. It was infinite. It had a pretty coolndscape with water, grass, trees, and clean air. I guess something to do with a spacetime continuum or something let me go back in time?

    It didn''t have that spiritual water stuff or anything, and didn''t let me teleport, but it was still very useful.

    I grew vegetables and asionally took them out secretly to eat.

    Unfortunately, this power didn''t work yet. I have to wait for the apocalypse toe...

    The red phase. It is the specific time when the sky turns red for an hour. Whatever random object from the things you''ve touched during that 60 minutes, will be your power. Only some people can gain powers though, less than 10%. Even if you try, you may not be a power user. It might be a useless ability, like being able to make cotton string or paper based on touching something random. Only less than 7% of the ability users got decent abilities. And those with powerful abilities were very blessed. People with multiple abilities were about 4%. Those with 2 abilities were 3% and those with 3 abilities were 1%. The ones who had more than that were too minuscule a number and wouldn''t dare to reveal their powers in case of trouble from jealous humans. The red phase happened a day before the apocalypse at 8 o''clock in the morning.

    My mom didn''t gain anything from the red phase and was a regr human. My dad became a ss user from touching his phone.

    I became a space and water user from washing my hands at that time.

    My big brother was ying with Pico, our white dove that we haven''t gotten yet. He gained an affinity with birds, was able to speak with birds and gained huge white wings he could fly with and tuck in whenever by making it into a tattoo. He said it was really hard to fly around but amazing at the same time.

    People used to call him the "Angel". Well, our family do look highly above average in looks. While I was more on the extremely beautiful side, my brothers were very handsome and charismatic, and my sister is a very cute girl. My mother is a beauty, I really wonder why father cheated on her. She was a faithful wife, and my step-mother looked average. Maybe the others'' personality was better?

    Anyways, the red phase happened a day before the apocalypse happened. After the red phase, many people fell sick. Those who didn''t fall sick were regr people and those who did fall sick became power users or zombies.

    Some other things that happened during the apocalypse.

    There are the nts and animals all going mutant.

    Men could get pregnant. It''s questionable if this happened to increase human poptions and keep us alive or if it''s to make more food for zombies... if there are gods, they must favor the zombies. But not all men could get pregnant, those who did had to have powers and have partners who also had powers. Actually, even women who had female partners could get pregnant as well, if they were married through exchanging blood.

    Anyways, the children born by people with abilities had higher power abilities and had abnormal powers. By abnormal powers, it meant the powers that were strange but powerful, like telekinesis and others.

    For children born from a set of parents who were half normal and half powered, they usually got none at all. It depended on chance but they rarely got powers.

    And regr children had no powers at all.

    During the apocalypse, after getting married, people could only stay with one partner for life. And because of the apocalypse, the human lifespan was increased, but nobody knew how long. It would at least extend for more than 120 years since an ability user grandpa survived that long, but since I died, I didn''t get a chance to know how long that grandpa would live on for. The lifespan of a human increasing also meant that you would have to stay with that partner for your whole long life.

    People during the apocalypse married through trading blood. This way was found out from two men bing blood brothers and ending up with each other. Then an imprint on the back of your neck would appear in red. The imprint for each couple would look simr but different, none would look the same.

    But only people with abilities could do this. And people who gained abilities through a zombie trial could only do it with people who also went through the zombie trial, and regr ability users only with ability users. Regr people couldn''t do this at all with any type of person.

    Somehow, through bing married partners, your affections would increase if you werepatible with that person and you would never be able to betray your partner. You could get pregnant by intercourse. How the bottom was chosen for women, I don''t even know. This method of marriage was very strange but romantic in a way. But, if you weren''tpatible enough, both partners would cough up the blood and began to hate each other.

    I don''t technically know how it worked, but it was risky when two people coughed up blood. They would hate each other endlessly and try to kill the other. And unless one or both of them died, nothing would work out.

    The zombie apocalypse started when I was 17 and from the time I died, at 29, those children born from ability users were already put into groups and killing zombies.

    Anyways, being a 10 year old genius is pretty easy. University professors pay me to do some tests and it pays pretty well. And I''ve done some other random deliveries, writing novels, being interviewed by radio and tv stations asionally. So far, I''ve saved up 100,000 yuan, that''s $15,614.50 in U.S. dors. I was investing bit by bit in some businesses that would grow exponentially, and am earning money a lot these days. The 100,000 yuan was merely a part of what was in the bank.

    I''ve bought many types of seeds and grains in a warehouse I bought. I got my own bank ount by threatening dad about telling about his mistress. He doesn''t know yet that mom already has an inkling about it. She is already abusive anyways.

    Whenever she gets into the mood, Ge pulls all of us into his room and locks the door.

    Even when she screams and destroys the living room, we don''t dare go out.

    Xiao Bing already has a thin scar on her back from being hit by a flying cup.

    Xiao Lai has bruises from being hit when he came home earlier than us, not letting him be protected.

    Gees home with me, so I can block all her moves with the martial arts that I know. I''ve started training again by waking up at 5 every morning and going outside to run and practice moves. I sleep at 9, so I get 8 hours of sleep every night. Yup, it won''t stunt my growth.

    My Ge is the student council president and is very popr with many friends and supportive teachers. Xiao Lai is loved by many and has many friends too.

    I don''t get it. Why are there no friends around me? In myst life, I had some... but why not now?

    I asked Ge, but he only said this, "Xiao Yu, you''re kind of intimidating. Kids might think that you''re scary and mysterious? You''re kind of hard to approach as well."

    How am I hard to approach? Am I scary?

    Well, right now, I''m debating on whether to start training my siblings so they can run away or fight when the apocalypse starts in 7 years. I''ve taught Ge how to block with basic moves so he can protect himself from mom, but I haven''t taught Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing yet.

    Perhaps I''ll start teaching them during the weekends.

 Chapter 5: Alien Brother

    Chapter 5: Alien Brother

    I''m 10 years old right now.

    It''s the weekend and I''m taking all my siblings with me to the warehouse where all my seeds and grains are stored.

    I decided to start teaching them martial arts properly starting today.

    Ge is already fine and knows a little of the basics but my other siblings are helpless.

    I''ll also have to teach them how to use guns and other weapons too...

    What a lot of stuff to be done...

    But, first, I''ll see whether they have a certain route they''d like to go through and test out their potential for weapons and martial arts.

    Ge seems pretty talented in martial arts but if he has a weapon to go with it, such as a staff, spear, or swords, it would be easier for him to fight zombies. He can try out guns and other weapons too, so I''m going to test him out.

    Xiao Lai wants to try out guns and swords like every other boy... Well, I''ll give him a shot, no pun intended, and test him out with other weapons too. They''ll all have to learn martial arts to properly protect themselves though.

    Xiao Bing wants to fight but doesn''t know what to choose. She says she wants to look pretty and not let blood get on her. I might give her a whip to try but she can be a sniper too.

    In the apocalypse, there are some power users who can make the strongest weapons, so I''ll have to try to find one of them soon. If the weapons don''t really work for them, I''ll make them myself. I used to know some weapon creators after all. Making liquid obsidian strings that can cut through anything is an easy feat for me at least. Maybe I''ll give that to Xiao Bing instead...

    Anyways, that can only happen during the apocalypse. For now, I''ll store the supplies I need for the event and wait patiently. I''ll also have to learn how to cook since having gruel to eat every day isn''t great.

    I guess I''ll also need to learn how to make tofu from soybeans and meat patties from vegetables to substitute for the meat if it ever runs out. I can raise plenty of animals in my space, but they won''t reproduce quickly so knowing how to make substitute protein is a must.

    Yup, well, I''ll start testing them now.

    Today, Yu Ge brought us out of our home at 4 AM. I was still tired but didn''t say anything since he looked especially serious today. Well, he''s serious all the time but he looked extra serious today.

    He brought us to a huge warehouse that he said was his. I wasn''t sure if he was telling the truth but then he showed us his bank ount... It was a lot of money for a kid...

    Yu Ge told us that he was going to teach us martial arts and how to handle weapons. Xiao Bing and I thought he was joking but Jing Ge told us that the method of blocking mom''s hits was taught by Yu Ge.

    How does he know such things and why does he even try it?

    Well, anyhow, Yu Ge told us that something terrible was going to happen 7 yearster and that we should all start preparing for it.

    I really wonder if he is an alien...

    Jing Ge was tested to have a good aptitude for wielding spears and staffs. Yu Ge seemed satisfied with that and wrote down some stuff on his notepad.

    I wanted to try out swords so I was tested for it first. Yu Ge said the double sword style suited me fine. I can''t wait to try it out!

    Xiao Bing wanted to look graceful when she was fighting and not get dirty. Yu Ge assigned her long ranged weapons like the whip and also decided to teach her archery. He said something about obsidian string but does that even exist?

    He taught us the very basics of martial arts, strong stances. It was boring but looking at Jing Ge and Xiao Bing who were learning earnestly, I had to suck it up...

    When training was over at 11 AM, Jing Ge asked what we would not be able to live without.

    Xiao Bing said that she wouldn'' be able to live without sweets and chocte. Typical behavior for a kid.

    Jing Ge said that we would need daily supplies like toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, clothes, and a lot of other stuff.

    I said that it would be possible to live but boring without electronics. Besides paper maps aren''t as urate as mobile maps these days.

    Yu Ge merely nodded seriously as he listened and wrote on his notepad again.

    Before we went out of the warehouse, we were reminded to not eat breakfast and lunch from now on. We could eat lunch but only up to the regr amount. He said this was so we could get used to it before the incident 7 yearster would ur but is it so serious that we''ll have to starve meals? Xiao Bing was worried that she''ll grow up to be a little person if she ate so little, but Yu Ge just said that exercise and milk would let us grow tall.

    After the reminder, Yu Ge also told me to try learning how to code and hack. When I hesitated and then finally told him that I already knew how to, he didn''t look surprised and nodded as if it was expected. What the heck?!

    Yu Ge seems to be training us to be spies...

    With my high IQ, I''ll be the informant and hacker.

    Jing Ge would be the fighter who beats up our enemies.

    Xiao Bing would be the main spy since she can catch people unguarded with her small age.

    And Yu Ge would be our boss?

    It''s all too weird to imagine. Now, I really want to know what''s going to happen 7 years from now on.

 Chapter 6: Wanted: Zombie

    Chapter 6: Wanted: Zombie

    It''s been about 5 months from when I started training my siblings. We wake up at 5 every day and work out until it''s time for school. As I''ve told them to, they don''t eat breakfast or dinner. Not eating breakfast and dinner made them feel weird at first. They were very grumpy and woozy. They''re fine now, but it was a very frightening sight to see the ever so kind Ge getting grouchy and my sweet little sister be so violently protective of her sweets. Xiao Lai was still the same since he''s always grumpy.

    Ge is good at martial arts. Well, it was to be expected. His staff form is getting closer to perfection every passing day. It''s kind of scary how he progresses so quickly.

    Xiao Lai is still learning how to hack, so good luck to him with that since I don''t have any knowledge on that stuff. He''s doing ok with the practice swords that I''ve given him and I''ll probably order some real ones sometime next month. He''s pretty good at guns too, but the closer ranged kind, not the sniper kind.

    Xiao Bing is getting the basics of wielding the whip and her uracy for guns and arrows are quite shocking. She shot a bulls-eye on her first shot with a gun! And that''s talking about calcting the recoil as well! Maybe it''s from all the shooting games at the arcade that she ys with me during the weekends... She''s awfully gung-ho about winning the smallpetitions between us after all. I''ll still teach her how to use closebat weapons like knives just in case she gets in a situation that calls for it.

    Anyways, they''re all getting the hang of it. It''s nice to know that they''ll be able to survive easily when the apocalypse starts.

    Now, I just have to prepare the things that aren''t food. Ge mentioned before that we needed proper supplies. I hadn''t thought about it, but things like toilet paper are really important. Having gone through the apocalypse, toilet paper was like luxury...

    For chocte, sweets, and animals that''ll be used for meat, I''ll buy them during the month the apocalypse will ur.

    I''ll also have to prepare a vehicle that we can safely ride on. They can all live in my space when night timees while I guard.

    I also have to somehow get information about electronics that are pretty durable too. There are no worries about the batteries since I''ll have a sma globe ready to smash open during the red phase. It''ll give us lightning powers so if we concentrate a bit, the electronics can be charged easily.

    There are lots of things to prepare and I''m not even sure if 7 years can make up for it. But first things first, I have to train my siblings properly. Then, I''ll find all the animals and materials we have to touch during the red phase. I''ll aim to make each of us gain different powers that are useful to each person. There is no maximum capacity for the number of powers that a person can have, so we''ll just have to touch everything we can in 10 seconds. I guess I have to train my siblings'' hands'' dexterity and speed as well...

    I''m confident that all my siblings can get powers. Although I''m not too sure about Xiao Lai, I at least know that Ge and Xiao Bing can. Ge had his wings and Xiao Bing had an affinity with nts since she was holding a pencil, doing homework, gaining an affinity with wood. She was used as a peacemaker between humans and mutated nts. After she was sold away, our group couldn''t get the nts in control. Shows how much of an important person she was.

    As for Xiao Lai, if he really isn''t able to gain powers, I''ll do my all to help him get through a zombie trial.

    A zombie trial is when the human eats the zombie instead of being eaten. The human has to suffer through immense pain and has a high chance of bing a mutant zombie if he fails to pass through the trial. But if he does pass, he''ll have a superior body and mind. Power users can pass through it easily and have a chance to gain an extra power and the super body & mind. Regr humans have to struggle through, but their gains are more. Besides gaining the superior body & mind, they get to gain 5 powers and gain an abnormal power like the children born from ability users have as well.

    Hypnotic zombies were always a problem until humans who gained mind control abilities appeared and these were only some of the regr abnormal powers. There was teleportation, flight, not being affected by extreme heat or cold, shapeshifting, growing or shrinking in size, invisibility, copy & pasting, slowing time down, and lots of other powers. Words can''t be used to describe how powerful those people who passed the zombie trials, as well as those power user-born children were.

    Actually, zombies were spotted before the apocalypse officially urred. The zombies were made in ab in Greend. They were transported all over the world by an old mad scientist who wanted to see the end of the world before he died. Tragically, he died before it happened, turned into a zombie himself.

    This means, that if I get ahold of a zombie before the apocalypse starts, we''ll have extra powers, a superhuman body, and an abnormal power before the red phase! Such a great n! That''s it! I''m going to go hunting for those zombies!

    But how should I start?

    Maybe I can travel to Greend?

    Nope. I need permission or guardians. My parents are definitely going to get suspicious and not approve. I''ll do something about it when the timees I guess.

 Chapter 7: Which abilities?

    Chapter 7: Which abilities?

    How should I get some zombie meat?

    Following rumors and trying to catch them is doable but hard...

    And who would take care of my siblings when I''m gone?

    ...Fine, I am a little overprotective but I''m just worried about them.

    I''m fairly confident that Ge can protect them if they''re in danger, and they can always run into the warehouse.

    Rumors of zombies started popping up when I was 13 years old.

    Maybe, just maybe, Ge, Xiao Lai, and Xiao Bing are fairlypetent with their weapons, so I might take them with me.

    We can just run away I guess? We''ll buy a huge truck that we can store our stuff and supplies in the warehouse with. 3 years from now, Dad would already havepletely cut off his rtionship with us. Our half-sister is in Xiao Bing''s grade and even goes to the same school.

    The only thing to be said about that girl is that she''s a green tea bitch. Forcing a smile on her face whenever we pass by and sneering when we turn our back to her. She thinks we don''t know that she''s our half-sibling but I''ve already told my family! Not mom of course, but the rest already know that Dad''s not going to care for us anymore.

    When the apocalypse started, stepmom turned into a zombie. Dad and half-sister ran towards our home to take cover.

    It was that girl''s idea to push away Xiao Lai as bait. It was that girl''s idea to sell away Xiao Bing. It was mostly her fault that we had to suffer. When the timees, I''m going to push her down with my parents. Then they''ll be zombies that we can kill as targets.

    Anyways, back to the main point. I''ll somehow have to get zombie meat and make us all pass the zombie trial sessfully, by force if I have to.

    I''ve decided on the powers to get for each of us.

    Ge would still touch Pico, our white dove, but there are still other powers that would benefit his strength. Earth, Metal, and Air. They would be useful since Earth can be raised as a wall to block iing attacks; an impermeable defense. He can even disintegrate it farther and create sandstorms or block the opponent''s sight with sand. It would act as a good cover and he can provide us with salt when we need it to cook as a bonus.

    Metal can be used so that he can mold a weapon into what he needs, a staff, spear, sword, or whatever else that I''ll teach him to fight with.

    Air is so that he can move better in the air. It was pretty hard for him to fly when there was bad weather so he can clear away the area around him with the wind he can produce.

    So, for Ge, I would have to find dirt, metal, and make him blow on his hand.

    I am also thinking of getting him to touch a wolf since there were many canine groups during the apocalypse that were huge and terrifying. They were very strong, traveled in packs, and had very sharp ws and teeth. They fought very well and were quick-witted and fast. I think this would suit Ge really well.

    Xiao Lai is our thinker in the group, so he''ll have to have some pretty special powers. I''m thinking of getting him to touch a spider, mushrooms, a zombie core, high voltage electricity from a sma globe, and a kite.

    The spiders in the apocalypse are huge. They set up invisible and steel-like threads to capture their prey and drag them away. They were one of the most feared mutants until fire users properly got how to use fire and escape from them. But see, it''s escape, not kill. Spiders were still feared even after everyone got full control of their powers. He can have an affinity with spiders so they won''t attack us and he can also gain information passed by them. Besides, Xiao Lai can be like a certain spider hero, shooting webs out and using them to do acrobatic moves while fighting.

    Mushrooms are so that we can poison mutants or make it grow on mutants. Poisoning mutants are easy. Just make some mushrooms sprout on what they''re eating and BAM! They''ll die immediately. Xiao Lai can grow the mushrooms on mutants and kill them off by making the mushrooms eat off the nutrients and squeeze the life out of the poor mutant. For a bonus, we can eat them and use them as our bed when they''re grown huge and soft.

    A zombie core would be so that Xiao Lai can have control over zombies. It''s simr to mind control but it''ll only affect zombies. Controlling zombies is no easy feat. I heard tales of mind controlling humans who tried to control hypnotic zombies and failed. The ones who perfected the technique got better and better at defeating hypnotic zombies but the ones who failed immediately died.

    It''s said that a zombie''s mind is absolutely nk and hard to find a connection to control them with. Wouldn''t that mean controlling hypnotic zombies are much harder? Yup, but I''m going to train Xiao Lai into bing the most amazing mind controller there is!

    The electricity is so that he can use lightning powers. It''s very powerful and would be even more when hebines it with his double swords. Striking an enemy with it would be pretty amazing. And he can also charge his electronics this way.

    The kite, the bird not the toy, is for Xiao Lai to gain affinity with birds and gain wings to fly with. A kite is very fast and swift. Although small in size, it''s strong with its lithe body. I''m going to focus on teaching Xiao Lai acrobatics so he can use his spider powers and wings to fight elegantly and powerfully, and, like Ge, he can also gain information from birds who fly by and ask them to go and find out something for him just like he''ll be able to do with spiders.

    For Xiao Bing, she''ll keep her nt affinity and growth by touching the pencil. She''ll also have to touch an owl, cat, gecko, and fire. The owl is so that she can have an affinity with birds, exchange information, andstly, gain night vision!

    Since her main profession is going to be a sniper, she needs to have perfect eyesight. The cat is for gaining affinity with felines, being able to gain information from them, also night vision enhanced, being able to move silently, and gaining excellent acrobatic senses. Her night vision would be enhanced twice and make her uracy that''s already good, perfect. She''ll also have to perfect her methods of using knives and other weapons when she gains a silence and acrobatic sense that only cats have. Even falling, would do her no harm. She''ll be a perfect assassin! Not that I''m going to make her be one.

    The gecko is so that she can stick to any surface and have excellent recovery skills. Sticking to anywhere would make her the best sniper there is. To a sniper, having the best position for a shoot is evidently important. Recovery skills are important for Xiao Bing since she''ll be fighting along with us. She''s the youngest and a little girl, of course, I worry about her the most! If she was weak, she could have gotten kidnapped and used by horrible people. If not for her great affinity with nts, she would have been sold away much quicker. I''m not going to see that happen again.

    Anyways, about the recovery thing from the gecko. It makes it that even if you lose a limb, it''ll grow back almost instantly, just like how a lizard''s tail grows back, but much faster. So, if Xiao Bing ever gets harmed, she''ll be healed instantly! This doesn''t work with poison, but I''m going to use my water powers to fix that up if the situation calls for it.

    Fire is for extra assurance of her weapons. A whip on fire being hurled around looks and sounds cool. It''ll easily melt the zombies and she''ll have less trouble with hordes of theming at us. It can also keep us warm during cold nights and be used to cook. I''ll go through the zombie trial first so that I can regain my water powers and heal her after she touches the fire.

    Lastly, me. I still n on touching water and my peridot ring. Water for healing and attacking. Water users seem weak, but in reality, it might be the most brutal. 70% of the human body is made out of water. If water users make a person blow up, what can they do? Well, I''ll also be able to let my siblings drink clear water instead of the contaminated ones they get at the start of the apocalypse. The water was infected so some people unknowingly turned into zombies at the start.

    My peridot ring is priceless since it holds all of our future. A huge space is necessary for our travels if we want to go out and leave society behind.

    Besides that, I''m nning on touching a raven, a cheetah, and bones.

    A raven so that I can have an affinity with birds and fly like the rest of my siblings. In this case, having an affinity with ravens the most is a very good thing. Ever since the apocalypse started, ravens started appearing out of practically nowhere and ate a lot of zombies. Scavenger birds like crows, ravens, and vultures ate zombies and were very powerful. They traveled in packs and went everywhere searching for food. Therefore, they had the most experience, strength, numbers, and information out of all the birds.

    For the cheetah, I guess I''ll have to borrow it from the zoo for one day when I get ahold of a lone zombie. Its speed is definitely the best and will help with my martial arts a lot. Being silent, having an excellent acrobatic sense, and having night vision is also great additions. Also, cheetahs can look into the sun because of the ck lines that go down their noses. So if I happen to encounter an enemy or trouble while the sun''s ring, I won''t be too distracted and will still be able to fight or protect properly.(A/N: Thank you Sento for that anti-sun re fact!)

    Oh, and the reason why Xiao Bing and I can''t touch the cheetah together. You won''t gain the power if you''re the second person to touch that item or animal. It was tested and tried by power users and regr humans who went through the zombie trial.

    If Xiao Bing wants to go touch a cheetah, I''ll let her do that after she''s done training all the martial arts I can teach her and then she can touch it during the red phase.

    For bones, it''s to make our weapons stronger. If webine metal with bone powder, the weapons would be more durable and flexible. I can also use it to heal bones since my water power only heals internal and external injuries, not broken bones. Bones can also act as a recement for stic material and can coat anything to make it smooth, sturdy, and strong.

    stic is also a greatly needed material but bones are better, right? It might seem cruel and disgusting, but during the apocalypse, there even were cannibalistic people! So, I think bones are justified. Besides, I''m only going to use animal and mutant bones not human or zombie ones.

    For the things I haven''t thought of to use as powers yet, I''ll probably think of them when the red phasees. I wonder what abnormal powers we''ll get?

 Chapter 8: Shocking! A Scandal! A Secret!

    Chapter 8: Shocking! A Scandal! A Secret!

    Being 12 years old, my schedule has gotten a little busier.

    Dad has a pretty high position in thepany he''s working in. It''s due to my stepmom being the CEO''s granddaughter apparently. No wonder Dad had an affair with that woman. He always loved money after all.

    Anyways, because he gained the position with that kind of method, he started giving us more money out of guilt. Mom made us take music lessons. She did this before as well, so I was deemed as a prodigy in the piano and violin. I was also forced to take lessons for the harp since Mom wanted to waste all the money that Dad brought and the harp was one of the hardest and most expensive musical instruments to y. But, me, being a genius, astounded the harp teacher and had to learn for higher difficulty...

    Oh, and Mom found out about Dad''s mistress.

    It went like this.

    One fateful evening, when cats were meowing and dogs were barking, a drunken man was seen flirting with an equally drunkendy.

    Mom was returning home from shopping with her friends. She was humming cheerfully when she turned to a corner she spotted a tottering couple.

    Ignoring them, she walked by quickly trying to avoid the drunks. She then heard the drunk man''s singing. Turning around to see who had that oh-so-familiar voice, she was shocked to see that it was her husband hugging a woman and singing a love song to her.

    Seeing them flirt like that made her face pale and veins bulge but she dared not to do anything.

    She always had a suspicion for such a thing to happen, but she had always hoped it wasn''t true.

    If she yelled out and struck, the neighbors woulde out and notice the scene.

    This neighborhood was full of gossipy people. So far, her reputation was good and everyone mostly was friendly to her. It was better for her to keep quiet and divorce as soon as possible.

    But the chance for divorce never came since Dad never visited the house and Mom never knew where he was since he blocked off Mom''s phone number.

    And to how I knew that story? Xiao Lai has now be a pro hacker who''s pretty famous in the underworld and hacker society. He put the surveince cameras in our neighborhood under our control. Although I don''t know if Mom was thinking of divorce, it was pretty easy to figure out that she loved her reputation. Although she doesn''t abuse us anymore because we block her easily every time, she curses at us often, in whispers with a hiss. Our apartment is pretty old since it hasn''t had renovation since 2XXX. And that''s a long time ago, at least 50 years. Due to this,pared with the new buildings of today, the walls are thin and you can hear anything going on in your neighbor''s room if you concentrate hard enough. Due to this, Mom doesn''t yell. And to take extra precaution, she whispers.

    Besides, she was also looking up information about divorce. That pretty much exined everything.

    Ge, Xiao Lai, and Xiao Bing still had an attachment to our parents so when they found out that Dad was cheating on Mom and that Mom was preparing divorce papers, they freaked out. I had to reason with them for 2 hours to get them to believe that Dad and Mom did nothing but harm us. Well, they still count as children so it''s understandable for them to feel an attachment to their parents even if they''re abused. But still, if they knew what their future would be like, I wonder if they''d be able to throw away our parents so easily?

    Anyways, back to the main point.

    Dad''s giving more and more money to us. So, I''ve saved the allowance that we''re given into my bank ount. I have many times the amount I used to have, since I threatened Dad often and was interviewed/tested by researchers and such. It basically amounts to 300 billion yuan or 46.7 billion U.S. dors. It''s also because Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing pitched in that we were able to earn this much money.

    With some of the money, I bought a truck that was fairly big and hid it in the warehouse. There are a lot of supplies that will soon be used for our zombie trials that I prepared. I already bought Pico and the other animals that''ll be used for the zombie trials as well. Well, that is, besides the cheetah and wolf...

    So, where should I head next?

    Obviously, the underground ve market.

    Over the years, Xiao Lai got better at hacking and became quite a legend.

    The underground organizations offered invitations toe and join them for events. We never went tillst year for a banquet for a new head of one of the big mafia groups.

    They were quite surprised when 4 kids showed up.

    It wasn''t until we kicked the guards'' butts that they finally checked our invitations.

    Xiao Lai was invited as the hacker, and the rest of us were his guests.

    Since Xiao Lai wasn''t fighting while the rest of us fought, we were thought to be his bodyguards. Well, for now, hiding our identities seem best.

    The ve market is always big in the underworld. I don''t like it, but it''s not like I can do anything about it.

    These days, Xiao Bing is a pretty big-time thief. The once innocent girl is very mischevious nowadays. She wants to try being a sniper and assassin, but she''s still too young to kill. I want to let my siblings stay out of that business as much as possible before they go into the apocalypse.

    Ge is now in high school and joined a martial arts club. He wins in everypetition he joins. If he didn''t, I''d wonder who the monster who beat him was when he goes to dojos and training gyms all day long. His memberships and fees are given by that threatened dad of ours.

    We all y musical instruments as said before. I y the piano, violin, and harp. Ge ys the piano and learns the harp from me. Xiao Lai ys the violin and only the violin. Xiao Bing ys the flute and r. They''ve yed for over 2 years now and are pretty good. Xiao Bing doesn''t like ying musical instruments though. She would quit if she ever gets the chance to. Xiao Lai thinks it''s a waste of time so he also wants to quit. Only Ge and I enjoy ying music. That''s kind of sad in a way.

    Ok, back to talking about the ve market.

    We were invited to a ve auction. It said in the invitation that this time, there were ves from all over the world and there were a 100 of them. I need to look for a fake guardian so that we can run away without anyone being suspicious. So I''m nning to head over there on my own to find a suitable person for us.

    "Yu Ge~ Where are you going? Oh, what''s that?"

    ...Xiao Bing stole the invitation out of my hands... She''s been getting better at concealing her presence, but her speed is still slower than mine. I guess I was dozing off by thinking to myself again.

    "Jing Ge, Lai Ge, look! Yu Ge was trying to go to the ve market without us!" Xiao Bing whined to the other two in the warehouse.

    Damn. I guess I''ll have to let theme with me.

    "Yu Ge, were you going off to buy a prettydy?" Xiao Bing''s looking at me like she caught me in a terrible act.

    "No, I was nning to buy a fake guardian for us." I decided to tell the truth.

    "That''s a boring reason. Anyways, I''lle with you so we can get a handsome guardian! Jing Ge, Lai Ge, let''s go!"

    Ge was still ufortable with the idea of ve auctions, but being worried about our safety, he decided toe.

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing were involved too deeply within the underworld, so they were already too used to this stuff. Xiao Bing had already seen people being killed multiple times during her thefts and Xiao Lai ruined severalpanies that he was given tasks to bring down. Lots of lives were already affected by them. They felt horrible, guilty, and terrified at first, but they dealt with their feelings on their own. Help didn''t seem to matter to them. Jing Ge wanted them to stop but they were already too immersed in it. I didn''t know if this was good for them or not. Xiao Bing was only 8 and Xiao Lai, only 10. I was in a period of guilt and depression for several weeks at that time. Only when the two told me it wasn''t my fault did I feel better. I still believe that if I hadn''t dragged them into this mess, they could have been kept innocent. They could have been living like any normal kid at their ages. It would definitely help them during the apocalypse, but I wonder... is it good for them? Psychologically? Unless they tell me, I won''t truly know...

 Chapter 9: How good my brother is!

    Chapter 9: How good my brother is!

    My 2nd brother is very wise.

    He was said to have an aura from the moment he was born.

    Jing Ge said that Yu Ge never crawled. He just sat, sat, and sat, as if waiting for something.

    He stood up and walked exactly when a year passed.

    Jing Ge said that Yu Ge was special and very talented.

    I always believed in it and realized it was much more than thatter on.

    When Yu Ge started going to school, he was found out to be a genius. But it was also found out that he had an IQ that was above average but not close to a genius''s IQ. Yu Ge said that the true genius in our family is Lai Ge.

    And it turned out to be true.

    Lai Ge is now one of the most infamous hackers in China and in the International world as well. Yu Ge said that Lai Ge being famous meant that he wasn''t as good as the hidden hackers, but I still don''t know how Yu Ge knew... He must be some sort of alien, is what I thought at that time.

    Yu Ge is very good at ying the piano, violin, and harp.

    The first time he yed, it sounded like he had yed for many years already. Even the teachers said that this was their first time seeing such a prodigy.

    I y instruments too, but I think it''s a waste of time. I could use this time to go steal some diamonds and jewelry. Why should I waste time doing such stuff? Lai Ge agrees with me too, but Jing Ge says that music is a way to calm your heart and will help you sort out your mind. Suchplicated stuff, why should I care? Yu Ge just sighed and told us to enjoy life. Yu Ge''s so wise and nice, I''ll always listen to him!

    When I was much younger than I am today (I''m a big girl now!), Yu Ge brought me and my other brothers to a warehouse.

    In the huge warehouse, there was a lot of grain and seeds.

    Yu Ge said the warehouse and everything inside it were his.

    At first, Jing Ge and Lai Ge didn''t believe in it. I believed in it though. Yu Ge never lied. He''s always so serious and quiet, but he cares for us very much and is very shy too! My Yu Ge, he could never bear to lie to us! Besides, it''s very obvious when he''s trying to hide something or lie.

    Jing Ge, Lai Ge, and I always know when Yu Ge is trying to hide something or lie.

    Yu Ge lies to Mom all the time. Mom always hit us when we were younger and it was very scary when Jing Ge or Yu Ge wasn''t there.

    I even got a scar from a ss cup or te- I can''t remember which, was thrown at me.

    But it was always better when Yu Ge blocked Mom''s hits for me. I felt special. I felt protected. I felt loved.

    My parents aren''t nice people. Dad has another woman now and Mom always spends her time outside of the house.

    When Yu Ge told us that, we were surprised and instantly cried. We believed in it but really didn''t want to. Yu Ge had to spend several hours persuading us that staying with our parents was no longer a possibility. I guess he had already made ns to run away at that time.

    Now, I work as a thief and part-time assassin. Yu Ge doesn''t know about it, and I don''t n to tell him until he finds out. Lai Ge already knows but he won''t tell. He doesn''t want Yu Ge to get worried.

    When I first killed somebody, I felt awful, cried, and threw up. I lied that I saw somebody dying because I didn''t want my brothers to know that I killed someone. Lai Ge ruinedpanies for the first time in his life during that period of time, so he felt guilty that time too.

    Jing Ge was worried for us and consoled us, but Yu Ge shut himself away in his room and avoided us for many weeks.

    We heard him crying softly every time we passed his room for a whole day once.

    He really must''ve felt bad that he was the one who brought us into this kind of business.

    But you know what? Life happens. That''s what one of my thief friends told me. She said I''d get used to it.

    Lai Ge and I felt worse than what happened with our upations because we made Yu Ge this sad. If us being so guilty and disturbed made him this sad, we''d rather put up a front and get used to our jobs.

    Yu Ge is our protector and caretaker.

    Jing Ge, Lai Ge, and I love him very much.

    We love our wise, kind, and serious Yu Ge, very, very much.

    He always seems so distant, and we always try to catch up to him, but when we falter for even a little bit, he''lle running right over, help us up, and care for us inexplicably.

    This kind of adorable person, who can''t help but love him?

    Our lovely Yu Ge, next time, we''ll protect him.

 Chapter 10: Slave Auction

    Chapter 10: ve Auction

    Today, I was practicing my martial arts when Xiao Bing, my little sister yelled out something.

    Xiao Yu had been nning to go to a ve auction, alone.

    I know that he wanted to not show us horrible sights but he''s still a kid himself. Even if he''s the most mature out of all of us, he''s also the most sensitive and caring. I believe that even if he does horrible deeds, he would never get used to them.

    There''s proof for this belief. When Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing were feeling guilty about the stuff they''ve done for underworld organizations, I could only console them because I didn''t know what else to do. But Xiao Yu... he ignored them and cried for several weeks because he felt guilty. In this way, he cares for us immensely and his heart''s very sensitive.

    When Xiao Bing asked what he was going to do, Xiao Yu gave in and told the truth. He always gives in to us. It''s kind of funny to see him so exasperated with some of our near impossible requests!

    But in stark contrast, he also seems to be strict on us, extremely strict.

    The reason why I strive to be better and better in martial arts is to protect all of us from whatever disaster that''s going toe soon. Xiao Yu, when teaching us martial arts and other techniques, is very, very, and another very, scary...

    When he first taught us, he was fine with our training level and kept it that way. But as we got older and got better at fighting, he got more strict and strict as if something terrible was going to eat us up if we didn''t train as hard as we did.

    He''s harsh when training us, but harsher to himself.

    After training, he tends to our wounds and gives us food cooked by himself. He gets cooking lessons from famous chefs with those fancy Michelin restaurants. His cooking always gives us a piece of heaven and reminds us how caring he is. And in stark contrast, Xiao Bing''s cooking is straight from hell...

    Ah, what I meant by being harsher to himself is that when we are being trained, Xiao Yu trains with us. Whenever we felt likeining, we just looked towards where Xiao Yu was and were determined to catch up to that sweating, hard-working, and otherworldly beautiful person.

    Xiao Yu has plenty of scars from practice. He goes off somewhere to the mountains sometimes and sometimes to a faraway city. Since Mom never pays any attention to us, he can get away easily. But when he leaves, he always leaves a note where he''s going to, and how to contact him if something ever happens. When hees back, he''s full of wounds and wounds and some presents. We were always curious about where he went, so we all followed him one day.

    He went to an amusement park and rode plenty of rides. We rode the rides to follow him but then ended up having fun and ying around. At the end of the day, we were lost and didn''t know how to get back home...

    Xiao Yu, seemingly out of nowhere, popped out and asked us if we had fun.

    We could only chuckle embarrassedly and follow him back home.

    I guess he already knew that he was being trailed and didn''t want us to find out where he was going. He really doesn''t want us to worry about him but we can''t help it...

    Anyways, after that incident, we never followed him again.

    Well, about the ve auction.

    There''s apparently going to be a 100 ves from all over the world.

    Xiao Yu said he wanted to buy us a fake guardian for when we run away. He nned for all this probably...

    Our parents used to be fine people. Now, they don''t care about us at all. Being the childish people we were, Xiao Yu could only try to calm us down and persuade that our parents would bring our downfall or something. He looked totally helpless trying to calm us down. In the end, we decided to only trust ourselves and watch out for our parents. After all, Mom abuses us, well tries to, she''s helpless against our blocks and can only curse at us. And Dad... he might be worse since he doesn''t even visit us at all. I even heard that he has another daughter from his mistress who''s the same age as Xiao Bing. I really don''t know why we even cared for them when all that happened to us...

    Anyways, since I was worried about Xiao Yu going alone, I decided toe along. Of course, Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai wereing along too. They said they had some reports to turn in so they''d go along with us to the auction while they''re there.

    Xiao Lai wants to get a smart guardian. Xiao Bing wants a handsome guardian. I just want someone who can be responsible and loyal. Xiao Yu doesn''t mind whoever as long as he can act his role as our guardian properly.

    So, we''vee to a hugepany. Last time we came, we were all speechless that the underworld would be hiding under one of the most powerfulpanies in China. Stardome, an entertainment and showbizpany.

    Xiao Yu said that the more powerful they are, the easier it is to hide.

    We didn''t understand what he meant until we actually participated in our first meeting.

    It was full of the rich, powerful, and famous.

    It''ll be the same today I guess.

    We prepared masks and wore new suits. Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai have badges as people of the underworld, so they''re identities are fine if known, but since Xiao Yu and I aren''t affiliated with them, we have to hide our identities.

    "Wow, Jing Ge! You''re so handsome! I bet all thedies would want to hook up with you!"

    Xiao Yu frowned.

    "Who taught you to speak like that?" he scolded.

    Xiao Bing giggled and said, "Yu Ge, you aren''t scary at all~"

    I really don''t know how my innocent and shy sister turned out like this...

    Xiao Yu gave up trying to scold Xiao Bing and called a limousine rental shop.

    It was because Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai wanted to seem like rich people. Aren''t we rich already?

    Anyways, being in suits and a simple mask made us look like adults. I''m fairly tall for a 9th grader, 178 cm. Xiao Yu is a bit shorter, 175 cm. Xiao Lai is shorter than us, 162 cm, but he''s still very tall for a 5th grader. Xiao Bing is only a 3rd grader, but much taller than the rest of her ss by being a 140 cm girl.

    Apparently, for Xiao Bing, the organization thinks of her as a legal loli. Whatever that is.

    I''m wondering why we rented a limousine if we can''t even drive...

    We rode a bus to the rental shop and Xiao Yu paid the rental fee.

    After people were out of sight and mind, Xiao Yu told us to get in the limousine. So we did.

    At first, we thought he was going to go get a driver for us.

    Who would have thought he went in the driver''s seat instead?

    Xiao Yu drove very fast. Too fast that we all felt sick... His driving skills were enough to rival a race-car champion. Dodging cars in front, left, and right of us, the long limousine sped away without crashing into anything. In fact, if it weren''t for the sickening feeling that we had, all of us would have been whooping and feeling the rush of air.

    The first thing we did when we got out of the limo was to search for a bathroom. Xiao Yu merely frowned as if he asked why we were about to throw up if he went this slow. Xiao Bingined and asked him why he drove so fast. Xiao Yu''s reply was... phenomenal.

    "Because I can. I''ll pay finester."

    This kid...

    Because of his reply, all our bile was swallowed back in and we no longer needed to search for a bathroom.

    Getting out of the parking lot, we made our way to the elevators and asked the guard in there to take us down after we showed the invitation.

    The guard pressed several buttons and the elevator flew down.

    When the doors opened, a spectacr hallway filled with valuable vases, marble floors, priceless paintings, and gold ted pirs was shown.

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing strolled around leisurely since they''ve already been to the ce hundreds of times, but Xiao Yu and I had been here only once, so we were still quite amazed at all the wealth.

    Xiao Yu and I followed our younger siblings around as they turned in their reports to ady at the front desk.

    After that, Xiao Yu handed the invitation to thedy and a guard was called to escort us.

    There were already many people in therge theatre-like stadium and we were thest ones toe in.

    Hearing the "Bang" of the door behind us, everyone turned to look.

    They were probably confused why 4 kids showed up.

    Some people came up to us and I put everyone behind me.

    It was only when Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai assured us that they were their friends that I let them go off on their own.

    Xiao Yu found us some seats while I was trying to put my siblings behind me. He''s something alright...

    An auctioneer came up and everyone got back to their seats.

    "Hellodies and gentlemen, today, as the invitation said, is our auction for a 100 ves from around the world! The ves already have a Chinese learner chip in their brains, so they''ll be able to know every word in about 5 hours! Please ready your money and bid as high as you can!"

    Most peopleughed at the end but I just couldn''t since selling humans were wrong in the first ce. Xiao Lai was joking around with Xiao Bing and Xiao Yu was staring at the stage.

    From the 1st to the 50th ve, Xiao Yu didn''t bat an eye. They were all girls and beautiful. They all looked terrified and were crying silently. Dressed in chains and rags, they looked very pitiful.

    Xiao Bing asked Xiao Yu why he didn''t pick a girl as our guardian.

    "Girls are scary."

    Well, I guess it''s true. Even Xiao Bing is scary by having her current job at this young age. Or is Xiao Yu traumatized from all the horrible women around us? Mom, stepmom, our half-sister?

    He then said, "Besides, didn''t you see their movements? They were trying to seduce the younger men and looked disgusted with the older men that were trying to buy them. And Xiao Bing wants a handsome guardian."

    I really hadn''t noticed... Well, Xiao Yu should know what''s best for us, so I''ll leave it up to him.

    Starting from the 51st to the 87th ve, Xiao Yu dozed off and napped.

    There were men who were introduced with high IQs and sold themselves to pull their families out of debt. They fit my category as a responsible person and Xiao Lai''s wishes as a smart person, but it didn''t fit in with Xiao Bing''s.

    "Those men were too old and fugly! I want a handsome guardian! Yu Ge said we could get one!"

    They weren''t that bad, were they? They looked above average and were only in theirte 20s and early 30s.

    Xiao Lai thought for a moment and replied, "Yeah, we probably need to get a handsome person. Or else, how would we exin our astonishingly good looks?"

    I only said one thing. "Narcissist."

    Soon enough, on the 88th ve, the announcer announced that it was going to be full of handsome young youths.

    By this time, because of the auctioneer''s loud voice, Xiao Yu woke up from his nap and frowned.

    "Young youths? We missed our chances of getting a guardian. Let''s go home."

    Hearing Xiao Yu''sment, Xiao Bing grabbed ahold of his arm.

    "Brother, let''s at least see the handsome boys ok? Since we came all the way here, let''s also buy one of them! Please, please, please?"

    Xiao Yu, as always, gave in.

    Some men began leading in the remaining ves.

    The ones who came in looked very handsome.

    "We still look better," Xiao Laiined.

    But even Xiao Lai was a little ck-jawed at the 100th ve.

    It was a tinum blonde haired boy with piercing yellow eyes that glowed in a silver shade in the lighting. His skin was in a very lightly tanned condition and looked as smooth as jade, while his lips were in a lovely pale pink shade and looked even softer than his skin. The young boy seemed to be around Xiao Lai''s age, very young. Just like an angel, he practically glowed.

    The announcer informed every one of the boy''s facts.

    "Everyone, this boy is from Greece. He was sold away by his father who was in prison for selling drugs and his mother who was a prostitute. His price will directly go to his parents who have debts upon debts. Isn''t he just pitiful and lovely? If you want him, bid as high as you can!"

    Everyone hurriedly bid for the 11 ves to get to thest bidding.

    Xiao Bing and Xiao Yu''s eyes were sparkling for the golden boy.

    I could get Xiao Bing but why Xiao Yu?

    "Xiao Yu, why do you want to get that boy?" I asked to satisfy my curiosity.

    His answer was as expected.

    "Not only does he fit your descriptions: handsome, smart, responsible. He''ll be very useful for the uing disaster."

    It was too bad that we couldn''t get a guardian like Xiao Yu wanted but I guess a person that would help us with the disaster would be useful. And we''d at least be able to free one of those pitiful ves... Since Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing are used to these kinds of evil deeds, I get them, but I don''t get why Xiao Yu also seemed to be fine with this kind of stuff.

    I asked and he only told me that he''d tell me about itter. My brother has a lot of secrets... He always sayster to things he doesn''t want to mention. But when is that ter''?

    At least he doesn''t lie to us. When he lies, it''s very obvious, but since Mom doesn''t even pay attention, she doesn''t know when he lies or not.

    You see, when Xiao Yu lies, he stands up impably straight, puts his hands behind his back, and res at the person in front of him before he lies. And when he does lie, the back of his neck is flushed. It''s quite cute in reality and we always get augh out of how Xiao Yu doesn''t realize he''s doing that.

    While I was thinking about this kind of stuff, a loud voice surprised me.

    Well, several voices actually.

    "3 thousand!"

    "40 thousand!"

    "80 thousand!"

    "100 thousand!"

    "110 thousand!"

    "120 thousand!"

    "150 thousand!"

    "200 thousand!"

    "400 thousand!"

    "700 thousand!"

    "900 thousand!"

    "1 million!"

    Lots of people wanted to buy the boy. Xiao Yu hadn''t started to bid, so Xiao Bing was starting to get anxious.

    "Brother~ You said we could buy one ve at least. Can we get him?"

    "We''ll get him but let''s wait until the prices die out."

    Relieved, Xiao Bing sighed and sat down.

    Xiao Lai wasn''t very interested in the boy, but he was taking down the names of the people that had their masks off and were shouting high prices. No doubt that he was nning to get money off of them somehow...

    The bids started to die off after it reached 8 million. It was about time to bid but Xiao Yu still waited.

    Suddenly, a "20 million!" was shouted. People whispered. Of course, it was a very high price, why wouldn''t people talk about it? The woman who had shouted 8 million earlier had a regretful look on her face. These people spent too much money to buy a person... I honestly didn''t know if this was right. I mean, it''s bad, but I don''t get why. They all either willingly sold themselves or was sold, so what made it so bad? That they had to be servants that did anything? Why didn''t they try harder so that they wouldn''t have gotten into this in the first ce? Xiao Yu said that I had no recognition of right or wrong. He said that to us, there would only be likes and dislikes. Xiao Yu had said that it was a good thing for the future event that he keeps on saying is very disastrous, but he also told me that I should keep my emotions in check from now on, just in case.

    The person who had shouted 20 million was an overweight old man. Xiao Bing wrinkled her nose at him since the man was looking at the 100th ve lustfully. He was even drooling and had a suspicious tent rising out of his pants! Xiao Lai also noticed and looked scornfully at the old man.

    Xiao Lai and I looked towards Xiao Yu. He looked to be contemting something. We figured that Xiao Yu was still innocent and didn''t learn about this stuff. Yup, our all-knowing, kind, smart, adorable, and amazing brother was to be kept safe and away from all these disgusting matters.

    Xiao Lai spoke up.

    "Yu Ge, actually I still have about 37 million that I''ve been keeping away..."

    I choked as soon as I heard that.

    Xiao Bing also spoke up.

    "Yu Ge, I have 58 million. Can we use it to get the boy away from that disgusting pervert?"

    I choked once again. Even Xiao Bing knew about this kind of stuff? And why were they keeping the money away?

    Xiao Yu looked at them and cooly said, "We''ll talkter." and then said something.

    "21 million."

    This was right as the auctioneer was saying, "Going once! Going twice! So-"

    The boy looked surprised and stared at us. Let alone the whole room.

    The old, disgusting, fat, perverted man looked outraged.

    "23 million!" He shouted.

    "24 million." Xiao Yu countered.

    "25 million!"

    "26 million."

    "27 million!"

    "95 million."

    "..."

    Xiao Yu... You really didn''t give that man any face... Good job!

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing froze.

    37 million plus 58 million... Exactly 95 million...

    Xiao Yu''s not-so-small revenge I suppose. But they deserved it. Well, I was a tad bit jealous that they could earn that much money themselves while I hadn''t even started working...

    The auctioneer pped and announced, "Thank you, customer, for such a high bid! This boy is officially SOLD!"

    We went into a room that was prepared. The boy was directly led to us with a chain attached around his neck and handed off to Xiao Yu.

    He only said one thing to the boy and then the boy was handed to me.

    I didn''t understand until Xiao Lai used a tranting device and repeated the sentence.

    "You are now Shui Fa, but you can keep your old name, Calix Nikos Cora."

    Fa, as a first name, meant "New Beginning". It really did fit the asion. But really, how did Xiao Yu know the boy''s previous name? The auctioneer didn''t mention it before!

    I looked towards the beautiful boy. Because of his stare, I blushed and looked away to Xiao Lai.

    "Xiao Lai, how do you say, ''Nice to meet you, I''m Shui Jing. We aren''t bad people, so don''t worry.''?"

    Xiao Lai bluntly stated, "That makes you sound like a bad guy in the first ce. And the auctioneer said that the kid thenguage chip in his brain."

    I felt a warm heat rising to my face again.

    "Still. Tell me. Please?"

    Xiao Lai searched it up on his phone and whispered it to me.

    I repeated the words to the boy and heughed.

    What did I do wrong?

    The boy spoke in perfect Chinese with a loud foreign ent.

    "You said that you were aplete idiot and chicken! And I could perfectly understand your Chinese. 5 hours passed from the beginning of the auction so thenguage transmitter that they installed into my brain willpletely have fused with my brain now. Well, nice to meet you, Shui Jing, I''m Calix Nikos Cora."

    I gave a faint smile to Calix and then turned around and blushed. How stupid was I to ask that mischevious prankster brother of mine!

    "Shui Lai, we''ll see if you''ve improved on your martial arts in the warehouse!"

    Xiao Bing giggled. We all knew that I was better at martial arts than Xiao Yu, and therefore Xiao Lai, making it obvious that I was going to beat him up thoroughly.

    "...Ah, big brother, martial god, great emperor, I already lost all the money I had, can''t we talk about this? My heart already broke. I want to at least keep my body intact!"

    In a timely manner, my phone rang.

    "Ge, I have the car ready. Lead everyone up. We''ll go shopping for clothes after this."

    Xiao Bing freaked out.

    "Jing Ge! Don''t let him drive!" she whispered frantically.

    Xiao Lai nodded along rapidly.

    I understood... but we didn''t have any other drivers!

    "Um, Xiao Yu, can you drive slowly? A lot slower than before?"

    There was no answer from the other side for a long time.

    "Fine. Hurry up."

    As if we were granted amnesty, Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing cheered.

    "I can still hear you guys..."

    The two shut up immediately and ran towards the elevator.

    I hung up and looked towards Calix.

    "Um, let''s go now. We''ll go shopping."

    He nodded and walked behind me.

    "I don''t know much, but Xiao Yu says that you''ll definitely be useful during the uing disaster. But don''t worry, we won''t use you like that!"

    Hearing this, as I wanted him to, Calix walked next to me.

    He asked, "Who is Xiao Yu? Is he the guy who bought me? How does he know my name?"

    I thought for a while before replying.

    "Xiao Yu''s name is Shui Yu. He''s my little brother and an older brother to Shui Lai and Shui Bing, the pair of boy and girl I call Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing. Yes, he''s the one who bid for you. But the money that was used is Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing''s. You know how Xiao Lai mentioned losing all his money? The two lost their money after wanting to buy you away from the other bidder. They revealed that they had money that was kept away from Xiao Yu and Xiao Yu used their money since he got mad. As for how he knows your name... I don''t know. He has some secrets that he''s not willing to reveal. Ah, but he always has our best interests at hand. Don''t worry about him, he''ll soon tell us everything."

    Calix frowned.

    "Why are you telling me all this?"

    I answered while smiling, "Although you''re still Calix Nikos Cora, you''re also Shui Fa. Besides, originally, we wanted a fake guardian. But Xiao Yu fell asleep when the adult men were being auctioned. Well, we''re your family now, whether you like it or not."

    Calix didn''t say anything for a while and then spoke something in Greek.

    "What?" I probably made a confused face.

    Calixughed and said, "Nothing you need to worry about!"

    He began asking me questions after that.

    "Do you have any pets?"

    "We have a cat, a crow, a gecko, a dove, an owl, a tarant, a kite, and a raven. Xiao Yu keeps on mentioning something about a cheetah and wolf though."

    "That''s a lot of pets! Do you guys go to a private academy like they tell in stories?"

    "We don''t. We go to public schools. Besides, I forgot to tell you before, but our parents... our rtionship isn''t good with them. We earned all the money by ourselves and don''t n on sharing them with our parents."

    "Ah, I got it. Oh, how old are you guys?"

    "Xiao Bing is 7. Xiao Lai is 10. Xiao Yu is 12, and I''m 14."

    "You guys are so much younger than I expected! Heck, I''m 14 but you''re so much taller than me!"

    "You''re 14 too? I thought you were about Xiao Lai''s age!"

    "You guys are just too abnormally tall. I''m pretty average, 165 cm. Oh, I know that Xiao Lai''s a handsome kid and that Xiao Bing''s a cute little girl, but what do you and Xiao Yu look like?"

    I hadpletely forgotten that I still had my mask on. I took it off since it was getting itchy anyways.

    "Wow! You''re so pretty!"

    I frowned.

    "Pretty? Not handsome?"

    "Yeah, you can beat any girl with your looks. Damn, you look almost as good as me!"

    "Pft. And you''re almost as narcissistic as Xiao Lai. And also, if you call me pretty, what would Xiao Yu be?"

    We reached the limousine and saw Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing looking aggrieved.

    I was about to ask what happened when I noticed Xiao Yu handing over two golden cards to a man. It must''ve been their bank cards.

    I led Calix into the ride and waited for Xiao Yu toe back.

    After talking with the man for a little while, Xiao Yu walked towards us.

    He got into the front seat and told Xiao Lai, "You can go steal all the money back. But, you have to hand it over, and both of your future profits? Make it go directly into our main bank ount. There will be no second time, alright? If you really want to keep some of your money, then just tell me. I''ll give you some allowance. But what do you guys need to buy at all?"

    Xiao Lai answered in a serious tone, "Yu Ge, I want new devices, a headquarters, a summerhouse, and a pool."

    Xiao Bing also chimed in. "Yu Ge, I want a teacher for poison arts, a chocte fountain, a new whip, and a boy friend."

    Xiao Yu listened to their requests and told me to take them down on my phone.

    He then said, "I''m looking for a headquarters. It can be used as our summerhouse with a pool. I''ll get you new devices so Xiao Yu, find the best poison master and get me her information. Xiao Bing, I''ll get you a new whip and a chocte fountain, but I won''t get you a boyfriend. But if you ever get one, tell me who it is and where he lives, got it?"

    I think Xiao Bing won''t ever get a boyfriend... If she does, I''m not sure if he''llst even a day.

    Xiao Bing chortled, "Yu Ge, it''s not like that. I want a friend who''s a boy. All the girls in my ss don''t y with me. The boys are easier to y with. But they only let me join in when we''re in the physical education ss. I heard that Jing Ge is popr and girls like him a lot. Lai Ge hangs out with awesome people in his grade. And I heard that you''re really cool and everyone likes you!"

    Xiao Yu voiced back, "If I''m really cool as they say, why wouldn''t I have any friends? Friendship is a lie, it''s better to have no friends than bastards who''ll betray you when even a little problem rises up."

    Xiao Bing angrily stated, "Yu Ge! I heard that all you do in your sses is sleep, sleep, and sleep! And I heard that girls put letters in your desk but you don''t even look at them! Some girls even cried! And all the boys think you don''t like them since you never join in when they y sports! You''re known as the ''Cool Beauty''! I''m sure they''d all be friends with you if you tried!"

    The only reply to Xiao Bing''s speech was an "Oh".

    That made Xiao Bing mad and she stayed silent the whole trip to the mall.

    Well, it''s true that Xiao Yu is known as the "Cool Beauty" in his grade. I do kind of worry for him since he doesn''t have any friends, but he always replied back this: "What kind of people want to be my friends if they leave all the group work to me? They can''t even work properly, why should I even acknowledge to them?"

    It''s true that Xiao Yu is emotionless to others if they''re not us. If he thinks of other people as mere tools, it''s not good for him or others as well. I hope having Calix around helps him ept people in general...

 Chapter 11: Calix Nikos Cora

    Chapter 11: Calix Nikos Cora

    So I was sold away by my bastard father.

    My mom''s totally innocent. She was an officedy before she met dad. She met dad on the streets one day when he was being pelted by thugs.

    She should have walked away. Really should have. But she''s too much of a nicedy to do that.

    Mom took dad home and fixed his wounds up. She eventually got that symptom of falling in love with the patient thing.

    When he woke up after 2 days, dad thanked mom and left.

    Mom was still in love with him, so she searched for him for weeks.

    She eventually found him in a bar. He noticed her and asked how she was doing.

    She talked with him for the whole night and dad got interested in the innocent and beautiful woman.

    He asked her out and mom joyously replied "Yes".

    I heard from mom that dad was so nice when they dated. She knew he was a poor man, but she didn''t care about all that.

    So they married secretly since her parents didn''t approve of such a man.

    Grandma died from a heart attack after hearing that her daughter married dad. Grandpa cut off all his rtions from her.

    By now, mom wondered if this was the right thing.

    When she became pregnant with me, she was very happy since dad took better care of her, but that was only for the first 3 months.

    After, dad rarely came home and it was said he had a look like he lost his soul.

    After I was born, mom asked him why he was like that. She was sincerely worried since he didn''t evene to my birth. She should have been angry.

    He said nothing and just went out of the house.

    Dad went missing for the first 10 years of my life. Mom was a great mom. She took care of me and loved me as much as she could even with the meager sry that was given to her every month.

    Then, dad came back.

    Mom was overjoyed and cried a lot. I was just wondering who this stranger who was smiling so strangely was.

    Dad said his apologies while mom denied everything and said that it was hard for him.

    He then took one look at me and told me that he was my dad.

    I ran towards the kitchen and hid. I only came out after mom yelled from the doorway that she was going to go out with dad for dinner and that she already made dinner for me and that it was in the fridge.

    Mom didn''te back that night so I stayed up all night worrying.

    When the next day came, I was at school, so I don''t really know when mom returned.

    When I came into the house, all I saw was my mom with bruises all over. She sat there on the couch with dead eyes.

    I called to her, asking what was wrong but she didn''t hear me.

    I walked to her and grabbed her hands. She shrieked and cried out "Let go of me!".

    She saw that it was me and tears started falling from her eyes.

    Mom hugged me tightly and sobbed for a long time. She never told me what happened.

    After 2 weeks, Dad came back again. He apologized to mom many times and mom took them. She still loved him.

    Dad stayed in our home for a month and lived together with us. Mom was a little wary of him at first but she eventually warmed up to him once more. I still didn''t trust him. He made mom cry and hurt. My friends'' dads were caring and loved their wifes'' a lot. This dad was too strange.

    Dad took mom on several dates while he lived with us to try to prove that he wouldn''t do whatever he did to her ever again.

    Mom began to trust him again and when she wholeheartedly trusted him, he took her out and she came home worse than before after a whole week.

    She held onto me crying.

    The boss at her workce called asking why she wasn''t there for work. Mom could only apologize and promise that it wouldn''t happen again.

    But this happened many more times. Mom couldn''t stop loving the horrible man and fell for his schemes again, again, and again. She ended up losing her job.

    I once asked her, "Why do you still love him?"

    She cried and said that she couldn''t help it.

    We moved to another ce and mom got another job. That year, I was 12 years old.

    Mom gained back her smile and enthusiasm. She even dated a nice guy who didn''t seem that bad.

    A yearter, that man came back again.

    Mom didn''t love him anymore. Dad had to try extra hard in gaining her trust. He never did.

    He then threatened her that he''d make me do her job.

    Sheshed out but agreed. She broke up with the nice guy over a phone call.

    From that day on, mom was out almost every night and came back with hidden bruises. Dad always drove her out and back.

    The nice guy came to our house to try to find out why she would break up with him, but mom didn''t open the door any time when he came. He left after 5 weeks of knocking on our door.

    On my 13th birthday, dad came to our house with a present. It was a small cactus. After he left, I threw it away.

    Mom broke out into tears after he left. She muttered her regrets about falling in love with him and told me all that had happened to her.

    I was enraged when I found out that she had been forced into prostitution to settle his debt.

    We moved again. This time to a farther ce in a city. We lived in a condo where security was heavy. Mom used up almost all of our savings for it.

    Mom was transferred to the mainpany of the ce she was working for since we moved. She turned into a serious woman who didn''t make any mistakes. But she always made time for me.

    She got promotions after promotions for her excellent work ethics and got a pretty important position.

    We were pretty happy with our lives and didn''t have any more worries.

    But stupidly, I got kidnapped by dad and was sold into very.

    I saw the contract that he pped at my face. It wasn''t even mom''s perfect cursive signature! Just random scribbles!

    So in the end, I was given off toe ve traders and because of my devilish looks(mom says I look like an angel, psh), I was bought at a high price from a Chinese mafia merchant.

    I was given some food to eat and was flown all the way to China. Packed in with others who were sold, I had to share a room with 11 other people. For a couple of days, we were well fed, were given new clothing, got to shower regrly, and we were even allowed to y online games. Besides having thenguage chip installed in my head, it wasn''t too bad.

    Before the auctions started, we were given rags to wear. They said it would gain us some pity and make us fetch a higher price.

    I made up my mind to try to live the best I could without being a sex ve. But how would I escape that kind of fate with my handsomeness?

    I was cedst for my peerless looks.

    When I came out, my 11 roommates were bid quickly so that they could get to me. I looked around and shivered.

    There was a perverted looking fatty who was drooling as he stared at me. I looked away quickly and fixed my stare on someone else.

    It was a masked man who was looking nervous. With his expensive looking suit, I thought that he''d have a high position. But he didn''t seem to be used to this kind of event at all! That made me inwardlyugh and hope for him to bid for me so that I wouldn''t be used in disgusting ways from this kind of naive person.

    He had 3panions. 2 boys and a girl.

    The girl was very cute and would definitely grow up to be a beauty. The younger boy had handsome looks, enough to rival mine. The other boy had on a mask too.

    Strangely, although the masked man was tallest and probably the oldest, the others looked towards the masked boy.

    Although I couldn''t hear with all the shouts, the young girl seemed to be telling the masked boy something. All of a sudden, a "20 million!" was called out.

    I looked towards the direction the voice came from.

    I cursed in my head. It was the disgusting old fatty.

    I went back to looking at the masked man and hispanions.

    The young girl and boy seemed to be slowly saying something to the masked boy.

    The masked boy said something to them that made them freeze and then shouted out "21 million" so calmly that I thought I had misheard.

    When it properly registered into my mind, I was shocked.

    Sure those 4 looked rich, but were they people who could buy a ve for a 21 million? Rich kids sure have lots of money.

    The disgusting pervert fatty looked angry and his whole face turned red.

    The masked boy and the fatty battled for a short while and my price suddenly became 95 million somehow.

    I was chained by the neck and handed off towards the masked boy in a prepared room.

    "You''re now Shui Fa. But you can still keep your old name, Calix Nikos Cora."

    That was basically what the masked boy said. But how did he know my name? And he spoke in perfect Greek!

    At least it seemed like I wouldn''t be used as a sex ve. The boy''s voice was serious but sounded too young.

    The masked man unexpectedly had a pretty young voice too. Do kids these days be multimillionaires or maybe even multibillionaires from how they spent such money on me so easily?

    The masked man looked towards me and became flushed. He turned to the younger boy, called Xiao Lai, who was fiddling around with his phone and asked him how to say stuff in Greek.

    I knew how to listen and understand Chinese words now, but that felt nice. He seems nicest out of them all.

    Xiao Lai whispered some stuff to the masked man and the masked man repeated it.

    I instantly knew that the younger boy had some tendencies for pranks when I heard the man introduce himself as an idiot and chicken.

    I couldn''t help but burst intoughter.

    To surprise the masked man, Shui Jing, I introduced myself in Chinese.

    Shui Jing gave me a faint smile and turned around quickly to threaten Xiao Lai with a martial arts match. So the Chinese really know how to do martial arts! Kind of cute really, this kind of embarrassed person is adorable!

    Xiao Lai whined about already having his heart broken from losing his money and not wanting his body to break. What a funny guy.

    Shui Jing was about to say something when his ringtone sounded and he had to answer the call.

    It was the masked boy who was ready with their ride. Xiao Lai and the girl''s face paled and they desperately asked him to slow down on this ride this time. The masked boy agreed. He seems to really dote on them, and shouldn''t they have a driver if they''re so rich?

    Xiao Lai and the girl ran up to the elevator and went up without us.

    Shui Jing awkwardly started the conversation and I walked up to his side. He told me about the two kids and the masked boy. It turned out that they were all from the same Shui family and siblings. He also said that Shui Yu, the masked boy''s name, bought me saying that I''d be useful for the uing disaster. I really wonder what that disaster is.

    I asked, "Why are you telling me all this?"

    He said that I was his family now that Shui Yu epted me into his family. If Shui Yu hadn''t epted me into his family, would I be considered a stranger and a ve?

    As I thought for a little while, I realized from what Shui Jing had spoken of so far. Shui Yu hade here in the first ce to gain a family member. I really was lucky to be so useful for whatever uing disaster there is.

    I said, "I''m very lucky to have met you guys" in Greek. Shui Jing looked funny as he looked at me confusedly.

    Anyways, I then asked him if he had any pets. Rich people should have some exotic pets, right? But turns out, they have some strange pets but they''re normal creatures. Shui Jing said that Shui Yu talked about getting a cheetah and wolf though.

    And, all of them are much younger than I expected! Shui Bing, the girl, is only a 3rd grader! Shui Lai is in 5th grade! How were they able to calmly sit through and mess around in an environment like this? Is Shui Jing the only normal person out of their family? And Shui Yu is only in 7th grade. I really wonder how they were able to earn that much money...

    Most surprising of them all was that Shui Jing was the same age as me. How was he that tall?! That''s not human!

    Well, besides that, they don''t seem to like their parents and earned all of their money on their own. What kind of stuff do these kids do?

    For myst question, I asked Shui Jing to take his mask off. I would have been sorely disappointed if he were to have an ugly face, but it turned out to be much more.

    He was very handsome.

    His eyes glittered and his long eyshes fluttered. His nose was straight and perfectly suited his face. All this and his slightly pink cheeks, red lips, and pale skin made him look like an angel. I thought that this would be what a real angel looks like.

    He was slightly feminine but had the contour that just screamed, "Hot mess!".

    I called him pretty and he seemed slightly offended. So cute!

    I told him that he looked almost as good as me, but in reality, I liked his looks a lot better than mine.

    He called me as almost as narcissistic as Shui Lai.

    Although I became a ve, I was fortunate enough to meet Shui Jing and his siblings. I''ll make the most out of my life and someday meet my mom again.

    Shui Jing said nothing after that and just led me to a limousine.

    Inside, there was Shui Lai and Shui Bing looking awfully sad.

    Shui Jing waited outside for Shui Yu, so I talked a little with the two. It went like this:

    SB: "Hey, hey, so how old are you?"

    Me: "I''m 14, same as Shui Jing."

    SL: "I thought you were my age!"

    After this, I knew that they didn''t mind speaking informally and they had already epted me as a family just like Shui Jing said.

    Me: "That''s what he thought too. You guys are just abnormally tall."

    SB: "Maybe. Is that why girls don''t want to y with me?"

    SL: "Yeah, they won''t want to y with a Godzi."

    SB: "Hey!"

    Me: "Well, they''ll all regret not making friends with such a great future model."

    SB: "Yeah, I''ll be taller than you in the future! Yu Ge said that I could be anything I wanted and that he''d support me!"

    SL: "Oh? I''ll have you know. Yu Ge said the very same thing to me! And I was born two years earlier than you! I spent more time with Yu Ge so he''ll listen to me!"

    SB: "I''m the youngest! And his only sister! He likes me better than you!"

    Me: "I think he loves you both equally. But what is Shui Yu like?"

    SB: "He''s my favorite brother."

    SL: "He''s very responsible. And hey, what about me?"

    SB: "You''re weaker than Yu Ge and Jing Ge. Besides, Jing Ge always takes care of me while you just make fun of me."

    Me: "Um, back to talking about Shui Yu."

    SB: "I like Yu Ge best because he helped us from Mom''s abuse."

    SL: "He provided us with everything we needed and wanted. And yeah, he did help us from Mom''s abuse."

    Me: "What do you mean?"

    SL: "Our Dad left our Mom for a richdy. She''s not as rich as us though."

    SB: "He even has another kid who''s the same age as me! And it''s a girl!"

    Me: "What does her being a girl have to do with it?"

    SB: "She''s scarier than a boy! She''s the teacher''s pet! She''s my desk partner! She cheats off of me! She''s pure evil! I want to kill her! But then Yu Ge would notice and make me confess that I''m an assassin..."

    Me: "You? An assassin?"

    SB: "Yeah, why? Lai Ge is a hacker, why can''t I be an assassin?"

    SL: "Hey!"

    This pair of siblings seems to be very dangerous...

    Me: "What does Shui Jing and Shui Yu do, then?"

    SB: "Jing Ge is just a regr student."

    SL: "But he''s a monster when ites to martial arts and weapons..."

    SB: "Yu Ge is also a regr student."

    SL: "But he sleeps in his sses all the time."

    SB: "How do you know that?"

    SL: "Gossip mostly but I also set up some hidden monitors."

    SB: "Why?"

    SL: "Just in case he gets bullied."

    Me: "Why would he be bullied?"

    SL: "He''s too pretty. And he never talks in ss. He doesn''t even have friends."

    SB: "Yeah, I heard rumors about thatst one. Girls put letters in his desk but he doesn''t even look at them. And he never joins the boys in ying sports."

    SL: "Actually, Yu Ge might not even know that he has space under his desk... He doesn''t put anything there and carries his stuff around. Oh, and do you honestly think Yu Ge should y with those boys? He''s going to beat them all into a pulp!"

    Me: "Why would you ce monitors on him then? From what I can infer, he''d probably beat them all up if they try to bully him!"

    SL: "No, Yu Ge is too nice. Underneath all that seriousness, he''s a huge softie."

    Me: "Oh."

    After that, Shui Yu opened the front left seat''s door and climbed in.

    Since I was still not very sure what to think of Shui Yu, I kept quiet while the others talked.

    They mentioned the things we just talked about and about buying some of the stuff on their wish list. They really are rich.

    Apparently, we were going shopping, but first, we needed to take me to get my chains off and get proper clothes on me.

    We stopped by the huge warehouse where it was just like a house with all the appliances added to it in the inside. It mostly looked like a gym, but there was a small kitchen, a small bathroom, and a separate bedroom.

    I got to take a quick shower and borrowed some of Shui Lai''s gym clothes. I felt kind of awkward borrowing someone clothes and a 10-year-old''s at that.

    At this time, Shui Yu had taken the limousine back to the rental ce. I was pretty astonished that it wasn''t theirs... Since it was only a moment''s walk away, he came back after 10 minutes. I could imagine people staring at a masked boy who wore a suit. It must''ve been a funny sight.

    We got onto a ck truck that Shui Yu had bought and waited for him to finish changing clothes.

    When he came out, I could tell why Shui Jing had asked what Shui Yu would be if he was called pretty.

    Shui Yu was just too beautiful. Definitely better looking than me, and that''s saying something. His dark eyes were cold and aloof but that made him more charming. His nose was straight and set slightly lifted, giving him a look as if he looked down upon others. His skin was pale. Paler than snow, almost blue and it looked smoother than ebony. His eyebrows were like those said to be swords in the Chinese sayings. Impably sharp and dignified. His long eyshes fluttered lightly like a butterfly''s wings. All in all, I couldn''t say anything about him was cold but beautiful. I could see why the kids in his grade would call him a "Cold Beauty". This boy was very feminine looking and beat the females in every term of looks.

    Well, I liked Shui Jing''s look a lot better. Shui Yu seemed perfect. Too perfect, that in fact, it was a little scary. Besides, Shui Jing looked nice and was kindhearted.

    Shui Yu got into the driver''s seat once more, started the truck, and said, "I won''t go as slow as before this time."

    Before anyone could say anything, the engine revved to life and the truck shot forwards rapidly.

    I''ll tell you one thing: Shui Yu''s driving is sick!

    He drove super fast and dodged all the iing cars. He swiveled so many times that I couldn''t keep track of it. Now I''m really wondering who he learned to drive from! The wind whipped by since the windows were open and everyone else than me looked as if they were going to barf. It made me feel a little happy that I was better at them at least one thing.

    We arrived at the mall and I was surprised by all the words I could recognize. Just yesterday, I didn''t know a word of Chinese. Well, besides "Kung Fu" and "Nihao". But now, I can recognize every word, write it, and even speak it!

    I really wonder what my life''s going to be...

 Chapter 12: My bro is all-powerful!

    Chapter 12: My bro is all-powerful!

    Today, we got ourselves a new family member.

    His name''s Calix Nikos Cora. What a cool name! Yu Ge gave him another name: Shui Fa. Fa means a new beginning. It makes sense I guess. But it doesn''t sound as cool as Calix''s Greek name. And I suppose I''ll have to conjure up a new identity for my new brother.

    Although Calix seemed to be the same age as me -because of his height you see-, he was as old as Jing Ge! Now I''ll have to call him Calix Ge or Fa Ge. Fa Ge... the pronunciation sounds too stupid and weird to say out loud.

    Well, besides getting ourselves a new brother, we also learned that Yu Ge is a really speedy driver. He drives well but too fast. He should aspire to get on the race tracks one day... Also, today, I lost all my money I had saved up secretly in order to by myself some stuff. Yu Ge buys us everything we want but I don''t always want to rely on him. It''ll be a burden on him and it''s not good to rely on someone so heavily. Yu Ge told me that I could hack in and steal the amount back as long as I stole back Xio Bing''s as well. I guess I''ll reluctantly steal it back for her and get some extra.

    So right now, we arrived at the biggest mall in the city. Oh, by the way, I live in the capital, Beijing. Our apartment is located on the outskirts though. Mom still hasn''t decided to move to a better ce with the money Dad gives us. We already call the other woman our step-mom but Dad hasn''te home for years so Mom can''t divorce him. If he divorced Mom, he''ll have to give us more money. I guess he''s not ready to do that yet.

    Anyways, us arriving at the mall like superstars must''ve surprised plenty of people. I''m astonishingly handsome, Calix Ge and Jing Ge are slightly less handsome, Xiao Bing is cute, and Yu Ge is amazingly beautiful. Poor Yu Ge. He''s definitely the most beautiful person alive but he''s a man. Who would want to look pretty when they''re a boy?

    As if he noticed me thinking that in my head, he stared in my direction. I sometimes wonder if Yu Ge can read my thoughts. That''d be scary...

    Right now, we''re in the men''s section of clothes. We''re pretty tall so we can''t go through the kid section anymore... But I''m still young and handsome, so it doesn''t matter.

    Yu Ge has a great sense of fashion and usually picks out our outfits for us. He''s doing it for Calix Ge currently.

    Calix Ge is pretty handsome- not as handsome as me but still handsome. He looks great in any of the outfits that Yu Ge is making him try out. But I bet if it weren''t for Yu Ge''s excellent sense of fashion, he''d look like garbage. But for me, even if I wore a trash bag, I''d look fabulous.

    After choosing enough clothes for Calix Ge, we went to the register. The surrounding people were all staring at my handsome looks, I felt quite embarrassed.

    We bought the clothes and rode the truck again to our warehouse. And, thankfully, Yu Ge didn''t forget to slow down so we could have our stomachs'' contents stay in ce.

    Yu Ge had told me to research on some stuff, so I''d better get to it.

    I found a summerhouse nearby the beach with a huge pool that looked pretty modern. Yu Ge likes modern things and the style itself, so I bought it. I''d hire some trustworthy workers from the underworld to build some hidden passages and an undergroundir or somethingter. I knew that we could have bought anything with our own money and just give the news to Yu Geter on, but it felt like that would make him upset.

    Anyways, I just finished getting all the money I lost back. I also ordered the devices I had been waiting to buy, Xiao Bing''s new whip, and a huge chocte fountain.

    I''ll have to look into a suitable poison arts teacher for her. Although Yu Ge hadn''t specified it, the teacher would undoubtedly have to be female. And about getting a friend for Xiao Bing, does it really have to be a boy? Yu Ge seemed awfully hung about that.

    I feel like we should just all run away and live in our summerhouse. Mom doesn''t care about us and Dad only feels guilty towards us. And that scheming little bitch bullies our Xiao Bing every chance she gets. This environment is really bad. I really wonder why Yu Ge insists on staying here.

    So in the end, I asked him.

    His reply was, "The capital has the biggest zoo."

    My brother is definitely mysterious and a little weird too.

    Calix Ge is going to stay in another ce. Yu Ge told me to arrange it as close as possible. So I went and bought the house that was next to ours. It was empty and I heard the old owner passed away. The son of the old owner was eager to sell it off but since its condition wasn''t very good, no one had beening to see it. I hired some architects, interior designers, and engineers so the ce would be as good as new soon.

    For the meanwhile, Calix Ge is going to stay with us. Mom will at least try to act like a nicedy when he''s around. At least that''s what I thought.

    But it turns out that Mom''s going out with a rich man and decided to go on a vacation trip with him for 2 weeks. Yu Ge told me so. Of course, I didn''t know how he found out so quickly about it when even I haven''t known about it, but I believed him. For what reason would he have to lie to us?

    I guess Mom kinda deserved some happiness too even though abusing us wasn''t the right way to achieve it.

    I told this to Yu Ge but he stared at me strangely and said that they would break up soon since this time, Mom was the mistress that was being kept. And apparently, the rich guy didn''t even know that Mom had kids! I didn''t know what to say after that.

    Mom and Dad still haven''t gotten a divorce. Yu Ge said they wouldn''t ever divorce. I wonder how he knows so many things?

    Jing Ge and Calix Ge were talking about school and what they were learning right now. Calix Ge is smart and would easily get into advanced sses like Jing Ge. We all have great gics, but our parents aren''t too great. Beside Cali Ge''s mom of course. Calix Ge told us how he was sold off by his bastard father and that his mom was a greatdy. To have done almost anything for him... she seems like the best parent in the world to us.

    Xiao Bing promised Calix Ge that we could go on a vacation to Greece and he''d be able to meet his mother when summer break came. That was in 3 months. He''d have to wait a little, but he seemed perfectly content with that. But Yu Ge told him not to worry his mother and handed over a new phone that he bought for Calix Ge and told him to call her. Calix Ge sheepishly smiled and told us that he was nning to steal a phone and notify his mother anyways. Yu Ge merely nodded but our reactions were: =-= what the heck! You told us about stealing our phones so smoothly! We don''t know whether tough or cry...

    Calix Ge''s mother was sobbing on the phone and asking about what happened. Calix Ge smiled bitterly and pressed the video call button.

    We could see a blonde woman who was very pretty and smart looking. She had ck rimmed sses and was wearing a neat bun as her hairstyle. She seemed to be in an office and we could see people peeking in through the small ss window. They looked worried about the cryingdy.

    "Oh, oh, my baby, are you alright? That horrible bastard! I''m definitely going to call the police on him!" she said in Greek. I had installed a program that tranted it smoothly for us on myptop, so we could clearly understand what she said.

    Her threats were said so viciously even if they weren''t much. Having a parent worried about their child like this... I wanted one too. But having Yu Ge is enough. Even though he was young, he did everything for us. He''s like a mother to us when he takes care of us. Not much of a father though. He doesn''t go out and work or anything like that. Sure he introduced us to our work, but he''s more like a doting mother since he cares for us instead of being strict as a manager would.

    "Mom, I''m fine. I have new siblings now. They''re the ones who bought me. I''ll live with them for about 2 months and we''ll go over to see you after that. I''ll be an exchange student. Isn''t that cool?" Calix Ge asked his mother in a soothing tone.

    Yu Ge chimed in, "He''ll have to live with us in China, but you can visit whenever you want. We still technically have authority over him."

    Xiao Bing muttered, "Yu Ge, I don''t think that''s the right thing to say right now..." I wouldpletely agree, but we had to tell her sooner orter. Jing Ge looked worried and held Yu Ge''s arm back.

    "Miss, it''s true that we bought him and that he''s our property now. He''ll have to live with us but we won''t take his basic human rights away. He''ll be a part of our family, that''s all," Jing Ge confirmed.

    I was showing theptop''s screen to Calix Ge''s mother, so she understood what we said.

    She looked part angry, part devastated, and scary.

    "I understand, but he won''t be registered into your family I believe. And there is nothing wrong with me moving to China, is there?"

    As our conversation continued and ended, it was decided that Calix Ge''s mother, named "Irene Mercouri" woulde over and work in the branchpany that was in China that she would transfer over to from the mainpany. She''d live next door to us too.

    All''s well that ends well.

 Chapter 13: Shifu

    Chapter 13: Shifu

    My brothers and I have the same birthdays. Different times, but on the same day. Jing Ge said that Mom gave birth prematurely or waited a little longer to give birth to us on the same days. Then Yu Ge told us that it was because of our Mom and Dad being too cheap at that time and wanting to spend less on gifts and cake. My reaction was: =-=. Yu Ge really seems to dislike our parents... I don''t know what to believe, but we were all born on June, 4th. Calix Ge was born on June, 8th, just 4 days from our birthday.

    Calix Ge''s mother, Irene Mercouri, already came to China and moved next doors. We still live in an apartment while she gets to live in a modern house... T-T Welp, Yu Ge says we already bought a super cool summer house, so I guess that''s fine.

    He also got me the chocte fountain and a new whip! It cracks well and the leather is coated in sharp metal spikes. Such a cool looking equipment!

    Lai Ge is the one who found these stuff for me, so I thanked him too. He got my money back after all. But we still had to put it in our main bank, it''s a bit of a bummer.

    In our country, school ends in mid-July, so we have to wait a little while for a summer break.

    Since tomorrow''s Monday, Calix Ge is going to Jing Ge''s school with his mom to sign up. Miss Irene has a sharp ent, but she can speak Chinese well. She''s definitely a smartdy!

    Yu Ge has arranged a poison arts teacher for me and she''sing today! But he still hasn''t found me a friend. I wonder if I''ll ever get a friend?

    Knocks came from the warehouse''s back door. It must be the teacher!

    I opened the door widely and smiled brightly saying, "Hello!"

    "Hello" was the reply while I stood there slightly surprised.

    It was a man! Not a woman! Boobs: None! It must be a mailman or something. That surely must be it...

    "Are you Shui Bing? I''m your poison arts teacher, Lu Han. Nice to meet you."

    "Ah?" was my dumbstruck reply. What else could I do? The older sister type Shifu that I was waiting for did not appear! Instead, there was a drop-dead gorgeous man!

    Very handsome! Slightly curly light brown hair that looked silky, green eyes that stared straight at you, and pale skin. He was taller than Jing Ge and had a cool looking casual grey suit on. He could totally pass off as a girl if he put on lots of makeup and had a higher voice! This Shifu of mine, Lu Han, undoubtedly had a deep tone that just made you want to hear more!

    "Shifu, aren''t you supposed to be a woman?" I asked.

    "My cousin uses my poison but they can''t make any. She was fooling around with her identity and identally agreed to tutor you. She came to me for help since I''m the one who supplies her poison," Shifu replied in a leisurely tone.

    "Shifu, you don''t look like a Chinese person!"

    "I''m from a generation of European people and my father''s the only Chinese person from my family," he exined.

    Hm, this Shifu doesn''t scoff or make fun of what I ask! But I should test him a bit more to see if he could be a good teacher for me.

    My brothers were shopping for furniture right now, so I just led Shifu into the sofa to serve him some tea.

    "Shifu, how old are you? Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married? When''s your birthday? Do you y any instruments?" I asked him in a spur.

    Shifu was so calm as he replied, "I''m 20. No. No. July, 4th. I y the cello."

    "Shifu, y-you''re only 20?!" I spit out the juice I was drinking.

    "Yes, I do look mature for my age. I lived in Ennd prior toing here to tutor you. This assignment is quite interesting. I get to tutor the ''Ragdoll''," he replied as if amused.

    "Woah, how did you know?" I asked with deep curiosity in my eyes.

    "I got someone to research on you. You only operate in China, you appeared several years ago. I have some people working in China and they told me that you were actually just a young girl. I was very surprised when they told me you were only 8 years old. And your name is the same as the mass-killing assassin, ''Shui Bing''."

    "Is it that easy to find out about me?" I asked worriedly.

    "I assure you, it''s only because I have people in your underworld that I got to know about you. Each underworld organization has awork and unless they''re enemies, they share information naturally," he calmly replied.

    "Shifu, Shifu, are you in an underworld organization too? Maybe the mafia?"

    "Mm, something like that."

    I pouted since that didn''t help me understand.

    We talked for a little while and I found out that Shifu preferred frappino to ck coffee and that he didn''t like tea much but peach tea was nice. He seems to like sweet stuff a lot.

    Shifu taught me the basics of poisonous nts. Even somemon grass could be used as poison these days since there was so much pesticide sprayed on! He brought out a list of books that I needed to read and memorize. I would get tested on them and even had to know how to recite them backward... that''s in 2 weeks... too short!

    So, after 4 hours of tutoring, Shifu went away driving on a normal looking car. I bet he''s staying under cover or something.

    Miss Irene and my brothers came back. The warehouse was full of noise as they all came in. Yu Ge was as quiet as always, but the rest of them were quite loud. Miss Irene even bought donuts for us!

    But, Yu Ge says not to trust her. It must be because we did buy her son after all. Jing Ge is too trusting, Lai Ge is just acting nice, and Yu Ge is ignoring her. I don''t know what to do, but from knowing the various people I''ve had to kill, I can''t trust her, but I took one donut from the box since Yu Ge said they were store bought. I honestly think Yu Ge''s very innocent too. Even store-bought ones can have poison on them...

    Ah, well, I just want to keep Yu Ge like that. He protects us and we''ll secretly protect him back.

    Oh, should I tell them of my Shifu being male?

    Nah, let''s keep that as a surprise forter!

 Chapter 14: A normal school day

    Chapter 14: A normal school day

    As a 12-year-old, I am limited to the things I''m allowed to do. Fortunately, I''m tall and people won''t notice me much if I drive.

    Recently, I''ve been worried. Miss Irene came and I don''t trust her. Just my intuition, but still. She knows too much already. We''re billionaires, that information alone is enough to make a downfall.

    Today''s a Monday, a school day. Calix is going to register for Ge''s school. Hopefully, nothing will go wrong. Oh, I can call him Calix because even though he''s a part of our family right now, I''m still not too sure and technically I''m his master.

    I don''t like school. I remember the past and realize how stupid I was. CONSTANTLY, and that just makes me feel like I''m cheating life.

    Although I can''t feel much guilt because I came back from a world where only the strong lived, I do feel a little sorry for the kids in my ss. But I really do wonder why I don''t have any friends right now.

    Today, we have to go to the school auditorium to hear the principal''s speech. After that, we have physical education in the gym. And then, a Math quiz right before an English test. There are some sses in between but it''s not like you''d be interested.

    For two hours, the principal droned about the horribleness of drugs, smoking, and alcohol. Actually, besides drugs, smoking and alcohol don''t affect the bodies of those who gained powers during the apocalypse. It did affect those who didn''t gain powers, which was the majority of the living poption, amounting up to 80%.

    I liked wine and used to raid wine storages whenever I got the chance. The slightly bitter but sweet and tangy drink was a delicacy during those times.

    Anyways, gym time is as boring as always. Since our world is peaceful after both Koreas united, Russia stopped sending threats, pollution and global warming was slowly being fixed with many people starting to go environmental, and tiny wars all died out due to other powerful countries'' influences, like a century ago, China is pretty peaceful. Military training was still advised but schools had a choice to inflict it or not in middle schools.

    My school didn''t do early military training, but we were required to have gym ss. I have to tone my strength down and act like I''m average during gym ss. Just like how I pretend Ge is stronger than me. I''m toning it down so that I can keep some secrets to myself. I still have many things I haven''t told my siblings. My visits to training ces, about the whole apocalypse, and about my reincarnation. Anyways by keeping my strength in check, I get passed by so many pipsqueaks...

    Dodgeball, a game brought over by Americans, is a great game to be used for training. But for regr students, no. Definitely not.

    Out of habit, I threw all the balls I could pick up at the kids on the opposite side of the gym. They cried out as they failed to dodge and was hit by the fast-paced balls. One lucky guy fell on his butt before it hit him. But he was soon hit by another ball that I threw.

    My ss has a lot of kids, 42. We were evenly divided. I had so far gotten 13 kids out from the other side. My side had 14 kids left while the other side had only 8.

    I felt like the others needed a chance, so I went to the back of the gym where none of the balls could touch me.

    After 5 minutes, it turned out that my side was losing even with all the people we had. Well, my side was full of girls who were trying to act like this was stupid and instead talked with other girls. Of course, they''d get hit. The other side had 6 while my side was now a measly 5 including me.

    I had no choice but to go up again and paddle those kids again.

    While I was walking forward, another kid on my side got hit. With this kind of physique, they''re definitely not going to survive the apocalypse.

    Another kid got hit and yelped. =_= Too weak...

    I started throwing and they ran away. Another person on my side got hit. I hit 3 back. It was now 2 to 3. Except, the person on my side got hit in one blow.

    It''s me against the world I guess.

    The 3 boys who were left were those sporty jock type kids. They could dodge, not easily, but they could still do it with some effort.

    Not long after, I had no balls left in my side. Haizz, I shouldn''t have gone too easy on them.

    The 3 boys noticed that I was left "defenseless" and gathered a bunch of balls into their arms. If this was a battleground, they would have already died because they were so cautious and slow gathering supplies.

    They really are noobs.

    As soon as they gathered their arms full of balls, they started pelting them at me. I expertly dodged. I danced, weaving through a set of the iing balls.

    But as expected, they changed orders and kept flinging balls. I decided to not retaliate and see what they were up to.

    They only changed positions, picked up stray balls and threw.

    This game was getting boring. Dodging was getting boring too.

    I proceeded to catch the balls that they threw, this was they''d be out.

    Each of the boys made surprised faces when I caught all the balls they threw and began juggling them very high in a bored fashion.

    The gym teacher who was out for a bathroom break came in and saw my performance. He began pping as if forgetting about making us y dodgeball. The other kids started pping too and gym ss ended soon enough. I got a chocte bar as a prize.

    Math was fairly easy and I turned in my quiz fast. I was dismissed early from ss because our math teacher is a bit toox.

    I disappeared from the hallways and only my shadow was seen as I jumped out of a window. 40 minutes till the next ss, enough time to go visit my siblings.

    All of our schools were closely connected. Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing went to the same elementary school and it was only a block away. Jing Ge and Calix''s school was the same as mine since we were all in junior high.

    I first went to the elementary school. Currently, it was recess-time for them and everyone was out ying in the schoolyard.

    I spotted Xiao Lai with his friendsughing and joking around. I wonder how he befriends people so easily... Xiao Bing was ying ser with the boys in her grade. I guess she really doesn''t fit in with girls? It may be because she only has brothers, not sisters.

    "Xiao Lai," I called out. The little brother of mine turned around and gave a bright smile.

    "Yu Ge! Did you get out early?" he asked.

    "You already know, so why do you ask?" I already knew that he installed cameras in my school, so I wondered why he was even asking.

    "Hehe, don''t say that. But are you just visiting? Here, meet my friends!" Xiao Lai drew the conversation away.

    His friends were the so-called "popr" kids. Hm, it''s reassuring that he''s fitting in.

    "Nice to meet you, I''m Xiao Lai''s older brother, Shui Yu. Sorry, but I have to get going. Goodbye," were my sentences as I turned away to face Xiao Bing who was constantly flickering her excited gaze towards me.

    "Yu Ge! How are you here?" she asked in a happy voice.

    I smiled lightly as I rubbed her head.

    "Yu Ge, you''re messing up my hair!" sheined.

    "Yes yes, I''ll fix it up for you." Over the years, I learned how to tie hair prettily, cook, sew and do a bunch of other things. So, I had been tying Xiao Bing''s hair every morning.

    After unraveling her long dark hair that reached to her bottom, I asked, "Which style do you want mdy?"

    "A flower bun!" she eximed.

    Xiao Bing showed me a picture from her new phone she got for her birthday. I easily memorized the steps and quickly braided her hair the way it showed me how to.

    Taking a picture, I got a cheeky smile as an approval from my little sister.

    Handing a piece of chocte over to her, I whispered into her ear, "Xiao Bing, don''t tell Xiao Lai that you got some. He has a toothache right now, but he won''t admit it."

    Another cheeky smile came onto her face as she answered, "Ok!" But she continued with a worried expression right after, "Shifu said that chocte and coffee would dilute my sense of taste and smell... A little won''t hurt, right?"

    In the end, she took half of the bar and gave back the other half for me to eat. Typical adorable little sister behavior.

    With only 5 minutes left, I hurried back to my school.

    Just as I got back, the ss was dismissed and everyone transitioned to their next ss. I saw Jing Ge leading Calix around the school in the hallways. Handing the rest of the chocte bar to him by putting it in his pocket silently, I walked past and hurried to my English ss.

    The English teacher is a very young college graduate who studied overseas. He''s not an inch close to being as handsome as my brothers, but girls still squeal over him. Honestly, he teaches properly but our ss'' grade is low because the girls don''t pay attention.

    Foreignnguagese easily to me just like Chinese. This is probably because I had anguage transmitter attached to my head during the apocalypse. Thenguage transmitter is an advanced version of the chip in Calix''s head that''ll allow you to learn anynguage fluently, and it''s just attached to your ears. Calix''s is easily damageable and will even mess with your brainwaves and alter your memory and personality. With it, anynguage could be "downloaded". Even speaking to agreeable zombies who evolved, mutated beasts and nts was possible. After several years, I could easily speak anynguage without thenguage converter since it was all stuck in my head. Thenguage converter could be bought from the "Merchant" a group of traveling psychic power users. They were the only ones who knew how to make it. I found it by ident and after the group knew what it was for, we had to chase them for 2 days to buy more of it. But only 17 more people got it as it was out of stock by then.

    Anyways, yeah, English was easy. I turned mine in early and waited till the school bell rang to indicate dismissal.

    I wonder how everyone''s day went?

 Chapter 15: Shui Yu is a demon!

    Chapter 15: Shui Yu is a demon!

    China''s school is basically the same as ours. Except that it''s a little more strict on rules and you have to wear uniforms. My mom and I went to the office led by Shui Jing. The head there was an old man who was pretty agreeable. He clearly had a toupee on...

    I was arranged to be on the same schedule as Shui Jing. Pretty cool how they just let me choose.

    My mom left since she needed to report in for work, so I followed Shui Jing around as he showed me around. It really isn''t some preppy school like I first imagined them to attend. Well, I guess they really are kind of normal in a weird way.

    It was currently History ss for Shui Jing, so we went there.

    Shui Jing politely knocked on the sliding doors and the teacher called from the inside, "Come in!"

    Opening the door, Shui Jing first bowed a little and apologized for beingte.

    "Ah, teacher, I''m the new student. Shui Jing waste since he showed me around," I said as the teacher fixed her gaze on me.

    "Oh, you speak Chinese perfectly! Great. Ok, introduce yourself to the ss," she told me.

    I nodded and faced the ss. Woah, there''s a lot of kids in just one ss. I couldn''t count them all, but it seemed like about 40 something kids?

    Ah, whatever, I''ll just introduce myself first.

    "Hey everybody, I''m Calix Nikos Cora. Just call me Calix. I''m from Greece. Nice to meet you."

    That sounded ok, right? Did it sound too casual?

    I must''ve looked a bit worried since Shui Jing gave me a reassuring smile. He really is an angel!

    "Ok, go sit next to the window over there. Since you don''t have any of the textbooks yet, share with Shui Jing."

    This teacher is quite straightforward...

    For the rest of the ss, I learned about World War III. It was a little different from a Greek''s point of view. But history ss is history ss, a bore.

    After that, we went to Math.

    It was all stuff I knew, so I got most of the questions right on the mini quiz.

    Language Arts was an easy ss as I had the chip installed in my head. I still can''t help but be amazed at the thing.

    Art ss was fun. Shui Jing draws really good and mine... was crappared to his.

    As we were transitioning to gym ss, I felt a chill as a cold breeze passed by. I turned around to look and saw Shui Yu''s back. That kid is seriously scary...

    When I told Shui Jing, "Your brother is too scary," he smiled and asked me, "Would a scary person give you chocte secretly?" and took out half of a chocte bar that was in his pant pocket.

    I warily looked at it and told him, "What kind of kid is a billionaire at this age?"

    Shui Jing awkwardly chuckled and we hurried to gym ss.

    We were a littlete but snuck in behind the group of ssmates.

    The gym teacher was telling us the rules of dodgeball. He then described that a kid won the game by catching the balls that were thrown at him and juggled them. That sounded pretty cool until he told me that the kid practically wiped out the whole arena ording to the other kids in his ss. Um, maybe he''s a little weird. But it turned terrifying when I heard the name of the kid who won single-handedly: Shui Yu. God, that kid is scary.

    Shui Yu is just too perfect, perfect beauty, perfect physique, and highly intelligent. Too mysterious, too vicious, cold, strong, his whole being is perfect and you can''t even spot a small w. That''s what makes him terrifying to me.

    You can clearly see his face soften when he''s around his siblings, but when it''s everyone else, it''s nk and unfeeling, and even though he gave me the name, Shui Fa, I think it was more to reassure his siblings than actually epting me into his family. I really wonder why a child that should be bright and happy turned into an unfeeling monster.

    I call him a monster because it''s true. I talked to the others when Shui Yu was out shopping for groceries one day.

    Xiao Lai really is a hacker and Xiao Bing is an assassin recognized as a thief. Although Xiao Lai said they were involved in the underworld because of him, I think Shui Yu has something to do with it. I mean, he''s been saving up all the money he could and became a billionaire out of it. They said I was being too paranoid and that their second brother was the nicest and kindest person they knew.

    To them, he may be, but to others, no way in hell. Shui Yu, that demon, he definitely doesn''t trust me. I am grateful that he isn''t like what I expected as a ve owner, but more like a boss. He clearly signals this by calling me Calix and not letting me call him Xiao Yu. I feel like I''m his subordinate and he''s my boss and the babysitter of all his siblings, even Shui Jing.

    Their whole family is weird. Shui Jing is way too innocent, Xiao Lai is an international-level hacker, Xiao Bing is a thief assassin, and Shui Yu is... he''s... just too hard to describe. And, from their stories, their parents seem a little messed up too.

    Anyways, let''s get back to gym ss. Shui Jing got picked as one of the captains and started picking people. He picked me first which made my day a little better. People wanted toe to Shui Jing''s team because he''s extremely good at sports. Of course, what else would he be if he wasn''t? He''s an expert in martial arts and is better than Shui Yu! But I doubt that, what if Shui Yu was hiding his strength still?

    Ah, I won''t think about such scary stuff now. Let''s focus on the game.

    In the end, our team won and everyone on the team cheered. Shui Jing got a chocte bar from the gym teacher and stowed it away forter.

    The rest of the day was fine and school was finally over. Shui Jing waited for Shui Yu so that they could go pick up the younger kids. We walked back home together.

    I went to my new house. It''s really awesome how it''s all modern and techno looking. The Shui siblings went to their apartment to drop off their backpacks. Shui Jing immediately came out and headed to his daily round of dojo visits. Xiao Bing bounced out of the house in a ck outfit. She told me, "I''m going to my Shifu''s house to learn about poison!" I didn''t doubt that those words were true.

    10 minutester, Xiao Lai and Shui Yu headed towards the warehouse. They''re so lucky that they''re so intelligent! Done with homework so quickly...

    Stuck in my home alone, I wondered what to do as I was finishing up homework.

    I guess I''ll go visit the warehouse too.

 Chapter 16: Away they go

    Chapter 16: Away they go

    So, I''m now 13.

    That means zombie sighting rumors have popped up.

    Over a course of one year, Calix has been sticking around Ge and hanging out with people his age. I don''t trust him. More so his mother. What would a mother think of the people who bought her son as? Evil, corrupted, and all kinds of bad stuff. And it''s also because I''m still his master. We haven''t let him go, so she still probably has a suspicious plot going on. In all reality, I can kill him whenever I want. The others don''t know, but the chip installed in Calix''s head, although it does let him learn Chinese, it''s also the one thing that can kill him. By saying a specific code in a mile radius, it will override his brain and make it burst. The chip can be removed, but then he''d forget every Chinese letter he knew and recognized. It''ll also make him retarded. This chip has information like that but it''s only told to the ve owners, so there''s nothing about it online. Xiao Lai won''t be able to find out about it this way.

    Calix ys a small role in the apocalypse. He''s a metal type user and is a pretty powerful one too. He killed his master and ran away with the diversion of zombies. Calix was pretty popr for his looks and entered a big mercenary group. But his fatal w was not working with others, which led to others not trusting him. He tried to go through the zombie trial and almost seeded when someone saw him and thought he turned into a zombie. They killed him, making the world lose a talented mercenary. Yeah, so I was nning to use him for the apocalypse and then let him go since we won''t need him much after a few weeks. Now that I think about it, I didn''t even need to buy him. Buying him was a waste of time and money.

    Anyways, about the zombie rumors. I first noticed them in myst life, talking about it on a blog of a tourist who heard about a weird person frantically running to him and almost biting his head off. The weird person was hit on the head with a bat and his head crumpled and the person who hit him on the head was taken into custody. The body was said to be buried afterward.

    I don''t want to dig up that zombie, but I''m pretty sure there are other zombies in that area, so I''m nning on heading there.

    Thankfully, it''s summer break. That means I''m free to do whatever I want. Mom doesn''t care about us and Dad''s missing from our lives. We still haven''t visited the summer house that I picked out and designed secretly. Might as well go on a vacation.

    The summer house is located one city away from the zombie sighting ce, so I''ll be able to go look for zombie meat anytime.

    For the rest of the day, I called in some movingpany''s so that they could move all the stuff in the warehouse to the summer house. And since I owned the house that Calix and his mother were living in, I officially kicked him out. The movingpany moved their stuff out of the house.

    "Shui Yu! What''s the meaning of this?" Calix''s mother screamed, extremely infuriated.

    "Calix, I realized that you''re nothing but useless for my ns now. You aren''t needed anymore. Feel free to go back to your country."

    Calix''s mother scowled and yelled, "You''re the one who bought him! Take some responsibility!"

    I chuckled, "Is that what a mother should be saying, Miss Irene? And by the way, you realize that I could have killed him whenever I wanted? Made him do things that are illegal? Force him to do unspeakable deeds? I''ve done many things for you two and provided you a house as well, here''s the ve contract. I''ll ship your things over to the condo that you guys were living in before. I booked the XXXXXX hotel for you two. Forpensation? None. Goodbye."

    "I''ll definitelye back. Be prepared for it," said Calix in a dark tone.

    "How nice of you to give a warning," I countered back.

    The pair left hurriedly for the hotel I arranged them. It was a five-star hotel and only important people got to go there after all.

    "Xiao Yu, why did you do that?" Ge asked with a confused face.

    "Ge, I don''t trust them one bit. Although Calix may be your friend, he''s not trustworthy to me. And I know you heard Calix''s tale of his hardworking mother, but you should go look at the information that Xiao Lai was bored enough to look up. Besides, I only needed to buy a fake guardian. He''s nothing but a nuisance and isn''t useful for my n anymore."

    "Did you ever consider him family? Wasn''t Calix given a new name from you? Shui Fa?" he asked worriedly.

    "That was so you guys would treat him like a normal human being and not turn into people who would human beings as ves," I replied back.

    Ge sighed and rubbed my head.

    "It''s ok, I''m not too close to any of my friends anyways. Calix was merely a neighbor. I heeded your warning about not having friends who would betray you if you were better than them. I found out from Xiao Lai that they talk behind my back and curse me. Better off not having friends I guess," Ge said with a slight smile.

    I thought Ge was sad, so I told him some good news, "Ge, let''s go to our summer house for vacation. I already called the movingpany to move all our stuff in the warehouse to the summer house. I personally interior designed the house so it''ll be great. Besides, there''s a very important thing I''m looking for near our summer house. It''ll prepare us for the unfortunate disaster that''s toe."

    Ge realized that this became a serious matter and nodded solemnly. He went to gather up our younger siblings and they began packing.

    Soon, soon, I''ll tell them everything. Secrets aren''t good after all.

 Chapter 17: Summer House

    Chapter 17: Summer House

    Our summer house is specially designed by me. It''s chic, modern, creative, and has all the space you need. It has several secret passages that lead to different parts of the house that are hidden. Even the workers who redesigned the house don''t fully know what it looks like since they were switched many times.

    Anyways, here we are riding a taxi to our summer house. I decided to sell our warehouse and somebody bought it at a price higher than when I first bought it. I heard that the person who bought it was the new CEO of the famous online shoppingpany. I also sold my truck since Xiao Bing said we needed a newer and better-looking car. I agreed and decided to make a customized car and some motorcycles. I already had all the materials delivered to the summer house. When you live during the apocalypse, you pick up some pretty strange but useful skills.

    From now on, we won''t go back to the capital anymore unless it''s for the cheetah I need to kidnap from the zoo. Mom already should have seen the letter that I wrote saying goodbye to her. With her signature(faked) and thumbprint(done while she was asleep), we were officially disowned as Dad hadplied wholeheartedly. They really don''t care about us at all just like the past.

    Although we don''t have any guardian, I''ll try to find one soon enough. But first, I need to find some of the zombie meat.

    We arrived at the house after about 6 hours from the capital. The airne ride was 5 hours long and we rode the taxi for about an hour to get to our summer house. We stopped at the supermarket to buy some groceries too.

    Since Xiao Lai blurted out hotpot, the others wanted to eat some too. I guess I wanted a little bit of it as well.

    The taxi driver sighed at how lucky we were to live in such a big ce, and beamed happily when we gave him a lot of tips. But, it''s true, the summer house had be a lotrger because of the construction done on it. Xiao Lai was surprised because it didn''t look like this when he had searched for summer homes before. He could have used satellite cameras but he was probably toozy to look into it.

    Xiao Bing squealed about how pretty the house was and Ge looked impressed at the size. They all ran in to explore while I looked for the kitchen to make the hotpot.

    Honestly, I was impressed at my design too. I could be a professional architect/interior designer if I tried. But, that''d be rude to all the professionals since they work hard doing their job, meanwhile this was a one-time project.

    The kitchen was mostly made out of clean and shiny stainless steel. The countertops were made out of marble and the burner/oven was made of another material, but it all fit in together nicely. I opened up the grocery bags and started unpacking the kitchen tools from boxes that were set nearby.

    Pots, pans, utensils, everything came out in carefully wrapped piles. Finding the right tools, I turned the burners on to put them at the correct temperature while I washed and chopped the vegetables and meat.

    I had already picked out my room, so I wasn''t worried that the others would want to have it. Besides, I decorated each room very differently to suit everyone''s tastes. Ge''s was partly a training room and partly a lounge. He didn''t like closed spaces so it was one of the biggest rooms. Since he liked training so much, I thought that it''d suit him.

    Xiao Lai had a room that looked modern and full of electronic devices. Large screens that had several keyboards attached were one of the things on his wishlist anyway. He also has an aquarium in his room as his walls.

    Xiao Bing has a very cute room with an Emporer-sized canopy bed. It has a huge sofa with lots of cushions on them and the carpet is very fluffy. Her closet is full of dresses, skirts, and the kind of outfits she''d usually wear. But, if she presses a certain switch in the closet, the floor turns into a slide that transports to the weapon room. Ge and Xiao Lai also have a switch in their closet that acts like that.

    My room is directly above the weapon room by 3 floors, so I just designed a round staircase to lead down when I pulled the switch in my closet. There were many other rooms that I designed and reconstructed, but that should be saved for ater time.

    Anyways, I called the three down after I finished adding all the ingredients needed for the hotpot.

    Xiao Lai came down first and hugged me.

    "Yu Ge, my room''s awesome! Where did you get those huge screens? One of them was as big as a movie screen! Thanks!"

    I smiled lightly and gestured to him to sit on the dining table. His eyes sparkled as he sniffed in the wonderful scent of our meal. Without waiting for the others, he dug in as fast as he could while pulling out most of the meat.

    "Ah, Lai Ge! Don''t steal all of the meat!" eximed Xiao Bing as she came down from the railings. Yes, she jumped from the railings. I was teaching her parkour since it would be very necessary for the future apocalypse. I was teaching all my siblings but Xiao Bing was most interested in it since she could use it for her thief job. She used it frequently around in the warehouse before too. Jumping around the ce as she hung from the bars, poles, and lights from the ceilings. I was at first very worried that she''d fall, but she alwaysnded like a cat when she did.

    "Yu Ge, I love my room! It''s so cute and pretty! My bed''s so fancy too!" Xiao Bing gave a smooch to my cheek as she hugged me tightly. I smiled and told her, "There''s another pot I made just in case, so don''t worry about it but you have to properly eat your vegetables. And, I''m d you like your room."

    She sped away topete for the meat just when Ge came down the stairs.

    "Xiao Yu, thanks for designing our rooms. You did it, right? It''s perfect. The jacuzzi on the floor of my room is so big that I was actually at loss on what to do!" he chuckled lightly and patted my head. I blushed again. Who couldn''t help but blush if somebodyplimented you? Although I was mentally older than him, Ge would always be my Ge. Although he didn''t look like he did too much, he cared for us greatly and it was actually him who used to protect us from mom''s abuse, and during the apocalypse, he was the one who tried to provide for us as best as he could.

    "En, your wee. Go eat while I bring the other pot out." Ge nodded and walked over to where the younger ones were squabbling over food. He lightly scolded them with a shake of his head and a sigh. He then scooped out even portions onto their tes as theyined who got more of what.

    Seeing this normal but happy scene, I smiled bitterly since I knew what was going to happen in the near future. Hopefully, we''ll still be able to live peacefully, but if not, I''ll destroy whatever''s in our way.

    I brought out the other pot and they scrambled for it. Scooping out some soup, vegetables, and meat, I ate neatly and silently while listening to my siblings talk about the house.

    I smiled as I asked, "So, have you guys found the switch that leads to the weapon room?"

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing excitedly nodded while Ge gave a confused look.

    "Ge, have you not checked your closet yet?" I asked.

    "No, I took one look at it but it was full of clothes and too huge, so I wanted to look at itter," he replied.

    "I see. Well, there''s a switch at the end of the closet. Since we''re all kind of OCD, I thought that you would notice one of the patterns on the wall being a little different. Just press your thumb into it lightly till a wall opens and you see stairs," I patiently told him.

    "Ah? Mine had a slide!" Xiao Bing eximed.

    "Do you not like it?" I asked with a worried look.

    "No, I like it! It''s just that, am I not too old to go down sliding?" she asked.

    "If you want stairs, knock on the slide twice, it''ll turn into stairs if you give it 5 seconds or so. Same for the stairs turning into a slide. I suggest you use the slide to go down fast and theme up with the stairs. The slide can''t bring you back up anyway."

    As soon as I finished saying the information about the stairs, I was asked by Xiao Lai, "Yu Ge, where''s your room? And I''ve seen some of the other rooms, but what are they for?"

    "I can tell you after you finish your vegetables," I told him and pointed with my chopsticks.

    "Ugh, fine, I''ll eat them," he exasperatedly said and made gagging motions as he stuffed them into his mouth.

    "No throwing up in the toiletter," I warned. Xiao Lai looked even more devastated. "You too," I told Xiao Bing as she was giggling. She stopped and looked at the veggies on her te with killing intent as if that would make them disappear.

    Ge chuckled as he finished up his te and went to the kitchen to put them in the sink. We take turns washing the dishes and it was his turn, so he waited for us to finish and then found the sponge and dish soap from one of the many boxes still strewn around.

    I cleaned up the dining table and helped Ge wipe the dishes, pots, and other utensils.

    "Ok, let''s go up to my room. It''s on the 3rd floor," I announced after we were done cleaning up.

    "Hurry, hurry! Gah, everyone''s too slow!" yelled Xiao Bing as she rushed up the stairs and jumped from one railing to another. If the long chandelier wasn''t made out of metal, Xiao Bing wouldn''t have used it to rotate herself around it and use it as a prop. Thankfully, I predicted this and made it sturdy and reach to the floor and stick to it.

    I lightly chuckled and used the same movements as her to jump up at a faster speed than her. Ge and Xiao Lai weren''t fond of jumping around in the air with a possibility of a huge fall, but seeing that they weregging behind, chose to catch up quickly using martial art movesbined with parkour and whatnot.

    We quickly got to the 3rd floor. The hallways were bright as the sun shined through the huge ss windows. The floors were coated in ayer of granite, so I made ourselves put on slippers to not get cold feet. There were many doors but we didn''t stop until we reached the end of the hallway.

    Thest door was made of wood and very sturdy looking. I open it without hesitation and walk in.

    I very much enjoy my room''s decor. It is full of nts and had a hammock outside on the balcony. My room is modern and very open. Huge windows make up one of the walls and the ceiling was also ss that would open whenever I press a switch next to the one for the light. My room''syout is simple and easy, very peaceful as it lets me see the ocean that is just by our summer vi, and it also showed me the garden outside with the cute small cottage I had designed for the pets. It was smallerpared to other rooms but it was my favorite and I barely had anything done to it as it was already the way I liked it.

    "En, this seems like yours. Where''s your closet?" Ge asked.

    "Ah, it''s over here," I muttered as I pushed one of the walls.

    The wall overturned and a huge ce was revealed. I did connect my room to several other rooms after all. On one side of the revealed room, there are several rows and stacks of clothes, shoes, and essories. I like fashion after all. The other side is a lounge full of musical instruments. The piano, harp, vi, violin, flute, and bunches of other instruments that we y are there.

    The floor is wood and the side for clothes had walls that were made into mirrors. The instrument side has nts in one corner and the walls were in a light shade of beige, creating a nice atmosphere.

    "Yu Ge, you like fashion and music too much," Xiao Bingmented.

    "It''s the little things in life that you should enjoy," I told her.

    I pressed a smudge on the mirror wall, and the mirrors opened up to show a round staircase. Down I went and the rest followed.

    On the 2nd floor, I stopped and stepped out of the stairs. The 2nd-floor room that was right under mine was a library. I bought all kinds of books regardless of which and ordered them for everyone. Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing liked manhua, so I bought all kinds without even checking the genres. I decided to check themter. I liked Quantum Theory exnation novels and survival guides, so there was a corner for my pile of books. Ge likes to study psychology, acupuncture, traditional medicine, and martial arts, so those kinds of books were in another corner for him. There are several desks, chairs, andmps to use if they didn''t prefer the cushy beanbag pile.

    I introduced them to where each type of book was, and they headed over to see which to read. After flipping through a few books, we left by going down the stairs once more.

    This time, it was a garage. Xiao Lai really loves sports cars so I bought 7 of them for him. Xiao Bing wanted to get a motorcycle to ride when she got older, so I designed and assembled 7 of them. There were 2 limousines by the side and 4 armored cars next to them. There''s one regr car for outings but even that was an expensive brand. The garage was closest to the beach and a road was right outside of it, so I also bought a boat for when we wanted to get some sea breeze.

    "Yu Ge, I love them! Thank you so much!" eximed Xiao Lai as he ran over to one of the cars that were for him and lovingly hugged it from the front. That one was a shiny looking red sports car. But I really don''t get Xiao Lai''s obsession over branded goods and stuff. Xiao Bing curiously looked at the motorcycles.

    "Yu Ge, when can I learn how to drive?" she asked. She then told me in a hurry, "It''s not that I don''t like your driving! I just want to try driving!" Girl, that just exined your whole reason...

    "When you turn 13." was my answer. Xiao Lai grinned as he was closer to being 13 than she was.

    "Xiao Yu, this is practically a parking lot. And do we need all these vehicles?" scolded Ge.

    "Ge, we will need them soon enough. I didn''t waste money on these. All these vehicles are armored and sr-powered. In fact, the whole house is sr powered and the wateres from the ocean through a filter. I used lots of money to make this happen, but this is very important for our future," I told him reassuringly.

    "Fine, but please tell us what you are going to do before it happens," Ge said with a sigh.

    After prying Xiao Lai away from the sports cars, we head down once more to the weapons room.

    Ge was surprised at how the room had all sorts of weapons. Swords, guns, staffs, spears, tasers, shurikens, nunchucks, bows, arrows, spiked shoes, flexible and modern armor, whips, there was every weapon that would be useful in destroying the undead.

    The whole room is a practice room but tuned more towards uracy and marksmanship. Ge''s room was for practicing solely on martial arts. The weapons room can allow us to move without any worry. I stocked up every kind of medicine and bandages there were, so it would be fine if we got injured.

    Xiao Bing immediately headed towards the whips while Xiao Lai went to the swords. Ge simply moved towards the staffs and spears. The whole room was like a mini-stadium. One side of the room is a small medication center for when we became injured and had to treat ourselves. That''s where all our medicine, crutches, bandages, and casts were stored in as well.

    Next to the small medication center is a shooting range and next to that is a small room for smithing.

    During the apocalypse, ability users could create great weapons if they knew how. There was this one old man that was a jewelsmith with an earth and metal ability and taught me how to make jewelry. Everyone scoffed as he wasn''t a weaponsmith, but he was very great at making hidden weapons. Bracelets that contained small but very sharp needles, rings that contained poisonous needles, and many other beautiful but dangerous jewelry were made by him and the methods were taught to me. But, his greatest creation would be the obsidian string.

    The old man had dedicated his whole life to jewelry making, so he had no other family members, he focused solely on his job and searched for the best metal and gemstones. He was very famous and was one of the highest-ranking people in the famous jewelrypany, GEM, which stood for, "morous, Enchanting, Mesmerizing". Anyway, he had an affinity for finding the best gemstones even before the apocalypse. When the apocalypse happened, every precious stone within a mile of him could be sensed. But being the apocalypse, there were no uses for gems. Fresh food and water were more precious.

    The obsidian string was made after he got help from an unsuspecting fire user to melt it. I helped him cool it down with my water and he used his earth ability to shape it into an iparably sharp ck string. Just by touching it, my finger was cut. Obsidian is the sharpest material in the world after all. The old man was so joyful that day, he even cried. He gave half of the string to me and kept the other half. Before I was used as bait, the old man had a premonition that I''d be in some kind of danger with all the looks that our groupmates were giving, so he gave his half to me.

    Thinking about him, the gem fanatic, giving his most prized creation to me without hesitation because of his worrying, I smiled bitterly.

    ''Old man, I''ll pay you back soon. Although the string only kept me alive for a few minutes at most, your worries were felt. Thanks.''

    Haizz, I guess I might start crying if I think of him a bit more. I fanned my eyes to get the little moisture that was squeezed out back in.

    But of course, my sibling being trained by me to notice anything anywhere saw me dry my eyes.

    "Yu Ge, what''s wrong?" asked Xiao Lai.

    "I was thinking about a friend. I''ll introduce him to you guyster," I said with a mirthful smile.

    "Yu Ge, you actually have a friend? Who is it?" asked Xiao Bing with wide eyes. Well, she must''ve been surprised by how I actually cared for somebody else rather than them.

    "It''s an old man who makes jewelry. I''ll take you to him so you can see how pretty the stuff he makes is."

    "If it''s Xiao Yu''s friend, I doubt that the only thing he does is make jewelry," said Ge.

    I giggled lightly and smiled mischievously.

    After training ourselves for 4 hours, we decided to order some dinner. The little ones voted for pizza since they said that they ate too healthy today.

    So we ordered pizza from Mama Jane''s and trained some more while waiting for the delivery man.

    I was watching as Xiao Lai and Ge dueled with Xiao Bing shooting at them with rubber bullets every 10 seconds.

    A stray bullet flew too close by me so I caught it with my hand.

    "Yu Ge, sorry! Did your hand get hurt?" anxiously asked Xiao Bing.

    "I''m fine," I said, hiding my trembling hand behind me. I handed her rubber bullet back and told her to keep practicing her uracy.

    Haizz, I''ll fix these kinds of stuff up with the water power I get after eating some zombie meat in the future.

    Dingdong! Dingdong!

    "Hello, is anyone there? You ordered pizza!" came an annoyed voice.

    Service isn''t great it seems...

    "Xiao Lai, go and get it. I won anyway," said Ge.

    "Ah, fine. But I get to have half of the pizza!" eximed Xiao Lai as he ran up the stairs.

    When Xiao Bing and Ge looked at me, I reassured them, "I bought 3 pans, don''t worry."

    So we slowly went up with the hidden elevator that Xiao Lai didn''t find out about yet. It''s bullet speed and can travel up all floors. I only installed it to move heavy things easier. We got to the 1st floor quickly and saw Xiao Lai standing still in what seemed to be from shock.

    "Z-zhang Xing!"

    "Delta! And how the fuck do you know my name?!"

 Chapter 18: Z-zhang Xing!

    Chapter 18: Z-zhang Xing!

    "Z-zhang Xing!"

    "Delta! And how the fuck do you know my name?!"

    This was the first meeting of my hacker best friend. He is also a genius and we''ve fought against each other online so much that we had decided to make peace to not get ourselves frustrated over our ties.

    I know his name because I had researched him before and asked some people in other underworld facilities to find out a little about him.

    He''s rumored to be grumpy, feisty, and very sensitive about his height and looks. Zhang Xing doesn''t have friends, but everyone begrudgingly admitted that he is a very important person of their faculty even if they do not like him. He has green hair and is the best hacker in the Western part of China. My informer told me that his family, consisting of himself, his dad, mom, and younger sister, would be moving months ago and that his mom told him to go find a part-time job. He saved up his money so far and didn''t tell his family about his job apparently. His mother put him in a school for the gifted and rich, and they were struggling to make provisions. Zhang Xing struggled to tell his parents about the extra money because both his parents were from the police force.

    Apparently, he''s the same age as me too. We became gaming buddies and best friends after we tied so many battles online...

    All in all, he''s a pretty cool dude. But when I saw his picture, I was shook.

    He looks so cute! Green hair that suited his lighter shade of amber eyes, pale skin that indicated how much of a Neet he was, and that small face structure with his tiny pout!

    So yeah, I was liking him alot already for his personality, but I instantly fell in love after imagining what expressions he''d make if we met in real life.

    His code name is "Game Over". I thought it was pretty funny when we were on opposing sides and trying to hack into each other''s devices. We both failed and got so mad.

    Anyways, that was in the past. Right now, I''m slowly trying to woo him over to make him feel the same way about me, but I was expecting to meet him in several years, not this fast!

    "Xingxing, I had only asked the people from your faculty. They showed me a picture once. And don''t you know my name?" I asked as if I was wounded at heart.

    "Y-you! No one would give me your name in your faculty! They were so sarcastic about it too! So I hacked into their phones and deleted all their contacts, files, and apps!" my Xingxing said righteously.

    "Great, so do you know what my name is?" I said while struggling to notugh at his petty revenge.

    "U-um, no..." he replied with a frown.

    I flicked his forehead and told him, "I am Shui Lai. You''ve got to remember that, ok? Come in, let me take the pizza from you."

    I gathered the 3 boxes of pizza in my arms and shut the door with my foot. Xingxing hurriedly scrambled in with a disgruntled look.

    "Delta, I still have work. This is my 3rd part time job and I can''t mess up," he said with a sigh.

    "Call me Lai. Did you get fired for your personality?" I asked.

    "Ah, how did you know? They said I was too antisocial. The previous ces I worked at were cafes and people kept staring at me. One man even tried to touch me! So I talked back and the managers fired me," he said in curious wonder.

    I really wonder if he''s from the underworld. Hismon sense is a little too innocent andcking... But whoever that man was, I''ll destroy his life. Trying to touch my Xingxing? Only I can do that!

    "And now I have to ride my bike to deliver this stuff! I wish I was old enough to drive a car or something," heined.

    Then I noticed the 3 people standing a bit behind Xingxing. Xiao Bing looked curious about Xingxing, Jing Ge looked happy that I made a friend, and Yu Ge looked to be debating about something in his head.

    "Zhang Xing, yes?" called out Yu Ge.

    Xingxing turned around to see my siblings.

    "Damn, Lai, your family''s too good looking for this world," he whispered to me and then replied "Yes" to Yu Ge.

    "Why note work for our family? We''ll pay you 200 million a year."

    Let alone Xingxing being surprised, the rest of us were surprised. What had Yu Ge noticed to make an offer?

    But I didn''t want Xingxing to ept. He was my best friend(for now), not someone under me. We were equals and I intended to keep it that way forever.

    "Yu G-"

    Before I could say anything, my Xingxing spoke out seriously, "I cannot ept that offer. I will not stand below my friend. I have my own pride."

    To Xingxing''s response, Yu Ge gave a genuine smile. One that isn''t ever given to anyone besides me and my siblings.

    "Good. Pride is important. Please take care of Xiao Lai for me."

    Yu Ge then coolly turned away to the direction of the dining hall.

    "So he was just testing me?" adorably asked Xingxing.

    "Mm, good job," I happily told him while patting his head.

    Xingxing annoyingly nced at me and pushed my hand away.

    I merely grinned and continued to pester him. Since fate made hime to me so early, I should return the favor and catch him quickly as I could!

    Also, about pride... Yu Ge does consider it very important. As important as our lives he said.

    "If we don''t have pride, how can we live on? Might as well kill ourselves," were his very words and we couldn''t help but shiver at that time.

    I guess Calix Ge, or now, just Calix wasn''t as important as he seemed because he wasn''t containing a pride of his own. He did contain some courage but it was broken because of his destroyed pride.

    "People with damaged pride are too dangerous. Best to stay away from them" were also Yu Ge''s words that described people like Calix.

    Anyway, back to the current situation. Xingxing is at my house and I am very excited to meet him in real life already. I drag him around showing the kitchen, my room, the huge bathroom, the swimming pool, the herb garden, and lots of other ces. Xingxing was jealous of my room and how it had many devices that weren''t published yet.

    After keeping him for over 2 hours, I began to feel guilty that he''d lose his job.

    But Xingxing, kind as always, unlike what his underworld associates described, said, "Nah, don''t worry about it. If I get fired, I''ll bring Mama Jane''s down. That''s what happened to my previous workces as well. And the man who tried to touch me is dead from his suicide attempt after I stole all his properties. I can make up a fake job and pull out some of the money in my bank ount, so it''ll be fine. The only trouble is having my familye over to my workce or something. I''ll buy a shop I guess. Well, bye and see you soon Lai."

    Xingxing is too cool...

    I waved till I couldn''t see his mint colored bicycle anymore.

    When I got back in, I realized that I had been missing out on pizza so I hurried to the dining hall.

    Xiao Bing wasining about not being able to eat more slices. Thankfully Jing Ge and Yu Ge had kept a box for me. I was starving from training with a better environment and equipment!

 Chapter 19: Before School starts: 1 day

    Chapter 19: Before School starts: 1 day

    Zhang Xing, Xiao Lai''s crush seems like a good person. He has pride and morals at least, and since Xiao Lai seems to like him, I''ll give him a chance to prove his trustability.

    As for how I noticed that Xiao Lai seemed to have a crush on him?

    Xiao Lai was beaming and talking happily with Zhang Xing. He has friends that he ys around with, but this was different. I told this to Ge and he told me that Xiao Lai probably liked Zhang Xing.

    Ge looked a little strange when he found out that Xiao Lai liked a boy. Xiao Bing didn''t seem that weirded out. She told me, "I''m a fujoshi now, I love this kind of stuff!" I''ll have to search up what that ister.

    I only told Ge, "Xiao Lai finally has someone he likes. Let''s just let him be happy."

    Ge sighed and nodded. He said that it didn''t matter to him, but he is worried about how people will treat Xiao Lai. It was probably strange to Ge but to me who had seen many same-gender couples due to there being more males in the generation and even having seen those couples giving birth... it wasn''t strange at all.

    "Haha, Lai Ge would probably just destroy them!" said Xiao Bing in a joking tone, but we all knew that it was possible.

    Well, I''ll just have to sign us up for the school that Zhang Xing goes to. Let''s give Xiao Lai a better chance of seducing the fellow.

    So after 2 years of training and looking for zombies, which I haven''t found yet, we decided to rx a bit and go to school.

    After Xiao Lai finished his pizza that we ordered from Mama Jane''s since Zhang Xing was still working there, I asked him to search up on what school Zhang Xing went to. He agreed immediately and even soiled his precious devices with the grease on his hands from trying to get the information as fast as he could.

    He must really like this guy. At least, that''s what I think. He doesn''t search up on him and gives Zhao Xing his own privacy. I think Xiao Lai would make a good husband.

    So the next day, we went to the school''s office to sign up. We would officially attend school starting on Thursday, tomorrow.

    Since we all had our school supplies and such, we just packed our backpacks and slept peacefully in our new rooms.

    At midnight, Xiao Bing opened my room''s door and climbed into my bed.

    "Yu Ge, do you think I''ll make friends?"

    I kissed her on the forehead and hugged her to my chest.

    "Of course. Who wouldn''t want to be friends with such a lovely girl like you?"

    Having gained some courage, Xiao Bing nodded and whispered excitedly, "That''s right. I''m so cute, they''ll want to be my friends!"

    "En, let''s go to sleep. Good night."

    Xiao Bing said ''Good Night'' as well and dozed off quickly.

    I wonder when I''ll be able to find the zombie meat we need. Maybe on the weekends.

    For now, I''ll just go to sleep since it''s a school day tomorrow.

 Chapter 20: Super Fancy School

    Chapter 20: Super Fancy School

    So we''re at school. The school is for the rich and gifted. It seems quite aplished and in Xiao Lai''s terms, "Super Fancy".

    Almost everyone came to the school in sports cars or limousines. Good thing we have those too. We''re in one of Xiao Lai''s sports cars. This is a red one that will instantly catch the eyes of any person. I designed most of it and engineers I hired made it. It''s definitely an amazing original model. Xiao Lai was very reluctant to take it out until Xiao Bingined that he was too childish and selfish. That riled him up and he let us take it out for the day. Those two are still very cute and childish.

    We were parked to the side as we waited for every student to pass by the gates. We would enterst to see what the situation was like. After every car containing a young master or young miss passed through the tall gates, a very long limousine, the longest we''ve seen so far came to the gates and passed. It was colored an ugly yellow and had the words "School Bus" printed on it in a bold font.

    Whoever made this definitely has terrible tastes...

    (Far away in an office, the principal sneezes)

    "Yu Ge, I want to go meet Xingxing, can I go?" Xiao Lai asked while preparing to get off the car.

    I nodded to give consent and he hurried away with his backpack slung around his shoulders.

    "Xingxing!" he yelled as he rushed towards the ugly "school bus". He was using his top speed no doubt, he reached there instantly.

    The rich and gifted students who were getting out of their rides all turned towards the loud voice.

    Xingxing, I mean Zhang Xing, turned around in confusion to see my little brother jump at him and hug him with full force.

    "Lai, why are you here?" the boy asked. He looked pleasantly surprised and very confused.

    "I transferred! Now I get to see you every day!" So many exmations... Xiao Lai really seems happy.

    Xiao Bing watching this from a distance said, "I can''t take this anymore! Too boring! I''m going out to have a closer look!"

    She strutted out from the sports car like a model and Ge helplessly followed after her carrying his and her backpacks.

    I chuckled and told the car to go back home. All of our vehicles have the ability to listen to voicemands. Xiao Lai loved the cars mostly because of that.

    As the car drove away by itself, I walked to my siblings'' direction.

    "Zhang Xing, sorry to trouble you. Xiao Lai will be in all of your sses, so please guide him, he''s directionally challenged," I said softly with an amiable smile on my face.

    "Ok, ok, Yu Ge you don''t have to worry about me. I''ll follow him around," Xiao Lai said in aining tone while having bright sparkling eyes that showed his excitement.

    "Lai, you''re directionally challenged?" Zhang Xing asked in incredulity.

    "Yup, so you''ll have to help me around. Got it?"

    Zhang Xing had fallen for Xiao Lai''s trap sessfully when he nodded. Xiao Lai was directionally challenged, it was true, but he could still easily get around with the map he memorized of the school.

    Zhang Xing walked away nning to lead my little brother to ss. Xiao Lai gave me a quick hug and whispered ''thanks bro'' and ran to catch up.

    Ge smiled while Xiao Bing pouted at not being able to see what she called, "scenes" anymore.

    All the students went into the school in uniform order, unlike the hordes we usually saw in our old school. They kept looking at us. It was probably because we haven''t gotten our tailor-made uniforms yet.

    Ge went to his 12th grade ss on his own. He also memorized the school campus map, so he could get to his sses easily. Xiao Bing had it memorized as well, we all did, but she said that she wanted me to take her to ss. And me, being her doting older brotherplied as soon little sister asked him.

    The school has all grades, starting from preschool up to college. It was a pretty well-known ce apparently. I''m not interested in such things, but it''s apparently like that.

    The 5th grade sses were in the elementary school division, near the ce where Zhang Xing led Xiao Lai to for their 8th grade sses, the junior high school division. I wouldter go to my 10th grade sses in the high school division after sending off Xiao Bing.

    Xiao Bing seemed nervous. We haven''t met many people during our 2 years of training and homeschooling. Zhang Xing was the only person that we knew well enough. I still have to contact the old man who taught me how to make jewelry and hidden weapons. As for Xiao Bing''s potion teacher, she would let the car drive itself to her teacher''s house. We were told not to pry or follow after her since her teacher wanted to keep their identity anonymous. So far, we haven''t even met this poison arts teacher of hers yet.

    Anyways, I led Xiao Bing to ss. She clung to me and held my hand tight. Xiao Bing really wanted friends. The ones around her age, not the friends she had in the underworld.

    "Yu Ge, when I make a friend, you''ll make one too," she made a deal. But really, I had no friends to speak of... how do I make them again anyway?

    "Mm, ok Xiao Bing," I replied back but I wasn''t very confident.

    "You promised, so keep it!" she made me do a pinkie promise.

    Nervously standing outside her ssroom''s door, Xiao Bing knocked on the sliding door to get the teacher''s attention.

    "Hello girls, do you need something?" she asked with a bright smile.

    Meanwhile, I instantly frowned and gave off a cold aura. Did I really look girly? Sure I''ve grown my hair to reach my shoulders but it shouldn''t make too big of a difference, right? I was used to growing my hair since it was hard to find decent scissors much less hair stylist scissors and it was even harder to get a decent haircut during the apocalypse. Besides I was a water element user and could wash my hair properly no matter the length.

    "Ah, teacher, I''m a transfer student. And this is my older brother," Shui Bing said with a cheeky grin.

    "Oh my! I''m terribly sorry! Anyways, you must be Shui Bing? Wee to ss 5A!"

    I watched as Shui Bing took her backpack from my hands and nervously walked up to the ssroom podium. She was definitely nervous, but her voice was clear and smooth. Introducing herself neatly, she bowed and a quiet apuse resounded from the ssroom. The teacher assigned her a seat next to a shy looking girl with sses.

    Satisfied with how Shui Bing''s ss''s attitude was, I calmly walked away to the high school division.

    Well, at least, I seemed to.

    Unfortunately, I had not memorized the school map. Besides, I would still have trouble even after I memorized the map... I had just put it away on my drawer and read an online novel instead.

    Right now, I seemed to be on a small cobblestone path. I kept on walking as I decided not to jump onto the school buildings to scout the area. If there were sufficient trees here, I would just climb towards the tallest one and find my ssroom. By now, instead of being closer to the destination, I felt like I was getting further.

    I guess this is the fate of me and Xiao Lai. We''re both directionally challenged. Unless I''ve been to a ce multiple times and memorized the whole area, I can''t possibly find my way... Xiao Lai is the same but he has it better since he can memorize a map instantly from his genius capabilities and photographic memory. I didn''t memorize the map and I even forgot to take a picture of it.

    For now, I could just wander around until I found a school building. I was in what seemed like a huge maze of bushes and roses. After a while, I spotted a ss dome. It sparkled brightly as the sunlight shined off it.

    As a lover of pretty things, I had a massive urge to go forward. I didn''t care about sses anymore, the apocalypse would ruin the system of education anyway. What did I need it for?

    It was just too tempting seeing the shining ss dome. I just gave in to my urges and jumped lightly onto the rose hedges. Thankfully, I wore clothes that didn''t weigh much, allowing me to step on the hedges and run on the quickly without any mishap. It would be much slower to run in heavy clothing and shoes.

    In just a few seconds, I arrived in front of therge ss dome. It was absolutely beautiful and didn''t have a smudge of dust on it. It was so shiny! I had gotten too obsessed with beautiful things during my second life. Fashion, jewelry, music, architecture, interior design. These were all ways to express the beauty of livelihood. During the apocalypse, it was hard to even survive, let alone have time for hobbies. The newer buildings were crudely made and aesthetic was found nowhere. This made me very grateful for my opportunity to gather up beautiful things and horde them.

    All I could say about the ss dome was that it was breathtakingly beautiful. The way the sunlight bounced off the glittering ss... The way it was uniquely structured... The way it changed colors as light refracted...

    I was already in the dome before I realized it.

    So glisteningly bright and stunning!

    The inside was full of nts and I could see a fountain a little further from me. I stepped up the shallow steps, three of them, and went forward.

    The fountain had many tiny silver fish in the water. They swam around steadily andzily. The fountain was made of white stone and looked like the ones from France where there''s a naked cherub and such on the top as a decoration piece. Fortunately, the cherub wasn''t pissing and instead was clothed and holding a flute that spouted water.

    I went around the garden and spotted some tropical nts as well as normal ones. The ss dome itself was beautiful but the coordination of this ce is really skewed, who would actually put flowers and trees that don''t go together in the same ce?

    (Faraway, the principal sneezes)

    Well, now that I see it, the ss dome can be copied. I memorized the aesthetic of this ce so I''ll probably get some people to build it in the backyard as a smaller copy of it. Ai, I hyperventte whenever I see something beautiful. I just can''t help it.

    After I got out of the ss dome, I kept looking back at it until I couldn''t see it anymore. Going to my ssroom seems like a pain, but it''ll have to do.

    The cobblestone trail has a simple butfortable feel to it. The color of the grass is a very pretty color too. This school is great in terms of appearance. I shoulde here more often. I was only nning to drop off my siblings and skip out on my sses, but it seems like I can just walk around and admire the school site while waiting for my siblings. But ditching ss is a must! I don''t want to learn the same old things over again and school''s not important for an apocalypse anyways.

    So, I''ll head to my sses now I guess. Whipping out my schedule, I saw that I had 4 sses today. I don''t know how many times the bell rang but checking the time, 2:37, it should be thest period. It''s probably halfway in... Oh well, I''ll just go just for the sake of giving the teachers some face. Besides, I''m slightly hungry, I should go to the cafeteria.

    Over the years, I''ve trained my siblings to eat only lunch and dinner. Dinner should be eaten inrge portions while Lunch, small portions. This was proven to be able to keep your body less fat and with more stability. But for water, I told them to drink lots because water could be provided easily with me as a future water user.

    My siblings and I are still not sure on how to live normally since Xiao Lai is a hacker and Xiao Bing is a thief. Ge has gotten too used to violence and doesn''t really feel much emotions concerning their jobs. I think that he''s still very innocent but to the point of it being a little terrifying. Well, I won''t exin it further, but there was a situation when we were still in the capital, we saw ady get harassed by three guys. We saw it but avoided it since we knew the three guys were harmless and wouldn''t do anything to thedy. Besides, the three guys were quite friendly to us since we bought fruits and vegetables from their family''s stalls all the time. They were brothers who just joked around every day.

    But thedy didn''t know that, so she called the police. The police were not from the town, so they didn''t know much about the three brothers either. They tried to take the three guys to the police station so we were going to step up and be witnesses. Ge went towards the police, so we thought it was going to be ok, but he started pummeling thedy and the police. They were a bloody mess of deformed limbs by the time Ge calmed down with my coaxing.

    The three guys had seen and were terrified. They ran away as soon as possible. I asked Ge, "Why did you do that?" and he replied with, "They were wrong." Xiao Bing retorted, "Jing Ge, but you can''t go beating up every bad person, can you?" Ge thought for a while, and then said, "Why? Every bad person should be punished." Ge really had a weird sense of justice at that time. He was only a middle schooler at that time after all.

    There were many more situations in the past that had Ge conducted and most went like that, where he beat up people. He still does it but now only after he properly sees the situation.

    Anyways, back to school. I arrive at the school building once again and began walking up the stairways to my ssroom. Thankfully there were signs on which letter and grade ssrooms were located in. My ss should be 10A. This school was nice in a way that they had recess for 30 minutes in the middle of the day and the teachers switched ssrooms, not the kids.

    I heard people inside the room, so I opened the door and went in. There were a few kids who were writing on paper and a supervising teacher.

    Staying silent, I just randomly sat at a corner at the back and ignored the stares I got. The window was two seats next to me and the view was quite beautiful, showing a garden, so I moved to the seat next to the window. Mm, the view was quite pretty.

    "Student, why aren''t you in the auditorium? If you''re a new student, they should be mentioning you right now," said the supervising teacher.

    I only gave an "oh" and fiddled with my phone. I guess that probably left a bad impression on the supervising teacher. The few students left in here, 3 of them, looked at me curiously. Meanwhile, I turned on my phone and notifications started ringing out. They were from my siblings who were wondering where I was.

    Ge called me and I epted.

    "Xiao Yu, you finally turned on your phone. Keep your phone turned on at all times, please! And where are you? Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing are here waiting for you. The principal has yet to mention your name and is still making a speech. We''re going to be introduced soon, are you going toe over?" he said in a concerned tone.

    "Yu Ge, did you get lost after dropping Xiao Bing off? You shouldn''t have bothered to drop of that girl!" came Xiao Lai''s voice from the background.

    "Hey, that''s mean! Yu Ge, don''t worry. You can miss out on the introduction. We''ll just tell the principal that you aren''t participating," said Xiao Bing.

    After listening to them rant for a while, I realized that it was on speaker. I always put it on speaker by habit since it''s easier to train not holding the phone. Besides holding a phone will affect the flexibility of your wrists. But no doubt about the fact that the 3 students and the teacher heard my siblings persuade me not toe since I would get lost again.

    "Ge, Xiao Lai, Xiao Bing, I''m noting. Tell the principal that for me. And do you know where the cafeteria is? I''m a bit hungry."

    Ge sighed over the phone and told me to go down to the first floor and head to the double doors that were colored in gold. But then Xiao Lai reminded me that lunch would usually end at 1 pm. I guess I can''t get lunch for today.

    "Yu Ge, don''t worry. I brought some snacks in my backpack. I have dark chocte, mint chocte, caramel chocte, almond choc-

    "Xiao Yu, I brought snacks too. I have some chips and gummy. Don''t eat the chocte that Xiao Bing brought. They''re too sweet anyways," Ge cut off Xiao Bing''s rambles.

    "Mm, I''ll wait in my ssroom then. Good luck with the introductions. And introduce me to the students briefly if possible. Thanks."

    I ended the call as I could hear the ps resounding probably from the principal finishing his speech.

    I wonder if I could be excused from the introduction so easily though. Oh well.

 Chapter 21: Unique Introductions

    Chapter 21: Unique Introductions

    School''s a great ce. I never noticed, but the teachers are nice, the ssmates are friendly, and best of all, Xingxing goes here!

    The skies are bright, the grass is shining, the birds chirp when Xingxing''s presence graces the world. To me, he''s like the light of the world who just shines so brightly. Fortunately, he has long bangs that cover up his cute face, so nobody has taken notice of him yet. And it will forever be that way since I won''t let anyone get close to him!

    Right now, in the auditorium, the principal, the man who designed that ugly yellow limousine, is giving a speech. Unlike in our school, the speech is actually motivating and mentions a point system. When you earn enough points, you get to skip sses and not do assignments. This school enforces early military training and points are either earned through donating, helping teachers or getting the highest score in tests or military training courses. The younger kids, only need to do basic exercises unless their parents sign a permission form to make them practice with higher level sses. The middle schoolers learn basic martial arts and do basic exercises as well. The permission form for higher level sses refers to us too. The high schoolers go full-on with the military training and it''s rumored to be even more difficult than an actual army training. Majority of the kids here, 87%, get their parents to donate so they can earn enough points to skip military training course sses. They usually take the military course lessons till middle school usually and skip out on the high school ones. But they still have to go and participate in listening to instructors and watching others who are taking the course ss. There was plenty of information regardingints of kids who were in that ss, so I easily memorized the information. The military courses start in the second semester, and there are four semesters. And this year, there will be more participating students due to the principal talking about how this would help stay students safe from being targetted potentially. The parents bought that and enrolled their kids in the military training course this year higher than ever.

    The principal apparently gives this speech everytime a neer arrives. After his speech ended, he gestured to us so that we could introduce ourselves. Introducing ourselves in front of more than 2,000 students... We can deal with it, and the aristocratic kids can too, but I wonder how it was for the schrship students? How was Xingxing like? I''ll probably look it upter.

    Jing Ge took the microphone and headed up to the podium. His tall stature and handsome beauty could be seen on the screen behind him. This ce could honestly be a stadium. Well, it kind of was actually.

    "Hello, I am Shui Jing," he said with that smooth andforting voice.

    The principal, a young man who has eyes that just seem to smile, nodded delightedly and asked, "Yes, student, which grade and ss are you in? What are your hobbies?"

    Jing Ge didn''t hesitate as he answered, "I am in grade 12 and my ssroom is 12A. My hobbies are martial arts, shooting, ying musical instruments, reading, and cooking."

    Yup, that sounded about right. Jing Ge really shouldn''t have mentioned those first two hobbies. The principal is kind of nervous. And about his hobby of cooking, Jing Ge is strangely good at cooking. We officially have two moms in the house now.

    "Thank you, student, now for the other students. You four, ah, three? Where is thest one?" the principal asked confusedly.

    I stepped up, grabbed the microphone and faced the crowd with boldness.

    "To answer the principal, our 2nd brother is currently lost on school grounds. I am Shui Lai, an 8th grader in ss 8A. My hobbies are hacking, parkour, shooting, buying sports cars, sword arts, and archery. Nice to meet you all!"

    Ha, if Jing Ge mentioned all his hobbies, I would surely do the same. The principal looked a little more frustrated since the whole assembly conversation he prepared wasn''t going as intended.

    Xiao Bing headed my way and reached for the microphone. I swerved out of her way with a backflip and threw the microphone in the air. I caught it with a point of my index finger and smirked at my little sister.

    Buttely, Xiao Bing has gotten a lot better with controlling her anger and other emotions. Yu Ge especially praised her for that. And as always, it''s the painful truth that somehow, a little girl is many times stronger than me.

    Xiao Bing rushed over andshed out a hidden weapon from her hair. Damn, her hair clips are always sharp to the point of drawing blood. I was distracted while dodging it and she swerved and stuck her dainty little foot out.

    I, of course, didn'' trip. I gracefully jumped as soon as possible andnded on my feet. But unfortunately, the microphone was already in her hands and the hair clip was back in her hair as well. Xiao Bing really liked the hairclip because Yu Ge had gifted it to her. It was a thin silver hairpiece that he made himself. There were several small diamonds attached to it and it looked like clear dewdrops that justnded on a glistening little flute. Yea, the hairpin also doubled as a really sharp whistle that could tear your ears out with one blow... Having experienced it first hand, I knew it was a terrifying weapon.

    "Hello everyone! I''m Shui Bing from grade 5, ss 5A. I like martial arts, archery, shooting, chemistry, reading, cosying, and making friends! Nice to meet you!" Xiao Bing cheerfully said to the stunned crowd. No doubt that the "chemistry" meant making poison.

    Not having expected such a fiasco to happen, the principal was very pale currently. "Well... that certainly was an interesting introduction! For Student Shui Yu, we will, unfortunately, have to postpone his introduction. Everyone dismissed!"

    Ai, the reactions of the students were amusing, to say the least. They calmly formed an amiable look on their faces and went out in uniformed lines. The preschoolers looked adorable as they tried to do the same but kept looking back at us with wide eyes.

    I guess my introduction wasn''t so much of a bang as I wished it to be. And Yu Ge is still shrouded in mystery to the other students. Anyways, since school would soon be over, we all grabbed our backpacks and ran out of the building and used parkour to cross over many students'' heads. Since we already revealed our skills, there was no point of hiding them anymore.

    The school was crammed as students no longer were quiet like before, but like regr kids,ughing and talking. We had to squeeze our way through to Yu Ge''s ssroom.

    When we made it in, the ssroom was full of students packing notebooks and utensils while sneakily ncing towards the back.

    Yu Ge was seated at the back corner next to the window. He was sleeping peacefully, using his arms as pillows. He opened his eyes immediately as he sensed our footsteps. Yawning silently, he motioned for us toe closer.

    "Did it go well?" he asked.

    "Well, we don''t have to hide our skills anymore. Xiao Lai has made sure of that," sighed Jing Ge.

    I protested, "Xiao Bing took part in it too!"

    "It''s because you wouldn''t hand me the microphone!" Xiao Bing pouted.

    "Alright, it doesn''t matter. Let''s go home. And Xiao Bing, could you share some dark chocte with me? I feel rather tired." Yu Ge didn''t me me and lightly smiled at our antics.

    I pressed an app on my phone and pushed the icon that would bring my sports car to the school.

    Yu Ge ate the dark chocte bar in tiny bites while listening to our stories of how our day went.

    We got out of the school at the same time as the other students and waited for my car toe and pick us up. I saw Xingxing and other schrship students waiting early for the ugly yellow limousine.

    After getting a nod from Yu Ge, I rushed over to Xingxing who was startled as he was suddenly hugged from the back.

    "Ah, Lai, what are you doing here?" he asked.

    "Coming over to see you~" I responded.

    "Fine. Anyways, about your introduction... what to say... it was... interesting. I didn''t know you did all types of fighting styles. And your sister seems better than you at fighting."

    "Nonsense, I went easy on her. And you aren''t surprised?" I asked with a probing tone. I would prefer for Xingxing to not be freaked out because of my hobbies.

    "You''re my friend. It''s not like you would hurt me anyway. Just help me train when ites to the military training courses."

    Haha... I don''t know whether I''m supposed to be happy or disappointed that he called me "friend". I''ve been trying to make gentle advances and subtle suggestions to him but either he''s way too dense, doesn''t notice them, or is trying to ignore them.

    "True. Xingxing, you don''t need to wait for that ugly limousine. Why don''t you ride with us? Our car''sing soon."

    "You guys have a chauffeur?" Xingxing asked.

    "Nope, it''s on auto-mode!" I cheekily grinned.

    With that, Xingxing was sessfully reeled over as I promised to exin to him how it worked. Xingxing definitely is perfect for me, I found out not too long ago that he also liked sports cars. We really are a match made in heaven!

    The red sports car came to pick us up and we first went to Xingxing''s house first to drop him off. Wanting to badly see my future inws, but ultimately not being able to, is a horrible feeling you know?

 Chapter 22: First Friend

    Chapter 22: First Friend

    We got back home and trained till dinner. The teachers unexpectedly gave us homework. It was an online tutorial, so I easily finished and wrote notes down. It''s what I''ve already learned, so it''s useless to go to school for me. I might as well just asionally go to ss when I''m bored. And the military training ss is required apparently, so I''ll have to go to that. When it''s not in session for that ss, I''ll probably just go around exploring the school.

    But the school is definitely interesting. Besides the weirdly designed "bus" and the horrible arrangement of nts inside the ss dome, it was finely made. Even the architecture of the school was quite amazing and made out of very durable and expensive materials. It would definitely be great for a fortress during the apocalypse.

    Although the school seems more normal than we presumed, it has three types of sses, the regr one, the military training session, and the Art sses. Some studentse from prestigious crafting families and they take art sses. But even art sses are divided into grade and ss. If you are good enough, you can get into A sses, such as us, we''re all in #A.

    For Art sses, students aren''t required to take it, but it''s rmended. The fashion, painting and dance ss sounded interesting, so I nned to check them out. The military training sses would start during the second semester, so it was still several months away.

    Besides those sses, I could just stay at home, train, get more information on the zombie meat, and rest or practice instruments at home. I also need to go find the jeweler old man, but I doubt he''d have a good impression of me if I randomly ran up to him and introduced myself.

    I also need to travel abroad in a few weeks to buy some things from out of the country. They aren''t illegal things, it''s just buying some foreign snacks, clothes, and other souvenirs. Xiao Bing has gotten into something called cosying and wants original costumes from Japan, so I''m going to fly over there and buy some.

    The others have to stay and diligently go to school. Although I''m the second child, I''m practically their guardian. And while I''m gone, I asked Xiao Bing''s poison arts teacher to babysit them just in case for a couple of weeks. I still don''t know what Xiao Bing''s teacher is like, so I''d better pay my respects to her after Ie back from the trip.

    So, for the next 2 weeks or so, I only attended some sses. By some sses, I meant the fashion, painting and dance sses I wanted to check out. I only stayed for 1 ss each in the courses and decided to join the clubs instead. For clubs, you didn''t have to attend until the school athleticspetition or school festival arrived. Going to club meetings were still highly rmended since it helped you improve your skill in that subject with all the professional help given by club advisors.

    Currently, I had safely gotten off the hyperne, short for Hypersonic Airne, not the quantum theory kind, and arrived at the capital of Japan, Tokyo, to go to the hotel where I reserved my room.

    The streets were very different from my country''s. It was bright, colorful, loud, and just somehowfortable. Everyone seemed to be with somebody and most chatting,ughing, or smiling. It was strange to see such a people-filled ce that I could fit in right away. Nevertheless, it was a nice feeling.

    After checking out my room, I pulled out several thousand from the bank ount I had stored up for traveling expenses and turned them into Japanese Yen.

    There were many stores, confectionary stores, hairstyling shops, and a bunch of other shops as well. I decided I could go have some sweets, so I bought some cotton candy along the way. Small children near the park were staring enviously as I held the huge cotton candy mound. So I gave them the caramel candy I kept in my pocket. Those pieces of candy were extremely expensive and it slightly pained my heart to see them chewed and cracked in their mouth. They should at least savor it a little... But their smiles were bright so it made me feel a little better. Then I warned them not to take things from strangers unless your parents were with you.

    They asked me, "What about you, Onee-chan?"

    I replied, "I don''t count, besides you''ve already eaten my candy. Just be careful, and I''m not a girl. You should call me Onii-san."

    Greedy eyes of the children still trailed after my cotton candy, so I helplessly gave it away. I wouldn''t be able to eat with all those stares.

    I went into thergest manga store in Tokyo and took out 18 sheets of paper, filled from front to back each. They were filled with the titles of manga that Xiao Bing wanted to buy but couldn''t due to having to spend money to transfer them over, but Xiao Bing didn''t want to waste money doing that. So she requested me to go get them myself. We had enough money to transfer them but she was stingy about the smallest and most random of things.

    Xiao Bing could understand Japanese a little, but not to the point of fluently reading off the pages, so I was also thinking of hiring some of those people who draw manga, mangakas(?), and get them to edit it into Chinese. Hiring about 2,000 seems to be an ok amount, no?

    I sessfully found all the manga that Xiao Bing requested. Some weren''t being sold, and I could only trace them on the inte. Xiao Bing had called me to ask some of her friends on a chat group if I couldn''t find them all since some were doujinshi, something like fan-artics. With the help of more than 5 million people in her chat group, I was able to acquire all of them.

    And I hired the people in the chat group who made professional doujinshi to edit for me after I tranted the manga. I never knew that my innocent little sister would read such perverted things like these and enjoyed it...

    Only a couple of pages were given to each person, and they submitted it only a dayter. I checked over the content, paid them generously, and thanked them before printing the pages out in a printing shop and applying glossy covers.

    Now that my mission to get manga for Xiao Bing was settled, I would go out and look for cosy costumes.

    In our small family of 4, only I would allow Xiao Bing to y dress up with me. Ge and Xiao Lai didn''t want to go along and onlypromised when I bribed them with less training time.

    I even made a room specially designed with different types of scenery as backgrounds. We''d hire Ge who would usually take the pictures for us, and Xiao Lai was sometimes in the photos and edited themter.

    I bought outfits that would fit Xiao Bing and other outfits that she tried to draw out for me but then printed out pictures of. Xiao Bing couldn''t draw or cook which was frustrating to her, but she could do anything besides feminine arts.

    She fought pretty well these days and her speed was only a little away from reaching 30% of mine. And I eventually showed that I was a lot more powerful than them after I saw them cking off at training during when I was out looking for zombie meat. I gave them a lesson that they would never forget...

    And instead of getting sad that he wasn''t the strongest, Ge was frustrated that he was still so weak. He still trains the hardest out of the 3 of them till today. Just his brute strength is enough to match 20% of mine.

    Anyway, in a little less than about a month, I bought all the snacks, clothes, and manga that Xiao Bing wanted. For Xiao Lai, I bought him small robot gadgets that looked like spiders. Ge wanted some weapons, so I bought katana, throwing stars, and throwing knives from a renowned native master cksmith.

    When I returned to China with more than 10rge suitcases, all three were waiting for me at the airport. I think they grew a little taller. Xiao Lai is about to catch up to my height and will probably grow taller than me.

    "Yu Ge! Did you buy everything I asked for?" asked Xiao Bing.

    "Hey! Can''t you wee Yu Ge back first?" scolded Xiao Lai while chopping onto Xiao Bing''s head.

    "You messed up my hair!" angrily dered Xiao Bing.

    "Xiao Yu, wee back, are you tired?" asked the ever-so-gentle and caring Ge.

    "En, I''m fine. Xiao Bing, Xiao Lai, don''t argue. I brought you guys presents. Let''s go home."

    We returned to our mansion and I brought them their presents. Apparently, in the very old times, airports didn''t allow weapons, now they freely allow it as long as we tell them beforehand. Life must have been very hard in the old times.

    Xiao Bing was delighted that her manga had been tranted already and Xiao Lai was satisfied with the crawling robots. Ge looked at his new weapons appreciatively and swung them around lightly but with force, testing them.

    I went to sleep and wokete up in the morning. I didn''t notice the others'' presence, so they must''ve gone to school. From their scent, approximately, 4 hours and 28 minutes. I also noted that there was another scent that was fading, probably Xiao Bing''s teacher, so I didn''t pay any attention to it. I put on my uniform and proceeded to not doze off while running to school. The car was fast, it''s true, but I needed to wake myself up fully and getting some exercise wouldn''t hurt. Besides, the fastest car in this world goes for only 350 mph. With all the training I do and with the memories of how fast we had to run when hordes of zombies came, 350 mph wasn''t much to me. My rebirth had added some physical prowess to me after all, and not even 1,000 mph was my top speed. And as you know, that is much faster than the speed of sound.

    Military training sses were starting today. If not, I would have rxed a little more in Japan and bought more souvenirs.

    When I got to ss, the ssroom was empty and I only saw folded uniforms on the tables. Only my seat had a camouge ck uniform on it. I dressed up quickly and headed towards where sweat was smelling from. It stank, and since I have heightened senses, it''s quite torturous for me.

    When I got there, the instructor was making all the students in my grade, besides the ones who had opted out with points,ps.

    The buff instructor noticed me and yelled at me, "You girl, even if you have skin so pale that it''s almost blue, you must finish 30ps today!"

    I paused and pondered. This was tantly angering me, wasn''t it?

    After tying my hair into a ponytail, I passed by the stupid instructor and quickly whispered into his ear, "Teacher, I''m a guy."

    Without stopping for a second, I quickly ran, not to my limit, very slow, about 20 mph. Of course, I finished in less than 10 minutes.

    Not even breaking a sweat, I received, well more like, took, a towel and water bottle from the stunned ss president. Actually, I didn''t know that we even had ss presidents. It was only because he had on a special badge on hispel that I found out.

    It was such a nice thing for the school to give us snacks. They had prepared a basket of food right next to the bleachers. In our ss, there were many who had yet to finish, this was because our ss was the top ss and the students'' parents probably wanted their kids to show some leadership and be stronger while at it to protect themselves.

    Not many students sat on the bleachers leisurely as this year, apparently, the parents decided to toughen up the kids since these rich kids could be targeted any time. Xiao Lai told me, and it looked to be true. Only some scrawny kids and arrogant looking students sat on the bleachers.

    I went up to the highest spot on the bleachers and sat down with a loud thump. I retied my hair that had reached up to my back into a bun. What a day, already being hardworking~ I ate the plums I brought from the food basket and chewed on it silently with closed eyes.

    Is this what the military training course was like? This was far too easy, I should earn some points and sip out on it. This also seemed to be too easy for my siblings, but unlike me, they enjoyed school so far. Xiao Lai had his Xingxing around, Ge became popr in his grade, and Xiao Bing was steadily making friends. Err, I still had to keep the promise about making friends. There was a loophole, I could make imaginary friends.

    The bleachers that were made out of metal began to creak louder by the second as a presence wasing up towards my direction.

    "Excuse me student, but I haven''t seen you before, what ss are you in? I''ve never seen anyone run as fast as you!" came a nice sounding voice. It seemed the person was really interested instead of trying to make connections.

    "Who are you?" It might havee off as rude, but I really didn''t know this guy. Should I have said it more politely? I didn''t talk with other people besides my siblings so my social interactions were quite awkward.

    "Oh, I was being rude, I''m sorry, I should have introduced myself first. My name is Mo Yun from ss 10A." This person was very nice and polite, and I could instantly tell that this person was inexperienced in dealing with danger with his nervous tone after calming down from his previous excited state. I could just tell. Intuition is my strong point after all. It was what got me to live as long as I did during the apocalypse.

    I opened my eyes. What a cute person! Very adorable, it made you want to pamper this soft-voiced person endlessly! The boy had on huge rimmed sses that reflected the sunlight, making his sses shine and not letting people see hisrge doe eyes. He really should get rid of them. He has soft, fluffy looking ck hair that was unruly and soft pale skin, pale as mine, and such a cute nose and sweet looking lips! But unfortunately, hisrge rimmed sses and overgrown hair covers his face! I could only see because he had crouched down and his hair came away from his face.

    As a lover of beautiful things, this person was wonderful for me to admire.

    "You''re very cute!" was the first thing I muttered after seeing him.

    "Ah?" he asked as if thinking he had heard wrong.

    "I''m Shui Yu, nice to meet you," I gave a slight smile. A person like this was worth knowing.

    "Ah, yes, nice to meet you too. I feel like I''ve heard your name before... What ss are you in?"

    "I''m in your ss, 10A."

    "Huh? Howe I''ve never seen you before? Wait, y-you''re Shui Yu?"

    I stared at him confused by what he was asking, "Yes, why?"

    "You really are Shui Yu! There''s a rumor that you''re the unlucky 2nd child of the Shui siblings! The people who saw you called you a sickly pale beautypared to the other healthy Shui siblings, so we all thought that you were a weak girl! But you''re quite good looking, and a boy..." Mo Yun''s voice trailed off.

    "Thank you," finally somebody who recognizes me as a man. This person really is good. He even called me handsome. It does really feel good to beplimented... Nobody hasplimented me except for being smart, but since I''m mentally over 20, doesn''t really make me feel happy.

    "There were rumors about how the Shui siblings all trained so hard to protect their sick sister, and there were a lot of weird theories too. But it turns out that you''re a boy and you''re very strong!" Mo Yun eximed as if having found a solution.

    "En. And I''m the one who trained them. I am much stronger than the others," I tried to prove myself.

    "Wow! You guys are such lucky people to be so strong. I have hemophilia, arrhythmia, and a weak body so I can''t participate in this ss and can only watch. Ah, I wonder if I can grow tall enough~" Mo Yunined.

    I smiled and told him, "I can help you with basic exercises if you''d like. But in turn, you must be my friend."

    "Ah, ok! Then I''ll be your friend from today! What should I call you from now on? Yu Yu? Shui Shui? I think both sound nice!"

    Mo Yun must be the friendliest person in the world! Already thinking of nicknames!

    "You can call me whatever you''d like, I''ll call you Yun from now on then."

    "Hm, ok, then I''ll call you Yu Yu from now on! And actually, you''re my first friend, so please be patient with me if I do anything weird..." Yun bashfully lowered his voice volume in embarrassment.

    "You''re my first friend too, so please take care of me as well," I nodded and held out my hand.

    "Oh!" And with a p, Yun high-fived me. I was actually intending to shake his hand... but that doesn''t matter right now, I''ve actually found a friend!

 Chapter 23: The Shui Siblings

    Chapter 23: The Shui Siblings

    Today, I was feeling a little sick and tired, so I dozed off in ss but tried my best to stay awake!

    The ssmates didn''t talk to me again. There were a couple of male ssmates who talked to me at first but were taken away by others. Am I being bullied? I don''t think so... At least I hope so...

    Maybe it''s because I look nerdy? I''ve been told that by my little cousin. She was asking why I was looking so nerdy and that she didn''t want me as her cousin. That seriously hurt at that time...

    I''m technically the only child of the national military advisor, who is known to be one of the most powerful and influential men in China, but I don''t know why I''m so weak. My mother is a boxing champion who won the Olympics twice with gold medals each time. My parents are very strong, so I still wonder why I am infused with Hemophilia, Erythremia, and a weak body to boot!

    Well, they are still very caring people who spend time with me whenever they''re free. I think my ssmates avoided me because they know how high my dad''s status is.

    The bell rang and everyone dressed up in the locker rooms for the military training ss. I still had to dress up even though I didn''t participate in their activities. The ck military uniform is quite stylish but it made my skinny body that I usually covered up with a little too big uniform even more stick-like looking. I wish I was tan and strong like my dad...

    Everyone elseined that they were too fat or that they didn''t have abs. When we went outside, the sun was zing, so theyined about the uniform being ck. It was really hot and stuffy in the uniform. The principal said previously that it was to make people sweat off some b. Seriously though, wasn''t this a kind of torture? ying student in the heat like this?

    By the way, our principal is a very interesting person. He has a weird sense of humor and his designing skill really sucks. But no matter how weird he is, everyone knows that he cares for the school deeply and that he knows everyone in the school almost personally. He''s more visited than the counselors themselves!

    Our principal even knows the new students very well and seem friendly with them too! The new students are from the Shui family, and nobody knows much about them. They made theories that they might just be from a prestigious martial arts master''s family. After all, they showed very cool and terrifying skills at the introduction. They are very good looking and are all beautiful and handsome! Apparently, they have a sister named Shui Yu, who is sickly and in our ss. Some people saw her and said that she is like a goddess but sadly she is sick and her voice is damaged.

    I would like to see her one day. They said that Shui Yu is many times prettier than the school beauty, Ming Cheng. Maybe if she gets better, she''lle to ss. Right now, Shui Yu''s siblings are very popr. The oldest, Shui Jing is very popr with the boys and girls and became a ss president. The younger brother, Shui Lai is a genius and beloved by all teachers. The youngest sister, Shui Bing, is adorable and admired by many girls for being heroic and dashing. I really don''t know what to think about Shui Bing, but they are all somehow chick-mas ording to what I heard in the hallways.

    Military Training sses start today, so I was a bit gloomy. On usual days, we got to have longer recess and just do whatever we wanted. I just usually stayed in my seat and read online novels, but it was still better than getting jealous of strong kids who could run around freely without having to worry about bleeding to death with just a scratch.

    At the start of the ss, every person from grade 10 gathered and had to perform basic martial art stances. After that, they got into a huge group and began to run 30ps around the huge racetrack.

    The instructor is my dad''s friend and was a fellow army officer. He knows me well so he greeted me with a wide grin and asked me to take precaution and stay on the bleachers. Besides me, there weren''t many who sat on benches this year. That''s because this year, the principal urged the parents to send their kids off to this brutal ss so that they could take care of themselves whenever they were attacked. I think that''s a perfectly fine idea, and the parents probably thought so too.

    In the middle of the running, a small figure from a little away came to the training grounds. Looking at the figure, he or she was extremely tall, probably about 180 cm. For a 15-year-old, I think that''s very tall.

    I couldn''t see clearly, but the instructor scolded the skinny looking person and told him to run along. The skinny person tied up her long hair(it''s probably only girls who have long hair, right?) in a high ponytail that swished as she went past the instructor and said something into the instructor''s ear.

    After that, the girl ran very fast, too fast for me to see clearly except for blurs! She simply wasn''t human!

    The girl didn''t even seem to sweat or falter as she grabbed a towel and some fruit and made her way over to the bleachers. I tantly stared at the person.

    It turns out that it wasn''t a she but a he! And extremely handsome with feminine beauty! I could tell because his uniform fit tightly and he had a very slim body, but his slight abs clearly showed with the tight material of the uniform. The boy didn''t have an Adam''s apple, but it was probably just very small like how some people have it. Actually, the main reason was that I didn''t think a girl would be that t. stic surgery is banned now, but people still had other ways to beautify themselves. And I heard that having a "big rack" was pride to girls. I honestly wonder if it''s heavy and ufortable to have that extrayer of fat around though, Mom told me so.

    The boy went up to the top of the bleachers andid down as if the activity tired him. But he obviously wasn''t tired, rather probably annoyed looking at his crumpled brows. He closed his eyes and his long eyshes fluttered. The wind blew lightly and his ponytail swung. It was a very pretty and calming sight until he tied his hair into a bun. The boy chewed on his fruit gracefully and savored the taste.

    For some reason, I felt like this person wouldn''t avoid me. Maybe I could try making a friend!

    I got very excited and went up the metal stairs which made loud noises, making some people look over.

    The boy noticed my presence but didn''t open his eyes. Nevertheless, I excitedly and kind of foolishly asked him how fast he went. He only asked, "Who are you?" Well, it is understandable since I was a stranger.

    I introduced myself as Mo Yun and I found out that he was the rumored sickly beauty, Shui Yu! Wow! He asked to be my friend and I was delighted! Since it was my first friend, I didn''t know what to do and quickly talked about nicknames.

    Shui Yu let me call him Yu Yu and decided to call me Yun! This was very exciting! I wanted to talk with him a bit more but the instructor gathered up everyone while looking suspiciously at Yu Yu. It was probably for running too fast...

    I had to wait an hour and a half to talk to Yu Yu again. But this time, the ss was over and everyone crowded around Yu Yu. Ah, well, it was inevitable that Yu Yu was going to be popr... but would he still be my friend?

    While I was worried about this, a shadow loomed in front of me and uttered, "Yun." Oh, it was Yu Yu!

    I asked him, "Are you not going to talk to those people?"

    He replied, "They are curious but don''t want to get close until they know who I am. They aren''t my friends anyway." His secret meaning was clear: They had ulterior motives.

    This made me very happy so I smiled very brightly on the way to ss. It was lunchtime, one of the very hours I usually stayed alone in the ssroom, but this time Yu Yu decided to eat with me. He didn''t bring any lunch so we went to the cafeteria to get him something to eat. He repeatedly told me that he wasn''t hungry, but I chided him for going on a diet when he was already so skinny.

    All grades eat together in the cafeteria at the same time. The cafeteria alone is three floors and from above, would be shaped like a traditional tavern, with the main floor and surrounding higher floors that looked down upon the lower floors. Usually, high schoolers sat on the highest level and middle schoolers in the middle, with elementary and younger taking the tables on the main floor.

    It wasn''t prohibited to sit anywhere else, but students rarely did since everyone had practically imed their seats on the first day of school. But I hadn''t been in the cafeteria for so long and didn''t know if there were any empty seats for us.

    Due to my urging, Yu Yu helplessly bought a vegetable sd and some boiled eggs. He really shouldn''t starve himself! He also got mango water, which was a favorite drink of mine and the younger children... I guess he had a sweet tooth too.

    I was worried about seats, but Shui Yu took out his phone and turned it on, immediately it started buzzing.

    "Yu Ge! I told you to keep your phone on! I made lunch for all of us today! It was in the kitchen, did you see it?" came a childish voice of a girl.

    Yu Yu paused and slightly frowned, "Xiao Bing, I didn''t notice it, I was in a rush in the morning and still half-asleep. I''m sorry, I didn''t notice it and it probably spoiled. What about letting me cook something you want to eat for today? I''ll eat your food next time, just tell me when you want to make it and I''ll help you."

    "Hmph, fine! I want fried rice, beefsteak, n, and red velvet cupcakes! And where are you at, Yu Ge? Do you want to sit with me? I''ve made lots of friends! You still have to keep the promise of trying to make some friends! I know you won''t be able to make as many friends as I have, but please try to at least find a best friend who you can trust, ok? Anyway, where are you? Oh, wait, I see you, let mee over!" The call ended and almost immediately, amotion arose from the two lower floors.

    "Yu Ge,e to the second floor and sit with me!" a cute voice demanded.

    And soon after, another voice sounded out, "Yu Ge, this girl''s cooking got worse! I almost threw up after eating all of it!"

    "But you still ate it, good job,"mented Yu Yu.

    The two voices were the younger Shui siblings, Shui Lai and Shui Bing.

    Shui Bing pulled on Yu Yu''s arm, trying to drag him to the main floor. Actually, it was quite dangerous, but since she was able to sessfullye up here with just jumping, wouldn''t Yu Yu be able tond safely?

    "Yu Ge, it''s embarrassing to sit with little girls, you should sit with me. Xingxing is still waiting for me, so let''s all eat together!"ined Shui Lai.

    Yu Yu shook his head and told them, "I''m eating with my friend. This is Mo Yun, introduce yourselves."

    The two bickering siblings turned to look at me and scanned me from top to bottom, making me feel as if I was on disy.

    "Don''t be rude," Yu Yu scolded, and they shrank back and introduced themselves.

    "Hello, I''m Shui Lai, nice to meet you Senior Mo, please take care of our brother."

    "Hi, I''m Shui Bing, you''re my brother''s first friend, so take care of our brother please and be good friends!"

    They seemed to be concerned for their brother as they enthusiastically greeted me.

    From behind us, another voice sounded, "You''re Xiao Yu''s friend? Thank you for being his friend and please take care of him."

    Yu Yu voiced, "Ge."

    It was the popr Senior Shui, Shui Jing. He was very handsome and looked very soft, but he wasn''t as beautiful as Yu Yu!

    "Yes, nice to meet you too," I responded and also added, "Yu Yu is also my first friend, so I also have to trouble him to take care of me."

    "Alright, you guys go back. Ge, are there any empty tables on the third floor?"

    Senior Shui pondered and asked a fellow high schooler who spread the question to everyone else.

    "There''s a spot at the corner, but are you sure you don''t want to sit with me?" asked Senior Shui. Ah, his aura was really bright, as if seeing a smiling angel.

    "I''m perfectly fine, Ge have you eaten Xiao Bing''s cooking yet?" Yu Yu asked.

    "Un, I think her cooking skills improved, the mushrooms tasted pretty good," Senior Shuimented.

    "What do you mean mushroom? I only cooked beef, strawberries, coconut, BBQ sauce, ketchup, octopus, and pickles!" cried out Shui Bing in injustice.

    "Oh, well, it was quite tasty this time, thank you for putting effort into making our lunch," Senior Shui gave a dazzling smile.

    But I couldn''t even begin to imagine how that weird list of ingredients would have tasted like. Just by hearing, I was about to barf. It was a wonder that Senior Shui could actually bare to eat such a thing and say that it was delicious.

    The Shui siblings left and Yu Yu and I found the small table at the corner of the third floor with windows letting light through.

    We could see outside and the famed ss garden in the distance. The ss garden was also designed by the principal. Only the top of the cream students could get in and they had to be in the student council. Each student who got picked could get two guest passes and invite two people to go along with them.

    Regr students like me could only hear about how beautiful the ss garden was and couldn''t hope to even see it.

    "Yu Yu, isn''t that ss dome pretty? Only the student council can get in apparently. And it''s rumored to be very beautiful even if the principal designed it. They say that it''s a miracle."

    "Ah? I''ve been there before, the ss dome is pretty, true. But the inside is a mess. There''s tropical flowers, trees, shrubs, and evenmon weeds in there."

    Actually, now that I think of it, there''s no way the principal could have designed a pretty garden... but wait-

    "Yu Yu, you''ve actually been there?" I asked with wide eyes.

    "I got lost and found it. And because I spent too much time wandering around, I missed my introduction."

    Oh, no wonder he wasn''t there. Everyone didn''t believe in the talk about the second Shui child getting lost.

    They always believed that Yu Yu was sick or didn''te to school because he was busy. But in reality, Yu Yu wasn''t sick and he only seemed to be busy sometimes!

    I wondered if Yu Yu woulde to ss from now on.

    "Yu Yu, are you able toe to ss now?" I asked hesitantly.

    Yu Yu looked troubled, but replied, "I should be able to, but maybe a few monthster. I''ll still have to attend military training courses. I have a very important thing to find, and before finding it, I can''t do anything."

    What could be so important? Although curious, it seemed to be too much of a serious matter, so I kept my hands off of it.

    "Ok, but after you find it, you muste to ss and be my partner in group projects!" I eximed without showing any dissatisfaction. This was my first friend, I couldn''t lose him due to my selfishness.

    "En, I won''t have anyone else to do it with."

    For the rest of the day, Yu Yu sat by me in the sses left for the day and stayed with me till school ended.

    I said goodbye to Yu Yu and reluctantly was led away by my butler who drove me home.

    At dinner, I started a conversation.

    "Dad, Mom! I made a friend today!" Ah, that sounds like something a preschooler would say...

    "Oh, what''s his name?" my dad asked.

    "His name is Shui Yu. He was rumored to be the sickly beauty from the newly transferred Shui family, but he''s actually the strongest out of all of them and even trained his siblings! And in reality, he''s just very busy."

    My mom asked, "Sickly beauty? Is he very pretty?"

    "Yes, but just like how I don''t like being called little, he doesn''t seem to like being called pretty. But he is also very handsome!"

    After dinner, I went back to my room and finished homework. I began reading the chapters of the web novels that updated today.

    At 9, knocks came from outside the door. I opened it to see my father and worried mother.

    "Son, I don''t think you should hang out with this Shui Yu anymore. He''s very dangerous," my dad said. Well, I didn''t expect that to pop out all of a sudden.

    "Xiao Yun, Shui Yu is very, very, dangerous. You could even get killed if you hang out around him!" came from my mother.

    I wondered, what could possibly have happened? And why did Dad get somebody to research on the Shui siblings?

    "Son, Shui Yu is the mastermind behind Ragdoll and Delta. You must''ve heard about what they''ve done. Ragdoll and Delta are already terrifying enough but being stronger than them and even training them... think about it."

    I retorted, "Dad, how do you know this? Although it might be true, you don''t have any right to get their information! And Yu Yu is very nice, he isn''t evil!"

    "This kid ran and took his siblings away from his parents, he might have something wrong with his mind! He is undoubtedly a genius and has earned billions from crashingpanies and killing and looting from very influential powers! And Delta and Ragdoll are precisely his siblings who do the work for him!" yelled my mom.

    I yelled back, "He''s my first friend, I don''t want to lose him! Go away!" and mmed the door at them. No matter how they yelled, the room was soundproof, I couldn''t hear anything. My parents could have ordered to break the door down, but they didn''t. They endlessly called for 10 minutes and only stopped after not getting an answer from me.

    Why did this happen to me? Can I not make friends? Am I so weak to not be able to do anything? Just please leave me alone...

 Chapter 24: Finding Zombies

    Chapter 24: Finding Zombies

    Finally!

    After a month of further searching, I found faint trails of zombies. I am already 15, and the zombie rumors started when I was about 13. It was such a long time and finally, I got ahold of something.

    But nevertheless, I''ve finally found trails of zombies, so I immediately chased after it.

    Level one zombies are stronger than humans and more like Olympic athletes and are very fast, unlike the slow zombies in old movies. But they are also very stupid and corroded. A scratch or bite will turn you into one of them in half an hour so I took precaution and wrapped my clothes in the duct tape. I didn''t bring any specialized clothing, so this would have to do for now.

    I put on a motorcycle helmet, and beingpletely wrapped in duct tape... I must look very ridiculous. Wrapping my clothes with duct tape took me nearly half an hour so I had to stay vignt so that I wouldn''t lose track of the zombies.

    I quickly crept to the small crowd of zombies feasting on a corpse. There were 4 of them and the 5th would probably appear with the corpse bing an undead.

    I had prepared this for my whole second life so far, I wasn''t letting even a small chance go.

    Zombies were sensitive to smell and sound. They stayed in the dark and didn''t daree out into the light for too long until they were level 3 or mutants.

    They heard me walk toward them and immediately turned their heads around in 180 degrees. They look as gross as ever. Three were men and the other, a woman. I quickly snapped off the neck of the closest male zombie and kicked towards the head of the female zombie.

    They growled and drooled as they rushed to me. The corpse behind them came "alive" and joined in on chasing me.

    A zombie wouldn''t fully die unless their heads were crushed. The zombie who I snapped the neck of was still alive but writhing on the ground. I stomped on his head and it burst. My shoes were dirtied and I was only now regretting the fact that I wore white sneakers today.

    The female zombie was the fastest out of the 4 left and wed in my direction with her strong ck nails. Her drool and groans disgusted me and I kicked at her once again to push her away.

    The other zombies tried to grab ahold of me and I evaded by using simple twists and turns. The duct tape covered clothes restricted my movements, but dodging was still doable. Inded on a nearby tree and jumped down to crush another zombie''s head.

    3 left. I had trained for this, it shouldn''t be this hard. I''m angry at myself for having some fear of zombies still and mentally scold myself. I could do this, I wasn''t afraid, why should I be? I would be the most powerful ability user and protect my family and friends.

    I quickly got rid of the female zombie first, she was getting annoying, rushing up immediately after I kicked her down. Only 2 left. I decided to get rid of the one who was dragging his intestines. He swung and it just was in gross.

    Thest zombie was cleanly taken care of and the whole fight took less than 20 minutes. Ah, I should train more, I''ve been leaving it off and this was the result. Next time, I wouldn''t be so fearful of zombies. Should I watch some more horror movies to get used to them and break my psychological fear?

    I dragged the zombie corpses into the car''s trunk that was holding bags prepared for the corpses. After putting the bodies away, I cleaned up the scene of the fight and went home.

    There would be a feast tonight to celebrate!

 Chapter 25: Borrowing critters

    Chapter 25: ''Borrowing'' critters

    There were only 2 years left before the apocalypse would start. I had to hurry up and get powers to support ourselves. I had absolute confidence that Ge, Xiao Bing, and I would survive since we were previous power users in our life. I''m just worried that Xiao Lai wouldn''t be able to make it through. Giving him a little amount of zombie meat won''t work since quantity doesn''t matter in a zombie trial.

    At dinner, I decided to talk to them about this.

    "Ge, Xiao Lai, and Xiao Bing, I''ve found what I was looking for. I''ll tell you the disaster that''s going to happen in 2 years," I announced.

    They all looked surprised.

    "Yu Ge, are you really serious? We''ve been curious for a long time now!" eximed Xiao Lai.

    Xiao Bing nodded along and Ge looked at me trying to see through my emotions. He was worried.

    "You might not believe me, but an apocalypse is going to happen. If you want proof, I have it." I led them to the garage and took out the bags full of zombies. One by one, Iid out the 5 zombies.

    Ge was curious and didn''t seem disgusted. Xiao Lai scrunched his nose at the stink and Xiao Bing hid behind him and peeked out, wondering why the corpses looked so dposed.

    "These are zombies." Ge looked at me and I gestured to the corpses. He went to the garage''s supply closet and pulled out disposable gloves and inspected the corpses.

    By this time, Ge already knew how to do acupuncture very masterfully and was well versed in medicine and symptoms of patients. He frowned as he noticed that these corpses were too strange. They were dposing but still had so much muscle. Their skin was tauter than even regr people and they had very sharp teeth and nails.

    "What happened? I believe that these are zombies, they are too strange to be human," he exined.

    "They have strong bodies, too strong for people who''ve been dead for so long,"mented Xiao Bing, poking a zombie with her nail.

    "What I remember is that a mad scientist wanted to see the world end before he died, but in the process, ended up as one of his creations, a zombie. And in 2 years, supernatural urrences will happen and everyone will either turn into a zombie, stay as a regr human, or gain powers. This is my second life, and I''ve been preparing you guys for the disaster toe," I spouted out thest sentence quickly and waited for their reaction.

    "No wonder you knew so much about the future!"

    "Oh, that''s why."

    "Wow, what happened to us in the future?"

    ...Well. I didn''t expect those type of answers. They weren''t even shocked. Ah, but this is better than them freaking out I suppose.

    "Yu Ge, I even suspected that you were an alien before, this isn''t as surprising or interesting as that," Xiao Lai told me. This brat...

    "Ok, Xiao Yu, what must we do?" Ge asked.

    A zombie trial would take about an hour of intense pain. I had to get the cheetah and wolf first so I made ns to go to the zoo during the night

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing made ns to unlock the zoo electric cages and lead amotion and to try to capture the animals we needed at that time. It was a really foolish n, but at least it would work.

    So we got to work, Xiao Lai hacked into the system of the Capital''s zoo in about an hour. There were lots of exotic and near-extinct animals, so it was heavily protected. He timed the gates to open at midnight and proceeded to go further into gaining information about the wolves and cheetahs. He printed out maps for us and all of them besides me memorized it. Even if I memorized it, I would get lost... In the end, I was supposed to follow Ge and find the animals with him instead.

    The zoo parking lot was empty as we trailed into it. Xiao Lai cut off the surveince cameras and we weren''t seen at all with our speed and dark clothing. After waiting at the entrance for a few minutes, the gates opened up as Xiao Lai timed them to. We heard squawks, roars, and growls as the electric cages were lifted from the animals. We could have just lifted the cages of the animals we were looking for, but my younger siblings said they wanted to have some fun. But this was a little risky you know?

    Ge first led me to the wolves. They were like dogs, except bigger and calmer. Their eyes were clear and lucid as they stared at us. There were only 4 wolves, one really old looking wolf, two adult-sized wolves, and one chubby tiny wolf cub.

    They stared at us and we stared back. I don''t know why, but the wolf cub began barking and ran towards Ge. Ge carefully picked the small creature up and gazed back at the wolves. The adult wolves red at us but the older wolf howled solemnly and held them back. He was the leader.

    The three wolves didn''t try to escape and stayed still in their spots. We ran to the cheetah cage where only one cheetah lived in. The cheetah was very vignte and swished its tail cautiously. Why hadn''t it run away? It actually had, there were several prey corpses freshly killed on the ground near the tree that the cheetah rested in. It yowled, a really creepy sound, and rushed towards me as if marking me as its prey.

    Of course, it didn''t get a chance to touch me as I had already got out a tranquilizer gun and aimed it at the feline.

    As I shot, Ge yelled, "Wait!" but the dart was already in its path.

    I shot another quickly with just using the trajectory of my hand and they both collided and fell. Why was Ge yelling at me to wait? Oh, probably worried that I''ll use too much force and strike an artery or break a bone.

    The cheetah yowled again and ran away. I chased after it and knocked it out. We got to the parking lot carrying the animals and saw Xiao Lai waiting for us.

    "Where''s Xiao Bing?" I asked.

    "She''s gone looking for cute animals to bring back. She wants to bring back a ferret but there''re only white weasels so she went to go get them... And she also came back with rabbits, an arctic fox, and some poisonous snakes too. They''re all in the trunk."

    We sighed and waited for Xiao Bing toe back with the pets she wanted to keep. After that, we had more animals to pack up in the trunk and separated them through bags and cages. I warned her that she could only keep them for 3 days at most, but she still wanted to take them with her.

    We returned home, organized the animals in the pet cottage, and slept, deciding to go through the zombie trial the next day.

 Chapter 26: Zombie trials (1)

    Chapter 26: Zombie trials (1)

    I''ve brought everything I needed for our zombie trials.

    For Ge, the dove, dirt mixed with sand, the strongest metals mixed together(Tungsten, Chromium, and etc...), an oxygen tank filled with gases both harmful and harmless, and the baby wolf.

    For Xiao Lai, the tarant died so I bought an iridescent tarant to make up for it, mushrooms, a taser gun to rece the stupid idea of a sma globe, the kite(the bird), and a zombie core. Every zombie has a core but level one cores aren''t very useful. They only help a little with leveling up.

    For Xiao Bing, wisteria branches(they''re poisonous) were used to rece the pencil that she originally used, an owl, gecko, me torch, and cat.

    For me, I had prepared, water, a raven, the cheetah, a femur bone from one of the zombies since it was the strongest bone, and most important of all, my peridot ring.

    I skinned the zombies and cooked them to my best abilities. Thinking about it, I''m going to be a cannibal now, aren''t I? Well, some people in the apocalypse were cannibals. But it was abhorred and everyone stayed away from them. Zombie trials weren''t considered cannibalism but everyone knew what it really was. But for power, they would do anything. Even though I tried not to be like those power hungry freaks, in the end, I had ironically be one of them.

    I told my siblings to not let me out no matter how serious it looked. They nodded solemnly and I went into a concrete room specifically prepared for the zombie trial, holding the cooked zombie meat.

    To be honest, the zombie meat tasted incredibly strange. Stringy and mellow. But since it was zombie meat, it added a hint of rotten and sour taste. I gagged and almost retched as I ate the meat. It would be the source of my power, I had to go through it.

    It hurt. It really hurt. my head itched from the inside and I wanted to scratch so badly but my arms were as heavy as lead and I couldn''t lift them. I felt so, so weak. It really was a terrible feeling. I yelled for what seemed like hours and from the corner of my eyes, I could see my skin turning dark and rotting. My skin peeled off and grew back again. It really hurt. My voice didn''te out anymore and I could only hope for it to end safely. The pain didn''t numb. It truly didn''t, or how would it hurt more as time went on?

    But I couldn''t faint, or else I might touch the ground and have less chance of gaining all the powers I needed. I held my hands up, like those crazy religious worshipping fanatics. Ha, today was very ironic. But holding my hands up was tiring and I dropped them to my sides often because they trembled so much and the blood spewing from the pores of my hands and arms were falling onto my face, blinding my eyes. The blood also was spewing from my mouth and since my throat was so dry and hoarse from screaming, I could only swallow it to hydrate myself. It tasted like metal.

    I only thought quietly in my head and counted the minutes as my skin and muscles kept peeling and regenerating.

    But this doesn''t amount to the pain I felt when being betrayed by people and being thrown into the horde of zombies to buy time for others to run away. Emotional pain hits more deeply than physical pain. I was too kind myst life, I was trying to change, but it was too tiring to act that way. I wanted to be my true self, whatever that was, I don''t want to be mature. I still want to be a kid, act unruly, free. Maybe I''ll try it out after I''m free of this agony...

    After an hour passed, pain faded away leaving only soreness. I could feel the strength ready to burst out at anytime. My voice was still gone and my body still weak and trembling but I still made it to the door. I stomped at a button on the floor that popped out only after an hour had passed and the door opened.

    My siblings looked very concerned and watched as I made it to the table where the water in a bowl, my peridot ring, and the femur bone. They were absorbed and I could feel the longly awaited return of my space and water abilities along with the bone ability that I did not yet know how to use. My mood became better and I hurried while stumbling to the small cottage made for the animals. My siblings were quicker than me right now due to my currently weakened state from the pain. Xiao Lai opened the door for me and I made it in and saw the raven I had trained. Ge, Xiao Lai, and Xiao Bing held back the other animals as I motioned to the raven toe closer.

    It flew down to me and rested on my shoulder. Ugh, it really still hurt. I petted the raven and felt its ability seep into me. I slowly smiled. Only one more left.

    The cheetah was afraid of me. Trembling as I made its way to it, it tried to run away. I really should have kept it in a cage, but Xiao Bing specifically trained all of them not to fight and they all listened to her words. The animals never fought and lived cordially whether they were considered prey or predator. Even the ones that she took from the zoo just yesterday recognized her and listened by not disturbing the other animals.

    But I didn''t truly expect that a white blur would jump at me and make me touch it due to my current slowness. I felt power seep into me and deep disappointment and anger as I didn''t get to touch the cheetah. It turned out to be the arctic fox that was almost extinct. Why did Xiao Bing have to bring this curious creature back?

    I was angry but also disappointed in myself for not making preparations properly. This was a serious matter and I should have kept the animals all separated. But it was no use, I would use the cheetah as a recement for Xiao Bing''s cat and find another er and use it for the red phase if I needed.

    I could only look at loss and ced my hands down. I crumpled to the ground and sat there as if broken. I was very tired. I didn''t even have the strength to sit up now.

    "Yu Ge, I''m so sorry! This guy was really unruly yesterday when I tried to train him. I didn''t think that... I''m really sorry! I really am... I''m sorry Yu Ge... Wuwu, I shouldn''t have brought him back... I''m sorry..." I could hear Xiao Bing sobbing and looked up.

    "..." I couldn''t even croak. But I motioned for her toe to me. Hugging the crying little sister of mine tightly, I patted her back slowly and calmed her down. It was her fault, but she didn''t expect it. And it all led down to me. If I was responsible and actually separated the animals, this wouldn''t have happened. And if I had actually strictly reprimanded her in bringing more animals, this wouldn''t have happened in the first ce...

    The arctic fox only looked at us curiously not even knowing what it had caused. We would have to return these animals to the zoo but I would keep this one because I wanted petty revenge. I would bully it every day by taking away its toys and delicious food. I''ll give him the worst dog food.

    After a few strong coughdrops, my voice was a little back. Elders always said that we were very lucky to be alive in an age where medicine could do anything. I wondered what random abnormal power I would get but put it aside since it was Ge''s turn.

    "Ah, wait! Let me go first! Let me get over with it first! It seems painful and I want it to end quickly!" yelled Xiao Lai as Ge was getting ready to go in with a serious look on his face.

    This made me freak out. Xiao Lai was the only person I was worried about that would maybe not pass the zombie trial. I was originally going to put himst so that we could hold him back if he became an advanced zombie.

    Before I could get a word out or even move, Xiao Lai snatched the meat from Ge''s hands, gobbled it up in front of me and rushed into the room. I could only desperately grab at the air and fall t as I tried to stand up and run to stop my little brother.

 Chapter 27: Zombie trials (2)

    Chapter 27: Zombie trials (2)

    I know that my brother looked at me very worriedly when he mentioned the zombie trials.

    I wondered: Why only me? But it was evident that something must have happened to me in his past life that made him so worried. To be honest, I didn''t want to go through this. I don''t like pain, who does? Well, besides masochists of course.

    But I had no choice. I believe that a zombie apocalypse is going to happen. There''s too much proof for it to not. And if this would help save our butts in the future, there was no choice but to go through with it.

    After Yu Ge''s turn, it was Jing Ge''s turn. But being the scaredy cat I was, I didn''t want to best.

    It''s like not wanting to take shotsst because the more you put it behind, the scarier it seems to be.

    I snatched Ge''s zombie meat from his hands and made him take on a surprised expression. I ate it right in front of Yu Ge who was making a fearful expression.

    Blech, it didn''t taste as good as steak. But I could feel my skin convulse and hurried into the zombie trial room.

    I''ll tell you what, I fainted for most of the zombie trial and fortunately woke up at the end and held my hands up high. Previously, I had heard yells, screams, and groans for the whole hour that Yu Ge was in. I really admire him for staying awake through the torture. But really, how did he do it?

    I couldn''t move at all and my voice was only still there because I fainted directly and didn''t get a chance to yell. Yu Ge could move, albeit by shuffling and struggling to not fall, but he could still move. I realized how weak I was. Maybe after the trial and gaining powers, I could be closer to him in strength? That was what I had thought before, but I really didn''t know what to think now.

    I rested for half an hour and felt strength, such powerful strength in my body. Deeply hidden in my bones, my pores, and every part of myself. So awesome! But still so painful...

    I slowly walked and stumbled my way through to the button on the floor. What awaited me outside was a very worried Yu Ge and my consoling Jing Ge and Xiao Bing.

    "Xiao Lai... Xiao Lai! Don''t make me so worried! You know what could have happened! ...Ah, ah, ah... Don''t do this to me... My heart can''t take it..." Yu Ge hoarsely screamed and yelled at me with an angry but worried expression, something that I can''t have remembered ever seeing. Then he started sobbing gratefully from the fact I was alive and stood up and tried to hug me and stopped right before he did.

    "Ah... I forgot that you have to not touch anything. Here, go to the table. Ge prepared the mushroom, zombie core, and taser gun. Before touching the taser gun, I''ll turn it on and you only touch the electricity," Yu Ge warned me and I shuffled forward to the table.

    It felt weird as some weird feeling crept into me as I touched the mushroom and zombie core.

    Yu Ge turned on the electricity and I was kind of scared. It hurt, but not even close to the zombie trial''s torture and my hair stood up at its ends, but after the mysterious feeling swept over me again, the electricity actually felt warm andfortable. How strange!

    This time, Xiao Bing didn''t make the same mistake and brought the tarant cage and the kite.

    The kite chirped at me and greeted me. I whistled lightly with my raspy voice and it flew over. Like Yu Ge had done before, I petted the trained bird''s head as itnded on my shoulder. My shoulder seriously hurt... The kite, although small, had insanely sharp ws since I took care of its ws and sharpened them weekly. I maybe shouldn''t have done that...

    The tarant was released from its small cage. My old tarant had died, so Yu Ge bought a beautifully colored iridescent tarant to rece it. My first spider was named Kong from how it frequently jumped on the ss surface of its cage and onto my palm. It did make me sad for a few days after Kong died. This new spider couldn''t rece it.

    "I''m going to give this spider to the zoo along with all the other zoo animals and some of our other ones aspensation," Yu Ge said. I wasn''t surprised. The only animals that Yu Ge trained and bonded with were his raven and cat. Although the cat was for Xiao Bing, it only hung around Yu Ge, begging for it to be spoiled.

    Xiao Bing wanted to look at Yu Ge and plead for him not to give the animals back, but she held back. I guess she realized that it was her fault and didn''t want to cause any more trouble. Ha, to be real, when Jing Ge and I saw Yu Ge hugging Xiao Bing, I was mad. Yu Ge had this look of disappointment that quickly disappeared after their hug was over. This mistake of Xiao Bing was big and I had unconsciously formed a grudge. Hmph, let her see what a hacker can do and assign her more jobs than she can handle in a month!

    I touched the furry spider that curiously wandered around the table. The power swept through me again and the spider acted more familiar with me all of a sudden. I put it back into the cage and sighed.

    It was already the afternoon and time for lunch. Yu Ge and my stomachs felt queasy after eating zombie meat so we skipped eating the cooked meatballs and only ate sds. I used to find vegetables disgusting, but today, they seemed extremely delicious!

    Next was Xiao Bing''s trial. It went without any problems ad we quickly prepared for her to touch the wisteria branch and me torch. Her skin burned and the smell of cooked meat filled the air until it gradually faded and fire began dancing in her hands.

    Yu Ge healed her immediately with his water abilities which I found very interesting and amazing.

    An owl, a gecko, and the cheetah were brought. The cheetah was knocked unconscious because it feared Yu Ge and wouldn''t stop being so cautious of him.

    In the end, Xiao Bing''s trial went without a problem.

    But Jing Ge''s trial was a little different. He didn''t end up as a zombie, don''t worry. But it was still a little weird. Yu Ge said it was a very good thing.

    After Jing Ge came out. He was a little too powerful. ording to Yu Ge, Jing Ge had gotten two abnormal abilities. When he came out, we could feel an aura around him. It was powerful but not forceful. He looked more graceful than ever and looked very beautiful. Not his usual handsomeness, but a beauty that could lure in both genders all at once! And he smelled awfully nice too! something like flowers but not pungent but calming like tea fragrances. It was apparently an ability called Charm. It would unconsciously make people trust and admire you and ultimately draw them in. Even zombies wouldn''t attack this type of person and only try to keep them. That sounded like zombies taking a king, but it actually turned out to be that zombies wouldn''t kill the person but instead drag the person everywhere and keep the person until the person died of starvation.

    Yu Ge said that Jing Ge got two abilities but I didn''t know how so I asked.

    His answer was: "If somebody gets two abnormal abilities, one acts up immediately. Usually, a person gets only one ability and has to figure out what it is. But if it''s two, one immediately reveals itself and the other you still have to find out forter."

    Huh, it turns out that Jing Ge is extremely lucky!

    He also sessfully touched all the things he needed to. The dirt mixed with sand, the lump of strongest metals mixed together, and the oxygen tank that released all kinds of harmful and harmless gasesbined. We had to wear gas masks and Jing Ge was the only one who didn''t as he took in all the harmful gases and dispelled them, making the air purer than ever.

    Xiao Bing and I brought out Pico, Jing Ge''s dove that he always fed too much and the baby wolf. He petted them and told us that he was finished.

    He thenmented, "Xiao Yu, ah, you''re very impressive. I fainted after eating the zombie meat. It was very lucky of me to wake up before it ended. And I think Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing also had the same reaction as me."

    Then we saw Yu Ge''s disgruntled face.

    "What''s wrong, Yu Ge?" Xiao Bing asked.

    "I didn''t need to stay up but Ipletely forgot that." Hearing that, we had a goodugh for a while and put everything back to where they should belong before going out on my purple sportscar to a restaurant rmended by one of Ge''s schoolmates. But really, Yu Ge, it''s scary how you could deal with the pain so easilypared to us...

    I was freaking tired! Everyone passed the zombie trial sessfully! Let''s celebrate!

    But I didn''t know that some troubles woulde our way as soon as we reached the restaurant.

 Chapter 28: Encounters

    Chapter 28: Encounters

    The zombie trial was very painful. Too painful for me to bear that I fainted. I couldn''t believe that Xiao Yu held on and stayed awake but apparently, it''s because he forgot that you didn''t need to stay up. We had a goodugh about it, but it was also kind of a desperateugh for me. I felt like I wouldn''t ever catch up to Xiao Yu.

    But we all passed. That was all that mattered. And I even got two abnormal skills. I didn''t know what the other one was but my first one was Charm. It made my "beauty" advance and attract practically anyone, even zombies. Xiao Lai joked that even men would go gay for me from now on.

    Xiao Yu promised to show us what powers we had tomorrow. Today, we would just celebrate and rest. Xiao Yu mentioned that it would take us several days to weeks to master the basics of our new powers so we would skip several days of school.

    Xiao Yu drove us to the restaurant rmended to me by one of my ssmates who I was familiar with.

    The restaurant''s name was "The Forest Orchid" and it''s famed for using flowers as ingredients.

    The building itself looked like a pavilion from very ancient times and Xiao Yu was a sucker for aesthetics. He admired it and stood outside of the restaurant for a few minutes before we dragged him in.

    We had dressed up ording to our styles but with all of them being brand clothes. The waitress noticed us and kept on looking my way with a deep blush on her face as she led us to an empty table. The ''Charm'' ability really was powerful in a sort of way I guess, attracting attention.

    The ce was a fancy buffet and there was a huge dessert station with professional patissiers. Xiao Bing and Xiao Yu headed immediately for the ice cream.

    "Oh, Xiao Bing, I didn''t expect you and your brothers to be here."

    I froze. This voice...

    "Shifu!" Yup, it was Mr. Lu Han, Xiao Bing''s poison arts teacher. We really didn''t expect the teacher to be a man when he showed up. But Xiao Yu was on a trip to Japan and we couldn''t help it. He lived with us for almost a month.

    Mr. Lu is very good at housework. Very kind too. Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai are pretty familiar with him and yed together very well. But for me, he seems dangerous. Just like a snake who hides its fangs until it has a chance to strike.

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing had told me that it was just me feeling self-conscious. But I didn''t think that Mr. Lu was simple. He wouldn''t harm us, but I still felt warry.

    And it turned out to be as I suspected. Xiao Lai found out that Mr. Lu was the son of the head of the main gang in the United Kingdom. His mother was the leader and his father was the prime minister of China. He really was powerful.

    "Mr. Lu," I nodded as a greeting.

    "Shui Jing, how nice to meet you again so soon. You look ravishing tonight," Mr. Lu gave a shrewd smile. Uh, isn''t that supposed to be said todies?

    "Uncle!" Xiao Lai jumped up and hugged him.

    "Aren''t I too young to be called uncle?" Mr. Lu asked feigning a hurt look.

    "You''re already 23 and acting like a child!" yfully scolded Xiao Lai.

    "Shifu, are you here alone? You should sit with us! I''ll introduce you to my 2nd brother!" offered Xiao Bing.

    "That''s not a good idea..." I didn''t get to finish as Xiao Yu hade with 5 tes full of desserts. He bnced them two on each arm and one on his head.

    "Hm? Ge, who''s this? He smells familiar for some reason..." Xiao Yu whispered into my ear.

    "Yu Ge, this is my poison arts teacher!" half-whispered Xiao Bing. Half-whispered because she was too excited.

    "...are you transgender?" Didn''t expect that toe from Xiao Yu''s mouth... =-=

    "No, why?" Mr. Lu asked with a ridiculed expression. Well, that''s a first.

    "Because you''re supposed to be a girl," said Xiao Yu in a dark tone. He swished the dishes he held onto our table like a pro waiter and walked toward Mr. Lu.

    Like a dog inspecting something, he went around Mr. Lu and scanned him top to bottom.

    "You aren''t half bad," Xiao Yumented.

    "Why thank y-" Mr. Lu was cut off.

    "But I don''t like you. You like my Ge? If you win a fight against me, I''ll give you a chance to prove yourself." Whaaaaaat... Mr. Lu likes me? Huh? What? How did it turn to this?!

    Mr. Lu looked at me. Ah? Really? Did he like me? I''m so confused...

    I''m fine with anyone. I just need to be able to trust them. But I apparently have trust issues ording to Xiao Lai who has be some sort of an amateur psychologist.

    I relied too much on Xiao Yu when I was young and followed his advice on not trusting anyone because they would eventually talk bad about me when pressured by a group or even start it.

    I sighed deeply and pped my hands together.

    "Alright, let''s stop this. We came to celebrate, not fight. Mr. Lu, nice to see you again. I''m sure you have something to attend. We''ll see you on Xiao Bing''s next lesson. Xiao Yu, get some food, don''t only get dessert. Xiao Lai, Xiao Bing, sit down. Eat."

    I unhesitatinglymanded as the eldest. About Mr. Lu... I''ll deal with itter.

    "I see. I''ll see you next time," Mr. Lu smiled and grabbed my hand. Ah? What was he doing?

    In the end, he nted a light kiss. This was... frustrating. My heart jumped.

    "Um, yes, goodbye..."

    If there was a punching bag, I would punch all my frustrations to it. On second thought, because I passed the zombie trials, it wouldn''t be a good idea. I should have pulled my hand away. But if I suddenly pulled away, it would have been rude. Ah, I really don''t know what to think anymore!

    I thought that would be all for today, but troublese in threes.

    We met Xiao Yu''s only friend, Mo Yun''s family.

    Mo Yun was delighted to see Xiao Yu and ran even with his mother warning him not to run from behind.

    "Yu Yu! You''re also here!" Mo Yun said with his shy, sweet voice. Later I would find out that my voice would be even better, making me the best singer in the family.

    "Yun, are you''re eating here too?" Xiao Yu brightened up considerably.

    Mo Yun''s parents red at Xiao Bing and Xiao Lai. They moved their gaze to Xiao Yu and frowned at him withplicated looks.

    "Mom, Dad, this is Shui Yu and his siblings," Mo Yun introduced us. His father nodded but looked over us and onto Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing. His mother gave a smile that didn''t reach her eyes.

    Mo Yun noticed this and squeezed out a bitter smile.

    "Yu Yu, let''s talk some other day, see you at school!"

    Xiao Yu forgot that we would be out of school for some days, so he forgot to tell Mo Yun. After a few minutes, he realized and caught up immediately. And by immediately, it really was immediately.

    He appeared right in front of Mo Yun''s family and told him, "I won''t be able toe to school for a couple of days. What''s your number?"

    Unhesitatingly, Mo Yun spewed out a string of numbers.

    And although Xiao Yun was helpless in memorizing maps and words, he was very good at memorizing numbers. They traded phone numbers and finally, Xiao Yu obtained a phone number that wasn''t ours on his phone.

    But as I said before, troublese in threes.

    The next people we sawe out of a private room...

    Shui Wang and his mistress along with that bastard child. The horrible girl, named Yu Ying after her mother Yu Ming''s surname, recognized Xiao Bing who was so frequently bullied by her in the past. I could feel the air tremble around Xiao Bing as she clenched her fists.

    And since Yu Ying could recognize us, Shui Wang could too. The mistress didn''t know us and tried to go past us but was stopped by Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing.

    "Shui Jing! You and your siblings! Where were you?! You know how long I''ve been searching for you all? Your mother and I''ve been so distraught!" Shui Wang saw our brand name clothes and his eyes glimmered.

    "Ah, I see you looking so distraught,"mented Xiao Yu. He originally had a cold disposition that made anyone scared, even us sometimes. But this time, we could just feel the air freeze and turn several degrees colder. Xiao Lai and I shivered while Xiao Bing spread a thinyer of heat across her hands to warm herself up. Lucky her, I might get the fire ability too during the red phase that Xiao Yu talked about...

    "We really tried! Where were you? Were you kidnapped? With your good looks from me, I guess a few tycoons or madames could have taken interest in you guys... Oh, your mother and I divorced by the way. This is your new mother and sister. Isn''t Yu Ying pretty?"

    Oh wow. What a GREAT father he is. Trying to joke about us getting kidnapped or being taken care of by patrons. Casually telling us about the divorce. And nonchntly bringing up his new daughter and mistress.

    "We don''t have parents. I remember somebody signed us away. And who''s this? You''re shameless enough to introduce your mistress and bastard child toplete strangers? Talking about us getting kidnapped... Be careful that your only daughter doesn''t get kidnapped," this time, it was Xiao Lai speaking.

    "Da-No, Shui Wang, you don''t deserve to be what I was identally about to call you. All this we have on? We can burn these away like paper and they''ll only be trash to us. Living the life while sponging off your mistress and even keeping a child the same age as me. Do you think we''re stupid? We''re already grateful that we didn''t inherit that trait from you. We earned everything we have. To us, Yu Ge was the only parent. Because of him, we have what we couldn''t have had before. We have trillions, nothing you could get in your entire life." Xiao Bing struck Shui Wang deeply and he looked angry with his reddened face.

    "Y-you! You are my children! How dare you talk to me this way!" The madman screamed and caused a scene. Guests in their private rooms starteding out to spectate. Yu Ying looked embarrassed while Yu Ming was staring at the expensive clothes that Xiao Bing wore like a feral dog.

    I really couldn''t take it anymore.

    "I wish you weren''t our father. Abandoning us when you were needed the most. Knowing that Fang Ling was abusing us but not doing anything. Why does heaven let such an evil man live?" Iughed,ughed until I sounded like a crazy and desperate person.

    I then gave out a long sigh.

    "Yeah, why does heaven still let you live?" I muttered to myself.

    Why couldn''t he die already? Why was he not dead by now? Why is life so unfair. I think that old proverbs spoken by ancient wise men were very true and precisely on point. Like that one proverb: "good people don''t live long, evils live for thousands of years!"

    In a moment, I had unknowingly kicked Shui Wang away leaving him slumped across the hallway walls as he flew backward. And the walls had even cracked. Oh, my...

    Xiao Yu handed a 7,000 yuan to the manager who was staring at the wall so desperately.

    "Get it fixed. We''re sorry." But Xiao Yu didn''t sound sorry at all.

    "Hey, Shui Wang. Don''t bother us again. You disowned us and don''t know us for what we truly are. What right do you have to speak to us? Who even are you?" Xiao Yu''s eyes brightened and we all noticed that his eyes had turned into a glowing amber shade that were like twinkling ss orbs. They were fox eyes.

    Shui Wang struggled to get up as his ribs were fractured. He could only wheeze out furiously, "Y-you!"

    "Yeah, me. Let me ask, who hit you?" Xiao Yu calmly countered and red with his amber eyes.

    "S-Shui Jing," Shui Wang muttered.

    "Who?" Xiao Yu kicked at his ribs and made Shui Wang cough out blood.

    "S-Shui Jing!" Shui Wang turned braver and dared to yell out my name.

    "Who?" Xiao Yu kicked once again.

    "N-nobody..." Shui Wang finally realized what this was and said the right answer.

    The guests who had now alle out to watch looked scared or had serious looks on their faces. Mo Yun, who had alsoe out instead had an excited expression and if not for his family, he would have been cheering loudly by now. What a weird kid.

    Xiao Lai butt in.

    "Everybody, I''ve crashed all your electronic devices, so don''t bother recording this. If you wantpensation, then you should tell me now." Xiao Lai winked at me and mouthed ''Electricity power is so useful!''

    The guests checked their phones and realized no matter what, they could not turn it on. What were these people? Demons? Ghosts? Supernatural?

    "I hope everybody has a nice evening meal, sorry for the disturbance." Xiao Yu, you still don''t sound sorry at all...

 Chapter 29: Gained Abilities

    Chapter 29: Gained Abilities

    We left the restaurant and wandered around the streets since outings were rare for us. Food stalls sold greasy food but Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing liked them nheless. I got some tanghulu while Ge got some soymilk for himself.

    Walking around, we decided to go to a KTV and go singing. Who would have expected that Ge''s voice turned so good after he got the Charm ability? It literally was like an angel singing. And with the huge white wings and shiny silver hair after he uses his dove affinity, he''ll look more dazzling than before.

    By the way, I might have forgotten to mention this, but if you have an affinity with a certain animal, you can transform parts of your body into it. Like Ge, in myst life, had beautiful white wings and long silver hair. When Ge turns into his wolf form, he''ll probably have furry ears, greyish blue hair, a tail, and sharp ws. His dove form made him look a lot more graceful. When he turns into his wolf form, I guarantee he''ll look ferocious.

    For Xiao Lai, I''ve seen some people with spider affinities. They were kind of strange, sucking blood and eating insects. The mutant insects automatically had fear when encountering a person with spider affinity, so some people who survived the zombie trial opted for this option.

    The spider form doesn''t have eight limbs or eight eyes. But they do have sharp teeth and a slender lithe form. They also have hair color ording to the spider they touched. So Xiao Lai will have deep blue hair that sparkles in the sun. Spider forms also include small cuts at the tips of their fingers where they spout nearly indestructible thread from. Xiao Lai''s Kite form will have terribly sharp nails and a really speedy and light body. His wing size will probably be a little smaller than Ge''s. Ge''s speed will depend on mostly his air abilities while Xiao Lai''s speed will depend on his wings. Kites are very fast, and Xiao Lai will certainly inherit that. Xiao Lai will look cool and slightly scary in his spider form while looking sharp and serious in his kite form.

    Xiao Bing is the one with the most animal abilities. Owl, Cheetah, Gecko. For the owl form, she''ll have huge wings, much huger than any of ours. With super sharp nails and night vision, she''ll be a better as a thief than ever before. The owl form would haverge glowing blue eyes and ming red hair since I bought her an extremely rare red owl. Her speed will be much more enhanced and senses too from her cheetah ability. She''ll have spotted cheetah ears, a tail, sharp nails, and longer eyshes that serve as whiskers. She''ll have those deep brown feline eyes and blonde hair. For the gecko form, there will be a thin and whip-like ck spotted blue tail since I got an equally-rare-as-the-owl blue gecko. Xiao Bing will gain soft hands with pads on her fingertips that can let her cling onto anything. And her regeneration abilities wille from the gecko form since they heal very quick. Sporting blue hair and red eyes, I have no doubt that it''ll fulfill her cosying desires. In her owl form, Xiao Bing will look cute and adorable, in her cheetah form she''ll look cold andzy, and she''ll look calm and collected in her gecko form.

    For me, when I''m in my raven form, I''ll haverge ck wings, blue eyes, and sharp nails. And in my arctic fox form, I''ll have long white hair, sharp canines, sharp nails, glowing amber eyes, and a furry tail. I''ll probably look paler and have white fox ears in my arctic fox form. I''ll probably look cold and serious in both forms, same things as I am right now.

    Animal forms can''t bebined, you can only switch between them quickly. But I once heard of a bird affinity user who was originally a bird lover and had many different birds. She had 7 abilities which were too dangerous to have with all kinds of scheming people. All birds loved her and it was thought of that she was loved so much because all her abilities were bird types. People tried to make her join their groups and even threatened her. She just stayed in her uncle''s group and flew around all day snatching food from others and staying with only birds.

    Actually, she should be going to my school. She''s the niece of the headmaster from what Yun told me. She''s a loner stuck in ss C10. She''s smart but toozy ording to the rumors. Not pretty but not ugly, not nice or mean, has friends but aren''t too close to them. She''s very "average" but doesn''t fit in with anyone. Isn''t that ironic?

    Li Hua. That''s her name. The girl who loved birds and had all of them love her back.

    From my situation with the... um... I forget people''s names too easily... That... Greek kid. He was not good for the n and I made a huge mistake on that. If Li Hua is like him, I wouldn''t be interested in working together with her. So, I want to see what she''s like.

    I heard she can memorize numbers quickly but sucked atputer science and memorizing words. Li Hua''s a native-born American who had Chinese parents, so she spoke English and Chinese very well. Her parents are dead due to a bus crash but she wasn''t depressed because she was only 2 and confused instead when that happened. Li Hua was a recently adopted orphan when her new parents also died so quickly. She was only 10 around that time.

    The things I hear from Yun... He''s great at getting gossip though. Maybe even better than Xiao Lai.

    By the way, I need to think if I should help train Yun so he could survive in the apocalypse. With his blood diseases, I don''t think it would be easy unless he had absolute protection.

    Humans are not solitary creatures, and it would soon get very boring without some humanpany, so I want to keep a group of absolutely trusted people who we can train to be safe at all times.

    After 3 weeks of training and teaching, all my siblings and I became familiar with our powers. It was easier for me because I already had my water ability and spatial ability. Our storage was empty and I was busying myself to buy as much food as I could and store it in my space since it worked like a refrigerator and not let anything spoil. Ah, it was so good to sleep on the soft ground. There weren''t any sharp des of weeds or bugs. It was very fresh and veryfortable to take naps on.

    I built a house with Ge''s help. So far, my space ability can only let one person besides me in it. Ge built a fine house with his Earth ability and I was very satisfied with it and impressed once more with my designing skills.

    Ah, by the way, from now on, I can be as unruly as I want. Nobody can stop me. I can brag. I don''t need to be mature. I''ve already gotten ahold of the abilities needed, what else should I do? But I should still keep it down and be the responsible brother I''ve always been. Besides, I''m 40 something mentally, it''d be embarrassing to act like a childish brat.

    Well, I just wonder how the future would turn out with all that I''ve prepared for starting from when I was just a kid in this second life.

 Chapter 30: Li Hua

    Chapter 30: Li Hua

    I''m told that I''m unique. I think it''s a very nice way of saying I''m weird. But who''s weirder? The girls who put makeup on themselves and fool around or a chaste youngdy like me who''s still looking for her prince charming?

    To society, the slutty girls are normal. What has society turned into?

    I''m a Taurus. My birthday is 5/5. I like things precise and ording to what I want. I''m slightly OCD. I like beautiful people only by admiring them. I''ve never had feelings of love what so ever. I never tried to beautify myself but rather wanted to see others as beautiful, so I learned how to apply makeup and choose clothes properly.

    If I ever do get a boyfriend, I''ll only have them forpletely perfecting my standards.

    My standards are:

    1) No leg, arm, or chest hair. And hopefully no facial hair either. I just find beards or goatees weird.

    2) Must look absolutely handsome and cool

    3) Must be taller than me even when I have high heels on. I''m 183 cm. And I like wearing at least 5 inches high heels.

    4) Must not be a gentle guy but rather a cool aloof dude

    5) Should be easily embarrassed

    6) Must know how to cook and bake

    7) Must like birds

    8) Must be intelligent

    9) Must love reading

    10) Must have gentlemanly skills(manners I guess?)

    11) Must have child caring skills

    12) Must be able to take my "vulgar jokes"(I''m just blunt and honest)

    13) Must tolerate my eating habits. I eat. A lot.

    14) Must have an artistic sense

    15) Must have musical skills

    16) Must be able to y the piano

    17) Must console me if I''m in a bad mood

    18) Must be athletic at least even a little

    19) Must chase away all love rivals

    20) Must buy me snacks often. In return, I guess I''ll buy snacks for him too.

    21) Must have a good voice

    22) Must not smell stinky when sweating

    23) Must be a virgin

    24) Must know how to swim

    25) Must like sweets

    26) Must be able to sew

    etc...

    Yea, so I thought I would only be able to dream of such a perfect guy and not marry and instead adopt a kid. And I don''t really want to get married anyway. And I might even have genophobia... But it turns out, there''s such a human being so perfect enough to blind me!

    His name is Luo Zhen. Doesn''t that sound cool? He''s not in my grade, he''s in A11. Lots of girls like him but he''s very aloof! I only noticed him after he was in the talent showst year. He sang very well and I was instantly in admirance of his wonderful voice.

    I, as the headmaster''s adopted niece, skipped ss and secretly followed him around. I think this is the only use for fencing skills I''ve learned over the years... Sneaking around quickly and retreating quickly.

    He cooks very well and is great at drawing. He ys the piano and vi. And I saw him roll up his shorts during his military training. He has no leg hair and barely sweats! Jackpot!

    I really want to approach him, but I don''t like himpletely. So far, I only have admiration for him. I''ve never properly liked a person before. I was wondering how to chase that perfect senior of my dreams when it became recess.

    I draw quite well, so I sat in ss and got out my tablet to draw Senior Luo Zhen.

    I was drawing his eyes when a somebody behind memented, "Wow! You draw so well! I have failing grades in art..." It was a really sweet and nice voice to listen to.

    I turned around to see a boy with messy hair and thick sses. He would have looked cuter if he had a proper stylist. Next to him was the most beautiful person I''ve ever seen in my life. If he weren''t shorter than me, I would have totally gone for him.

    "Hello, sorry to disturb you. I''m Mo Yun and this is Shui Yu. We wanted to talk to you." What a polite person.

    "Ok, let''s talk. I''m Li Hua. What are you guys here for?" I got out some snacks and a milk carton and started eating.

    This time, the beautiful boy answered, "I want you to be my friend."

    This... was very abrupt. I choked on the chips for a moment until Shui Yu patted my back gently. Ah, seriously, this guy, if only he weren''t so short...

    "I know I''m very blunt. But I want to try making friends and you seemed cool." I''m cool? First time hearing that.

    "You sure?" I could feel the stares of fellow female ssmates as I was talking with these two fellows.

    "Yes, I''m very sure. I''ve heard about your high standards. You even made a post containing a thousand of them. I''m shorter than you and not easily embarrassed, so you wouldn''t be interested in me." Oh, well, true. But you still look so good that I''m tempted...

    "Um... ok."

    Huh, I would never know that in the future, I would deeply regret bing friends with this terrifying demon.

    Shui Yu smiled. Ohmygod, he looked like an angel.

    "You can call me whatever you like. I''ll call you Hua from now on," said Shui Yu. Mo Yun also squeezed in and said, "You can call me whatever you like too! Can I call you Hua as well?"

    "Then I''ll just call you Yu and Momo." They both nodded. Momo had a slightly befuddled face while Yu didn''t have a change in his facial expressions from the start.

    I started the conversation again, "First off, I''m a Taurus. I''m slightly OCD. And I''m superblyzy. I just really have high standards for everything besides myself."

    "As long as you don''t care about my parents'' status, I''m fine with anything," chuckled Momo.

    "We have many things inmon. I''m sure we''ll be good friends," replied Yu.

    I got right into the gossip, "Hey, why did you guys really be my friends?"

    "I was interested in what you were like. In rumors, you''re just said to be a mediocrezy girl." Momo, you unexpectedly have a sharp tongue.

    "I was curious since Yun mentioned that there was a mediocrezy girl. I only have Yun as my friend so I wanted to make some more. It wouldn''t hurt to make friends with a loner, right?" Huh, you both have scary mouths.

    "Well, I''m probably not very interesting. But I do have set priorities. Momo, you should get a stylist! You could look so much better than what you look right now! Get your hair styled. Get contact lenses, who wears sses these days? Stop slumping. You need to have confidence, stand up straight!" I''ve also never had friends, so I might have been crossing many boundaries by trying to straighten them up immediately. Actually, I probably had friends before, but since I was a kid when I properly had friends in the past, I barely remember their faces, let alone names.

    "Ah, ok. What about you guys help me style? Yu Yu has a good sense of style and Hua, you seem to be able to have a good eye. Why don''t we go shopping in the new mall built in the capital? They have the newly uprising brand names and have popr stylists there." Momo, you might just be the god of girliness.

    "Ok. I want some more clothes anyway." "Ok."

    "Hey, do you know senior Luo Zhen?" I asked them.

    "Oh, he''s famous in all grades! He''s practically the dreamboat in every girl''s eyes." Momo how do you know all this? =-=

    "I found out from Xiao Lai that he is allergic to dogs and cats. He also is deathly afraid of spiders and insects," Yu told me.

    That, makes him cute! And as long as he likes birds, I''m fine with anything.

    "He does qualify for most of your listed qualities. But are you sure that he hasn''t had girlfriends before?" Momo scooped for some gossip.

    "Yeah, he has sis-con tendencies." Hearing that from Yu, I cringed. Maybe Senior Luo Zhen wasn''t the right one for me.

    "Ah, maybe I should list that too... I want a guy to be focused only on me, not his sister."

    "I can find out all the people that fit your descriptions in the school and you can try seeing if you want to chase them. How about that?" Wow, Yu, you''re such a great person, helping me fulfill my love life...

    "Oh, dear guardian angel, that''d be great!" I eximed. Was this how normal people function? Giving out favors for free? Well, as long as it benefitted me, I''d pay the other back twofold.

    "Then let''s go shopping tomorrow. It''s a Friday, so it''ll be fine, right?" Yu asked Momo and me.

    So, recess ended and we made ns after exchanging numbers. I think this day was quite abrupt and somewhat exciting.

    The day ended peacefully but very boisterously as my female ssmates asked me too many questions about my new buddies. I ran away like lightning and made it into my uncle''s office.

    "Uncle, I have friends now. You won''t be able to guess who they are," I proudly put my hands on my hips and harrumphed.

    "Oh? Is it Student Mo and Student Shui?" my uncle barely looked up from his papers as he answered me.

    "Ah, uncle if you''re not giving me any chance to get some suspense, you''re going to be a boring old man. Then you won''t be able to find an aunty for me." Uncle still hadn''t married. He''s a handsome looking man who has lots of money and power, what''s there not to like? Yeah, he''s so great, but he turns down every marriage offer. He''s still in his early 20''s! Exactly 24 years old! My uncle''s so smart that he graduated college and graduate school at the young age of 19. Ah, sadly my new parents which were his sister and brother-inw died so he had to take over being the principal that his sister was to be at first. And I don''t have grandparents from either side. It was very hard for uncle to raise me up.

    "Don''t talk to me about that," uncle sighed.

    "Fine, I''ll go see my birds now, has the Anhinga I orderede yet?"

    My uncle had a frown and rubbed his be.

    "...That bird... Its screeches are too horrifying. Why don''t we return it and I''ll get you a smaller, cuter bird instead?"

    I pouted, "No! The zoo workers in that district were saying how they wanted it gone! I can''t just let it go die! Besides, it''ll be cute after a while."

    "Fine. Anyways, just watch out and don''t make any troubles with your friends, alright? Mo Yun has a very high status and Shui Yu is quite dangerous. You''ve probably haven''t heard about the incident that happened at "The Forest Orchid", that restaurant you like. I heard from Mo Yun''s father that the kid is very powerful, the strongest person he''s ever met. Shui Yu was cruel to his own father and broke some ribs. I honestly think it''s justified if his parents were jackasses. Student Mo''s father didn''tpletely research on them and spout of shit about them. It''s Mo Yun''s choice to make friends, I don''t know why he just doesn''t get it. Just give the kid some warning and see what happens."

    "Uncle, don''t curse. You''re ruining my pure mind," I singsonged.

    "With all the vulgar sayings and jokes that you say, ha, I don''t think your mind is pure. Who taught you that kind of stuff anyway?" Uncle asked.

    "Uncle, the inte is very powerful these days. It sucked me in and gave the greatest pleasure known to mankind."

    "There you go again," Uncle muttered.

    "Ai, Uncle, you''re destroying the weak and pure image the students have of you. They would surely never be able to guess that you''re our nation''s greatest secret!"

    Uncle cringed and told me, "Don''t say it like that."

    "Fine, our nation''s greatest secret superhero, Ying Xuan! The greatest secret agent boss in history!" I dered.

    "That sounds too cheesy. Let''s go home, you can see that horrible bird that was brought to us. Don''t let him near the fish pond ok?" Uncle grabbed his car keys and coat and opened the door for me.

    "Yessiree!" I bounced out of the office and wondered which type of fish the Anhinga would like to eat. Surely not the koi in the fish pond, right?

 Chapter 31: Shopping with Friends

    Chapter 31: Shopping with Friends

    Today, was Friday. My new friends and I went shopping. It was fun. Yun got a haircut along with dying his hair and looks a lot cuter. His sses were reced with contacts too.

    Huamented to us, "I don''t get how you guys look so slim and feminine without taking estrogen!"

    I don''t know what that is, but I''ll search it upter. But Yun stiffly smiled and looked frustrated.

    "I wish I wasn''t so weak and girly, but that''s just the way I am..." Yun sadly muttered.

    "No, use it to your advantage. Lots of people prefer the pretty boy look. Besides, I''m slim, curvy, and all that, but I''m still very strong. I can help you train safely if you want." I believed that looks were important but it was far behind personality and quality...

    And while I was pondering in that, I saw Hua readily entering a suspicious store selling clothing that looked like mere strips.

    "Ah! They''re selling the sexy naked back sweaters! Let''s all buy some!" Hua eximed loudly and went in dragging us along.

    Skimpy and scandalous clothing and strange objects were seen everywhere.

    "Hua, this ce... why did wee in here?!" Yun whisper-yelled in a flustered state.

    "Is this a costume shop?" I asked.

    "Yu Yu, this... this is a sex toy shop! We shouldn''t be in here!" Yun yelled. Albeit louder this time. Oh, this is that kind of shop.

    "So what, as long as they have cute clothing, I''m going to buy them. Hurry, let''s get the sweaters! I couldn''t find any online so I want to buy some today!" Hua is very enthusiastic.

    We each got 3 sweaters each and Hua got 5 different colored ones.

    Yun and I got the white, grey, and light blue ording to Hua''s rmendation. I don''t think Yun will ever wear them unless we make him. I for one might try it out since it looks interesting.

    Hua got grey, navy, ck, white, and beige sweaters. She persuaded us to buy some more so I bought 9 more, 3 for each of my siblings. If they wanted to wear them, they could. And if they didn''t want to, I''ll just cut them up and make new clothing.

    Hua is not a pretty girl, but kind of in. She has a strong-for-a-girl jawline and ordinary stature. But she''s still slim and has a model figure. She''s 183 cm. Just one centimeter taller than me. But I''m sure I''ll grow taller.

    Yun is just 178. A normal-ish height that will probably sprout in theter years.

    Next, we went to go get some ice-cream. I got chocte, Yun got vani, and Hua got strawberry. It was a Neapolitanbination.

    Yun saw that the cinema was ying an action movie he wanted to see so we went in and bought tickets and popcorn.

    It was a zombie movie. With lots of blood and gore. Hm, Yun looked excited rather than scared. Hua looked bored andmented that the voice actors sucked. I just watched to see if I could remember anything that might help when the actual thing would happen.

    Well, the movie didn''t help at all. Almost everybody died and a zombie cure was only produced at the end. Oh, I should gather some more scientists that are trustworthy.

    We wandered around the streets, secretly followed by Yun''s bodyguards. Yun and Hua realized, we were followed the whole time. It was kind of awkward but I couldn''t do anything about it. Yun''s parents were very protective and Hua''s uncle was probably worried too.

    For dinner, we went to a cheap buffet and gorged ourselves on food and desserts. The chocte fountain was spouting white chocte. It was interesting, but I didn''t like white chocte very much.

    It was still 6 PM, and Hua wanted to go to a real costume shop. It was a pretty famous one that was just builtst month. Xiao Bing had wanted to go to this costume shop too and mentioned it before, so I would go to see if it had good quality clothing.

    It was a very interesting experience.

    That''s all I can say.

    Hua... she made us try out so many outfits. Butler, police, doctor, idol, elf, demon. She tried to make us wear girl outfits and we firmly refused. She looked disappointed, so we were going to say that we could try out something else, but then she dragged us to the furry animal costume part of the shop. She told us to pick out something cute and fluffy beyondparison and that she''d wait for us by going to get more costumes for herself.

    Yun looked dejected and I just passed him a puppy set. It would look good with his newly dyed light brown hair and bright eyes that weren''t covered by sses anymore.

    And for me... Ha, costumes were too uselesspared with my arctic fox form.

    To look cooler, I got an Onmyouji clothing that Hua had told us to try out before. Onmyouji are Japanese demon exorcists that exist in animes. Xiao Bing watched a lot of anime and they were in there sometimes. Their clothing looked stylish.

    Paired with my silvery long hair, fluffy fox ears, a soft tail, and the costume, I looked like a cool demon. En, I would buy this costume to try outter on. The school had a Halloween festival every year, so I would wear this to the asion.

    "Ah!" I could hear Yun''s scream from the next stall. I immediately rushed over to see Yun touch his face with wonder.

    "Yun?" I hesitantly asked.

    "Yu Yu, I really do look so good!" Yun didn''t even turn around and just touched his cheeks and pulled them.

    "Yes, we know that."

    "I didn''t! I haven''t looked in a mirror for years! I really had forgotten what I looked like. But huh, I do look quite good."

    Yun isn''t going to be a narcissistic person like my brother, is he?

    "I''m satisfied with my new look. Thank you Yu Yu. I''ll thank Huater." Yun turned around and hugged me.

    "Ah? You have white hair!" Finally noticed, huh?

    "Yu Yu, you look like a fox spirit! So awesome!"

    Yun was wearing his puppy ears but not the costume itself. Realizing it now, the puppy ears weren''t loppy and stood straight up. Kind of like a wolf''s... I must''ve passed him the wrong costume set.

    The costume set was made of leather and metal, creating what Xiao Bing called, "A Bad Boy" look. If Yun had a motorcycle, he''d look cool with it only if he got rid of his naturally adorable face.

    Hua''s presence wasing towards us so I got out of Yun''s stall and told him to dress up quickly and entered my stall. Hua was dressed up in a flowery dress that reached to the ground and had a long train following. It was light green and matched her healthy skin tone.

    "Yun! Momo! Are you guys done yet?"

    I got out from my stall and showed her my fluffy self.

    "Ah! So beautiful! Fox spirit! I love the white hair!"

    Yun got out too and bashfully showed his wolf motorcycle leather dude look.

    "Wow! So meng! This look suits you! So cool!"

    Yun decided to keep his costume for the annual Halloween school festival as well.

    "Hua, are you going to keep that dress for the Halloween festival?" Yun asked.

    "I don''t know. I want to be dressed up as a ck swan. But then I also want to be an elf. Ah, I''ll just think about it for now. I have lots of costumes in my closet anyway," Hua casually waved her hands.

    It was still bright since it was summertime, but it was already 8 pm. I had to get home now and Yun''s bodyguards were fidgeting as if wanting to appear. It was also time for him to leave as well.

    "Yun, Hua, I have to go home. Let''s see each other on Monday."

    Yun also looked at the time and eximed, "Ah! I had to be home by 7:30! I''m so sorry! I''ll have to leave now! Hua, Yu Yu, see you at school!" And just in time, a sleek looking limo arrived and Yun just jumped in and bodyguards trailed in.

    "Ok, let''s see each other at school!" Hua brightly smiled and called somebody on her phone. I waited to keep herpany since my ride would arrive sooner orter.

    When the expensive looking car arrived, the front seat''s door opened and the principal climbed out.

    "Uncle, we yed dress up all day! It was so fun!" Hua eximed and tackled her uncle.

    "...You didn''t trouble either of them, right?" the principal asked in a scolding manner.

    "Student Shui Yu, thank you for being my niece''s friend."

    The principal, young, capable, kind, and handsome is a great person. He''s just like a sibling that every kid would want.

    "I''m grateful that Li Hua has invited us out. I should get going now, goodbye."

    I noticed far away that my ride wasing slower than usual. It was likely that it was Ge driving since Xiao Lai would be at Zhang Xing''s house for the first time today after begging the green-haired kid endlessly.

    Xiao Bing was on a mission and couldn''t be disturbed. Only Ge was in the house and probably training his new skills. Ge always drove safely, checking the roads carefully. Theplete opposite of my driving skills.

    The cars could all automatically drive, but it was nice that Ge would drive it to get me. Hm, a warm feeling from the heart has spread into my whole body.

    "Alright, get home safely." The principal took Hua home and drove away quickly. Hua waved her hand from the window.

    The car parked at a parking lot and it was a little far away to walk.

    Just as Ge got out from the car and was leisurely walking towards me, a group of people rushed towards him chasing a person dressed all in ck suspicious clothing; with a mask, sunss, and hooded sweatshirt.

    Ge was crashed into by this person and held him with a surprised look. I could not hear because my surroundings were so loud, but I did clearly see my brother grabbing the suspicious figure tightly and running towards me.

    Ah, what was going to happen?

 Chapter 32: Di Li Feng

    Chapter 32: Di Li Feng

    My sister is so horrible! Why''d she have to reveal that I was in the capital?!

    Hi, I''m Di Li Feng. I trained in South Korea, thend of stars, to be an idol and I''m still only 21.

    My sister is Di Fangfang. She''s a very famous actress even overseas and has done lots of movies. But she''s actually my stepsister and doesn''t really like me. I''m from my father''s 2nd wife and she was from my father''s 1st wife and born 7 years before me.

    She knows that I strived to be an idol so she makes trouble for me all day. Although they''re all petty moves, it seriously causes some damage.

    So right now, I was currently running away from my fans. Can''t I have just one, just ONE, day to rx?!

    I crashed into a really sturdy thing and kind of bounced off, almost falling to the ground lest the thing I had bumped into grabbed ahold of me.

    It was a super handsome person! Very handsome! He also had this undescribably aura of a superior. He looked confused and surprised.

    I looked pitifully at him and grabbed his zer and pleaded, "Help..."

    The handsome guy took probably took pity and grabbed me. Next thing I knew, I was going at a very fast speed. Everything was a blur. Had I encountered a superman or alien in disguise? Wait, wasn''t Superman an alien in the first ce? The old film was a ssic favorite of mine, but I could barely analyze it in this situation!

    The guy I was being held by(what a weird thought), was shorter than me, so it felt kind of weird to be carried by a teenager. I was 188 cm.

    We stopped very abruptly and I saw a sight I would never forget in my life.

    "Xiao Yu, he asked for help," said the good samaritan to the person in front of us.

    The person in front of us, apparently called Xiao Yu, was beautiful beyondpare! Even more beautiful than my sister and her famous friends! On Earth, stic surgery had been banned unless it was for medical purposes. It was due to having been found that it was somehow bad for the next generation''s health or something. So pretty faces like this were super rare.

    But after scanning the person for a bit, it turned out to be a male! If this Xiao Yu was in the entertainment industry, he''d definitely be beloved by all.

    "Ge," the boy called out. He has such a lovely voice too!

    "You should give him back to those people. We don''t know him." Ah... My heart just broke...

    I didn''t want to let this chance go. These people seemed very special, I wanted to thank them too. It''s not like I didn''t have any ulterior motives. Making connections was one of the most important skills for a person in the entertainment industry. But I did genuinely want to be their friends as they had helped me out a little. ...well, at least the older one helped me.

    "Ah, wait! You really don''t recognize me? I''m Di Li Feng!" I pulled down my mask and cap.

    But... they didn''t recognize me.

    "I''m sorry. I don''t recognize you. Do you go to our school?" asked the kind samaritan.

    "I''m an idol! You guys really don''t know me?" I asked with doubt. I should be pretty famous. I''m in the tabloid almost every week with my band.

    The pretty boy didn''t even say anything but tugged at his older brother and red at me. Ah, wait, don''t go!

    As if hearing my cries, a call came to my savior''s phone.

    "Jing Ge, did you pick of Yu Ge yet? What kind of costumes did he buy? I''m finished with my mission, so I''ll get going home now! And Yu Ge, if you''re there, these abilities are super useful! My job was done in a jiffy!" an excited girl''s voice came from the phone.

    My hero, with the name Jing and an unsure surname, smiled and replied back, "Xiao Bing, do you perhaps know who Xi Li Feng is?"

    "Ah, he''s a super famous idol! All the girls in my school like him the best in his band, Nightcall! I really want his signature, but I''m getting so many job requests this month, I couldn''t go see his concerts... So why are you asking me this?"

    "Little sister, please tell your brothers to help me! I''ll give you as many signatures as you want!" I cried out. People were starting to notice me and talked, so I quickly put back my cap and pulled up my mask.

    "Wow! Jing Ge, you saved a super idol! Hey, help him out! I want his signature!"

    Xiao Yu, still not sure of his surname, turned her down immediately.

    "We can buy as many as you want."

    "But I won''t get to see or talk with the real person!"

    "I''ll buy you VIP tickets and even take over your job on the concert day."

    "No! I can''t let you do that!" The girl suddenly sounded frantic and cut off the conversation.

    "Jing Ge, Yu Ge, just help him out? Please? I won''t make dinner for the rest of the week!"

    They both immediately agreed, ""Ok"".

    The girl spat over the phone, "Pei!"

    The call was cut off and the two boys started running as my fans found me and started chasing. I was grabbed by the taller boy again and had to suffer motion sickness once again.

    We got into an expensive brand car and I was shoved in the back with Xiao Yu.

    "So... what''s your name?" I tried asking Xiao Yu.

    The boy only looked at me and turned away. Dejected...

    "Shui Yu." Oh! Finally a reply!

    "Then your brother must be Shui Jing?" I inquired.

    "En."

    Hm, I was satisfied with just this for now. He seemed like a fairly nice person despite how cold he looked.

    I fell asleep midway. I was pretty tired after all. We reached and I was woken up by a pat on my shoulder.

    "We''re here. Get off." Another cold reply from the cold beauty~

    The house... No, the mansion... was very impressive. Nothing else could be said about it. I had an inkling that these kids were rich, but I didn''t imagine that they would be this rich! Not even my sister''s this rich!

    "What are you doing? Come in," Shui Jing told me with a nice smile.

    Even the interior of the building was too priceless.

    "Male God!" a blur came rushing to me and I was tackled.

    "Can I have your signature!" What an enthusiastic fan... The girl even prepared a huge signature cardboard.

    "You are?"

    "I''m Shui Bing! I was the one who told my brothers to help you!"

    "Oh, thank you for that." I signed flourishingly, wrote a nice thank you message, and handed back the signature cardboard back to her.

    I had dinner at the Shui family''s house. I didn''t see their parents anywhere, so I guess they were busy. I asked during dinner and they said they didn''t have any parents! It''s impressive how these children earned a fortune. By the way, how did they earn so much money, enough to buy this type of house? Did they inherit it maybe? Are they some aristocrats?

    In the middle of dinner, a door opened and another kid came in. His name was Shui Lai and he had quite an attitude.

    I didn''t think just signing a signature cardboard was a price worthy of them rescuing me, so I asked them what favor I could do.

    Shui Yu answered, "Get my Ge a job. Preferably being an idol."

    Even Shui Jing was surprised by this.

    "Xiao Yu? What do you mean?"

    "Ge, Xiao Bing, and Xiao Lai have jobs, although they''re not very distinguished ones...(the younger two stiffened up at this) I''m busy with some things these days, so you''ll be the only one who doesn''t have anything to do. And you''ve stopped going to martial artpetitions. What else do you want to do? Train all day? Right now, that''s not needed. Just get a job that you''d like and be good at."

    Shui Jing nodded with a look of understanding.

    I butted in: "I can introduce you to mypany''s president. He''ll be happy with new talents. You look really good, we''ve figured that out already. Can you act, sing, and dance?"

    Shui Jing nodded his head, "I don''t know about acting, but I can sing and dance well enough. Dancing was taught by Shui Yu, and he''s very good."

    Shui Lai hade back very quickly with aptop and turned on one of my band, Nightcall''s song.

    I was asked to dance by Shui Lai so that Shui Jing could copy it. It''s not something a person can do in one try you know...

    But still, I danced and sung. My body still remembered how the song went even after a few months. This song was filled with difficult techniques for moves and the song was really hard too. It took me several weeks to perfectly get all the notes right while dancing.

    But who would have expected that all my pride would go down the drain when I heard Shui Jing sing so much better than me. And while dancing as good as me. But dancing that well... all memorized... Ugh, all my pride! Screw prodigies and geniuses!

    I sniffled as I calmed myself and agreed to take Shui Jing to thepany next week, on Monday. Shui Jing was happy when praised that he was a natural, he offered me one of the guest rooms they had and I epted. While tabloids were reporting how I wasn''t at my condo and was possibly in a scandal, I asked permission from Shui Yu to upload a picture of the Shui family and me. I only asked Shui Yu because he was like the head of the family in my opinion... And of course, I wasn''t in a scandal! I was still a virgin! And on top of that, gay! Nobody knew this yet, not even my parents. I hoped, to one day, find a not much older man taller than me who would take care of me for the rest of my life. It sounds romantic, but I knew that I was wishing to stay a bum for the rest of my life. Hehe.

    [I''m staying at my friend''s house! So jealous of their mansion! The tallest guy next to me, Shui Jing, is going to be a rookie idol, so please give him some blessings!]

    I took several good pictures of the mansion''s interior and my guest room. I posted them and turned off my phone. If there are any troubles thate along, the agents in thepany will deal with them. I barely cause them any trouble most of the time, so this one might as well be left to them for once.

    I had a good night''s rest after a bath in therge jacuzzi in the bathroom and the morning was great as well. I could smell the fresh fragrance of something wonderful. Led by my nose, I went to the kitchen where Shui Jing was making breakfast.

    Shui Lai and Shui Bing looked tired and yawned to me as a greeting while Shui Yu said, "good morning". I guess the kid''s gotten friendlier since I''m doing them a favor. But it was kind of depressing as Shui Bing''s attitude towards me hadpletely gotten slumped and she no longer considered me her "Male God"...

    There was tomato soup and garlic bread along with a light sd. It tasted good so I got seconds and eventually thirds.

    It was a Saturday, so I had a weekly practice session with my 4 other band members. I asked if the others wanted to follow me and Shui Lai and Shui Bing were the only two who couldn''t go. Shui Lai wanted to go over to his friend''s house and Shui Bing had a job. What can a little girl do? And from before, it was some sort of a not-good-at-all job?

    Shui Jing drove once again to the practice building. It was a modern looking building that would awe people, but I''d gotten too used to it. But Shui Yu''s eyes widened and he took lots of pictures.

    "Di Li Feng! Whose your friend that you stayed over at! His house looks like the president''s! No! Even better!" Meng Duo, the youngest in our group, a guy who''s still 19 yelled without even looking at the people I''ve brought. I cringed, this guy, he acts all shy and adorable in front of fans but in front of us, he''s all loud and annoying.

    "Oh, hello..." Now he acts shy?!

    Our leader, Lai Fei brought snacks for us. He''s not as handsome as me, but he''s the most graceful and friendliest guy. Possibly one of the nicest people in the universe.

    Su Fan and Fu Wen sat on the sofa at first but brought chairs and gave the sofa to the Shui brothers. At least they have some sense.

    Shui Yu looked as cold as ever. It was like his natural temperament, he couldn''t help it. And Shui Jing was earnestly asking and getting answers from the tech crew who would practice with us today. They liked his friendly attitude.

    "Bros, this is Shui Jing. My savior. My step-sister''s being petty again. Ugh, when will she ever stop?! And this is Shui Jing''s younger brother, Shui Yu. He doesn''t talk much, but he''s a really nice person at heart. Probably," I jokingly said.

    "What''s with your introduction?" Su Fan ridiculed me.

    "Shui Jing, how old are you? Are you still in school? If you are, there are many teenager stars so don''t worry," Fu Wen told him.

    Lai Fei asked, "Shui Yu, you also seem to be a good talent for an idol. You have the looks and temperament, why don''t you try out?"

    Shui Yu shook his head, "I''m busy."

    "How tall are you?" Meng Duo piped up.

    "182 cm and still growing."

    "Wow! So tall!"

    I was the tallest in our group, 188. Everyone else was 180-185. I stuck out like a sore thumb on concerts. Sigh, why is it so hard to find taller men? And everyone besides Meng Duo was either 21 or 20, but we just didn''t add any formalities and just straight out called each other by full names. Lai Feng being 21 and Su Fang and Fu Wen being 20.

    Meng Duo, cheerful as ever, asked, "Shui Jing, can you sing something for us?"

    "Ah... I don''t know any songs that are popr besides the one Feng Ge sang yesterday." Feng Ge. It sounded really nice! But, wait! Don''t let him sing that song!

    "Guys... that song... I don''t think you want to hear him sing it..." I warned them with a cautious look.

    "Ai, what''s wrong? He shouldn''t have that much of a bad voice if you approved him, right? Just let him sing!" Meng Duo, it''s your loss. If youpletely lose faith in yourself, it''s your fault. I warned you.

    Nightcall''s song, Wolfhound, the song I sang yesterday was found online and turned on by one of the sound technicians.

    The music red from the speakers and we could barely hear what Shui Jing was singing. The sound technician in charge of the speakers gave us a look of apology and turned it down.

    I was still amazed when I heard Shui Jing''s voice. It was perfect and without any need for editing. Gosh, why are all the Shui siblings so talented?!

    Let alone my wonder, all my band members were awestruck as well. Ha, beat that. Actually... we can''t... T_T

    "FUCK!" Meng Duo yelled out to end the loud silence after Shui Jing ended.

    "Meng Duo! Vulgarities!" Lai Fei scolded.

    "I-I-I-" Su Fang couldn''t even properly get out a sentence from his throat.

    "Well, shit." Wow. Just wow. Fu Wen, I never knew you could cuss.

    "Fu Wen!" Our righteous leader shouted out once again.

    "What? I don''t think I can ever beat that. It just makes me frustrated." Fu Wen, you are absolutely, a 100% right. That''s exactly what I felt yesterday...

    Shui Jing awkwardly smiled, probably wondering what was wrong.

    "Um... Yesterday, Feng Ge told me it was good. Is there anything wrong with it?"

    "Hell no!" Meng Duo, vulgarities!

    Lai Fei just gave up on scolding the younger members and sighed.

    "Shui Jing, you have incredible talent. Just by singing on the streets, you''ll make hundreds each day. That''s what I think. And if you''re going to be a professional, you''ll earn much more. Your technique is very above average, what I noticed from your singing was that you don''t seem to have sung much before and the notes are raspy at times. You need to get more familiar with your own voice and your future manager can help you with that. These days, managers for idols have to study music theory and they''re qualified at figuring out problems." As expected, Lai Fei is the one who''s most proficient in this career out of all of us.

    "Ok, Shui Jing, I''ll pick you up after school and let you sign a fair contract and acquire a good manager. Where is your school? Text me the address and I''ll go there tomorrow at 3 PM," I patted the kid''s back to reassure him that nothing would go wrong.

    After giving me the school address, Shui Jing and Shui Yu left. Our band members got to practice but we were all distracted and ended practice early.

    I couldn''t focus on anything for the rest of the day. Our manager dropped us off at our shared apartment and we just yed virtual reality games, ate a bunch of snacks, exercised, and napped.

    Ah, I really wonder how the president will look after I brought the new talent into ourpany. Maybe he''ll give me a pay raise?

 Chapter 33: Trial Run

    Chapter 33: Trial Run

    When I got to school on Monday, all my ssmates and others rushed towards me and asked how I met Feng Ge. I smiled helplessly and told them that we were friends and met through chance.

    My ssmates all wanted my phone number so I gave them my 2nd phone number. On my 1st phone, there were my siblings'' numbers and Feng Ge''s number.

    sses went by in a sh and it soon became 3 PM, just 15 minutes before school ended.

    "Student Shui Jing, pleasee to the office. I repeat, Student Shui Jing, pleasee to the office." I think that should be the school''s vice principal''s voice.

    My ssmates looked jealously and enviously at me but still cheered me on. Thank you I guess.

    I found my way to the office and waited outside and was about to knock.

    "Mr. Di, will this affect Student Shui Jing''s academic performances?" the principal''s voice could be heard even without being in the room. The door was solid wood, and it was very hard for sound to pass through. I stiffly smiled, I had forgotten that if I didn''t keep my abilities and heightened senses in check, it would be very hard for me to live a normal life.

    It was horrifying when a loud noise appeared when I forgot to lower my hearing senses... That tiny metallic screech against the te, somebody shouting, and even yowls of our cat, which Xiao Yu finally named Mimi. His naming sense... I don''t know what to rebut...

    "Mr. Ying, I assure you that there won''t be anything miscarried with Shui Jing''s grades! I do have some concerns about his schedule though. Do you think we could have a meeting sometime and discuss it?"

    What a strange way to use the word miscarriage... Feng Ge, are you trying to lure in my principal? I knew that he was gay since he told me that his dream was to find an older tall rich man, but still, our school''s principal? That was definitely unexpected.

    Our principal, 24 years old and 194 cm. A rich and established mature handsome man. Has one niece who became Xiao Yu''s friend, Li Hua. That''s all I know so far, but Xiao Lai has said that his information is hard to crack into and that it would take several months to hack into the government system.

    Hacking, word to word with Xiao Lai''s exnation, is a difficult job. Xiao Lai is one of the well-known genius hackers, but hacking takes a long time and lots of patience. Even one mistake can cause serious damage and gives a chance of being found out. Xiao Lai learned to hack on his own, so he''s not omnipotent in the online world. Virtual is even harder he says. Our world will soon rely on virtual reality very much, even if it''s only in games for now.

    Enough about that. I knocked, hoping to warn Feng Ge that a date was not his priority right now.

    The principal called for me toe in and I saw a scene of the principal frowning and Feng Ge fawning over him and scooching his chair closer by the minute.

    I coughed. "Feng Ge, I''m here."

    He looked very, and I mean it, very disappointed.

    "Oh, ok. Mr. Ying, I''ll hold you to your promise about the meeting next Saturday, let''s go Shui Jing!"

    "Ah, wai-" Yeah, the principal hadn''t agreed to any meeting. Feng Ge was making it sound like the principal had arranged the date. Wow, he''s more shameless than I thought.

    We got to the parking lot and I saw the newest brand of ck Bugatti. I only knew this because Xiao Lai was obsessed with sports cars and had magazinesing in every month.

    I got into the front passenger seat and was asked many questions by Feng Ge.

    FG: "Shui Jing, your principal is really handsome!"

    SJ: "Oh."

    FG: "What''s his stats?"

    SJ: "Ying Xuan, a 24-year-old bachelor with only a niece as his family member. 194 cm, rich, good-looking, very nice and charming, mature. Perfect fit for your preference Feng Ge."

    FG: "Hehe... and his hobbies?"

    SJ: "He likes to read, go to orchestra concerts, drink tea, and talk to troubled students by giving advice.."

    FG: "Wow, he seems like a deity. Old-fashioned, but perfect for me!"

    SJ: "Feng Ge, if you guide me on my path to bing an idol, I''ll help you catch our principal. I can ask Xiao Yu to help convince Li Hua, the principal''s niece. He''s very good friends with her."

    FG: "Deal!"

    Therefore, a suspicious deal was made. With my help and the addition of Shui Yu, who would convince his friend, Li Hua, Feng Ge was surely going to catch the ever-so-graceful principal''s heart.

    Thepany was huge. A tall skyscraper with the words "Starlight Entertainment" was shown with colorful light signs. It fit in nicely and looked very modern, a style Xiao Yu would not stop wanting to look at.

    I was dragged onto one of the bullet elevators and we rose to the 120th floor. Thispany had 120 floors, 20 underground, and a 100 on the ground. Very impressive.

    The CEO, a middle-aged man, was friendly but had a calcting gaze in his eyes. Until I sung the song I sang yesterday for him, he was not convinced. What a businessman.

    Feng Ge argued with the CEO until my contract was deemed fair and gave me more favorable conditions. The CEO grumbled saying that nothing could get past Feng Ge. It''s a good thing that he was apanying me today.

    "For his agent or manager, there was a person who volunteered to be his manager. The guy is new but has many good qualities on his resume. I hope you guys both grow together." Mr. CEO, is there anyone else than a rookie? Although I am one myself, I''m still dissatisfied.

    "A new manager? Why not a more experienced and capable guy?" Feng Ge asked.

    "This guy has quite the connections, and he has a master''s degree in music theories. He also ys the cello so he should be well-versed on music." Well, I''m a little swayed.

    "I''ll call him up. (the CEO picked up his phone) Mr. Lu, your artist is here, are you avable right now?" I heard a faint "yes, of course" over the phone and shivered.

    That familiar voice. And the surname Lu. Didn''t this lead to...?

    -knock knock-

    The door opened and I saw the person I was waiting for.

    Mr. Lu Han, Xiao Bing''s poison arts teacher.

    "Shui Jing, nice to see you again." That dazzling but also strangely friendly smile made me shiver.

    "Mr. Lu, who would have expected that it would be you?" I hardened my tone and smiled.

    "Great, you two already know each other, go get some coffee and bond over it. The first assignment will depend on how much you train, so kiddo, go to sses and practice as much as you can so you can debut quickly." Mr. CEO, you''re sending me off to this vicious snake...

    Feng Ge saw Mr. Lu but didn''t look interested. Is it because Mr. Lu was giving off an overbearing feeling from the start?

    When I made desperate eye contact with Feng Ge, he guiltily turned the other way. Huh?

    "This guy''s your manager from now on, good luck!" Feng Ge ran out the door. Feng Ge! Where''s our brotherhood! Don''t leave me here all alone with this dangerous guy!

    "Kiddo, good luck. Your manager here is quite capable and already got a top-tier apartment condo for you. He has the key, so go pack up and you now have to live at the condo from now on."

    We were both chased out from the CEO''s office and silently made our way to the underground parking lot.

    "Shui Jing, don''t mistake my intentions, I really am chasing you." I know that! Don''t say it to my face!

    "Mr. Lu, I''m notfortable with this subject." Would that do something and indicate that I''m rejecting him politely?

    "Mm, we can take as much time as we need." =-= Fuck you!

    "Mr. Lu, what I mean is-"

    "Mm, you don''t know how to harbor a rtionship. I''ll help you with that."

    "Mr. Lu, I-"

    "Don''t worry, I''ll be a good boyfriend." Frick, can you stop cutting me off?!

    I guess my frustration showed on my face, so he chuckled. Huh, he unexpectedly looks nice when he''sughing.

    "Sorry to tease you, but give me a chance, ok?" He ruffled my hair. Hm, I''ll let you go this time because of your nice smile. About that chance, I''ll give you a trial run.

    Mr. Lu already knew where our home was, so he helped me pack up. It would be weird not seeing my siblings in the morning when I woke up, but if it''s something I should do, I''ll do it to my best.

    I called Xiao Yu and told him my situation. Of course, I didn''t mention Mr. Lu. Xiao Yu would get agitated and not leave me alone if I said that my manager was that guy.

    Xiao Yu reluctantly said, "... Ok, but you have to visit frequently."

    Iughed, "I''ll see you guys at school every day! And I''lle over on the weekends. My schedule isn''t that busy yet, so I''ll have plenty of time. Ah, and Feng Ge took an interest to our principal. Can you help him out by persuading Li Hua?"

    Xiao Yu agreed and said that the three of them, Xiao Yu, Xiao Lai, and Xiao Bing were at something called a Comiket. Xiao Bing had dragged them to a nearby hotel with a bunch of suitcases. It was said that the event took a week. They would be skipping school again. Mo Yun and Li Hua also joined but they could only stay for the afternoon, and for Mo Yun, only until 6 PM.

    Mr. Lu moved the lighter things while I carried all the heavy stuff. He looked peeved. It felt so nice to see such an annoyed look on him.

    A movingpany''s truck was called and I moved my bed, closet, and various other furniture in my room and let the workers wrap them.

    It was hard work moving everything to the condo. My ce was on the 17th floor and it had two floors. The 2 bedrooms were upstairs, the master bedroom downstairs, a bathroom on each floor, and the kitchen and living room downstairs. It was a really luxurious home, but it didn''t have any furniture or whatsoever in it.

    Mr. Lu''s things were already moved in and took the master bedroom. I didn''t mind. My stuff would fit in one of the rooms upstairs. The master bedroom couldn''tpare to my original bedroom. It was big, but it would be crampedpared to my humongous room. Let alone one of the regr bedrooms. All my furniture fit, but since I wasn''t used to this kind of ce, it just made me feel suffocated.

    For dinner, I boiled water and ate instant noodles with Mr. Lu. He was very interested in the taste when the smell wafted out of the noodle cups. His surprised expression while he scalded his tongue was sure interesting. I wish I could have taken a photo of it!

    Unexpectedly, Mr. Lu couldn''t cook. The always great and mighty man couldn''t cook. He had done housework very well when living with us for a month, but he couldn''t cook. This made him seem more human.

    I couldn''t sleep in my room. I had gotten too used to the big empty space surrounding me when I slept.

    Dragging a downforter and a pillow, I went downstairs and to the empty living room with a high ceiling. It felt a little better.

    The pillow andforter wereid down and I wrapped myself up like a fuzzy caterpir. With that, I slept somewhat warm and happy.

    In the morning, I felt squished. Ugh, so hot. I tried to unwrap myself but it didn''t work. I struggled a little harder, careful not to rip theforter.

    Oh, this shameless man.

    Mr. Lu had snuggled up to me when I was sleeping and put me on his bed. He was still sleeping peacefully and his eyebrows were strained and he was frowning. Such a serious expression when asleep, no wonder he''s scary looking although being handsome when he''s awake.

    I quietly got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen. Only eggs and some flour. I would make pancakes.

    Maybe the smell woke up our dear sleeping beauty, but anyhow, Mr. Lu lumbered staggeringly and hugged me from behind.

    "This is nice. It''s like you''re my wife."

    "..." If I replied, he would tease me again, I had learned from experience.

    "Oh, you aren''t replying. I''ll take that as a yes then." Even when I''m not replying I was teased! =-= Ugh!

    While eating breakfast, Mr. Lu had woken uppletely and announced my schedule for the day.

    "Today, you''ll immediately go to a studio after school is over. After that, you''ll go to a dance ss. I''ll buy take-out and we can have a brief dinner break at 6 pm. We''lle back home at 8 pm."

    So, I went to school. ssmates bothered me again and I politely smiled and answered the questions I could answer.

    Mr. Lu came to pick me up at the end of the school day. I avoided my siblings and texted them goodbye. Xiao Yu could definitely never know about this!

    The studio people were serious and looked very stressed. Apparently, a new singer had broken one of their speakers and the particr speaker was very expensive. And what made their mood worse was that the new singer only med the crew for not moving the speaker and ran away with her manager who was also haughty. She had some backing, so no one could talk back.

    The mood was getting depressing, so I released some of my charm aura. Xiao Yu had taught me how to use it. Being around me, would automatically make people think optimistic and clear away their worries and make their thoughts process towards positive things and fix the problems they were worried about.

    The mood indeed turned a lot lighter. But they were still worried about the speaker, so I got out my phone and transferred a million Yuan anonymously to the sound crew''s director with a quick help from Xiao Lai.

    Getting a notification, the director picked up his phone half-heartedly, but was pleasantly surprised and yelled out cheers.

    After that, they deemed me as their lucky charm and my vocal training went well.

    The dance ss had 23 students besides me. They saw me but didn''te forward to introduce themselves. Well, then I''ll ignore you too!

    I pouted and Mr. Lu patted my shoulder, mouthing, "What do you want for dinner?"

    "Kimbap."

    Dance training was actually pretty easy. The dance instructor was strict but praised me saying that my body was flexible and could capture movements almost instantly. I smiled bashfully and nodded along.

    Even during dinner time, no one came to greet me. So I sat sulking at a corner with a stic container containing the kimbap I wanted.

    Dance ss ended at 7:30 pm, and we got home at exactly 7: 54 pm. I washed up andid on the sofa that magically appeared along with some other furniture and necessities. Mr. Lu ordered them most likely.

    "Your hair''s wet. You''ll catch a cold." I haven''t caught a cold since ages ago. And I passed the zombie trial, so how would I even catch one?

    But Mr. Lu used this as an excuse to tousle my hair with a dry towel.

    "Mr. Lu, you should go shower, I can do this on my own," Iined. I wasn''t a kid. I was 18, and 1.85 m. I was a full-grown adult!

    "Ok, I''ll do as you say." Hm, how obedient.

    The day was tiring, even a full day of training would not tire out my mind like this.

    I unknowingly fell asleep on the sofa and only awoke when I heard mumbling.

    Mr. Lu... had a nice body. His abs, he had eight while I only had a light six-pack. It depended on a person''s body! I was just naturally less built!

    How did I see this? It was because he was only wearing a towel around his hips and his abs were shown while he was talking on the phone. Ah, male god, turn away, I don''t want to see that 8-pack of yours!

    "I''m staying here, tell grandfather that my cousin can take over."

    "But your cousin... she''s too rash and impulsive!" a voice that I didn''t recognize sounded over Mr. Lu''s phone.

    "I don''t care, I''m not leaving. Don''t call me again."

    I rubbed my eyes, what was he talking about? Did Mr. Lue here without permission? But I wouldn''t be moved that easily.

    I agreed to give him a chance in my heart after a trial run. He only barely passed the trial run with this. Hmph, I''m not an easy person to chase after all.

    Mr. Lu cut off his call and turned towards me.

    "Were you sleeping? Why don''t youe to bed?" Hmph, trying to be considerate.

    I rubbed my eyes and stumbled towards my room.

    "Shui Jing, I''m afraid that you''re too tired and the stairs might make you fall. Your hair isn''tpletely dry yet either. I''ll get a blow dryer, you stay on the sofa."

    I was dozing off and was on the verge of sleep after a warm heat was spread on my head.

    I felt a soft sensation on my forehead and was carried onto a soft and cushy bed. Today was also very tiring, I''ll just go off to my dreamng now.

 Chapter 34: Mine, and Only Mine

    Chapter 34: Mine, and Only Mine

    The first time I met my student, Shui Bing, who I now call Xiao Bing, was very memorable. She was just a small child. With bright star-like eyes and an enthusiastic attitude to learning, you wouldn''t have expected this lovely child to be a famous assassin, especially the Ragdoll, the assassin who killed her targets ording to the client''s demands.

    But she was a good student anyhow. Eager to learn more about the art of poison, I gave her assignments that my previous tutored students were never able toplete and quit because of frustration.

    Xiao Bing liked chocte a lot, but that would dilute her taste buds and weaken her sense of taste and smell. So I forbade her from eating it and only kept it to twice a month because of her begging.

    We had been teacher and student for some years, but I had never met her siblings. I knew about them through connections, but I had never gotten a chance to interact with them.

    My first interaction with her brothers was a massive one. I only expected an introduction, but to entrust me practically the whole family besides just one person was a really strange thing to do.

    Xiao Bing had rmended me and she begged me to stay and take care of them when her 2nd brother was gone. I''ve never heard of someone begging to be babysat. And it was found out that the 2nd brother, Shui Yu, was practically the head of their family of four. Not including the parents because they just can''t be considered parents after disowning them.

    I first met Shui Lai, a mischevious and intelligent boy. He was surprised that I was a man. They had obviously expected my irresponsible cousin to be Xiao Bing''s teacher. Really, Xiao Bing hadn''t told them at all about me being a man.

    I didn''t get to see the eldest until dinnertime. A door from upstairs opened and a shadow came down the chandelier that was probably made for that purpose.

    It was a tall boy, probably somewhere between 1.8 to 1.9 meters. He had just showered and had a towel around his neck and a white tee-shirt with ck sports pants.

    Water droplets were still on his hair and I couldn''t help but want to wipe them away. The boy looked handsome but had a special feeling of gentleness.

    He froze when he saw me, "Oh, a guest? Hello, I''m Shui Jing."

    I replied back, "Hello, I''m Xiao Bing''s poison arts teacher."

    Unexpectedly, he didn''t say anything about it and just headed towards the kitchen. I can''t make anything in the kitchen. That''s left to my subordinates to buy takeout or reserve a restaurant. Thankfully there was someone who could cook.

    The lunch was very pleasant. It didn''t taste like the usual food, stiff and proper, but full of warmth. It was just regr fried rice, but it made me feel better somehow.

    For the rest of the month, I watched over the 3 Shui siblings and taught Shui Bing more about poison.

    Shui Jing''s action in the household was full of warmth and care. I knew it wasn''t meant for just me, but it felt nice to be cared for this way. He always packed lunch for all of us and talked with me about various topics when I drove them to their school. So I eventually fell for him.

    At first, he was wary of me, but it calmed down a lot. He was still cautious at the end of the month though. I wouldn''t harm you at all dear!

    Shui Jing and his family never went out. They only trained, went on missions, or went to school. Shui Jing didn''t even go on missions like Xiao Bing so I couldn''t meet him for the sake of coincidences.

    What I didn''t expect was that they woulde to the restaurant that I was currently eating at.

    Maybe fate did favor me after all?

    Shui Jing looked more charming than usual that day. It was as if some godly aura enveloped him in grace and beauty.

    Having not seen me for several weeks, Shui Jing had turned warry of me again... Seriously, I would never harm you, my dear!

    Shui Yu, the 2nd child, and head of the Shui siblings knew what gaze I looked at Shui Jing with. He even revealed it to his siblings. Xiao Bing looked supportive, Shui Lai didn''t seem to care, and Shui Jing looked... confused, troubled, and in disbelief. Darling, can you not look at me like that?

    We didn''t meet for some time until I became his manager.

    I didn''t dare attach bugs in the Shui''s house because Shui Lai would have found them all, so I was a littlete getting the news that Shui Jing was aspiring to be an idol.

    I had learned almost everything and majored in many subjects in my college and graduate schools at a young age. Contacting the CEO of thepany was easy. Bribing the CEO was even easier.

    We met at the CEO''s office and it should have been a happy reunion, but the certain Di Li Feng behind him ruined it. I red at him to chase the annoyance away.

    But it was fine in the end because we still got to live together.

    I felt like a married man. Shui Jing agreed to give me a chance so I would do anything to make him happy.

    So far, he cooks for me and we even get to sleep in the same bed. He doesn''t mind close contact with me and lets me hug him all I want.

    I feel content with the present but I want Shui Jing to acknowledge me as his boyfriend, fiancee, and husband...

    I''ll pursue him for now and never give up. His barrier is starting to give in and it''s a matter of time till he bes mine and only mine.

 Chapter 35: Running Away

    Chapter 35: Running Away

    School''s going fine. Soon, there will be a halloween festival in a few months.

    Our school has some foreign students and they promoted the event saying that it would remind them of the nationality.

    I don''t care, I just want candy and food.

    Our school has three major events. The halloween festival, the sports convention, and the regr school festival.

    The halloween festival woulde several monthster but they were already preparing for it.

    This week, on a Friday, would be the birthday of my siblings and I. We were all born on June 4th. It must be some kind of out of the world thing. Mom almost had a miscarriage as Xiao Bing was born because it was a very early premature birth.

    I invited my two friends, Yun and Hua. Xiao Lai invited several friends that were counted to be about 50 people. And Xiao Bing invited everyone from her grade and younger, counting up to 500 more people. Ge invited Di Li Feng, Nightcall band members, his manager, and ssmates from his grade, counting up to 100 more people. So doing the math, there would be about 650 people in the party. But Xiao Lai said that there would be plenty of uninvited guests, so maybe 700?

    Xiao Lai was in charge of ordering all the decorations. Xiao Bing would be ordering the drinks and cake. Ge would think of the entertainment. I would try to invite the principal.

    It wasn''t as hard as it sounded.

    My excuse was: "Principal, we won''t have any booze in our party, but some people need to be supervised. I don''t want people sneaking off and going into any of our rooms."

    The principal agreed instantly. Di Li Feng likes this man, so this would be a bribe to get him to provide some entertainment to our guests.

    It took 3 days to get all the preparations done.

    Ge and I worked hard to get all the food cooked to the best of our abilities. A karaoke station was set up at a room, a billiard at another, and you get the point. Bunch of rooms with different types of entertainment. Of course, they all had monitors that would be supervised from time to time.

    On the day of our party, Ge had to go back to his apartment condo and get ready. All his clothes were moved over there after all.

    He came back an hour before the party with the Nightcall members and his manger.

    "Ge, howe you didn''t tell me about your manager?" I asked as nicely as possible.

    "Xiao Yu... I didn''t want you to worry..."

    "This is making me worried."

    "I-I didn''t mean it that way." Oho, really?

    "Shui Yu, I really like your brother." Bastard, don''t call me so familiarly!

    "Don''t butt in!"

    I guess nobody expected me to yell. Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing dropped whatever decorations they were putting up and turned to me in disbelief.

    "What? I can''t say anything I want?" I smirked. Sorry, but I was in a terrible mood.

    "Xiao Yu, I also like Lu Han, please give him a chance. You gave a chance to Xiao Lai!"

    "Ge, this time, you''re the one being chased and you''re already at the stage of being in a rtionship, of course that causes much more trouble! Do you expect me to believe that a person can stay truthful and loyal forever? With all that I''ve been through and seen? Unless he survives and you guys get the blood marriage ceremony done during the apocalypse, I won''t believe it!"

    Ah.

    What did I just spout out? So stupid!

    "Apocalypse?" Shut up bastard!

    "Blood marriage ceremony?" Ge, I really don''t want to talk about that right now!

    "Xiao Yu, I really, really, like him. And I believe he''ll live. Please, don''t mind?"

    "Go away. Leave me alone. Go and tell your lover everything." I was being a little mean.

    I rushed off and I could hear "SHUI YU!" Ugh, he only calls me that when he''s serious.

    I left the house. I was still many times stronger than my siblings. I ran as fast as I could, rushing pass the cities, I became a mere blur that swept through everything in its way.

    I wasn''t going to think about the party right now, neither of my Ge and Lu Han.

    Too bad for Yun and Hua but I wasn''t going to participate in the party anymore.

    I just ran as fast and far as I could. My speed had increased after more training. Nobody would be able to beat me at this aspect.

    But... where was I?

    I had crossed over mountains, seas, and deserts already. Where was I?

 Chapter 36: Mr.Immortal

    Chapter 36: Mr.Immortal

    Seriously, where am I?

    I looked behind me and saw a trail of knocked-over trees and other misced things of nature... Did I cause this disaster? Probably.

    Anyway, it seemed to be a foreign ce?

    Blonde, red, light brown, ck. Different natural colors of hair could be seen in the far distance.

    I saw several tall trees, so I jumped to one onto another. There weren''t many trees as I got closer and there was a one level building that was veryrge.

    A school. An American school. Hm, interesting. Americans didn''t wear uniforms but this school strangely required for them to do so.

    "Ah! There''s a kid up there!" Who said that? I''m not a kid! I''m very tall! 1.82 meters!

    A guy with blonde hair and sses had cried out. You''re a kid, your whole family is a kid!

    He''s short, how am I, the tall one, considered a kid?!

    But it was strange. Although he yelled, they only looked at him once or twice and didn''t pay any attention to him.

    He looked so frustrated. Hmph, serves you right.

    But I felt curious and came down and caused a loud sound to ring out. A small, very small crack sprouted and quickly spread around me. The earth lifted and jumbled. Hm, I can cause small tremors now, how interesting.

    It was kind of funny seeing all those boys, they were all boys in an all-boys school probably, fall to the ground and yelling in surprise at the sudden earthquake. The bespectacled kid was frozen but not in fear. Strange kid.

    "I told you all! There really was a kid up in the tree!" he yelled out in excitement.

    Really...

    "Who are you calling a kid?" I said in a strained tone. Towering over him, I found that he was 1.65 m. Pretty short, and not as tall as me. Hmph.

    "Ah..." the kid froze. If I only had the air ability. Then I''d be able to fling dirt and bugs at him.

    The other students froze too.

    I hadn''t spoken English for so long, but my voice didn''t have a trace of a Chinese ent.

    My voice, in English, was deeper, sharp and pronounced. Chinese was a light-soundingnguage and very soft spoken.

    "You..."

    This brat!

    "I dare you to say that again."

    "You..."

    Really? Does he not have anymon sense?

    "You... are very beautiful!"

    Was this guy so stupid enough to try to tter me at this time?

    "What''s your name? Where are you from? Why are you here? How old are you? Are you an immortal like those in Chinese myths? How powerful are you?"

    Out of them, I only answered one.

    "Powerful enough to destroy you in a second."

    That didn''t shut him up. Damn it.

    "Wow! So you really are an immortal!" I could see respect in his eyes. His eyes were clear and bright. From my intuition, I knew that this kid was strange but had a decent personality. I gave up on trying to scold him.

    "Where is this ce?" I asked.

    "Reformation School for Boys, what''s wrong?"

    "What state?"

    "Lousiana."

    "Is that far from China?"

    "Yes, immortal, are you lost?"

    "No." I merely lost my sense of direction. I''m definitely not lost.

    I took out my cell-phone. Hm, several missed calls.

    I called Hua.

    "Hua."

    "Hey Yu, where are you?"

    "In America."

    "Ok, what should I do?" Hua is really great, she doesn''t ask unnecessary things. And she knows and deemed myself to be strong enough to do something in my situation.

    "Tell my siblings not toe and find me. I''m throwing away my phone after this, so they won''t be able to track me. And tell them not to find me. I need to think and be alone. For maybe a couple months or so. I''ll contact youter on."

    "Ok, stay safe."

    "Yea, and take care of Yun. Sorry, I can''t be at the birthday party."

    "What are you feeling bad for? We should be feeling bad that you can''t make it to your own party on your birthday."

    I smiled. Hua certainly did make my mood a lot better.

    "Then, bye."

    "Yup, I''ll tell your siblings about it."

    From a long time, I always ended calls early and it became a battle between Hua and me to end calls earlier, but this time, Hua beat me to it. She must be slightly rejoicing over this matter.

    "Hey, Mr. Immortal, why are you here at our school? Are we going that bad to be sent to hell?" the American boy asked.

    I turned off my phone and saw a crowd of cautious and frightened boys looking to the sses boy. He was probably the only one stupid enough to talk to me.

    "What''s your name?" I asked.

    "I''m Shane Deus! 15 years old, orphan, 165 cm, has leptidopterophobia, kills spiders on sight, likes food, isn''t a picky eater, likes spaghetti a lot, hates writing essays, h, h, h..."

    I listened to the whole introduction without interrupting. I had enough time in the world and this boy was telling everything about himself, so why not gain more info?

    When he ended, he whispered to himself, "and is a homosexual..."

    "What''s wrong with that?" I pondered. There wasn''t anything wrong. Homosexuality was legal in most countries nowadays. But it was still not truly epted by most. America was a very free country, but there was still discrimination going around.

    "Mr. Immortal, you must be the first person to listen to my 6-minute introduction!" the kid, Shane Deus, excitedly eximed, and even beamed a little more than before with myment about his sexuality.

    "Yes, you might want to shorten it," I scorned.

    "So, Mr. Immortal, why are you here?"

    "No reason."

    "Mr. Immortal, are you epting any disciples? If so, I''d be a perfect candidate!"

    "Lead me to your school''s office." This kid, well, no, he''s the same age as me, seems to have a severe case of chuunibyou.

    There was a fit middle-aged man in the office, typing away on hisptop when I knocked and came in.

    "Hello, what can I do for you?" he asked without looking up.

    "I want to transfer here."

    "Huh?"

    Yea, I figured so. I closed his openptop with one finger and transformed into my raven form without my wings.

    Long dark hair, cold light baby blue eyes, sharp long ck nails, an imposing figure so beautiful but terrifying.

    That''s what I was. I didn''t like being called beautiful, but in this form, I was slimmer, taller, was more western looking, had deep sharp eyes, and much paler skin that barely showed most of my veins. I looked eerily beautiful. That was a fact.

    I looked scarier in this form, so it would do, right?

    But the man wouldn''t believe me, so I had to pummel him a bit to make him write up some horrible deeds. Mass Murder, Drug Dealing, Human Trafficking, and Arson was put down. The man had a creative imagination for sure.

    The uniforms here were divided into categories, not grades. Red, Yellow, Blue, and Purple. Red was for pocket thieves and liars. Yellow was for troubled kids who fought and were impulsive, attempted murder was included in this too. Blue was for drug addicts and mentally ill students. Purple was for kids who murdered once or multiple times.

    Shane Deus was in the Red category. I became purple. The uniform was grey and was basically a white shirt, grey pants, grey zer, and a purple tie. I changed back to my regr form and wore the uniform in the restroom where I also stored my normal clothes in my space.

    "Mr. Immortal, you''re at the top of the food chain here! Even when youe in randomly, you be a purple!"

    "Stop calling me that. I''m human. My name is Shui Yu."

    "Shoo-wei-e Yu? It''s too hard to say. Why not make up a name for yourself?"

    "Then... I''ll be Rain." On the day I was born, it rained, so my first name became "Yu", meaning rain. And even my surname was "Shui" meaning water. I was fated to be a water ability user someway or the other.

    "Huh, cool! So what grade are you going into Rain?" Shane switched over quickly. I don''t know whether it''s his attitude or personality, but he was like a carefree spirit.

    "I''m the same age as you. I''m just tall. So, it should be 10th grade."

    "What?! You''re so tall! What''d you eat to grow like that?" All formalities are gone now, I see.

    "I actually didn''t eat much when growing up."

    "Totally not fair. Well, outside time is over, we need to go to ss now. What is your schedule like?"

    "I asked the person on theputer to make it as same as yours. Show me around."

    "Hehe, do you like me that much?"

    "Shameless."

    The ssroom was neat and tidy, with nothing but a smartboard, teacher''s desk, tables, and seats. There were no decorations. The walls were grey and soothing. The floor was made of wood and had numerous scratches on it. It was an old-style ssroom, like the regr school ssroom I was in before going to the private academy.

    There were students there already and the teacher had yet toe in.

    "There aren''t any assigned seats but there''s kind of a seating arrangement. If you want to sit anywhere, you just have to beat the person in an arm wrestling match."

    That was definitely not my impression of the school.

    "I know what you''re thinking, but we can''t possibly get into trouble for just a seat arrangement or else there''ll be punishments by taking care of the guard dogs. The dogs are scary and bite if you aren''t familiar to them, so it''s a bad experience."

    Hearing Shane, I determined that he hadn''t gone through the punishment before because he talked about it so nonchntly.

    "Where do you sit?" I asked. I would sit next to him.

    "I sit at the veeeeeery front. You sure you want to sit there?"

    "Nevermind." The back corner. Any one of them would do the job to let me sleep.

    There weren''t any windows, so it was a little gloomy, but the room was still a bit bright. The light would disturb me in my sleep, so I picked the right back corner. Dark andfy.

    It was a bit dark, but it turned a lot darker all of a sudden.

    "Hm?" I was dozing off, so I made a soft noise to inquire what was going on without raising my head.

    "Rain! That''s Andrei Kovalev''s spot!" Shane whispered frantically, worried. Of course, he wasn''t directly next to me, but I think he perceived that I could hear him from his spot.

    I looked up. A dark shadow covered the face of the person in front of me, but it loomed over me.

    "Ah... hello," I said in a grumpy tone. I couldn''t help it. My siblings had told me all that I looked really like a grumpy cat when I woke up not naturally or had my sleep disturbed.

    "You''re in my seat," a deep voice replied. I shivered at the tone, it sounded too cool! This dude had a really sexy ent! And I don''t like to say these kinds of words, but there aren''t any other words that can be used to describe it!

    I blinked and gave in to using my strengthened vision to see what this guy was like.

    Holy-

    More than 2 meters tall! Heck! I haven''t seen such a tall person in myst life either!

    And he had good looks to boot!

    Why is god so unfair?

    This guy had white blonde hair, a chiseled jaw, cold icy blue eyes, a straight prim nose, healthy skin and was full of that dominating aura!

    I''m a man too... I had doubts about this now...

    The very existence of this person kind of pissed me off as well as making me jealous and admire this boy. Andrei Kovalev was it? It was this instinctive emotion thatpelled me to get to know him.

    "Can I still sit here?" I asked with a small smile. Brat, don''t you dare say no.

    "Yes." Then he sat right next to me. This school wasn''t as good as my old school and still had 2 person tables. Well, my middle and elementary schools did too, only my private institution school had specialized personal seats.

    "I''m Shui Yu, you can call me Rain. Nice to meet you." I introduced myself to the boy next to me who didn''t pay any attention at all to me.

    "Andrei Kovalev."

    This conversation was going finely. Usually, I was the person to speak shortly and be aloof. But that was just me acting because, in all honesty, I didn''t like contact with people. I wasn''t a total introvert, I was fine with having people around me and felt that it would be too boring without people in life, but I didn''t want to be so close to them. Shane Deus was probably the first one to make me speak so much in a day, and it seems like this Andrei dude was going to break the record.

    "What grade are you in?" I asked. This kid wasn''t going to talk to me first so I started the conversation.

    "9th." What a monster, already this tall at 14 years old.

    "Oh, you''re younger than me. You must be smart to attend this ss."

    "Pre-calculus?"

    ''Then why am I in this ss?'' Copying Shane''s schedule was a bad idea. I was already doing Calculus and Statistics. Why was I stuck in learning something I learned already? Shane was stupid. Actually, Pre-calculus was advanced for people my age, and it was very impressive for a 9th grader to be in this ss, but I had passed this a long time ago already.

    Andrei stared at me. I didn''t see any contempt in his eyes, but it still made me feel ufortable.

    "I copied somebody else''s schedule. I wasn''t held back a grade." I still mentioned this to clear up the misunderstanding. Hey, actually, why was I even doing this? He was just too cool and I wanted to make him my friend. It''s that type of effect all popr kids have. You just instinctively want to hang around them.

    "Oh."

    That''s it? Kinda disappointing...

    Seeing now, why was a Russian kid here in the first ce, was this a super-academy for the bad kids?

    Andrei didn''t talk when I didn''t ask him questions. But he was cooperative and answered whatever I asked him.

    I barged into a sensitive topic for almost every kid in this school.

    "Why are you here?" The kid, Andrei was a purple. Same as me.

    "...I killed my father."

    I nodded. Parents weren''t always good. The people I knew didn''t have good parents at all. Actually, only Mo Yun seems to have loving parents, but they''re too strict.

    Then he finally initiated a conversation.

    "You?"

    "Mass murder, drug dealing, Human trafficking, and arson, apparently," I said with a smile. Really,puter dude, couldn''t you have put something that made more sense?

    "Oh." What. He actually believed it. Is he too naive or are the students here that bad?

    "You didn''t do any of it."

    Andrei said this. Not inquiring, but affirming it. But kid, I''ve killed before, so you''re in the wrong. Actually, I haven''t killed in this life, so maybe he is right.

    "Who knows. When is the teachering?"

    "Constipation."

    "???" As I thought, this ce has weird people.

    The students were all chatting and getting into arguments. They weren''t fighting, but I could see that they were in angry positions.

    Then the door opened and everyone hurried to their seats.

    "Uuuk, sorry kids, I ate moldy strawberries by mistake. Who would have thought that things in the refrigerator would ever expire?"

    Isn''t thatmon sense...

    But it''s also surprising that Andrei could figure out that the teacher had constipation. Or maybe he even put the strawberries in there? What a funny thought.

    Whew, just in one day, I ran away, enrolled myself as a murdering, drug dealing, kidnapping arson, and made two new potential friends.

    Isn''t this good though? I''ll take the time off and start thinking for myself. Before, I only took care of my siblings. I realized I couldn''t take care of them forever.

    I''ll have to marry them off someday. Ge was in love with that poison teacher of Xiao Bing, blech. Xiao Lai likes that kid Zhang Xing. Xiao Bing didn''t have a crush yet, but she was a very good girl and would definitely find the right man for herself without any worry.

    And what about me?

    What would I do in the future when they all had families? Would I just be an uncle?

    I wanted a family too. All the parents I''ve seen, they weren''t to my liking. And all my friends had weird families. I kind of liked how during the apocalypse, there would be unconditional trust and loyalty between blood bonded couples. They loved each other to the point of taking their own life if the other died.

    That type of love, I want it.

    But I haven''t found the right person. And I would only try looking for the right person for me during the apocalypse. There was still 2 years or so left. Before then, I couldn''t be sure if I should make friends or let alone a lover. They might not survive and turn into a zombie. I couldn''t take a risk like that.

    If I give my heart, I would very much like to give it to people who would not betray me. And to do that, I would not let anybody I care for, interact with suspicious or untrustworthy people.

    I was selfish. Overbearing. Obsessive. Possessive. And overall, too soft. It didn''t fit in, but I gave my trust too easily even when I knew it wasn''t good.

    In myst life, I had killed some zombies. I had also killed enough people to know that it was very easy to die and crush life. I fought for anything that would make my life easier and better. Providing water to the group was my job. And they treated me like a servant even knowing how important I was to ourrge group.

    For now, I would only rest and train. And making trusted allies wasn''t bad either.

    My goal this month was to make my space abilities grow.

    It was a big goal. And I would hopefully be able to do it.

    After this month was over, I would go back to my siblings. Maybe I''d get scolded. And then I''d run away again just for the sake of escaping Ge''s emotional tantrums.

    Maybe when I go back, I''ll take my new potential friends along with me to enjoy the Halloween festival.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37

    I''m a Purple.

    My father was killed by my very own hands.

    Our family was quite famous and had businesses worldwide. My mother was beautiful and always wearing a lovely smile on her face. My father was the type of man that I aspired to be. Calm, collected, and serious.

    My father never showed me much love, but I thought that he would definitely care for his family. Whenever we were on the tabloids or on news, he would always hold my mother''s hand and pat me on the back, as if proud of his family.

    But I didn''t know that he never truly liked us.

    I think my mother knew. She didn''t love him after all. She told me to only choose a person I truly loved to marry, and not to be like hers, an arranged marriage.

    One day, father decided to go and arrange a fiance for me. I was shown many marriage candidates, but always rejected them no matter what trick they tried.

    I was only 13, and he was showing me women half my age or twice, or thrice my age than me.

    Mother had fights with father over this numeral times. He showed disinterest the whole time until my mother pped him.

    I ran to her as she was furious, more furious than she had ever been. I couldn''t bear to see my beloved mother like this and red at father.

    The next thing I knew, I was protected by my mother as father tried to hit me and yell at me for how insolent I was.

    Mother fainted and crumpled to the floor.

    I didn''t see clearly as I threw the closest thing to me, a chair, at father.

    He was knocked out and put into aa. He died twelve days after blood clotted in his head.

    My mother said that it wasn''t my fault, but a servant in the household reported me.

    I was sent away. I wasn''t worried much. My mother was a very capable woman. She controlled half of the businesses and she was always easily earning profit through them. I was only worried that she would realize that I was a horrible person.

    I had felt admiration and respect for father, but after he died, I couldn''t feel anything for him. My admiration had died out years ago when mother told me that there wasn''t really a happy ending between two unwilling people.

    I couldn''t feel anything. Really. Is this what I was supposed to feel after somebody died at my hands?

    Guilt. It didn''t wash over me as it did with those characters in movies and novels.

    Was I normal? I had a crowd that hung around me. I got decent grades. I was good at sports. I was rich and had good looks.

    But would any of that make me normal?

    When I first arrived in America, at the reforming all boys'' school, I was given a purple tie and grey uniform.

    Red was for thievery and lying.

    Yellow was for troubled kids who were impulsive.

    Blue was for the mentally ill, psychos, or drug addicts

    And purple was for murderers.

    It was a caste system.

    Red and Yellows were normal. They were the regr students.

    Blues were not to be with. The regr students mostly stayed away from them.

    And Purples... Everyone, even most of the Blues would steer clear of them.

    And I had arge and tall body type, so the rest of the purples wouldn''t disturb me either.

    I had calmly observed everyone in the school. It was a hobby. Finding information by looking at people.

    One day, another purple came in the afternoon as a transferee.

    It was a dark haired person with long hair. I had doubts whether this person was a boy. The body type of this person was too lithe and slender, which made him look like a girl, but this was an All Boys'' School.

    He was napping at my desk with his face down.

    I frowned. That seat was mine. It was my corner.

    I loomed over the new boy casting a shadow across him.

    Looking closely, this boy had very shiny looking hair. It must be very soft and smooth.

    "Hm?" a groan was muttered as the person raised his head.

    I fell in awe immediately.

    His looks weren''t all of it, but it yed a big part.

    He looked so pissed off. But at the same time, it made him look like a grumpy cat.

    His attitude. A person actually treating me normally, this was a first.

    I was really nervous to talk to him and barely got my words out.

    I sat next to him, giving up my seat.

    He called himself Rain. That was actually a good name I think. Rain was rare unless it was in a flood area, so every country wished for it these past years.

    Rain was a year older than me. He had copied somebody''s schedule and was in my ss due to that. Whoever it was, you have my gratitude.

    He even asked me why I was here.

    "... I killed my father." Would he be disgusted?

    He merely nodded, not making inquiries.

    I asked him, "You?"

    "Mass murder, drug dealing, Human trafficking, and arson, apparently," he said with a ridiculing smile.

    With his attitude about his deeds, he either did them or didn''t do them. But I don''t think he did any of them. If he did, he''d already be in prison.

    The teacher came inte as always. ming constipation. It was getting old already.

    "Everyone, this is our new student, Shui Yu." He said Shui Yu wrong. It didn''t sound at all like what Rain had told me earlier. I had studied Chinese and was fluent in it, so I knew how to say Rain''s real name.

    "Hey, you guys can call me Rain," with a cool and stoic attitude, the action would have angered many students, but they all noticed his purple tie.

    "Rain, you''re so pretty!" a voice from the front yelled out.

    I saw short blond boy whooting. This should be... Shame Deus? At least that''s what everyone called him. He lied easily and was so shameless that nobody really wanted to befriend him. He was the only person everyone wanted to avoid. He could spread rumors anywhere and had gathered favors from almost everyone.

    "Shut up Shane," Rain sighed and threw an eraser urately at Shane(apparently that was his name)''s forehead.

    "Ow!"

    But that was my eraser.

    "Andrei, here."

    Huh? It was suddenly back on my desk.

    But then temperature rose all of a sudden in the ssroom.

    "Ah, maybe I should have gotten it back normally?" muttered Rain.

    There was a trail of scorch marks between my desk to the front desk.

    Rain does not seem simple.

    After Pre-Calculus, we didn''t have sses together for the rest of the day. I would meet him at Pre-calculus only tomorrow.

    Dinner time was here and it was pizza today. I didn''t like these fast foods, but due to hunger, I still epted them.

    Rain and Shane were lined up and chatting. Everyone looked towards the transferee and admired his looks.

    But after seeing his tie, they knew not to go near him. Everyone, even I, wondered how Shane got to know Rain.

    Soon after, I began hearing rumors about Rain having superpowers. Um, our era is quite scientific you know?

    Rain spotted me and came to sit in front of me.

    "Andrei, this is Shane. Shane, Andrei."

    I nodded to acknowledge the person in front of me. The blond kid was pretty nervous. Was I that scary?

    "Nice to meet you," I muttered back.

    "Hey, do you know what the dorms are like?" he asked.

    "Oh, I know! Each dorm room has 5 beds. The bathroom is so tiny, and the closets aren''t even a 10th of the tiny bathroom. People get set up randomly, but you can switch rooms however you want. Ah, I don''t have any Blues in my room, so it was really lucky for me. Rain, you should room with me and kick out the other kids~"

    "Troublesome," Rain scoffed.

    "You guys cane and room with me," I offered.

    "Really? Is there anyone else besides you in your dorm room?" Rain asked.

    "A Blue. But he rarelyes, doesn''t he? I heard he was a genius and prodigy of art but then went crazy by being obsessed with making perfect paintings. Didn''t he drown himself because he felt that he shouldn''t exist in the world anymore if he couldn''t draw anything right? Sounded really depressing." Shane certainly knew the rumors.

    "No, he drowned himself because he couldn''t find anyone perfect enough to model for him. He has an obsession with hands and wanted to cut them off, people. It only started after he was given drugs mixed into his water bottle from a fellow artist. He''s better now and is almost ready to get out of here." That was the real story. After he recovered from drugs, his mind was clear and he felt guilty of all the things he had done to worry his family.

    "Well, I''d like to room with you then, all the guys in my room hog the bathroom. It''s not like they need to shower. They''re already disgusting as is." No wonder Shane is disliked so much. His mouth would indeed be disliked by most arrogant and unruly students here.

    "I''m fine with anything."

    So after dinner, I brought them to my room.

    "Why is it bigger than my room?!" Shane cried out.

    I remembered something, "I also have another person in my dorm room. He''s another purple. He''s a little... It''s hard to describe him."

    There were two bunk beds and one regr bed. They were all twin-sized.

    I slept at the bottom of a bunk. The Blue slept on the regr bed. And the other Purple slept on top of another bunk bed.

    "I''m taking top."

    Rain rushed and lightly jumped off,nding in a sitting position on the top of my bunk bed.

    "Ah, then I''ll take the bottom bunk nearest to the bathroom~" Shane announced and slid his stuff under his new bed.

    The closet was rarely full of stuff, but Shane had brought lots of clothes and supplies with him in his suitcase, so only his stuff upied the closet now.

    Rain only had one outfit besides the uniform, so he folded them up nicely and put it on top of Shane''s things.

    "Ah, finally I can shower in 3 days!" Shane ran naked into the bathroom and closed the door quickly. He really... doesn''t have a sense of shame...

    "I don''t have anything with me. Are we allowed to go shopping?" Rain asked.

    "Yes, we can go out on the weekends with a supervisor watching over us."

    "Hm, luckily I have my cards with me."

    We don''t have a lights off time, but there was a curfew. It was by 10 PM, so people had started trailing into the dorms.

    "That new student was so pretty! If it weren''t an all-boys'' school, I would have thought that he was a girl!"

    "But he''s a purple. And I heard that he''s friendly with that Russian dude."

    "And doesn''t Shame hang out with them too? He really found good support."

    Shame, I mean, Shane, was a shaggy-haired blond boy with sses. Everyone knew that he had gotten in here for petty reasons. He made connections easily. Although most people dislike him, they would acknowledge his personality of always being perky to the point of being annoying.

    There are many Yellows and Reds, and there are quite a lot of Blues too. With Rain included, there should be 16 Purples.

    The Purple in my room, was a boy named Jack Larson, an Ennd boy. And the famous Blue was named Ryan Labelle, from France. Ryan Labelle was a senior while Jack Larson was a junior.

    Jack Larson was a psycho. He liked people''s bodies. Not in a sexual way, but overall itself. If it was a beautiful person, he''d stick around them and kill them to take photos of their expression and body.

    He was more of a Blue, but since he had killed a person and tortured 2 more before, he was put in as a Purple.

    He only killed girls though, so everyone in the school knew that unless they were girls, he wouldn''t even give them a look.

    But this time, we had Rain. And he could definitely pass off as a girl. Even his voice was neutral.

    Hopefully, Rain was stronger, if not, it''d be trouble. I could help him, but Jack is still too scary. He got into a fight with another kid before, and although he fought and was losing, he fought with all his might. That look of craziness struck fear into my heart. It wasn''t a pleasant experience and I wouldn''t want to go against him.

    It''s also because although I''m fit, I''ve never learned how to fight. Kickboxing might count, but I''ve never fought anyone before, and I was still an amateur at it.

    "Shane, don''t get the floor wet," Rain reminded by shouting.

    Clunks and other variable sounds were heard as the body inside the bathroom hurriedly opened the small cabs to find toilet paper or towels.

    "Ha..." Rain sighed.

    "Hey, never mind, I''ll clean it up, just hurry up and let me take my turn," Rain scolded.

    Shane bashfully got out fully clothed and with wet hair.

    "Oh, you do look quite good without your sses. I have another friend like this, but he''s cuter," Rain mentioned.

    "Nobody can be as good as me!" Shane feigned shock.

    Rain saw a notebook on the desk and tore some pages out of it. That was actually Ryan''s sketchbook...

    "Here, look, isn''t he adorable? But I think my sister is cutest."

    In no time at all, a sketch was drawn out.

    I also looked. The boy in the drawing was quite adorable just as Rain had said. He had slightly curly hair that was not shaded much, probably making him have dyed hair. His eyes wererge and his shiny and pouty lips were beautiful. And his cheeks were shaded in, making him seem as if the boy was blushing. The boy had a slightly angry look that made him cuter.

    "Wow, draw me! draw me!" Shane shouted in excitement.

    "Here," again, in no time, Rain drew Shane.

    "Hm, this is good, I like it. I should do my hair like this next time!"

    In the sketch, Shane''s hair was swept to the side, and his forehead showed. He had a cool expression on his face, which made him seem more mature. Now that I look closer, Shane really did look quite good. He had a straight nose that wasn''t too long, his face was a naturally oval and sharp-chinned shape, his skin was healthy and glowing, his eyes were bright and in a warm brown shade.

    I never looked at people closely and ignored them most of the time, maybe I should try to not ignore them from now.

    "Ah, I look so cool. Hey, what about your family members? What do they look like?"

    Rain tore out more pages and drew on them. How could he draw people so realistically in such a short time?

    Three new drawings came out.

    "My younger siblings, Shui Bing, and Shui Lai, and my older brother, Shui Jing."

    His family''s genes sure were... too unbelievable.

    "Wow, your sister''s so cute! And your brothers are just blinding me even through the pages! Hey, why don''t you introduce me to your brothers?" Shane asked shamelessly.

    "My younger brother is chasing another person while my older brother is being chased. I ran away because I didn''t want to agree to my older brother dating his pursuer."

    "Rain, but love is love! You should give them a chance! And even if they do break up, your brother will be mentally strengthened through it even if it was heartbreaking!"

    "I don''t want him to suffer heartbreak..."

    "Rain, he''s your older brother, isn''t he supposed to be like the responsible one in your family?"

    "No, I raised them up myself."

    "...Well, you should still allow him to pursue happiness!"

    Rain nodded, "Yea, I''ll take you back and maybe you can help me with it."

    "Really? I haven''t been out of the country before!"

    The two were having a happy talk when suddenly, my phone rang.

    "Uh, that''s not mine, I don''t have money to afford a phone." Shane waved his hands, indicating that it wasn''t his.

    "It''s mine," I said and looked at the phone number.

    It wasn''t somebody I recognized, but it was at most a scam, so I picked it up just in case it wasn''t.

    "Hello?" I asked into the phone.

    "Hello, do you perhaps have Shui Yu over there?" Shui Yu? Wasn''t that Rain''s name?

    I passed the phone to Rain. How did this person know? Was Rain some kind of incredible person?

    "Yu Ge, I heard what happened. Xiao Bing and I are really worried. Why don''t youe back home?" If I hadn''t studied Chinese, I wouldn''t have known what this conversation would be like.

    "Didn''t Hua tell you not to try to find me, Shui Lai? Do you guys think I''ll be fine ande home with just a call?" Rain''s voice in Chinese was soft, but it was swift, ruthless, and quick.

    "..."

    "I don''t want to go back. And don''t look for me. I''ll go back when I want to. I need time to rest. Train properly, I''ll see you guys a lotter. I was nning to return after a month, but because of this call, I''m going to return muchter. Let''s see if you can survive without me."

    "YU GE!"

    "What, don''t you realize that you can''t live with Ge and will have to have to take care of yourself and Shui Bing? I hope you guys choke to death with Shui Bing''s cooking. You can''t even cook properly and only hack and train. You think living alone is so great? This time, you don''t even have a caretaker. If you ck off, I''ll throttle you. And even if you don''t ck of, I''ll throttle you. Shui Lai, don''t think that since I''m always so amiable that I''m weak and willing to do everything for you guys. I have a life too. If you dare look for me again before I go find you guys, be sure that you''ll be paralyzed in the hospital bed."

    "Wuwu, Yu Ge, did you think my cooking was so bad?" I heard a crying girl''s voice.

    "Yes, it tastes terrible. It''s edible but have you tried it on your own? Rather than doing house chores, polish your skills by training. I''ve long found out that you were an assassin. The whole week I cried in the past, was because I knew. Shui Bing, your attitude towards training is weak and pitiable. I heard you y around with your targets the way that your employees want you to? Kill them off quickly. Andst time at the zoo was a huge mistake. How many mistakes have you caused? And did you even properly repent for them? Don''t think about cking off on training. Even if you are a little girl, I won''t hold back and you''ll be lying on the hospital beds with Shui Lai when I go back."

    The people on the other side of the phone all shut up. Maybe this is their first time hearing such an angry Rain? But I am scared. His family members were dangerous. Hacking and assassinating were no joke. Rain didn''t know that I knew Chinese so he must''ve spoken like this, but it was really terrifying. What would happen if he found out? I broke into cold sweat.

    "Hey, Yu, don''t be so harsh on your siblings. I told them to not contact you, but they held me and Momo hostage until I told them everything I knew."

    "Hua, tell them to let go of you two. I''lle back sometimeter."

    "Yu Ge, I can help you avoid Jing Ge! So pleasee back!" The boy named Shui Lai''s voice shouted.

    "Scram, don''t look for me ever again. Have I been too lenient? I''ve lived far longer than you. Mentally, I''m 45 now! I''ve lived in terrible conditions for so long, you think I wouldn''t know what to do? Hey, just don''t call me again and let me hang up."

    "Yu-"

    -Beep-Beep-Beep-

    The call was cut off and only beeps sounded.

    "Uh, Rain, I didn''t understand anything just now."

    "Pft." The serious atmosphere was broken by Shane''sment. Rainughed andughed, holding his stomach.

    "Ugh, my stomach hurts... I''ll go take a shower now, yell when the other roommatese," Rain got a towel and clothes that I let him borrow.

    Not long after he left, Jack and Ryan came in.

    Jack and Ryan actually hate each other''s guts. Ryan had, in terms, "repented", while Jack didn''t care about what he did.

    "Hand fetish and Body fetish..." Shane muttered as they came in. And the two definitely heard it.

    Ryan wasn''t as blunt as Jack who asked, "Who are you?" but he was also probably wondering why a strange kid would be in their room.

    "I''m Shane, Andrei let me move in," Shane replied in a self-righteous tone.

    The two were aware of me. Jack didn''t want to mess with me because of how I looked, big and tall. And Ryan didn''t really care.

    Then Ryan noticed his torn out sketchbook.

    "Did you do this?" he asked with a deep frown.

    "Nah. Trust me, I suck at art. Rain did it."

    "Rain?" Ryan asked doubtfully.

    "Yes, he''s in the shower, look, isn''t he good at sketching?" Shane took out the sketches that Rain drew from his suitcase stored under his bed.

    Ryan marveled at the drawings.

    Jack only nced over but was mesmerized by the drawings too. I had a feeling that Jack was going to get in some trouble if he kept on staring at Rain''s sister''s picture.

    Rain was still hard to figure out. 45 years old in mental age? Why that specific number? And what was with his family''s upations? Assassin? Hacker? And seeing Rain''s older brother''s sketch, I realized that it was the new rising star idol, Shui Y, meaning Shui One. It was probably an alias.

    "His skill is pretty good. Who are these people? Or are they not real?" Ryan asked.

    "This boy is Rain''s friend, that''s me, and these are Rain''s siblings," answered Shane. Hey, I don''t think you should be casually giving this information when there''s Jack here.

    "Oh, then, I''ll go meet himter. I''m going to shower first."

    "I''m going first, you went first yesterday," Jack argued.

    "You take too long. It''s not like you have any use for all those skin care products," Ryan countered.

    "What''d you say?!" They were going to get into an argument soon...

    "Ah, hey, you guys, Rain is also going to live here, he''s showering right now," Shane interrupted before they erupted. I really do admire how he butt in even with knowing how crazy they were.

    Jack, with his dark brown hair and pale blue eyes, and Ryan with his light brown hair and evergreen eyes both looked towards the small bathroom.

    "Then why don''t I hear anything?" Jack asked in doubt with his British ent.

    "Oh? He must be using the toilet right now then," Shane remarked. Uhm, Shane is also very blunt.

    "Shane, I told you to yell if there were peopleing," a grumpy voice sounded.

    "Rain, you''re already done," Shanemented with a bright smile as if he hadn''t heard what Rain just said.

    My pants were too big on Shane, so he only took one shirt from me and a short pair of shorts from Shane.

    His long pale legs stood out and stunned us with their shininess. The drops of water in his hair sparkled and dripped onto the floor. The slightly wetrge shirt disturbed us though.

    "Rain, you have abs! And your legs are so pretty!" Shane shouted out what we were all thinking of.

    This guy, although he was so thin, had a six pack! Although it wasn''t very pronounced, it showed clearly.

    "Shane, your shorts are too short. And I think you have pretty legs too. You don''t have leg hair. When you grow taller, I can introduce you to some people that are handsome," he replied.

    "Ah, I''m going to be short forever..." Shanemented. There had been a rumor that Shane was gay, maybe it was true? I didn''t mind that he was gay, as long as he didn''t like me. I was okay with homosexuality, but I was straight.

    "So you''re Jack Larson and Ryan Labelle." Rain smiled weingly like he was the owner of the room and they were guests instead.

    "You used my notebook," Ryan used.

    "I''ll buy you another one."

    Meanwhile, Jack was staring at Rain''s beautiful face.

    "Hey, you should know, I''m not a target."

    And suddenly, with a raise of his finger, the water droplets on the floor of the carpet in the room came out. The water droplets also came out from the bathroom and Rain''s clothes, towel, and hair.

    "Oh, I knew that you were an immortal!" eximed Shane.

    Immortal? What?

    The water droplets all gathered into onerge clear orb.

    Rain flicked his finger and the water ball came shooting towards Jack.

    "Ah!" Jack cried out as he was soaked with the water.

    "You really shouldn''t people based on looks." That was true, although I looked buff, I was without experience and would lose in a fight with techniques.

    "And Shane, I think that you''ll survive the cmity that wille in the future. I can just put you in my space anyway." Rain muttered thatst part in Chinese, but I still clearly heard it. And what was this about a cmity?

    "Then you''ll ept me as your disciple? I don''t want to learn how to fight but I do want to know how to fly! And I want to be like sh, theic superhero who was as fast as light!"

    "Oh, so you don''t want to learn how to fight? That makes it easier actually, but I''ll still teach you because you''ll definitely have to fight for your life every day in the future."

    So, with us bbergasted by this weird sorcery, Shane was epted as an immortal''s disciple.

    Rain told us, "Don''t bother telling this to the teachers. They''ll believe you''ve be Blues anyway."

    That was true, so for now, we could only try to keep quiet and stay out of this immortal''s way.

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38

    ...We had never seen this side of Yu Ge.

    He had never gotten angry at us before. Compared to this, no, we had never even experienced Yu Ge''s anger.

    Xiao Bing was still shocked and had tear stains on her face.

    Li Hua, Yu Ge''s friend sighed as she excused herself and the still-knocked out Mo Yun.

    It wasn''t too hard to track down the chip on Yu Ge''s clothing. But what was hard was epting the fact that we had been immature all along, causing endless amounts of trouble when we should have beenying low.

    Yu Ge had already known so much about us. He even found out about Xiao Bing''s real profession. Where had he gotten information? How did he know all this?

    I wasn''t the best hacker in the world, I clearly knew this. If Yu Ge had an informant, from where, I didn''t even know.

    Were we not needed? Were we just tag-alongs that Yu Ge raised out of familial love? What was the point of all this then?

    No, this wasn''t true.

    I breathed out heavily to calm myself.

    He had told us to train. He was going to test us when he came back. He woulde back. We just had to improve and earn his approval. But would we ever be standing at the same stage as him?

    Yu Ge was always ahead of us. We only thought it was a step away at first, but as we grew up, the gap was growing wider than we could everprehend.

    Even with Xiao Bing''s incredible speed, Yu Ge was undoubtedly faster. Even with Jing Ge''s incredible strength, Yu Ge was much stronger. And even with my intelligence, it couldn''t do anything to beat Yu Ge''s experience and wisdom.

    Mentally, Yu Ge was 45 years old. He must''ve felt like he was a father and mother to us as he took care of our every need. We were spoiled, heavily, and only Jing Ge had tried to take care of Yu Ge as an older brother. Were we just kids who were being taken care of?

    Xiao Bing started crying again.

    "...That''s not Yu Ge. That''s not Yu Ge. It wasn''t. He''s always nice. He spoils me. He doesn''t ever get angry. That''s not Yu Ge."

    She kept repeating it, trying to brainwash herself into believing it.

    "Xiao Bing. Stop fooling yourself. Yu Ge is angry right now."

    "NO! I didn''t do anything wrong! Yu Ge wouldn''t scold me!" she hysterically screamed. Ugh, the shrieks hurt my ears.

    "Xiao Bing, st-"

    "Shut up!" Shui Bing flung a fireball at me.

    I countered with lightning and dispelled it with equal force.

    Then, I pped her hard.

    "SHUI BING! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!" I shouted.

    She then went quiet. I had a short temper and she knew it.

    "B-but why would he scold me?" she asked pitifully.

    "Xiao Bing, what have you done until today? You made a mess out of the kidnapping zoo animals mission, you made a mess of Yu Ge''s zombie trial, and you even got him to go to Japan to buy things for you. Are you a princess? No, even princesses don''t get such good treatment. Besides Jing Ge, we are very spoiled and used to having Yu Ge to support us. But the incident with you not telling about your poison arts teacher being a man, and precisely that man to be chasing Jing Ge, that incident just blew his top. Even Jing Ge who''s slow to anger, has gotten mad many times, how do you expect for Yu Ge not to have human emotions? Do you think he''s a god? I thought so too, but he''s not. He''s a fragile human being, more so because he gives his trust easily to those he deems are fine. He''s not innocent, but still has a pure view on life."

    "...Ok, I''ve calmed down." Xiao Bing sighed and tumbled onto the carpet.

    "Lai Ge, I really am stupid," she remarked.

    "Yes, you are," I said back.

    "How did Yu Ge know about my job? I was only about 6 years old then. And you weren''t even good at hacking much," we both pondered this, but Xiao Bing asked out loud.

    "We still don''t know too much about Yu Ge. He has a lot of secrets. The ces he goes to are sometimes blocked by weird transmissions, so I can''t trace him. The people he knows, I only know Mo Yun and Li Hua. We really don''t know anything about him although he knows so much about us. I just hope that what Yu Ge meant by testing us when he got back would mean that if we reached his expectations, he would tell us everything."

    "Makes sense, he''lle back at Halloween. Let''s train hard and redeem ourselves until ites."

    We both sighed and shivered at how scary Yu Ge was. He was like a totally different person.

    What was going to happen with Jing Ge though?

    I called after Xiao Yu but in less than a second, he disappeared. I called him frantically. Voicemail wasn''t applied to his phone, so it was very unfortunate.

    Fortunately, after a couple of minutes, Li Hua got a call from Xiao Yu.

    But it was a warning, to not go and find him.

    Why was he fine with Xiao Lai chasing Zhang Xing but not fine with Lu Han chasing me? It was all the same, people liking each other.

    The party went on.

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing acted as if they were overjoyed and I acted like I was fine. Lu Han still noticed my forlorn expression and took me away to my room.

    "Shui Jing, we''ll be ok." This man in front of me wasn''t good at consoling, but he got straight to what I was worried about.

    "Lu Han, I don''t know how to talk to Xiao Yu. If you betray me, I have more than enough power to kill you. What is he so worried about?" I joked.

    "Shui Jing." That shut me up. He sounded worried, very worried. My mentality was stable but I still couldn''t help feeling sad.

    Tears starteding from my eyes.

    "Haha, I''m crying. I haven''t cried in so long that I forgot I could..."

    Laughing while crying, there was no doubt that I must''ve looked hideous.

    But Lu Han still embraced the snotting mess of myself.

    "Don''t cry, if all else fails, I can take you up to elope in space."

    I burst out intoughter.

    "I''m sure that Xiao Yu can still chase us," I told him.

    "Don''t mention another man in front of me," Lu Han frowned.

    "Haha, you''re so very funny." I sarcastically said.

    "...But thank you." I smiled while wiping off my tears.

    "I really mean it."

    I was pushed down onto my own bed. Surprised, I looked at Lu Han with wide eyes.

    "Do you expect me to try to hold myself back when you''ve told me your true feelings?" he grunted and moved closer.

    By this time, I had lost all rationality and blushed, as red as a lobster.

    "I''m not much of a gentleman as you think. Will you still like me even that way?" he asked.

    "You are a rogue, never was a gentleman."

    Lu Han chuckled and ced his lips on mine.

    Nibbling at first and then the next thing I knew, we were panting from his bites and licks. His tongue twirled around mine and licked every corner of my mouth.

    Lewd sounds echoed throughout therge bedroom. I was about to stop him but Lu Han stopped first.

    "You''re too young. I will give amnesty and not take advantage of you."

    I snorted.

    "You took my first kiss, so you have to take responsibility," he voiced out with an iparably handsome serious expression.

    "Then what about me? You also took my first kiss," I asked.

    "I''ll take responsibility by marrying you."

    "Thew states that men can only marry at 22 years old," I recited.

    "Oh, so you researched on this?" he gave a deep smile.

    "No, I just know from Xiao Lai mentioning how it should be changed," I denied it. Xiao Lai had his future set out and nned already so he knew about this kind of stuff.

    "I think it should be changed too. 22 is far too old of age for a person to get married at. It''s unfortunate that my family doesn''t have influence in China to change this," agreeing, Lu Han nodded.

    "I turned 18 today. Aren''t you going to wish me a happy birthday?"

    "I remember saying it in the morning."

    "I must''ve been half-asleep."

    "No, you were still sleeping," he exined.

    =_= Really, this man made me speechless sometimes. And I could never get used to it.

    "I said it right at the time you were born."

    "I''d rather you say it when I''m awake. Very sweet of you, but it''s also very useless," I remarked.

    "Hm, then Happy Birthday. I hope to wish you forevermore happy birthdays."

    I was secretly very pleased but acted as if I was angry.

    "You just want me to be an old man."

    "And I''ll stay with you the whole time."

    "Your sweet-talking skills is on a high level. How many have you lured in?"

    "Only you. I only tried to seduce you, and saved up all my experience for you."

    "Experience?"

    "Other people around me getting together, especially, young master Jiang flirting with every personing his way has been yed out to me my whole life."

    "I forgive you."

    "Thank you, wife."

    "Who''re you calling wife!"

    "I proposed to you, are you not epting it?"

    "You call that a proposal? Try better!"

    But even though Lu Han had cheered me up, I was still worried.

    When would Xiao Yue back?

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39

    I''m from an orphanage. My parents died when I was 7.

    My mom dying from some sickness led my distraught dad to go drunk driving. And next thing he knew, crash, death.

    But seriously, what about me?! I can only tell you, they were very lovey-dovey and also cared for me very much. But they weren''t too responsible.

    Both were very much in love with each other.

    I cried so much at their funeral. Nobody wanted to take me in. I had rtives, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, but no one wanted me.

    My parents didn''t have much savings, so they wouldn''t be able to get out anything from the measly amount they had left. Adults are so cruel.

    So I was passed off to the orphanage.

    Life was normal but the orphanage was poor and crappy.

    I pickpocketed often and gambled to make enough money to buy school supplies and pay for field trips in the orphanage. I wanted to seem normal.

    But in 7th grade, I realized. I couldn''t ever be normal.

    Because was liking men normal?

    No, it had turned out that I was gay.

    Maybe it was due to the fact that I never really saw girls as nothing more than friends.

    Maybe it was due to only being able to drool at handsome boys.

    I just liked boys. That''s all.

    I''ve even had several crushes. But they were all fantasies, I couldn''t do anything with them in real life. Or they would be disgusted.

    I went to high school, and during my 9th-grade year, I was used of stealing a rich kid''s wallet.

    It was absolutely not me. I didn''t steal at school. But some people in the orphanage said that I stole all the time. Those brats.

    So I was sent to the school I was in currently now, St. Barbara.

    It was actually a pretty great thing.

    There were boys everywhere, the gave free wifi even if I didn''t have any devices, they let us go free with supervision during weekends, and the food was decent too.

    And now, I was better than ever.

    But I was being called Shame and was rumored to be gay. What did they mean by rumors? I really was gay!

    Rain is a great guy. Andrei was nicer than I thought, and he''s really hot! Jack Larson''s a psycho and Ryan Labelle''s really mature and calm. They all look above average, so it''s kind of a mini paradise for me just to have some eye-candy around.

    I''ve been getting good grades because Rain didn''t let me ck off and helped me study. He''s also been training me. Ugh, he''s too harsh on me, my body hurts even while lying down.

    On the night when Rain showed off his abilities, I was secretlyughing in my heart. Their expressions... too funny! It was freaking hrious!

    Jack turned pale, Andrei put on a serious expression that was too funny on his young face, and Ryan looked shocked and curious.

    I''m Rain''s only disciple! Haha! Cower before me, weaklings!

    Hmhm, I''ll be powerful like Rain too someday.

    Rain isn''t an immortal, but he is a superhuman of some sort. And with the skills he has shown me, I believe what he said about the apocalypse. I wonder if there''s some kind of secret organization that has superheroes in China!

    Really, I''d like to see a zombie! But I wouldn''t want to be bitten by one. Would they rot and shrivel up or would they still be how they looked when they turned?

    So many things I want to ask!

    Andrei and Ryan are fairly friendly with us but Jack stays silent and stares at Rain in fear and tries to stay away from us. Seriously, it''s not like he''s done anything to you!

    Well, besides that, 2 months have passed and it''ste October.

    Rain said my ability toprehend strategy was even better than his younger brother, and supposedly that kid''s a genius, so I''m pretty proud about that. He said it was because I had more experience in dealing with tough situations.

    These days, during the weekends, we often go out to participate in drag racing. And my word, Rain is so awesome! He''s so fast, it''s zoom zoom all the way!

    Hehe, but this weekend, we''re going shopping for Halloween costumes. Rain said he was going to bring me, Andrei, and Ryan to China for a party at his old school. It was good that we had prepared our passports and had them in hand. Rain already bought 4 tickets for us.

    I just decided to be a mummy, wrapping toilet paper and some sticky glue to make sure it didn''t fall off. Andrei would be a fancy vampire, and Ryan wanted to be the phantom of the opera.

    I''m so excited! Technically, the dean was coerced by Rain to give us a special pass. There will be a supervisor, but I was told by Rain that the guy would only be apanying us to the airport.

    So after a night without rest from too much excitement, I woke up very tired but still enthusiastic.

    My first time out of the country! And it''s a foreign Asian country!

    On the ne ride, I was so nervous. I knew that the hyperne was safe, but still, going into the air without worries was impossible. I was a creature of thend, how were the people around me still chatting and acting normally?

    Rain noticed my trembling hands and patted them. His hands were even colder than mine but it somehow made me feel better.

    China, when we got there, was very bright and it was already 11 AM. The airport was big and had an aquarium too! We had a quick lunch with some dumplings and Asian pancakes from the stalls in the city after we were dropped off by the airport bus. They were delicious and only a little greasy.

    It was apparently still school time for everyone else, so we got to go to Rain''s house.

    And by god, it was huge! It was thergest mansion I had ever seen in my life! Maybe even as big as the president''s White House I saw while on a field trip to the capital!

    I rushed in and looked at all the luxurious things. I could only feel envy and admiration for Rain.

    Rain had told me that all this was his work along with the help of his siblings. Their parents didn''t do anything but raise them up when they were young.

    Rain''s cooking is really good too! It was spaghetti and cream soup for lunch and it tasted absolutely divine!

    Rain got his costume from his room and we stayed in the house until Ryan asked if he could go shopping.

    He wanted some paint and paper that were only sold in China as a specialty.

    So we went into the garage that was full of sports cars, limousines, and a bunch of other vehicles. I wanted to ride in a limousine all fancily, but Rain said that my clothes would not match, so we went into a room right next to Rain''s room(which is awesome by the way), which was full of musical instruments and had a ss-applied studio-like look. On the other side, was a whole ce full of clothes, clothes, and more clothes.

    Rain said he upgraded this ce and had even more clothes in the next room.

    He picked out a lot of clothes for our size and stuffed them into suitcases.

    "Take them. They won''t fit me and my siblings don''t wear them anyways. I want to see the outfits I coordinate on people, not on hangers."

    Woohoo! So I earned 4 suitcases full of clothes, shoes, and essories. Everyone else had the same amount so we felt that it was fair.

    He picked out for us each an outfit without even looking properly. A pile of clothes and essories were each thrown at us. We were told to change while he went to pick out some shoes.

    Wah, we looked so cool!

    Andrei had a grey zer, white shirt, and tight-fitting ck pants. Rain picked out brown leather Oxfords for him.

    Ryan wore a soothing cashmere cardigan that was light grey, a jean shirt, and very light blue jeans that were slightly ripped at the knees. Rain provided expensive white and ck sneakers out for him.

    I wore white formal pants, a thinly light-blue striped cored shirt, a fancy navy button-up vest, and a leather belt. Rain even gave me sunsses and an expensive watch on top of formal leather shoes!

    Rain had on a casual but nevertheless expensive outfit of tight-fitting ck pants that showed his long legs, a pale light blue sweater/shawl thing that had mid-sleeves, and ck ankle boots. He even added a pair of sunsses like me, a ck choker, and let down his hair and parted it to the left. He looked like a beautiful and quite stylish androgynous person. Maybe I should try growing my hair too!

    Hmhm, feeling very cool and awesome, we got into one of the limos and rxed while it drove by itself.

    We had brought our costumes into the car since Rain didn''t want to meet his siblings yet. He had partly forgiven them but was a bit petty, cute.

    I asked, "Rain, I thought you didn''t like wearing androgynous clothes?"

    He replied, "After living in America, where the fashion is to wear something that would suit your looks, I decided that my beauty wasn''t such a bad thing."

    "Ok, so what else are we going to do besides shopping art supplies?" I looked towards the two other guys who were talking to themselves quietly. Not joining in the conversation eh?

    "We''re going to get you a new costume. You can''t possibly think that I''ll let you wear toilet paper around all day long. What if it falls off? Glue doesn''t work if somebody bumps into and tears it by ident," Rain stated.

    Excited, I quickly asked, "What should I be then?"

    "What do you want to be, sexy or cute?" he asked with a nonchnt smirk on his face. The two boys who were conversing with each other suddenly stopped and listened in.

    "Sexy!" I replied almost instantaneously. Andrei and Ryan choked and coughed. I red at them.

    "Then, do you want to try cross-dressing? I think you''d look ''sexy'' with a short skirt, and belly showing crop top. You can try being a prom queen or something," Rain suggested.

    Me, being the guy with the power of gay, agreed. Who wouldn''t be interested in cross-dressing anyways? At least, not me!

    So we first went to an art shop where we spent almost 2 hours because of Ryan who wanted to buy everything, size 1, size 1.32, what''s the difference?!

    We then went to a dress shop. I changed my mind about the prom dress thing and decided to be a Chinese hostess, going for a short Chinese styled white-with-pinkce-at-the-ends dress.

    Rain then told me to wait in the dressing room and try on the dress while he ran off quickly(yea, you know how fast he is) to some store to get those fake breast pads.

    He came back minutester with C-cup sized breast pads. ...Was, was I that t? Just kidding! I asked that, and Rain patted my chest as if making sure that I was t and replied, "Yes, you''re very t." Hahaha, I had a goodugh about that!

    The C-cup sized breast pads were only because the dress was sized for those type of breasts. So yea, Rain stuck them on me without any shame and I was a little embarrassed, but we were friends and had no ulterior motives, so I was fine with it.

    Looking at the mirror, I did look quite pretty. I hadrge brown eyes, nice smooth skin, and a wig that totally matched my natural hair color. All I needed were some essories, shoes, and make-up.

    Rain worked hard by bringing those things back from his mansion and applying the make-up himself. I have to say, this kid is talented in everything! Yea, I learned that I was a few months older than him, I was born on 4/14.

    Anyway, Andrei and Ryan were surprised that I looked so pretty when I came out of the dressing room. They had been bored, waiting outside the dressing room, ying games on their phones. Typical boys, they don''t understand the joy of shopping.

    Hm, now I looked like a proper hostess, so it was the others'' turns.

    Ryan made a fantastic phantom of the opera, he said he molded the mask himself in the school''s kitchen. How he got permission for that, I found out that Rain had once again threatened the school dean...

    Andrei made a dashing vampire, Drac, whatever. All that mattered was that his fangs looked ready to bite prey and he looked handsome.

    Rain was a perfect fox spirit exorcist and his white fox tail and ears, as well as his make-up looked so realistic. He told me that this was one of his powers, to change into a fox-human form. So cool! I want to try being a hybrid fluffy human too!

    We got on the limo again since it was already nearing 5 PM. They would serve us lunch there, so I was looking forward to how a fancy school would give luxury meals... Ack, I was already drooling.

    The limo dropped us off and drove away by itself into the parking space. Wow, even the parking space was huge, and the school was... I don''t know what else to say but GINORMOUS.

    People with costumes on were already trickling in and handed in tickets as they were stopped at the gates.

    Rain reassured us, "Don''t worry, my friend''s uncle is the headmaster of the academy, she saved tickets for us. The doorman should have them."

    And yes, the doorman did have them. We proceeded to follow Rain to the entrance. The school was huge and decorated like a super old haunted house. I wonder how long it took.

    They even announced our names as we went in.

    ording to Rain, they said, "Please wee, Mr. Shui Yu, Mr. Andrei Kovalev, Mr. Ryan Labelle, and Mr. Shane Deus."

    Rain must be a popr dude since after his name was announced, everyone started muttering ''Shui Yu'', Rain''s Chinese name.

    Some girl who was in a green dress came by, talked to Rain in some rapid Chinese, greeted us politely, and went away to go talk with some adults. Hey, I guess this wasn''t merely a students'' party since there were so many distinguished looking gentlemen anddies here.

    Rain''s siblings hadn''t arrived yet, neither his friend(apparently, that girl was the headmaster''s niece, Rain''s friend), so we waited at the side, grabbing a ss of red tomato juice. It tasted refreshing and only a little salty.

    I was talking happily with Rain when the light turned bright and stung my eyes.

    "Oh, it''s the dance floor. You don''t have to dance, do you even know how?" Rain asked.

    "I do know how to street dance! But not the fancy type of dance..." I muttered thest part.

    Rain sighed and held out his hand.

    "Here, you''re nimble and a quick learner, so try not to step on my foot. I''ll teach you how to dance. If you get the hang of it, it''ll be fun."

    Rain instructed me and told me the basic steps. We stayed at the wall''s side where it was still darker and practiced. After 10 minutes or so, I memorized most of the steps and was confident enough to go out to the dance floor.

    "Andrei, go with Shane. Ryan just got taken away by some girls. I guess they think you look scary," Rain teased.

    So I got pushed onto the dance floor with Andrei. He knew how to dance too. Do all rich people know how to dance? Surely that shouldn''t be, right?

    But Andrei was good at leading. I didn''t step on his feet and he swung me around when I was about to, so it felt ok to mess up.

    Hm, I was getting the hang of it. This was pretty fun! The music was getting faster, so we had to spin around faster too. Andrei showed a hint of a smile that we never had gotten to see before. Feeling pretty great and in a good mood, I shed a smile at him andughed as we went faster and faster.

    When the song ended, we were still in an exhrated mood and went to Rain who was drinking tomato juice and conversing with a boy dressed up as a wolf.

    "Rain," I called out.

    Rain seemed to say goodbye and turned to us. The boy smiled and went to the girl who we had previously met.

    "You guys looked like you had fun. They should be doing some regr dancing. Do you want to dance in that constricting outfit for just regr dancing?" Rain said pointing at my dress.

    "Is there any other outfit?" I asked.

    "Yes."

    We headed to the men''s bathroom. A couple of boys were in there and stared at me.

    "I''m a boy." My voice was deeper than a girl''s so they knew and went back to their business.

    We went into thergest stall, which was as big as our small bathroom in the dorm, and Rain took out a suitcase full of clothes and other stuff. Ah, he had the space ability, right, how could I forget that?

    He gave me a red crop-top tank top with arge logo on it andfortable loose ck pants. And to top it off, Rain also handed me a cap andfortable sneakers.

    "Rain, you''re so well prepared! Thank you! Are you going to dance?" I asked after getting changed.

    "I''m going to wait for my siblings."

    "So you aren''t really mad at them, right?"

    "No, not really. I''m still a bit pissed off. I wonder how they lived without me though. The house was still clean, so I''ll give them that."

    "Pft," Iughed and went back to the dance floor.

    Ryan could be seen socializing with some adults and girls kept looking his way. Andrei was leaning against a wall and calmly looking onto the dance floor.

    I patted him on the shoulders and gave a wide grin and shed a V with my fingers.

    "Hehe, I look good as a girl, don''t I?" I asked.

    "Yes, you look cute."

    ...You didn''t have to answer so seriously! I''m blushing because of you!

    "...Oh, are you doing to dance?" I asked.

    "No." Well, that was expected, but still.

    So, I dragged him onto the dance floor.

    "It''s weird not knowing anyone here, let me at least have a friend around."

    Andrei gave into my pout and sighed, "Then, how do I dance to this type of music?"

    I gasped in mock horror and whispered, "You-you don''t know how to dance regrly?"

    "Shane," with his deep voice, he growled.

    "Fine, hey, just move and you''ll be fine. These people are just moving their hips and swaying. They can at least try to jump. All the songs are in English, so I know them. They''re pretty famous, do you really not know them? You just try swaying with the crowd. Just watch me, I''m probably the greatest dancer in this ce!"

    So I left Andrei behind and went to the spotlight, the middle of the whole ballroom.

    The music was one I was familiar with, it was an old ssic, "Stronger" about a breakup sung by a famous singer a long long time ago.

    I spun, whirled, did some handstand jumps, and other cool moves taught by watching people on the streets break dancing.

    At the end of the song, I jumped up high, grabbed my toes, and rolled myself into a ball and spun in the air. Landing perfectly, I was greeted with an apuse. All that training with Rain had paid off after all.

    "Hey, I was good right?"

    "Yes, you were good." Hmph, same type of answer, same routine.

    I spied with my little eye, a person with a name depicting a type of weather talking with a group of people. I once again dragged Andrei along.

    "Rain, introduce me!" I panted since I was a little tired from the intense dancing.

    "You''re already this tired after a round of dancing? More training for you" was his answer. Shit, maybe I shouldn''t have approached him...

    Andreiughed at my misfortune behind his hand. Don''tugh!

    "These people are my family members and some others."

    He pointed at each one and introduced them to me.

    "This is my older brother, Shui Jing. This is my little brother, Shui Lai, and his friend, Zhang Xing. This is my little sister, Shui Bing. And this bastard''s Li Hun."

    "Oh, that bastard," I nodded along.

    "Xiao Yu..." Rain''s older brother sighed.

    "Fine, his name is Lu Han. But what the heck would we want to remember him for?" Rain said.

    "Yes, he''s an insignificant character," I nodded along again. Rain was boss, whatever he said, went.

    But oh god, these people were gorgeous. The youngdy was cute, the little brother''s friend looked cute, and everyone else was handsome! What a bright aura around them!

    Rain didn''t want to seem to switch back to Chinese, so he introduced us to the group.

    "My friends, Shane Deus and Andrei Kovalev. Another friend, Ryan Labelle is somewhere else."

    "Hi, nice to meet you guys!" They hadn''t said a greeting before, but I should set an example, right?

    Andrei only gave a nod to the group. Andrei was too tall. 2 meters and more, so not fair! It was hard enough to pat his shoulders even if I grew taller from the deadly training that Rain gave(I''m 168 now~). So he bowed, but it didn''t really make much of a difference.

    They also noticed their impoliteness and also nodded and smiled apologetically to greet us.

    The two taller people, Rain''s brother, and the bastard were dressed up in suits and had sunsses in their coat pockets. The little girl who was strangely taller than me was wearing a tight leather outfit with a whip stained with some suspicious liquid at her side. Surely it wasn''t real, it should be a prop. And the other two were the only normal ones, being aliens.

    "Hello, how old are you, older sister?" asked Rain''s little sister, who should be called Shui Bing? Yeah, Shui Bing.

    "Oh my, I''m ttered, do I really look that pretty? I''m as old as your brother! And I''m actually male."

    "I was wondering why my brother would have a girl as a friend if he went to an all boy''s school," she remarked.

    Everyone soon went away to socialize or dance. Rain''s older brother and his boyfriend were chatting andughing. I want a rtionship like that too~

    But the two were interrupted as a bunch of older kids went to Rain''s older brother and goaded him on.

    "I wish I knew what they were talking about," I said out loud.

    "They want Shui Jing to sing and dance. He''s an uing star after all."

    I turned to Andrei and asked, "You know Chinese?"

    He nodded, "A little."

    We kept our eye on Shui Jing and cheered when he went upstage.

    The dude had some gobsmacking voice and moves!

    It felt like some weird force was moving as even the adults who weren''t interested begin to look at Shui Jing and cheer.

    "My brother can charm anyone," Rain came back with another ss of tomato juice.

    "Oh, that''s your brother? He has a remarkable voice," Ryan also came back after talking to people.

    I understood what Rain actually meant. His siblings had some kind of power too.

    "Ryan, who did you talk to?" I asked.

    "Some people I saw in art auctions. And some of my parents'' acquaintances."

    "We don''t have much to do left in China, and we need to go back in two days. I have some business to attend to, so I won''t be leaving for another week. Do any of you want to stay?" Rain asked us.

    "I can''t stay for long, I''m about to graduate and go back to France. I''d love to, but sorry," was Ryan''s answer.

    "I want to stay!" Of course, I''d stay! School was so boring! Maybe I could even escape from there with Rain''s help!

    "Me too." Maybe Andrei was bored too?

    We toured around China for two days. Rain said China was really big and that he hadn''t gone to many ces, so we were all new to this tourism. But it was fun. We had food, went to many ces, and bought some souvenirs.

    Ryan waved until we couldn''t see him anymore at the airport.

    "Ok, let''s go."

    Huh? To where? To Rain''s home?

    I guess it showed on my face because Rain gave a smile.

    "Didn''t you want to join a secret organization?"

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40

    "Didn''t you want to join a secret organization?"

    From a long time ago, starting from when I just began to earn money, I had gathered information on people.

    The scientists who tested me, the people who would be responsible and not freak out if something bad urred.

    I had stored the information on people who I deemed useful and gathered it up until I had enough money to buynd.

    Land was expensive, and I could only buy little by little, and soon grabbing ahold of a whole ce surrounded by forestry that was still not cut down and mountains. I even bought ake.

    That was going on as I recruited people. Most didn''t believe me. Some said they did, but they were only trying to calm down a kid. All I could do was bribe them with money and excellent living spaces, providing free living expenses and daily needs. The cafeteria was full of professional chefs. The only thing was, I would provide them with whatever things they wanted to research, but they would not leave the organization without my permission and they wouldn''t tell anyone else about it unless I had given them permission to.

    There were plenty of amazing hackers. Xiao Lai wasn''t the world''s best, he ranked in the lower middle. So I hired all the greatest hackers I could find and provided them whatever they wanted to keep the base safe. And they were all people who didn''t want to miss out on this type of deal, so they agreed instantly. Neets.

    As the hackers worked under my orders and brought light to the research on zombies going on in Greend, the scientists and people I hired began to see the truth and understood the terrible future.

    This way, I brought in more scientists by inviting some from America, Germany, and some other ces by showing the evidence.

    After the zombies I foundst year were sent to the base, the people started experimenting with any theory they had made. And they are currently making the zombie trial process safer, less painful and with a higher percentage of sess by testing on mice and other animals.

    I even hired the future "Merchant" group that would make thenguage converter in the future with their psychic abilities. They are currently working with the people who make trantor devices and chips so that the futurenguage converter will be upgraded.

    With everyone and their family, the base can hold more than 20,000 people. But currently, there are only 900 people in the base.

    I n to bring my family, friends, and friends'' families into the base. And the old man from the GEMpany, whose name is Tse Bao, will be invited too. I know he said he didn''t have any family members left, but that could have happened because his family members died under the zombies'' hands, so I''ll have to ask him about that.

    The stocks for GEM, at least 26% is mine. I didn''t buy anymore since I didn''t want to alert thepany too much. If I wanted, I could buy up to 43%. The rest is owned by the CEO and his family, so no can do.

    Next week, there is a meeting at GEM, so I need to go there. And this way, I can get closer to Old Bao and earn his trust.

    Ah, but Old Bao mentioned how my hair made me look like a sissy. Maybe I should cut it? There are some aunties who worked as hair stylists before at the base I think. I''ll ask them.

    We got into a yellow taxi that I had called up from the base. It was just a disguise for people who wanted to go outside the base.

    The base was mostly made of bulletproof ss that wasyered many times over, and concrete. It still had some aesthetic though. Inside the base were many apartmentplexes that stood tall. The offices and research base was ced west and the recreation center and swimming pool were ced in the middle. There was actually no roof. It was currently being researched by the "Merchant" group and other scientists and engineers on making a barrier machine.

    The base actually earned a lot of money. We made sr panels that were better than the recent ones and sold them worldwide. And smog-eating machines, as well as allergy reducing medicine, were also created. These made our profits worth billions with the other medicine and products we made. We were very careful and had the hackers monitor at all times just in case anyone would try to infiltrate the base for information either online or physically.

    Andrei and Shane looked around. They didn''t look as surprised as when I had told them about the secret base. I hadn''t even told my siblings about this. But for these two, I needed to tell them because they would not be safe in America with no information or skills.

    I had also debated putting them in my space. Currently, I could at least stuff 700 people in there max. The researchers on the base were almost finished with the zombie trial serum. It was 87% safe and inflicted less pain than before, so they would soon try it on their selves after improving it to 100%. I wouldn''t allow any mistakes to ur and I wanted everyone on base kept alive.

    Thankfully, the children and other family members on base were understanding. Some of the people were unruly, but after I took them to the research center after capturing a few more lively zombies, they were terrified and knew the consequences of how it would be if they weren''t at the base. A school was being constructed by myself slowly but steadily. It was half built and I would need to work on it soon. The base would also be bigger as I would permanently hire a construction crew. My house would also be moved here after I train Ge to strengthen his Earth ability. At that time, I would have to tell my siblings I guess.

    It really wasn''t fair for them. I had thought for a long time while I was over in America and decided, it was wrong for me to think that they couldn''t keep any secrets from me while I could. But I just wished they could think about the consequences more.

    But so far, everyone was agreeable on the base and they were more rxed since they could go on with daily lives without worrying. Some of them had friends and distant family members that were outside of the base, and they asked me if they could bring them in. I asked them if they were totally reliablest time and if they wouldn''t mind being stuck in this cest time I visited. They would probably give their answers today. They were allowed to contact other people but only when they were outside. I had buses prepared for those who wanted to go visit others.

    And as I expected, as soon as Inded, a swarm came upon me. Most were aunties and children. The male and female researchers knew that the thing they were working on was the top priority and that they could only try to save themselves. Besides they also thought to worry about the supplies and food in the future. Like toilet paper, toothbrushes, these small objects were not much but important to simple daily life.

    Currently, we were in the Asian district and there were different dialects andnguages being spoken rapidly.

    "Shui Yu, my friend is old but living alone with her son, they''repletely fine!"

    "Shui Yu, my friend ispletely trustworthy! He''s in university and has pretty good grades in environmental sciences! Isn''t that useful for the base?"

    "Shui Ge, my friend''s in elementary school! She''s surely fine!"

    ...and such were their calls to me as "Shui Yu" tantly.

    A person who had been informed of my two American friendsing along had prepared trantor devices and was standing next to the crowd.

    I handed one of the tranting earbuds to Shane but I had overheard the conversation of Andrei being able to understand Chinese, but not allnguages, so I handed him one.

    "Wow! I can understand them! Can I speak it too?" Shane eximed.

    "No, that''ll be in the future. Everyone here has a prototypenguage trantor, so it''s fine even if you speak in English," I exined.

    I calmed the aunties, other adults, teenagers, and kids down.

    "Everyone, I''ll be here for a week, so slow down. If you arepletely sure that they are trustworthy, say your reasons when I''m at my office. And if you aren''tpletely sure, have some of the spare hackers look at them, And tell the hackers I''ll give them a bonus and trip to Korea''s virtual gaming internationalpetition. And if they work hard, the top 5 can even get spots to participate in it."

    Aren''t I being too generous?

    "Oh, and which one of you worked as a professional hair stylist?" I asked the crowd.

    "Oh, that would be me," answered a calm and soothing voice. Oh, I knew this person, it was one of the younger hacker member''s mother.

    "Aunty, I''ll trouble you to cut my hair."

    "But why? It''s so pretty!" sheined.

    "I have a friend who said it made me look to sissy-like," I exined.

    "No, it''s such a pity. I have some ready-made wigs, I''ll give you er."

    "Then, thank you. I brought some fruits, please take them."

    I handed her some apples and pears and she happily epted them.

    I motioned to the person who had been carrying thenguage trantor devices and he nodded and led us away to the research center.

    "Here, we''re currently working on perfecting the zombie trial serum. The "Merchant" group are going to test it first and tell us the results. The live zombies that Chief has captured are in the testing room contained by Metallic ss that was tested to be stronger than the newly revised version. The researchers have their lunch breaks in the cafeteria at 12 to 1. They work from 8 AM to 6 PM and have free weekends unless they want to continue further research," the guide exined.

    See, everyone should call me "Chief", I am 45 years old after all. I don''t want to be called "Shui Yu" by people younger than me or even older. Even the kids tried to call me by my name until their mothers corrected them.

    "As per your future ns, we have already recruited a permanent construction crew and are currently building the rest of the school. Chief, the University and college students haveined about the school before, but have calmed down after they got online education courses that set them up in their previous ssrooms. They can just use a screen robot to travel through sses now, so they find it convenient. There is also a list of people who want to go out next week to visit some of their friends and distant family members, here it is."

    The guide prepared a tablet with a checklist and I quickly read through the reasons and checked the ones that seemed reasonable. For the others that didn''t seem reasonable, I marked them for the person toe to my office.

    "Hey, you''re very work-efficient. Why note be my secretary?" I asked the guide.

    The guide was surprised and stuttered, "C-chief, are you sure?"

    "Why not?"

    "Thank you, I''ll meet your expectations!"

    "So, what''s your name? Basic information?"

    "My name is Jing Song. I have two family members, my wife Yun Sha, and son, Jing Shao. I am 36 years old, my wife, 34, and my son, 11. I worked as an assistant and came along with my wife who is one of the researchers here."

    "Oh, good, so you don''t have an upation here yet. You can be my secretary. I''ll give you the office next to mine. For now, arrange all the meetings and my schedule. Let''s have dinner sometime, having a good rtionship with the subordinate is a thing, right?"

    "Ah, yes! Then I will prepare your schedule!" And thus, I had a person established in my Secretary position.

    Andrei and Shane came back from a tour around the base and seemed pretty excited.

    "Rain, you should build an amusement park or something! A zoo or aquarium would also be so cool! How big are you going to make this ce?"

    Actually, the construction was still going on, and I was nning to make some more buildings. I needed to make a safe base with being able to fit in at least a million people. The poption would increase, so it''ll go higher than that in the future. I also had the idea of the base being somewhat like a city. But it would only be exclusive for the people here right now, not for outsiders. No matter what sob story they had, unless I allowed them, there would be no chance of entering unless they were useful.

    I sent my two friends away to Building #1 where they would stay at the top Suite. Shane was so excited that he dragged away the heavy Andrei easily.

    Oh, another crowd wasing towards me. This time, it was a group full of European and foreign women and their children.

    "Shui Yu, we''ll pay for the ne tickets, our friends arepletely trustworthy, can you please bring them here?

    "Shui Yu, my friends are good and were in the same ser team as me! It''s so boring without them! They should be fine, so can you bring them here?"

    The European people had not fully mingled with the Chinese or other Asian country people. Indians, Chinese, Americans, Europeans, Australians, and more. The Americans were a part of every group, the Australians were a friendly bunch too. Thenguage tranting devices helped them out a lot. And I was hoping there would be no discrimination. There is still a little difort with how they all have different cultures and styles, but hopefully, they would all be a closemunity. The Europeans had been chatting and I had overheard how blunt the Chinese were. But in my opinion, the European people were sometimes too polite.

    "Everyone, I''ve gotten a new secretary, his office is right next to mine. Now, I''m sure he''d be able to set you up with a meeting with meter on. And as I told the other group before, if you arepletely sure, then set up a meeting please, and if you aren''t, have some spare hackers look into them. Thank you."

    The crowd seemed satisfied and went away. Some kids still looked at me.

    I sighed, "Call the other kids here, I brought presents."

    They cheered and went running to gather the other kids.

    From my space, I brought out snacks, junk food, dessert, chocte milk, orange juice, and ice cream.

    "Now, why don''t you ask your parents if you can order some? The delivery men I hired would be perfectly fine doing their job with the high amount I pay them."

    "Mommy said that we shouldn''t be so wasteful."

    "My dad said that he didn''t want me to get cavities."

    "The delivery men don''t know how to buy good snacks! They only buy those sweet potato chips and healthy stuff! Yuck!"

    After eating a snack, I led the children to the yground.

    "Shui Yu! Toys! Toys!" Even the Chinese kids called me like this. They only called me Shui Ge when they were in front of their parents. How rude. I''m 45 you know?

    "Here you go."

    An assortment of toys came out and tumbled to the ground.

    Mini-robots, sketch pads, watercolor paint, phones, tablets, evenptops. I had bought what they had wanted.

    Actually, everyone on base has my phone number. I only told them to call or text me whenever there was something very important or there was an emergency. But the kids always used it to text me what they wanted. And every month, there would be an organized wishlist gathered from everyone in themunity. The kids could have written it down there, but always texted me for some reason. That reason being: We don''t want our parents to find out.

    They all screamed in joy and began rustling through the pile.

    "What do you say?" I asked.

    "Thank you!" all of them chorused.

    Satisfied, I sent them on their way, reminding them not to fall while running.

    "Yu Hyung! Did you bring what we asked for?" A group of Korean high schoolers came my way. And no, I didn''t buy cigarettes, I don''t want you guys getting ck lungs from smoking.

    "Oppa, I wanted a new phone!" Here you go, the pink rose gold phone you wanted.

    "What about the snacks?" a boy asked. Here you go, this Melona ice cream is good, you have great taste.

    "Textbooks?" Nobody really wanted them, but their parents had it on their wishlist.

    "Thanks!" And with that, another group went away.

    This time it was the university studentsing my way.

    "Shui Yu! I heard that you were staying for a week, why don''t youe y basketball with us when you''re free?" You''re clearly indicating your want for the basketball you wanted. Here you go.

    "Shui Yu, you should make a football field, I was a great yer in my sophomore years you know!" Yea yea, I''ll make a field sometimeter.

    "Shui Yu, can you tell the hackers to let us use some of theirputers? I left my virtual reality gaming seat at home..." I know, youined about itst time too, I bought one, it''s packaged, here you go.

    "Ack! I can''t hold this on my own!" The gaming seat dude almost broke his arms trying to hold his requested item. I gave a sneer and they all went away carrying the seat.

    Another group! I know I rarely visit, but really? What''s with the crowd this time!

    This time, it was a horde of girls, teenagers, adults, and aunties all together.

    "Shui Yu! Did you get the new shade of mermaid eyeliner?"

    "What about the new dark raspberry blush by Timeless?"

    "Oh, I wanted that new designer dress from Tiffon''s!"

    I gave them out and they all fought each other. Ugh, this group was always the worst and spent most of my money.

    American teenagers this time, with some Indian, Australian, and European kids too.

    "Shui Yu, did you get the gaming console I wanted?"

    "Hey,e y with us! You aren''t too busy, right?"

    "Can you set up a movie theatre for us? It''s really boring without being able to watch the newest movies."

    "Shui Yu, please tell the chefs to start making some junk food for us! I don''t like eating all those healthy stuff!"

    "My mom ordered me to get the workbooks from you, but can I hope that maybe you didn''t buy them?"

    "Shui Yu, can you bring us some pets? My mom and dad said I could get a cat or something since this ce allowed animals! It''s great that the researchers made the allergy reducing medicine!"

    "Slow down, these are what I have left. And for the textbooks... Let''s say I forgot to buy the Indian version, but I brought the Korean version. But the tranting device can''t really help with written words, so say that it was my mistake."

    Finally, it was dinner time. The cafeteria was 1 floor and could hold up to 20,000 people. It was somewhat like a food court except healthier.

    After dinner, I went to my office and slept on the couch there. Hopefully, the rest of the week until the GEM meeting wouldn''t be as busy...

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41

    I was wrong.

    The whole week was full of meetings, meetings, and meetings. Meetings with people, meetings with researchers, meetings with the permanent construction crew.

    I was so very happy and ready to run towards freedom when the GEM meeting date came. I put on a suit, borrowed a shaggy wig that covered my eyes from the auntie who was a hair stylist and had somebody give me a ride.

    The GEM building was a skyscraper and reached high towards the sky. It had some greenery dotting the verandas that were arranged in a swirling pattern all around the building. Quite cool.

    So Tse Bao was an executive here...

    Some of the women and girls wanted jewelry from here, but only the girls were shameless enough to request it. Even though I was rich, buying several pieces of jewelry would still cause me to feel sad with thatrge amount of money being pulled out from my wallet...

    No matter, I would get them some hairpins instead. They should be cheaper at least.

    I went to the ountant and told her of my arrival for the meeting. Ady led me up to the floor where the meeting was going to take ce.

    11:00 AM. Just in time.

    But maybe not?

    The other executives were waiting for me. Did I get the time wrong?

    "Mr. Shui, you are younger than we expected," said the man sitting at the head''s chair, the CEO.

    "Oh, and you are older than I thought. Aren''t you supposed to be 52? You look like you''re in yourte 60''s," I countered with a smile. I was being cheeky, I know, but I would definitely not let myself be bullied. I was using a deeper voice which I had mastered to fake my age.

    The man showed no change in his expression but I could see the veins bulging on his clenched hands.

    "And you''ve also probably gone senile and told me the wrong time. I forgive you for wasting my time."

    "Mr. Shui, please sit down," the CEO said without missing a beat.

    "Sure. Let me ask, who here is Tse Bao?"

    "He''s not here," was the answer.

    "I see," I noted.

    "Nevermind, enjoy your meeting," and with a swoosh, I left the ce. I had onlye to rekindle the old man and my friendship, not participate in some stupid conference. The rest of the men and women just stared at me and turned back to their meeting. They wouldn''t care about some person who didn''t bother to attend a meeting. They probably thought I was some rich stuck-up kid. But did they know that I held 3% of the shares? That might have changed their views.

    Going down the elevator, I noticed that the map of the building had a shop on the underground level, so I clicked G3 to go there. The elevator stopped on the 1st floor and opened.

    The person who came in was about to press the button when he noticed the G3 button that was lit up.

    "Oh? I''m going to the same ce as you," he said. He had a young voice, a kid?

    I ignored him and kept my head down. On my phone, notifications had popped up and they were mostly from the children at the base.

    I kept scrolling to see the whole list of snacks that the children wanted me to buy. And one little girl wanted a flower. Some kids wanted balloons. And some mothers wanted to get baby clothes for their babies.

    The elevator made a noise and the doors opened.

    "Then, let''s part ways," the boy who rode the elevator with me said. And I ignored him again. Why should I talk to strangers?

    I could hear his stiffened state with the way he stomped furiously, but who cares?

    Uh, the shop should be here somewhere? Was my ability of not being able to understand maps turning up once again?

    All around me was a parking lot. Where was the shop?

    I could hear cursing from the boy who had tried to talk to me in the distance. There was no one down here, it was probably still working hours and the cafeteria provided free food. No one would go out for lunch. Maybe the man I ignored was going to the exit? At the very least, I could go to another shop and buy some jewelry for the women.

    I followed the boy, and when he looked back, I hid behind a column. The parking lot had lots of columns, en, very useful.

    And I finally found my way to the shop. Oh, what was this? Such a good interior design, the door was made of pink ss and the exterior of the shop was sparkling too from the smooth steel tes. I stood out at the entrance and analyzed the building. This design, after being tweaked a little, could be used to make a beauty spa. The women also had wanted this and some of them were beauticians, so I had written this on a list of "to build".

    "So you did follow me after all!" a familiar voice said with an using tone.

    Oh, the boy I followed. Now looking at him, he was very sweet looking. With slightly pudgy cheeks and an adorable angry look, he really was like a bun. And he was wearing a traditional little white shirt and ck pants to match too, how cute.

    "I don''t know you."

    I went inside the shop without looking at him while passing by.

    I found a disy case full of nes, bracelets, and rings. Where were the pins? Now that I saw, all of the jewelry were in disy cases. And the ce was like a hall. Maybe a showcase? Did Ie to the wrong ce?

    No way, there was jewelry, so they would definitely be selling it.

    I found some hairpins that were simple but had a certain charm to them. These would be for the olderdies who were too shy to ask for any more stuff. For the younger girls, charm bracelets were good. Next time, I would buy charms instead of expensive jewelry for them.

    A person wearing a uniform told me that this was indeed a shop. And they would even pack up the things I bought individually in decorated packages and boxes. I pointed to the ones I picked out and handed the worker my card. Several other workers were called and they smiled at me, thanking me foring.

    But I wasn''t done looking. I went further into the hall. This ce was like a museum, with disy cases, careful lighting, and prized possessions.

    At the end of the hall, there was a single set of diamond earrings. They were very tiny, but they were also the most expensive things here. ording to the description provided on the case, it was a pair of Rhodium earrings. It had a natural ck diamond set in one of the earrings, while the other had a natural red diamond. Both were rare and the ck diamond cost a little bit more than the red diamond and they were square cut.

    "Don''t buy it! That''s mine!"

    What was it now?

    "You''re plundering the whole ce! But that one''s mine!"

    I looked at the price tag. 500 million yuan. Could this kid really buy it?

    "I saved up a lot of money for those! Today''s my birthday, I''m going to get it, you can''t buy it!"

    Well, I guess I''ll give it up, it was the kid''s birthday. Next to the ck and red diamond pair, there was also a pale pink and pale blue diamond basket cut pair. It was only 300 million yuan, so I could get it instead, both pairs looked identical except with the pale pink & blue pair having tinum instead of the expensive rhodium.

    So I bought the pink & blue pair. It was pretty and I wanted to wear it immediately. Getting my ears pierced wouldn''t hurt with the technology these days.

    "Customer, your card ount only has a 410 million yuan," the ountant reminded the kid who was nning to buy the ck & red pair.

    "I''ve saved up all of my New Year''s and birthday money for this year, are you sure it''s only that much?" he asked.

    "Yes."

    "Maybe older cousin used my card... Ah, anyways, can''t you give me a discount?" A rich kid asking for a discount... that''s a first.

    "I''m sorry, dear customer, if you aren''t nning to buy, I''ll take the next client." The kid was taken aback but stepped away from the register.

    The person who carried the pink & blue earrings I wanted set it up and packaged it after swiping my card.

    I looked at the kid who was sitting on a sofa and calling somebody on his phone.

    "Cousin, did you use my card?"

    "Oh, how did you know? I only used several million. Don''t worry, I''ll win it back for you."

    "You went gambling again? Didn''t uncle scold youst time for that?"

    "You shouldn''t make me remember such bad things. If you don''t have anything else, I''m hanging up!"

    "Wait, you have to return my money!"

    The conversation sounded bad and it looked like the little guy had been taken advantage of.

    While he was scolding his cousin over the phone, I motioned towards the ck & red diamond pair.

    "Pack that up for me too. And get me a paper and pen."

    The ountant delightedlyplied and packed it up with a wood ring case and ced it in a navy paper bag with fabric handles.

    They gave me a pen and a ssic stationery paper set.

    I wrote quickly and put it in the bag.

    "Hand it to the boy over there. Thanks." The ountant and people working on stuff all looked at me, surprised.

    I coolly went out of the shop but remembered.

    Where was the elevator again?

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42

    My name is Yang Xiaoshen and today is my 6th birthday, the November 11th.

    Soon I''ll be in 1st grade, and I have to look cool. My older cousin, who isn''t very reliable, but reliable in matters like this told me to get stud earrings.

    I went to my father''s subordinate''spany a month ago and at the jewelry hall, I went exploring to find stud earrings. And I really found a pair that looked very cool!

    They were square cut ck and red diamond stud earrings! They just gave off a "vibe" as my cousin called it.

    I had my New Year''s money saved up and with my birthday money, I''d have enough to buy those earrings.

    So on my birthday, after getting my birthday money from mom and dad who reminded me toe home for the birthday party, I got my chauffeur to drive to the GEMpany. The GEMpany works under ours so it''s a lot worse. So small.

    I pressed the elevator''s button repeatedly. I had ditched my chauffeur and guards and I had to hurry to get them off my track.

    I got on as soon as the door opened. There was another person in the elevator but he had his head down and I couldn''t see his face. But I still politely greeted, "Oh? I''m going to the same ce as you."

    He didn''t say anything and my lips twitched. If you get noticed by a kid, shouldn''t you at least agree with him?

    "Then, let''s part ways." I stomped off angrily. The man didn''t say anything this time either.

    When I was walking towards the jewelry hall which was strangely located in the parking space, I could somehow feel somebody watching me, like a squirrel in the mountain who watched me and stole my snacks when I wasn''t watching. Really unpleasant.

    I kept looking back. Nobody was there. But there was still a weird feeling.

    It was relieving when I got to the jewelry hall. I went in and looked back.

    Ack! There really was a person! And it was that man from the elevator!

    He was just standing there looking the shop when I used him, "So you did follow me after all!"

    The man only looked at me for a second and said, "I don''t know you." You''re lying! I know you''re lying!

    I watched the strange man and he bought some of the decorative jewelry like candy, just picking them out and handing the attendant his card.

    The whole time, I was wondering how rich this man was. These were just merely thousands, but altogether, they would have at least gotten up to a couple of millions.

    I was lost in my thinking and lost track of him. I ran to the ce I was looking for and saw him.

    "Don''t buy it! That''s mine!"

    I paused a little, then continued, "You''re plundering the whole ce! But that one''s mine!"

    The man looked back at the disy case. Was he confirming that no one bought it?

    "I saved up a lot of money for those! Today''s my birthday, I''m going to get it, you can''t buy it!" It wasn''t mine, but it would be soon.

    The man turned and didn''t give any more attention to the ck and red square diamond studs. Thank goodness, he seems more reasonable now.

    I told the attendant that I wanted this and handed her the card. She carefully took the two pieces out of the disy case and escorted me to the ounting area.

    I was waiting expectantly for them to wrap it up and present it to me when she suddenly said, "Customer, your card ount only has 410 million."

    No way, I had perfectly counted!

    "I''ve saved up all of my New Year''s and birthday money for this year, are you sure it''s only that much?" I asked to confirm.

    "Yes," she replied.

    Ugh, maybe my cousin used my card without asking me...

    "I''m sorry, dear customer, if you aren''t nning to buy, I''ll take the next client."

    I gave way and sat down on the nearby sofa and called my cousin.

    He gave the excuse of needing money for gambling. This time I was really disappointed.

    My mother and father loved me but they barely had any time to take care of me. So I usually only got money and a birthday party from them. I wanted to really get this, but now I couldn''t because my cousin used my money! Only having 410 million from the 500 million needed... It was clearlycking 90 million, how could someone use it to gamble! My cousin was too rash! I wouldn''t let him enter my birthday party today!

    I was still in my brooding mood when the attendant from before handed a paper bag to me.

    "The other client has gifted this to you." Huh?

    I tore open the wrappings making the people who wrapped it so carefully wince.

    From the tiny wooden box, there was the ck & red square cut diamond rings. 500 million yuan! Someone gifted me something like that!

    The note inside said: "Happy Birthday"

    I hastily asked, "Was it the man from before?"

    "Yes, he has left just now."

    "Thank you." I bowed in acknowledgment and hurried outside

    - bumping into the man from before.

    I wanted to speak but didn''t know how to express such thanks when he asked, "Do you know where the elevator is?"

    ...Did he follow me because he couldn''t tell directions? Pft, what a funny person!

    By now, all my contempt of this weird person disappeared. He had weird brown shaggy hair that clearly needed to be cut away but was wearing high-quality clothing that was fashionable. A rich man in shabby disguise? Not so sure, but he was clearly immensely rich.

    "Young master!" Tch, they found me.

    "Young master, please don''t run off!" my butler scolded.

    He noticed the man standing next to me and grabbed ahold of him.

    "Who is this man? Young master, he could be trying to kidnap you!" he cried out. The several bodyguards behind him all rolled their eyes. Yea, butler, I know you care for your job very much, but don''t be too excessive...

    The man easily twisted out of the butler''s grasp. My butler wasn''t weak and was trained better than the bodyguards, so we were all surprised.

    "I''m being escorted by him." Wow, this man would really not stop with his weird way of talking.

    Before anyone could move, I quickly interfered.

    "He''s lost, I''m leading him to the elevator. And he''s very rich, so he wouldn''t do such a petty act like kidnapping."

    After bantering with the butler for a while, the butler gave up and we went back to the first floor.

    "Thank you," was all the man said. But how could I let him go?

    While he was going down the stairs at the front of the GEMpany, I leaped and tried to grab him.

    "Wait!"

    I iled in the air and grabbed ahold of something scraggily. But it wouldn''t hold me up in the air and I fell.

    Arms grabbed me and set me down gently.

    "Can you give me back my wig?" came the man''s voice.

    No, he''s a boy.

    A young teenage boy. Or was it a girl?

    I didn''t look up, but his voice was clearly different from before. I couldn''t tell if it was a girl''s or not but maybe it was a little deeper.

    And when I did, I was really surprised.

    The young man''s hair was smooth and long, falling off his shoulders and reaching his thighs. The hair was ck and some fell in front of me as he crouched over me.

    It was like soft petals tickling my skin.

    "Are you a girl?" I asked.

    The person stood up and the lighting was good enough to see the face.

    Yea, this person was definitely a girl. No way a boy can be that pretty.

    But my thoughts were quickly shot down as the pretty person replied with, "No, I''m a boy."

    "But you have long hair!" I was in disbelief and tried to understand this but it was difficult.

    "So?" he countered.

    "And you''re the prettiest person I''ve seen!"

    "Thank you?"

    "And, and-"

    "I don''t have breasts," he said as he crouched once more to my height and pull my hand towards his chest.

    "Some girls are t."

    "I''m not a girl."

    "...fine."

    He sighed and asked, "Can I have my wig back? I borrowed it and need to return it to its owner."

    I stayed silent for a while, thinking. If I gave his wig back, we would probably not ever meet with each other again. This person was interesting and I wanted to hang out with him from now on instead of my stupid cousin.

    Oh!

    "If youe to my birthday party, you can get it back. You don''t have to give me a present. Actually, Take this back and give it to me at my birthday party! Butler, the invitation." I handed the ck & red studs which were in the paper bag back to the young man. And the butler reluctantly handed an invitation to whom he still identified as a "dangerous stranger".

    The young man hesitated to ept the invitation but still did so in the end.

    "Take this back, I''ll get you another gift. It would look strange if I gave earrings to a child at a birthday party."

    "Ok, you muste!" I made him pinky promise.

    I waved bye to the pretty man when I realized that I had not gotten his name.

    "Wait, your name!" I shouted but didn''t jump again.

    "Shui Yu as in Water and Rain. And you?"

    "You must remember my name! It''s Yang Xiaoshen as in Willow and Little blue!"

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43

    Now, why did I have to go ept that party invitation? I could have grabbed the wig and ran.

    It''s probably because I have a soft spot for children. And it was sad that the kid was buying his own present.

    Ugh, what to do?

    The taxi driver who was a person from the base noticed my frowning and inquired, "Chief?"

    "What should you get for a child on his birthday?" I asked.

    "Why not get a pet? Like maybe a puppy? A child can gain responsibility if he takes care of a pet, and if it''s a dog, it can be useful for protection of the sort."

    "A useful pet..." Oh, there is one. I''ll have to ask one of the Australian researchers who have those.

    We got back to the base and I handed out all the packaged jewelry to the young girls and women. They were all equally squealing over their gifts. Girls probably never age mentally, they''re always happy over the gifts they get. It''s kind of cute.

    "Is there a chance that one of you is specialized in piercing ears?" I asked.

    "Oh, this girl worked in a jewelry shop before, she pierced my daughter''s ears and it was pretty well done!" a middle-aged auntie yelled and dragged a young woman up front.

    "I''ll trouble you to pierce my ears for me."

    "Haha, no problem, thank you for the brooch! It looks very beautiful and oddly familiar..."

    We went to her apartment room and she told me to wait for a second as she calmed her young baby boy down and got her tools.

    The piercing didn''t hurt at all and it was quick. She washed her hands and put the pale pink and pale blue earrings on my ears gently.

    "Shui Yu, you''re really good to us. Thank you, I really can''t imagine how it would be like for my family in the future if my husband wasn''t recruited by you. And I finally recognize this brooch. It''s the really old piece, the Empress Eugenie Brooch. I only picked it because it looked antique, but how could I have known that it was that famous piece? Anyway, Shui Yu thank you. Ande over for lunch or dinner any time you want!" she ended with a smile.

    I checked my reflection with her taking a picture of me.

    "Wow, you''re really photogenic! I have to touch up on my selfies before I post them..."

    En, I looked fine, they were at the same spot on each ear. The pale jewels only ented my calm outlook further.

    "You must take care of it well. If it gets stuck on your hair because of pus at the start, it''s a pain. I would suggest mp earrings after getting used to the studs, but yours are well-made and they don''t have any edges that''ll get them stuck on clothing or towels. But you might still want to heal your ears with your water ability."

    So I listened to her advice and healed up my skin.

    Now for that gift...

    It was 5 PM and the party started at 5:30.

    I was dressed differently from the morning, in a blue striped suit made by the famous fashion designer Chao Ming, with her brand "CHARMING". Unexpectedly, her husband was a researcher who escaped his result-stealing boss bying here. She said that it was the least she could do to give a suit.

    She said that her husband looked happier and spent more time with her aftering here. She took up my measurements and fixed the suit up a little and coordinated my outfit.

    Navy striped suit, ck dress shirt, sleek ck tie. I had my own leather shoes, so that was fine.

    Next, she parted my hair, tied the ends very tightly with a white ribbon and put an appropriate handkerchief in the pocket on mypel.

    "I''ve gotten a long list of customers who are attending the party you''re going to, so I know what style most guests would be in. I''m sure you''ll fit right in!" she said before gathering up all the other people she knew to wish me good luck.

    It''s quite embarrassing to have arge group of women and children, as well as your employees(the researchers and hackers),e out just to say good luck. An English researcher gave me a bouquet of roses, saying that the roses were very expensive and would knock the guests off their feet. He specifically said, "I''m one of the only people who breed these rare roses, you''re very lucky."

    Shane and Andrei were still in their suite, probably ying virtual games, so they didn''te out.

    I carefully held the wrapped gift and flowers carefully and gave the auto-driving vehicle the directions that were on the invitation and rxed.

    It was just a minute before 5:30, 5:29, when I arrived. I could see thest of the guests entering and exited the limo with the gift and flower.

    A guard inspected my invitation and looked up at me raising one of his eyebrows.

    "Name?"

    "Shui Yu as in Water and Rain."

    The guard typed it into the tablet that he was holding and gestured for me to go in while saying, "Wee."

    He didn''t sound at all wee but rather bored.

    The first thing I noticed when I went in was that there was arge screen on the top-ish part of the huge hall. The mansion was huger than ours and by arge margin too, so it was expected that their hall was huge.

    Anyway, therge screen was showing the names of guests and it was separated into VIPs and regr guests. And strangely, I was on the VIP list.

    "Shui Yu! You came!" a familiar voice bounded through the hall that was full of whispering, talking, and lightughter.

    The guests all quieted down and looked at the running birthday boy.

    "I recognized your name! I thought you wouldn''te! I''ll give you the thing at the end of the party, so stay until then." The thing clearly meant the wig.

    The young boy, Yang Xiaoshen, smiled brightly and reached his hand out.

    "Here you go." I handed him the roses and his present.

    The butler came forward and intercepted, epting the presents in Yang Xiaoshen''s stead.

    "Be careful, those are Irukandji jellyfish. I acquired 7 of them, and they''re in small tubes. You only need to feed them some fish eggs or algae and they''ll be fine. Throwing them at an enemy will definitely help when you''re in danger."

    Yes, the useful pets brought me the idea of the most feared jellyfish, the Irukandji jellyfish, which were the smallest jellyfish in the world.

    The butler frowned but let Yang Xiaoshen open up the gift. 7 tubes full of the clear slime-like creatures were put in a stable test tube rack.

    "Thank you!" Yang Xiaoshen was delighted. Hm, I knew it, pets really are a good choice.

    "And these are Juliet roses. The person who bred them said that he gically modified them so they could be nted even after they were cut."

    "My mother would like these," Yang Xiaoshen muttered.

    "Our table is the one with the red table cover, after getting food from the buffet table, you shoulde over," he told me.

    So I went to the buffet table and picked out various foods. Some were strange but smelled good, I would ask what they are if they taste good. Maybe the chefs at the base could re-create them.

    I didn''t put a mp on my hearing sense. Just in case someone was dissing me.

    I first listened in onto the birthday boy''s conversation

    "Mother, here, Juliet roses. These can be nted even after cut, isn''t that unique?"

    "...Ah Shen, who gave you these?"

    "My friend, Shui Yu. I think he may be even richer than father!"

    "I don''t think I know this Shui Yu?"

    The butler butt in: "Madame, Shui Yu is somebody we only met today. He gifted the ck & red diamond studs that young master is wearing right now and he also gave Irukandji jellyfish as a gift."

    "My... what an interesting man."

    "Madame, after research, he seems to be a 16-year-old student of the Guoji Academy."

    "16?"

    "Yes, and he doesn''t attend many sses either."

    Now, why would you go research on a harmless student like me?

    "Xiao Yu, you''re also here?" Huh?

    "Ge?"

    The familiar older brother of mine smiled at me gently.

    "Xiao Yu, I came here with Lu Han. Apparently, it''s his friend''s cousin''s birthday party."

    My Ge is really wonderful. Giving him away to that man... really is regretful, but that man treated Ge well. And most of all, Ge was very happy.

    "Xiao Yu, when are youing home?" he asked.

    "Ge, I have some business to finish up. I''lle home next week or the week after that. And when Ie back, I have something to tell you guys." I would finally tell them about the base.

    "Ok, take your time. I''ll make some mantous when youe back. You know I''m the best at making those." Ge patted my shoulder.

    "Mm, I only like the ones you make."

    "Shui Jing, your brother''s here too." That deep voice, I recognized it.

    "Mr. Lu," I nodded.

    "No need to be so polite, just call me jizhng."

    "Lu Han!" My brother blushed furiously.

    "So, why don''t you go y somewhere else," I responded.

    "Xiao Yu..." Ge was rolling his eyes.

    "Alright, I''ll go y with your brother somewhere else," Lu Han only smirked and dragged Ge away by hooking his arm around Ge''s side.

    "Ge, don''t drink so much alcohol. You know what happens," I reminded.

    As they walked away, Lu Han asked Ge, "Oh, what are you like when you''re drunk?"

    "You don''t need to know!"

    Hm, might as well drink some wine. They had some good quality wine here. Oh, that one''s from 1886, how antique.

    I gathered the several tes full of food and headed to the table with red cover.

    "Beauty, my heart was stolen away by you, may I have the chance of knowing your name?" I heard a flirtatious tone as I was heading towards the table.

    Oh, some rich 2nd generation flirting with a girl.

    "Master Jiang, I already have a fiancee," she said, and the "Master Jiang" moved on to anotherdy. yboy.

    "Shui Yu, sit next to me!" Yang Xiaoshen called.

    "I''m older than you. You should call me Ge."

    "Then... do you have an English name?" Yang Xiaoshen fidgeted in his seat.

    "Why do you ask?"

    "I... I want to call you what nobody else calls you. Think of it as another birthday present for me!"

    "Rain. My English name is Rain. But my American friends call me Rain too. What are you going to call me then?"

    "...Don''t you have another name?"

    "No."

    "Then can I call you Zuan? As in diamond?"

    "Is it because I gave you your earrings?"

    "Kind of."

    "Ok, that''s fine. Oh, let me see your ears. I''ve already gotten mine pierced, see." I lifted my hair and tucked it behind my ear to let him see the pale blue diamond stud on my right ear.

    "I''ve gotten it pierced too, but it hurts a little bit right now." He touched his ears and showed me. His little ears were red and kind of puffy.

    "Pft, here, let me see." Yang Xiaoshen came closer to me and I touched his ears.

    "Pain, pain, go away," I chanted lightly while applying my water ability on his ears.

    "Oh, you have to do one more thing. My nanny said that you must kiss the hurting spot. But kissing my ears would be weird, so you should kiss my forehead," he said with an expectant look.

    The corner of my lips twitched. If this guy wasn''t a kid, he''d have already been sued for sexual harassment.

    I kissed my thumb and pressed it to Yang Xiaoshen''s forehead. He gave a look as if I was cheating.

    "There, and I''ll call you Little Blue from now on. Little blue is a good nickname."

    "That''s why almost everyone here is wearing blue! Because they want to celebrate my birthday," the little boy proudly stated.

    "How old are you?" I realized that I still didn''t know how old he was.

    Little Blue grinned widely, showing his pearly whites that sparkled next to his equally sparkling earrings.

    "I''m 6 years old and I''m going into 1st grade soon. My cousin told me that stud earrings would make me look cool and told me to buy these, but used up my money for gambling instead. But I think it was fate that led me to meet you, don''t you think?"

    Seriously, this kid could be adykiller in the future. Child, you shouldn''t act like this...

    "Who taught you to say these kinds of words?" I asked with a sigh.

    "My cousin. I was nning on not letting hime but he showed up with his friend and friend''s friend, so I couldn''t help but let them enter."

    "Mm, it''s good that you don''t hold grudges for so long. Ok, as a 6-year-old, you have to eat a lot to grow tall. Eat."

    "Will I grow taller than you if I drink lots of milk?" Little Blue asked expectantly with those pure innocent eyes.

    Milk doesn''t necessarily help you grow, but it could bring out the potential height, so maybe?

    "Yes, if you drink milk and eat lots of healthy food, you''ll grow taller than me."

    "Ok!"

    So while I drank wine elegantly, Little Blue drank his milk elega-well, as best as he could.

    I wiped off his milk mustache and told him not to say the words and phrases that his cousin had taught him to anyone other than the person he was sure he''d marry. After all, loyalty was very important to couples.

    "Then is my cousin bad?"

    "No, he just seems like the man who would go for every girl he sees. That will make the person who likes him very sad."

    After the dinner, Little Blue was to go up on stage and thank people foring. Then he''d open all the presents one by one. Was I supposed to leave my present forter?

    "Today is my 6th birthday. Friends and family, thank you foring to celebrate." He didn''t sound as childish as before, but more like a calm and mature young master. After that, he gave a whole lengthy speech. It was impressive that a little boy could memorize this much.

    The gifts were extremely extravagant. Some gifted him keys to sportscars, some gave him expensive clothes, and most of it was money.

    At some time of point, my presents had also been packaged again and put at the back along with the Juliet Roses.

    Little Blue smiled as he got to it and opened it. The butler announced what it was. He knew every item and probably memorized who gave them, he was very capable.

    "Zuan, thank you for giving me presents! The Juliet Rose reminds me of you, the Irukandji jellyfish remind me of how we met, after all, they symbolize fate. And with the diamond earrings... I hope they really symbolize what I hope."

    What''s with this fancy speech? It was probably mandatory, he gave frivolous thanks to every gift after all.

    "Your wee. Happy birthday Little Blue."

    As it was thest gift, Little Blue had said this right in front of me. It made me a little embarrassed.

    It was time for a night-long dance and those who hade from a long distance were rmended to stay the night. Of course, I would go back home after the party ended.

    "Xiao Yu, we are going home,e home soon, ok?" Ge came over to my table and left before the dance started.

    "Ok, be careful. Wait, are you drunk?"

    Oh no... When Ge was drunk, he-

    "Wuwuwuwu, Xiao Yu do you not like us anymore? Even Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing are in a bad mood these days... Xiao Bing is cooking so much that my tongue hurts automatically when Ie over. And Xiao Lai trains even more than me and asks for duels at any time... What should I do? Xiao Yu,e back quickly soon, we all miss you..."

    -starts crying, loses control over his charm power andins about everything on his mind...

    Everyone started looking over to see the charming man crying crystal clear tears with a flushed face. It looked captivating and they couldn''t help but want to get closer.

    "Mr. Lu, please take Ge home. As quick as you can and don''t stop for traffic lights. Just take him home and let him cool off. And don''t let anyone else see him. It''d be preferable if you kept yourself away as well." I handed my Ge to his boyfriend and quickly ushered them away. If they even waited a little, people would crowd and bring trouble to Ge. He was really useless when he was in this state and people wanted to kidnap him whenever he was drunk.

    After they left, Little Blue was sent away to y with other children. He made a grimacing look as he was pulled away by the butler.

    Suddenly, I felt a weird atmosphere in the air. Not limiting my sight, smell, and fully using the hearing sense I had already taken the limit off of, I could sense a musky smell that I was very familiar with from the ceiling.

    How foolish of me not to check the surroundings after thinking it was safe. I would have to train myself more strictly after this.

    But right now, it wasn''t me that was in danger, it was the host of this party, Little Blue.

    I quickly snatched away the child and pushed away from the other children so that they wouldn''t be in the target''s range.

    Yes, there was an assassin on the chandelier. He had hidden well and was wearing clothes and special chemical paint that blended him into the surrounding perfectly.

    I could hear the cries of the surprised children as I ran away from the spot. And just as I did, I also heard a deafening shot. Ugh, I should have limited my hearing sense.

    "Little Blue, don''t be scared," was all I told the frozen child as I went and jumped on a table and swung around some other chandeliers to take the assassin off.

    He had many daggers ready and was quite skilled if not for the fact that I was practically not human by now.

    He jumped from chandelier to chandelier and flung daggers at me. The crowd below were panicking and guards starteding in to situate the people.

    I let him jump around as I dodged the weapons easily. With my discerning eye, I calcted which way he would move towards. Left, right, or maybe down?

    All of a sudden, my head hurt a little and I could see a sight of the assassin jumping down and running towards Little Blue.

    Was this my random power? Seeing the future? This kind of powerful ability had side effects, what would it be?

    For now, all I could do was subdue the assassin. I couldn''t kill him in a ce filled with so many people.

    A kick and he was sent down instantly. I did kick his chin which knocked his head back, so he fell to the floor head back. Must be painful... but he still stood up straight and rushed towards his target.

    Was this guy not nning to escape?

    I jumped down and stood in front of Little Blue.

    "You aren''t human," I said.

    It was true, I couldn''t hear the rushing heartbeat of the assassin. It was sort of like a dull thud, what machine hearts did. It was an android. To buy one of these things, it cost billions to make and even more to buy. But they were pretty useful, maybe I''d buy some in the future. I haven''t seen one as good as this though, where was this thing in front of me made?

    But the assassin still didn''t falter and tried attacking me again and again.

    Really, why was he so persistent?

    I appeared before it directly and cleanly sliced its head off with my hand.

    Thud.

    The head fell and I could see the wires that were still fizzing from being disconnected.

    The whole ce went silent. Well, it was inevitable they''d be afraid of someone who could even disable androids.

    I turned to leave and the crowd parted like the red sea.

    "Zuan, don''t go! I still haven''t given back the wig!" Little Blue cried out.

    "I don''t ne-"

    The surroundings turned dark and I fainted.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44

    The party was fairly normal at first, my cousin flirting, guests chatting, and "Zuan" sitting next to me and giving me presents.

    Who would have expected that I was going to be targeted by an assassin?

    It was really like a movie scene when I was suddenly in Zuan''s arms and he told me not to be afraid.

    He jumped on a table and swung in the air like an acrobat who swung on trapezes, like the ones I saw in a circus one time.

    The assassin finally showed up and now I could see how he was hiding so secretly. He had clothes and paint on his face that made him look just like he was the chandelier! That was a little scary and I realized what could have happened to me if Zuan wasn''t there.

    Zuan dodged the flying knives easily but I was still worried. But it turns out that it wasn''t needed.

    The assassin was kicked down and pummeled straight into the ground, creating a crack on the marble floor. Were human heads that tough? I didn''t think so, but the assassin still got up.

    The assassin still rushed towards me and I stood there calmly. I''ve had many assassination attempts hurled at me, but this was the first time anyone got so close to me. But I was trained, I could knock the assassin off his bnce and run away at the very least.

    "You aren''t human."

    The next thing I knew, the assassin, who turned out to be an android like I had suspected had its head cleanly sliced off.

    My father said that the weak feared the strong. And I knew that because everyone tried to give me the best gifts they could to please my father.

    But I didn''t know that it could mean it literally. Strength, power, it would make people afraid.

    The adults were all looking at Zuan like a monster. And he noticed this and gave a nonchnt look to the crowd.

    They parted widely for him when he wanted to leave like he was very wee to leave.

    I was angry at them but couldn''t do anything to them before I talked to Zuan. At this rate, we would probably not ever meet each other again. I didn''t want that.

    "Zuan, don''t go! I still haven''t given back the wig!" I shouted.

    He turned back and looked at me, mouthing, "I don''t ne-"

    But he couldn''t finish what he was saying because he copsed onto the floor.

    "Take him to the closest guest room and call a doctor!" I ordered.

    The bodyguards and regr guards dismissed the confused and scared guests. Some of them moved the heavy android and put it away in the freezer room. Even if somehow, the android still was able to move, it wouldn''t be able to generate enough heat to get out of the extremely cold freezer room.

    "Young master, this young man... he might not be human..." the family butler, Mr. Wang, was waiting outside the guest room door when my parents and I cleared the ballroom area and gave specific orders to patch up the floor, fix the chandelier, and clear away the tables and other supplies. My curious cousin who was somehow fearless and not worried at all tagged along.

    "I know." I mean, nobody could be powerful enough to deal with an android that advanced easily.

    My parents stood behind me as I peeked in the room.

    Um, were we in the right room?

    Deathly pale skin, long ck hair, light pink lips, cold expression, fair features. These all described Zuan, but this kid too?

    Sleeping on the bed was a child who looked about the same age as me. He looked like the exact clone of Zuan except for being a lot younger.

    "This is Mr. Shui Yu. He has... reverted back into his younger self."

    Mr. Wang, I don''t need to know what I already figured out.

    But he was really beautiful! He had a long white nightgown on, probably one of the gifts that I got, and his long hair was still the length it had been before, meaning it was longer than his height, just like Rapunzel!

    Zuan frowned in his sleep, so I pressed his be to smooth out his skin.

    "Isn''t this good? I''ll hire this kid to be Xiaoshen''s personal bodyguard," my father said.

    "We''ve caused enough damage to this child. We''ll ask first. I just wonder how he turned so young. And he''s better at fighting than my father," my mother noted.

    My mom''s side grandfather was a military general and he was the one training me. Ugh, I didn''t want to think about that sadistic old man.

    My cousin eximed, "Is this the person who saved you? How did he turn into a child? He''s very adorable and looks like a girl!"

    Don''t you dare have any ideas about Zuan.

    Zuan woke up in less than 2 hours.

    "Where am I? My voice... Oh, so this is the side effect. Not too bad, I still have my abilities."

    He really was calm.

    It was 10 o''clock right now, way over the 9 o''clock time I usually slept at.

    "Zuan, are you ok?"

    "I''m ok, can I borrow some clothes? Your size should be fine. I''ll return it."

    "No, you must stay here for the night. Let''s have a sleepover."

    "...ok?"

    Zuan fell asleep rtively fast, but I was still nervous. I held his hand as I fell asleep.

    When I awoke at 7 in the morning, Zuan was already up wearing ck traditional clothing with braided hair.

    He was calling someone, "Shane, tell the people at the base that I have some circumstances."

    "...Don''t ask. I turned into a kid."

    "No, not like that Conan detective thing. I didn''t eat a pill or anything, I''ll turn back soon enough. Are you hanging out with the Japanese kids? They''re nice and polite but some of them are enthusiastic about old animes to the point of being obsessed."

    "Anyway, just let the people at base know. Yeah, bye."

    He was speaking in English fluently. Just how talented was Zuan?

    "Little Blue, you''re up, the butler told us toe to breakfast."

    So we went to breakfast and ate some toast and jam with milk.

    "Shui child, we want you to be Xiaoshen''s personal bodyguard. We''ve had assassination attempts on him, but this android incident was the first. We''re really worried that it''ll happen again and you''re the only one we can count on. And in your... child form, per se, you can even guard Xiaoshen at school. We''ll pay you 100 million per month, is that fine? Please, we don''t want our child hurt..."

    Mom, this is the first thing thates out of your mouth?! Having Zuan by my side would be great, but having him as a person working for me isn''t a pleasant idea. What if he doesn''t like me because he has to work for my family?

    "...ok."

    When we got back to my room after eating breakfast, Zuan told me, "You have nice parents. You are a very lucky child. I''ll protect you from now on."

    "But I wanted to be your friend, not your employer!" I yelled, shooting him a grieved expression.

    "Your parents are the ones using me, I can still be your friend."

    "Pinky swear!"

    That''s how Zuan and I became friends.

    For now.

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45

    The side effect was turning me into a kid for a week. It was a pretty useful ability though, and it was only a little awkward getting used to this once tiny body of mine.

    In 2 months, a lot of things happened.

    With my space ability, I dismantled my house by different wings. Even the gardens were moved to the base. The people at the base all were envious of my house. The teenagers always came over to watch movies. And the elderlydies who liked gardening came over to nt more flowers and nts, beautifying the whole ce.

    And of course, I couldn''t construct the house all on my own. I needed my sibling''s help. They were very shocked when they learned that the ce I was disappearing off to was actually a secret organization. Xiao Lai was happy that there was this kind of safe ce that he could bring Zhang Xing and his family into. But he was unsatisfied that he was a lot worse than the hackers on base.

    We all reconciled, and I showed my apologies by letting them have the opportunity to show their skills.

    Xiao Lai had gotten better at fighting, considerably, by using his newly gained abilities and applying them to practice.

    Xiao Bing''s cooking had also gotten better, somewhat at a toleratable level.

    And Ge... well, he was always good, and his training for being an idol helped with tricky moves and he gained insight from his abilities as well. His ability to use charm was excellent and although it didn''t affect me, as he grows stronger, he will be able to sessfully distract me. This isn''t becuase of his beauty or whatever, but after he reaches a certain level, he will be able to order anyone about whenever he concentrates his charm properly.

    All in all, they had drastically improved. When they first came to the base, they were pretty amazed that I was able to do all this. I had plenty of luck on my side, and hopefully during the apocalypse too.

    "Yu Ge, you really did make as many friends as I did!" Xiao Bing said, reminding me of the deal we made on the first day of the academy. Yes, I wouldn''t break a promise. All the base members, especially the aunties and kids were friendly with me.

    "Um, I have to go now,e pick me upter incognito."

    Whenever I saw a little bit of the future, I would turn into a child for a week. But the child form would grow regrly, so it was like I had two bodies in one. It was confusing but somehow made sense.

    Little Blue and I went to the Guoji Academy''s pre-school since Little Blue wasn''t a 1st grader yet. But Little Blue was very smart, so he skipped to 3rd grade. And I matched up with him by being a 3rd grader too. I once again had to experience the boredom of knowing everything.

    asionally, I''d help with Little Blue''s homework and we were always partners for group activities. Little Blue stuck to me like glue, and soon, I became fond of this sticky kid.

    "Zuan, tell me a story," Little Blue requested.

    "In the future, there will be a horrible zombie apocalypse. A boy who died during that apocalypse came back to the past to when he was just a baby. He fixed his regrets and earned lots of money to prepare for the horrible future. He made many mistakes along the way, but he had good luck on his side and made many friends. In the end, he saved all his friends from the horrible apocalypse and they lived secluded happily ever after. The End."

    "Eh, that''s not fun at all," heined.

    "What would you do if it was real?" I asked.

    "I would save my family, maids, bodyguards, grandpa, cousin, and you! I''d make a strong building where no one can enter and store up lots of food enough tost until we died of old age." His bodyguards nearby sniffled.

    "You have the same idea as the boy who went back in time, don''t you? Simple things in life are the best. And tell your father the story I told you. Let''s go to your grandfather''s now. He wants to fight me again. You can learn from watching."

    Our daily lives were peaceful.

    I eventually told the acquaintances of my siblings and me about the impending future, and they "mysteriously" disappeared. Fans of Di Li Feng''s idol group all wondered where the beloved boy band group had gone. Yun and Hua were also notified, but they were each in aplicated spot.

    Yun''s father didn''t believe in him, and they were arguing.

    Hua''s uncle believed the evidence but said that he still had a job and wouldn''t move until the school year ended. That was inte May while the apocalypse started exactly on June 4th, my birthday. It was only February, but it was making everyone anxious.

    Meanwhile, on base, everyone was very happy because all their precious friends and family had been allowed in the base. Nobody was suspicious and they had all been thoroughly checked. At first, they were all arrogant, treating the base like a pce they owned, but after seeing the zombies who wanted to tear out their throats through just several sheets of ss, they calmed down and became thankful.

    Lu Han''s whole n, about 700 people moved in. And the rest of the people who came in, the friends and family, amounted up to 300. The base was filled with about 2,200 people now.

    Also, the base had perfected a harmless zombie trial reagent. Even regr people could use it with only a bit of pain at the start. Everyone who got a shot of the reagent was allowed to choose what kind of power they wanted. It was easy to get the element powers, and some wanted animal powers, so it was a little harder for them. Besides that, everyone got fairly good powers. As expected, they weren''t as powerful as my siblings and I because we had trained our physical prowess to the fullest before taking the original zombie trial. The new zombie trial reduced the power of abilities, but it was harmless and sessfully let you gain abilities.

    For Lu Han, he and several of his nsmen wanted to take the original zombie trial. It was done without Ge noticing, and they all somehow sessfully passed. Ge was really mad at Lu Han for several weeks.

    Lu Han got the snake, falcon and long white-tailed weasel for his animal abilities. He touched numerous poisons & chemicals mixed together and got the air element.

    At early April, I finally found Tse Bao and recruited him and several of his colleagues to be weaponsmiths. Some were reluctant but easily brought in because they were longtime friends with Tse Bao.

    At about the same time, Little Blue''s family and servants who served their family for generations moved in with their mansion. I helped move it and only a husk of the original mansion was left to not alert anyone. Little Blue''s family had saved up quite a lot of supplies and they were smart enough to not tell anyone else about the apocalypse. Some of their bodyguards who were quite powerful undertook the original zombie trial. They also sessfully passed. Their luck is really good.

    Little Blue was d to live close to me and came over for many sleepovers.

    Yun''s family finally believed but still fortified their own ce and stayed at their home.

    Byte May, school finally ended and Principal Ying Xuan had alerted the families of the students about saving up supplies for several months now. I don''t know if they believed it, but there was nothing else we could do about that.

    Principal Ying Xuan, in the end, became Di Li Feng''s boyfriend. They had gotten together after Di Li Feng pursued for a long time. They lived in the same apartment and Li Hua lived on a whole floor to herself. Her birds, of course, were brought over.

    About Ryan, I sent him an e-mail, but he didn''t reply. So I don''t know where he is, and my hackers are way to busy to look for a specific person. And yes, I did take them to the virtual reality gamepetition. As they said, they "smashed" it. Apparently, they got the grand prize but was dissatisfied because it was less than their monthly sry of several thousand.

    For now, I could only hope that the apocalypse didn''t damage Yun''s family too much. I didn''t even get to give him the zombie trial reagent. Before the apocalypse starts and I finish giving orders around the base to prepare for it, I will definitely go and get him. But just in case I get too busy, there were no worries if I got there a few dayste. After all, his house was fortified and he would be safe for a while.

    Shane didn''t have any family members so it was fine, but Andrei had his mother, so we gave her a call and sent her a video. She recognized some of the very famous researchers that had been "missing" for quite a while now, and she immediately packed up her things, money, and headed for the base.

    Andrei and Little Blue''s family really are rich. It''s impressive how they earn as much as the base makes. It helped us a lot as they bought the whole mountain and imed it as a project, making nobody suspicious. If only we had the same status as them, we could''ve bought a lot more like them.

    We no longer needed to hire with so little trust, so we hired several hundred people to build barriers which were finished in less than 2 weeks and were very stable. Andrei and Little Blue''s family really helped a lot, and for that, I''m thankful.

    Oh, and Zhang Xing and his family were also brought in. His talent in hacking wasn''t so bad either, so he was recruited. The excuse given to his parents was: "Your son is a genius inputer science, we need his help to keep the fort safe." They believed it and that''s all that matters.

    And just before a week the apocalypse started, the government notified everybody. And of course, the whole poption freaked out. The families of the fellow students who had been notified had called Principal Ying Xuan to thank him.

    Five days before the apocalypse started, I gathered everyone at the za.

    "Everyone, as you know, we are the only ones that are fully prepared and know what''s going to happen. I will exin what happens in the future. Every married couple here, this is very important. You will form a blood marriage pact. Just exchanging a drop of blood and swallowing will do. This is mandatory. The blood pact will increase affections, let the one who is in the bottom position be pregnant through intercourse. This means, man and man, or woman and woman, can get together as well. And don''t worry about pregnancy. From what I know, our bodies are very strong from the zombie trial reagent and during pregnancy, your powers will instead heighten to protect yourself. I do not want anyplicated rtionships going on in the base, as it will be troublesome and can affect themunity even with a small incident. Before you start the blood marriage pact, your intimacy must be good. If it''s not good, both people will want to attack each other and only if one or both dies, will it be over. If you are not confident, line up and go ask my secretary for an appointment with me."

    Helpers passed out needles and many confident couples conducted this immediately and all who did were sessful. Little Blue''s parents were one of them and I truly felt that he was lucky to be in such a caring family.

    What I didn''t expect was for Lu Han to bite his own lips and kiss my Ge. My surprised Ge''s lips were bitten and blood was exchanged this way. They got an imprint that was bright red on both of their necks. Well, I officially approve of them now. I wonder if I''ll see a little nephew or niece soon?

    "Alright, five dayster, exactly on my birthday, the apocalypse will officially start. Instead ofmenting for this world, we''ll celebrate. The party will be held at my home and you only need to bring yourselves, no need for presents. As I''ve told before, the red phase will happen the day before the apocalypse, so don''t get freaked out if somebody suddenly copses. That''s good news for them because they will be able to gain more abilities. If you have anyst minute requests, go line up and schedule an appointment with my secretary. Ok, dismissed, go eat lunch."

    There were only a few couples who were worried about their blood marriage ceremony. Some were old couples who only spent times peacefully and had no love rtionship anymore. Butpanionship was also a type of love, the kind that grew with trust, so theypleted the blood marriage ceremony and were satisfied. The others who were worried were middle-aged couples whose love had died out. Basically, if they were already married or had children, they were considered a couple already. Divorced people were divorced, so they didn''te into the office at all. People who were considering to divorce were told not to conduct the blood pact yet and seriously think about it for a long time first. There were no couples after that, so I had the whole afternoon filled with appointments ofst minute requests.

    I didn''t get lunch but rather got out an instant noodle package. These were fairly useful and tasty if you didn''t eat them so often.

    There were many requests. Some strange, some making sense.

    "Can you get some people who know how to operate machines? We might need them for the future."

    "Can we bring in more teachers? The children still need to go to school after all."

    "Can we bring in some famous authors and artists? If not, I''m going to be so bored!"

    "We need some people who know how to make snacks. The cafeteria doesn''t give good snacks..."

    "Entertainment! We need something to entertain ourselves! I know the hackers are going to somehow keep the inte and wifi on, bute on! It''s not like anything will be posted when somebody''s in an apocalypse! So, can you bring in some celebrities?"

    "I feel like we need music in our lives, especially at a dark time like this. Why not bring in some?"

    "Why not bring in some martial artists who are legit and teach us how to fight? It''s not like we can all learn from you at the same time. You''re busy anyway."

    "Please! I don''t want to see my favorite director to die! Can we at least bring him and his crew here? They can film documentary movies for the future generation or something!"

    Teachers, technicians, authors & artists, entertainers, musicians, martial artists, directors, and more...

    And in 3 days, famous people from all over the world were gathered and brought into the base. I figured that since everyone was freaking out about the apocalypse, there wasn''t really much need to conduct any more security researches and just bring in as many people as I could to make the base thrive.

    That famous #1 supermodel, that famous Coolywood director, that famous American singer, that genius violinist, that famous mangaka, that famous xianxia novel author, etc...

    The poption once again increased, this time to 2,700 people, rising by 500 figures.

    At first, everyone on base was flustered to meet such outstanding figures, but after getting used to the fact that these people were in fact just desperate for a safe ce, they calmed down, realizing that they were all the same.

    And the people who were brought in, they were confused and haughty at first, but they soon realized that even a 3-year-old child could easily throw a full grown man around.

    I also finally got Ryan and his family toe. He was very cautious about his attitude towards me because he didn''t know how to act towards me. But he realized that it didn''t matter and talked normally afterward.

    As for Jack, I invited him and his family as well and they came but were told to keep ahold of him. But I really didn''t need to worry too much since all the girls on base were very strong.

    We got everyone situated, but most of them had not gotten the zombie trial reagent yet. The base was busy with assigning living spaces and people moving in, so we could only get it done after dinner.

    The people who had gotten here 2 days or a day earlier already knew what to do and had written down all the powers they wanted and handed them to us. There were still people who had arrived much earlier than that who hadn''t gotten their shots yet.

    From these celebrities, they had to pay money. We were out of money from buying all the food and supplies we could. We still needed supplies for the future, so using the money, several people were sent out to procure everyst thing needed.

    And finally, only a couple people needed to take their shots before the next day began and the red phase would start.

    We worked tirelessly till midnight. I was pretty sure everyone had gotten a shot, so we all retired and went to sleep, setting our clock to 8 o''clock.

    The next day, just I had anticipated, the sky was entirely red, just like the dusk, but much darker and colored in the exact shade of blood.

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46

    Nobody freaked out in the morning and everyone hurriedly started touching everything they could. I had transferred a wide range of animals and safe elements, so it was fine for everyone to touch anything. Nothing was dangerous or poisonous much. In this one hour, everyone was trying their hardest to gain powers.

    I hadn''t mentioned before, but Little Blue is pretty powerful. He wanted to take the original zombie trial. Of course, I didn''t let him. What kind of caretaker would I be if I let him do such dangerous things?

    But it proved useless as he had gone into the research center after getting a guest pass from my secretary during when everyone was out for lunch. He got into the zombie keeping area where zombie skin, muscles, and brain were being studied.

    And he rashly ate some zombie skin by pinching some of the skin powder that was being studied onto his tongue and swallowing it. Of course, he started convulsing and I got suspicious to where that kid went, finding out about it almost immediately.

    Little Blue fainted, and his skin was tearing and regenerating at a fast rate. I called his parents who came immediately, worried. We had already prepared the things that Little Blue had written down for his trial. But we weren''t really going to give them to him at first because the people who used zombie trial reagents couldn''t take some elements that would cause harm them.

    If they were given electricity, air(including poisonous gasses), fire, or animals even, it wouldn''t work. They would instead be harmed and be in danger of losing a chance for an ability. So almost everybody took the very useful water ability and it was kind of a must since water was so important. We could easily gather water from theke nearby, but just in case theke was contaminated in the future and when we had to clean it, the water ability woulde in handy. After the water ability which everyone took, most also chose to take the nt ability as well. They could also choose the earth ability if they wanted.

    Some risk-taking people chose small animals. And thankfully, small animals were fine. Small kittens, small puppies, hamsters, small birds, and such regr pets were chosen. Those people gained a bond with their pets and could now understand their pet''s speech. People who chose small birds were delighted that they could fly, even if they had kind of smaller wings. But they soon realized that flying took a toll and it was very hard to do without practice. They could fly lowly, just about at 2 meters off the ground for a short amount of time. If they practiced and strengthened their wings, they would be able to fly longer though. Their wings were smaller and less powerful than my siblings'' and mine because they didn''t take the original zombie trial, which would enhance your powers to the max.

    Insects were also chosen. Some of the permanent construction workers chose ants. I really hadn''t thought of that before, but ants could carry things more than 100 times to their weight. Many other people thought that it was useful, but it was soon found out that these people could only carry up to 10 times their weight. But it was still a pretty good amount, so some of the other people picked ants after they took the reagent.

    Some people knew that they would be safe in the base and that it wasn''t really necessary to have these type of powerful abilities, so they picked powers that they liked for their looks. Most girls liked to choose small animals such as kittens, puppies, or birds, but there also was the choice of beautiful insects.

    Yes, they chose butterflies. But this didn''tst long.

    On the small fluttering insects, their wings looked pretty, but on humans, it was kind of huge, and... hairy. Butterflies had hair on their wings too, I don''t think the girls knew about it before they tried it out. It would look beautiful if they were high up in the air or a little far away, but to look at them closely, it was a little unnerving. And Shane, who had that butterfly phobia would not take a step out of his apartment when he saw what those girls had be.

    But beauty was strived for and the girls moved onto dragonflies. They were a little better but the wings were not a pretty shape so it was once again ditched. After that, they just stuck to small animals and water to moisturize their faces and skin.

    Anyways, back to Little Blue.

    Little Blue''s trial took 3 hours, making me worry a lot. I heard from my past that the longer the zombie trial took, the more powerful the person could be, but there was a higher chance of the person bing a very high-level zombie mutant.

    And since I''m talking about this now, Little Blue is still human, a little sticky boy. He touched the most powerful animals we kept. The dangerous Irukandji jellyfish I gave him for his birthday present, a crane, shark, and tiger. For hisst power, before we could do anything, he touched his earring. A diamond power, that hasn''t been done before. His parents were disappointed that he would only be able to use the power for searching for other diamonds, but I said that it might be useful. Diamonds werepressed jewels of carbon, especially the diamonds of our earrings were pure and entirely made of carbon. Maybe he''d be able to use pressure or something?

    Since not a lot of people hade in at that time, I still had some time and trained Little Blue. His grandfather also came over and adviced the kid multiple times before going back to train his troops. He was really admirable. He knew that his troops would y a big role in helping the people, so he went back and didn''t live in the base, instead, going back out to help the people.

    Little Blue really could control pressure, and his random ability was telekinesis. But I suspect that he actually has two random powers.

    Well, first of all, he showed his random power immediately, which was the telepathy, by saying, "You really don''t mind..." when I still hadn''t said anything about his choosing of the diamond.

    He probably doesn''t know his second power yet, but it''ll probably be another powerful one. My Ge hasn''t yet found out his second power yet either. Some of the people on base also have two or more abnormal powers, but they were found easily since the zombie trial reagent minimized the abilities'' capacity.

    Besides him, the people I knew that were going to be ability users, I let them have the choice of taking the zombie trial. It was a bit of a pity that the Merchant group couldn''t be as powerful as they were in my past life. But as they still had taken the zombie trial reagent when it was still in its prototype form, they were powerfulpared to the people who took the improved version.

    The ones who took the original zombie trials so far are: Lu n x 37, Yang n x 29, Principal Ying Xuan, Little Blue, Li Hua, Shane Deus, Andrei Kovalev, my siblings and myself.

    Old Bao said he didn''t want to experience pain that would want to bring you to death, so he declined.

    For Shane, I knew that he was well-trained enough to be able to pass the zombie trial. And Andrei was also trained with Shane after he saw that Shane was getting stronger. So they both chose to take it. Shane was really scared and threw up a couple of times before bravely eating the zombie skin.

    Li Hua and her uncle also chose to take it. Her uncle wanted to protect his boyfriend, Di Li Feng, and his niece. And Li Hua said that she didn''t want to be left behind. After shepleted the trial, sheined: "God, that was the second most painful thing a girl can bear!"

    I asked, "There''s something more painful than this?"

    "Periods."

    "Really?"

    "No, I''m joking. But it hurts like hell."

    "I heard that female ability users who passed the zombie trial didn''t get any more periods but could still be mothers."

    "...This was totally worth it." Later, the researchers who overheard this conversation told their wives who became very happy. Are periods that painful? I am very lucky to be born as a boy then.

    Back to the current time, everyone was still going easy. They knew that they were all safe on base and didn''t need powerful abilities unless they were directed to helping out with building the base and making it into a city.

    What worried them the most would be how to spend their life without boredom.

    Meanwhile, what worried me the most was currency. These people would be guaranteed a peaceful life, but internal fights would break out. If nobody worked, the base wouldn''t be able to keep running. Due to advanced sr panels and the water purifying system, the electricity and water were covered. But people still needed to learn and work. Students cutting ss wasn''t good. The teachers I hired were teaching and the students should be learning diligently. I even sent my younger siblings back to school. Proper education is still important although it is the apocalypse. Theyined that I should be going to, but I replied back, "You try managing the base then" shutting them up and making them obediently finish their homework.

    I gathered all the people on base who were knowledgeable about governing and we had a quick 20-minute meeting.

    We concluded the meeting by dering, "What if we use points as currency? Everyone has a phone on base, even those small children, so they can store up points on those devices. If they work, they can earn points to buy food and items. "

    "Then giving food away in the cafeteria for free should be repealed. We should start by making a supermarket. And ording to what we learned from your past life, there are mutant beasts and nts that have special properties. We could get some people who are strong to bring in some things from the outside and pay them with lots of points."

    "Actually, everyone should go outside at least once a year and it can be a requirement so that they won''t say anything about the rules at the base. If they really don''t want to go outside, then they can pay with points to not go outside."

    "Yes, even the apartments shouldn''t be given away for free. They should start to be rented. Electricity and water bills should also be charged unless they are water users who are using their own powers. But even water users can''t produce that much water easily, so they''ll eventually have to pay the water bills too."

    "Oh, and future researchers and current researcher will be paid more points than other jobs because they wille up with results for strengthening the people who will go and fight zombies who will increase in levels as well. This way, studying is encouraged and there will be children attending schools. And schools can be specialized in either fighting zombies and mutants or studying to gain a job in the base."

    We decided that I would announce this with a very passionate speech tomorrow. I wonder how they''ll feel if they found out that they''ll have to pay taxes again. Pft, kind of funny to imagine now. Their depressed faces. The researchers and chefs would be fine, just a little peeved at the idea of paying bills, but the others who weren''t working would be confused and angry.

    After the meeting, everyone quickly left to go touch the items of the power they wanted. It wouldn''t work even if you touch so many if you aren''t destined you know...

    After the hour was over, it was reported that only 67 people became ill and fainted. That should be about 2.4-2.5% of the poption on base, better than I expected. The researchers also told me something else, but I couldn''t hear the rest because I fainted.

    This is kind of weird. It was morning. I mean, I had expected that I''d faint because it happened in my past life too, but still, it was a little weird. I didn''t expect that going through the zombie trial before passing out during the red phase would make you this absurdly strong though.

    The powers I gained. This time, I was able to gain 4 powers. Air, skin, muscles, and betta fish. For powers, you instantly knew them, unlike your random abilities. And somehow, probably due to passing the zombie trial, you could maybe gain more abilities during the red phase? Because during myst life, I had only acquired 2 powers.

    "Chief, you have woken." Several figures sat next to my bed and were holding their tablets.

    "En, what news is there?" I asked.

    Scrolling through their tablets, they reported, "Including you, there are 68 people who have fallen ill and woke today. The people who took the original zombie trial have at least 2 powers while the regr people have one. The most they have is 9, with the second most being 5. The 9 is from Miss Li Hua."

    "It is as I expected. Ok, they should all have woken up by now. Please gather them up at the ballroom. If they can''te, then whatever."

    And with that, everyone who fell sick yesterday and got powers was in a crowd, chatting in quiet tones. There were several groups. Normal civilians, the Lu n people, the Yang n people, my family, and friends such as Tse Bao. Little Blue, that kid, was also there too with his parents. And of course, Lu Han was holding hands with Ge possessively and smirked when I looked over. Li Hua and her uncle were there and casually chatting with Shane and Andrei. Xiao Lai was talking happily with his dear Xingxing while Xiao Bing was talking with some aunties who were giving her snacks.

    I crinkled my eyes and smiled. This was fairly good. Some of these men, especially if they were from the two ns would want points to establish their family name. These prestigious people, they would be traumatized if they were to be reduced to normal citizens.

    Exining the point system and new governing policies to them, the people understood fairly well. They had been living off of me, so they were originally filled with shame, so doing this to give back something was good.

    Regr housewives and some workers definitely were afraid to go out and see the terrible outside world.

    Everyone was dismissed and I had some responsible people n out groups for the future.

    Today, was my birthday. It was also my siblings'' birthday too. It was a tradition for us to give each other a present. I had practiced this skill very hard and finally perfected it. Iughed to myself, would they be satisfied with my present?

    It soon became noon and every man, woman, child, and elder came to celebrate.

    I projected my voice, "Wee. Today is the start of the apocalypse, but we will celebrate it with a party! From today, we will establish a righteous ruling and be a self-sufficient government that is closely contained and won''t allow anything to break our rtionship! Please enjoy as much food as you can because this may be one of the only times to get to eat food personally made by my brother, me, and the wonderful chefs! Again, wee and enjoy!" Sounding peppy is really hard, but somehow I was able to do it a little.

    The little kids, teenagers, college and university students, and the aunties that were familiar with me allughed.

    "Haha, Shui Yu, that was totally not like you!" a little kid, one who frequently requested for junk foodughed.

    "I told you to call me Shui Ge didn''t I?" I sighed. Well, I''ve gotten a bit familiar with all the people on the base.

    "Ok, hurry along, go eat some of the fries I made for you. I don''t even know if making junk food was a good idea. There are some barbeque chips baked by one of the chefs too."

    Every guest got tes of food and sat down at the many tables that were set up. I nodded satisfactorily, now everyone had no discrimination, all kind of people from all kinds of culture and nation were united. They would be a close-knitmunity that would not allow anything from the outside, let it be the living or dead, separate them with internal or external conflicts. A cold light shed through my eyes as I thought of what to do if outsiders were to find out and want this ce. I''d immediately crush them unless they were specially brought in.

    There were some entertainers and singers who upied the stage and made the audienceugh and p with joy. This ought to be it. Happiness in the apocalypse. It made me strangely giddy and I smiled more brightly than I had ever smiled.

    After the brief entertainment was over, my siblings and I drew lots to whom would give their presents first. Xiao Bing was first, Xiao Lai second, me third, and Gest.

    Xiao Bing''s gift to us was a giant rock. Well, it was transformed into a huge statue of a snake biting its tail.

    She also gave a little speech, "An Ouroboros, from a long time ago, have represented rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing. The Ouroboros is a symbol of eternity and continual renewal of life. I dedicate this four-knot snake to all of us, not just my siblings, but the people of this small but prosperous base, for the sake of our happiness even in this perilous situation!" This short speech riled some of the hot-blooded people and they pped and whooted very loudly.

    Xiao Lai''s gift was also a gift given to all of the people.

    "I''ve worked very hard with the hackers on base. At first, I disliked them; I was jealous of their high skills. But I began to admire how humble they were. They didn''t boast skills and only worked hard for the base. They were satisfied with the pay and home. The conditions would be very favorable, yes, but if they were like some hackers out there who would rob banks and topple businesses, they could have had a more satisfactory life. I was very ashamed. These people who were so content with this kind of lifestyle, how could I bring myself to be jealous of them? I could only humble myself and change my attitude and outlook towards the world. I present, you, what we have been secretly working on for several months behind our dear Chief''s back, the core device!"

    Everyone was curious and looked towards the small watch-like thing they were handed.

    "With these days'' new technology, virtual reality has be possible, and even creating holograms are possible with just a few tweaks. You will be briefed about the new rules and positionster, but there will be people who will undoubtedly have to guard outside. All of you will eventually have to go outside and see how the world has changed."

    He paused for a while to let the information seep in, "You may think that it isn''t much, but I have seen the condition outside with the flying camcorders. The rest of the hackers were also traumatized and don''t even want to go outside of their rooms for fear of the new world. Even if you have a normal job, and think you''re normal, it is not so."

    The crowd began to murmur in worry and it took a while for them to quiet down and listen, but Xiao Lai patiently waited before continuing once more.

    "Those people outside, only 10% of them are power users, and at most, they have 2 or 3 powers, unlike us who passed through the zombie trial reagent and gained 5 powers and a random ability at once. The outside world is harsh. The new rule is for everyone here, even the children to go outside at least once per year. Although nothing can currently beat us, there will be mutants, zombies, and even nts that evolve. This will help by recording the outside conditions and letting us gain wisdom from the outings. It will also keep everyone updated about the outside world and prepare for the harsh future even if we are safe and cozy in this base."

    Xiao Lai''s eyes glistened with determination as he finished off, "I sincerely hope everyone will carry at least one of these with you. The chief hasn''t mentioned it yet, but there will soon bews and a point system. These devices will keep track of points and even be a device with all sorts of abilities. Calling for help, calling, recording, taking pictures, taking notes, browsing through the inte, ying games. These can all be done. However, this device is very important and must be with you at all times. After we got the news from our chief today, the hackers who gained new powers from the red phase yesterday, and regr hackers all coborated to add features that would help you whenever you''re in danger. I hope this can be a gift to all of you here that will potentially save your life."

    The people took this in without a bit of panic. They rumbled about how there would be taxes, but none grumbled or made a peep about going outside once a year. It was necessary to teach these people repeatedly of the horrors outside. Or else, some of the officials predicted that they would get unruly and arrogant. But they also said that the people would need some fear to be under control. Even if I was the most powerful person here, with my siblings and trusted allies, the people, when incurred with a rash sense of boldness would be troublesome. It was really lucky of me to have people like this in the base, smart and sure about the hopeful future, not angry at all about the new rules to be implemented. It was almost unreal of how much luck I had in this life.

    Anyways, it was my turn.

    "Ok, that was a little too depressing. This song I''m about to y may also be a little sad, but it will be invigorating. This is my response to the current situation outside. As most of you know, I have reincarnated. If you don''t know, it''s true. Or else, how would I be able to make all this without knowledge and experience? I have to tell you, the living is more terrifying than the dead. The dead are actually all unified and only have one goal, to wipe out the humans. But we humans, have emotions, and a strong belief that we should not be the one to die. I died in my past life, served as bait to a hoard of zombies. It was a painful way to die, but not as painful as the fact that I had been betrayed. My only wish for this base is that we all trust in each other, hide no secrets, can voice out as equals, and have no discrimination. Here''s my gift."

    The stage had various instruments brought from the instrument room next to my own room.

    The violin, vi, and piano. People looked around to find the people who would be ying together with me, but I was the only one who went up on stage.

    Slightly excited, I faced the crowd and bowed. Little Blue had a huge smile on his face. He had oncee in when I was practicing and was asked to keep this as a secret between only me and him. Huh, smiling so proudly, he must feel like a parent watching their own kid perform.

    I opened the piano''s cover and sat down. A light minor harmony came from the keys but there was also the melody of the high pitched violin.

    The crowd looked up in surprise, there were two of me.

    And when the vi''s dark and moody tone came up, there were three of me.

    It wasn''t cloning, they knew that. Some sharp-eyed people eximed in fascination.

    "Such fast speed! I knew that Shui Yu was the fastest but it was never recorded down properly! He''s moving between instruments so fluently! How much effort would this have taken!"

    Then, a mellow and soft voice sounded. The lyrics to this song were in thenguage of mutant water creatures of a sort. They were really like sirens, with their beautiful faces and body that were pale and translucent. Their bottom halves were underwater and everyone knew it was a pair of strong and long fish tails, but they still couldn''t help it as they went closer, intoxicated by the voice and beauty.

    They were quite a friendly bunch really, they ate nts, fish and humans, but preferred nts and algae rather than meat. Communicating with them and learning thenguage properly was a favorite past time of mine. When another group killed the harmless creatures, I was enraged and drowned them to death.

    Although my voice wasn''t like Ge''s, it was good at going up to the highest pitches and singing realistic falsettos.

    After the song was over, I lightly panted. Moving at this speed, trying to make the music flow gently, and singing at the same time really did take a toll on me.

    Receiving ps and cheers. I kind of understood why idols smiled so widely even if it kind of ruined their image at the end of a concert. Ha, my side dream was to be a model, but this kind of stage wasn''t too bad either.

    "Ah, my little brother took my spotlight away! But I''m very happy that my little brother who hasn''t had many friends and was always introverted created such a friendlymunity. Even the stars and famous people fit themselves in so nicely in a matter of days. It''s really nice that everyone can be their true selves here. Mine is simr to Xiao Yu''s, but it is more of a sing and dance. I hope that you enjoy it!" Ge fully released his charms, letting his true star self show.

    The light was bright, but Ge was brighter and hard to look away from.

    Spreading his pure white wings, his hair turned into a dazzling silver shade that sparkled with the bright lights.

    He was already wearing a long white outfit, and these past months, his hair had been growing too. It really made me think back to how he was called an Angel. He really deserved the title.

    Ge flew up and floated by gently pping hisrge wings. Feathers that fell were quickly collected and stowed away.

    He must''ve practiced hard for this too.

    Right now, it looked like Ge was walking and dancing on air. The sound effects and background music even had clip-clops of shoes added to make it look like it. And the ballroom had darkened and light only showed through thosesers that quickly swept through, creating wall-like figures. And those wall-like figures were right under Ge''s feet, really enting the dance.

    I saw Ge''s husband smiling proudly. I guess he trained Ge. Sis-inw, good job.

    The present giving of me and my siblings were over. And although I had told them not to bring anything but themselves, some brought small gifts. It was really touching.

    I and some of the officials I hired all exined about the rules and points. The words were recorded by the core device which automatically made them into a detailed document. How useful.

    The day ended nicely and I almost forgot that the apocalypse had begun.

    Tomorrow, all the 68 people including me who had gone through the red trial would go out. I had to go rescue Yun and experience the "New World" after all.

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47

    Through the core device, I notified the people who went through the red phase that we would go out the next day. Some were worried while others asked what to bring. Some crazy idiots, like Shane and my younger siblings, were excited. I sent everyone a list of things they should bring. Just some extra clothing. I would carry the food and rest of the supplies in my space and put their clothing in the space in the morning.

    The people who I knew could trust were in charge. I would be able toe back whenever I was free, so there would be no mishaps. It was a good thing that my secretary had gone through the red phase, but it would have also been good if he didn''t. He was responsible and would have managed the base very well.

    s, it couldn''t be helped.

    At dawn, everyone was up and ready to go. They all had brought suitcases of clothes. Oh, I forgot to tell them how many days we would be out for... We would stay for one day at the very least, and three at most.

    Nevertheless, I didn''t show any expression as I put all the suitcases and stacked them neatly into the storage room of the house in my space. When I was young, I had a habit of putting my hands back and standing up tall whenever I lied. I had fixed my habit but still purposely showed it to my siblings in this life because I knew that people would have mixed feelings about a person if they didn''t have any weakness. Even though I knew my siblings weren''t like that, because this was my second life, and because the future would be different, I had to be careful. But in all reality, there was no way I would show any expression on my face after going through the zombie apocalypse. Everyone was a professional actor during those times and to not let anyone suspect you of anything, you had to be strong and able to lie easily. Any liabilities would perish.

    Some family members of the people who were going to go out came and said goodbyes to us. They were a little worried but knew that there would be no serious casualties with so many strong people around.

    Currently, only I had the ownership over the base''s barriers and walls. My eye scan and fingerprint, as well as a drop of blood needed to be check everytime somebody wanted to go out. It was decided that I would be in charge of the base with some other representatives, but it would be left to other people whenever a group was going out. This was because I had decided to go out whenever a group went out. I''d be somewhat like a supervisor.

    Everyone passed the huge barrier and became shocked at how different the environment was as soon as they stepped outside.

    Our base had no mutant nts or animals. Through our brilliant researchers, we created a neutralizer and had spread it around all the nts and injected it into the animals. The next generation of flowers, trees, nts, and animals would not be mutants either.

    But the outside was different. The temperature was scorching hot and everyone used their water or air abilities to cover themselves with a thinyer of mist to cool themselves down. The nts were all shriveled and dying and the whole mountain seemed deserted. It was very hot in the mountains even for us, and we were physically enhanced. Only the fire ability users freely walked around, but if it was like this for us, what would it be like to the people who came up to the mountains?

    We saw dried up corpses of birds, boars, snakes, and small critters. Some of the people puked while others were showing incredulous expressions at the surroundings. They started to record everything with their core devices and some people were watching. It was kind of like a... vlogger, as Xiao Lai worded it. There werements at the videos and they were mostly exmations of how terrible it would''ve been if they were not evacuated to the base.

    We made it out of the mountain and into the countryside. There was a vige nearby here ording to the maps, so we headed there.

    To show the harsh reality, I filmed how the roaming zombies started running at us when we came into their sight. One scared teenager hastily waved her hands and roots of the dying trees flew out from the ground and captured the zombies. The girl stared at her hand in wonder and to thank the trees, fed them water.

    Theizens, as termed by Xiao Lai, were really enthusiastic and cheering for the girl.

    "Everyone watching, please clearly listen. If you want to kill a zombie, you must specifically aim for its head and crush it. These are just regr level one or two zombies. Starting from level three zombies, there will be small crystals in their head. By absorbing it, you will gain more power. If you meet a mutant zombie, they will usually have a crystal that is suited for an elemental ability, so people with the element will benefit greatly while it won''t do a thing to people without that element affinity."

    While exining, Xiao Lai shot some string into the air and wrapped a million strands around the zombies'' heads. Grabbing them and pulling them off neatly, the zombies'' headsnded on the floor with oozing pus and rotten blood flowing out slowly.

    Xiao Lai motioned to Ge who, unlike his gentle appearance, crushed the zombie heads ruthlessly with his earth ability by making huge rock fistse out from the ground and punch the heads.

    "By upgrading your power with these crystals, you can eventually be on the level of creating natural disasters after gaining billions of them. If you see here, my Ge made fists with his Earth ability. This was done through practicing his control over the minuscule details. It''s not easy to uphold dirt, so he did this bybining both his air element and earth element. This can also be done with the water and earth elements by forming sludge and moving around the wet dirt and hardening it,ter controlling the dirt with the earth ability."

    This sort of became an educational program, hasn''t it?

    "Right now, I can''t feel any life from this vige. But if any of you are to chance upon a regr ability user or a regr human, be modest and only show one ability at medium power. That alone will indicate you as a powerful person. But do not be conceited. If you think you are the best, and only bow down to the strong while bullying the weak, you will sooner orter be taught a lesson. There still are very powerful people in this world that are in hiding. They may even be more powerful than me or any of the other powerful ability users on base," I warned.

    We moved on and found abandoned cars. With my water ability, I entered the water into the keyhole and then froze it with the air ability. I showed this example and let some of the other people who had the two elements try them out.

    "Those who can''t fly should get in a car." Some of the people who could proficiently use the air ability or had wings flew up and hovered in the air while the rest got into cars that had sufficient gas in them.

    "I suggest that if you have an air element ability or wings, train hard. Those wings that are currently weak and small will grow. Girls that got the dragonfly and butterfly wings. You said they did not look pretty while you are on the ground. But don''t you know that what is far away looks best? If you can fly high up, the fur on your wings can''t be noticed unless they try to look closely. And the dragonfly wings sparkle glisteningly in the sunlight, so I hope that all of you do practice and strengthen your abilities."

    About 30 people needed to get on cars, making us "borrow" 6 cars while everyone else was in the air.

    "Next, we will go to a city. There will be living people and ability users, so we will conceal our powers. Even if you think they are pitiful, do not trust anyone. Even if they try to incur your pity, trust, or even love, remember that people will be jealous of what we have. We are very lucky, to even be able to celebrate with a party on theing of the apocalypse. Even the youngest of children will be vicious out in this ce. To the people outside, be cold-hearted and battle ready, they will stab you in the back the least you expect it," I once again warned. It would be better for the people to have Xenophobia, or else there might be some problems if outsiders were brought in and told of the ce to others.

    "Everyone else other than me, Lu Han, and Ge will act like regr people. Pat some dirt onto your clothes. After that,e to me or Li Hua. We''ll make you look tired and suffering. If you do not necessarily want to go into the city, you cane to me and I''ll hide you in my space. You can still watch the filming from there. If you are exhausted from using your air or water ability to cool yourself down, you can go into my space as well. The more the better, otherwise people will suspect from seeing such arge group."

    Only a few people remained outside after hearing that. Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing went inining that it was too hot. Little Blue''s mother dragged him inside the space and he cried out for his father but his father could only helplessly wave his hand since he needed to analyze what it was like. My secretary sent his son who had also gone through the red phase into my space and the boy went in happily as it was too miserable out here.

    In the end, it was Shane, Andrei, my secretary, Little Blue''s dad, Ge, Lu Han, Ying Xuan, Li Hua, and me.

    "We all look pretty good, do we need to wipe dirt on our clothes?" asked Hua.

    "No, we can even unt our powers if we only have this amount of people. Hua, you have lots of affinity with birds, use it to fly. Brother-inw and Ge, you guys will also need to fly. Everyone else, get in the car. Even if you can fly or have wings, it''s enough with four people."

    Hua chose her Anhinga form. The white and navy feathers contrasted in color but were quite matching. Lu Han had chosen the falcon so his wings were mostly in shades of gold-ish browns.

    Shanemented, "Hehe, Rain, you must be the seductive devil while your brother is the pure angel!"

    I frowned, "But I haven''t had a rtionship in both my lives. While my brother is even married. Who knows what he does with Lu Han." Ge blushed and hid in his husband''s embrace.

    Shaneughed out loud andughed louder at thements who were saying that I was an ancient virgin. In the ancient days, virginity was precious, it really is a wonder how everyone thinks losing it is a good thing nowadays.

    "Ok, we can just pretend to be a group of rich people who had previous news of this. It is kind of true after all."

    With five people in the car and the other four flying, we quickly made it to near the capital.

    "If you see a zombie, don''t freak out. For a reason unknown yet, ability users who passed the zombie trial can''t be infected. Only regr ability users or humans can. The only reason we''re out here is to find mutant nts, animals, and zombies so that we can study and gain satisfactory results. We don''t necessarily have to kill off the zombies, we''d just be doing the grunt work for the others."

    The streets were very familiar looking now. Corpses were strewn about, all the lights off, distant screamsing from all directions, zombies roaming. It made me smile, happy at the way the world had somehow returned. I had be too used to this kind of world that it was disturbing if life was sofortable.

    But no doubt that the rest were disgusted. It stank, but the familiar smell instead calmed me down. The city looked terrible, but it was what I had lived most of my life through.

    "Get used to it, everywhere will look like this."

    The people flying came down and stopped at the middle of the street after I motioned to them.

    "That is what all ability users are like right now."

    I then pointed my core device at the scene that was ying out.

    There were a couple of people grouped together that were primitively fighting with kitchen knives, a crowbar, and a bat. Altogether, it was several people struggling to fight off a few zombies.

    "They can''t even properly use their powers," Imented as the man in the middle tried to use his newly acquired water ability but only squirted some water.

    But this was a couple of level one zombies, and an ability users physique was enough to take down about 2 or 3, so the group was saved.

    Thementators of the live filming seemed to be halfughing at them and half pitying. But they didn''t associate themselves and beganparing. It was best like this.

    When seven more zombies came their way, the group tried to retreat but were stuck between the zombies surrounding them.

    One middle-aged woman yelled, "You have some sort of power, save us!" and pushed the man out.

    The man stumbled and tried to retreat, looking fearful. He was too scared to shoot a look at the woman.

    This wouldn''t go well.

    Another man was captured by a zombie after he fell backward. His shrieks that were so desperate and the audience on base didn''tment for a while.

    "Would you guys be able to guarantee that you wouldn''t put your lives first if you were a regr person? Don''t try to be heroes when you''re on a mission outside." Thements quieted down again.

    "Look, that''s how a person turns into a zombie."

    The man that was being gnawed on by the zombies had died properly and slowly staggered up.

    The people in the now-turned-zombie''s group shrieked as they saw this sight.

    "But, just to let our first outing be a little milder, I will save them. But try to stay away from people if you are going out."

    "Ge, charm factor please," I requested. Some of the people at the base had charm, mainly the beautiful and handsome stars and movie actors. When they went out, they could use this way to lure zombies, mutant animals, and even mutant nts.

    As soon as Ge released a bit of his charm, the zombies sniffed the air and moved towards our direction. The undead human decay looked grotesque and terrifying when they were at lower levels, but it was not scary to me as they could not hurt us.

    "If you want to keep your abilities a secret outside, you better learn martial arts. My Ge here is proficient in many weapons and I''ve personally taught him. He also learned from many masters. I brought in many martial artists onto the base. I believe that they will teach you if you are diligent and give points."

    My Ge didn''t want his shoes or hands dirtied, so he encased them in a thinyer of air that was already shing everything.

    "See, my Ge might look kind, but he''s very strong."

    The audience saw my usually gentle brother snapping necks of zombies, kicking the legs from under zombies, ruthlessly punching the sr plexus of zombies, crushing the heads of zombies with a mere stomp, and smiling gleefully while he went all out on zombies.

    ...

    ...Well, if they got the point, it''s fine.

    Lu Han had a nk look on his face that transformed into a smile.

    "...Ah, did I look weird?" my bashful brother asked.

    "No, it''s good that you know how to protect yourself. But as your husband, I can''t let myself be beaten by you. I should also train hard."

    Yup, that''s how a person should be. Bing smarter, gaining wisdom, while also increasing in strength. After Lu Han had formed the imprint with Ge, I was very satisfied at how he conducted himself and cared for Ge.

    Would there be someone like that for me too?

    ...Let''s not think about nonsense.

    "Since there aren''t many people here, they either must''ve evacuated to a safer part of the capital," my secretary inferred. Yes, my secretary is intelligent, it''s great to have such smart people around. Talking to them is much easier since they actually havemon sense.

    The people who were surrounded by the zombies earlier came scurrying to us.

    I quickly said to the audience before they could get to us, "When you be high level, you can turn the earth into sand and bury zombies underground. It''s easy and efficient, not soiling your hands. But reaching that level is far away for most currently, so I suggest you guys to learn some skills if you are going to outside the base."

    The man who had the measly water ability was about to talk, but the woman who pushed him reprimanded, "If you guys were there, you should have saved us earlier! That man just died because of your dilly-dallying!"

    Everyone frowned.

    "Are we obliged to save you? We could have left you to die but we were kind enough to save you. Is this how you thank us?"

    Then, with a wave of my hand, her body began to convulse and her skin began to sag.

    "Here is an example of using the water ability on living things. When you reach my level, you''ll easily be able to concentrate on the water of living bodies. Zombies will be slower after you take the moisture left in their blood, but they will still somehow be able to move. For the researchers, please get to work on that too. On living human beings, this way is efficient and quiet. By boiling the water in their bodies or squeezing the moisture out slowly, the human won''t have a chance to move or scream properly if you do that while blocking her or his throat with water. And then, after a while, the body will bleed out or shrivel up. But I will tell you something, don''t kill as often as you please. This person is infected, so I killed her, but don''t kill humans so wantonly. Think about it, after the apocalypse is over, we will still want to fight since we will get used to the excitement. Due to this, some might evenmit murder."

    There might be children or people disgusted and scared by this, the members of my group seemed pale too. But this was necessary. The world isn''t good and they should know it clearly.

    The woman slowly shriveled up and only released a high pitched squeak as her body deted. The saggy body copsed and looked like a mummy by the end. She was infected but acted like she should be the top priority, how ironic.

    The other group looked terrified and retreated hesitantly. Ungrateful.

    But the man who had a little ability still looked at us without any terror or disgust, but with gratefulness and humbleness.

    "Thank you for saving us. Could I ask for a favor from you?"

    Oh, he knows that he would have been dragged down by that woman. Since he was almost killed because of her, he had known the consequences.

    "Let''s hear it first."

    "Please escort us to the safe base. It''s at the Northeast part of the capital, but we''ve gotten ate start."

    I smiled, "What will you give us in return?"

    The audience took it lightly. This pleasantly surprised me. Joking about death like this. Maybe it was because to them, it was like a movie? Were they deluding themselves? It was said that if people didn''t experience it themselves, they could never feel what it was truly like. There should be some psychologists at the base, I might have them set up appointments. But it wasn''t all of the people at least. Only the younger men and researchers werementing. Hopefully, they weren''t deranged.

    "I-I will work for you! Please just get these people to the base safely!" the man bowed. This righteous person, I kind of wanted to bully him to let him know that the world wasn''t that easy. I know he was really courageous and brave, but that''s just stupidity you know?

    "You are very weak. What can you do for us?"

    "Um..."

    The people behind him were only looking at him like it was only right for him to save them.

    "Pitiful. Why are you so willingly being used by these people? You are an ability user. Why should you help such ordinary people? Are they intelligent? Useful? Strong? They don''t look like any of that to me."

    I know it''s wrong for me to discriminate, but as a person who had been used by normal humans for so long without any gratitude given back, it''s only fair for me to think that people are naturally evil when they''re at a lower status.

    Not hearing an answer, I turned my back and continued on giving a lesson to the people at the base, "Here''s an example to the red phase passers and the original zombie trial passers. If you concentrate on the air, you can use it and make sharp wind des. Or, if it''s a living target, just choke all the oxygen out of them. Water ability user can do this too, except for the choking part being drowning."

    Turning away, I opened up my wings and flew into the air, aiming air des at signal poles that toppled over.

    "She''s the devil!" somebody cried out. Shane giggled and Andrei blocked his mouth with a stern look. And really? Assuming my gender?

    "Then, am I an Angel?" the silver-haired Ge asked so gently that it was scary. If they hadn''t seen my brother fighting so ruthlessly before, they might have nodded their head.

    "Please! They suffered because of me. I''m too weak to protect them and I brought the zombies over. I can lead the zombies away from the city, so please take them away!" Good people don''tst long, and this was a perfect example of that.

    "Hey, get a clue. None of these people are going to be able to anything," Shane said this in an exasperated tone. Of course, the man couldn''t understand it since he didn''t speak English. I could tell just from the look on his confused face.

    "What''s your name?"

    "Yun Zhou." I heard that name before... but when?

    "Oh, the Saint," I murmured to myself. This man was destined to be the leader of all self-righteous people of City B''s base. He was really too kind-hearted, letting almost everyonee in. The base almost died out because the guards didn''t check up on some people who had been infected.

    "I''ll lead you there. No need for thanks."

    The several people behind him carefully trudged their way and found some spare cars.

    And the people who had been hiding and watching also came out. Most people should have evacuated by now as it had been several days, but clearly, not all of them had. In the end, there were dozens of people following us.

    The base was overwhelmed and had ability users who were already quite decently controlling their abilities to block out the zombies that were following us. There were Earth, nt, and water users trying their best.

    The infected were sniffed out quickly and were chased away. Nothing could be done about them for now.

    Several doctors came out and tended to the weak. They hadn''t realized that a water ability user could do more than them.

    "Let''s go. We need to go help out my friend, Mo Yun."

    Before we left, the eight of us cleared away the zombies silently in chunks when nobody was around. Some sank underground. Some were restrained by metal bars ands. Some had their heads cut off right in the middle.

    We didn''t say goodbye and just directly left. To Yun''s house, we go.

    When we got there, the huge fort-like mansion was surrounded by zombies. I had told Yun about crushing the heads of zombies, but maybe he had forgotten because all of these zombies had wounds but no heads crushed.

    Ignoring the rasps and groans of the zombies, the ones who had wings flew while the ones who didn''t were put in my space.

    "Hua, what do you think happened?" I asked.

    "These are all soldiers. Maybe the others were feeling sentimental and couldn''t bear to kill them?"

    "They probably don''t know that even the most powerful zombies won''t remember anything from their past human selves. Well, I don''t know about the higher leveled zombies, but yes, that''s what I''ve been told."

    "I don''t think you told us that before?"

    "I just did."

    "..."

    The mansion was heavily protected but it still had an open window at the top. Hadn''t I warned Yun about mutant birds?

    But surprisingly, there was Yun, waiting for us.

    He had a pair of dull eyes and red rims from crying. His weak smile looked devastated.

    "Hey, you came."

    "What happened? Aren''t those all soldiers out there?"

    "I didn''t expect it to be this bad. Some of those people, I knew for my whole life. They were good men and women, so why did it have to be them? ...I really should have listened and gone with you."

    "...What about your family? And the rest?"

    "My dad''s down in the dining room, briefing all the remaining people left."

    We followed Yun and found many soldiers. And in the midst, standing on a table was Yun''s dad.

    Hua opened up, "Momo... where''s your mom?"

    Yun''s eyes teared up again but it seems like he had no strength to squeeze those tears out.

    "She''s been infected. But she had gained the metal element, so she''s the one leading the zombies out there."

    Hua hugged him tightly and red at me toe over. I moved my body and put an arm around them both. My feelings for my parents hadpletely dissolved, but Yun was still only 16 and his parents really did love him.

    "Can you stop talking? I can''t hear what themander is saying,"ined a soldier in front of us.

    His voice was a little too loud in the serious mood and everyone turned to look at us.

    "Yun." Well, it looks like his dad had cried a lot too. His eyes were red and he just looked as depressing as heck.

    "...Dad."

    "You brought your friends?"

    "Yes."

    "Good. Shui Yu, please help us. we don''t know the weak points of the zombies. We have family members of the soldiers situated in the house, and we need to keep the people outside safe as well."

    This man never liked me, but now was asking for favors. What a hypocrite.

    "Crush their heads. And zombies don''t remember their past even after many evolutions and level rising, so just kill them."

    I sniffed at the air.

    "There are some infected in here as well. You should just kill them off before they can change."

    The several infected, 6 of them, rose to the air as I controlled them and struggled mightily. Theirrades cried out and rushed at me, but were also held back by the air.

    One of the infected turned midair and you could see the pasty yellow-white skin and white eyes. His nails lengthened and became impably sharp.

    I pierced a thin stream of water into the newly turned zombie''s head and spread it out. The next thing it knew, ice had frozen its brain. Using the air and water ability together was really useful.

    Therades of the zombie turned silent with shock and looked angered instead. They were probably thinking why that man hadn''t left when the rest of the infected were pushed out. Or were they actually angry because I killed him?

    "Don''t me him. Would you like to be scorned by your family and friends? Or are you mad at me for potentially saving you?" As I said this, the rest of the infected slowly turned as well and were cleanly killed off.

    We left the dining room area after killing the zombies off.

    "Yun,e with us," I offered.

    "Sorry, but can you give me the zombie trial reagent?"

    I sighed. We would be parting ways then.

    I handed him the serum along with two others. They were still being made and improved, and these were the final product, but this was all I had on me currently.

    "I''lle by and check on you then. And the ones that have abilities. You can easily tell by seeing if they''re excited. Right now, there should be a couple of ability users."

    "Wait, go through the zombie trial right now," I ordered after a thought.

    "Are you worried that I''ll use it on somebody else?" Yun gave another weak smile with thanks to my care.

    "No, I just want you to touch blood and muscles. And you should also gain the water ability as well as the nt ability. For thest one, I suggest you choose a harpy eagle. I have some animals in my space, wait." I disappeared into my space and looked around for the animals I raised in here.

    I turned off my core device and sat down at the farthest corner of the space for a while. Ah, what could I do? I was worried about my friend but there wasn''t anything else I could do if he didn''t want toe along. I wouldn''t force him, but it did make me worry.

    I captured the harpy eagle that was nesting by the leg and brought it outside.

    Injecting the needle into the right ce on the arm, Yun trembled for a while, dealing with the slight pain from the revised zombie trial.

    In session, he touched the harpy eagle, water, and ginseng I had procured from the space.

    I took a vial of red liquid that was formed with the help of researchers. It was all types of blood, rare ormon, mixed together.

    For muscles, I didn''t feel any pain when I cut open my arm. Yun looked shocked, so I pushed my torn skin onto his hand after dripping the mixed blood onto his hands. His hands were stained with red and he fell to the ground in shock as his knees buckled and gave up.

    "Yu Yu. Don''t do this for anyone, don''t cause yourself pain, don''t do things like this!"

    "What did you say?" I gave a smile and showed him my fully healed arm. But the residue of the blood was still left. I used my water ability to clean it up.

    "Yun, don''t worry, I''m not that helpless." I wiped away the blood on my friend''s hands and patted his back as he finally was able to pour out a waterfall from hisrge eyes.

    "Why, why did this happen to us? Why do we have to deal with this? Why am I so weak? When will this be over? I want my mom back, I want her back..."

    I could hear Yun''s pitiful mutters as we headed back up. I sighed and patted his back.

    As we were back at the tallest room where there was an open window, I asked again, "Will you really note with us?"

    "I want to stay with my Dad. And I know he''ll be staying."

    I could only nod helplessly at the determined boy and hand him a core device.

    "Here, if you''re ever in trouble, don''t hesitate to use this. It''s like a phone and is easy to use. If you''re nearby, wrap yourself in ayer of mist ande up the mountains. Everyone at base knows you and they''ll let you in even when I''m gone. And I will often give lectures that might be useful, so watch them. It''s sr powered, so don''t worry about it running out of battery"

    Hua added, "If you don''te, we''ll go looking for you."

    We waved goodbye and left without looking back.

    Hua silently cried while flying away.

    "You know, I''m really worried for Momo. He''s not like us, with weird parental rtionships or no parents at all."

    I consoled her, "He''ll be fine. With touching the blood and muscles, he''ll gain a stronger body and his two blood conditions won''t be able to hinder him any further. And I gave him the recently improved zombie trial reagent. It''s very close to being as efficient as the real zombie trial. He''ll be fine."

    "I meant his emotional conduct."

    "...That too."

    Huaughed and wiped her tears away.

    "When are we going back home?"

    "Soon. We just have one more thing to do. We haven''t collected the mutant animals or nts yet after all."

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48

    I won''t tell much of the journey back, but I had been a great teacher if I say so myself, exining about the mutant nts and animals I knew about.

    We got back to the base and there were the family members of the red phase passers. Everyone had been fully briefed about the newws and they werepliant. The officials said it was due to gratefulness and guilt that they hadn''t been helping out when they were provided with such a safe house.

    Every student was going to school now, and the adults had been taking up jobs to earn points. The researchers immediately got to work on experimenting on the mutant nts to see if they could be useful for anything. The mutant animals were already killed and they were dissected when handed off to the excited researchers.

    The aunties that knew me told me to rest a little and keep my mind off the apocalypse. They said that I was in a body of a kid and should act like one. It made them really scared when they thought I had killed a human. They were apparently very relieved when it was an infected human instead.

    People were either nonchnt, scared, or eager to go outside. They all knew that they were very powerfulpared to a regr ability user right now.

    Today, as a day off after working hard, I went outside to the capital. I liked heights and I particrly liked sitting on top of the highest skyscraper.

    There weren''t any mutant birds, only regr ones, and they were mostly scavenging birds. As a person with an affinity to ravens, it was easy to befriend the ones flying around.

    I wondered, when would this all end? Will it lead up to only a dozen years or so? Or maybe a century? And possibly forever?

    Iy on my back and sighed. I had done what I could. What to do now?

    One thing I was afraid of wasn''t loneliness. It was nice having people around, but most of the time, e I could only selfishly think about why they had me as a savior but why nobody came for me. I know these kinds of thoughts aren''t good, but I couldn''t help it.

    What I truly feared, was boredom.

    Because of this, many had gone crazy. These lone hunters during the apocalypse were really cool but ruthless. They killed zombies for fun and watched people get killed for fun. After that, if they got bored, they''d go off somewhere else.

    I also want to kind of live on my own. So I decided, after everything in the base was situated, I would put up a respected and trustworthy leader. And then, I''d leave, to travel around the world where there is still much to be seen.

    I would keep in contact with the people at the base and I''d slightly miss my siblings, but knowing that they were safe and sound, I wouldn''t be too worried.

    I also want to fight properly. Being at the top is lonely. Not to be narcissistic or anything, but it is currently true. I want to fight against mutants that''ll be able to crush cities. I haven''t fought properly in this lifetime and I''m really getting tired of it.

    A mutant raven did find its way to me, but he was quite friendly after I fed some jerky to him. He curled up to take a nap, so Iid by his side and fell asleep as well. It was very warm and soft, just a little stinky. But I closed off my sense of smell, so everything was fine andfortable.

    The afternoon was peaceful and I was very reluctant when the mutant raven woke up and flew away. I stretched and yawned to shake all my weariness away.

    What I didn''t expect was for the mutant raven toe back. It hade back with several other mutant ravens. There were now 9rge birds.

    In the end, I had to give away all the jerky I had stored up. They peacefully left cawing.

    Just like the bird, I had some responsibility. But really, life was seriously boring right now. I was way too powerfulpared to anything on Earth and could only wait a long while before an opponent showed up. But by then, I''d be stronger too.

    Ding!

    The core device lit up with noise and notified me of a new message.

    [Xiao Yu, I n to hold a wedding ceremony. Could you perhaps find mom and dad? We can send them away right after, but just this once. Please? - Ge]

    "..."

    Finding our parents.

    I wonder if they were in the group we were previously in? I mean, are they still alive even?

    This was a little intriguing. Maybe, just for the fun of it, I''d go look for them.

    They probably would be arrogant until they would beg me. I wanted to see those frustrated and unwilling faces of theirs. What right did they have to request something of me? And if they even dared to say anything about my brothers'' sexual orientations, I''d immediately peddle them to death. No, I''d just leave it to others.

    But well.

    This was less boring than usual.

    Might as well try it.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49

    After I got my ears pierced, girls started giving me essories saying that I should keep such valuable jewelry(the diamond studs) at home.

    Today, I was wearing regr silver hoop rings that had small patterns indented. It was a gift on my birthday and I liked it very much and wore it often.

    By now, my hair was so long that it almost reached the ground. It was time for a haircut.

    I went to the same auntie fromst time. We had dinner before when she invited me over and her family was very... outstanding. They weren''t afraid of offending me and joked around. The conversations were interesting and I liked them a lot. They really felt like aplete family.

    "It''s such a pity to cut away long hair!" she cried out.

    "Your job is a hair stylist. What kind of hair stylist would say these words?" I smiled.

    "I would because you look good with long hair!" she retorted.

    "Then, please trim it to my back''s length and give me a fringe," I requested.

    After preparing the scissors, brush, sponge, chair, and wrap-around-smok as she called it, I was sat in front of the bathroom mirror and she snipped my hair off.

    You actually can''t feel the difference when it''s being cut off, you can''t see that it was taking process wither since it was so long. For the fringe, you could see them taking shape though.

    In the end, she cut it to near my back, so it did make a difference.

    "Ok, go take a shower. It feels great to have all that weight off your head and you can just feel it when the water flushes on your head."

    "Thank you." I grabbed therge towel she handed and she went out of the bathroom after cleaning up all the hair on the floor.

    It really did feel refreshing as all the weight on my head was suddenly gone when the water hit me.

    After showering and turning the water tap off, I dried myself and took out clothes from my space to wear.

    Looking once more in the mirror, I was pretty satisfied with my new haircut.

    I thanked the auntie and left after gifting her some apples.

    I wandered around all day, leaving all the governing work to representatives. I had no worry at all.

    Now, about that marriage that Ge mentioned... Had they still not done the deed? Do they want to get married before they do it?

    There was no need to think of it any further.

    Ge had sent me information about the people who should be invited. It would just be a small marriage ceremony with the Lu n members and our family and friends.

    And I was ultimately tasked with bringing our ex-parents to the base.

    They should have grouped up and moved to a base by now. The technology was still weird and only worked within the specialized people who had authority. They didn''t properly record down everyone yet either so it would be useless to unleash hackers to find them.

    Guessing that they would be in the same group as in the past, I headed towards district B.

    While I was flying, the mutant raven from yesterday flew over to me. I gave a small smile and handed the jerky I had massively stocked up on piece by piece. Actually, was it ok for birds to eat jerky?

    No matter, the bird ate it all with impressive gusto. It didn''t fly away immediately and flew next to me as if he was apanion.

    "Are you following me for food?" Iughed. Therge bird cawed once and looked away.

    It left soon after and left me alone again.

    So, how should I find my ex-parents?

    Only by going to bases and looking for them on each base would be the solution.

    My leisurely free time was over and I fell down headfirst closing my wings.

    Exhration was the only emotion I felt as I dipped down and crashed onto the ground. Not crashed, butnded with a loud boom.

    As I was near a base, soldiers starteding out and surrounded me.

    "Hands up! Surrender peacefully and we won''t shoot!" yelled one of the soldiers. The one who yelled had several badges on and a uniform that looked different from the others.

    I put my hands up only to my sides and smiled.

    "I surrender. Can you take me into the base?"

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50

    The soldiers surrounded me and I gave a smile as they handcuffed and escorted me into the base while having guns aimed at my head. I wonder what they would do if they realized that guns can''t kill me, let alone prate my skin.

    Their reactions and defenses were sloppy. The soldiers had dark eye bags and looked desperately tired. Those peopleing into the bases only thought for themselves and didn''t care about what conditions the soldiers who were serving the people would be in. They were quite pitiful, but it wasn''t like I would do anything about that. They aren''t rted to me anyway.

    The base looked weary, but at this moment, almost all bases were like that. The buildings were alright, but the state of the streets... they were crowded, filled with people who had little or nothing on them. Identification would have been totally lost since thework was disrupted and boosted again. It was good enough if a base had a water supply, and better if they had electricity. Food would be distributed, but it would be in minimal amounts or disgusting mutant vegetables and fruit.

    Compared to my base, it was very deste. I had somewhat of pride for my dwelling. Partly because I started it, but mainly because everyone was cooperative and we built it together. There were some disagreeable people, but they had sorted out as the base was fair and everyone had simr statuses unless they were my brother-inw''s n or Little Blue''s n.

    I was taken into arger building than the others and two standing soldiers at the entrance reached out for my arms.

    I broke my handcuffs and pped at their hands lightly, "No need to grab at me. I''ll follow."

    They pulled away from their stinging red hands and bewilderingly looked at the soldiers behind me as if they could inquire information from them.

    A soldier from behind me wrote something on a device and showed it to the two entrance guards. The entrance guards nodded and one nodded his head for me to follow while the other was stationed behind me.

    We went up three stairways to reach an office room.

    There, the guard in front of me knocked went in the room and reported along the lines of, ''We''ve captured a powerful ability user. We do not know his motives yet. Shall we bring him in?'' I only summarized because the real report was long, tedious, and sleep-inducing.

    I was brought in, and there were three men. One young, one middle-aged, and one senior.

    The young one looked vignt but his eyes sparkled when he saw me. The middle-aged one was the same, but it was more contained. The senior, unlike the other two, looked doubtful and frowned.

    The senior got straight to the point: "Why did youe here?"

    I answered honestly: "I came to look for my parents."

    After getting an answer from me, it''s like the other two somehow expected more answers.

    The young man: "What is your name? Age?"

    I gave a perfect smile while scorning on the inside: "That isn''t necessary."

    The middle-aged man: "You have powerful abilities ording to our scouts. How did you manage to get your abilities to that level? Where are you from?"

    I gave a scorning look this time, not hiding my disdain: "You are asking for too much."

    The two looked angered while the senior asked, "If we help look for your parents, what can you give us?"

    "I don''t need your help. But if you can find them for me, I can give information on which mutant nts are safe for consumption. Though, this deal isn''t fair on my side..."

    The senior quickly took the deal up.

    There was made an announcement to the safe city and people with the names, Shui Wang and Fan Ling, were called up. The people rushed towards the office because it was possibly an opportunity to hurry up and get a living space. The safe city wouldn''t chase people out, so it was likely for that decision, making people without my ex-parents'' names to fake their identity in hopes of gaining a home.

    Out of the crowd, I spotted familiar faces. I asked for the senior official to pick them out and chase the others away. How lucky, or should it be unlucky that I found my ex-parents so quickly?

    One by one, the mob was chased away and only several individuals remained.

    Fan Ling, Shui Wang, and Yu Ying. It was good that that mistress had died off, but her spawn was still alive.

    Their pitiful state was very pleasant to look at, but I made no motions to give these emotions away. They had most likely not believed in the government news about the apocalypse. For Fan Ling, she might have, but for Shui Wang... he had money but wasn''t in the state that he prepared at all.

    This base would copse soon and that was the reason we had joined a group in myst life. They would look more pitifulter on do to that.

    Anyways, ahem, the task was done.

    I took out a booklet that had printed information on the mutant nts that could be used as crops. Although mutant nts tasted disgusting, data was gathered so that the people on base would be able to survive outside if they ran out of food on missions.

    Of course, I took it out from the insides of my jacket, not showing my space abilities in the least. The men who had searched me briefly looked confused, making me smile a little and calm down.

    Shui Wang and Fan Ling didn''t say anything while Yu Ying red. Shui Wang probably had it tough these few days with his mistress gone and having to take care of his daughter all by himself. Fan Ling looked weary. She didn''t have any backers now and her fancy clothes were ruffled and dirty.

    "Shui Wang, Fan Ling, you have been invited to Shui Jing''s wedding. I will hereby escort you to the ceremony," I announced.

    Yu Ying burst out, "What about me?"

    I gave her a cold look, "You will stay here until Shui Wang and Fan Ling are returned."

    "No, take me with you!" the unruly girl screeched at her father. Was it because she was afraid to be alone? True, some took liberties with women during the apocalypse as regtions weren''t strict and thew was corrupted. The girl was young but some men would still go for that. But they were still in a safe city where everything was being monitored carefully, so she''d be safe for a while.

    "Please, Xiao Yu, take her along with us!" begged Shui Wang. He crawled forward and tried to grab at my legs.

    I moved away and kicked his hands away, "You do not have the right to order me or call me that way."

    He whimpered and snatched his hands back. Fan Ling was silent the whole time andplied. Yu Ying was dragged away and thrown back out.

    "Thank you," I gave my gratitude to the senior official and the three of us were escorted outside the base.

    After we were a mile away from the base, Fan Ling copsed. She was physically weak and had gotten rid of her bone cancer only less than a year ago.

    On the core device, I activated the GPS app that Xiao Lai made a few days ago so that I wouldn''t get lost. He''s really thoughtful.

    I infused water into her dehydrated state and made Shui Wang give her a piggyback ride.

    Far away, the soldiers at the base would still be watching us. I heard a drone turn back after the second mile and walked a bit more before stopping.

    Shui Wang was continuing to struggle walking in the heat. The heat wasn''tparable to my base''s since the base was on the mountains and had extreme weather differences outside of the base. But it was still harsh to regr humans.

    "Ok, you can let her go. Put this on yourself and her." I handed Shui Wang a pair of rubber gloves.

    "...T-this is only one pair..."

    "Put one on yourself and the other on Fan Ling." I was exasperated and let it show through my tone.

    His hands fumbled and quickly put the rubber gloves on one of them and the other on Fan Ling.

    After he put them on, he had a strange look, finally wondering how I pulled them out of thin air.

    I wasted no time at all and quickly spread out my wings and grabbed each of their hands that had the rubber gloves on them.

    The rubber gloves were to avoid touching them, but also so that they wouldn''t slip off. They had dry hands, not the sweaty kind, so it was doable.

    When I stopped flying andnded, Shui Wang had passed out from the air pressure and Fan Ling had woken up in the middle, screamed, and passed out again. They both had dislocated joints.

    Why would Ge want to invite these two? We weren''t rted to them now and what if they mouthed off at his rtionship with another man?

    Was this really a good idea?

    If anything happened, I would be sure to end this pair once and for all.

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51

    On the day that Xiao Yu gave the announcement about variable things, Lu Han gave me a deep kiss in which we exchanged our blood with. With that, by apocalyptic standards, we had be a married couple.

    I thought it was too impulsive of him but he proposed and coaxed me by saying that we could hold a wedding ceremony. Of course, I agreed.

    He specifically said, "You''re epting my proposal a yearter. I don''t know what to think."

    I remembered back to the time I turned 18 and could only give a wry smile and kiss him out of thanks for waiting for so long.

    So, it was decided that we would hold a small wedding ceremony in the Lu n''s mansion. ''Their mansion was bigger'' was the reason Lu Han gave to hold the ceremony there.

    Actually, not all of Lu Han''s n members hade into the base yet. Many were still overseas, doing some shady business probably. They had private jets and were currentlying over.

    I''ve actually seen them. They came quickly and went back to go get the other n members and things. All of the n members, even toddlers know basic fighting methods, it''s ridiculous.

    It would take around two days to retrieve everything from overseas, so during that time, I gave Xiao Yu the task to bring our ex-parents back.

    He looked reluctant. I still chuckle when remembering his face at that time.

    Maybe it''s because I was his older brother, but Xiao Yu only showed his childish self to me. Otherwise, he was always the exemry leader.

    Xiao Yu told me his worries: What if they made a mess out of the wedding ceremony? What if they discriminated against me and Lu Han? And a lot more other relevant and irrelevant questions.

    Of course, I was worried. And scared.

    But it was my future, and I didn''t want to regret anything. I would be sad if the wedding was messed up, but I probably wouldn''t regret it.

    Around lunchtime, Xiao Yu called me out to the gates of the base along with some medics. Some officials and representative leaders came as well.

    "Chief, we should use water-squirting toilet seats instead of regr toilets! They save toilet paper considerably! And handkerchiefs instead of tissues will save on supplies as well! And where should we put the garbage?" was one of the things a representative said.

    Xiao Yu handed over our ex-parents to the medics and dusted his hands off, all while exining, "Sure, we have to save on supplies as best as we can. Should I issue a mission for acquiring more supplies? But about the waste thing, for stic, the researchers made the dposer machine that I don''t properly remember the name of. They can break down garbage intopost and we can use that to grow crops or make other things."

    Xiao Yu really is amazing, he had the foresight and couldpromise with everyone easily. Xiao Yu knew many terms from medical issues to construction issues, to just regr ng. He could easily exin so that even elementary students could understand it. It was pretty impressive in itself, and more so when he gave speeches or exnations that everyone could easily bond themselves with.

    "Oh, Ge, I brought them back. I''m going to go shower. And have you prepared your outfits for the ceremony? We have plenty of designers on base, pay them a lot of points, get whatever you need."

    I smiled at his concern and waved him away to let him go shower.

    To the medics, I asked them to call me when the two outsiders woke up.

    I turned around but bumped into a sturdy chest.

    "Wife, you shouldn''t run around so much. Let the assistants take care of the preparations. And our suits are finished."

    I frowned and replied, "Lu Ha-"

    "Call me ''Husband''."

    I stiffly stood, ignored thatment, and said, "I just wanted to check on Shui Wang and Fan Ling."

    "I really wonder why you invited them."

    "They were my parents after all."

    He looked towards the vehicle that drove the two away and turned back to me.

    "Wife," Lu Han called.

    "Hm? What are you calling me for?" I asked.

    "I just wanted to get used to calling you this. You should start calling me ''husband'' too."

    My lips twitched and I told him, "Why don''t you call me ''husband'' instead? I''m a man and you are one too. Why don''t we just be a pair of husbands instead?"

    "We are, but I just want to call you wife. I''m taller than you. And stronger. And most importantly, I''m on top," he showed a refine smile and grabbed my hand.

    I could only stay silent as my cheeks dyed red and turn my head away. I couldn''t run because Lu Han was tightly holding onto my hand.

    "Stay still, I''m not done yet. I''m older. I take care of you. You cook for me. And I was the one who initiated chasing you. But, I think it makes sense to call you wife because you-"

    I cut him off and cheekily smiled, "Is it because you''d be mistaken for my boytoy since you''re so beautiful? You want to make your status clear"

    Lu Han pinched my nose gently, "No, you are more beautifulpared to me. The fact is, I was the one who proposed. And now you''re mine."

    "I know, but can''t you call me husband still?"

    "No, ''wife'' sounds better."

    "...Have you ever been told you are very childish? But I will be gracious and permit you to call me ''wife''."

    "Thank you, dear wife."

    "Anyway, you said our suits are ready?"

    "Yes, as you requested, they have traditional patterns sewn into the seams with gold thread. Both are a nice shade of red."

    "That''s good. It was based on one of Xiao Yu''s designs that he made for me. They were in a stack and I counted 37 designs. I liked that one the most out of all of them. You know, Xiao Yu is actually quite shy sometimes and I had to erase all traces of seeing them so that he wouldn''t be embarrassed. I wonder how he''ll react on the day of the wedding?"

    "Your brother cares for you a lot."

    "Yes, and I care a lot about him too."

    "For and About are two different things."

    "I know. He cared for us when we were younger and still to this day. We can only care about him but rarely for him."

    "I have a lot to thank him for."

    I looked up at him, confused.

    "What for?"

    Lu Han chuckled and replied, "He''s the one who let us meet. And he protected you when you were young. He even trained you to be the person today. Don''t you think I should thank him for raising up my wife?"

    "You make him sound like my parent. ...Which he basically was. And, yes, we have a lot to thank him for."

    I thought back to the past and mom''s screaming fits. If it weren''t for learning martial arts from Xiao Yu, I wondered if it would have been like what he described our previous lives.

    Apparently, Xiao Bing had a bunch of scars on her back, while Xiao Lai had a scar hidden with his hair on the back of his head. Xiao Yu and I didn''t have scars but we would have bruises from being beaten harshly.

    As if noticing my forlorn eyes, Lu Han held my hand tighter.

    "Stop being sentimental. Let''s go try the outfits on."

    "En."

    This man, although a little shameless at times, is really good. He gets jealous easily and whines about it, but it makes him more adorable. And he''s patient with me and supports me in everything I do.

    What better man could there be that suits me so perfectly?

    ----------------------

    The next day, everything from Lu Han''s Ennd-side family arrived.

    I saw priceless artifacts, weapons, and foreigners. I even saw the Duke of Lennox! There were other famous people as well, like actors, politicians, and Olympians.

    "You didn''t tell me that your household had such impressive people!"

    "Aren''t I impressive?"

    I gave up trying to reason with him and helped out my future inws by moving furniture and handing out trantor devices and core devices.

    By the afternoon, everything had been ced and everyone was assigned rooms.

    The patriarch of Lu Han''s n, not the Duke, but another old man, invited both of us to his study room.

    The patriarch looked serious but as soon as Lu Han introduced me, his eyes glistened.

    "It''s good that you haven''t picked a sissy! This boy looksely and patient, he must be taking care of you!"

    You could hear affection even while the old man was scolding. I smiled in relief that the patriarch was not against me.

    "Eh, grandson-inw,e here, let me have a look at you."

    I went forward smiling at the address and the old man grabbed my hands.

    "Please take care of my grandson. He''s a good young man and he has a good head. If he ever troubles you, juste to me and I''ll knock some sense into him."

    I smiled and thanked him.

    "Alright, go see your parents now. They wanted to see your man. Your father''s side is already here I noticed, did you tell them earlier about the apocalypse?"

    Although this old man cared about his grandson, he was strict with caring for his n.

    But Lu Han wasn''t worried and told him, "Of course, my father''s side''s family isn''t as strong or big as ours. Many of them would have died if not for getting ''treatment'' early in this base. And all of our family members are trained, and I didn''t notice anyone turning into a zombie."

    "Hahaha! You still know how to talk well boy! We''ll have to get that treatment soon enough, but go ahead and see your parents. Come againter to lead us to the treatment center!"

    We left the enthusiastic old man sitting on his chair and quietly closed the study''s door.

    "Your grandfather is nice."

    "En."

    "What are your parents like? I only know that your dad is a politician."

    "My mom was ady-in-waiting and private bodyguard for one of the princesses. She quit that role after she had me."

    "Oh? How did they meet?"

    "My father, he''s well-versed in martial arts and acupuncture. He had a mission to assassinate awyer who ran away to Ennd after getting some information on my father''s n. My mother knew his identity and since he was close to where she and the princess were, she went to fight him. After she found out his true motives, she had already broken his arm. So my mother had to help out with my father''s mission. My father said he fell in love with her after she beat him up and chased after her even after the mission was finished."

    "So... your dad''s a masochist?" Xiao Yu had told me Icked some sense before. It was probably true since I didn''t really get the whole story.

    "Pft! Hahahaha!" Lu Han had neverughed as hard as he was doing so currently. My eyes widened as I saw him clutching his stomach andughing out loud. He had a big grin on his face and traces of tears starting toe out from his eyes.

    His smile really was beautiful. I thought to myself how lucky it was for me to be able to see such a sight and how I would be able to stay with this silly person forever.

    "My stomach hurts fromughing too much... Haha, if my father heard that-"

    "Hear what?" a deep voice came from behind us.

    Lu Han immediately calmed himself down and asked, "What?"

    "Lu Han, what did you hea-"

    "What do you mean?" Lu Han gave a perfunctory smile that hid his thoughtspletely.

    "...Fine, is this our new addition to the family? He looks good."

    My chin was grabbed.

    I was forced to look up until I saw dark eyes that held humor.

    Lu Han quickly pulled me away and I could now see who had grabbed me.

    It was a handsome Chinese man who had slicked back hair and lustrous skin. He looked no more than his early 30''s, but I had a feeling it wasn''t like that.

    "Father, this is Shui Jing, my wife," Lu Han introduced me.

    So it really was his father! My husband''s family really had good genes! I''ve never heard of a man in his 40''s look this young!

    But his looks weren''t anything like Lu Han''s. He looked handsome, but the sort that had authority. He had lustrous skin andpletely ck hair that made him look young. And his facial features were sharp and cold while Lu Han''s was cold but silent and solemn.

    Maybe Lu Han inherited his beautiful looks from his mother? That was it probably.

    I greeted the elder, "Hello, I''m Shui Jing."

    Lu Han''s father nodded slightly and asked, "How old are you?"

    "I am 19 years old."

    "That''s when I had Lu Han. He''s very behind as he''s only marrying now and at the age of 25," hemented. Isn''t it that I''m marrying too young and the same for him?

    Then he turned towards his son and patted him on the shoulders, "I expect you to adopt a cute grandkid soon. Preferably a girl."

    I blushed as Lu Han told him back, "We''re going to work hard on it. How many grandkids do you want?"

    "What are you saying? Mingming, we agreed to have the grandson first!" a beautiful voice echoed back as Lu Han''s father looked confused.

    The beautiful voice belonged to an equally beautiful woman. I suspected that this was Lu Han''s mother since she was calling Lu Han''s father with such an intimate nickname. Lu Han''s father''s name was Lu Ming.

    "You''re really a beautiful child! My son is very lucky to have you. I''m going to be your mother-inw, and my name is Irene Valen."

    Lu Han''s mother smiled brightly and hugged me tightly.

    The woman was of average height so I wondered if Lu Han drank a lot of milk to grow taller than his father. Irene had lovely blue-green eyes and flowing golden locks. Her skin was smooth and was the healthy color of wheat. She had a mole under her lips and it ented her thin pink lips.

    Lu Han was their mixed child. With his light brown hair and green eyes, he really was a perfect in-between of the two distinctive heritage.

    "Mum, this is Shui Jing, my wife."

    "Yes, I know. He looks nice."

    Lu Han seemed to be bragging and I couldn''t help but smile at the woman who was praising him like he was still a child.

    The four of us went out for lunch to the cafeteria.

    As it was 11:30, lots of people were there. Many noticed us and tried to give their spots away but I refused them. Maybe I should have packed lunch instead?

    After 5 minutes of waiting, the line still seemed to go on.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lai came at this time and led us home.

    I cooked steak and made some small side dishes.

    Lu Han''s parents and I talked a lot and I learned about his childhood. It was sad how I didn''t get to find out about his ck history but his parents were very nice and enjoyable to converse with.

    After they left, I asked, "They don''t seem to know about the things for the apocalypse?"

    "They do know more than others, it''s just that the base has advanced a lot further than the outside for information. The Valen n already has a lot of ability users. They can only regrettably gain 2 more powers if they go through the zombie trial. And I don''t think anyone outside the base knows about ability users being able to pair with other ability users and reproduce. I''m going to go tell them about this during the reunion dinner banquet with your family and my two ns. I''ll also introduce you formally to both ns."

    At this time, Xiao Lai''s head poked upstairs, "Jing Ge, bro-inw, I''m going to go see Xiao Bing, so can you take care of giving these files to Yu Ge? Thanks!"

    Lu Han went to go prepare for the rest of the wedding preparations while I went to Xiao Yu''s office.

    I could hear voices from the opposite side of the door before I even entered.

    When the door was opened after I knocked, I saw Xiao Yu discussing matters about the job situation and point system. There were still many ws within the base''s system, but it was good to see that these men and women were striving to improve the conditions.

    I only slipped in and ced the file into Xiao Yu''s secretary''s hands. I don''t think Xiao Yu even noticed mee in as he was going against more than 40 representatives crammed into the room. The secretary looked tired as well, so I gave him a sympathizing smile. The secretary was invited to the wedding so he knew that we were all busy and smiled bitterly.

    "Ganbate!" was what the Japanese kids told me to say to cheer on another person. But it seemed kind of pointless now due to the trantor device.

    My shoes cked on the floor making rhythms that I hummed along to.

    Dingding! You have a call!

    The core device lit up and I could hear loud crashes from the other side.

    "Mr. Shui Jing! Your guests woke up but they are causing trouble! Can we get your permission to handle them with force?"

    The nurse sounded like a military officer as she inquired this.

    I was stunned at the situation and could only choke and cough out, "Yes, but to the minimum as they are still regr humans."

    "Yes, thank you for your permission!"

    The nurse cut off after saying a polite goodbye and I could only sigh and run towards the small hospital.

    Our hospital was small because we had stronger bodies and regenerative abilities after going through the zombie trial and gaining water abilities. It was only for the seriously wounded which hadn''t happened yet.

    What was going on there now?

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52

    My life feels like a joke.

    When I was young, I didn''t have the best of grades, nor was I best at sports, but I was always well liked.

    I was a pretty decent student, I even got into a good college.

    That''s where I met my first wife, Fan Ling.

    She was the campus belle and took dance. She was kind and generous and from a line of famous performers.

    We dated after I started courting her.

    There were many other guys chasing after her but she chose me.

    When I asked why, she answered, "You look the best."

    I felt really awkward before sheughed and said, "I''m joking! The other guys only wanted me for sex. But I saw that you are looking for someone to spend your whole future with."

    Because I wasn''t from such a great family like hers, her parents didn''t like me. They did, fortunately, bless us, but they still never liked me, only saying that I was good enough when our first child was born.

    My parents died because they were very old and had me at an old age, a few months after my wedding.

    I felt grief and Fan Ling helped me get through it. She really was a blessing from heaven. I really wondered if I could really keep her all to myself.

    After Fan Ling became pregnant, she had to quit her career as a dancer and I worked very hard to support my growing family.

    After Shui Lai, our third child was born, misfortune came upon me.

    Mypany''s president''s daughter, Yu Ming, a fairly young woman had taken a liking to me.

    At first, she flirted and I dodged her advances. It didn''t take long before she started threatening me.

    Then, one night, after apany dinner, I got drunk.

    The next morning, I woke up next to a naked woman. It was Yu Ming.

    She told me that she was only going to get me a hotel room and help me to my room but I raped her.

    I was skeptical, but she showed me the marks and white fluid flowing down her legs and on the bed, I knew I had messed up.

    This beguiled me and I wondered what I would say to my wife. I didn''t know? I was drunk? I''m sorry?

    To the beautiful woman who was always faithful to me, I hadmitted sphemy.

    And when it turned out that Yu Ming was pregnant, I broke down.

    Yu Ming threatened me to marry her and when it didn''t work, she cried, making a mess of herself.

    She wailed, "I love you so much, why won''t you ept me? I have your child! I don''t want this child to lose his father!"

    At that time, Fan Ling also told me that she was pregnant.

    She lovingly looked at her stomach and caressed it.

    To her, I didn''t think I would be worthy of being her husband.

    Whenever I was with her, I only felt guilt.

    Being the selfish man I was, I decided to go with Yu Ying. At least she wasn''t so pure.

    Over time, I began to feel that Yu Ying could really be the better woman for me.

    She gave me promotions and all the money and status I could have only dreamed of.

    But I always thought back to Fan Ling, the woman who gave her dreams up for us to be together.

    When Fan Ling was diagnosed with bone cancer, I couldn''t give her the money. Yu Ying had once again threatened me saying that she would never let me get a job and earn money if I let the ''other woman'' get treatment.

    Soon, it was a girl that was born to each woman.

    Yu Ming was disappointed that it was a girl but still raised her up properly. I had been skeptical about Yu Ying, but after going to the hospital to have her tested, it seems I really was her father.

    Fan Ling was delighted to finally have a daughter after three sons.

    One day, I finally decided that I couldn''t continue with the farce anymore, and came up with a n to let Yu Ming and I get ''identally'' caught.

    After that, I barely stopped by our tiny apartment. I neglected my children and only sent them money.

    Later, I heard that Fan Ling was around selling herself after her children ran away.

    By then, I had be Yu Ming''spletely and could only feel a little bit of remorse and wonder where the four children ran away to.

    I waspletely corrupted and tainted.

    Many years after, I finally saw the four children who had run away.

    They all looked simr to their mother and me except better, so I could immediately recognize them.

    They grew up to be beautiful and handsome.

    The strange thing was, they were all wearing such expensive designer clothing and essories.

    I sneered as I thought that they were being kept.

    But even if they were or weren''t, it was a fact that they broke a few ribs and humiliated my family during that night.

    Several years after that incident, a zombie apocalypse urred.

    The government notified everyone prior and ushered everyone into bases, but the majority could not believe or thought that it was just hogwash.

    Of course, I didn''t believe either.

    Right now was the era of science. Who would believe in some rubbish of zombies?

    It was only after the sky had turned blood red and the streets were littered with corpses that it was found out to be the truth.

    Yu Ming died.

    I didn''t feel much remorse for her. After all, she was the one who dragged me down in the first ce and now she didn''t give me any benefits.

    Yu Ying cried and as she was my daughter, I still carried affection for the young girl.

    We hurriedly made it into the nearest base.

    There, I met Fan Ling again, but she looked thin and not as beautiful as before.

    I realized: Even such a beautiful flower has withered.

    Now, here I was, at a hospital where people were discussing trivial things.

    There was an apocalypse going on! A zombie apocalypse! And you are all so foolishly gossiping?!

    I struggled and ran out of the room.

    I needed to meet Shui Yu.

    What was this ce?

    Who was he? He had those freakishly huge wings and inhuman strength!

    Why was I brought here? Was it really for a wedding?

    But before I could run out of the hospital to look outside at the surroundings, I was captured by two nurses.

    They grabbed me lightly but it hurt and I couldn''t even move a centimeter.

    As they dragged me back, they started gossiping once more.

    "It''s ok mister, calm down. You''re dehydrated and need to rest."

    "Ha, I really can''t believe that they''re chief''s parents."

    "I know right?"

    "I think Shui Jing knows that they''re troublesome too. I mean, he''s the one who gave permission. Even that nice boy knows what kind of trouble they are."

    "If I were them, I would have never let the four of them run away! Instead, I would have begged to be their leg essories!"

    "Yeah! And did you hear? The mother even abused them when they were young!"

    "Where did you hear that from?"

    "Shui Bing, that girl, ai... She says she had a hideous scar on her and that her third brother had a scar on the back of his head. It was only with Chief''s ability that the abuse stopped and scars disappeared..."

    "Oh, that stinky woman! I''m going to give her a p when I get back!"

    "Why? And, I don''t think she can take a p, just pinch her a couple times, that''ll do."

    "Shui Bing is actually teaching my daughters how to fight since their abilities aren''t too developed yet. She''s a cheerful and bright girl, if Chief hadn''t protected her in time, I really do worry what she may have be..."

    The conversation trailed off and I realized that the childhood of those four kids wasn''t so great. I wonder how they lived all this time. Who''s their sponsor?

    I just didn''t know if this was reality anymore.

    What would happen to me?

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53

    Hello, this is Jing Song, Chief''s secretary.

    I''m just recording daily bits of life to keep nice memories, but I guess I''m going to report it now.

    Um, so, right now, Chief is in a meeting with many other important representatives and politicians.

    As he is quite new to this governing process, there is still much to go for him.

    But I think he''s doing a great job becausepared to the world we lived in before, it''s practically a utopia.

    I was able toe here with my family due to my wife being such a smart woman, and I''m really thankful and proud of her for it. Our child is getting a very good education and has many friends, and since there are all kinds of researchers here and many of them being mothers as well, my wife has made many friends that she had never been able to in her oldb before. Seeing my family happy makes me smile and content at how our lives changed for the better.

    Back to the topic again. So, thankfully, the citizens of this safe base are very understanding and know not to ask around.

    Chief said that he''d probably have the representatives do the work in the future instead of him since he''s learning but doesn''t fully understand how to take care of amunity that would soon grow exponentially.

    But the representatives and other officials said that the chief should still work as a head figure just in case the people had to be briefed about an issue. The people, right now, wouldn''t trust anybody but the chief.

    Our chief is a "vital source" to all of us right now, and we really do need his presence before settling down properly.

    With that said, there is soon a certain wedding ceremony that we must attend, so I''lle back and record everything down after Ie back!

    ---------

    Well, that was the grandest asion I''ve seen in my life! And I''ve seen the royal weddings before on holographs!

    Both grooms were dressed in a pair of red suits embroidered with gold and they just looked perfect for each other as they smiled while holding hands.

    Flower petals fell from the sky gently, controlled by wind ability users that were hired, and the grand hall or ballroom or whatever that huge ce was just morous with all the expensive looking decor!

    The huge windows gave the perfect shade of lighting controlled by water ability users who did their best to refract and reflect lights properly and the water droplets paused in midair was truly a sight to behold.

    The wedding ceremony was short since it was reformed that way and the pair of husbands were beaming with joy as they put on their rings that were just simple bands but signified forever. (Actually, I found out that they were made out of abination of rhodium and tungsten... I didn''t know what to reply to that...)

    Everyone cheered while Chief was the only one who cried. He had personally escorted his older brother up to the stage and was closest to the newlyweds. Chief couldn''t stop sniffling throughout the whole ceremony.

    Seeing Chief crying, his older brother began to cry too, and they formed a bond that could only be known by siblings. Mr. Lu could only watch helplessly with a smile on his face and hand patting his husband''s back gently.

    "W-why are you crying? I-i''m going to be in the base every day... S-stop crying, or else I''ll cry harder... Wuwu, Xiao Yu, I really got married..."

    "G-ge, you have to visit often, a-and when you get a kid, I''ll have to name the baby... I''m just d that you can have y-your own family now..."

    The conversation was silly and sweet but it incurred tears from my eyes and others as well.

    The feast after the wedding was plentiful and everyone chatted and congratted the couple.

    I would say, and probably everyone else too, that everything about the wedding ceremony was great, except for one event.

    In the middle of the feast, Chief''s parents, who had been very well-behaved and quiet so far went crazy.

    Well, the mother didn''t, as she was focused on eating food, but the father did.

    "This is crazy! A man! Marrying another man?! No child of mine will do this kind of sinful act!"

    Immediately, everyone went quiet and stared at him with different types of gazes. Disdain, confusion, shock, sorrow, and anger.

    The Chief''s younger brother, Shui Lai, scoffed.

    "You don''t even believe in god. Also, it''s rightful in the eyes of thew these days. Actually, has been for several decades. And really? ''No child of mine''? You signed the papers, we aren''t your children anymore. Yu Ge only brought you guys here to fulfill Jing Ge''s wish. And he gave you guys face by letting youe to the wedding ceremony without any bindings."

    I secretly gave Shui Lai a thumbs up in my heart.

    "And you know what? I''m gay too!"

    I choked at this part since I hadn''t expected it. I didn''t think that the kid would have already found out about his sexual orientation and announce it publicly at the age of 15! Although the Chief''s younger brother was maturing into a tall handsome youngster, he was still only 15 years old...

    I used my random ability to read the thoughts of those around me about the situation.

    ''Whew, thankfully Xingxing isn''t here.'' - Shui Lai

    ''What''s happening?'' - Stranger 23408

    ''Shui Lai''s gay. Well, I already knew about it.'' - Chief

    ''Huehuehue, let the shippingmence! =w=+'' - Shui Bing

    ''Ugh, I''m trying to eat here, stop causing so much drama, old man!'' - Stranger 1046

    You see, my random ability was to read the thoughts of people around me like a chat group. For people I knew, it would have their names or titles recorded, and for people that I didn''t, it''d be Stranger #.

    It was quite a useful skill and only gave me the side effect of getting extremely hungry afterward.

    Chief looked towards his older brother with his normal face, but I could read his worries for him.

    Thankfully, the Chief''s older brother thought this:

    ''God, I was really hoping for them to shut up quietly and let me be filial to them for thest time! Well, I guess they ruined it for themselves! I just want to kick them out now...'' - Shui Jing

    Chief''s older brother might look gentle, but he is ruthless and stern when ites to it. He had a strong personality that only few could mellow out.

    His husband, Mr. Lu made a hand motion and three guards came in to pull out the troublemaking man. His ex-wife, however, was still focused on eating food, so they left her alone.

    After that short but intense fiasco, everything resumed to normal and everyone leftte as they stayed to watch the fireworks that burst out into the night to celebrate the asion.

    My son was already well asleep on my back as I quietly talked with my wife and reminisced about our own wedding in the past.

    I believe, that although Shui Jing and Lu Han''s wedding was beautiful, our wedding was brighter than that.

    It truly was the happiest moment in my life, besides the other happiest moments of my life, like finding out that my wife was pregnant, the time when our child was finally born, and when my wife was recruited for a huge project that would totally change our lives forever.

    Although my life is much simplerpared to Chief and his family''s, I''m absolutely sure that I''m just as blessed as them because of my own wonderful family always being there with me.

    ''I''m quite a lucky man aren''t I? ^//^'' - Jing Song

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54

    The wedding was beautiful.

    I cried a lot and Ge cried a lot too. From it, I think all our past misunderstandings and grudges disappearedpletely.

    Having to hand off my Ge to another person, I was really angry and reluctant, but now, seeing him this happy and content, I really can''t say anything.

    Is this what a parent feels like? Having to give their daughter away?

    Although people thought I was crying out of joy, of course, I was, but I was also filled with regret.

    I know that Ge would still be able to meet up with us frequently, but it''s like he''s on his own now and separated from us.

    I felt regret because I hadn''t spent time together as much as I could have.

    After the wedding, fireworks boomed to celebrate the asion.

    I stopped my sniffles and joked, "At least I get to name the baby."

    Geughed and replied, "Yes, you can. But I''m not pregnant yet, and the surname will have to be decided between Lu and Shui."

    I interjected, "It should be Shui, after all, our family is kind of small right now and needs more people. Your husband''s family isrge already, what''s the need to increase it further?"

    Geughed once more.

    It really was great seeing him so happy like this...

    Lu Han came to take Ge away and guests began to leave one by one.

    In the hall, only a few people were left.

    Me, my siblings, and some Lu n members.

    As Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing were still young, I told them to hurry home and get some sleep.

    Soon, the Lu n members left after giving me polite nods.

    I was all alone.

    Today, seeing Ge smiling so happily and looking so bright gave me a feeling that I couldn''t properly describe.

    ...Why can''t I be content like that?

    Is it because I was too caught up in the past and was using every chance to fortify my ''fort''?

    Is it because I was regretting many things that I could have thought properly through?

    Or is it because I haven''t found a significant other?

    I scoffed.

    Love couldn''t change anything. Thatst thought was irrelevant to the present.

    Love made you stupid.

    It could be seen from the many things that I did to make my siblings more powerful.

    If I had been harsher on them, they would be more powerful.

    Actually, if I hadn''t loved them enough to take their considerations of having people around them, I wouldn''t even have created this base, much less bring in people that sometimes caused me more trouble than help.

    The present was pretty good. Nobody would die if they were base members. Everyone was happy to escape from the apocalypse.

    I''m not some humanity''s savior. I''m not a goddamn Jesus.

    I didn''t feel bad for the people outside of the base. I didn''t know them, neither cared. Why should I feel guilt for people who didn''t concern my wellbeing?

    Some would definitely call me evil for having enough power to kill out zombies but not using it to save their weak pitiful asses.

    Would they even help me? They would probably feel that they were being pitied and fell animosity towards me instead.

    I mean look at the world, tons of geniuses live, but they may not ever discover their talent even till death. The world is unfair, and every person who''s hoping for something should know it.

    ...Ugh, going into deep moody thoughts always makes me feel bad.

    I stood up and walked out.

    Spreading my wings as I took on my Raven form, I flew to the base gates and essed myself to go out for a while.

    To be nice, I even messaged my secretary to notify everyone who wasing to the meeting tomorrow to take a rest day, including himself.

    I remembered that I soon had to return my ex-parents to their base and sighed.

    ''Happy thoughts, happy thoughts,'' I reminded myself.

    En, my Ge being pregnant should make me happy.

    Oh, the researchers had done a project on pregnancy as well.

    The results were surprising.

    A man could get pregnant from his wife. The researchers said that emotions were involved and exined it in hard terms that I didn''t properly understand. I''m still learning about it.

    Also, women impregnating other women were also involved with some emotion things from the brain.

    The conclusion was: All of us aren''t hermaphrodites but somehow are like them.

    After studying in my head the terms I was supposed to memorize if I wanted to have a proper conversation with the researchers, I promptly decided to take a break and head towards Yun''s.

    Ge invited him to the wedding as well, but the boy said he was too busy and was sorry not being able toe.

    I messaged him and asked how it was over there, and he replied with: "I''m fine, but the soldiers are all confused. My father is pretty depressed and I don''t really know how to describe the situation."

    So today, I decided to visit him.

    It was pretty dark andte, but Yun was still awake and answered my call.

    The window at the top of the mansion was opened and I slipped in quietly.

    "Yun, you ok?" I asked in concern after seeing dark bags under his eyes.

    "I''m a little tired," Yun gave me a tired smile.

    "Eating makes everything better, do you want to share a hotpot with me?"

    So we shared a delectable hotpot and shared stories with each other.

    As I talked about the Valen n, Yun asked, "But hasn''t the red phase already passed? Shouldn''t they know something about the powers at least?"

    I widened my eyes as I had stupidly forgotten about it.

    "Maybe they''re hiding it until you or Lu Han tells the truth? I don''t think any huge n would just believe endless benefits if they aren''t told the truth. I honestly think that if they weren''t surrounded by much more powerful ability users in the base, they might just take over the whole base. They are, after all, a prestigious n with so many influential and powerful - both physically and just you know, powerful in society -, so I wouldn''t just blindly trust them."

    Yun continued with his opinion, "I would say the same for the Yang n and Lu n. If they aren''t monitored properly, they''ll want to rule the base themselves. As a person who is the child of a government official, I know what those people like to act like. The Yang n isposed primarily of generals andmanders, but now the n Head is a businessman. How influential do you think he is to have taken control of a military family like that?"

    Yun took in a deep breath and gave me a worried look.

    "And the Lu n, they should be a little better since your brother''s husband is in there, but remember that your bro-inw is only half a member there. They wouldn''t fully trust in him because he''s like that. And you know the least of how the Lu n is like besides being in politics and being killers. That''s really not enough. All you know of those ns are vague and even those vague descriptions sound terrifying already. If you really want to leave the base and travel around, you should have the hackers do research on them for you."

    I sighed. How could I have been so foolish to think that those powerful ns would lie dormant in peace?

    It was in their blood to take control of the situations themselves. They probably thought that the base was only a shield, a buffer, for the apocalypse. And when they gained sufficient influence and ability, they would take over.

    I asked, "Then what should I do? I daresay that your thinking is 100% correct. Is there anything I can do to not let them take control?"

    I was really lucky to havee to Yun today. I then remembered the Politics ss that almost every student took in our academy. And the person who always came first in theories or discussions there was Mo Yun.

    "Hey, it''s alright, I cane up with a couple of solutions," Yun gave a cheeky grin.

    "Huh, you became so confident after the apocalypse happened, and did you even grow a little?"

    "Yup! 178 cm! I''m taller than your sister now! Wait, stop changing the topic!"

    Yun grumbled and stole meat from my te. I chuckled. He was still kind of childish but it assured me that he wasn''t changingpletely.

    "Ok, listen up. There are 3 ways. You can either kill the ns off, make a council, or make medicine. But it seems like you wouldn''t choose the 1st option out of fear of making the base members afraid, so I''ll go on with the 2nd and 3rd choices."

    After giving a cough to gain my attention which was straying to the boiling hotpot, he started talking again, "So, the 2nd option is to make a council. Each n leader and some of their subordinates can meet up often with some other leaders of themunity and your family. That way, they can keep each other in check and bnce the ruling out. But you have to be sure to not let the other leaders be influenced by those ns too much. Basically, don''t easily let the ns gain allies, especially each other. You have to establish the fact that you''re the boss there and can overrule any decision."

    I nodded, the idea was efficient technically but it would be a little hard to keep people in check since humans changed their hearts too quickly.

    "Actually, I had in mind that each family could take rule in a rotation, but then they''d abuse their powers for sure, so it wouldn''t work out. Ugh, I have so many failed ideas in my head..."

    Iughed and gave him some more meat.

    "Dear tactician, please ept my tribute."

    "Hmph, I''ll have to won''t I!"

    Weughed and fell to the floorughing. I really couldn''t remember when I hadstughed like this today. I didn''t even give a smile usually. It was really embarrassing to cry in front of others at the wedding, but at least it would help with my public image. If Iughed in public, the people on base would get too familiar with me and they''d get arrogant. That''s why I was distancing myself from them gradually.

    Anyways, we talked about the 3rd solution while eating.

    "The 3rd solution, *chew chew swallow* should be harder on the researchers than you. *chew chew swallow* So, it''s to make a virus of a sort that would react- Actually, you know what, it''s impossible. How could animosity be detected properly when it could be directed at another person?"

    So we gave up on that 3rd solution and instead came up with a 4th.

    "Hmmmmm, ok, I''ve got one, it''s easy. Probably the hardest one for you though."

    I was curious, what could be that hard?

    This time, Yun looked me straight in the eye and seriously told me, "Be stronger."

    I raised one of my eyebrows in question.

    "I know you are the strongest right now, but I''m sure from what I can tell, zombies are growing stronger and abilities can evolve too. Those people, at the very least, need brute force to conquer. So you have to be able to beat all of them up in one go. Either research or find another way to gain more abilities and train yourself to perfection. And although brute force can overpower anything, brains over brawn. You need to study more tactics, and consider getting a team of tacticians that are absolutely loyal to you."

    "But I don''t know if people will be loyal to me..."

    "And I can help with that!"

    "How?" I was really curious, how could Yun help me?

    Yun got close and made the suspense rise until he whispered, "I think I have two random skills."

    "What? Really? Congrattions!" I smiled and pped him on the back.

    "Ow, Yu Yu, you really don''t act like how you look..."

    But even though heined, Yu had a bright look on his face.

    Again, with immense suspense, he whispered.

    "My skill, is to see rtionships."

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55

    "My skill, is to see rtionships."

    Silence fell.

    "Rtionships?"

    "Yeah, like love, loyalty, hate, friendship, and some other colors that I can''t really tell."

    "Colors?"

    Yun grinned, "I can see rtionships from colored ribbons. ck is hate, Red is love, White is familial love, Blue is loyalty, Yellow is friendship. There are other colors, but I don''t know what they are yet. The wider the ribbon is, the deeper the emotions are. For one way feelings, the ribbon can wrap around the person that the feelings are directed to, but cannot directly touch. For mutual feelings, the ribbon is tightly bound around both people."

    "What a useful skill, mine''s only knowing the future for a couple of seconds... I wonder what your skill would look like when you level up. I''m happy for you!"

    Yun smiled.

    "I didn''t tell you this, but Green is the color of envy. And you didn''t show any of it just now."

    "So, you were testing me?" I asked in incredulity.

    "Yup, don''t be angry with me, I just wanted to see if you would be envious of my awesome power~"

    I rubbed Yun''s head roughly and gave a smirk, "You''re getting cheeky!"

    Yun wriggled his eyebrows and we burst intoughter once more.

    "Ok, ok, my stomach hurts fromughing too hard. And it''s night but some people are still up. They might be wondering if I''ve gone crazy if we keep onughing like this."

    And true to Yun''s prediction, a series of knocks were heard.

    "Young master Mo, are you alright in there?"

    Yun whispered, "That''s my father''s direct subordinate. I''ll go answer, you hide in your space."

    I went into my space as instructed and only came out after a message was sent to my core device.

    We talked for quite a while as he exined his power.

    "Ugh, sometimes, it''s hard to see some people''s faces and recognize them because they''re wrapped around in so many strings and ribbons. It''s hard to tell if they''re the ones spouting the strings out or if they''re wrapped in the whole pile..."

    We ate some snacks and then I was convinced to stay overnight.

    The next morning, ''Young master Mo'' was called down to eat breakfast.

    Yun wouldn''t wake up and said the legendary cliche quote, "5 more minutes..."

    As I tried to shake him awake, he even dared to grab my hair and pull on it.

    I conjured up a waterball to ssh his face.

    "...I''m seeing orange. Who''s annoyed at me?" was what the bleary-eyed Young Master Mo grumbled out groggily.

    "I am, so stop pulling on my hair!"

    I didn''t get the chance to ssh his face. He should have woken a bitter.

    "Sorry, sorry... Let''s get some breakfast..."

    With his sheepish smile, I was no longer annoyed at him.

    "I can''t stay. I''m probably going to be seen as an intruder. And I did kill some of the people here. Even if they were zombies, some people will have grudges. I don''t want to deal with it."

    "Ok,e back again and have hotpot with me soon! And pick me up when you have a n chosen!" Yun yelled out the window as I opened my wings and flew out.

    I thought to myself, ''Why do you make it sound like you''re the one treating me? Pft, so shameless. How''d he get to be this way?''

    I got back to the base and walked to my office.

    I greeted people as they greeted me first.

    When I got to my office, my secretary was already there at his desk doing work.

    Hm, I thought I gave them a day off?

    "Mr. Jing?"

    The secretary looked up.

    "Oh, Chief, good morning!"

    "Yes, good morning. I thought that I gave everyone a rest day?"

    "Yes you did, I just had a couple of schedules to sort out. I''ll be out in an hour. I just wanted to finish it before going out with my family to the theater and then the zoo," the man smiled brightly.

    "I see, thank you for your diligence."

    "No, no, thank you for giving us a break. I think we all needed it. The base is peaceful, but since it''s merely starting up, the people responsible for the base are kind of freaking out over starting a new colony of a sort. And you know how they are all of diverse cultures. They just need time to sort out some things and get to know others."

    That''s true, I had been making them work besides the weekends, but they would have toe in even on those days to finish their work sometimes.

    "Your conjecture is correct. I really should have thought of them a bit more. Mr. Jing, can you also set up a meeting between the Yang, Lu, and Valen n heads? And please send them a proper invitation that''ll ask them each to bring some people, no more than 10. The meeting date should be 2 days from today at 11 AM. And lunch will be served. Also, you''ll be attending as well."

    "I''ll set it up immediately sir."

    I sent a message to Yun.

    It said:

    I''m going to go with n 2 and 4 merged. I''ll make a council, and I''ll also grow stronger at the same time. Can I pick you up tomorrow?

    Ding!

    The reply came immediately.

    It said:

    Sure, I''ll ask my dad. He''ll probably be ok with it. I don''t even see the zombies since I''m kept at home, so he''ll be fine if I''m not going to out to the battlefield. I''ll say that you''re going to teach me about powers, edible mutant nts and animals, and other stuff. I already know it from the core device though, so it''ll be easy to convince him. All you''ve got to do is provide me the best suite and good food. Deluxe snacks and sweets wouldn''t be so bad either.

    ...This brat...

    Sigh, well, he''s certainly out of his shy corner now.

    The rest of the day, I nned out the things to discuss at the meeting. I also sent messages to the 8 people I would be bringing along besides Mo Yun and my secretary.

    Andrei''s mom, Principal Ying Xuan, 1 political representative, the hospital director, 2 hackers, and 2 researchers.

    I smiled in excitement.

    Because I knew.

    This meeting would certainly not be boring.

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56

    On the day of the meeting, everyone arrived impably on time, if not, early.

    Yun said they probably didn''t want to be here early orte because earliness would mean that they were desperate. But they would also not want to bete because that would be rude.

    Everyone gradually entered and seated in the huge meeting room that was right next to my office.

    The Yang family brought their patriarch and wife as well as their son, Little Blue. The patriarch, Yang Jin, was smiling, but I didn''t know if he really was smiling because he wanted to. And Yun texted me that they probably brought Little Blue to make me weaker towards their n. There was no way such a calcting businessman wouldn''t miss this opportunity to get a better deal than the other ns.

    Oh, we had to text because whispers can be heard easily if you strain your ears. And everyone here would have powers anyways, so there was no choice but for it to be done this way.

    The meeting started first with the schedule sheet passed out by my secretary. He announced the schedule and answered any questions that came up about it.

    Most of the questions came from the Valen n as the schedule sheet had been tranted for them but there were still mistakes on there. The verbal trantion was easier as the trantor devices had been passed out to them already.

    There were three main topics to talk about.

    1) How to split off power

    2) When to give the Valen n zombie trials.

    3) Exining the rest of the base system and roles to the Valen n.

    Yes, it was mostly rted to the Valen n.

    For the first topic, all went well and there were even some adjustments to the ns previously made. There would be something like a government with a ruler and a council. The ruler would have power but it had to be agreed upon by the others by a majority. And the council would be made up of representatives with more representatives. Basically, the ruler had nothing to do except attend important meetings just for mostly show. And the ruler would be able to veto anything as well.

    The council would be made up of all the ns but mostly the regr citizens. Principal Ying Xuang, the hospital director, the political representative, the hackers, and researchers would be the representatives for the council as well as others in the future.

    Andrei''s mom didn''t want to participate and was nning to make a deal with meter on about the point system and hunting outside. She also nned on talking to the 2 researchers I brought today to discuss matters about making a business of it.

    Onto the second topic.

    When to give the Valen n zombie trials.

    I started off, "I presume that your n already knows of the zombie trials."

    "Yes, not specifically or very detailed, but we know about it."

    So they''ve been snooping around, huh.

    I motioned to the researchers behind me and they exined what the zombie trial did.

    Some of the people behind the Valen n patriarch grimaced. They probably already got their powers and didn''t have any chances of gaining random power, only a body & mind boost, and one more regr power.

    The Valen n wrote on paper and passed it around. They didn''t get their core devices yet also.

    For the conclusion of the second topic, the core devices would be delivered tomorrow and the zombie trials could also be arranged to start then.

    I think the third topic was the hardest to discuss.

    The base system and roles were pretty much known.

    Everyone had to hunt unless they could pay to not go out.

    Everyone had to have a job as well and education was required.

    There were still more to be determined about the permanent roles, such as researchers, hackers, and especially hunters.

    I had decided not too long ago that the researchers and hackers would also have to go out and hunt. They could pay for people to protect them and they only needed to bring back a nt at the very least. It was their perks, but as they also had superior bodies and minds, they weren''t supposed to ck off.

    There would be specific jobs that would allow the worker to be excused from going out. And one or two times for missing an outing would be ok although they would have to pay a fine.

    And for what I meant for ''hardest to discuss'' was that everyone, not only the Valen n but the Yang n and Lu n as well, asked so many questions at once and debating points to change.

    I really wanted to leave there and now.

    "Preposterous!"

    "You dare!"

    "No, we should-"

    Rather than the n leaders, the attendants behind them and I made a ruckus.

    Ugh, this really wasn''t fun. Why''d I ever think it was exciting?

    Thankfully, lunch was served and everyone gradually quieted and made small talk.

    Yun just texted me the whole time during lunch and I could only wearily read them.

    "You know what, why don''t you be the leader instead of me?" I asked.

    "Don''t dump it all on me. And besides, all you need to do is agree or veto!" he eximed.

    "I never thought that a government would be this hard to create..."

    "Hey, it''s a lot simpler than it was for many kings and leaders. Which is due to you having absolute power."

    "Maybe if I regress again, I won''t make a base like this. I''ll probably only care for my siblings and friends."

    "I''m included, right?"

    "Of course, after all, you are the first friend I made."

    "Hmph, that''s right, don''t you dare think of leaving me behind."

    We both snickered.

    But really, if I died, either of old age or due to an ident, would I go back in time again?

    Extra:

    ML: When am I going to meet my wifey?

    MC: You mean hubby.

    ML: ... =.=

    T1: Well, somewhere and some time?

    ML: Give. Me. Details.

    T1: Eh... Um, well, about a yearter when everything calms down... Don''t get mad at me!

    ML: !*^$!#@$!

    MC: I''d be happy to stay away from him a bit longer.

    ML: Wifey, don''t say that~~~

    MC: Get away from me. =-=

    T1: Also, you''ll need some time to get the approval of MC''s family members and others... Which would take some months?

    ML: Are you trying to kill my bright future off?!

    MC: What bright future?

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57

    Life on base has gotten easier but harder at the same time.

    Fewerplications, but more work for me. Yay.

    It''s been several months and I''m d to escape out into the hot and stuffy outside to lead groups to throttle the undead instead of staying in my office.

    To be honest, my secretary is busier than me. I really felt bad for him, so I gave him a raise. He seemed pretty happy about it and assured me that the work now was nothingpared to what he did as an agent and editor.

    Right now, I''m just looking at the status board for the hunting groups that was recently made not too many weeks ago.

    The status board could be easily shown on the core device. It showed the teams with the highest output and nucleus earnings. For me, it also showed the schedule of teams that haven''t gone yet or were going to go sometime. Schedules could only be passed through my approval.

    I was looking at the groups scheduled for Fridays to see if I could escape then.

    "Chief, a guest came."

    I frowned, "No appointment?"

    "Do I need to make an appointment to see my friend? I''m hurt!" a familiar voice cried out.

    I rxed seeing two figures at the doorway.

    "Shane, Andrei, haven''t seen both of you in a while. How''re you guys?" I asked in a pleasant tone.

    "All''s good. I''m treated like a king here, what''s there not to like? The only thing bothering me is those butterfly girls..." Shane made a remorseful face.

    I lightly chuckled and even Andrei smiled a bit at Shane''s grumble.

    "So what can I help you guys with?"

    Shane spoke for the both of them, "We haven''t gone outside yet, so we''re going to schedule for an outing. We''ve watched all your tutorials no matter how gruesome they were. We just need to test out our strengths in real life. Are there any tips you can give us?"

    "Yeah, schedule on a Friday. If you have anyone in your team going to work on the weekdays, then doing a 3-day trip should be fine if you schedule on Friday. And if you do, I''ll even add myself as a bonus to go along with, so how about it?"

    Andrei and Shane nodded at each other and left their way after settling details.

    Their team members gave me a little surprise.

    For one, my little brother was in it. And the person he was chasing, Zhang Xing, seemed to be on it too.

    Besides those two, it seems Yun was also invited. He did tell me about going on an outing one day, but I didn''t realize it would be with these guys. Hua was also included in this group.

    There were about 4 regr people: three researchers and a hacker.

    The group was pretty strong, so it was reasonable that a higher number of researchers and hackers than usual were in this group. The people in these two upations could be strong but most of the time they just did their jobs. The hacker though was one I remembered for video gaming a lot. She was Korean and loved gaming virtually. I wonder if she would fight for real on the outing...

    Anyway, the outing was scheduled for this week, so I had to get prepared.

    When I announced my new schedule for this Friday, Mr. Jing merely wished me good luck. He''s the lucky one. To not have to work during the weekends...

    As it was a Tuesday, I had about 2 more days to get prepared as we would leave right away on Friday''s morn.

    After work was done, Mr. Jing bade me goodbye while whistling a happy tune.

    I sighed while looking at the stack of documents before me.

    This wasn''t what I expected to do after getting out of the apocalypse...

    ...

    It was now Friday Morning.

    Before it struck 6 AM, Xiao Lai woke me up.

    "Yu Ge, get dressed! We have to go pick up Xingxing!"

    I sat on the edge of my bed while trying to wake up properly while Xiao Lai zipped around my dressing room to pick out a decent outfit for me to throw on.

    It was a casual pair of dark jeans, short white socks, white sneakers, and a white t-shirt without any logo on it. I stumbled while getting dressed and pulled my hair up into a sloppy ponytail.

    "You don''t look proper, tuck your shirt in," Xiao Lai fussed.

    I wasn''t still fully awake. Yesterday, even more papers came in as representatives came up with "several", meaning thousands, of questions for education, childcare, etc... I only got to sleep at 2 AM.

    "Yu Ge, don''t fall asleep!"

    I barely snapped awake and sshed myself with cold water. I absorbed it all back after I finally woke up and grabbed a ck cap and sunsses while my impatient little brother grumbled at how we were going to bete to pick up his Xingxing.

    I stored our luggage in my space and we finally exited our home.

    It took us no time at all to get to Zhang Xing''s home.

    I red at Xiao Lai when it was found out that his Xingxing wasn''t even awake yet. His mother groggily opened the door and weed us with an astounded look on her face.

    We were invited inside, but I politely declined.

    "We go out of the base at 7:30. Did we really need toe this early to pick him up?" I questioned him.

    "...I just wanted to see him early," mumbled Xiao Lai.

    I merely sighed and rubbed his head. I''d tolerate it. I was sad to think that Xiao Lai already found someone he liked and soon, he''d move away from home as well.

    But I remembered something all of a sudden.

    "Are you guys dating now?"

    Xiao Lai choked and sputtered.

    "I guess not," I answered myself.

    "T-that''s too soon! Yu Ge, he''s not even gay, so I have to try hard to bend him!"

    "Although I do not understand the term of ''bend'' in this situation, try to find out if he has any of this kind of intention. I know you do, but I don''t know if he does. Maybe he''s too good for you, you rascal," I dismissed with a smirk.

    "Yu Ge! You''re my brother, how can you say that!" Xiao Lai feigned shock.

    "Alright, he''sing, so quiet down," I paid no attention to his fuming face.

    When Xingxing came out, I still saw his green hair that I saw several months ago, but it seemed more vibrant colored this time. Did he dye it again?

    "Hello Chief," he greeted me first.

    I nodded and took his luggage and put it in my space. He nodded, thanking me and then pped Xiao Lai on the back and they both began to talk about virtual games and codes and whatnot.

    I walked several meters behind them as I called Yun and Hua through the core device.

    Their reactions:

    "S***, why do you do this to me?! I''m getting up, I''m getting up! ...F**ing bastard! It''s barely 6 AM! I''m going to kill you when I see your a**!" - Li Hua

    "Ugh, good morning. Do you have anything to eat in your space? My fridge and pantry are empty. Shane emptied them aftering over yesterday with Andrei. Do Americans and Russians always eat so much? ...I just hope you have coffee..." - Mo Yun

    "Rain, it''s 6... Are we going back to the training schedule when we were in the States? Can''t you give me just 30 more minutes? Fine, I''m waking up..." - Shane Deus

    "I was already awake. I''ll get there soon with Shane. He always ims he''s waking up, but he takes an extra hour to do so." - Andrei Kovalev

    For the 3 researchers and the hacker, they were quite amicable as they had been awake and ready to go outside for the first time in several months. They had seen what the outside looked like after the apocalypse, but they were curious to experience it for themselves.

    Our team met up with Hua threatening to punch me and Yun holding her back while epting the brewed coffee I made with the coffee machine in my space. I thought I''d never use it after Mr.Jing gifted it to me, but I now used it almost too frequently...

    Shane was still half asleep and was riding on Andrei''s back as he made a rare helpless look.

    I took up everyone''s luggage and pacified the feisty Hua with a baby Orange-bellied Parrot. She had wanted one of the many I had in my space or the zoo since ages ago, but I wouldn''t let her. This parrot''s parentsid 7 eggs a month ago, and I took one out of my space today.

    "Hm, you do know what to do!" sheplimented(kind of, not really), and cooed over the baby bird. Of course, with her affinity to birds, the two instantly bonded.

    I handed each team member some fresh fruits for a morning meal and began talking about our n outside.

    "This isn''t a pic we''re going on. It''ll be hot out there, so be sure to have your water ability constantly reflecting the sun rays and hydrate yourself often. If you really can''t use your water ability that long, as some couldn''t before, we will not be justing back to visit the hospital. If you really can''t take it, dig a hole underground and cool yourself. This technique has worked very well with the other groups, so it''ll work for you."

    The researchers and the hacker despaired. They really didn''t have enough time to properly train their powers.

    "The good news would be, that the city is not too far, so there will be shade everywhere. But zombies and mutants will roam the streets, and you''ll have to fight them instead of the heat. Everyone needs to gather points, so going to the cities would be easier for this to happen."

    The team all agreed to quickly get to the city.

    The heat immediately turned many degrees higher the moment we stepped out.

    Comining, everyone wanted to go back in.

    After hydrating ourselves and surrounding ourselves in water barriers that reflected most of the sunlight and kept us rtively cool, we headed towards the city.

    Even before wepletely got there, there were plenty of growls and snarls, but in the city, it couldn''t even bepared, as the amount was too big of a difference.

    The solemn atmosphere as the massive crowd of zombies that popted the city was seen disappeared as Shanemented, "Wouldn''t want to be bitten by any of them. So ugly."

    Everyone: "..."

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58

    The city was vacant as anyone with the right mindset would have moved to a safe city or base. And it had already been a month and a few weeks into the apocalypse, so unless a person stored enough food and water, they would be dead from starvation or dehydration.

    I briefed them on our mission.

    "Recently, there''s been sightings of mutant weeds, nicknamed ''Weed-vines''. We''ll be taking some as samples. They aren''t weak ande out from underground in dark areas, so everyone needs to be careful. And as for zombies, kill noiselessly and if you encounter an abnormal zombie, contact me immediately."

    Everyone on the team nodded and split up into two groups.

    There were eleven people including me in the team. I went with the three researchers and Yun. The other group waspiled of Xiao Lai, Zhang Xing, Shane, Andrei, Li Hua, and the hacker girl.

    The other group was going to go fight zombies to collect nucleus. My group was preparing to go to secluded areas that zombies weren''t in.

    We easily found a dark alley where even the surroundings were abandoned.

    "The weed-vines must be here. Even zombies get captured by them, so they avoid the nts."

    Weed-vines were murky white-ish green and very tough to handle as they age. They didn''t need anything but bones and water. The zombies fell prey to them because they had strengthened bones.

    When I died, Weed-vines were terrifying because they had grown powerful and could hide their presence even from the best of nt ability users.

    But fortunately, right now, they were weak and couldn''te out into the sunlight. And judging by the numerous cracks and holes on the pavement, they couldn''t properly hide their paths and traces.

    Their weakness was light, not even the adult weed-vines couldpletelye out during the day. They burned and burst into powder if they stayed out for too long. Their other weakness would be acid. They would be corroded with the use of spit if they were this weak as they were right now. During the apocalypse, acid could only be stored by a person with poison or chemicals as an ability. We couldn''t even turn on the light to avoid them at night because it would attract other bad things. Hard times.

    Anyways, Weed-vines were starting toe out.

    They were nothing like the whip-like, long, brittle vines that terrified everyone during the night. Instead, they were weak, feeble, string-like, and crawled.

    Iughed slightly and got out a bottle of vinegar. I could tell, these weak-looking things were acting. Luring would be the correct term.

    I turned on my core device and started a live stream.

    Immediately, almost all of the people in the base got on.

    Comments flooded in.

    "..."

    Yun was snickering and the researchers were trying to hide theirughter.

    "Alright, quiet down, today, I''m going to capture a mutant nt called the Weed-vine. It''s a murky white-ish green nt that uses bones and water as a supplement. It usuallyes out at night or in dark areas from underground. The weakness for it is light and acids. As they aren''t very powerful right now, even vinegar or spit will do. If you encounter them, just run out into the light or urately spit at them."

    I didn''t bother looking at thements since Yunughed as soon as he saw them.

    "Spreading vinegar around them will only capture them temporarily since they can go underground. What you need to do is stter them with vinegar. They''ll melt, but it''ll slow them down. And after they''re shriveling, just pull them out. But wear gloves or cloth. We have enough strength to pull them out without getting bones broken, but if a regr human had their hand wrapped with Weed-vine, their hand would be crushed."

    I showed them how to pull them out. By grabbing directly at the bottom, I was able to grab arge clump of them and pull them out.

    After they were out of the ground, the nts stopped as if they had died. But I wasn''t going to fall for it and took out arge metal box.

    The metal box was specially made for this capturing Weed-vines.

    The box had vinegar painted on the walls of the inside and there was a pile of soil in it. I stuffed the faking nts in it and after the box was closed, for a short while, thumps were heard. But it soon stopped as they realized that the bottom of the box was even worse than the walls. If they tried to burrow into it, they would touch the frozen piece of sulfuric acid that was even more fatal to them.

    "Ok, we''re done. We''ll head over to the others now."

    Even with the map shown by the core device, I couldn''t find my way, so the navigation was left to the other members of my group.

    We took about 5 minutes to read the map and gave up. Yun was ok with maps, but he didn''t know the city, and the researchers were all simr to me - directionally challenged...

    We just decided to go back to the ce where we split off at and then head towards the direction that the other group ran off to.

    While we were walking back to the "Start Point", my core device rang.

    The researchers'' eyes lit up happily. They were very interested in studying zombies, especially more so, the abnormal ones.

    I picked up the call, "What''s the situation?"

    "Rain! Hurry up! It''s serious!" yelled Shane.

    Hearing the frantic tone and the sounds at the back that seemed to be of fighting, I knew it wasn''t something good.

    "Where are you?"

    "Near a hospital! There''s a really tall skyscraper here, hurry!" this time Hua answered.

    I frowned. What really was happening there?

    "What happened?"

    "If you have time to ask, get over here! Or else, someone''s going to die!"

    "..." I ended the call.

    The researchers were all ushered into my space as Yun and I changed into our animal forms.

    "I haven''t flown yet... Only just small flutters..." he muttered in worry.

    The Harpy Eagle form made him look slender but not boney. He had hair that started out White but turned Navy at the ends. His feathers were blue-ish grey and his nails had grown into sharp talons. His eyes were now a warm brown color instead of dark brown.

    "Well, we have to hurry. Or you can stay in my space."

    "Yeah, I''ll give up for now. I''ll probably drag you down at this rate," he sighed.

    "Wait," I called out.

    "What''s wrong?"

    "Just in case. Go find and prepare some blood packets and a first aid kit. They should be somewhere in the space."

    Although Yun was confused about my request, he went searching for the items.

    Thankfully, this time I wouldn''t get lost. I''d be stupid if I got lost when there was a huge skyscraper 10 miles away.

    ...Reality proved me wrong. Nothing was in my sight currently. No hospital. No people. Just more buildings. And a few zombies.

    My core device rang again.

    "Rain? Where are you, are you lost again?" It was Shane. And the situation seemed to have calmed down since he didn''t sound so anxious as before.

    "Unfortunately, yes. What happened?"

    "A huge crowd of zombies came from the hospital when we were fighting a couple of zombies nearby. We were able to fly up and get onto the roofs while carrying the ones who couldn''t fly, but we got tired really quickly. Except for Li Hua and your brother, we didn''t have much strength to stay up in the air. Zombies kept on mbering up towards us and we ran around everywhere. Most of us aren''t as powerful as you. Sure we can use our powers, but it takes too much of a toll on us... We should havee more prepared. But this is really strange. Why is there suddenly arge horde when the previous groups only encountered few?"

    I was curious about that too. But I soon figured out the answer.

    "The things I talked about, Weed-Vines. They might be the culprit. They probably chased out the zombies from the area I''m in. The area you guys are at right now hasn''t been explored since the other groups haven''t reported anything about going near hospitals."

    "Ok, got it. I think that may be right. The hospital has arge ground area and the nearest building is still a bit away. Anyways, can you get here soon?"

    "What does the nearest building to the hospital look like?" I asked.

    "The nearest building is a skyscraper that looks like a half cut banana standing. It''s a beige-white color. Can you see it?"

    "I see it. I''ll get over there right now."

    And right now, it was. Before Shane finished the call, I was there right in front of him.

    "So tenacious..." I muttered as I kicked off a few groaning zombies who were reaching towards the roof of the hospital.

    The door to the roof was barricaded but it was thumping brutally and the metal door was caving out and already had a couple of nasty imprints.

    The other group was all tired looking. It made sense that they couldn''t take on these few hundreds of zombies. They weren''t that powerful.

    But I looked towards the one person in their group that could have done something.

    "Xiao Lai."

    The sitting boy who had his head lowered looked up at me.

    "...Yu Ge."

    "What happened."

    "I freaked out. I didn''t imagine I would be fighting with this many... things."

    "How many did you kill off? Or, did you even try?"

    Li Hua came up furiously at me, "Shui Yu, he killed the most out of all of us. You weren''t there, how would you know the situation? If we weren''t people who went through the zombie trial, we would have died from the scratches and bruises! We were practically run over by the monsters! He''s just a kid! Leave him alone!"

    "Hua, this is between me and my brother, don''t butt in. I''m not trying to scold him. I''m just trying to find out what he''s done," I frowned and sighed. Rubbing my be, I looked around me. Shane and Andrei looked tired, Hua was freaking out over stress, the hacker girl looked terrified and was crying, Zhang Xing just stared off into space with an unknown look, and Xiao Lai was in front of me looking down. Shane seemed to get my mood, so he ushered everyone away from us.

    "Xiao Lai, can you not take this? Although I allowed this team to happen because I thought you guys could handle it even at a young age, I really should have set an age limit, shouldn''t I," I said. I was thinking about setting an age limit already, but I hadn''t talked about it before. This was now being used to make Xiao Lai speak up.

    "...I was scared. I don''t want toe out here anymore. I DON''T EVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER ZOMBIE EVER AGAIN!"

    He was crying hysterically. I wanted to hug him tight and wrap him around so that he would be safe, but that wasn''t the best thing to do right now.

    I hardened my resolve and spoke.

    "Xiao Lai, are you that weak? Then what were all these years of training for? You have the potential to clear up every one of these zombies in a moment. Why are you so afraid?"

    He looked up at me with tears in his eyes. One by one, they dropped, piercing my heart.

    I really couldn''t take it.

    "Don''t cry. Don''t cry. I''m here. I just want to know. What should I do? I know it''s too much of me to scold you like this, but I''m really worried. What are you going to do without me? And if you''re traumatized by this, you won''t properly be able to do missions in the future. I know you don''t like others providing for you. I know that you want to fight zombies. Didn''t you say that it was cool? What do you want? I''m so worried. So confused. What am I supposed to do?" I began to ramble as my trembling hands wrapped around his head.

    I heard more sniffling and hugged my younger brother tightly.

    "Yu Ge... in the middle of the fight, I saw something," Xiao Lai finally talked while still sniffling.

    While he wiped his tears, I stroked and patted his back repeatedly, something I use to do for him and Xiao Bing when they were younger and we all slept together in one room.

    "Ok, don''t cry, what did you see?" I softened my voice.

    "I saw myself dying. By zombies," he whispered.

    My hand froze and my eyes shook.

    "In that ce, we weren''t prepared for the apocalypse. We ran like fugitives warily. We starved. We didn''t know how to use our powers. We were even with our parents and that bastard girl."

    Although I was afraid, I still asked, "...And then?"

    Xiao Lai scoffed, "And then? I died. I was thrown by Dad to the zombies to save his ass. I only heard your desperate screams, Jing Ge yelling for me, and Xiao Bing sobbing. I couldn''t see anything. Blood was trickling down my eyes and it blinded me. I could feel every inch of my body tearing down. I didn''t even be a zombie. I became scraps. Scraps I tell you!"

    He starting crying again but it was more miserable.

    "Yu Ge, is this why you were so afraid for me during my zombie trial. Is it because in your previous life, I died? Is this why you hate Dad and Mom so much? Even for the short experience I had during the apocalypse in that life, it was horrible. It got worse for you didn''t it? I''m sorry. I''m so sorry. I''ve been so bratty. I''ve been so spoiled. I-I''m just really sorry..."

    I hugged him again, but tighter.

    "It''s not your fault. Don''t cry. It was my fault that you died. I was too careless and believed that everyone would stick together. You didn''t have it easy. Nobody had it easy. Don''t cry. O-or else I''ll cry too..."

    "It''s not your fault..." he sniffled.

    I felt tears trickling down my face and tried to smile.

    Xiao Lai also gave a smile but it was wobbly and copsed quickly again.

    He set his head on my shoulder and sobbed quietly. I could only try to stroke his head and pat his back.

    I really didn''t expect this. Why was the world so cruel to him? My little brother had it bad enough already in hisst life. What crimes did hemit to be so tormented in this one too? Instead of me being reborn, I''d rather have him happy and ignorant.

    "Ahhh!" suddenly a girl''s shriek rang out.

    I wanted to scold them that there was an emotionally disturbed person here and that they would be attracting zombies. But when I looked over, I immediately knew something bad had happened.

    "C-chief! Zhang Xing! He copsed! H-he''s turning white and purple!" the hacker girl stuttered out.

    Xiao Lai turned around and froze in fear.

    Anyone would be scared if the person they liked was described that way.

    He stumbled and walked quickly towards the green-haired boy.

    I followed and looked at Zhang Xing.

    "Xing Xing, don''t scare me! What''s going on?" Xiao Lai tried to talk to the boy, uneasy and distressed.

    But it wouldn''t be any use.

    Zhang Xing was turning into a zombie.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59

    "Xing Xing, don''t scare me! What''s going on?" I worriedly yelled.

    Xing Xing''s face was pale and his eyes bulged out as he moved them fervently in panic and fear.

    He made choking noises as he uttered a few words.

    "I-I''m s-sorry. I-I''m sorry. I-I''m s-sorry."

    He kept on repeating. Again and again.

    "What are you sorry for? Exin! Yu Ge, what''s happening to him?! Shouldn''t he be safe if he took the zombie trial serum?!"

    My brother showed me a worried look and replied, "Well, it''s supposed to. But did he really take it?"

    "...What do you mean... he didn''t take it?"

    I turned to Xing Xing and asked, "You took it, right? The zombie trial serum? Right? Right? Xing Xing, tell me. Xing Xing?"

    Xing Xing only muttered after a round of convulsing.

    "N-no."

    I wasn''t shocked. Just in despair.

    "Why? Why would you do that?"

    By now, both of our eyes were wet.

    Xing Xing barely sat up as he started to gain some mobility back.

    His voice sounded a lot better too.

    "Lai, I''m afraid of needles. I''ve seen what drugs do to people. Don''t you remember? We work for the underworld. You worked at home with just a device, but I had to work directly in the society. I''ve seen perfectly fine people going crazy and dying because of drugs. I''m scared. Terrified of anything that''s rted to medicine, powder, and needles. I couldn''t get over it as soon as I heard about it. I''m lucky to have been able to get powers from the Red Phase."

    He muttered this quickly as if he was afraid that I would understand what he was saying, but he also wanted to tell me this.

    Before I could say anything, Xing Xing shouted, "I know there could be other solutions. But I don''t care. I don''t care about my life. You know. All this time, I felt dissatisfied. My family doesn''t really love me. It''s no wonder since I''m away from them most of the time. And you know what? I feel pitied. I hate it. I''m not as bright and sunny as you, people call me nerdy, gloomy, depressed. I know I''m not sociable. But did you have to go and fight every one of those people who called me names? I''m not satisfied with my life. In fact, I''m jealous of you. I''m almost jealous to the point that I hate you sometimes. I really don''t deserve to be your friend..."

    I retorted in anguish, "No! Xing Xing, I wasn''t pitying you! You must know that! I-I like you! I adore you! I was only trying to protect you! I really don''t think of you as pitiful! You aren''t gloomy, you''re smart and caring! If anyone doesn''t know that, they''re the ones that are stupid! Xing Xing, you don''t need to be sorry. I should be the one. I''m sorry I never noticed..."

    His face froze.

    Suddenly, my brother spoke up.

    "Xiao Lai... he''s going to turn. Say it quickly..."

    Reminded, I looked closely at his condition.

    He really was turning, it wasn''t some illusion or lie.

    His face was still frozen as he had a weird expression on his face.

    I continued, "Yeah, it''s true. I like you."

    Xing Xing''s lips moved. The quivered as he gave a bitter detesting smile.

    "I can''t think of you that way. I don''t have anything against being gay. I just don''t like you that way. I can''t think of you that way. Hey, you know that I practically hate you, right? Do you still like me?"

    "I like you," I determinedly told him.

    He scoffed, but he couldn''t hide away his tears.

    "I''m sorry." were hisst words.

    Then he turned.

    After Zhang Xing turned, he was a typical zombie. Just with additional powers.

    Shui Lai was standing still, crying without words, looking like he was staring at nothing but darkness.

    The other members of the team all politely moved away.

    I didn''t kill off Zhang Xing the zombie.

    I captured him and put him in restraints.

    I''d deal with the kidter.

    First off, we were finished with the mission.

    We would now go back.

    "Xiao Lai."

    No response.

    I sighed. Really, love was terrible.

    It could lighten up your life but also make you feel like dying.

    I gently patted Xiao Lai''s back as he started toe back to the world and whimper.

    I couldn''t say anything to console him this time.

    I wanted to beg to God if he was real. Could you please make this boy''s life fortunate?

    While Xiao Lai was still sobbing in my embrace, I motioned towards the other members.

    They entered my space one by one, with Shane beingst.

    He had tears in his eyes and they were about to flood over.

    He must''ve felt guilty, but it really wasn''t his fault.

    It all led back to me.

    I should''ve checked directly for every person.

    If there was another person who had Trypanophobia like Zhang Xing or some other phobia, the same situation could have urred.

    Well, there was also the fact that Zhang Xing probably manipted the records to make the files say that he took the serum.

    I just didn''t know how to deal with this.

    Stress wasing onto me all at once.

    I wish I could take a break.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60

    When we got back, family members waiting by all greeted and hugged. The ones who were curious since they hadn''t been out yet asked about what happened and what it was like after the apocalypse struck.

    I didn''t encounter Xingxing''s family. They hadn''t bothered toe to pick him up. I wouldter have to inform them of their son''s misfortunate incident.

    Everyone left fairly happy, but the team members all looked guilty and in difort.

    I dismissed them all with a look of, "It''s ok, you can go."

    Shane lingered and Andrei stood beside him as Shane wanted to speak to me.

    Shane opened his mouth and closed it several times, not able to get out the words he wanted to ry.

    I patted his back and told Andrei to go cheer him up. Andrei nodded and took him away.

    I reached home and I held Xiao Lai''s hand as he came out slowly from my space.

    He looked numb and his eyes were puffy and red from crying.

    I led my little brother to my room and sat him down on my bed. The light wasn''t too bright and my room was cozy and warm.

    Xiao Lai copsed onto my bed.

    "...What did I do wrong?"

    He wasn''t going to cry again. But he looked as sad as when he did.

    "Nothing. You did nothing wrong."

    "..."

    We stayed silent like that for a while.

    "I''m hungry."

    Xiao Lai reverted to being a spoiled child whenever he was in a bad mood.

    "Alright, what do you want to eat?"

    "Hotpot."

    "Ok, wait in the living room."

    I cooked and every so often looked at the tired figure lying on the sofas.

    Maybe because he became tired from crying and all the things that happened today, he fell asleep.

    I sighed and meditated with the calm sound of the knife hitting the cutting board as it sliced through the ingredients.

    After some time, it was ready.

    "Xiao Lai, wake up."

    Xiao Lai groaned a little and groggily woke up.

    We ate in silence.

    Only the sound of spoons and chopsticks cking against the pot or bowls were heard.

    And it went on like that until Xiao Bing arrived.

    "I smell hotpot!" she eximed giddily when she came in.

    She didn''t notice the mood in the atmosphere and sat right next to Xiao Lai, and grabbing a set of chopsticks, she gorged herself.

    Xiao Lai took one look at her and set his utensils down.

    "...I lost my appetite. I''m going to your room Yu Ge."

    As he went upstairs, Xiao Bing turned to me with a curious look on her face.

    "What''s wrong with him?"

    I sighed.

    "Don''t bother him for a couple of days."

    "Why?!" she fumed and stuffed her mouth with more meat.

    "I''ll tell youter. Finish eating the hotpot. And wash the dishes. Actually, just put them into the dishwasher."

    Xiao Bing''s quiet, dyed "ok" made it into my ear as I went upstairs.

    Xiao Lai was in the same position as before, but he looked more rxed.

    "Yu Ge, I like your room. It''s so warm."

    "Yu Ge, you know, I probably didn''t even have a chance. He didn''t like me. You heard him, right? He said he hated me."

    "No, Xiao Lai. If he hated you, why would he stay friends with you?"

    "He didn''t have any other friends."

    "..."

    I couldn''t say anything back.

    "Do you want to go on a ride?" I asked. He might feel better when he''s around his favorite sports cars.

    "No, I don''t want to go outside."

    "Then what would you like to do?"

    "...I''m tired. I want to stay at home."

    "Alright."

    And so he did.

    After a couple of weeks of Xiao Lai staying at home, doing work at home, and dawdling at home, it clicked in my mind that Xiao Lai really wasn''t nning on going outside at all.

    But I wasn''t too worried.

    Partially because I knew that at least he would stay and not leave me.

    Also, there was a lot of newws established, and one of them was about another person taking up the role of the person who was supposed to go out. The person taking up the role could be anyone, and it could be done for free or with a cost, determined by the rtions of the two persons.

    There was also an additionalw that elders and children couldn''t participate in these outings. The age group started from 14 to 64, decided by the delegates who interviewed everyone. The younger generation needed experience and 64 seemed like a reasonable age apparently. And it was required once a year, so there wouldn''t be any problems with people not going out. Instead, there might be people going out as hunters professionally in the future, and then thews would change once more.

    So, I decided that I''d take up Xiao Lai''s role in the future if he still stayed at home all day.

    Xiao Lai agreed, and he decided to help me with my documents in exchange.

    I told him that I didn''t need help and that I was going to get some more office workers soon, so he told me that he''d do it until they arrived.

    He already was working on hacker stuff through all-nighters, so I didn''t want him to be tired from all the work.

    I actually had ns to hire but put it off forter, so this time, I hired people the very next day.

    The workers I hired, were personally interviewed by my secretary and then sent to me for another interview.

    Some of them were excited, some nervous, and others serious. But they all had good work ethics I suppose since Mr. Jing sent them to me.

    Now, Xiao Lai stays at home. He''s either in his room, coding and discussing things with other hackers through chats or lying on my bed.

    Zhang Xing''s zombie form had been stowed away in one of thebs and as it had abilities, I didn''t permit others to get too close. The zombie was put away into a room that had thick ss that wouldn''t break. The room was also soundproof, and the ss was the type where you could see into the room but not from the other side. The zombie wasn''t aware that there were presences around it, so it stayed quiet besides its meal time.

    Xiao Bing said it was a little harsh of me to call Zhang Xing, "it". But I had discerned these kinds of things far longer than anyone.

    Zombies couldn''t be turned back.

    There were vines made before, but as they were injected into zombies, zombies would briefly turn into humans and then die as their bodily functions had already corroded and rotted. They were dying and nothing could change that.

    Zombies could evolve though. They would take their original human form again, except in a much more paler and poker-faced look. They could talk too, and they had emotions as well. They also had the ability to survive on nothing. But they wouldn''t be able to remember anything from their past. And the human-like zombies only originated from zombies with abilities. All regr zombies would evolve but never reach that stage.

    These days, Xiao Bing looked annoyed.

    She yelled at me, "Why can''t you just tell Lai Ge to deal with it?"

    In myst life, Xiao Bing was like a fairy, gentle, calm, and lovely.

    In this life, she was a quick-to-anger, peppy, and rash.

    ...Well, in herst life, she was never an assassin.

    I sat her down and asked her, "What would you do if I died?"

    "...That''s different."

    I shook my head.

    "Xiao Lai thought of Zhang Xing as family. This is his way of coping. You don''t know what he feels. If it were me, I wouldn''t be able to deal with it as calmly as he''s doing. On top of that, his feelings weren''t epted by Zhang Xing. Would you be able to stay this quiet if the same thing happened to you?"

    "...fine. But hang out with me some more, don''t just stay with Lai Ge."

    I could only helplessly coax the 13-year-old girl with promises of spending time with her more.

    By the end of a month, Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing started to drift apart and only stayed together during meal time.

    Xiao Lai barely said any words these days. Xiao Bing was still mad at him for turning this way for a stupid reason, called "love".

    She even vowed that she would never fall in love since it made people so stupid.

    "What about Ge? Isn''t he happy?" I asked her.

    "But it made him too gushy. I don''t want to be like that," she pouted.

    "And what if you do fall in love?"

    "I''ll kill''em."

    She said that with such a determined look that I chuckled and tousled up her hair.

    She smoothed her hair and faced me with eyes filled with grievance, asking ''What''d you do that for?''

    Time passed, and there was good news.

    Ge became pregnant.

    He was very excited and came to announce it with his husband.

    They were smiling so happily and hugging and holding hands when they rang the doorbell.

    Xiao Bing squealed as she eximed, "I''m going to be an aunt! I''m going to be an aunt!"

    Xiao Lai said his congrats and went back upstairs.

    I asked Ge how he was feeling and if he needed anything.

    He said they were receiving all kinds of help from Lu Han''s parents and both ns.

    I was happy for them and Ge asked me to think of a name for the child.

    I promised Ge that I''d think of a name and he and Lu Han left in content.

    I really was happy that Ge could have a family but I was still worried about Xiao Lai.

    As I suspected, Xiao Lai was lying on my bed when I came upstairs.

    He was staring at the ceiling, watching the fan rotating.

    "Yu Ge," he called out.

    "Mm."

    "You know, I would''ve been willing to be pregnant for Xingxing. Although, I still would''ve topped him."

    "...You''re only 15."

    "I just meant that I could''ve done it."

    "...Alright."

    "But now I don''t even have that chance. And I don''t think it would''ve happened since Xingxing didn''t like me that way. First love never working out, it''s real for me at least."

    I stayed quiet and waited for him to finish.

    "Yu Ge, I feel angry at myself. For being jealous of Jing Ge. For being so stupid. For being like this."

    I was about to interrupt him, but he interrupted me instead.

    "Yu Ge, I''m pretty pathetic, aren''t I? Even Xiao Bing, that girl, is saying that. I''m afraid. What happened in my past life, I know it."

    "So what are you going to do?" I asked.

    "I don''t know. I just want to rest currently. Maybe I''ll go out in the future and meet some guys."

    I frowned.

    "No. You''re not going to be stuck in this house. You still need to go to school."

    Xiao Laiughed.

    "Yu Ge, you know how smart I am. Do you really expect me to go back where it''ll be like kindergarten for me?"

    "Are you really not going to go out of the house anymore? You''re still affected by Zhang Xing''s turning aren''t you?"

    "I am. I don''t want to let that drag me down, but it is. And I need time to deal with it."

    "Then that''s ok. But when you''re fine, don''t go around searching for boys."

    I didn''t mean it as a joke, but apparently, it seemed like one because Xiao Laiughed over it for a long time.

    I just hope that he can get over it soon.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61

    After Xingxing turned into a zombie, my life pretty much copsed.

    If he didn''t like me, I could live with that and try again to make me look better in his eyes.

    But since he was now gone... that couldn''t really happen.

    And zombies couldn''t be turned back into regr human beings. It was tried and failed. And there wasn''t much research yet done on zombies with powers, but that would probably go the same way.

    A few days after we returned from the outing, Xingxing''s family came to the door.

    Yu Ge was out and even Xiao Bing was out to teach others martial arts and stuff.

    Xingxing''s father looked tough but was actually reasonable and kind. His mother was a ttering person who liked being the center of attention but wasn''t scheming. His sister was a friend of Xiao Bing who read a certain type of genre and hyped over it with her.

    They all came together and asked where Xingxing was.

    It was awful of me to think that I would be the one grieving the most when I wasn''t even his family.

    But I told them the truth anyhow.

    His mother got mad and tried to choke me. His father held her down but also looked very distraught and angered. And his sister... She just fell to the floor and cried.

    If Xingxing was here, I would''ve wanted to tell him, ''Your family loves you.''

    Xingxing''s father took the now family of three away silently as the two women of the family were weeping of sorrow.

    I didn''t tell Yu Ge about what happened that day. I don''t intend to tell him in the future either.

    He supports me even now and more during the hard times but doesn''t expect anything back. He may look cold and indifferent but he really was like a mother and cared for me most.

    I couldn''t be more of a burden to him than I was now.

    Over the next few months, I did all I could. But I still stayed at home.

    One day, Yu Ge was out to interview some more interns with his secretary, Mr. Jing.

    But on this particr day, Little Blue was over at our house. He was especially adamant about staying and ying with Yu Ge. But Yu Ge had to leave, so the little tyke had himself wrapped around Yu Ge''s leg.

    "Take me to work with you! I want to go too!"

    Yu Ge refused and the kid started to tear up.

    "It''s going to be very boring and your parents told me to not let you outside. I know, why don''t you go call some of your friends here and y with them? I promise I''lle back in a few hours and make you snacks."

    Little Blue immediately took back his tears and held out his pinky with a pouty face.

    Yu Ge smiled gently and hooked his pinky around the little boy''s.

    ...After Yu Ge left, the house became a party ce.

    Everyone from the school was called over and Little Blue somehow knew all of them.

    He had deep and wide connections, this kid.

    Some of the students who came were space ability users and they brought pool tables, cards, and all that other gambling stuff too.

    What do adults teach their kids nowadays?!

    Thest to arrive was some kid in a slightly oversized letterman sweater.

    What intrigued me about this kid was that he had beautiful eyes. His left eye was a gem like red while his right eye was a shocking icy blue. His limbal rings were very dark and his eyes also seemed to have a trace of gold in them.

    When he came, everyone cheered.

    Little Blue came up to him and frowned.

    "You''rete!"

    The heterochromia-eyed boy smirked mischievously and said, "Well, I''ve got to make a shy entrance, don''t I?"

    Little Blue broke out into a smile, "Alright! Win for me!"

    Meanwhile, I was confused.

    What was about this boy that Little Blue seemed to be more familiar with him than others? And why did everyone cheer for the kid when he came in?

    Technically, it was Little Blue''s party. He knew the gimmicks of this mansion better than me, seeing how he pressed some buttons that were behind the cab and made music re out while the ballroom practically became a club setting.

    But even if it was his party, this was my house.

    So, in the end, I had to cater to others and bring out food and drinks. Little Blue threatened me to dress up into a waiter''s outfit. He said that if I didn''t do it his status would crumble and that Yu Ge would be sad. But we both clearly knew the hidden meaning: Little Blue would tell Yu Ge that I was mean to him.

    ...Sly brat.

    I had gotten used to serving up food and drinks by the end of 30 minutes.

    I even used some fancy tricks, such as the pyramid of wine sses stacked with over a hundred sses.

    Everyone cheered as I poured practically bucketfuls.

    After being handed out the drinks, the older kids had expressions of sorrow while the younger kids were happily drinking what they thought was champagne.

    Hehe, it was sparkling fruit water.

    If I let them drink anything, I''d be in trouble. And if it was from Yu Ge''s stash of wine and other drinks, I''d be in bigger trouble.

    I don''t know how, but Little Blue got drunk on that sparkling water.

    I set him on a couch and covered him with a nket.

    Taking care of this kid was seriously tasking.

    Wandering through the dancing, gambling, and whatever else-ing crowd, I acted as a host would do.

    It all snapped when someone pped my butt.

    I instantly grabbed the culprit''s hand and snapped their wrist. As a plus, I even elbowed their guts and threw him to the floor backward.

    A shriek rang out louder than the already booming music.

    Everyone turned towards me and the mangled body on the floor.

    Some screamed and others looked disturbed, but anyways, they all backed off, leaving plenty of space around me.

    A few older kids came forward as a group.

    One kid, -well, all of them were older than me but whatever- yelled and charged at me. Presumably, he was a friend of this body.

    He had a body strengthening ability, but he didn''t know how to use it. Really, what a musclehead.

    I just swiped at his leg and he came tumbling with a crack. The result was a dislocated knee and broken shoulder for him and me, still in my fabulous form without a wrinkle on my clothes or a break of sweat.

    The music came to a stop.

    I gritted out, "This is my ce, act properly you brats."

    The two broken bodies were thrown out and the ballroom finally had some peace and quiet.

    Nobody moved, everyone looked like a child waiting for punishment from their parents, scared and stiff.

    I pped once and they all flinched. This was fun!

    "Mmm, what''s going on?" Goddamnit, that brat woke up.

    The kid saw that the party hade to a stop and usingly looked at me.

    "What''d you do Shui Lai?"

    I could feel a vein pop up but I smiled tteringly.

    "My, why are you looking at me? Everyone''s ying a game! Don''t you know? That game called Simon Says! Do you want to y?"

    "No, that''s a kids'' game. I want to y cards." This brat had no tact.

    The party resumed but the atmosphere had died down.

    A lot of people left and there were barely half left. But there was still a lot.

    Most of the people who stayed behind were the gambling people.

    The atmosphere near the gambling tables was high and curses and hoots rang out.

    In the middle of it was the kid with pretty eyes.

    I asked Little Blue, "What''s with that kid?"

    He looked at me strangely.

    "Don''t you know him?"

    I didn''t remember him. Should I have known him?

    "He''s Secretary Jing''s son. He was there at Shui Jing''s wedding too."

    I was shocked.

    Secretary Jing was a kind and very straight-cut gentleman.

    I couldn''t imagine a young kid who was already gambling at this age to be his child.

    "I couldn''t tell. But now that I see, he does resemble Mr. Jing somewhat."

    "Yeah, he acted a lot like his dad too, but after his abnormal ability was determined, he turned like this," Little Blue scoffed.

    "What''s his abnormal ability?"

    "You don''t know? Wow, you''re really behind on times! It was a really big deal a couple of weeks ago!"

    I gritted my teeth and asked him once more, "So what is it?"

    Little Blue frowned and looked enviously towards the direction of Secretary Jing''s son.

    "It''s the power of luck."

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62

    Power of Luck?

    "Then, why are people ying with him if he''s going to win every round?"

    Little Blue gave a huff, "Obviously, he can''t control it properly yet so he''s either getting bad luck or handing the good luck to others."

    ...I don''t think it''s that obvious.

    I looked at the time and jumped up.

    Yu Ge wasing home soon. I''d better kick the kids out and clean up the ce.

    I gave an announcement, basically saying that they had to get out and clean up after themselves in 10 minutes.

    They hurried out while only a few dawdled behind.

    "Aww. You ruined the fun!" the brat cried out.

    He was making a fuss, just like a baby.

    "You''re such a baby. So childish."

    "No way! I''m very mature! I, Yang Xiaoshen, can handle anything!" His voice trailed off as he dozed off once more.

    Sighing, I covered him with a nket and started cleaning up.

    "Excuse me..." a voice started.

    I turned around to see the boy who was so glorified.

    "Hello Senior, I''ve been tasked to help you out with anything you need assistance with."

    I thought for a while, "I assume Mr. Jing put you up to this?"

    He smiled, "Yes."

    "What''s your name?"

    "Jing Shao."

    "Ok, then help me clean up some stuff. What abilities do you have?" I attempted some small talk.

    "Besides the normal Water ability, I''ve touched the Corpse of Argentavis, a Long-Finned Pilot Whale, a Bengal Tiger, and a Leucistic American Alligator."

    "...That doesn''t really tell me anything. But, that means you took the Zombie Trial instead of the serum, right?"

    Jing Shaoughed it off, by saying, "Yes, I wanted to haverge animals as my abilities, but the trial hurt a lot. I even fainted!"

    I alsoughed along, "Everyone actually fainted for it! Only my second brother, the Chief didn''t faint! But it turns out that he forgot that you were allowed to faint!"

    The boy''s chuckles trailed off into coughs.

    "...That''s actually a bit scary."

    "I know right."

    So, he turned out to be a nice kid actually.

    "So, how old are you? I''m 15."

    "I''m 12."

    He was younger than Xiao Bing. But he was so much more mature than her!

    The conversation died down and he seemed to be tepid as cleaning was quickly done with.

    "Um, I think we''re done with the cleaning."

    "Yup, thank you for helping me out. I wish I had you as a sibling rather than my younger sister. She never does the chores and she shouldn''t because she''s terrible at them."

    Jing Shao chuckled and I beckoned him to the kitchen to eat some snacks while Yu Ge took his time getting back.

    Little Blue woke up immediately when he smelled the hot chocte''s fragrance in the air.

    "Shui Lai! Give me some!"

    As he uttered this order, footsteps were heard.

    I say only footsteps because our door was far away from the kitchen and couldn''t be heard properly if you didn''t utilize your enhanced senses.

    "Little Blue, don''t be so willful and rude."

    The brat froze and turned towards my brother.

    The kid ran forward and hugged his thighs.

    "Zuan! I missed you! Will you make me snack now?"

    "Have you been good?"

    The little tyke nodded his head quickly but at the back, I shook my head.

    Yu Ge smiled.

    "Well, I suppose you''d better go home now. I''m very tired and I don''t think I can make your snacks after all."

    "B-but. You promised!"

    "But I''m very tired. Let''s hold that promise tillter since I didn''t specify a time, alright?"

    Yu Ge held out his pinky and Little Blue grabbed at it sniffling.

    "Fine, but you have to make me lots!"

    Finally, he was dragged out by his butler and bodyguards. And he was hollering all the way out. What an unsightly sight.

    My brother also told Secretary Jing''s kid to go home and thanked him for whatever he did.

    When only we were left alone, Yu Ge asked me, "How was it?"

    "How was what?"

    "Interacting with schoolmates."

    "It was annoying and one person even touched me."

    "Yes I know, I''ve gotten the news and he apparently mysteriously disappeared into a dark alley and had his hands broken. My, how pitiful."

    "..."

    "Well, I see that you really don''t seem keen on the idea of going back to school."

    "Yup. I can do whatever I want at home, there''s no need to go outside."

    "Then, I have a task for you."

    "What is it?"

    "Can you take care of Ge for a few days? He''s going to have his first child in that time."

    "What? But isn''t a person usually pregnant for 9 months? It''s only been 5 months!"

    "Pregnancies for people who''ve gone through the zombie trial are different. Especially if it''s a male pregnancy. Male pregnancies were rare but I know that they used something like the C-section technique. But it''s different since it was a male''s body. Ge is the first man to get pregnant so he''s been worrying about it constantly. The operation has no chance of failure but to give him an ease of mind, I''ve invited him over. Brother-inw is alsoing, and he''s bringing along his parents and some caretakers. Give them hospitality."

    I sighed at this unexpected role handed over to me.

    "Ok, I''ll do it. What''s Jing Ge''s condition right now?"

    "He has a veryrge stomach. And he doesn''t get too emotional, but he''s a little stressed that he can''t really do a lot of things himself."

    Yu Ge paused for a bit, thinking, and then got back to me.

    "Well, you''re going to be an uncle, so take care of your future nephew or niece."

    "They don''t even know the gender yet?!"

    "Lu Han''s father''s side is superstitious, so they didn''t want Ge to check."

    "Oh, also, when an ability user or zombie trial person is pregnant, their power is doubled as protection. It''s easier now controlling his powers, but still, advise for him not to use his powers."

    With the task given, Yu Ge and I set out to clean Ge''s room of any speck of dust, move furniture with any sharp corners and put on loads of carpets on the floor. We also "babyproofed" practically the whole house.

    For Dinner, we ate spaghetti and proceeded to watch someedy shows that were downloaded before the apocalypse.

    "Right, does Ge crave any food? Does he have any dislikes?"

    "He really likes meat, especially duck these days. For his dislikes... not anything that I know of."

    Weughed until our stomachs hurt from theedy show and then went to sleep in Yu Ge''s room.

    Yu Ge had added a hammock to his room and it fit in nicely.

    It had been a long time since I shared a room with any of my siblings-thest time having been during our childhood before we left our parents-, but it was really nice.

    We talked for a little before saying goodnight to each other.

    I wish every day went like this.

    Crazy or peaceful, so that I would forget about Zhang Xing.

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63

    I''ve been pregnant for about 5 months, but apparently, the baby''sing soon.

    You know how hard I freaked out after hearing that?

    Well, it was quite a disaster.

    Let''s go into more detail.

    I was at home watching some TV, with Lu Han peeling some tangerines for me.

    Xiao Yu came to visit that day and brought some papers with him.

    I just figured that he had brought some work papers but they were handed to me.

    "Ge, these are some reports on the case of male pregnancy. I told researchers all I knew and they made some conjectures. You can read over them to choose the safest way to give birth. C-section should be safest I think."

    "Alright, thank you. I''ll read itter." I smiled, patting my little brother''s head.

    But Xiao Yu looked confused.

    "Later? But you''re supposed to give birth in a couple of days."

    "...What?"

    You can imagine how surprised I was.

    Even my husband was in shock.

    After the short moment passed, I was still in shock.

    "Nobody told you?" Xiao Yu said awkwardly.

    "Do you think anyone would''ve known about this?!"

    "...True."

    Lu Han was the one to crumble to the ground and he couldn''t get back up. I guess he was in a bigger shock than me.

    He immediately sent a message to his n members and did so with trembling fingers.

    "Ge, don''t worry, we have the best surgeons and doctors. No harm wille. And you can always heal up after with your water ability. I assure you the baby wille out safe and sound."

    I calmed down and sat down on the sofa. Well, reading through the reports weren''t bad. So I read them.

    And while I was reading, Lu Han was calling people.

    About 7 minutes after, the doorbell rang and Lu Han hurriedly opened the door.

    A crowd of people was standing outside.

    They all came in in orderly fashion, and only the shuffling of feet could be heard as I was confused about what was happening.

    Lu Han turned to me with a worried face, "Shui Jing, these are some of the nannies in my family that know how to take care of pregnant wom-, people, and they''re good at taking care of children too. Choose some of them and they can take care of our child right now and when the child is bornter."

    Quite excessive.

    But that wasn''t all.

    After choosing 2 nannies at minimum, several more crowds of different professions came in.

    Bodyguards, servants, nurses, doctors, inws, etc...

    By the time everyone was sent out, it was dinner time. And Xiao Yu hade in during lunch.

    I didn''t think our house could fit in all of the personnel that was to attend to me, so I was hoping that Lu Han would send them all away. We didn''t necessarily need them.

    But at that point, Xiao Yu offered to have mee back to my old home so that I could rx more.

    I was unsure. Lu Han was ecstatic.

    The two brothers-inw who didn''t get along at first were like bosom buddies now. How strange.

    Anyway, all the stuff I needed were back in my old home as well, so I didn''t need to pack for anything. My husband, however, did pack some unnecessary supplies.

    "But we need this! Just in case!"

    I threw out the baby clothes, diapers, and other "needed things" of his huge suitcase that consisted of 90% useless and 10% more useless.

    I grabbed his hand and headed out, dragging the worried father-to-be along.

    "Why are you so worried? I''m the one having the child, you know."

    "But this is also my child, and I''m worried that you will get hurt. There hasn''t been anybody yet that has had a child as a man, so it''ll be even more difficult for the doctors and surgeons to pull it off."

    "The base has world-renowned experts. Don''t worry," I gave a smile.

    It was quite funny to see this man being anxious when he was usually calm and well-collected.

    When we got to the door, Xiao Yu was already there waiting for us with Xiao Lai.

    Xiao Lai seemed to be surprised that my stomach was already big.

    "Jing Ge, great to have you back!" Xiao Lai said in a bright tone.

    Last time I was here, Xiao Lai wasn''t his usual self, but it seems he was feeling better.

    Behind me came an even louder exmation.

    "Jing Ge! You''re back!"

    I recognized that voice immediately andughed.

    "Xiao Bing, you''re as unruly as ever. Aren''t you already 13? At that time, all of your brothers were mature."

    "Eh~ Well, I''m the youngest! I get to be spoiled!"

    "Ok, ok, we can all chatter, Ge, Brother-inw,e and settle in. We already cleaned out your room, so go inspect it and thene down to eat a snack," Xiao Yu told us.

    Xiao Yu brought the younger ones away while I went upstairs to see my old room.

    "It hasn''t changed much. Well, besides the baby-proofing that is," I remarked.

    "It still looks like the room I remember," Lu Han smiled while hugging me from the back.

    "What do you remember about it?"

    "I remember that you tried to seduce me into having sex with you on your birthday by taking my first kiss. I had to hold back on that day."

    "And I thought that you were a gentleman! How foolish of my past self!"

    "You weren''t foolish. If you were, how could you have caught such a great catch like me?"

    "Unscrupulous."

    "But you like it."

    "..."

    "I know you do."

    "...Yes."

    It was silent after I replied.

    I could feel Lu Han watching me from the back as my ears turned red from blushing.

    No matter how long I had spent time with this man, he would always make me feel like when we just started dating.

    "Ok, ok, you know I love you. Let''s go down now," I grabbed his hand and tried to drag him away from my room.

    Keyword: tried.

    "I love you too."

    I reckon we spent at least 15 minutes in there making out.

    I was out of breath by the time it ended and firmly grabbed his hands, pulling him out.

    Lu Han chuckled as heplied.

    When we got down, Xiao Bing looked at us with a funny, knowing look.

    Xiao Yu and Xiao Lai were talking to each other with documents in front of them. They were discussing terms that I didn''t know and Lu Han got into the conversation and joined in.

    So in the end, I sat there with some snacks and a grinning Shui Bing in front of me.

    "So~ Jing Ge, tell me more in detail of how far your rtionship with shifu went!"

    ...This girl has turned to the dark side, hasn''t she?

    "Jing Ge~ I want to know! I first introduced you to shifu after all! I''m your matchmaker!"

    "Well..."

    "PLEEEASE?" she begged with all her might.

    I couldn''t stand looking at this girl who was supposed to be an assassin looking like an out of ce lemur with her wide eyes.

    "Well, you know that we met while Xiao Yu was in Japan. Apparently, Lu Han fell in love with my cooking. I didn''t expect to see him after Xiao Yu came back. But then coincidentally, we met at the restaurant where we saw our ex-parents. Then we met again as I became an idol, and him as my manager. We started living together and he kept making moves on me. And the innocent boy I was at that time fell for the shameless fellow. We dated for about a little less than 2 years and then he proposed the day we had the blood pact done. And now, we''re married and soon to have a child." I smiled happily thinking back to how far we''vee. Lu Han had also left the discussion group with Xiao Yu and Xiao Lai, and smiled at my side.

    "Eh, what about the details?" Xiao Bing looked disappointed.

    "What details?"

    "Bedroom ones of course!"

    If I had a drink, I would have spat it all out.

    Xiao Yu hit Xiao Bing on the head and scolded her.

    Xiao Lai, however, seemed a little interested. Probably because he was gay too.

    I wasn''t going to reveal whatever Xiao Bing wanted to know. And I wouldn''t in the future either.

    Lu Han had to go ruin that though.

    "At least 3 times a day. But when he gets tired, it''s an off day. And after he got pregnant, he doesn''t let me do much. And as for positions, all kinds. We don''t do BDSM but we sometimes use toys."

    Xiao Bing had shining eyes, "As expected of Shifu!"

    I pinched my husband''s thighs. These weren''t things you should tell to 13-year-old girls!

    "Also, when he takes the initiative, he doesn''t let me go until the morning. He''ll also revert to calling me Han Ge or Hubby when we''re doing it."

    Argh!

    Wipe that smug look off your face!

    Xiao Lai was noting this down as you could see him nodding.

    Xiao Bing looked absolutely delighted as she asked for more details.

    Xiao Yu looked embarrassed, and bright red, just like I was right now.

    "He sometimes wears lingerie that I buy for him if he feels like being nice to me. One time, he dripped chocte on his stomach, thighs, and dick and told me to lick it off. Oh, and on his first night, he whimpered and cried a lot because he couldn''t get used to my size. Although, it didn''t take a long time before he started riding me. And-"

    Lu Han paused and looked at my face.

    Smirking, he told Xiao Bing, "He''s a little angry now, so I''ll stop."

    I was angry a long time ago!

    As we went back upstairs, I whispered in grievance and bitterness, "I''m definitely not going to let you get on my bed for a week!"

    "We''ll see about that," was his reply.

    I blushed again.

    Maybe, just maybe, I was looking forward to tonight.

    But I''m not telling.

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64

    Jing Ge came home.

    Of course, I was happy.

    ...

    Yeah, no, I don''t know.

    I was still in confusion when Yu Ge and I cleaned up Jing Ge''s room, when we made snacks, and when we waited outside for about a half an hour for Jing Ge.

    When I first saw Jing Geing near us, what I was thinking about was wanting to go back inside.

    I was fully aware that the sun was ring at me. I hadn''t gone outside in suuuuch a long time that I forgot how normal temperature was like. I''d been using the AC all day and night after all.

    I just wanted to go inside and get a drink of cold water.

    But when I saw Jing Ge''s stomach, I felt something.

    I don''t know what exactly, but it made me feel happy. Happy for Jing Ge, for him to find a family and have children. He''d make a good parent.

    On the contrary, there was sorrow. Because I would never have that kind of family.

    I happily greeted Jing Ge and in my head, I greeted my future nephew or niece.

    Jing Ge and my brother-inw went upstairs to see Jing Ge''s old room and when they came back down, I could clearly tell that they had had a makeout session.

    And during snack time, I got some juicy details on their nightly deeds. Interesting info I must say.

    We hung out for a bit longer and then had dinner and went to sleep after washing up and brushing our teeth.

    The next day, Xiao Bing headed out to teach martial arts and Yu Ge also had to head out early for a meeting.

    Lu Han wasn''t busy, but his Mom''s side''s n''s patriarch wanted to see how he was doing, so he had to leave.

    In the end, only Jing Ge and I were left.

    "So, how are you? I heard about what happened with Zhang Xing..."

    "Well, it''s been a long time since then. I feel better."

    Jing Ge looked at me.

    "Are you sure?"

    I closed my eyes.

    Then I shuffled into copsing onto the sofa with both hands covering my face.

    "No. No, I''m not feeling any better. I don''t cry when I think of it anymore, but it''s even worse to think that I''m beginning to get numb to what happened."

    "I see. I also heard that you haven''t gone outside of home until I arrived. What''s with that?"

    "...I''m doing work. I''m notzing around."

    "I didn''t use you of being a hikikomori. But I want to know why you aren''t going outside."

    "I just don''t want to go outside."

    "Ok."

    He kept on asking me questions and it went for too long.

    I finally burst out, "You don''t know anything!"

    What I didn''t expect from my usually calm Jing Ge was a punch to the head.

    "Don''t speak to me like that."

    And the worst thing was that I couldn''t get a punch back in because he was pregnant.

    "Xiao Yu''s workload has been growing tremendously these months. If not for his assistants, he''d be overwhelmed. He doesn''t need additional stress from worrying about you," my pregnant brother crossed his arms and sternly looked at me.

    ...I was a bother?

    "Yes, and you still are. If you''re going to just mope around in your room all day, you might as well go back to school."

    I clearly didn''t say it out loud, but Jing Ge seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

    "Everyone has troubles. And people are allowed to be selfish, but it doesn''t mean that you should trouble others selfishly."

    "Everyone has troubles? That''s not true. Look at you, you already have a happy family waiting to happen! And I don''t have that kind of future!" I angrily snapped.

    Once again, a fistnded on my head.

    "I have troubles! I''m worried about my child! Researchers don''t have enough information or research about male pregnancy. They only get small bits from Xiao Yu who doesn''t know much about it either! I know C-section is the best option but I don''t know what to do! And if I give birth naturally, it''s dangerous but better since they don''t have experience with where to cut! I don''t know where to start, I just want the baby out safely!"

    I was going to speak out, but Jing Ge beat me to it.

    "I''m not saying this to make you feel guilty. I just want you to look around and know that others are struggling too. You''re not the only miserable person in the world."

    "...Jing Ge, you''ve gotten better at scolding," I could only smile while surrendering my previous statements.

    "I''m about to be a Dad after all."

    A thing that Jing Ge and Yu Ge have inmon: Both are slow to anger but when they are angry, you really can''t go against them.

    Another thing they have inmon: After they''re done being angry, they''repletely back to normal without holding any grudges.

    "Ok, now I''ll send you to school."

    ...What?

    "Xiao Yu told me to get you out frequently while I was over. You might as well go to school. I''m not some weakling that I''ll need help with everything. I just need to notify you guys when my stomach hurts. Andbour shoulde in about a week or two, it''s not going toe in a couple of days. Xiao Yu was worried and exaggerated."

    ...What?

    "Let''s go for a ride! You drive, but slowly. I''m pregnant after all."

    I numbly opened the door of my favorite sports car, which I named ''Speed'', and let Jing Ge hop into the passenger street.

    He ordered Speed to go slowly towards the main school of the base.

    ...Wait, hey, wasn''t I supposed to drive?

    And why are we riding in Speed? We could''ve taken Indigo, Cam, Pizza, or Celery! Those are normal cars! Why''d we have to take one of my babies?!

    "You opened the door for me, so what are you going on about?" Jing Ge read my mind again... How''d he do it, I wonder...

    No, that''s not right! I clearly remember you standing right in front of Speed''s door even though Speed was parked the furthest!

    "Oh, whatever. I''m an idol remember, I need the best of the best."

    ...Jing Ge, you''ve changed...

    --------------------------------

    When we got to the main school, I saw many familiar faces.

    Some of the students from our previous academy had enrolled in here after Yu Ge allowed them and their families toe into the base.

    Actually, it was kind of a bad and good deal for them toe into the base.

    They lost all their prestige and fortunes because they used it all up toe into the base since the zombie apocalypse was determined and they were desperate.

    But at least, they survived and lived peacefully. They even got powers to boot.

    "Shui Lai! You doing well?"

    "The partyst time was great! When are you going to have another one?"

    "Huh, who''s he?"

    "That''s the Chief''s younger brother!"

    "No, I meant the pregnant man..."

    "That''s also the Chief''s brother!"

    "Huh?"

    And so on...

    We arrived at the Principal''s office, where I was pleasantly surprised by our old principal being this school''s principal.

    "Mr. Principal, how are you? I didn''t realize that you were also the principal at this school!" Jing Ge exchanged pleasantries with our old Principal, Ying Xuan.

    "Student Shui Yu, well, Chief Shui put me up to this job as he said I was suited for it."

    "I think you are! You were loved by the students and you easily got along with them!"

    "Haha, you make me sound as if I was their teacher, not a Principal!"

    "Well, you were very familiar with almost every student!"

    When are they going to stop?

    Adults and their world of ttery. Sigh.

    "So, I''vee to enroll Xiao Lai into school. I''m worried that he won''t be able to graduate properly..."

    ...I already have a job as a hacker/coder you know. I don''t need a graduation diploma!

    "He hasmon sense and some experience, but I think he needs to learn more. He shouldn''t just be sitting in his room staring at a screen all day."

    But that''s my job! It''s my job to stare at a screen and do stuff!

    "And he has no friends now. I don''t want him to be a Neet. He should experience youth!"

    I thought you said you werepletely fine with me being a shut-in! Liar!

    What made my mind copse was that Principal Ying agreed as well.

    "Yes, every child needspanions and should experience youth to the fullest. I didn''t have that kind of chance as my family members passed away early and I had to work hard to keep my ce, but I want for every child to have memorable experiences."

    Ohmygod, they''re making me sound like some peasant. I. Am. Not. To. Be. Pitied! I, the fabulous being that I am, should not be receiving this treatment!

    "But, I also feel that the school doesn''t have educational levels for Student Shui Lai. He could go onto college level, but then the age difference would make him an outcast..." Principal Ying muttered while holding his chin in thought.

    The moment I saw Jing Ge''s eyes sparkle, I knew that my peaceful days were over.

    "I have a great idea! Xiao Yu didn''t exactly tell me to send Xiao Lai off to school. He just wanted for Xiao Lai to go outside once in a while and meet some friends. Why not have Xiao Lai teach a ss? I know that the teacher positions are stillcking since there are so many kids. Isn''t this good?"

    Wait, wait, Yu Ge didn''t ask of you to send me to school? Going out once in a while? Meeting friends? I could do that on my own! I don''t want to be a teacher! Help!

    "What a great idea! We''re in need of nursery caretakers. The teacher positions are indeedcking, but I think it''d be best if Student Shui Lai learned how to deal with younger children first. Mhm, this is a pretty brilliant solution to the Chief''s wishes."

    ''Younger children''? The heck! They''re sending me to babies! Babies, some little beings that I can''tmunicate with! And Yu Ge didn''t mention for me to have such a job! He just wanted me to go out more!

    QAQ Help!

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65

    Whew, I sessfully fooled Xiao Lai into bing a nursery caretaker.

    Being my entertainment industry senior, Di Li Feng''s boyfriend, Principal Ying Xuan also coborated me into making this happen.

    Xiao Lai was wrongfully looking back at me. He was soon dragged away by Principal Ying to the nursery sections. Good luck. ^=^

    After he''s fully trained there, he can babysit for me! What a great n, if I say so myself.

    Left Xiao Lai behind, now I can go check up on Di Li Feng!

    We are both stars and both have a male partner, so we had lots inmon.

    I used to call him Feng Ge, but he told me not to do that when we were near people since that could cause rumors to how he was giving me special treatment as a top star''s little brother.

    Ding dong~

    "I''ming!" yelled a voice from the other side of the door.

    "Oh, hey,e in,e in. I was starting to get bored."

    Coming in, I noticed the other band members sitting on the couch and ying video games.

    Su Fang, Lai Fei, Fu Wen, Meng Duo were all wearing special goggles and were running around therge open living room.

    "Feng Ge, I bought some apples and pears. How''re you doing?"

    "I''m doing good. I''ll cut some pears, hand them over."

    Feng Ge took the bag of fruits and went over to the sink to wash and cut them into neat pieces. Truly, I think his talent to be a househusband was higher than his singing profession.

    "So, what''s going on with the band?" I asked, motioning towards the fully grown adults that were hollering and jumping around.

    "Well, none of them have jobs. We''re really free~ I mean practically all the stars, actors, etc are jobless unless they have some other talent. A lot of people are still just roaming around unless they''re assigned a job. TV directors and producers just started getting props ready after your brother allowed them to film shows."

    "Huh, so they''re freeters?"

    "Basically. We sometimes sing, but after the apocalypse, everyone came together and you see famous people all over the streets. We aren''t idols anymore, just good looking people that have been forgotten..."

    "Pft. My brother''s working on a job station where people can get recruited and such. The base''s economy is fine but it will copse if people don''t make an effort after all."

    "Your brother is such a blessing. He''s a real angel."

    I bit into a piece of pear.

    "Mmhm, he''s practically a savior to the world. But some people have been calling him out because he left a lot of people behind. I mean, he was going to keep the base exclusive but let others enter because they were friends and family of people of the members that were already on the base. I mean, he''s really generous already. Why are they dissatisfied?"

    "Hm, well, I guess being pregnant makes you more emotional. Or is it because you fell in love? On your wedding day, your brother spilled everything to me because he was sad and happy that you were going away into a new home. He told me that your personality was really scary."

    "Scary? Me?"

    "Yeah, you. Well, he didn''t exactly say that, but I could kind of tell because you didn''t really feel remorse or anything to others and thought of them as mere things, not human beings. Your brother said that you didn''t make friends because he told you to watch out and that you were popr but acted that way to hide. He was crying that now you knew your true feelings and that you were leaving. ...Your brother''s too cute. And I thought he was an antisocial kid."

    "He''s very adorable, but he''s too mature, so it''s rare when he acts like that. Hm, his mental age is somewhere near 47, so it makes sense."

    "Oh, I also have something interesting to share with you!" Feng Ge''s eyes lit up and sparkles seemed to show up in them.

    "What is it that got you so excited?" Iughed.

    "They''re doing variety shows and I''m going to be the host of one of the more interesting ones! I''ve never hosted a show before, but it seemed fun, so I asked around and got the job!"

    "Great, what kind of show is it?" I asked in curiosity.

    "It''s a show for single men and women to try to seduce a given target that is also single. There are trials for them to go to and the winner of those trials won''t be the official winner if they''re not chosen by the target."

    "...That''s one special show."

    "I know right? I thought the concept was weird but strangely refreshing. It might be better if the whole concept wasn''t based on seducing somebody but rather just winning unique games and getting a grand prize, but the director said there was already a show being filmed doing exactly that."

    "Well, good luck. I think the show could turn out well. If you ever need help, you know my number."

    "Don''t say that, why should I go around bothering someone''s who''s pregnant? You should be resting."

    "Oh yeah, I''m giving birth in a few days apparently."

    "Oh, that''s GREAT! WHAT?!"

    The four fully grown men who were ying games turned around as they freaked out from Feng Ge''s exmation.

    "What''s wrong?"

    "What''s the fuss?"

    "Shui Jing''s having his kid in a few days!"

    "So?" I doubt that they knew a thing about pregnancy...

    "He''s having the baby in 5 months, not 9 months! This is way quicker than expected!"

    "Oh. Congrattions!" Meng Duo, being clueless spoke up.

    "No you dummy, this doesn''t give him enough time to prepare for anything!" Feng Ge screamed.

    The situation was getting out of hand, so I quickly cated the fuming frustrated man.

    "Feng Ge, I''m alright. Besides, it''s good that the child ising quicker than normal, I''ll get to see it sooner. And since it kicks a lot, I have no doubts that it''s a healthy child."

    "Ugh, you''re too rxed about this. Who knows when you''ll have the kid? Like, it could be right now! Also-"

    Feng Ge kept on rolling on and on but I couldn''t hear him.

    My stomach hurt really bad.

    Feng Ge, you jinx.

    "Huh? Shui Jing!" a faint voice could be heard.

    "I''ll call Chief! Someone contact Shui Jing''s husband!"

    Ow. I really haven''t felt pain in such a long time.

    It felt really weird.

    I heard a crash and many footsteps.

    I couldn''t focus on the voices and only noticed after some time that I was being carried on a stretcher.

    Then, I was settled down into a room where nothing could be heard except for murmurs and beeps.

    Suddenly, a loud noise pped down and Xiao Yu appeared in front of my face.

    "Ge, quickly choose one. Surgery or natural birth?"

    I couldn''t help butugh.

    In this chaotic situation, I was a little dizzy but could perceive things.

    Xiao Yu really was calm in all kinds of situations.

    "Natural birth."

    "Ok."

    After I got out of my dizzy spell, I was transported into another room.

    -----

    It''s been about 3 days.

    I can still remember how frantic Lu Han''s face looked as he came in just before mybour and held my hand for a brief while.

    I think he was crying too, and he even cried afterward.

    Xiao Yu personally watched over the process when I gave birth and he was the one who cut the cord and everything.

    Giving birth was pretty smooth but long. I gave a couple of pushes and out came the baby after about 4 hours. Doctors told me that usually, first-time mothers gave birth after about 8 hours and the longest was 18 hours. I shivered at the hellish thought. Mothers are very strong creatures...

    The epidural was a lot of help.

    Xiao Yu, being the most advanced water ability user in the base, helped me heal up internally and externally. Thankfully he was there, or else I couldn''t imagine how my torn ass would''ve held out.

    I was thankful that after giving birth, Lu Han came to me first and hugged me. He cried and I couldn''t hear what he was saying through his sobbing.

    It was nice to see him so concerned but it was kind of funny to see him crying. I''ve never seen him cry before, so it was a novelty.

    The baby was a little girl. My little princess.

    Like all newborn babies, she came out all red and wrinkly. She had a tuft of hair that was light brown just like her Dad.

    Her fingers were so small and her whole hand could barely grasp my finger.

    This small life was something I created. I couldn''t help but take pride in that.

    She was healthy and beautiful.

    Xiao Yu, who was now her uncle, named her Shui Bao, Bao for treasure.

    Ah Bao''s grandma, Irene, also wanted the chance to name her granddaughter but didn''t get a chance, so she gave Ah Bao an English name.

    At that time, Irene''s group of friends was also in the hospital admiring my baby, and one frenchdy said, "She''s the darling of the heavens! How adorable! My kid looked so ugly when she was born!"

    In French, darling of the heavens was pronounced "Chrie des cieux". Irene, therefore, named her Sherry.

    On the third day, we were allowed to take Ah Bao from the hospital and bring her home.

    The personnel that Lu Han had assigned me were sent away since he found out that they didn''t really help out considering that I roamed around and didn''t want to be monitored. And instead of having others help out with the baby, he wanted to take care of the baby himself.

    We thought that taking care of Ah Bao would be easy since she was such a quiet baby who didn''t cry much.

    We were so wrong.

    Parenthood is difficult damn it.

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66

    I was dragged away by the Principal, and taken to the nursery area.

    Even before we entered the nursery, I could hear shrieks and cries.

    ...Absolutely terrifying.

    "Ehem, the nursery takes care of kids from ages 3 and under. Some of them already know how to control some of their powers, some are unstable, so good luck."

    When we slid open the door, the first thing I saw was a diaper. Right. In. Front. Of. My. Face.

    And the worse thing was that it wasing nearer.

    Fortunately, I dodged in time and the stink bomb hit the wall behind me.

    I turned to look and the disgusting matter was slowly sliding down the wall, creating a suspicious brown trace as it slid down.

    "Haha, they''re just ying with you. They must like you! You can get started tomorrow. I have some forms for you to fill out and you''ll need to read them, even the fine print. Also, I''ll get you the notes the previous headteacher left behind on each of the children."

    "What happened to the headteacher?"

    "Well, she broke her arms while a kid she was carrying suddenly got heavier because of his unstable powers. No worries, she''s safe and all good."

    It sure doesn''t sound safe and all good...

    "Until you sign forms, I can''t really let you take care of these kids. It''s gotten stricter because the chief''s looking over everything. I know he recruited some office workers, but they don''t do a thing but go over procedures. I heard from Secretary Jing that some of them actually increased workload instead."

    My blood silently boiled at the amount of work that people were putting on Yu Ge.

    Although he wanted to create this ce as a paradise for selected people, it shouldn''t make him suffer this much. He''d sleep at 2 AM at the very least and always wake up at 6 AM. And although it shouldn''t take a toll on him physically, mentally it was starting to get to him.

    One time he mentioned briefly that home was heaven. I might have thought too deep into it, but doesn''t that sound like something a corporate worker who''d work overnight shifts say?

    "Soon to be nursery caretaker Shui Lai, don''t make such a dreadful face. You''re going to scare the children off."

    I got out of my thoughts of bashing the worthless office workers'' heads to their desks and turned to look at the children who were now silently shivering and crouching away from me. One kid even tried to run away but stumbled and fell, resulting in the start of a chorus of tears.

    "I''m not sure if you should take up this job."

    Exactly my thought!

    "It''s alright, they''ll get used to you. Besides the nursery section, Shui Jing has asked me to exin to you about our curriculums. Rather than the subjects that everyone had to learn, we''re steering away from the traditional learning system. There will be a series of exams that will test students'' individual learning formats, and what they are talented and interested in. It will be a vocational type of schooling afterward. Some children here are geniuses and others are talented in various things."

    "Well, that seems quite interesting. So stupid people don''t need to learn science and math but veer towards physical education or art-type stuff? And smart people go into math, tech, science, etc.?"

    "...That''s one way to put it. Anyway, we will also frequently have them go into internships monthly in different jobs that are required and vital in the base when they turn 16. We''ll also take them for field trips outside the base since they have to go outside starting from 14 due to newws," Mr. Principal, although he said all this in a polite manner, looked like he wasining.

    As we were walking through the hallways and peeking into some ssrooms, a timid looking man quickly rushed past us and threw something at the Principal.

    "Who''s that?"

    "That should have been our new counselor. He handed his resignation form in just now. I was hoping he couldst longer. He was the 3rd one tost two months. Now I''ll have to go look for another counselor. How troublesome."

    Wait, this is my chance!

    "Let me try. I''d rather be a counselor than a nanny."

    "You''re too young," Principal Ying shook his head.

    "It''s the apocalypse! Who cares about age as long as they get the work done! I don''t even need pay! Just hire me!"

    "You don''t need pay? Alright, you can start tomorrow! There are more forms for you to fill out, let me go get them, wander around and go into some ssrooms to get a feel of how the school''s like. I''ll just message you after I''m done sorting out some stuff and print out your forms."

    "Ok, thank you." I sounded really nonchnt right now, but seriously, counseling sounds so much better than babysitting!

    The first ssroom I entered was a 2nd graders ssroom. It reminded me of my 2nd grader life when Yu Ge took care of all of us and actually had the time to do so.

    Then I went upstairs and went to the 7th graders'' ssroom. The bell rang suddenly and everyone started rushing out. I didn''t bother trying to go through the swarm and stood there, dodging whenever a kid was close to bumping into me.

    How nostalgic. But I wouldn''t want to experience it again.

    I did wander around for quite a while, and I got lost.

    Eventually, the message from Principal Ying came and he came to find me.

    "Here are the forms. I brought a pen and a red ink pad. Just sign your name, fill out the oath, and stamp your thumbprint."

    I didn''t really bother looking at the long list of fine print. I mean who would?

    I would regret it deeply after.

    -------------

    Not long after, Principal Ying got a call from Di Li Feng, his boyfriend.

    I could hear a frantic voice and Principal Ying looked at me several times during the call.

    He calmed his hysterical and worried boyfriend down and then dragged me along to his car.

    "Your brother is giving birth, we should get to the hospital."

    I knew it was bound to happen, so I nodded calmly and got in.

    I wasn''t worried. The base had the technology and could counter every mishap that could happen.

    And Jing Ge was strong.

    I waited outside quietly as Jing Ge and Yu Ge were struggling for 4 hours.

    My brother-inw looked anxious. He didn''t pace around, but he kept on tapping his foot and had his face covered with both hands. When he was allowed to see Jing Ge, he rushed in anxiously. I wondered what the baby would look like and waited patiently.

    When I was allowed to see the baby, I cried.

    This little girl was surrounded with such love even before she was born, and there was no doubt that she would be loved for her whole life by her parents and other family members.

    And I loved her too. Her little fingers fumbled and grabbed at me. And her innocent vulnerable appearance was something that I wanted to deeply protect.

    ''If I can''t have love, I''ll just give it.''

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67

    My niece, Sherry Shui Bao, is an adorable angel.

    Of course, I love her, but I can''tpare with the sudden amount of great emotions that Xiao Lai projected onto her.

    I didn''t know if it was something that would be good or bad, but for right now, it was good. Xiao Lai had finally gotten over Zhang Xing and now was able to move on with life. It sounded dramatic, but he was feeling happy and didn''t stay at home all day long stuck in his or my room.

    Although Xiao Lai did say his job at the school wasn''t very rxing, I could tell that he found it worthwhile.

    Whenever he came back from work, he''d help out with the other hackers''/programmers'' work and then go over to Ge''s to go see Ah Bao.

    Ge told me, "I was going to send him to be a headteacher of the nursery, but even if he isn''t doing that job, he''s taking care of my kid better than me!"

    I was satisfied with how things were now. I might be tired and stressed, but at least my family was safe.

    .......

    Ah Bao is an angel! She''s such a sweet child...

    Unlike the weird babies I saw in the nursery that one time, Ah Bao is a quiet and graceful child.

    She only eats, sleeps, and shi-poops. I was rmended to not spout out cuss words in front of her. I''ve been taking it seriously.

    Anyways, Ah Bao is such a lovely baby. Sigh, I don''t think anyone canpare with her!

    Bzzt! Bzzt!

    ...Damn.

    The rm woke me up. Time for another school day.

    But this time, I wasn''t a student.

    I should''ve known that my job was sketchy from the moment that Principal Ying was willing to overlook my age. I might''ve even taken the nursery position to this.

    I went into my office and sat on my rolling chair. I twirled around for a bit and put my head back. Sighing, I got back up and pulled out the binder that kept a record of all the kids who were sent here, or came here.

    Time schedules were written down sloppily in iprehensible handwriting, so I had to carefully search through. It wasn''t my handwriting, it was the many previous counselors before me. Some of them didn''t write in anything. I was trying to study all of it so that I could get schedules and such right and write my own ounts down.

    Mhm, Mondays, usually those 3 regrs came in, and sometimes the troublemakers.

    My first "client" was a young girl, aged 9 years.

    This young girl, who was African American, was terribly shy and polite. She was verynky, skinny, and had braces and sses. She was a very polite young girl and had some troubles with talking out.

    But this wasn''t my problem. My job was to help with power control. If I was a real counselor, I had to get a degree or something in psychology. I don''t know the exact details, but the main point is, I didn''t have the qualifications to be a "real" counselor.

    Besides the girl, Brianna Jones, came to my office since she had a very hard time controlling her powers. She had a very high talent in her water ability, but it would often go haywire and suck water not from the atmosphere but living beings around her. It was dangerous. Yu Ge said that it was a mutated ability since water users usually couldn''t do that unless they were at a mid-level.

    She had to train to either control this mutated power of hers or to seal it away. Well, rather than sealing it, the better term would be to try to not use it at all.

    "Hello, Mr.Lai..."

    "Hi Brianna, today we''re going to train with the flower pot and cup as usual. You made progressst time, but we need to actively practice."

    "Yes..."

    The flower pot and cup training was something I thought of for a while before I assigned it to her. Previously, counselors had trained her through the same method of trying to collect water from the air but instead, they were harmed. So they then had her do training in a closed room, which didn''t really work and stressed the poor girl further.

    Yu Ge had told me that this skill, although dangerous, was very useful when it came to hunting mutant creatures, animals, or zombies. They all had water, with zombies having a minimal amount of it.

    So, I decided to train her using the flower pot, either to avoid sucking out water from it or to suck water out of it on purpose. And this way, she''ll be morefortable with using her power actively and not worry if she could find a difference between the two methods.

    Last week, on Friday, she for the first time, after practicing for about 2 weeks, made progress. She had squealed in surprise and that was the only time I saw her break out of her quiet persona.

    My office was wide and had a door that led into a wide practice space underground. It was practically a stadium. This wide practice area was usually used for power training, but only in the afternoons. In the mornings, it was reserved for the counseled students.

    I ced the cup of water and the flower pot on a prepared table and had her sit right in front.

    "You know how it goes by now. I know how to protect myself, so go all out. But this time, let''s try to have the watere out slower. First, from your surroundings."

    "Ok Mr.Lai, I even practiced over the weekends. I think I can do this." Oho, this girl was gaining confidence.

    And indeed so, she had seeded pulling out the water from the air and it came into the cup drop by drop.

    "Good, now let''s put it back up in the air and bring it back quick."

    Brianna had a little trouble sending it back, but pulling it out from the air quickly was no problem.

    "Alright, send it back and continue to pull out water from the nt slowly."

    Sending water into the air, check, pulling water from nt slowly, check.

    "Send it back into the nt and pull it out quickly."

    Done.

    "A bonus, add extra water into the nt but don''t kill it."

    Huh, surprisingly she did it decently.

    "Get the excess water out and pull more water from the air to push it into the nt. This time, kill it."

    She didn''t take out the exact amount of excess water, but shepleted the assignment.

    The young girl had some sweat drops and was gasping a little.

    "You''ve improved a lot. I think after this week, you can continue practicing on your own. You won''t have toe to my office anymore. Here''s your reward for the day," I told her as I handed her arge cotton candy-vored lollipop.

    Brianna smiled shyly, but brightly.

    "Thank you Mr.Lai. I think you''re better than the other counselors."

    "Psh. Trying to tter me. Of course, I''m better. Alright, go to ss now, you can visit me anytime if you need help or want more candy."

    "Bye Mr.Lai!"

    After she left, I threw away the dead nt that had been "over-watered".

    The student who came in 5 minutes after Brianna, was also a young child.

    This Spanish kid''s name was Alvaro Perez.

    He was 7 and had a bright personality. He acted stupid and clueless to make othersugh, but in reality, he was very smart.

    "Hi Mr.Lai, can I have a lollipop first?"

    "Nope, let''s get on with your training. But if you do well, I''ll give you 2 lollipops."

    "Ok!"

    This kid actually had the guts to try touching fire during his zombie reagent trial. Yu Ge remembered the kid since previously, people couldn''t gain the fire element and instead got burnt, but this kid had a friend who had gone right before him to light up a fire with his father''s lighter. And this kid touched the mes.

    And he was actually epted and gained what he called "FAAIIAAH!"

    Brianna, the girl from earlier had touched water, earth, her pet rabbit, a dragonfly, and a daisy.

    This boy had touched fire, water, earth, Aloe vera, and a fruit bat.

    This kid had no mutated powers, except for the fact that he couldn''t control the size or intensity of his fire.

    So, he could either make an extremely hot me the size of an ant or a weak dying me the size of a car.

    I didn''t have the fire ability, but after discussing the problem with Jing Ge who had gained the fire ability from the Red Phase, he said that Fire was only a little different from Electricity, which was something I had.

    Therefore, I had Alvaro train the way I was trained.

    I ced an ice cube on the prepared table in the practice space.

    I was holding a small bucket of ice cubes.

    "Ok, we''ll start with the ice cube. Get close to it. Think ''small, small'' and melt it with whatever intensity of the me, while not burning the table. I already reced this table 8 times by now. And it''s only been two weeks. So, let''s try not to burn it this time."

    It would''ve been easier if I had the air ability. Then I could hold up the ice cube and not have to maybe rece the table a 9th time.

    Fortunately, he did manage to control the size. The intensity of the fire was very high and it melted the ice cube almost instantly.

    "Ok, further."

    We continued until on his eighth try, he was maybe about a meter away and identally burned the table by aiming wrong. I quickly put it out, but the charred mess was still smoking.

    "Ehehehe... Sorry, Mr.Lai."

    Sigh.

    "Well, at least, you managed to get the control of the size quite a bit. Next, we''ll go on with uracy and intensity."

    For uracy, Alvaro had to slowly put out bits of low-intensity me to move around a metal ball.

    He had trouble controlling the intensity and the orb, well what was once of it, had turned into a lump that could not easily roll around, only slide awkwardly.

    But this was still a huge improvement from two weeks ago.

    "Good job, I don''t have the fire ability, so I don''t know how to train you too well, but I think this is working for you. Remember, don''t try to practice at home. If needed, you know how to contact me through the core device. If you think you want or need extra practice,e over to my house anytime. It''s the big mansion on the west side of the base. And here you go."

    The boy waved his hands at me, not even facing me as he took off with his two lollipops.

    "I''ll go over today then!"

    I only gave this offer starting from today and he snatched it up right away.

    It was only recently that I found out that Alvaro was from a single-parent family. His mom and grandma took care of him, but his grandma was old and his mom was very busy. So he usually tried to get his friends to stay outte with him, but their parents called them home or appeared directly to drag the kids back home.

    So, he was a lonely child.

    Anyways, I finished writing the ounts of today''s practice session when the office door was slid open harshly.

    I looked up to find a group of familiar faces.

    "It''s not even lunch break yet." Can''t I have some peace?

    The teacher who dragged the group in angrily red at them and turned to me with a pleading look on his face.

    "Mr.Shui, could you please keep them for the training period? It''s almost lunchtime, so just keep them a little while longer until their sses use the practice stadium."

    "...Mr.Saini, why don''t you just bring them to me during their ss training time?"

    "Mr.Shui, you know how it is. Only you can take care of them!"

    Hmph. You''re just frustrated that they''re more powerful than you and you can''t discipline them properly.

    This Indian man was the training ss teacher as well as the 11th-grade math teacher.

    He was skinny, not too tall or short and wore polo shirts. He also had a mustache. He was a decent person, but he got easily frustrated when people didn''t understand his point of view. He exined his jokes. Basically, he failed at trying to humor people and couldn''t tell stories.

    The group of troublemakers in front of me were exactly the type that made him frustrated. And he had recently found out that I could handle them.

    He smiled brightly at me, but when he turned towards the ones behind him, he had a scowl on his face.

    Mr.Saini ushered them in and even pulled a particr kid in by grabbing his ear.

    The dragging of feet and theints of the ear-pulled kid disrupted mepletely from my awaited lunch break.

    Sigh. Certainly, this job was bad because there were kids like these who tortured counselors mentally.

    "Ok."

    "Thank you Mr.Shui! Enjoy your lunch!"

    ...As if I could!!!

    From the stash of snacks, drinks, and food in general, I took them out from my cabs and refrigerator. What needed to be microwaved was microwaved.

    I ced them all on one table and motioned to the troublesome students.

    "Have at it."

    "Thanks!" "Hey, that''s mine!" "Hand that over!"

    ...

    And they''re supposed to be my age or older...

    I ate my lunch quietly, reading through reports sent by my hacker colleagues. The group ate loudly, talked loudly, and did everything loudly. I didn''t have many chairs, so some of them were standing and some sat on the table.

    After lunch was over, they cleaned up a little, by throwing trash away. Crumbs were still on the floor and table though.

    These kids weren''t bad kids, they were just... troublesome.

    When I first met them, I didn''t know why teachers struggled so much on dealing with them.

    They seemed like a rambunctiousrge group of close friends.

    Well, as they say, don''t judge a book by its cover.

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68

    When I first saw these group of friends, they just seemed like a group that popr kids would be in. They all had nice clothes, an outgoing attitude, and all looked handsome, pretty, or at least above average.

    They were of different origins; Chinese(3), Korean(2), French(2), White American(2), African American, Canadian, German, Egyptian. They''re a huge crowd, consisting of 14 kids.

    They were apparently widely known in the school as they caused lots of headaches for teachers. Even other groups bigger than them didn''t cause troubles as much.

    They were my age but weren''t anything like me...

    I had heard news about pranks and them talking back to teachers, causing trouble in ss, but I had thought they were exaggerations.

    Mr.Saini, a teacher who unfortunately had all of them at the same time, had gotten so fed up that he had told them to leave the ssroom if they weren''t serious about learning.

    And so they left.

    ''He was furious but couldn''t do anything!'' was a passed around statement after the incident happened.

    The group of fourteen 11th graders wandered around the halls, peeking into ssrooms and going around the whole school.

    Soon arrived lunchtime, and they could hear their stomachs roar in indignant want of a source of vital energy, FOOD.

    Suddenly, a fragrance drifted by and they all caught wind of a warm scent of a delicious home-made meal.

    Finding their way to it, they arrived at an inconspicuous sliding door.

    Above it, a sign that said,

    One of them slowly slid the door open, millimeter by millimeter.

    A light began to shine through the sliding door as they could finally see the glorious scene of the office.

    Arge ss food container that had steaming braised meat shining in the spotlight...

    A huge pile of rice heaped upon the porcin bowl.

    A bowl of soup that had a drool-worthy smell whiffing out.

    An assortment of glistening side dishes that were of all colors.

    And next to the meal, a hill of fruit and snacks.

    And in the sitting near the table, a handsome pretty boy holding chopsticks and chewing silently while looking at his phone.

    The handsome pretty boy sensed their hungry gazes and turned to look at them with a curious look in his eyes.

    "Why aren''t you guys in the cafeteria? It''s lunchtime."

    But the fourteen hungry teenagers wouldn''t leave.

    They stayed around shamelessly and begged for the delicious meal. The Asian kids and some other students wanted the braised meat while others were aiming for the fruit and junk food.

    ...And that was the beginning.

    I didn''t know they were the famed troublemakers. I had never bothered to find out about them, thinking that I wouldn''t have any need of meeting them.

    After feeding them several times... well, more like them shamelessly mooching off, Mr.Saini and the other faculty members found out that the group took a liking to me.

    From then on, whenever they couldn''t seem to handle this group of teenagers, they sent them to me, giving me their share of headaches.

    Sigh, at least today was a ss training day. A day in the week where they got training for their powers.

    I only needed to help with watching out for stray abilities and maybe teach some struggling students.

    And this time, the group would be back with their sses and do their thing there, not near me.

    Anyway, back to the present, all of us had finished eating, so I opened the door to the practice stadium.

    I made them go down the stairs first as they had tried to escape multiple times before.

    Then I closed the door with a heavy thump.

    Other sses were trailing in from other doors and the instructors for the ss training were already ordering them around to stand in uniform lines for each ss.

    The group that had mooched off of me my precious snacks ran to their ssmates in a happy manner and started jabbering right away.

    The whole stadium was loud with whispers traveling everywhere. The instructors took 3 minutes to calm the students, but there wasn''tplete silence.

    All the students, 11th graders, were then divided into sections.

    Animal ability training wasn''t done at school. They would have to be practiced by everyone separately or they would have to get training from someone else.

    Only elemental abilities were trained at school.

    Earth, nt, and water were the basics. There were a few air ability users but they were rare. After all, air was an element that could''ve harmed somebody during the zombie reagent trial.

    There weren''t any fire ability users in this grade. There were some mutant ability users though. Ice and sand to name a few.

    The nt ability was the hardest to train, so there were many instructors for this section of students. Each person had their own nt, be it dandelions or cauliflowers or maple trees, and the nts all had different properties although they were all leafy things.

    Students with multiple elemental abilities, quite a lot of them, were assigned to rotate each section.

    I stayed in the center with the school nurse to monitor and help if needed.

    Most of the people here didn''t know my identity. They might have seen me before, but could not remember my face.

    So, some of the students who were learning the basics gossiped with their buddies about me.

    ''Is he some genius or something?''

    ''No, he has connections.''

    ''Well, also, I heard that he''s really powerful.''

    ''Eh, what are you guys talking about? Let me join in!''

    ...I couldn''t keep up with their fast-paced conversations that quickly switched topics every second.

    Yu Ge''s secretary, Mr. Jiang, had once advised me, "You should spend more time with people around your age. I see Chief every day doing things he shouldn''t be burdened with at his age. And he has no choice. But you and your younger sister still have options to be a kid. Kids your age should be unruly and active, not serious and calm. Those are good qualities, but kids should be kids and get to enjoy a normal life a little longer. It''s an adults job to provide an environment of care to kids, kids don''t do that themselves."

    He went on and on about how kids should act like kids while they still had time left.

    It left a deep impression on me because Secretary Jiang didn''t speak to me often and he even told me not to be like my brother, who I deeply admired.

    Indeed, my brother was pitiful for such huge burdens, but I was proud of him.

    After Secretary Jiang''s advice became stuck in my head, I thought back to the past before Yu Ge had tried to take charge of caring for us.

    We had a short happy time. And then our family fell apart.

    Did our family have any chance of not falling apart?

    Could we have lived normal lives?

    No.

    The zombie apocalypse would still have happened and who knows what we could''ve done if we were all together without any experience.

    We would all die some way or another.

    At least in this life, we were livingfortably.

    But what would it have been like?

    To live a normal life.

    ...Psh, better not think about it.

    If the world was normal, I wouldn''t be able to see baby angel Sherry Shui Bao!

    I was smiling foolishly thinking about the little angel, letting my guard down.

    A dull thunk sounded.

    ...Huh?

    Red liquid.

    Dripping down my head.

    Feeling dizzy.

    Darkness.

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69

    Darkness was myst thought.

    I don''t know how much time passed until I woke up.

    ...Less than a minute.

    Well, that''s good. If someone was in a fainted state for over 2 minutes, that was serious, and the usual time to return to consciousness was about 20 seconds after all.

    Basically, I wasn''t going to die.

    I wondered why I had fainted.

    Blood phobia? No, I wasn''t afraid of blood.

    Any other phobia?

    Not that I can think of.

    I held my hands together in front of me.

    Cold and mmy. Not my usual state. I usually had a warm body temperature.

    Looking around, I was back in my office, ced on the sofa.

    The school didn''t have a nurse''s office. There were no cases of injuries that couldn''t be taken care of with the ''universal'' water ability.

    And if the injury was serious, the hospital was near.

    Nobody was in my office, but I could certainly hear voices outside.

    It was some of the teachers scolding kids.

    ...Well, I''ll let them do their job.

    I was allowed to go home earlier and the culprits properly apologized to me.

    It was by ident, so I didn''t feel mad.

    And I was alright. There was no pain. I didn''t even know why I fainted.

    When I got home, Yu Ge was in the kitchen.

    "Ge, you''re home already?"

    "I heard you fainted. The people in my office persuaded me to go home."

    He continued, "I made braised pork. It doesn''t have lots of fatty parts, just how you like it."

    I smiled. Yu Ge was too good.

    "Thanks, Yu Ge, are you staying home for the whole day? Or do you have to go back?"

    "Nope, I get to stay home all day!" Yu Ge had a rare bout of cheer.

    We ate while talking about our daily lives. Iined and made it sound funny while Yu Geughed and listened.

    It was so nice to see Yu Ge happy.

    After we ate, we trained.

    It was something we hadn''t done for a long time.

    "...I think I''ve got some bing on..."

    "You should train more often. Only asionally training your powers isn''t good. Your body also needs to be trained, but regrly."

    Yu Ge still trained regrly... He woke up early, trained, went to work, returned home, rested, and then repeat.

    "I got it. Sigh, Yu Ge I''m so jealous of your body. It''s amazing that you''ve got a heck of a body. But since you hide it with clothes nobody knows..."

    Yu Ge threw a punch at me, "What are you getting at? You''re just a little shorter than me. And you''re not considered short. Besides, you look more masculine. I won''t look like a man until several yearster. But here you are already looking slightly grown-up."

    "I''m talking about abs and muscles! And yes, I''m also talking about your height. 180 is considered tall, but I''m still shorter than you or Jing Ge."

    "Hm, well, Ge was always that way. But his personality wasn''t like this in my past life, it was more overbearing and optimistic, but he was really strong back then as well. Xiao Bing from my past life can''tpare to the present Xiao Bing... Sigh, the difference is just too big..."

    Yu Ge didn''t talk about me.

    Of course, I had died early in his previous life. He might''ve felt awkward about it, or either he didn''t know what to say about me.

    But I was curious, so I asked, "Was my personality different?"

    "...yes."

    "How so?"

    "You weren''t this narcissistic for one."

    Oof.

    "You were an introvert. Very. Also, you were bullied in the past. Although it was stopped early, you still had trauma afterward. And when you became a hacker, you didn''t bringpanies down like in your previous years, but you did do petty dealings. You were very withdrawn and cautious."

    "What?! I can''t imagine myself that way! And me, bullied? That''s impossible!"

    "You were also sweet and very caring towards us even during hard times. You were still best friends with Xiao Bing. But you two were very gentle people. Nothing like the brash kids today."

    Yu Ge swung and kicked and I barely dodged.

    He was getting faster and a series of jabs came at me.

    "You aren''t as fast as before," hemented.

    ...A critical hit right where it hurt.

    To try to distract him, I asked, "What about you, Yu Ge? What were you like?"

    "...I was very different. Stupid."

    I stopped for a second out of shock and was kicked down.

    "...Sigh, get up," he held out his hand.

    "Wait! What do you mean by stupid?!"

    We resumed our duel.

    Yu Ge stayed silent for quite a few minutes before speaking.

    "I was foolish. I was rash. I thought I knew everything and was mature. Even when the zombie apocalypse happened, I thought I was irreceable. I was a water ability user, so the team valued me. There were other water ability users of course, but I had the looks so everyone liked me. Also, Ge was powerful, so our family was liked. I got too full of myself. My space ability was never revealed because I thought I was special and kept it all to myself. That got more people suspicious of me instead. And then not long after, when I was busy and Ge out fighting, Xiao Bing was sold away. Our parents still had cared about her a little, but they got lots of benefits from a nearby safe city in exchange."

    "...Hahaha, but I was secretly d. d that they didn''t sell me. I felt so guilty, but also proud. Then when I was pushed into the zombie horde while everyone ran, I knew, I wasn''t important. I was just a resource. I could be reced. Why did I think I was ever that important?"

    "Even now, I feel so foolish and regret so many decisions I made in this life."

    "I could''ve warned our parents so that our family could have stayed together. I could have fixed so many other events."

    "Everyday, I think: I got a second chance, but it''s been wasted."

    "This life is a chance to redeem everything. But I''ve made so many mistakes, so many petty decisions, just to keep my pride and ideals."

    Listening to Yu Ge talk like this was pretty sad, but I was still focused on the battle because he wasn''t giving any ground.

    The training ended soon and we washed up.

    With towels around our shoulders and upper bodies bare, we rested on the couches in the living room with sses of milk. It was sort of a tradition. Kinda. Xiao Bing didn''t do this of course.

    I asked more questions about the past life.

    Yu Ge described his journey.

    And as I listened, I realized, Yu Ge wasn''t foolish back then, he just didn''t realize what could have been done.

    Even if he was full of himself, at least he isn''t like that now.

    "...Hey, bro, the mood''s too boring. We have the whole house to ourselves so why don''t we do... that?"

    "Hm... well, it''s been a long time. Sure."

    "Yeah! Xiao Bing''s out till tomorrow so let''s do it!"

    By "it" we mean our random singing and dancing sessions.

    After Jing Ge became an idol, Yu Ge and I watched all his MVs. We even went to all of his concerts. Xiao Bing was busy, so she couldn''t participate with us.

    Yu Ge and I thought it would be a fun idea to do the same dance routine as Jing Ge. Yu Ge had said that it was also beneficial as a new way of training. It did help in dodging more practically, so in a way, it was training.

    I had thought it was embarrassing to do it in front of Xiao Bing, Yu Ge too, so we did our dance sessions when she was out.

    A program, specially made by yours truly, had analyzed almost every dance. Every dance beside square dancing...

    It had been a long time since I was with Yu Ge like this, not worrying about things, and able to rx properly. After Yu Ge ran off to America, the household was a mess, and even after he came back, there was an unspeakable barrier.

    What was originally Ge''s mistake had transferred onto being something against me and Xiao Bing.

    I don''t me Ge though. He found his own family. And Yu Ge is also happy for them. So, all turned out well, but it was still awkward sometimes.

    Back to the Dance session, we were finding it easier to move around, so it was less fun. But with the Demon mode, where everything was sped up and mixed up randomly, we were able to enjoy the challenge.

    Finally, we got to the special stage, Dance off, where we had to get a perfect score on apletely new dance after watching it once. To top it off, singing wasn''t required, but it would give a generous amount of bonus points.

    So, here we were, having fun,ughing, and joking around. Only I got to see this side of Yu Ge usually, and I felt that he was closest to me.

    I mean, Xiao Bing is our sister, we can''t say certain stuff to her and we understand things differently. And she''s the only girl andst child of our family, so she''s spoiled.

    ...I''m spoiled too, but she''s even more spoiled ok!

    And, for Jing Ge, of course, Yu Ge is close to him, but they always have a serious or calm atmosphere where there''s some talk going on. It''s a very good rtionship, one like between two old friends.

    But me, I''m the one who gets to be spoiled and have fun with Yu Ge. He ys with me, I y with him. We have a great rtionship going on! And so far, he''s opened up to me the most. And I''ve also opened up to him the most. So ours is the true brother-in-arms rtionship.

    Um, getting off track here, anyways, the dance-off was soon over and we werementing on each other''s moves as well as trying to think of a way for the idol game.

    "What about having expressions on point and making the whole thing rise in difficulty by levels? And singing and choreography can be added on inter stages!" Yu Ge eximed.

    Such a great idea, how could I have not thought of it before!

    "Ok, I''ll make it like this! But first, I need a snack. Yu Ge, make me something?"

    "I''ve already prepared pineapple buns. But I was nning to pack you that tomorrow..."

    "It doesn''t matter, let''s eat some now. Or else, if I take it to school, I''m sure some rascalswill try to steal some off of me." I scowled thinking about the group that came by my office just to hollow out my food storage.

    Yu Geughed and went into the kitchen.

    I was thinking of which codes to use for the facial expression identification part of the game when Yu Ge ced a tter of fluffy bread.

    "Mmm, just right! Super fluffy and not too sweet, just the right texture and taste!"

    "You''re praising me too much. But I''m still wondering why you fainted. With your physique, it shouldn''t be easy to knock you out... Maybe it''s because of stress or being tired?"

    "Who knows?" I sighed.

    After finishing our portions of the midnight snack, we were prepared to go to sleep.

    In the middle of brushing our teeth, a call came to Yu Ge''s core device.

    I looked at it andmented garbledly, "If says gard free of vuh resuch centuh."(It says guard 3 of the research center)

    Yu Ge quickly finished brushing his teeth and connected the call.

    "What''s wrong?" he asked.

    "Chief, something wrong with zombie #37. It''s not on a rampage, actually, exactly the opposite. It started to calm down and copsed and stayed still for several hours. The researchers told me to contact you if anything happened. Just a few minutes ago, zombie #37 got up and started talking!"

    Yu Ge frowned.

    "It''s still in its own room right?"

    "Yes."

    "Can you make out what it''s saying?"

    "It''s saying something like... um, actually, it seems to be telling a story!"

    "A story?"

    "Yes, it''s telling of a lonely boy who got sweeped into a dark organization! It''s quite interesting really."

    "I see, are there any notable qualities about zombie #37?"

    "Chief, I believe you''re the one who brought it in actually! Checking the reports on its cell door, the zombie was named Zhang Xing."

    "...Alright, I''ll go check it out. Thank you for notifying me."

    "No problem chief!"

    The call ended.

    Knowing that I was right by to listen in on the call, Yu Ge looked at me.

    "Do you want toe along?"

    "..."

    What should I do? Take this chance to not have the past left behind or to go and see what had happened to Zhang Xing?

    "I-I want to go see."

    Some might call me weak. But I wanted to see him again.

    Just one more time.

    That''s all.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70

    We got to the research center and Guard 3 was waiting for us.

    "Chief!" he acknowledged me.

    I nodded and asked, "What''s the situation now?"

    "Zombie #37 just finished telling its'' story. It''s now standing silently. But when it seemed to hear people''s footsteps it moved to its'' cell door."

    Xiao Lai was trying to look calm, but his expression became stranger by the minute. He was very concerned about this problem I guess.

    Guard 3 showed us to the monitor center where he showed us fast-forwarded clips of the activity in zombie #37''s cell.

    The monitor had different sections, the regr screen, the sound capturer, and the heat sensitivity, metal detector, etc.

    None of them had major changes. Of course, the regr screen and sound were activated once zombie #37 had begun talking and moving around.

    What was strange was that the nucleus detector monitor had been started up and it noticed a significant change.

    There were levels or tiers for strength during the apocalypse. It was hard to determine them for humans since everyone had different abilities and talents for leveling, but for zombies and mutant animals or nts, it was fairly easy to determine them.

    In my past life, a nucleus detector was a lifesaver.

    It could determine a far away creature''s nucleus stage and warn the user. For instance, if the person using it was a regr ability user who was about the same level as the people outside of the base, the nucleus detector could tell through colors and a number of the creature being analyzed to tell the creature''s strength.

    It could be . Which would mean it was in level 5 but soon to level up. And for the color, it would be of the analyzed subject''s element. In this case, fire.

    There were cases where a creature could have a merged element or have more than one nucleus. Those creatures were usually highly dangerous and only powerful ability users would want to hunt them.

    For zombies, the nucleus detector also did wonders. But as zombies could have multiple powers, it was harder for a nucleus detector to warn its user clearly.

    Anyway, for zombie #37, the nuclear detector did notice something strange.

    Zombie #37 did have a nucleus, so it wasn''t level 1 or 2. Besides, it did have powers before it zombified.

    When Zombie #37 was living, his powers were...

    Actually, what were they?

    "Xiao Lai, do you remember Zhang Xing''s powers? What abilities did he have?"

    "He had the water ability, and some strange ability from shadows."

    "Hm, ok. That''s unique."

    Zombie #37''s powers might''ve been a clue to its strange actions, but none of his powers could exin. They just didn''t match up.

    And listening to the recording, it definitely was zombie #37''s life before it was zombified.

    But zombies never retained their memories.

    ???

    I was thoroughly confused.

    What was the meaning of this? How had this happened? Why had this happened? What caused this?

    Finding things I didn''t know was amon thing, but to find something that I was confident I knew most about was a little heartbreaking for me.

    Whew. Well, it was bound to happen.

    I calmed down and settled my thoughts.

    "...Yu Ge, I think I know why this happened."

    I quickly turned towards Xiao Lai.

    "What do you mean?"

    "You know how I cked out, right? I mean, it could have been caused by stress plus an iing projectile, but just maybe... it might be my abnormal ability?"

    "What abnormal ability?"

    "I think... it''s something like, if I know them, I can connect with zombies to have them be loyal to me... maybe?"

    "That''s an awfully specific power, but I have no choice but to believe that. There isn''t any other known exnation for this after all," I sighed.

    Now, because of this second, or was it first(?) abnormal ability that somehow never acted up in the start, Xiao Lai was going to have to see zombie #37 whether he wanted to or not. I would''ve preferred not, but he would need another subject if he wanted to test this power, and we so far didn''t know the consequences for another "servant" to be gained.

    To be honest, it wasn''t bad to have everyone just rest and work in the city. The zombie hunting wasn''t very necessary, but it was the sole thing we could do to rid ourselves of the guilt of not bringing any more people in. Of course, mostly my guilt, also my fault for singling out only a few. And then rashly bringing in whatever random people at the end was a weird choice too.

    In the base, everyone, at least mostly everyone, had good and upright morals, and to keep it that way, everyone in the council agreed that the zombie huntings should be continued. Besides, using cores as a currency was already established, and the materials gained from the "outside world" were very useful in all sorts of advancements.

    Maybe I was the only one trying to keep everyone ''innocent'' as they called it, but I was grateful when they epted the decision.

    Although, they joked, "We were scared that you''d kick us out of the base if we didn''t agree!" they are still people who understood what was good for themunity at the time.

    Ehem, back to the point, Xiao Lai was going to have to be responsible for zombie #37.

    "So, you can order him around?" Guard 3 asked incredulously.

    "Yes, but he''s gaining full consciousness right now. So, I''ll leave him alone for about 3 hours first. ...And he doesn''t have emotions but can think, so he''ll be different from what he previously was..." Xiao Lai muttered thest part softly.

    "Well, we aren''t going to bring him back for now. Let'' go back. And thank you for your hard work Mr.Guard."

    "No problem Chief! Don''t worry about things here! Have a good night!"

    I nodded politely to the enthusiastic guard and took Xiao Lai home.

    Right after we said our goodnights to each other, I got another call.

    This time, from Guard 14, who was stationed near the gates of the base.

    "Chief, we''ve got a situation. There have been outsiders found near the base of one of the mountains. Some of them are injured and there are only two ability users, and weak ones at that. There are about 11 regr humans, some of them are children who have fainted. The injured ones are the two ability users as well as some of the adults. It has not been confirmed if they have been injured by zombies, but seeing the group still keeps the injured around, it would be safe to assume so."

    It was slightly roundabout, but the report summed up the situation. Yes, by this point, outsiders should know about zombie scratches or bites giving rise to zombies.

    "What should we do? Kill or lead them away?"

    I was just about to say lead them away when a picture of the intruders caught my eye.

    "No. Bring them in."

    "B-bring them in sir?" The tremble in the guard''s voice was evident, I didn''t allow outsiders in the base after all.

    "Yes, several of them are esteemed pharmaceutical scientists. They may be highly useful in some of our research. Go with several guards and bring them in. If the intruders are willing toe in, then escort them peacefully, but if they are not willing, kill them."

    "Yes, sir!"

    "Wait. I''lle with."

    "S-sir?"

    "We have to make a weing appearance after all."

    "Then I''ll be gathering guards while you arrive, sir!"

    "Alright."

    I ended the call and dressed in slightly formal wear. A cored navy shirt, grey suit pants, and dress shoes. I also added a watch for essories.

    Time to go meet new people.

    The base was something I couldn''t get lost in.

    ...Well, I did get lost at first, and still now. But only sometimes. Just sometimes.

    The ces I frequented though, I could find easily. It''s been quite over a year already, how could I not know?

    It had taken only about 10 minutes for me to dress up and arrive, but thest of the guards had arrived.

    Imended Guard 14 for his good work and brought him and 7 other guards out of the base.

    Of course, I didn''t lead, Guard 14 who had noticed the situation did, and he really was a great navigator.

    The intruders were currently resting.

    The mountain was extremely hot during the day and freezing during the night.

    They were shivering and had set up a fire by burning some wood. The abled had brought as many twigs as they could and were adding them, just enough to keep the fire alive to provide some warmth.

    They were prepared, I could see that. But not enough.

    They had camping equipment, but not for everyone. Sleeping bags, check. Tents, check. Supplies, check. But one for every person? No. One for every 3 people? No. It was only about 4 bags of well-prepared supplies. And the rest had some backpacks.

    My guess was that these people weren''t together. At least, they probably didn''te from the same status. 13 people but already containing 2 ability users, it was evident that this group was special. The people outside of the base shouldn''t have much ability users, but this small group had two.

    "Let''s proceed," I said and walked forward.

    The guards went in front of me as if to prepare my entrance. But instead of doing it calmly, they acted very loud, as if to inform the group of their presence.

    The group was startled. We hadn''t made much noise before this and the small noise we made could have passed as the wind.

    The two ability users, though injured, hid the pharmaceutical scientists that I was nning on inviting into the base.

    The rest of the group were huddled together and tried to go behind or stay near the scientists.

    "Who are you guys?" interrogatively asked one of the ability users.

    I arrived in front and made a frown.

    "That would be our question. Your group is intruding upon our territory."

    Guard 14 had a slightly confused look on his face for a second that quickly vanished.

    No doubt, he thought I was going to use a friendly approach. But by doing so, it would make us more suspicious in this dark period. Nobody would trust that people were naturally nice now. They all had motives. It was strange for one not to.

    The ability user who had questioned me calmed down.

    The other ability user had a sheepish look on his face.

    "We need supplies, are you willing to make a trade?"

    The first ability user angrily red at the second one.

    He was probably mad at the other man for showing their position.

    I put away my frown but put up a dead-pan expression.

    "What can you give?" I asked as if I wasn''t anticipating anything.

    "We have information!" the second ability user eximed. He had a hopeful expression on his face.

    The first ability user scowled but gave in, "We have information on the nts that have mutated and their properties."

    They weren''t willing to give up the people behind them and what they researched. Still, they apparently did have a few extra valuables.

    But when they took out proof, I could feel my eye twitch. The guards around me almost lost their formation as well.

    It was the same damn booklet I had given the higher-ups at my ex-parents'' base.

    Anyhow, I had to get them inside the base.

    So, no choice but to ept the very thing I made.

    I tried hard to not make my voice steady as I answered, "Alright. Follow us."

    I turned around and following the guards, the group trudged behind, hurriedly packing up their tents and supporting the injured.

    The group didn''t make a squeak, but they did make taps. Taps that indicatedmunication. It was morse code, something I was well-versed in. The apocalypse taught you many things.

    It was the scientists and the ability users, arguing if this was safe. They ended the conversation by dering they had no choice. If they didn''t get food soon, they''d starve to death.

    They then argued about bringing ''those'' people. The scientists had felt pity for the people not allowed in the base due to not being able to give supplies as offerings to the base and had taken them along. Theyter realized that although they were grateful, they were a huge burden. But they couldn''t just chase them away, thus the current situation where they were soon to starve.

    Sometimes, trying to take pity on people and helping them would backstab you. Although the people who were saved did not mean to, they inevitably did.

    It wasn''t my situation. I was nning to get rid of the regr people outter. After closing of the base from regr humans or regr ability users, I had people keep in their mind never to bring back unnecessary things. This included people.

    Mind wiping wasn''tpletely safe, they might remember things by a trigger. Killing was a much safer choice. So unless they had a special talent, they were going to die.

    It was cruel of me to separate my people and others and have such bias, but I wanted to keep a mindset that it wasn''t good if outsiders got ahold of information about our base. Even if they were weak, if all of them came together, it wouldn''t be impossible for them to take over.

    Anyways, currently, the guards didn''t want to keep quiet anymore and were joking around. The 8 guards were close buddies and nned to go for a drink after their shifts were over.

    "Chief, you want in?" a young guard asked as a joke.

    Guard 14 quickly smacked the young guard''s head and reprimanded him through whispers.

    "I have things to do afterward, so how about I pay for your drinks? If it''s Red Sky, I know the owner. And don''t be polite, drink as much as you want," I smiled.

    The young guard grinned and then red at Guard 14. Guard 14 coughed lightly and then gruffed, "Thank you, sir."

    The other guards had wide smiles on their faces as they began to talk about their daily lives and what they saw during their patrols.

    The group behind us was still quiet except for the tapping that they believed weren''t noticed by us.

    When we arrived near the base''s barriers and walls, I could hear frantic tapping.

    After the monitors identified me, we were let in without any trouble.

    Some of the group members were awed and let out gasps of surprise.

    The ability users and scientists were suspecting us now, but they didn''t have a choice.

    We entered the base and the guards escorted the group up to the office building.

    The tapping had all but disappeared as the group saw how advanced the inside of the base was, with the better technology and more regr-city like setting, not the devastating state of the apocalypse they were used to.

    "I will only talk to the representative," I demanded.

    The ability users were hesitant and looked towards the scientists. The scientists were looking towards one person.

    "I''m the representative."

    It was a grimy looking young man with shoulder-length messy hair that covered his face. He didn''t look clean, slightly malnourished even, but his voice was clear and confident.

    Something that caught my eye was that he wasn''t with the regr people. He was within the group of scientists. This person didn''t seem simple.

    "Alright, the rest can go take a rest and regroup tomorrow. Guards, escort them to Apartment 30. That ce has 2 empty rooms on floor 17. After that, you guys can go drink."

    Guard 14 and hisrades saluted and headed out. Guard 14 also knew my implied words, ''don''t let them wander around''.

    After sending them off, I acknowledged the young man in front of me.

    "I am the leader of this base, Shui Yu."

    I held out my hand.

    The young man shook my hand with a steady grip.

    He slightly nodded his head and the tousle showed his bright eyes.

    Smiling, he greeted, "Hello, I''m Xia Jiayi."

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71

    He had warm hands.

    "Nice to meet you. As a representative for the group, you must know some things."

    He smiled lightly and looked careless but dropped a bomb, "Yes, for instance, I know that we don''t have anything you want. You want the old fogeys though."

    I raised one of my eyebrows. This boy was smart.

    "It seems this will go easy."

    I smiled politely and motioned to the door of the office building.

    We waited in the elevator for a little while and got to my office.

    I unlocked the office by confirming my identity with my core device.

    Before I even said anything, the dirty boy sat down on the sofa andid back infort.

    "..."

    He didn''t notice my look of... disdain? Not really, I just felt this smart young man wasn''t well versed in mannerisms, quite like a young child.

    "If you''d like, I have a bathroom. You can take a shower and I can get you a change of clothes."

    "Ok!"

    So the young man went into the bathroom happily.

    I could hear the sound of water being turned on and quickly heard a yelp of surprise.

    I knocked on the bathroom door and asked, "Is everything alright?"

    "The water stung me! Why is it so cold!"

    "May Ie in?"

    "Yes!"

    When I came in, I saw that the showerhead was still spraying out water while the freezing youth was huddled up into a shivering ball.

    I tested the water temperature. It was indeed cold.

    Turning the knob for hot water, I tested it several times.

    "It should be good now. Please rotate the knob left for hotter temperatures and right for colder temperatures."

    "Ok! You can go now!"

    ...It actually felt like he owned this ce, not me. And I wondered why this person did not know how to use a shower. Was the method too old? Maybe he used the type with buttons to increase water temperature?

    I brewed some tea and cleaned the sofa that he got dirt on while waiting for him to finish his shower.

    Just as 14 minutes had passed, the water stopped. I heard a bit of shuffling and finally, the youth came out.

    He dripped water on the floor everywhere and shivered a little from the cold floor tiles.

    I immediately got him a pair of slippers and a towel to dry his hair.

    Xia Jiayi hung the towel around his neck and sat down on the sofa cushily once more. This time, he even crossed his legs and looked -well, tried to- overbearing.

    This teenager, who was probably about Xiao Lai''s age, was very strange. Either he didn''t knowmon sense or had immense confidence.

    Later, I would know that it was both.

    Xiao Lai was 16 now, so this boy was...?

    "May I ask, how old are you?"

    "I''m 15!"

    Apparently younger than Xiao Lai, but why would the scientists trust such a young boy?

    "I''m a genius!"

    ...Well.

    "So, Xia Jiayi, what ar-"

    I was cut off as the teenager asked, "What about you?"

    My smile was strained, but I replied politely, "I am 18."

    The boy started asking questions with a curious gaze

    Perhaps because he was so young, and near the age of my younger siblings, I answered them. I let down my guard so to speak.

    "Do you have siblings?"

    "Yes, three."

    "What are their ages?"

    "14, 16, and 20."

    "What are their names? Are they all weathers too?"

    "No, it''s Shui Bing, Shui Lai, and Shui Jing."

    "You have two sisters and a brother?" he asked.

    "No, two brothers and a sister. Our parents had wanted girls but gave up after three boys. When a fourth child was announced, they thought it was a boy and gave a manly name."

    My ex-parents, at least my mother, had believed in superstitions and didn''t check on our gender after they had named us. It used to be a bigger superstition back then, but due to technology, there wasn''t really a choice but to find out the gender of your child. So the least she could do, as she thought, was to name the child before finding out.

    Our name meanings, besides our surname Shui(Water), were all varied and without a theme. I knew a pair of siblings who had their names coordinated. Fan Wenbo and Fan Bowen. They didn''t like it and heard it often being called as cute.

    Jing meant Crystal or Sparkling, Yu meant Rain, Lai meant Future. These were all considered girl names.

    Bing meant Soldier or Ice. Quite a tough guy first name actually.

    Anyways, after I mentioned having two brothers and a sister instead of two sisters and a brother, as well as exining the name situation, Xia Jiayi had a confounded expression on his face.

    He stayed quiet and seemed to want to say something but kept it back several times.

    Seeing this, I started the conversation back up.

    "What does your name mean?"

    "My surname means Summer, and my first name means Auspicious one."

    He stayed quiet for a while after that.

    Seconds ticked by and finally, the boy seemed to find the words to say.

    "What do your family members do?"

    "Our parents disowned us and are now at one of the bases far away from our territory. My younger sister works as a martial arts tutor. My younger brother is an ability counselor at one of the academies here. And my older brother is now a stay-home dad."

    I asked a question this time, "What about you? Where is your family?"

    "I got separated from them. I was out on a trip when the zombie apocalypse struck."

    We made some more small talk.

    After a while, the young man started to look drowsy.

    We were probably not going to get to make a deal at this rate. I had talked too much. It was partially due to trying to sound the kid out, but mainly because I wanted to talk. Havingpany was nice. I didn''t have time to hang out with friends or family much now, so having a long talk was enjoyable.

    It was nearing morning and it didn''t seem right to put Xia Jiayi in the same rooms as his group members since they needed to not be disturbed. They would have to wake up in a refreshed manner to make proper attendance and regroup.

    Besides, Xia Jiayi was a regr human, he wasn''t a threat.

    So, I made the sofa go into its bed mode and going through familiar routines, got out a pillow andforter. They were washed frequently, and I hadn''t used them the past few days after itsst wash.

    This was my usual routine if I had too much work and couldn''t go home.

    Lyingfortably and all warmed up, the teenager went straight to sleep.

    I decided to finish up some work. The neverending pile was going to shrink. It was hard to put all this work on the other office workers as well, especially to Secretary Jing who worked very hard.

    By the time yesterday''s guards arrived with the group in tow, I had finished all the work for the next two days.

    There were a few files and folders left, but those were for the office workers and Secretary Jing to check over.

    I had already sent out a message to all of them, saying: "Good morning, everyone. After work today, please go home, have a nice rest. Tomorrow is also a day off."

    Xia Jiayi still wasn''t up yet, he only got a few hours of sleep, so I decided not to wake the kid up.

    To the guards, Imended their hard work and gave them the assignment of introducing the base to the group. I especially mentioned to show them around the research center. The pharmaceutical scientists should be able to see the benefits of the base after seeing it.

    A little whileter, a groggy sounding Xiao Lai called.

    "Yu Ge, where are you? Aren''t we supposed to go pick up Xing Xing?"

    Whether it was for better or worse, Xiao Lai seemed to ept that Zhang Xing was "alive" once more.

    "I have a situation here. Are you able to go pick him up on your own? If you meet any trouble, call me."

    "Ok, I''ll do that then! I''ll be off now!" Xiao Lai''s peppiness had returned.

    I hoped that Zhang Xing being an intelligent zombie with memories would help Zhang Xing feel better. But since zombies didn''t have emotions, it could backfire instead. Either way, Xiao Lai would learn something from it.

    The office was now full of people rushing about. If it weren''t for my office being soundproofed well, Xia Jiayi would have awakened the moment everyone rushed into the building without a doubt.

    I got out a decorated bag of butter cookies from a cab. The cab was full of such snacks and treats. They were all gifted by the employees here.

    I munched on them as quietly as I could and sat down on the sofa and stretched out my legs.

    While the sofa was in bed mode, it lengthened and I could sit with my legs out and not dangling.

    To paint an image, there was arger than king size convertible sofa bed that had a teenager sleeping on it. As for me, I had my back rested on the back of the sofa and was stretching my legs out. Xia Jiayi''s head was near my stomach as I was slouching a little. To exin better, it was like ap pillow moment with the personying down away from thep.

    ...That probably didn''t help.

    Anyhow, the rest of the morning was pleasant as I read webnovels that I had finally caught up to and ate snacks.

    Xia Jiayi woke up at about 11:30 AM.

    He didn''t speak and just rubbed his eyes.

    He raised his arms and stretched.

    He also yawned a silent yawn that had his mouth wide open.

    He then looked around at his environment and stopped his sight on me.

    "Good morning."

    "...It''s almost lunchtime."

    "Oh."

    He stared at the numerous snack packages inside the trashcan next to the sofa.

    "I''m hungry."

    "Ok, I''ll take you out to eat."

    The clothes I handed the teenager yesterday was a white shirt, grey linen pants, and ...underwear. They were all new. The teenager was scrawny but tall, near Xiao Lai''s height. He just had to roll up the pants a bit.

    They werefortable to wear and were suitable as pajamas and outwear.

    Xia Jiayi didn''t seem surprised by the advanced city-like atmosphere of the base anymore. Was he surprised in the first cest night?

    This kid was a little strange, but he seemed decent.

    We went into a buffet restaurant and the owner greeted us with a wide weing smile.

    She looked inquiring towards me as Xia Jiayi hurried off to pick out food.

    "Chief, who''s this youngster? His hair''s so long and unkempt. I heard that some outsiders were brought in yesterday, is he one of them?"

    Gossip sure is a powerful thing.

    "Yes, he is their representative. I''ll have to go visit a barbershop I guess."

    "No no, go to , remember the woman who cut your hair and even lent you a wig, she opened up a shop and doing well. She does great hair cuts for everyone. You know my son who''s one of the researchers here? He looked like a different person after she worked her magic!"

    Oh, there was that Aunty.

    "My son was her son''s friend, so she gave us a discount! I''m sure she''ll give you a discount too! Although you don''t need it!" the ownerughed loudly and smacked my back as if she was making a joke. Well, it was true that I had no worry about points.

    Oh, so this was advertising.

    Well, first, food.

    I already had snacks beforeing, so I only took two tes of the owner''s specialty dishes.

    Xia Jiayi, however, brought in 5 dishes with stacks that were more like hills.

    He did eat them all, a tremendous feat, but unfortunately, he all of a sudden retched and ran to the restroom.

    ...He had eaten too much and his previously starved body couldn''t take the huge amount of food. I should have advised him but I had been momentarily stunned by his huge food intake.

    After lunch, we headed out to a nearby park and sat down to rest and digest.

    Although Xia Jiayi hadn''t been surprised by the structure and advancements of the base, he was surprised to see people walking their pets.

    Well, people would definitely be surprised to see people walking butterflies, peacocks, lions, and other strange pets at a park.

    Before he could ask, I felt his stare and answered, "People are allowed to keep an animal or ntpanion if they''ve established a contract with them through a process simr to the red phase''s. Outsiders don''t know the method."

    This got his curiosity ready to burst out.

    "Well, after your group decides on matters, I might tell you. But, first, let''s go get a hair cut."

    The Aunty who had cut my hairst time really was the boss of . And she did give us a discount.

    She gave me a trim and admired my long hair that had now reached past my thighs.

    "It''s beautiful. How long are you going to grow it?"

    "Actually, I can cut it whenever I''ve just gotten used to tying it up."

    We were talking while Aunty was cutting Xia Jiayi''s hair.

    He probably got bored sitting there just waiting, so he wanted in on the conversation too.

    "You aren''t some immortal cultivator, why do you need such long hair? Just cut it to shoulder length or something! Isn''t it heavy?"

    Aunty sighed, "But it''s such beautiful hair."

    "I don''t mind. Could I get a shoulder-length hair cut then?"

    "Yes, but you''d better not regret it!"

    After she finished with Xia Jiayi''s haircut which in her words made him look like "a pretty boy idol", she started on mine.

    Xia Jiayi seemed satisfied with his haircut and his whole face could be seen clearly now.

    He really did look like a pretty boy idol. He had a nice smile and bright eyes. His eyebrows were nicely shaped and he had good skin despite the terrible conditions outside.

    As this was a salon, he was taken away by other stylists, masseurs, and others to be given the full treatment.

    By the time my haircut, which Aunty had worked very meticulously on, finished, Xia Jiayi was still somewhere in the salon.

    I looked in the mirror for a quick look and was satisfied with my haircut. Then I went to look for the teenager.

    ...The kid was in a bathrobe and getting a foot massage while wearing a cucumber face mask.

    He seemed to be enjoying this too much.

    For the rest of the afternoon, we ran around the city and went into lots of shops. I had been too busy to go around for fun, so this was a novel experience.

    Xiao Laiter sent me a text saying that he was staying over at Ge''s house. There were lots of pictures of my niece and a postscript of him saying that he''d exin Zhang Xingter. Ge had also sent a simr message about the stay-over, so I told them to have fun.

    Xia Jiayi and myst stop was the grocery store as I wascking some ingredients to make my signature hotpot.

    This time, Xia Jiayi remembered his mistake and ate in moderation. But his stomach was still impressive for eating a lot. His moderation wasn''t a moderation for regr folks.

    We yed video games after eating dinner and then washed up. I prepared a guest room and we said our goodnights.

    Right before he went into the guestroom, Xia Jiayi asked, "Shui Yu... are we friends now?"

    This kid sure was strange, but he had his good points.

    "Yes, we can be considered friends."

    "Ok! Good night!"

    "Good night."

    The next morning, the group had gathered again at the office.

    One of the scientists eagerly asked, "Have you twoe to a conclusion?"

    Xia Jiayi looked at me for less than a second and lied, "Of course."

    The scientist and others then looked down.

    They probably had other conditions to add after touring yesterday.

    Xia Jiayi also understood.

    "But there could be more conditions."

    The group looked happy and started discussing.

    Whew, one crisis passed.

    Everyone started talking at once and the office was full of talking.

    Suddenly, the door opened and Xiao Lai stood with zombie Zhang Xing behind him.

    "What''s going on here?"

    The guards knew of Xiao Lai, so they only looked and stood still at rest. But the others didn''t know so they became quiet.

    "I heard the rumors. They were true?"

    "Yes. But I have conditions, so nobody needs to worry about outsidersing in freely."

    "Ok, then after finishing,e to Jing Ge''s house. I need to talk to you about something."

    "Alright, go along now."

    After Xiao Lai left the murmurs came back.

    "Was that your brother?" Xia Jiayi asked.

    "Yes, my younger brother," I said with a smile.

    "Isn''t he supposed to be older than me? He seems so childish!"

    ...I wonder who''s the childish one here.

 Chapter 72: Xia Jiayis Life Story

    Chapter 72: Xia Jiayi''s Life Story

    Sigh, my n has had several changes now.

    Shui Jing got married and had a blood marriage contract done.

    And Shui Lai seems so childish.

    And the younger sister, Shui Bing is a martial arts tutor. I don''t want to be with someone stronger than me. Also, she''s taller than me!

    My only option, the best one in the first ce, is Shui Yu. He''s gentle, intelligent, and indulging, he''s the best choice and my only choice.

    Hehe, I didn''te here for some random reason in the first ce.

    I came to exact my revenge!

    For the back story, hmm...

    First off, I must tell my life story.

    My "future life", that is.

    I was born.

    Abandoned as a toddler, I grew up in arge orphanage.

    Then, because I was a smart child, I got picked up by a scientist after solving problems and a puzzle he gave me.

    When we got to our destination, I met other scientists and kids. They were from all over the world and were very smart.

    Compared to them, I was just a normal kid(since being a genius was the norm), just one of many, who got picked up to be an assistant.

    The scientist I was picked up by was an elderly man. He was a strange guy, obsessed with gics. He wasn''t like a father, but more like an uncle.

    He and others worked to make many projectse true.

    Several months after I turned 14, the apocalypse struck.

    Many people in ourbs were turned into zombies, but nobody besides them was affected.

    We had taken cautionary measures and had them contained when strange particles were found on their skin. Also, we wore gloves regrly so nobody touched a potentially zombified person.

    Of course, for the red phase, the people who had fallen sick from it were contained too.

    After it was found out that the people who woke up and were ok had powers, almost everyone began to start new research while continuing their old ones about this new phenomenon.

    We also grieved very much for the scientists and staff who had be zombies and wereter disposed of.

    Just like how paper can''t be turned back into wood, zombies can''t turn back into a human being. There were some hard feelings as the zombies were disposed of, but we knew that they weren''t the people we once knew.

    For some, we cremated them and cleared out a room to ce urns -well, substituted by sealed stic tubs- in. Others, we dissected for research.

    There were supplies and food left, plenty of it, enough tost us about 10 years, but it was determined that somebody should go search for more.

    More like they wanted a clear situation of the outside.

    Obviously, if they werecking supplies, they could just get out old supplies that just needed to be cleaned a little. And for food, there were plenty ofbs that were growing food and animals. Cloned meat was also tastier these days, so it would be ok!

    The inte, although cut off, was sessfully rebooted somehow and everything was going well.

    But the connection to the outside world had been cut. There weretvs that could be controlled from the base, but they wanted evidence and material. Besides, the renewable energy used to maintain thetvs and other monitors, wind/sun/water energy, also needed to have maintenance done.

    And my "uncle", being the gic scientist freak he was, opted me for the job.

    Thanks a lot.

    Anyways, I was sent out to the world, which I hadn''t been in contact with since I was... 6? 7? Now that I think about it, that geezer made an elementary schooler work for him! Childborws exist for a reason! And I was still 14!

    ...Ehem, so I received training from the guards for several months. Then some guards with abilities and I began our journey.

    We went to a lot of countries and never stayed in a ce for more than 3 days.

    I kept the scientists at base informed and the whole journey wasn''t too bad.

    Zombie avoidance powder(madeter), mini hydrone, and more gadgets were helpful.

    Since I had been an assistant/helper to practically everyone in theb, I was able to answer questions to their preferences.

    I also came back for at least an hour per week and brought specimens and other things back.

    The whole gig was easy now and I had gotten used to life being like this.

    One day, like some days, my group came into contact with some people.

    But this particr group really wasn''t friendly.

    To better exin, they wanted to kill me.

    Apparently, rumor had gotten around that I was the person behind the apocalypse. I mean, it does look strange for me to go through crowds of zombies easily and do other heroic feats, but this was just framing me tantly!

    After that, whenever I encountered a group of people, we ran away as fast as we could. Since I didn''t have powers, the guards carried me and ran away often.

    We were never chased actively, but the one time we were chased was ourst.

    You see, there were nicknames for every powerful ability user.

    And one of them was "Angel", Shui Yu''s older brother, Shui Jing.

    He used to help out others and was a powerful ability user who could fly. There were rumors about him being very filial butter chasing away his parents. It was found out that the rest of his younger siblings had died when he was away on a mission.

    He chased away his parents and then went on rampages, hellbent on destroying zombies and mutant creatures all alike.

    "Angel" heard that I was the one who had made the apocalypse happen.

    Thus, the chase began.

    Although he was said to be a straightforward person, he used all kinds of tactics on me.

    He used various abilities to set zombies and mutant beasts after me. Zombies I could avoid, using the zombie avoidance powder, but for mutant beasts, it wasn''t possible.

    Even majority of the guards died.

    For me, Shui Jing came to kill me personally.

    He didn''t say anything but straight up held me up in the air with one hand and choked me. He really was a straightforward man this time.

    And while choking me, he started off with his speech.

    I was still trying to breathe in air, so I couldn''t focus on his words, but I did hear one thing.

    "Because of you! Shui Lai was torn into pieces! Shui Bing was sold away! Shui Yu was schemed against! They''re all dead now because of you!"

    He kept on repeating that and I could only helplessly gurgle while struggling against the terrifying man whose eyes held such powerful grievance and anger.

    I was only 26.

    I had never roamed the outside world properly, being stuck inside all the time.

    When I was sent out, I only saw the shambles of what it once was.

    I had never had a proper family.

    I had never felt love.

    I had never felt joy.

    I had only one thing.

    Ever-urring thoughts of what my life was meant for.

    Philosophers who I knew always said, "There''s a purpose in life, whether it is to make a difference in the world or just exist."

    Maybe mine was to just exist and be a helpful assistant in the base.

    But I realized that there was also something I didn''t havepared to most people.

    A goal.

    A wish.

    A dream.

    What did I want? What did I want to be?

    They were always decided by others. And I just followed and epted.

    While I was being choked, while I was dying, I could only think to myself, "I want to change. I want to live."

    That may have been one of my wishes, but it was the strongest one.

    I guess I really wanted to exist.

    In the end, surprisingly, after such a long time of revenge(several weeks of being chased), Shui Jing let me go.

    I don''t know why.

    I wonder what he was thinking.

    Maybe he actually knew that I didn''t start the apocalypse in the first ce? But then why would he have chased my group? Anger? Revenge?

    I don''t know, the human mind is a strange thing.

    Well, I had escaped death.

    My guards and I quickly returned to the base.

    I had been sent out for missions since 14, had spent 12 years outside doing biddings of the geniuses at the base.

    When I came back, nobody wanted my job. Even the guards didn''t want to go outside. Their payment had been food and supplies, but they quit, saying, "We''d rather starve to death than be associated as the start of the apocalypse. We''ll do our jobs, but not outside of the base."

    From then on, nobody went outside of the base.

    I had no use anymore, so I was supposed to be an assistant again.

    But I decided to do something else.

    Do my own research!

    Now, I had been a fantastic assistant and knew everything the researchers here knew. I had enough experience too.

    Everyone said they changed their opinion of me as I began to work around the base everywhere.

    Not a normal kid(remember, geniuses are normal). A rather special kid.

    With knowledge and experience, I set out to do my own thing.

    Building a time machine!

    There had been a scientist who had turned into a zombie and was eliminated. He had been working on this project for many years.

    He was renowned for providing ideas for a hyperne and was also working on a teleporter as well.

    The teleporter and time machine were both his life goals.

    Since I had been his assistant, I already knew the parts that were done and the parts that needed progress.

    After making and solving theories, proving them right, with the help of engineers, we built a time machine.

    The time machine could only return to the past, and it couldn''t take your body physically, only your mind.

    So, there really couldn''t be any test subjects, because if one did go, the future would change and it might result in no time machine at all.

    I set the date to the day I met this "uncle" of mine and entered the machine.

    Next thing I knew, I woke up with a terrible headache.

    The result was somewhat unexpected.

    The time I had spent in my "past life" were all remembered, but my mentality was of my 6-year-old self.

    So, it''s kind of like, a 6-year-old gets this dream of his future self, and acknowledges that things in the dream are going to happen, but he''s still a kid so he doesn''t know what to feel?

    Terrible description, but that was basically it.

    The 6-year-old me couldn''t hope toprehend the stress and emotions of my 26-year-old mind.

    Right now, I am a 15-year-old, and I feel like a 15-year-old. I just happen to have another self''s memories and feelings in my head. That doesn''t mean I''m the same.

    For the rest of my back story, since I had gone back to the day where I met my "uncle", I stupified him with my extensive knowledge I got from my other-self.

    I got adopted and spent 9 glorious years of being the base''s boss. They all had to beg me to get some of my knowledge. I was revered, adored, and showered with care. I had bodyguards because nobody would allow any harm to me. I was kept in the base and wasn''t allowed outside just because they found me so precious.

    The me in my "other life" knew how to do things, and I had memories of doing things like cleaning up, cooking, and other stuff, but this time I didn''t have the experience. Of course, having the memories served useful, but it was like watching videos but not being able to do it.

    When the apocalypse started, the quarantine and everything else went the same as before. And they started to discuss of sending a person outside.

    This time, I volunteered myself.

    There were outcries.

    They wanted to send anybody else but me.

    I threatened them with blowing the whole ce up.

    Teehee, I had installed bombs everywhere. And besides that, as a precautionary measure, I had viruses coded onto every device that would destroy all the data from researches.

    And I could activate both of them at any time.

    So, they reluctantly sent me with a lot of bodyguards.

    They asked me why I wanted to go out.

    I replied honestly, "For revenge!"

    It was fun seeing them so confused.

    I was a different me, but I did have the other me''s memories.

    In other words, I wanted revenge for my other self!

    This Shui Jing would definitely have to be punished! Muahahaha!

    And I had the best revenge method in my mind!

    There was an assistant I knew when I first came to the base.

    I asked for the best revenge method.

    He was a young man and was in a state of mourning as his girlfriend had broken up with him.

    He told me, "You know, love hurts the most. I mean! Why''d she have to break up with me?! I gave her the most expensive clothes! Jewelry and shoes she wanted all became hers! Am I not handsome enough? Don''t I care for her a lot? What''s with her?"

    He then went on about all the stuff he did for his ex-girlfriend and began to cry his eyes out.

    I was disgusted by him sobbing with snot flying.

    I took a long look at his disheveled figure and his dirty room.

    I dered one thing in my mind.

    I will never be like this man.

    Love makes people stupid. It hurts, so why do people go so far for it?

    I left the young man left to his own sobfest and kept the lesson I learned in my heart.

    Even after 9 years, I had kept it in my heart. Especially after the young man left the base as his work progress became nonexistent.

    This Shui Jing, I would exact revenge on him in the most painful way possible!

    My bodyguards and I flew to China on an improved mini-hyperne andnded near a city.

    My bodyguards were pretty strong as they were all ability users and I had taught them methods to strengthen their abilities and techniques for each ability.

    We came into a base and I ditched my bodyguards.

    Well, ditch isn''t the right word.

    They knew where I was going and I could make theme find me any time.

    I had a tracking device installed on my back. I couldn''t even feel it.

    I found a group of people who were nning to escape the base and went with them.

    They were apparently escaping because they were being forced to work.

    I wanted tough but held it inside.

    It was the apocalypse, who cared if they were forced to work? As long as they lived with good amodations, weren''t people happy?

    Sure, maybe these pharmaceutical scientists thought they were bigshots and couldn''t die. They were nothingpared to the people at my base!

    They even brought along some people who were normal humans out with them, as if they took pity!

    I, Xia Jiayi, being the great person I am, acted perfectly.

    I acted sympathetically and "ditched" my bodyguards and led the group to the mountains, the nearest shortcut to another base.

    We traveled quickly during the day and stayed hidden during the night to avoid zombies and other creatures.

    The mountain though was burning hot during the day, so we traveled in the night.

    And then we got found out by Shui Yu.

    I was only traveling to gain some news of Shui Jing, but who knew I''d find news of him so suddenly!

    I really am awesome, heh.

    But even if I did find out where he was, my n wouldn''t work.

    The dude got himself married!

    Ugh!

    My Love-kills n was something I had been strategizing for more than 9 years! I couldn''t let it go!

    So I decided to set my targets to his family members.

    Shui Yu was a great person, an intellectual. His first impression was that of a striking beauty who was cold-blooded and aiming only for benefits. But as I entered his office, he saw me as a young child and put down his barriers. He was a good and kind person. I could see that he just wanted to make his base better.

    Shui Lai, after taking one look at him, it wasn''t good. He was so childish! And he was supposed to be older than me!

    And for Shui Bing, I found out that she was taller than the current me! I don''t want a girlfriend like that!

    Hm, sure, I''d grow up to be tall, taller than Shui Yu, but still!

    And Shui Bing was stronger than me! Even in my other life, surviving in the apocalypse and receiving training from guards, I was a normal human!

    My type isn''t a rash, stupid brute!

    Even if I wanted to exact my revenge n, I wouldn''t torture myself with such an unruly person!

    In the end, my best and only option was Shui Yu.

    Sigh, it felt bad to ruin a man who was such a nice person, but for my revenge, I''d do anything!

 Chapter 73: Journey

    Chapter 73: Journey

    The conditions were set.

    The old foge- ehem, scientists would stay here for a while and were to decide if they wanted to stay here forever.

    The normal civilians would be treated but sent away to another base. They would have their memories erased and reced.

    The two ability users were given the option to stay or leave. They would probably stay though.

    For Xia Jiayi, he really was a genius. The scientists'' worth couldn''t bepared with Xia Jiayi''s worth at all. He was given the option to stay, so he dly epted.

    The only additional condition for the outsiders was that they would not receive the zombie trial reagent. They would be regr humans or regr ability users, not like us.

    They had restrictions and couldn''t go to certain ces until a certain amount of time had passed. A "probation" period of a sort.

    The normal civilians were devastated and imed that they could be useful too. They said, "Those people outside are regr beings like us! Why are they allowed in and given powers?! We''re the same!"

    They made a huge fuss until I threatened to kill them instead. That shut them up.

    The scientists were afraid but hearing their escape story, they were brash and clueless about the dangers of the apocalypse. It was a wonder they survived this far.

    Of course, they were useful and could create and identify medicine, but I still had many other people like that working for me. Some were better and many had high prospects.

    These few scientists did have the prized experience, but if they were this stupid in the outside world... It wasn''t worth it.

    It was their choice to stay or leave, but if they made any mistakes, they would regret it.

    The two ability users had no reason to leave. Although they weren''t powerful, they could work as guides or spies if needed.

    The main reason they were invited to stay was that... they were people I recognized. One was a famous violinist and the other a famous conductor/pianist.

    You might call me stupid, but as a fan, I just had to save them. I handed them core devices and input my address and saved it.

    "You''re wee toe anytime and take an instrument. I have a music room. There are also orchestras in the base and they have many renowned musicians. Please feel free to contact me if you have any needs."

    Yes, I was extremely biased. Even if they weren''t ability users, I would have wanted them to stay. I had heard their performance once for a duet, Moto Perpetuo by Paganini, although it was simple, the speed was iparable and each note was crisp and clear. The violin had sounded yful while the piano had kept it in check by sounding amodating. It was a splendid simple performance.

    I was busy, so I didn''t get to see all of their performance or get to go to another one, but their musicality had stayed in my mind and I recalled it sometimes.

    Them being ability users had be a great excuse for me to single them out.

    Anyways,stly, about Xia Jiayi, just the boy being a genius was good enough. But him being cheeky and childish made me want to take care of the child.

    He had qualities a normal child his age should have, also unbounded self-confidence. He was a little arrogant but had the right to do so.

    My mind wandered back to my past life.

    Ge was a strong young man who was stern and looked out for us always. He wasn''t gentle but you could tell he cared for us. He wasn''t like this life''s Ge, besides that he cared for us.

    Xiao Lai had been a slightly recluse boy who had been bullied. He was angsty, shy, self-ming. This life''s Xiao Lai was narcissistic, confident, and bright.

    Xiao Bing... She''s the one who has the biggest "change" happen. She was such a shy, feminine, gentle, calm, quiet girl who kept to herself. She was dependable and headstrong although she was all that. This life''s Xiao Bing was headstrong, stubborn, brash, blunt, tom-boyish, loud, spoiled, etc... Theplete opposite. But they were both lovable in their own way.

    Xia Jiayi, although a stranger, reminded me of my siblings. And seeing the at first dirty, scrawny kid, I felt the need to take care of him.

    Sigh, I was weak to children after all.

    So another day passed by, a day filled with documents, appointments, meetings, and more documents. I also filmed a live stream concerning the matter of outsiders. The people on base all had some degree of xenophobia, and I had to say that these were my orders. I wasn''t asking them anything, I had all the power to let them in. The most I did for usatory sayings was to reply with, "I will not let them have a chance to use a zombie trial reagent".

    Having people is good. Having amunity is good.

    I kept on reminding myself of these two thoughts.

    I had been ordered around, forced to do work, and had gotten no sleep at all these days. Exaggerated, but it''s what I felt. They didn''t order me around, but the pressure from everyone''s expectations was immense.

    At worst, I''ll throw out anybody that I dislike. But that''d be tyranny.

    Ahhhh... I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry.

    Stress was getting to me.

    It was just like the author''s stress levels after several weeks of little to no sleep plus 4 all-nighters in a row,ter beginning to see hallucinations again.

    Huh? What did I just say? I can''t remember, well anyways, I wanted some rest.

    I had to take responsibility for starting the base, but it really was tiring me out.

    I was calm and collected. I had to be.

    But I was worried about the future, how it would change after I influenced the present.

    I wanted to abandon all this honestly. But I also didn''t want to tear myself apart from the base. Maybe it could be connected to the analogy of a student leaving home for a college far away.

    ...It really was confusing.

    Sigh, I felt the need to take a break.

    So Iined, rather whined, through incoherent mutters, and Secretary Jing noticed.

    "Chief, why don''t you take a vacation? A real one? Take off your core device and enjoy 2 weeks off. I''ll make sure nothing disturbs you. Besides, everyone''s got the hang of work and are doing everything quicker these days. We''re trying to make this base like a country where everything exists, of course, it''s difficult. But one person shouldn''t shoulder this alone. Please trust in us and have some well-deserved rest!"

    My heart felt a bit warm and I couldn''t help but sh a grateful look.

    Other co-workers popped in behind Secretary Jing and chipped in.

    "Yeah, Chief! We''ve got it covered, this base was made as a sanctuary, nobody should feel stressed! I mean, it''s not like we''re the ones out there suffering from zombies! Also, if you''re disturbed by expectations and the pressure from it all, just go have a vacation outside! Didn''t you say you wanted to travel the world before? You should do that!"

    Another person rebutted, "The world doesn''t look like how it used to..."

    "But the nature part should look better now, right?"

    "Guess so. Well then, Chief, how about you take a break outside the base?"

    That actually wasn''t a bad idea. I could pack a few necessary items and go on a journey. I knew how to thrive even in deserts, I''d be fine.

    Secretary Jing suddenly put up a strained look on his face, "...On second thought, Chief, please carry your core device around. We''ll find you through locating your core device and send a group to escort you back. We don''t want you getting lost after all."

    ...Oh. Well, yes, that was indeed a little worrisome. That would do.

    "Alright, I won''t go out of the country, I''ll just roam around thend and seas. Can you notify my family members that I''ll be gone? Also, if you have any trouble with work, contact Xiao Bing, I''ve taught her some things and she''s unexpectedly good at this kind of work."

    "Ok chief, have fun!"

    My office was the top floor, so I could easily walk up the stairs to the roof.

    I brought out my raven form and jumped down.

    It''s truly a glorious thing to feel worries and stress stripped away. Of course, it woulde back in 2 weeks'' time, but I didn''t want to brood over it right now.

    I flew home and packed some snacks I would eatter. Everything necessary was thrown into my space and stored away in the house there.

    All set.

    I wrote quickly on several post-it notes for Xiao Lai. They were of warning to zombie #37, or Zhang Xing. I believed that there wouldn''t be significant trouble, but it was just in case.

    [If zombie #37 acts out, take its nucleus.]

    Sounds fairly normal, right? But it meant, "Destroy the zombie if it makes any trouble."

    Besides that, I also reminded him to eat his meals properly and such. Ordering takeouts were ok, but you shouldn''t eat greasy foods, etc, etc.

    Now I was truly prepared to take on my journey.

    I turned my core device off and stored it away in my space.

    I went through the barrier''s identification, came down the mountain and walked delightedly on this blistering, hot temperature.

    With water used as a shield against the sun''s bright ways and light mist keeping me hydrated, I walked.

    It had soon be lunchtime when I arrived in a city. I don''t know which one, and it wasn''t familiar either.

    Zombies roamed in the buildings and didn''te out. It was hot for them too. They could actually shrivel up, and that wouldn''t be good for their mobility.

    I happily hummed a tune from one of Ge''s songs that went viral.

    I brought out a chair, table, utensils, a bowl of rice fresh off the rice cooker, and several side dishes.

    This was in the middle of the street.

    But nobody was around, so I didn''t feel all that embarrassed. Only zombies were watching after all.

    After enjoying my meal, I took out a camera and snapped some excellent pictures of zombies and their setting. They were quite the models. Very impressive.

    I didn''t like or hate zombies. They were victims. But then they brought on more victims, that was it. Of course, being human, I didn''t want to be like them in my past life. But as an ability user who went through the zombie trial, I wasn''t afraid of being near them, they couldn''t infect me after all.

    None of the people at base were afraid. They just found zombies to be a little disgusting and as Shane put it before, "Ugly".

    They liked zombies for their nucleus, they didn''t hate zombies.

    They would probably hate humans more.

    We were privileged and the regr humans and ability users were obviously less. So many of them did despicable things to survive. People who were privileged understood that but didn''t like such behaviors, they thought themselves to be better.

    Although it would be different if-

    ...I was worrying about useless stuff again.

    I was on vacation, I had to stop thinking about unnecessary things!

    Whew, alright, the most I''d worry about would be souvenirs!

    Oh, what should I bring back?

    -------

    Meanwhile.

    Where''d he go!

    My target!

    I was going tomence my n today!

    My n! Gone wrong again!

    Ugh!

 Chapter 74: B-bad guy?! QAQ

    Chapter 74: B-bad guy?! QAQ

    As I wandered around the first day, some parts seemed familiar while other parts not so much.

    For example, that tower in the distance looked awfully familiar, but it was apany building that existed in almost every city.

    I wondered if anybody still lived around here. Probably not, it''s been about 2 years now. It''d be a miracle for people to still live around zombie-infested areas.

    Unless they were in a nomadic group like the one in my previous life. Or if the city was taken over by a strong group of ability users. But thetter would need numerous ability users, which in itself would cause plenty of problems.

    The zombies had mostly moved away. They were always in search of humans after all.

    If arge group of people, with powerful ability users, came into a nearly abandoned city, it could work to their favor I suppose.

    There had been cities like that. Where one powerful ability user with other ability users under them would rule over a territory. Some ''territories'' were to keep people safe, while others did unspeakable deeds in them, only indulging in gains and pleasure.

    I was going to roam around, but it would be nice to see what the others outside of the base were progressing in.

    For example, Mo Yun''s father''s base was small in size but growing rapidly. Consisting of soldiers, they brought in and protected many citizens. They had many ability users as well. With equipment made by us, they had no chances of an infected person getting in.

    It was the least I could do to help my friend''s family.

    Anyway, this city was mostly empty. Cars abandoned, no electric lights, only asional shuffles from stray zombies made sounds.

    It was strange to see a ce that was filled with so much noise, lights, and people be deste. But it had been a sight I was used to.

    Humans weren''t solitary creatures, this I understood well.

    I began to miss having living organisms around. Even that unruly arctic fox of mine. I had it ced in the zoo and asionally went to see the foolish creature jumping around, trying to catch a drone. It even nted its whole body onto the ss several times.

    Maybe I could go to a safe base or hang around with a nomad group.

    But I probably wouldn''t be able to fit in.

    I went into my space for a while. I read a little, cooked myself lunch, and trained.

    When I came out, the sky was a few shades darker. A mild shade of greyish blue, it was about 5 PM.

    I ran and up came another city. Strangely, this one had poorly made walls and light inside buildings.

    I could hear some sort of music and people.

    There were zombies hanging around the walls but they couldn''t get in.

    Perhaps this was a base? Or what could it be?

    No matter, I was a little curious. What kind of ce was this?

    It was getting dark and more zombies had started to arrive.

    The walls couldn''t keep them out, as they had been made up to maybe 4 meters. The zombies climbed on top of each other and made their way over.

    So of course, as any human in their right minds would do, people arrived and started knocking over zombies. It was a cute sight, to be honest. Imagine a bobo doll repeatedly getting up after a child pushed it over. The small child would surely get annoyed.

    The zombies kept on rising up and the humans had to keep pushing the back.

    I say humans, because if they weren''t, they should have used their abilities already.

    I focused on the figures repeatedly pushing away at the zombies and realized that their statures were small. They were children.

    Really, what sort of ce was this? They actually trusted children to deal with zombies?

    I didn''t ask ''how could they be so cruel'' or ''kids don''t deserve this''.

    In my past life, children were a burden. Unless they had abilities and could help out with fighting, they were baggages that only parents who felt the need to care kept around.

    In a normal case, they were traded for something, sold essentially. Worst? There were plenty.

    As food ran out, cannibalism came about. Weak people who couldn''t gather nts to chew on or kill a mutant creature to roast some meat went about catching other weak creatures to eat.

    I was weak to children, but that was only because I had the power to protect people. And having taken care of my younger siblings for a long time, I was prone to taking care of younger people.

    But in my past life, I had avoided children. I wasn''t courageous and I didn''t want to expose my space abilities.

    There were powers to enve people, mutants, and zombies. I didn''t want to be a ve. I didn''t want to risk any chance.

    I was selfish, I still am, but at least I have more options now.

    One thing was sure about this ce. It wasn''t a safe base.

    It was most likely a small territory that had ability users, a lot of them.

    By a lot, it didn''t mean they would have thousands, it meant at least 30.

    It was already very dark, so I had no qualms about using my raven form.

    I flew as silently as I could and circled around like a bird of prey to spy on this ce.

    It was like a vige, several small houses all around with one big building. There were a few men, mostly women, and lots of children. In the center was a huge fire. They were using zombies instead of logs to keep the fire going.

    The whole ce seemed organized. There surely was some kind of hierarchy.

    It didn''t seem like a good ce, but I was curious and wanted to know what was going on.

    Quickly and suddenly, I doused the huge fire with water.

    Sizzling, smoke rose up and the people below started to yell and scream in fright.

    I descended. I changed into my arctic fox form, it had the best night vision.

    Everyone was running about and looking for a source of light.

    Somebody finally lit up a fire from a few matchsticks and held up a wooden stick. It looked strangely familiar... Oh, it was a table leg.

    I didn''t know why they only had this one source of light. Were they stupid?

    I hid in the shadows as they lit up the huge fire source again.

    Only the adults were around the fire. The children stayed far away.

    The apocalypse came with the weather going to the extremes and climates changing for the worse.

    The night was freezing and day swelteringly hot.

    These children were shivering as they piled together. The smaller children stood in the middle, surrounded by warmth, while the older kids shielded them.

    Although this world wasn''t great, it was always nice to see that there were some forms of care left.

    Some adults stood up and went towards the kids.

    Grabbing them roughly, several of them were taken away.

    The adults were all women, it seemed the men of this ce were being kept by these women too.

    I shook my head as I knew that these women were probably sexually abusing or abusing the chosen children. As soon as they got into a building where nobody else was, I used my air ability to hold them in ce. Children were held in ce as well, just in case they made a suspicious yell or scream.

    There were so many kids here, you couldn''t tell who was who. They were also dirty and had long messy hair.

    On an impulsive thought, I doused the fire again.

    I used my special ability and saw the short future. I saw a child being dragged out and wrapped in ropes onto a pole.

    ...These unscrupulous adults also practiced cannibalism.

    Then, I turned into a child that looked about 8 years old. I flexed my fingers and stretched. I hadn''t been in my child form for about a year or two. Last time was when I was apanying Little Blue to school as a hidden bodyguard.

    Undercover Agent Shui Yu, ready to go! I smiled to myself and a childish giggle came out. Oops, quiet. Maybe my mentality also became a bit childish?

    While the fire was out and they were struggling to find a me again, I huddled near the kids.

    I squeezed in and the kids without any words let me.

    They stared at me tantly several times but didn''t say a word.

    "I, I''m here to bring you guys out." I don''t know why I stuttered. Maybe I really have turned more childlike. I used to stutter as a child in my past life.

    The kids didn''t look curious at all, they gave me onest look and turned their attention away.

    I gave a huff and hugged my legs.

    Soon enough, a child was dragged out. It was one of the older kids, maybe about 12 years old.

    It was a young girl that looked frightened but didn''t dare to yell or cry. She didn''t struggle and was carried away.

    I had only waited this long to see if this territory had any decent people I could maybe give a hand to, or be allies with. I ould work with evil people, but for those who ate of their own kind, it was always an uncertainty. Killing was fine but to eat humans was another matter. At least, I always thought so.

    I quietly stood up and stifled the surroundings, literally. Everyone was stopped and the only thing moving and making noise was the huge fire.

    It crackled and whipped at the sky.

    Sigh, the world isn''t a great ce, but seeing it always made me feel sad.

    The wind blew and howled as it felt sharp enough to cut your skin.

    The warm surroundings turned ice cold and the fire was struggling to keep itself together.

    Wham! Crack!

    The doors banged open and some of them broke hinges. The windows, made of flimsy thin stic casings, shook and rattled as if they were about toe off and fly away.

    I wasn''t angry, well maybe just a little, but mainly I was tired and annoyed. Why did people do this kind of stuff?

    I was abused by my mother in my past life, I knew what it felt like to have been hated by your parents. These children lost their parents and still had to suffer through this. I only got to see them pushing off zombies, but who knew what they were put through during the day?

    Oh, I still needed to experiment with some new techniques.

    For example, sucking the air out of a victim.

    I could''ve tried it out on an animal, but it was more useful to see something done on a human or zombie, as they were going to be the main targets in the future.

    I had experimented on zombies before with this killer move and it turned out pretty sessful, it slowed down their movements.

    For humans, it would probably be a lot different.

    And it was.

    It wasn''t gruesome per se, but it would be mild to describe them as mummies.

    Ability users, like all zombies and mutant creatures, had a nucleus. But since their powers were usually focused on a few subjects, theirs had color, indicating what type of ability it would be most useful for.

    For example, a blue nucleus was usually best for water abilities, as it meant that a creature with water abilities had stored their powers within it.

    Nuclei were stuck in our heads, and if they were taken out, one would lose all their power. Some, if not many, died from their nucleus being taken out.

    ...I just realized something.

    I thought I was some hero.

    But do I now look like a bad guy, mummifying these viins? QAQ

 Chapter 75: A fulfilling day

    Chapter 75: A fulfilling day

    Besides the wind making wooshes, there were no other sounds.

    After the bad guys were mummified, I picked out their nucleus all together.

    I''d take a look at themter and give them to researchers to study or maybe hand them over to capable people wanting to increase their powers.

    I faced the kids, now all gathered together and standing up.

    "I-I-I-"

    ...Why was I so bad at speaking when I was young?!

    But the children didn''t say anything and stared at me.

    "I-I''m here to save you guys..." my voice became a whisper towards the end.

    This mentality wasn''t good, I wished that my body would turn back into an adult. But that took a day at the very least.

    For five minutes, it was quiet. The wind blew and some kids started to shudder.

    It was starting to get cold even for me. Truly, the apocalypse didn''t have great weather or climate.

    Finally, one small child got up and ran towards therge bonfire.

    Dirty-faced, skinny, small, this child couldn''t be more than 7 years old.

    But despite his condition, he looked very happy.

    He spread his hands and scooted as close as he could. He held his hands out to the fire. This kid had a genuine smile on his face.

    Quickly, others got up and sat around the fire.

    I silently put up an air barrier to block the cold air.

    As it got warmer, the children started to fall asleep.

    I kept watch all night, adding oxygen when the fire was fizzling out.

    Some stayed awake. They were vignt. Even 3 year olds...

    The next day started with a bright blue sky with clouds drifting slowly.

    I stretched and took out some fruits for breakfast.

    Noticing the hungry gazes, I set out 10rge sheets on the ground and set up a huge pic.

    "L-let''s eat."

    Everyone dived in so quick and in an instant everything was devoured.

    And they still looked hungry.

    This saddened me. I knew what it was like to starve, but for children to know it at such a young age, it was sad.

    "I-I''m not a bad guy. I-Ie from a ce where everything is, is still like how it was b-before the apocalypse..."

    =.=

    Their silent stares made me feel extremely nervous.

    "I-I can take you there... A-are you guys willing toe with me?"

    Of course, it was the best choice, but I couldn''t just take them forcibly.

    Now, I heard them talk.

    Not to me, but to themselves.

    "He gave us food. He should have more."

    "We can''t take care of ourselves. We should go."

    "This kid seems foolish, he should be telling the truth."

    "Yeah, would such a powerful person not have the strength to do anything he wants?"

    "It''s a bit shady. Maybe he wants to use us for experiments?"

    ...These were just a few of the conversations going on.

    God, these kids were mature.

    One older girl, designated the leader as that group came forward.

    "Will you provide food and shelter?"

    "Y-yes."

    "Will your ce have adults who do the same things as they have done?" she pointed to the sack of skins.

    "U-uh, no. We have rules andws."

    "Ok, we''re going to follow you."

    "Ok! I-I''m Shui Yu!"

    "I''m Yu Yunxin, nice to meet you."

    I continued, telling them my n.

    "I-I have a space. And it''s big enough. There''s arge house in it and it''s like a real world. Um, so when you guys go in, please don''t bully the animals. There''s a lot of bathrooms and you guys can wash up and change clothes. There''s lots of food too, so you guys can eat that. If anything goes wrong, you can yell for me."

    I rambled a bit, but I got the point across.

    I would travel back while they stayed in my space.

    I''d have to cut my vacation short, but this was very important.

    If needed, I could take another vacationter on.

    One by one, each kid got in and they silently marveled at the small world.

    Whew, now that that was done, I needed to find my way back.

    Of course, I wasn''t going back by myself.

    I didn''t know the way anyway.

    My core device, this wonderful & ingenious tool came in handy at times like this.

    There was a navigator, but I was still bad with those.

    So the best function for me was the call function!

    Diriring. Diriring.

    The call connected.

    "Hello? Chief?"

    "Hey, Secretary Jing, I''m bringing some people back home. Can you prepare a building for them? And can you send some people to bring me back?"

    "Alright, I''ll send a team of 4 over. I''ll prepare the building. Pleasee back safely, although it would be impossible for you not to," Secretary Jing chuckled at his own joke.

    "Oh, and Chief? You sound different, are you in your child form?"

    "Sigh, yes I am. I stuttered in front of the kids I''m bringing back. I was so embarrassed..." my face turned hot even thinking about it

    "Haha, well, that would be a sight to see. I''ve contacted the team and since your location isn''t too far, they''ll get there in 5 hours. Please wait until then."

    "En, thanks."

    So I waited for 5 hours. It was awkward to talk with the kids, so I stayed out and caught up on webnovels.

    While I was excited that the main character in one of my favorite novels had finally shown his talent, 4 hours had passed and the team already arrived.

    They didn''t look too surprised at my child form. People knew about it, and Secretary Jing had probably told them.

    The four of them were panting heavily, wheezing even.

    "*chokes* C-chief, hello! We came as fast as we could!"

    I could see that, but there was no need for that...

    "Thank you," I shed them a smile.

    These four team members were all speed ability users.

    "We can take it easy now. You just tell me the directions, I''ll get there in 20 minutes tops. Just tell me when to stop or change directions."

    And truly, in less than 20 minutes, by using "Stop" and "That way", we were able to make it.

    "Haizz, Chief, we''re speed ability users but we can''tpare with you at all!"

    "If you guys can raise your levels by digesting nuclei, that''d be great. But just training also helps a lot. If you need any help, contact my sister, she''s training people, and it''s been sessful apparently.

    One of the four raised their hands like they were in school.

    "Yes?"

    "She''s my teacher! Miss Shui is very good at teaching! I''ve improved so much over the past few months!"

    We chatted about things going on and we reached the topic of jobs.

    "These days, some people areining, more like whining since the jobs they worked for aren''t necessary in the base. The scientists, entertainers, and office workers are fine. But some already in their 40s or older don''t know what to do."

    This was an issue. It''s not like people couldze around all day. They wouldn''t get ie, they wouldn''t be able to live to their fullest.

    "I''ll make an announcement by the end of this week. Zombie reagents actually make our lives longer, about 200 years. So they have lots of time to find something to do."

    The barrier was reached, so I went through the identification process.

    Diriring. Diriring.

    It was Ge.

    "Ge, do you need anything?"

    "No, I just received word from Secretary Jing. You''re back? We''re going to celebrate Shui Bao''s 100th day in 11 days. I was hoping you''d be back from your vacation soon, and you''re already here, so I thought I''d let you know."

    "She''s already that old?"

    I heard Geughing and smiled.

    "Anyways, Xiao Lai is preparing almost everything along with my mother-inw. They get along so well together, sometimes I wonder who''s the son here. Well, they get along like bosom friends."

    "It''s nice to hear that, I''ll definitely be there. Thank you for inviting me."

    "Mhm, alright, bye then!"

    What a great day!

    I let the kidse out when we were nearing my office.

    I said goodbye to the escort team and we squeezed into the building.

    Now they all looked clean and sharp.

    Later when I checked the space, I would find that the food pantry held nothing. Nothing was spared.

    Secretary Jing was busy with something, so an assistant was sent to us.

    The assistant led us to one of the buildings and calcted.

    "There are 61 kids, this apartment has 5 floors left, so that''s 10 rooms. Do they require a caregiver? We can call up some volunteers."

    "That''s good. And for volunteers, they should be teenagers. Not loud or outgoing, but gentle. Maybe boys who have younger siblings."

    The kids most likely had trauma. Towards adults and towards women.

    "And we can just pay them. I have enough points and nuclei."

    -----------------

    Soon after the children were situated, I went back to the office to catch up on anything I needed to know about.

    Secretary Jing said that there wasn''t anything major and that after some big issues were dealt with we wouldn''t have to work as hard anymore.

    "...There might be one more big issue I want to add."

    "Oh? Do tell. Guessing you, Chief, you want to make another base?"

    "Yes, for the refugees and those who I bring in from now on."

    "Are e going to ept all of them?"

    "No, it''s selfish, but I only want to invite children or those that have potential. For those with powers already, depending on their character, we will invite them to live with us."

    "Then will we turn everyone else away?"

    "Yes, we''ll give them enough supplies ad erase their memories. There might be special circumstances, but that''s my n."

    "Then it''s set, I''ll call up some workers. This is a good opportunity for the job issue. The construction workers wereining."

    "We also have to build a prison right? Let''s talk about that with the representatives in charge of that..."

    ----------------

    The day was over, I was at home cooking.

    Xiao Lai was happy to see me and gushed about Ah Bao''s 100th day.

    He had so much nned, I didn''t know if there would be enough time in a day to go through all of them.

    "By the way, Di Li Feng asked for a favor from you."

    "Oh? Is his show doing well?"

    "Yeah, and the rest of his idol group members are dong well too. Uh, and this favor has to do something with the show..."

    "Don''t tell me-"

    "He wants you to be the target single. You''ve heard about it from Jing Ge right? For his show, Di Li Feng needs a famous person! But so far, it''s been minor celebrities. The show doesn''t necessarily need a happy ending, but he needs a big hit!"

    "Um.."

    Then a familiar voice cut in.

    "Can I participate too?"

    Xia Jiayi...

    "Yeah! Dating is still ok for adults and minors! Only sex is illegal!"

    Xiao Lai was enthusiastic.

    "It''s going to be fun! Xia Jiayi, you don''t have anything to do right? And Yu Ge, you don''t have much work left, I heard from Secretary Jing. The big deals are almost done with, get them done in 2 weeks, then we can celebrate Ah Bao''s 100th day and then go filming!"

    Di Li Feng had done a lot for Ge.

    He found a job for him, was a good senior, and even brought Ge to the hospital after realizing that he was about to give birth.

    The request was a bit strange, but it was doable.

    Xiao Lai and Xia Jiayi looked expectantly at me.

    Puppy eyes tactic...

    "Ok, I''ll do it. I owe him a lot after all."

 Chapter 76: Ah Baos 100th Day

    Chapter 76: Ah Bao''s 100th Day

    A busy few weeksmenced.

    The new deals were well-received and although some of them needed revising, they only took a couple of days. Intense days of no rest...

    Everyone in the office celebrated as they would now get less work and not be too much of a corporate ve anymore.

    We held a party, drank booze, and sang our hearts out at the karaoke station. Secretary Jing couldn''t hold himself together so his wife came to get him. As for me, nobody could beat me in drinking.

    The sky turned dark, the party was over, I walked home in a happy mood.

    The next day, with a slight hangover, I made myself some congee for a hangover cure and took a cold shower.

    Feeling refreshed, I took half an hour to pick out an appropriate outfit for Ah Bao''s 100th day.

    When I arrived, the venue was already full of people.

    Ge and my brother-inw had picked out a venue since Lu Han''s family both wanted to have Ah Bao''s 100th-day celebration at their "humble home".

    Ge didn''t mind but worrying that there could be implications of choosing one side over the other, he decided to rent a venue.

    The venue wasrge and fancy, it was mostly formunity recreation activities. Imagine aunties square dancing in a ballroom court...

    Anyways, it was a good choice. The venue was decorated with red everything. Red flowers, red ribbons, red balloons, etc...

    There were already a lot of people here. For instance, Xiao Lai and Lu Han''s mother, Irene.

    They wereughing and chatting delightedly, so much that Lu Han''s father, Lu Ming, was brooding.

    The situation was funny and cute, but a jealous man was never an agreeable man, so I quickly took Xiao Lai away.

    When I looked back, Irene was consoling her husband by holding his face in her face and smiling at him.

    ...nevermind, she was teasing andughing at him.

    Ge was talking with Di Li Feng.

    They noticed us,

    "Where-" I barely got half of the sentence out before I was enthusiastically interrupted.

    Di Li Feng grabbed my hands and held them tightly.

    He smiled brightly as he thanked me, "Shui Yu, thank you so much! The show will be fun and not tiring at all! You won''t regret it! Thank you!"

    I gave a half-hearted reply. I hoped nothing would go wrong.

    Di Li Feng soon went away to go look for his boyfriend.

    Ge smiled at me and patted my back.

    "Thanks for doing this. I owe a lot to Feng Ge."

    "Any time. He did help you out as a senior and friend."

    "Mhm."

    "So, where''s Ah Bao?"

    Ge put on a strange look on his face and soon burst out inughter.

    "Did you know, Lu Han bought more than 200 outfits for her? He''s trying to decide which clothing is best. Ah Bao''s 100th day is going to be casual, so she doesn''t have some kind of special outfit picked out. Lu Han should be bringing her right about now."

    And lo, a familiar figure hurriedly rushed in with a baby in a poofy red dress.

    The event started and the highlight of the event soon came on.

    A row of objects was ced on a long table.

    Pen, brush, medicine, gun, yarn, book, fur, all sorts of items were ced.

    Definitely a mix-mash of everything, not your typical 100th-day ceremony.

    Ambient music yed and the atmosphere turned warm.

    The chattering was loud, but as soon as Irene got up on the stage, all turned quiet.

    "Thank you, everyone, foring to celebrate my granddaughter''s 100th day ceremony! We''re going to let her choose future ''goal'' objects and after that please enjoy the entertainment provided!"

    Everyone pped politely and soon, each guest who had provided the table with an object came by to stand next to the long array of tables.

    I hadn''t particrly picked out an object, but I did have things in my space that could work.

    Meanwhile... Xiao Lai had put at least 20 items on the table and made a small mountain with them.

    There all sorts of items on the tables, and I didn''t want my item to be the same as others, so I could only go for a simple choice.

    Money.

    Um, in this case, seeing how Ah Bao had on sunsses for some reason, it was strangely easy to imagine the baby fling money into the air like a tyrant. Money wasn''t much now in the base, but some people still wanted it to throw around. It also turned out to be a useful prop in movies.

    Ah Bao was an energetic child, more so since she had parents who were ability users and zombie trial receivers. Maybe since her parents both went through the original zombie trial, she was stronger than children born to zombie reagent receivers.

    Anyhow, even with a long line of things that would tire a normal person out, Ah Bao was still lying in Ge''s arms calmly, sucking on her thumb.

    With her sunsses on, she really did look like she was in charge here. A boss baby?

    Festive music sted out and the people who hadn''t brought in any items, ckers, cheered.

    Ah Bao didn''t even look at some items.

    She didn''t pick anything until she got to Xiao Lai, the 8th person.

    Xiao Lai was excited and Ah Bao was happy to meet him too.

    She generously picked out 3 items by tapping at them.

    Those 3 items were a crystal orb, a fancy set of small bells, and a picture book.

    After that, Ah Bao did certainly pick out more.

    For instance, Ah Bao picked up: A gun, a ss dip pen, a fluffy coat, a watch, a microscope, a softball, etc.

    She picked out so many things that it was more like picking out concubines waiting to receive favor rather than selecting a wife.

    Well, it''s nice to say that Ah Bao did pick up my stack of money.

    Ah Bao also picked out Xiao Bing''s item.

    Xiao Bing had been busy these days, onlying home to sleep, so I had thought that she wouldn''t have been able to make it.

    But she did and her item was more well-prepared than mine.

    It was a delicate ss sculpture of an elusive form. It looked like a cube that had burst out, melted, shattered and turned into bubbles. If it wasn''t for Ah Bao, I would have certainly wanted it.

    Xiao Bing was certainly well-prepared.

    She knew that Ah Bao liked shiny things and things that had a nice texture.

    So of course, without any suspense, Ah Bao had chosen the ss sculpture.

    Ah Bao was also happy to meet her aunt and patted Xiao Bing on the cheeks.

    Xiao Bingughed and asked, "Is Ah Bao choosing me too?"

    Her voice cracked.

    I took a good look at Xiao Bing to realize that she wasn''t in that great of a state. She looked haggard but bright. This probably was the use of water abilities, making her skin look supple when she had dark eye circles.

    She was too young and I should''ve stopped her from working...

    She was still only 14.

    I had been too harsh and strict since the beginning and failed to realize that my siblings were still young. Xiao Lai was still 16, Ge was 20. They were younger than I was when I had died.

    Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing were still children, minors.

    I wish I could go back again and raise them up normally.

    Actually, could I do tha-

    Cheers interrupted my thought and I put my focus back on the main character of this party.

    I tried to focus on the celebration, but I couldn''t anymore.

    If what I thought could actually be possible, that would mean I could go back and fix any mistakes again.

    But what if this new life was a one time use? Or a limited quantity use?

    I didn''t want to take chances, but if something bad enough happened...

    There was no telling what I would do.

 Chapter 77: Di Li Fengs Matchmaking Show!

    Chapter 77: Di Li Feng''s Matchmaking Show!

    Today was the big day!

    Film day!

    Of my very own show!

    Well, I wasn''t the main actor, just the producer, but it was still very exciting!

    Last night, Ying Xuan(My one and only~) nned a surprise for me and we had a great night(no further exnation!). He said sorry that he couldn''t be there to watch me but he hoped for me to seed and that he would advertise it around.

    I woke up extra early today!

    I had heard from Shui Jing that Shui Yu usually woke up at 6 AM.

    So, I made the crew get up earlier!

    We arranged ourselves together, rubbing our sleepy eyes open, and arrived at the Shui family mansion at 5 AM.

    The camera pointed towards the grand mansion as we inched closer.

    Then it focused on my phone and my long fingers as I texted Shui Lai to open the door quietly for us.

    I whispered into the film mic, "We''re going to go find our first main character for this season!"

    One of the double doors opened and Shui Lai was still rubbing his eyes and wearing pajamas.

    "Hi... Umm, if you wanted to find my sleepy brother, you''ve missed it already."

    "?!!!" was added for the caption.

    "You mean... Shui Yu''s already awake???"

    "Yeah... these days, he has to days off so he gets up fairly early to catch up on missed out training..."

    "Fairly early?! Can this even be called fairly early?!" Iined and cameraman #2 swerved around his camera to show the pained looks on the crews'' faces. Some of them acted exaggeratedly, holding up their coffee or shoving their watches onto the screen. The more extreme ones copsed onto the ground and cried out, "Can''tpare to the great chief..."

    "Anyways, I''ll take you to the training room."

    Without any choice, we dragged our tired bodies downstairs and marveled at the incredible interior of the mansion.

    I''ve been here several times, but this house was amazing as always, and Shui Yu liked to change around the ce sometimes, so there was always a fresh look that wowed me when he did so.

    Before we were even close to the training room, we could hear loud thumps.

    The whole ce seemed to tremble with each loud noise.

    Honestly, it was terrifying.

    "Don''t worry, that''s just Yu Ge."

    "It feels like the ceilings will copse!" I eximed.

    "The ce is pretty well made, but if it does copse, we can remake it anytime, no worries."

    That''s not the point...

    ...At least the captions wereing along well.

    When we got to the training room, Shui Yu warned us to not go in and rather wait outside the room and observe from the zombie-proof ss window.

    "Why zombie-proof?" I asked.

    "It doesn''t break as often as tempered ss or bulletproof ss," was all we got.

    Camera #1 shot a clear scene of the event happening inside.

    There was a huge lump of... a metal, rock, wood mix-mash?

    Shui Yu exined, "Yu Ge''s training his control so that he doesn''t identally squish stuff unless he chooses to. He''s hitting rock right now. Oh, and he''s analyzing the volume of rock so that he can get rid of it all without damaging other materials. He also should be trying tond the rubble in a particr order."

    Certainly, it was a strange method of training but it looked like an action movie or an animation.

    The gant hero pushing against the ground and walls to strike at the obstacle quickly and making gales as he flew around... how cool!

    If Shui Yu hadn''t cut his hair, it would have looked even cooler. Long hair trailing behind and cutting through the air... how cool!

    "I''m going to re an airhorn now, so cover your ears," warned Shui Yu.

    BIUBIUBIUUUUUUUUU------

    Shui Yu who was in the airnded gracefully as we all covered our ears and cringed.

    Shui Yu saw us, smiled and give an OK sign.

    "He''s going to wash up and change, do you guys want to go in now?"

    My crew headed in to see what was left of the mix-mash obstacle.

    Cries of awe rang out as we got to see and touch the huge mass in person.

    It was also amazing and surprising to see the word, "(Wee)" spelled out with the rocks that were kicked out from the obstacle.

    "W-were we being expected?" a crew member carefully asked.

    "I don''t know what Yu Ge''s thinking either. Ah, but one of his random abilities is to predict the future or seeing a possibility. But I don''t think he used it, because his side effects aren''t showing."

    "Side effects?"

    "He turns into a kid, like that, you know, the old anime? Detective Cone?"

    "You mean Detective Conan?"

    "Yeah, that one."

    While Shui Lai introduced us facts about Shui Yu, Shui Yu had already washed up ande out.

    He was wearing a white t-shirt andyered a Blue striped shirt over it. For the bottom, he wore pale blue overalls and converse shoes. His essories were small ck crystal studs, two silver nes, and a watch.

    In fact, although this look seemedfortable and easy, I recognized the brands and wasn''t shocked to find out the expensive total price of the whole outfit.

    Shui Yu, looking casual with his half ponytail and rxed smile, felt too shiny for us.

    "May we get a self-introduction from our main character?"

    "Yes, hello everyone, I''m Shui Yu, the Chief of this base."

    "You can''t give us just that! Tell us your age, birthday, favorite food, etc.!"

    "I''m 18, my birthday is June 4th, and my favorite food is chocte, I have 3 siblings and one niece."

    As we still had a lot of time over, Shui Yu let us rest in the living room and served us tea. We dwindled around for about an hour and exined the concept of the program, what type of events would happen, and what to watch out for. Actually, Shui Yu probably didn''t have to watch out for anything, seeing how strong he is...

    "Alright! We''re all set! Let''s head to the first arena where we will meet our contestants!"

    It took a 10-minute drive to get to the "Arena".

    There weren''t many cars, people usually rode the high-speed rail or walked. Students were seen with bikes or skateboards.

    Yes, I said students!

    Students were already arriving in school and I could already see some of the participants as they had on different uniforms.

    We hid in our van until the first bell and then sneakily headed towards the broadcasting room.

    When we got to the broadcasting room, we interviewed Shui Yu.

    "We are now at OOO high school where all our contestants will fight for your hand! How do you feel?"

    "Well, I feel... quite excited. It''s my first time doing something not work or training rted in such a long time."

    "Uh, anyments about what you hope will happen?"

    "I hope I do at least find people I can be friends with. Oh, there is a friend who is participating."

    "Yes, there indeed is, and the audience will find out who that mysterious person ister! But you should be hoping to find love! Looooove~ ...Ehem, to sum it up,there are 32 participants. This first round, we''ll eliminate half of them."

    I continued, "Some are students and some are adults, but they are still in the range of 15 to 27 in age. Shui Yu, do you prefer mature people or immature people?"

    "Hm, I like the idea of being spoiled, but I''m not used to it, I''d like to do the spoiling," Shui Yu answered with a half-moon smile.

    "Then, which do you prefer? Men or women?"

    "Well, as long as I like them and they like me, I''m ok with anyone."

    "Well, we''ll see! There are a lot of people vying for you, but we''ve picked the top of the cream!"

    "There was already a selection?"

    "Yes, of course!"

    It took a lot of nucleus points to have a variety show, drama, or movie made. They were rarely made and would only be created when someone sponsored with a tremendous amount of points. Crowdfunding did work but was nothingpared to investments made by sponsors.

    So as soon as a new show, drama, movie was announced, lots of people applied for casting.

    Especially celebrities who weren''t as famous.

    In this base, only the most famous, good looking, and talented people were celebrities.

    At first, there was an influx of celebrities since the base had let a lot of famous people in, but because of that, there was fiercepetition.

    The basics for celebrities became tougher and many could not continue with their previous jobs due to bad attitudes for one. That''s one good thing that happened.

    Celebrities who weren''t famous or were only trainees didn''t have much of a chance to show off, so many applied to shows like mine.

    As the MC, I auditioned everyone, whether or not they were celebrities. Besides letting Shui Yu''s housemate Xia Jiayi in through the backdoor, everyone else was picked from more than 500 auditionees.

    But really, many of the auditionees applied with just saying "Shui Yu". These people like him way too much...

    But Xia Jiayi would''ve made it in even with an audition though, he looks good, he has a distinct personality, and he''s extremely intelligent. He said he entered for fun, but I suspect he likes Shui Yu!

    He has the qualities for an actor and is somehow still naive enough, creating a contrast that the audience would love.

    Anyways, enough about how the entertainment industry works.

    "There are 32 contestants, some students, some workers, some celebrities, and they are all interested in you! But really, it''s your choice, so we prepared many events to narrow down to the best of the best!"

    Shui Yu smiled gently and replied, "I''ll look forward to it."

    "But first, we''ll introduce our contestants!"

    I motioned for the first person to step forward and exaggeratedly announced, "Contestant #1 is..."

    Hehe, to be continued~

 Chapter 78: Mission #1

    Chapter 78: Mission #1

    All 32 contestants were introduced one by one.

    They didn''t get to show off anything besides their good looks I suppose.

    Shui Yu introduced himself, "Hello everyone, nice to meet you. I''m Shui Yu."

    I asked him with our #1 question requested by subscribers.

    "What''s the one thing that has to be in your partner?"

    He pondered for a while and then replied, "Strength."

    Concerning how he was most likely the strongest -THE STRONGEST- on Earth, there had to be rifications.

    "How strong? We can''t expect there to be someone even more powerful than you!"

    Shui Yu chuckled, "Well, of course, a sparring partner would be nice, but I hope they wouldn''t be weak mentally and physically. I don''t want a damsel-in-distress waiting for me to arrive and solve all their problems. I''m a busy person and I''ve got my share of problems."

    "What a great answer, especially during these trifling times, during the apocalypse, we really need this type of fortitude!"

    After getting a unique but strangely pleasing answer, we focused back on our mission.

    The props manager quickly handed me several cards.

    "Alright! On these cards, there are missions written! And today, you get to decide the fate of these contestants! Your first pick is...?"

    Shui Yu reached out for the one closest to him.

    Shui Yu looked confused.

    The corner of my mouth twitched.

    That card was supposed to be forter...

    Oh well.

    "Ehem...What luck! There will be two missions going on at once! Hurry, pick 2 cards!"

    This time the results were normal.

    Perfect, we had an even number of people, they could be split into teams.

    Suddenly, Shui Yu asked, "Do I participate too?"

    Oh dang.

    Uh, change of ns.

    "Yes! You''ll be chasing them down!"

    There was an outcry from the participants.

    It was to be expected of course.

    "But! You can''t use your abilities! Close them! Using only an average human''s senses, you''ve got to track them down and spray them with paint! You can only hit each person with 3 paintballs and they''re out by the time they get hit all 3 times."

    Shui Yu nodded and smiled like an excited kid as he was handed paintball ammunition and gun.

    It was a cute but terrifying sight. Especially for the contestants...

    "As for you contestants, you can be safe when you find your scavenger hunt item or don''t get hit with 3 paintballs until time''s up. Good luck!"

    For the sake of the contestants, we decided that there should be a 5-minute head start before Shui Yu was "released". Ehem, bad word choice, it should be "introduced to the game".

    Each of the contestants got a paper slip and would have to go into or around the school to look for their designated items.

    I shouted behind them as they ran off, "Remember! If you survive this, you''ll get to introduce yourselves!"

    This no doubt increased some people''s paces. They must be the fame-seeking ones.

    In the 5-minute head start, a few people had already found their items.

    They came out through the school gates with relieved smiles on their faces and waited for theirrades toe out.

    Quite a few came out early. 6 people in fact.

    The first was Xia Jiayi.

    This kid was definitely a genius.

    The cameraman who had followed after him described to me what had happened.

    Xia Jiayi''s item was .

    Xia Jiayi had quickly run into a math ssroom, wrote several equations on the board, and asked the dedicated math teacher to trade their n sheet for the few equations'' answers.

    Teachers in the base were top-notch teachers and they were all dedicated to their profession and subject. So of course, this math teacher eagerly agreed.

    The other 5 who came out early had either easy items or used their own means to get their items.

    The one person who had to use their efforts was a girl who had the random ability an ability most famous people had gotten after getting the zombie trial reagent. Shui Yu''s older brother, Shui Jing was a person who had it and the ability was very revered for only being in beautiful and handsome charismatic people.

    This girl''s item was .

    She had used her charm ability to get people to quickly write love letters for her.

    When she arrived at the gates, she was holding a stack of colorful notes.

    After the 5-minute was over, Shui Yu looked over at the contestants who already passed, and smiled.

    The brief smile was barely captured by the cameras before he set off.

    That smile... was probably meant for Xia Jiayi.

    They were friends and it would be bad if Xia Jiayi had been eliminated so quickly.

    Fortunately, the boy was smart and quick-witted.

    Anyways, Shui Yu had been released, I mean introduced to the game, so I now didn''t have much of an MC role.

    I watched through the other camera screens projected onto arge screen.

    The crew and I nned captions, sound effects, and how to arrange themter for this episode''s release. There was no need to worry about trantions since today''s technology had everything under control, gotta thank the base''s excellent programmers for that.

    Meanwhile, Shui Yu was chasing the contestants down.

    The crew, contestants who already passed, and I saw the case of a cat ying with its prey.

    The contestants used all sorts of abilities but they couldn''t escape Shui Yu.

    He was the one who knew most about abilities, random abilities, and how to use any of them to their fullest.

    Whenever a unique ability he didn''t know pop up, he would even go assess them with a team of researchers who had perception abilities. There was a record for all the abilities we knew so far, and it was Shui Yu''s job to check it for revision and add new information.

    Sigh, he truly was the most powerful.

    Even toning his abilities down and being a regr person, he had enough physical abilities to shoot people with paintballs quicker than they could react.

    We lit a candle in our hearts for those who "perished".

    Soon, everyone came out.

    There were those with gloomy paint-covered faces, those with a relieved smile, and those who were just... there was no third type.

    Shui Yu came out with a satisfied smile.

    He probably forgot that this was a show for finding a partner...

    It wasn''t a survival game show!

    Well, probably.

    Out of the initial 32 contestants, only 16 had "survived".

    That was killing off half directly at the start!

    This program was scheduled to go for a long time, this couldn''t happen yet!

    So the crew and I took out our secret weapon, !

    was a series of fast-paced questions. Each eliminated contestant would be given 3 questions about Shui Yu, and if they answered all of them correctly, they would get to pass.

    Since even the public didn''t know too much about Shui Yu besides his face, this event would let us gain more support from the audience.

    Hehe, we were cooking up a scheme.

    Anyways, the questions were random and one might get all easy questions, medium questions, hard questions, or a mix of any.

    And in case the eliminated contestants truly didn''t know anything, it was all multiple choice.

    "Eliminated Contestants, are you ready?"

    With the reply of a hearty "Yes!" we started.

    "Alright! We''ll give you three questions and you''ll have to choose the right answer. Don''t worry, it''s multiple choice!"

    For the first eliminated person, the question was:

    "Shui Yu thought about being a _____ if the apocalypse didn''t happen. What is _____?"

    A. Teacher  B. Model  C. Designer D. General

    The answer was B, but the contestant answered D. Well, we all thought of him as powerful, I guess.

    For the second eliminated person, he got through all the questions.

    "How old is Shui Yu?"

    A. 18    B. 19   C. 21    D. 17

    "A!"

    "Correct!"

    "Shui Yu has how many siblings?"

    A. 1    B. 4    C. 3    D. 2

    "3, I mean C!"

    "Correct!"

    "What is Shui Yu''s favorite dessert?"

    A. Donuts  B. Caramel C. Tiramisu  D. Pudding

    "C?"

    "Correct!"

    Just like this, several contestants made it over. Whew, we gained back 11 people.

    But we had still lost arge amount from just the 1st mission.

    I hope that these contestants will be able to survive to the end...

    It would be bad if none of them could make it... because...

    I don''t want bad ratings!

 Chapter 79: Mission #2

    Chapter 79: Mission #2

    Ok, so, 27 people left.

    ...That wasn''t a satisfactory number, but nothing else could be done about that.

    We could only bid the rest of the colorfully sttered contestants that couldn''t make it goodbye. They each got a constion prize of a gift card to an expensive restaurant and a photo with Shui Yu.

    As for the ones that survived, it was time to feed them.

    It was lunchtime, and based on their results, they would get to eat what they wanted or leftovers. This way they would be more motivated to do better.

    First, they would finally get to introduce themselves and then get their portions.

    The person who had the best score was...

    "I''m Xia Jiayi, 15. I''m a researcher."

    Xia Jiayi''s introduction was short and simple. But the audience wouldn''t like it if they only got a few facts about contestants, so we asked him more questions.

    "You''re a researcher, but only 15. Why are you not in school?"

    "Because I''m a genius!"

    "Uh, moving on. What''s your favorite food?"

    "I like popcorn, ice cream, corndogs, candy-"

    "So, junk food. Why''d you join thispetition?"

    Although he was still an immature boy, he did answer seriously to this one.

    "To win over Shui Yu!"

    "Shui Yu''s preference is a strong capable person. But you don''t have any abilities. What will you do?"

    "Win him over with my charm! But I can always research on how to make a zombie trial reagent... Just kidding," Xia Jiayi said with a blinding smile. He really did look like a friendly sunshine neighbor boy.

    That didn''t sound like a joke...?

    I asked the other contestants normal questions, it was only Xia Jiayi''s question that was different because he was an outsider.

    Usually, our base citizens disliked outsiders, some even having xenophobia.

    Of course, Xia Jiayi wasn''t liked by everyone. There were plenty of people who spread bad rumors of the outsiders, even the kids that were brought in from a cannibalistic society.

    It was a cruel setting, but to protect ourselves, we had to go to such extremes. We have a safe societypared to the outside where people are suffering and doing their best to survive every day.

    Hopefully, through this show, more people would understand that outsiders aren''t harmful if they''re brought in by the chief. We had chased out plenty of outsiders, the ones who stayed were either talented or young. They could be of use to society.

    There was currently a huge discussion to whether allow outsiders to go through the zombie trial with the reagent or not. Everyone knew about it.

    This was just a few days ago, and now it had be a discussion on whether to make another base for outsiders to live in peace but note to our base.

    It got too out of hand, so Shui Yu had to reassure the public that this discussion was just an idea by regrizens. He didn''t take any part in it, neither his subordinates who dealt with makingws for the base. He instead diverted the topic by saying there would be a discussion for deciding the name of the base.

    With a hired water army, or more like die-hard fans of Shui Yu, the discussion was swept away. Anyizen that tried to go back to the discussion about outsiders and incite the public would be drowned by spammedments and wonders of what the base''s title would be.

    Sigh, this was getting heavy.

    It was lunchtime, after all. Destressing by eating isn''t healthy, but that''s what I did.

    Actually, Shui Yu was probably more stressed than me. I was just a person of the base, Shui Yu was the leader. How much more stress would have umted on him?

    The light smile on his face could be a real smile, but it could also be to hide his tiredness...

    I shook my head quickly to get rid of these depressing thoughts.

    Pa!

    I pped my cheeks to wake myself up and continued with the point system to decide which contestants got which amount of food.

    I shouldn''t worry about such things now, I had to be more concerned about my show!

    If I seeded, I''d gain status, my words would have some power, then I could help out in a worrisome situation.

    But right now, my fanbase was weak, I needed to gain prestige as the base''s top anchor!

    ---------

    After lunch was finished, -well, at least for me, some poorly scored contestants only got one youtiao stick- we were off to the 2nd mission.

    We borrowed a small clinic for this. The clinic wasn''t In much use anyways, so it was easy to borrow.

    Mission #2 would be an escape game.

    To make it interesting, it was a breakout game, butrger scale.

    The theme?

    Zombie-infested hospital!

    How exciting! Can''t you just imagine what these contestants would look like when scared? Will they scream? Will they jump back in terror?

    The public would have fun reacting to this part as well.

    Besides children and elders, everyone had gone outside of the base to gather materials or hunt down zombies and mutants.

    While some of them did bravely fight off any encountered zombies, many still tended to avoid them, even while knowing how strong they werepared to regr zombies.

    In this game, nobody was allowed to use their powers. They all had to downgrade themselves into regr humans. This game was all about brains!

    There were only 27 people left, and it was a big group.

    Expecting this, we had split the hospital into 4 areas.

    Since the contestants + Shui Yu could be split into 4 groups, it''d be 7 in each group.

    Originally, it would have been great to split them into 3 groups of 9, and then have Shui Yu be a boss zombie, but after the paintball mission, it didn''t seem right to torture the contestants again...

    So, that''s how this became.

    With a round of raffles, done by picking sticks with colored markings on the bottom when pulled out of a cup, everyone got into a group.

    Team A for some reason was full of men.

    Team B had 3 boys and 4 girls.

    Team C was Shui Yu''s group and had 3 girls and 3 boys.

    Team D was consisting of the girl who had the charm ability, Xia Jiayi, and 5 contestants who had almost failed in the first round.

    We would focus on all groups, but more so on Shui Yu''s. The contestants in his group had a chance to woo him over.

    Other groups looked rather confused about what would happen. Many of them were powerful ability users and could bring back many nuclei after hunting outside. They were likely doubtful about how this type of event could ever scare them.

    But nay, they don''t know the power of makeup, bgm, and setting!

    We had hidden cameras installed everywhere inside and I hoped to get some shots that could be made into expression packages, gifs, or stickers.

    Recently, there was a thing called "limiter" made. It was pretty useless, limiting your abilities to that of a normal human. And no matter how much you tried, you couldn''t gain your powers unless it malfunctioned or you knew how to unlock it.

    Shui Yu said it was good for training, so thus it was made, but training with just your body and sheer willpower was hard. Having abilities and strengthened physique and mind was such a cheat, but it was important to remember that without this zombie reagent cheat, we were useless and even weaker than the regr people battling daily outside.

    We lived toofortably. It was only through connections to the true chosen people of the base that many could live here. I mean, without us, only with powerful people and genius researchers, wouldn''t the base function better? We were truly a burden...

    But there was also the fact that people were solitary creatures. With only work on your mind every day, nothing was fun. Life is meaningless.

    Look at me, I''m providing top-quality entertainment right here!

    Without things such as shows, restaurants, karaoke, amusement parks, zoos, etc. these people would be suffering from boredom!

    Therefore, I was doing a heroic deed!

    There weren''t any jobs not appreciated. Although some of them are weird, and sometimes straight-up disgusting, they''re all necessary!

    Whew, I found a need for myself again, and my passion was now at full st, I could do this!

    ...Although, there wasn''t really anything to do right now. Not evenmenting...

    Well, I was stuck behind the scenes doing some editing and discussing it with the crew.

    Alright, onto Team A. Huh, they hadn''t even escaped their first room yet? Are they stupid? ...No, they were just thinking too hard about the code... You could just solve it with a simple rule for multiplying the given numbers and factoring the ones that weren''t prime numbers...

    Team B was doing well. At least they escaped their own cells. Ah, but they had ayer of flour on them? They must''ve pulled the switch that wasbeled "Do Not Press". Haizz, such unnecessary curiosity should be awarded proper punishment. A flour explosion is quite fitting.

    Team C... Well, they''ve got Shui Yu. Team C had already gotten to the room filled with hidden doors and locks. Wait, what??? You''re not supposed to just tear it open! Ahhh, we spent so much time making those props!!! Urgh, I''d rather not see this group''s shoot, it''s too damaging for my fragile heart...

    Oho, Team D was doing astonishingly well! They had already solved many clues, and had great teamwork! Xia Jiayi and some other fellow researcher persons were doing great and were conducting some great discussions about the plot of the setting and any clues! While the other team members weren''t cking off and searching the whole ce without letting even a speck of dust pass by!

    Well, this certainly would make a great episode to air!

    Today was another glorious day for Ding Li Feng, (future) top MC!

 Chapter 80: Shui Bings Love Troubles

    Chapter 80: Shui Bing''s Love Troubles

    Team A:

    It has been over an hour and a half, and we still don''t know how to get out.

    Whoever said math wasn''t needed after you finish school...e out!

    We just want to get out already...

    Team B:

    We were bombarded by flour every door we pulled open.

    Not a pleasant feeling or look.

    Just by breathing, we puffed out flour. It was that caked on us.

    Why was this happening???

    Team C:

    We''ve got the brains, we''ve got the brawns, no lock can ever stop us!

    With Shui Yu here, who''s already powerful even when his capabilities were reduced to a normal human''s, we were set to be out of this ce the first!

    But really, Shui Yu, please go easy on the zombie actors... I think they aren''t even approaching us now...

    Team D:

    We were doing extremely well!

    We had a lot of smart people in our group, and if we were one of them, we helped to find any clues!

    We have such great teamwork!

    Ah. But when zombies appeared, we all ran away screaming...

    -----------

    I watched the show that Yu Ge was participating in andughed asionally.

    These contestants didn''t seem that qualified to date my brother.

    I doubt they knew a thing about wooing somebody.

    Even I felt that I was more mature than the people on the screen.

    Being a mere 14-year-old, one would expect only puppy love and schoolwork, but it wasn''t like that for me.

    I was an assassin from young, and I had seen many targets'' lives.

    Many were "bad guys", those that extorted, cheated money, ruined others'' lives. That''s why I was requested to kill by the people who had been ruined by them.

    But others weren''t always like that. Some were only requested to be killed because they were the rightful heir, the CEO of so & so businesses, business partners, allies, or were regr people who didn''t know they even offended someone.

    As a rule, we had to tell our targets who had requested to kill them. Some would be resigned, others angry. A few were disappointed.

    Since this was a money making business, we offered chances so that if the target could pay more than what was initially offered, they could live and we could even kill the requestor for them.

    If they were both rich, the price would soar up, and everyone but the final victim would be happy.

    It was a dog eat dog kind of world, and if both of them were adamant about getting back at each other, the business would go splendidly well.

    But if the victim didn''t have enough money, too bad for them.

    Assassins had a job, they couldn''t be weak-minded.

    Of course, I pitied a few of the victims, but I still killed them so I have no right to feel bad for them.

    I''m no longer in that field, it''s illegal in the base. It was even before when we lived under the government, but now I''m just listening to my brother.

    From my days of being an assassin, I knew people''s minds very well. Their hidden desires, hatred, love, all kinds of emotions.

    I thought with seeing such dark parts of humanity, I would nevere to love outsiders. That is, people outside of my family members and long-time friends. I could make friends, but I would never be able to trust them fully until I knew them for a couple of years.

    But I realized, there are good humans. Ones that are either innocent or know of the bad things but do their best to not be bad.

    At school, there were many kids of my age that didn''t know a thing. They were raised up preciously and were spoiled with love and affection. They thought I was cool and made me their boss.

    Those were the good times.

    After the apocalypse struck, many of my friends transferred over to the base. They lived well even here. They had lost most of their status and possessions because of the apocalypse, so they had to live like normal people.

    But they actually wanted to live a normal life, stay in school, make friends, be looked after by their family. They didn''t want to be like me, already going outside to hunt down zombies, teaching others how to stay alive outside, how to fight, what to do in emergency situations.

    They didn''t know that much anyways.

    So without even meaning to, they cut off contact from me.

    We weren''t on bad terms.

    They were thankful that they coulde here with connections to me.

    But they wanted to live as normally as they could while itsted.

    Anyways, I was talking about love.

    Love isn''t easy. Even if you want to deny, it''s not possible sometimes.

    You get angry at yourself for liking a person. You think it won''t work out.

    You know what type of person they are, their ws, their talents.

    You want to know even more and even when you can''t memorize math equations, you memorize everything about them.

    You say you got over them but when you see them again, the feelinges back instantly.

    You can''t stop it even if they reject you.

    ...I wasn''t rejected. It''s just a theory.

    I was losing sleep over this thing called love.

    It was probably just "like", it''s not that strong to call it love and it''s not even reciprocated.

    Yet.

    ...I don''t think I''ll confess though.

    It won''t work out.

    My "crush" has low self-esteem.

    He knows Yu Ge. He''s quite afraid of him still.

    He had a bad mental state, but he''s a lot better now. He had lots of therapy done, and he''s mostly cured.

    Even if he isn''tpletely cured, I''m pretty sure I can stop him. He''s not as strong as me.

    The fact that he has technically dated several girls before, does bother me.

    But it doesn''t matter, they''re probably all zombies now anyway.

    Here''s a hint: My crush used to go to school with Yu Ge. He was his dorm mate actually.

    It''s not Shane or Andrei.

    Even if I liked Shane, he''s gay. Also, he''s shorter than me. No prejudice against short guys, but if I get a boyfriend, I''d prefer someone with a simr height or taller. He''s fast but his jabs and punches aren''t as good as his kicks.

    Andrei''s too... he''s too stiff. He''s like one of those ascetic monks. Also, he looks tough, but he''s not really that strong. He only knows how to fight, but in a real fight, he doesn''t adapt well.

    I''m their teacher though, so I''ve got to drill in techniques to them.

    My crush is also my student.

    I''m too young to be considered a date, but I look mature.

    My past assassination jiejies said I''d grow up to be a hot sexydy.

    I think I did.

    Not to be narcissistic or anything, that''s Lai Ge''s role.

    I don''t look old for my age. Mature? Yes. But old? No.

    I was taller than many boys of my age, I had good proportions and was fit.

    I also had an abundance of, you know what.

    ...Chest.

    So, I was confident in my looks.

    Everyone in the Shui family had good looking faces.

    That''s the only good thing our ex-parents left us.

    My crush liked pretty girls. So, I should be in his range?

    Or am I still too young?

    I knew Yu Ge would disapprove if I had a rtionship with this guy.

    Plenty of people had asked me out, but this guy interested me.

    Jack Larson.

    Yes, it''s the guy that killed and tortured pretty girls to see what expressions they made.

    But he''s turned for the better.

    ...Well even if he hasn''t, I''m strong enough to take him down a thousand times.

    Sigh, this was probably a bad idea, but I couldn''t help it.

    I''ll ask him to reject me.

    Would that work?

    I hadn''t slept properly because of these recurring thoughts... I should get it over with soon.

    I finished sorting out my thoughts and stretched.

    Time for ss.

    -------------

    I ended ss early and told Jack to stay behind.

    Shane wanted to eavesdrop with a mischievous smile and eyebrow wiggling look, but thankfully Andrei dragged him out with an excuse.

    Holding a clipboard with a nk sheet of paper attached, I said, "I''m going to do a survey on everyone. You''re the first."

    "...Alright?" the confused look was really cute...

    No cking off!

    "Anyways, family members?"

    "Mom, Dad, and a pet dog." A dog? Cute.

    "Are you going to school?"

    "Yeah, I''m majoring in Photography."

    "Do you have social interactions with anyone?"

    "Friends, teachers, and neighbors."

    "Have you had any rtionships in the past few years?"

    "...No. You know my situation." Yeah, perfect for getting close to you while everyone else stays away!

    "Do you n to get married?"

    "Is this part of the survey?"

    "Just answer it. No harm done."

    "I hope to, but I don''t think I can."

    "Why''s that."

    "A lot of people know what I''ve done. I''ve killed and tortured. I wouldn''t ever do that again, but there might be a possibility..."

    "Hm, considering that I was an assassin, you aren''t really anything."

    "Ha, are you trying to console me? You''re doing a terrible job. But thanks." When he looked up to smile, god, that''s the cutest thing ever.

    "So, do you have anyone you like right now?"

    Jackughed and asked, "I really don''t think this is a part of the survey!"

    "I''m just curious. I won''t tell others! I swear! I''ll even sign a contract and stamp, sign, thumbprint, whatever!" Desperate times for desperate measures.

    "No need, I don''t have anyone in mind currently."

    "Really?"

    "Really." Alright, n Get Rejected is in the trash bin now.

    "Then, would you consider me?" I asked with a roguish smile.

 Chapter 81: Ghost!

    Chapter 81: Ghost!

    I had a good day at school today!

    The rowdy bunch that raids my office for snacks and lunch actually brought me something!

    Although it wasn''t much, the donuts made my day!

    Also, the students I teach, Brianna and Alvaro, got ahold of their abilities now.

    Although they''re worsepared to regr students. I have no doubt that they can catch up if they practice diligently.

    I hum a happy tune as I got in my car, my lovely, and merrily drove home.

    I parked carefully, got off, and was still singing when I got to the door.

    What a lovely day! What a fantastic day! What a grand day!

    There was also the fact that it was a Friday, which made everything better~

    I don''t know why I was feeling so happy, but I just was~

    I was usually so handsome, but I looked better than my usual handsomeness today! I had a glow!

    The door opened smoothly and I froze.

    No lights were on.

    That wasn''t the scary part.

    A female ghost was standing in the living in a white dress.

    "Ahhhhhhh!!! Ghost!!!"

    I screamed out of terror and fell backward while swinging my arms around.

    I wasn''t superstitious, but ghosts... They aren''t something I can fight against!

    Did we have some kind of Taoist monk, shaman, priest, or some kind of person who could exorcise ghosts in the base? I needed to find one immediately!

    I was too young, too handsome, and had such a great future ahead of me, I couldn''t die!

    I shakily tapped on my core device and called for that brat Little Blue.

    He had connections. His family was superstitious and did things to umte merits or something. He''d know how to deal with this.

    "Yang Xiaoshan speaking, who is this?" came the now 8 year old''s voice.

    "Little Blue, d-d-d-d-do you know how to deal with ghosts?" I spoke in a whisper barely audible.

    "It''s you? What do you want?"

    "T-there''s a ghost in my house! Don''t you know any exorcists?"

    "A ghost? I''ve got some talismans, I''ll go over there right now. Is Zuan, I mean Shui Yu, over there?"

    "No, he''s still filming in Di Li Feng''s Matchmaking show... Hurry up!"

    "Tsk, alright. I''ll be there soon."

    Di-di-di

    He cut off and I ran outside the house and basked in sunlight. Ghosts didn''t like Yang energy right? Sunlight was said to have Yang energy. I''m also a man, I should have Yang energy. Wuwuwu, I wanted the evil entity to disappear already...

    Before I ended up calling Little Blue again for some assurance, the rustle of gravel made me look up.

    Lo and behold, a limousine.

    Whew, it was Little Blue.

    "So, what''re you so scared about? Aren''t you pretty strong?" the kid sneered.

    "That''s a ghost! Zombies and mutants are real, they have a physical form! Ghosts don''t! I don''t know anything about how to defeat one! I swear that female ghost is floating! I''ve done nothing wrong, maybe ruin some businesses, but I haven''t killed anyone through it probably!"

    "You''re such a wuss. Shui Yu isn''t anything like you," Little Blueined and motioned for his bodyguards toe out.

    His two bodyguards were really buff. Although I knew they were weaker than me, I felt soothed by having some meat shields just in case.

    And then came out a kid I hadn''t seen in a long time.

    Jing Shao, Secretary Jing''s kid.

    His heterochromia eyes never failed to amaze me. It was also rumored that when he used his luck ability, his eyes turned purple. I had yet to see that.

    "Hello," he politely greeted with a nod of his head.

    "Haven''t seen you in a long time, how''s your dad?"

    "He''s doing good. A lot of things have been finalized, so it''s been less hectic for him."

    "Good to hear that."

    "So, there''s a ghost?"

    I had lost all face...

    "...Yes."

    Little Blue got annoyed at all the pleasantries and made us hurry into the house.

    I stayed behind one of the buff bodyguards and took tiny baby steps.

    I almost screamed when seeing the ghost again, because she was closer.

    She had her back turned towards us and a creepyugh seemed to seep out of her.

    I shivered and hugged myself. This was too scary, I had huge goosebumps even forming on my back...

    Little Blue, with that arrogant, disinterested look on his face, bravely(at least to me) walked towards the ghost at a steady pace.

    His bodyguards, one behind and one at his side were pretty impressive too. They didn''t flinch when seeing the ghost and were at good positions to protect Little Blue.

    Jing Shao was behind me.

    Whew, the middle position was the safest, thankfully I was in the middle.

    Little Blue stopped a meter away from the female ghost.

    He stared at her back and said-

    "Bing Jie? What are you doing?"

    ...Ah?

    Bing Jie?

    Hahaha, that sounds a lot like my sister''s name...

    Shui Bing?!

    It wasn''t a ghost, but Shui Bing?!

    How could it be?

    My sister never wore dresses unless it was a big asion!

    No, I mean she didn''t even wear them at all!

    Even to Jing Ge''s wedding, she wore a sleek suit!

    She said skirts and dresses were too problematic, how could she be wearing one?

    "Xiao Bing, is it really you? Why are you wearing a dress?" I asked hesitantly.

    "And in such darkness? You, were you trying to prank me? I shouldn''t have told you I watched those old horror movies if you were going to scare me with such a tactic that can''t even scare a baby!"

    Little Bluemented on the side, "But you were scared."

    "...Shush."

    But the ghost, I mean, my sister, Xiao Bing, didn''t reply.

    ...Was it actually a ghost?

    I was just about to go ask Little Blue to go look at the face when she reacted.

    "Oh, Lai Ge. You''re back."

    I sputtered a little bit before properly getting out the words.

    "Xiao Bing! What are you doing?!"

    "Eh?"

    "Why are you going around dressed like a female ghost and scaring people?!"

    "...I look like a female ghost?"

    "Heck yes! You look like the one from The Ring, that drowned ghostdy that jumps out of televisions!"

    "I actually look like a ghost?" her voice became louder.

    "Yes, at least turn on the lights or something, you look freaky!"

    I started to shout at her in anger, humiliation, all kinds of mixed feelings.

    But my younger sister who would usually shout back at me and get into a brawl involving fists didn''t say anything back.

    I stopped.

    "Xiao Bing, why are you not saying anything back?"

    "Bro, I think you were a bit too harsh," Little Blue looked at me with a sympathetic look.

    What''s with that tone? What''s with those look? And bro? I''m no bro of yours!

    I was tempted to go visit Xingxing.

    I had gotten over him, and he was a zombie now. Zombie #37 actually.

    I asionally went to visit him and talk about all my worries and happenings.

    Of course, being a zombie, he couldn''t reply.

    But whenever he groaned or made a movement, I subconsciously felt like he understood me.

    It may just be my misconception, probably was, but it''s a really nice misunderstanding.

    He didn''t talk anymore, hisst time talking was when telling the story of his life in the room he was stored in before.

    And because of my ability to control zombies, I had him stay in our Garden''s Pavillion.

    It was cool and shaded, so if he didn''t want to bask in the sunlight, which wasn''t necessarily good for zombies, he''d hide in the shade.

    His main diet was nuclei, so I made sure to give him plenty.

    He leveled up a lot with that.

    Xingxing''s now level 39! Very powerful!

    And by using the nucleus detector mentioned in chapter 70, it seemed like he was going to breakthrough soon to level 40.

    "Lai Ge, do I really not look good?"

    Oh yeah, I should visit Xingxingter. For now, cate Xiao Bing.

    "Yeah. Obviously, I''m the best looking."

    Silence.

    "B-besides, you usually never wear dresses, it looks awkward."

    Silence.

    "Fine, I''ll take a look for you. Turn around."

    Sile- I mean, shuffling.

    The girl still had her head lowered and hair covered her whole face.

    "Lift your head up, let me see what''s up."

    But when she lifted her head-

    "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

    A chorus of screams rang out.

    All of us, me, Little Blue, Jing Shao, and the two bodyguards, all screamed high pitched screams and scrambled to get outside of the house by pushing each other off.

    Oh. My. God.

    That girl...

    I can''t even believe she''s my sister anymore!

    She had on makeup!

    Alright, makeup was ok, but right now?

    ...

    She looked even worse than the ghoul I imagined up in my head.

    Worse than a zombie.

    Worse than a blobfish.

    Worse than... whatever monster!

    Why were her makeup skills so bad?!

    So bad that it became terrifying!

    -------

    That day, in the neighborhood that was usually quaint and peaceful, the other inhabitants heard shrieks and wondered if something terrible happened.

    They wouldn''t have ever been able to guess it was the result of "terrible" makeup.

 Chapter 82: Stupidly Stubborn

    Chapter 82: Stupidly Stubborn

    As we all shrieked and ran out of the house pushing each other to get out first, I decided taking one more look would make more sense, to make sure that the thing behind us was really my sister.

    Quickly, I looked back and regretted my decision to do so.

    I shivered at the mere sight and once again had an adrenaline rush and pushed out with all my strength.

    As a result of 5 ability users crowding at the doorway, the doorway that was no longer a doorway, but rather a pile of rubble, would have to be fixed...

    When we got out, we all stopped and rested a little. I caught my breath and could finally hear my heartbeat slow down to a normal pace.

    "W-was that really Bing Jie?" Little Blue asked with a shaken appearance.

    "...I suspect so," I replied uncertainly.

    "How can someone be that terrible at makeup?" asked Jing Shao with a look of shock and fear.

    "She''s never been good at things like homemaking skills... She''s also bad at art, worse than a kindergartener. This was probably the result of never honing those skills..."

    One of the bodyguards confessed, "I watch my wife transform from disheveled to beautiful every morning with the magical power of makeup. But never in my whole entire life could I have imagined someone would use it to do such evil!"

    "Even zombie actors don''t look that bad. Very cutepared to her,"mented the other bodyguard.

    I sighed, "These are all true facts. I... I''ll go do something about it."

    "Good bro, please tell her to wipe it off! If she goes out looking like that, she''ll make frail grandmas, no, strong men, faint out of fright!" Little Blue pleaded. He even tried to appeal to me my blinking his eyes quickly and producing some huge fake crocodile tears.

    I bravely headed to the door that was pretty much about to fall off from its frame.

    I reached out slowly, anticipating what would happen.

    My right hand was shaking, so I held it firmly with my equally shaking left hand.

    A few deep breaths to calm down a little.

    1

    2

    3

    ...Just a few more

    4

    5-

    With no squeaks or door handle turning, the door opened suddenly.

    I must''ve jumped back 5 meters. My butt was aching from falling on it repeatedly.

    We all prepared to scream when we -to our huge relief- saw a Shui Bing with her normal face.

    Actually no, there were traces of makeup left, but at least she used the best of her abilities to wipe it off.

    But really this still scared me.

    Her makeup skills were so terrible that she couldn''t even wipe them off properly.

    ...There needed to be serious training, training in makeup skills of course, for this sister of mine.

    But first, I had to get down to the very reason why she had even attempted this act of hers.

    Before I could get to it though, a still terrified Little Blue spoke up.

    "Bing Jie... why''d you put on makeup? I mean, there''s nothing wrong with it. My mom has a makeup artist, why don''t I lend her services to you? You don''t have to do makeup on your own..."

    What a grand idea! Instead of suffering from more attempts of makeup until she gets average, I should talk to Yu Ge about hiring a coordinator, makeup artist, and whatever other roles needed for dressing up. Yu Ge was now on a show and Xiao Bing looked like she needed some serious help.

    "Is my makeup that bad? I thought it was ok...?"

    "Bing Jie, you can''t seriously think that! The Shui family that''s famous for their looks... How can they be so out of tune with knowing what''s beautiful and what''s hideous!"

    "Hideous?"

    "Uh, I don''t want to lie, so I''ll say that it is quite terrifying."

    Xiao Bing sighed and stood quietly.

    I voiced, "Xiao Bing, what''s wrong? Why''d you put on makeup?"

    Xiao Bing looked up and I could see the traces of left behind makeup.

    Subconsciously, I did back up a few steps.

    "Lai Ge, don''t immediately call Yu Ge, ok?"

    This made me even more suspicious.

    I put my hands in my pocket and got ready to call Yu Ge.

    "Ehem, go on."

    Xiao Bing, who would usually notice such a farce, seemed absent-minded and sighed once more.

    "Lai Ge."

    "Yeah?"

    "I got a boyfriend."

    "A boyfriend? Oh, I know, you used to want friends that were boys right? Well, that''s nice. Now, tell me. What''s the real problem?"

    "No, I don''t mean friends that are boys."

    "Y-you can''t possibly have-"

    "I confessed ok? I like my boyfriend a lot. I mostly pressured him to ept my confession. It''s not his fault."

    "You''re only 14!"

    "You liked Zhang Xing when you were about this age or younger. Why can''t I like someone?"

    "But I didn''t date him!"

    "Yeah, he wouldn''t have epted anyway."

    "..."

    That was a bit harsh. It hurt a little. I waspletely, well, almostpletely, over Xingxing. But I did like him. I still do, although he''s now a zombie pal.

    Xiao Bing sighed.

    "Sorry, that was mean."

    I snorted.

    "I''m sorry, alright? I didn''t mean it."

    Some words can''t be taken back.

    I was annoyed now, so I spouted off something in spite too, "Yu Ge won''t approve. Who is your boyfriend anyway? How old is he?"

    "He''s... Jack Larson."

    "The one that I know of?"

    "Most likely."

    "That guy killed and tortured girls! And he''s 19! Older than you by 5 years! Even older than Yu Ge!"

    "He''s changed! He''s better now!"

    I strongly disapproved. I only saw that guy 2 times, and both times, his impression on me wasn''t great.

    He had a naturally dark disposition, and gloominess seemed to radiate off of him.

    Overall, his good looks made it look like he could lure girls in easily and then trap them.

    Xiao Bing was brought up spoiled and was used to having her way.

    Of course, she was a little more maturepared to others her age because of growing up under Yu Ge and having her previous job as an assassin, but because she grew up in such a strange environment, she was attracted to strange things and had nomon sense or skills a normal average person would have.

    I wasn''t perfect either, but Xiao Bing was even worse.

    "...When are you going to tell Yu Ge?"

    "When hees home."

    "When hees home, you''re out of the house. You''re nning to avoid him entirely?"

    "No... Can you tell him about it first? I''ll give him some time to think about it."

    "You can''t escape."

    "I know. And I''m not breaking up with Jack."

    I was about ready to admonish her for being childish and wanting to run away from her problems. Hadn''t she seen how Yu Ge reacted when Jing Ge and brother-inw(Lu Han) were keeping their rtionship a secret from him?

    So stubborn, so bullish, so childish.

    Why should I deal with her problems?!

    I screamed at her, "You deal it with your own! Why should I talk to Yu Ge for you?! You''re just trying to ignore your problems and even push it onto me! You always do this, why can''t you just face him properly? He''s worried about you these days, but you don''t evene home for weeks! Now this?! Get out, don''t let me see you for at least a year!"

    To Xiao Bing, although she alwaysined and teased me, she knew that I knew her best and that to her, I was her closest brother.

    I had given her a scolding before, even pped her before, but I had never yelled at her to get out.

    She had a wronged appearance and tears brimming as she quickly ran out of themunity''s vicinity.

    I muttered under my breath, "What is she even crying for. Is she some White Lotus? Tch."

    I didn''t feel bad at all, rather angry and refreshed.

    I turned towards Little Blue, Jing Shao, and the two bodyguards.

    "Sorry for making you guys see such a scene. I hope you can forget what happened here."

    But I wasn''t feeling sorry. They could tell too.

    Little Blue just patted my arm. Later I found out that he had an older cousin who he was practically like siblings with. She eloped with her lover that her family disapproved of, and it turned out that he was a marriage scammer. The cousin lost all her family''s support and was now living as a part-timer to many ces, living a tired and aimless life. Well, probably now a zombie or a lucky survivor. So, the little dude sympathized with me.

    Jing Shao gave a polite nod with a gaze filled with pity. Sigh, I really didn''t want to show such a sight to kids. Even kids are pitying my situation.

    True to my word, I wasn''t going to tell Yu Ge.

    ...But when Yu Ge came home, I couldn''t help but spill all my grievances to him.

    He did get mad at Xiao Bing''s behavior, but he first sought to cate me.

    We ate our favorite hotpot, yed games. Laughed at someedy shows and talked all night long while lying down on his bed.

    I''m d at least Yu Ge''s on my side.

    But it still didn''t help that the day that originally was the best day of this year turned out to be the worst.

    Right now, I don''t think I can forgive her easily.

    Yeah, it''ll take at least a year, before I do so.

    And before then, don''t let me see your face, Shui Bing.

 Chapter 83: One thing leads to another

    Chapter 83: One thing leads to another

    Little Blue here.

    Today, I went to help Lai Ge deal with a ghost and ended up seeing a lot more than I wanted to.

    Bing Jie was having an affair!

    Not really, but she was dating!

    For the base, that was a huge scandal!

    A person from the Shui family would be dating a murderer!

    If paparazzi were allowed into the area where the important officials lived, they would dere this a huge scoop!

    And once again, I realize how hard it is to date a person of the Shui Family.

    I wonder if Zuan, I mean Shui Yu, would ever consider me.

    There''s the fact that I''m younger than him by 10 years.

    But once I grow up, I''m sure to be handsome like my dad and as strong as my grandpa!

    Seriously though, I was worried.

    What if someone started dating Zuan before I turned of age?

    That''d be horrible!

    I''ve already liked him for 2 years... I''ll be pining him for at least, uh, 10 more?

    ...I''ve got a long way to go.

    If someone does date Zuan before I reach 18, I''ll... kick them down and show them how much better I am!

    Zuan was getting more handsometely, and even the people who had said that he looked too girly before were beginning to like him.

    This was getting dangerous!

    Urgh, I wanted people to know how wonderful Zuan was, how good looking, how kind, how everything. But I didn''t want people to like him like I do. They could like him as a person, that was good. But liking him as a potential husband? No way!

    I wasn''t jealous of Zuan making friends. I have lots of friends and human contact is a necessary thing. But I didn''t want to gain love rivals!

    It wasn''t possible, but what if someone who was better than me appeared?

    Just what if?

    Sigh, this was why I didn''t like the show that Zuan was participating in right now.

    I heard from Lai Ge that he was only going there to have fun, rest, and maybe make more friends.

    Lai Ge imed, "He won''t date anyone from that show. He wants a strong partner."

    Later, I asked Zuan, "Zuan, lots of people want to get with you. What are you going to do about it?"

    "They''ll have to beat me first," he replied with augh.

    "..." Does that mean I have no chance at all?

    I guess I''ll have to train hard. My abilities are really strong and as long as I find ways to use them effectively and practice them every day, I''ll be set!

    Meanwhile, I looked towards my pal, Jing Shao.

    He seemed a little bummed too.

    "What''s wrong?" I asked.

    He turned to me and heaved a sigh.

    ???

    "Dating a Shui Family member is going to be tough, young master."

    "Stop calling me that. And yes, I know. But I won''t let go of Zuan until he gets married."

    "Such stubbornness."

    "It''s called being persevering!"

    "To the extreme."

    "Ugh!"

    Yearster, I would know that my future butler had started to develop feelings for Lai Ge after that incident.

    I would ask why he started to like Lai Ge, and he would answer, "He seemed like the type to be childish, but reasonable. And very responsible. He looked really cool."

    Lai Ge would answer my question with, "You know, he tries to act devious and smart, but he''s actually quite stupid sometimes. Whenever he looks thoughtful, it''s just him thinking about something off topic. He hates broli, carrots, and mushrooms. I don''t like them either. He''s a kid inside. I''m a kid at heart too. We''re a good match."

    Ehem, but that''s something I wouldn''t know until muchter.

    The bodyguards knew about my cousin who had eloped and got scammed, so they kept quiet about the whole incident.

    My cousin, a wonderful person she was, was very naive. She wasn''t spoiled, but as she had friends picked by her parents and an environment made for safety from any bad thing, she didn''t know much about the real world.

    She wasn''t even allowed to have one of those old smartphones.

    She was very kind, innocent, naive, something not good when she finally went out on her first trip outside of the "safe zone". It was to the mall with her mother, and she got lost.

    The thing is, my cousin, she wasn''t beautiful per se, but she had an elegant and calming persona. She was wearing awfully expensive clothes and shoes too.

    The marriage scammer probably picked up on that and thus decided to seduce her.

    After she came from that one outside trip, she daydreamed all day long.

    She also decided to pick up cooking and scalded her hands over and over. After her parents were notified, they banned her from the kitchen.

    My cousin, she cried and cried. But she still didn''t fight back.

    One thing she knew though, was that her parents would never approve of a man not of their status dating their daughter.

    But my cousin, as intelligent as she was, foolishly jumped into a hasty marriage.

    She agreed to share property and practically handed over everything to her husband.

    Then one day, he had disappeared, and thendy told her to get out.

    Her parents had met up with her before and asked if she really wanted to do this. They even threatened her with disowning her and cutting her off from the family.

    My cousin, as close as a blood sibling, replied with such a serious attitude, that her father got mad and cut her off immediately there and then.

    But she didn''t show any sadness. She really had believed her husband''s words of, once a woman gets married, she has no ties with her previous family, rather, she would start a new one.

    When he disappeared, she had nothing left. She finished only high school. She didn''t get to finish college. All her money and possessions were gone. She had no family members left. The contract she thought was the marriage certificate wasn''t real.

    The only thing I heard of her was that now, she was doing part time jobs and trying to live frugally but not knowing how. It makes sense, she was a rich girl, how could she get used to living like normal people?

    She''s now a zombie I think. Her parents, my aunt and uncle, checked on her often and sent news that they were going to hold a funeral for their ex-daughter.

    I had forgotten her for some time, going to school and ying with friends. I felt sad of course, how could I not? But I realized again how scary the world was.

    Maybe now that society''s broken and a lot more simple due to the zombie apocalypse, it''s better.

    I think right now, it''s the best time period.

    Not for the people outside of the base, but for us, we''re very thankful every day that we were lucky enough to get into this ce.

    It''s a new start for many. Many opportunities await and there are still many things to be explored.

    Haizz, I was still only an 8 year old!

    I was busy with school and lessons every day, mom was even discussing with dad about sending me to cram schools for all kinds of stuff!

    I shouldn''t be worrying about stuff like this, I should be ying and having fun!

    "Jing Shao! I don''t have anything to do today, right?"

    "Nothing currently, but your curfew is 6 o''clock."

    "Ok! Then let''s go get some ice cream!"

    "Is that all?"

    "No, let''s also goser tagging!"

    "Should I call over some of your friends?"

    "No, let''s call the other bodyguards! Let''s all have fun!"

    "I''ll do so."

    "Oh, and then, after that, I want to y on the virtual simtors in the most upstart inte cafe!"

    "You''re curfew is at 6."

    "My parents aren''ting home until tomorrow! Today''s their date night."

    "Then, when do you expect you''ll be home?"

    "I''ll y all night long!"

    "My curfew is at 8."

    "..."

    -------------

    Jing Shao did leave right before 8.

    He ate dinner with me and my bodyguards before leaving though.

    He wanted to freeload off of me since I was buying some Korean BBQ chickens. He ate even more than my bodyguards...

    Before he left, we did y a lot.

    We got our ice cream. I got chocte, he got cookie-n-cream, my bodyguards all got some too.

    Then we went for several rounds of intenseser tag and I never won but it was still fun.

    After that, we went to an inte cafe and yed virtual simtions for a dinosaur park. Wow, dinosaurs were really huge. But even the tallest dinosaur wasn''t taller than my dad''spany headquarters. Hehe.

    Anyways, I felt like it was a good day.

    One of the best days of my life!

    If we didn''t count the incident with Bing Jie that is.

    But it was still a great day!

    I was still on a sugar rush from getting a 4th ice cream cone.

    Hehe.

    The limousine arrived and parked at its designated spot and we all said our goodbyes as some of the bodyguards went to their sleeping quarters already.

    Then my individual bodyguards also left and I skipped all the way upstairs to my room.

    La di da di da~

    Huh, whose feet are those?

    ...Oh no.

    My parents were back.

    And unfortunately, right now, it was way over my bed time(10 PM).

    My deluxe watch showed the time, and for once, I wished it was broken and sped up too much.

    The tiny needles pointed impably, and the seconds were precise too.

    11:49:23

    I hope I don''t get grounded.

 Chapter 84: "Desserts"

    Chapter 84: "Desserts"

    That day, Shui Bing didn''te back.

    I was angry at her, for not mentioning this herself, even pushing it onto Xiao Lai, as if wanting him to take the me.

    I could understand her point of view, but she shouldn''t have been so scared of my reprimanding.

    ...Well, maybe me running away all the way to the Americas did scare her.

    But I''ve learned, and I''ve matured.

    Although I didn''t approve of Jack Larson, I had heard from Shane and Andrei that he had "repented" and turned over a new leaf.

    I couldn''t judge myself, but seeing that it was Shane who said it, I believed in the information. Shane was good at getting information and checking its authenticity. He had a knack for gossip. I trusted his sense for such things and judging people.

    So, I just thought, ''Good for him. I hope he does feel real remorse and know what he''s done."

    But, I was not at all nning to meet Jack. I didn''t have a clue that my sister was interested in him.

    Who could have guessed that out of everyone that Xiao Bing taught, she''d like Jack?

    What did she even see in him?

    It wasn''t my ce to judge, but I was the head of this household. Jing Ge had his own family with Lu Han and Shui Bao, I was the oldest now.

    I''ve decided.

    Until Xiao Bing came to see me personally, I wouldn''t see her.

    But, I would go to see Jack once. With my secretary, whose random ability would turn out very useful in any meetings that were held.

    I couldn''t do that soon though. I''d have to hold it back for at least 2 days.

    I had Di Li Feng''s Matchmaking show to attend after all.

    --------

    Film Day.

    Last time, for of the 27 that had initially survived plus me, the zombie-infested hospital was the big mission.

    I was in Team C, and we passed through things after thinking then giving up then using my strength to open locks and doors.

    I thought we''d be first, but Team D was actually in front of us. I can''t say I wasn''t impressed. Xia Jiayi had given a smile that did make me a bit annoyed but proud. Annoyed, because he was unting his victory over me, but proud since I was the one who found this talent.

    Team A and Team B escaped at about the same time, but because Team A had dawdled for too long at the first stage, they regrettably lost. But Team B really shouldn''t have pushed and pulled all the switches or ropes that said or . They wasted a lot of time doing so and didn''t gain anything but flour clouds, falling bugs, and so many more terrible mishaps.

    The end result was that the contestant numbers had gone down from 27 to 21.

    And although the purpose of the Matchmaking games was to have the contestants in my team or closest to me "seduce" me, I couldn''t help but think of them as anything more than regr people, just with better looking faces.

    Since I knew who I wasn''t attracted to, when Di Li Feng asked interview questions after setting me aside, I knew what to say.

    DLF: So, do you have anyone you like from the show?

    SY: No, but I now know people I won''t like.

    DLF: What contestants have impressed you?

    SY: The contestants in Team D have quite impressed me.

    DLF: What about in the other teams or your team?

    SY: There aren''t people that line up with my ideal type. Of course, I won''t base the contestants on just my ideal type.

    DLF: Then next week, we''lle up with another mission that will bring you to know more about each contestant!

    SY: But there are so many contestants...

    DLF: We''ll have another round of elimination to make the number even.

    SY: I believe in your judgment. How will it be conducted?

    DLF: Public poll system! We''ll have only the top 16 participate in the next mission, sound fair?

    SY: Alright, I''ll be looking forward to it.

    The interview wouldn''t be released as Di Li Feng hadn''t gotten any juicy bits from the conversation.

    Anyways, back in the present time, the 16 contestants had been selected.

    I did recognize them by their faces now, not all by names, unfortunately.

    Before filming started, I drank the coffee that an assistant had gotten in bulk of, and thought it was perfect for such a chilly morning.

    I was wearing a beige trench coat, scarf, a grey shirt, and ck jeans.

    Simple and casual. It also kept me warm.

    One by one, contestants began to arrive at the scene.

    It was 6 AM and everyone looked tired.

    But with a cup of coffee, energy shot right up! At least for the majority.

    Di Li Feng looked dead tired, but with 3rge size coffee and a dab of makeup, he made it work.

    That is, when he was in front of the camera, he gave a bright smile and talked brilliantly. But once off, he copsed onto his personal chair and tiredly looked over what to edit with his crew.

    "Today''s mission is a little different. It''s not something that requires using your strength or physical abilities. Nor is it one that requires you to think heavily."

    I was curious about the mission too, I hadn''t been briefed yet.

    "Today, we''ll have a contest, and only 8 will survive."

    Contest? But they wouldn''t be fighting, so what would it be?

    But before he even exined, we were put in vans and transported somewhere.

    I felt like I could recognize the scenery, but I didn''t. I wish I wasn''t so bad with directions. Being directionally challenged is a horrible thing. You could get lost even standing still.

    We arrived at a fancy looking hotel.

    Di Li Feng finally announced his goal.

    "Shui Yu here likes eating sweets a lot. So, I invited the best patissiers of the base, which means the best patissiers in the world!"

    True, I spared no effort into recruiting them into the base. Their works looked almost too delicate and beautiful to eat, but the taste was too wonderful to not eat.

    "All of you will be making a dish with a patissier you choose and each dish will be graded by Shui Yu with the factors ofpletion, appearance, and vor. You''ve got a time limit of only 4 hours! Go!"

    ...I just hope that no one bakes as badly as Xiao Bing used to cook.

    Di Li Feng had me move to another part of the hotel and asked me to hang out at the kids'' corner.

    ...

    It''ll have to do.

    There was bound to be work in the office, so I had carried some equipment in my space.

    A single Laser Projection Keyboard.

    The core device was upgraded almost every year, and now it had a lot of useful functions on it.

    So to type up documents and contracts, I only needed to have on my core device and aser projection keyboard.

    I had a brief catch up with Secretary Jing and received documents that were approved and needed my signature. Then I read the reports for the situation regarding building amunity for outsiders.

    But there had been arguments that because humans always consider social standing, the outsiders woulde to hate us and want to rebel even while being considerably weaker.

    I understood that. It was human nature to dislike a superior unless they made a favorable impression or impressed you.

    So it had been rearranged into: If an outsider shows a talent for a certain field that is in need of improvement in the base, after strict consideration, the individual will be given a chance to be brought in and live as a citizen of the base.

    We could make friends with outsiders, but weren''t allowed to tell them of our real identities and couldn''t let anyone follow us back to the base.

    This might all changeter on. Depending on the outsiders we meet, we may be allies, enemies, or still be like the present, us knowing about them, but them not knowing about us.

    My stomach grumbled and I was ready to have a light snack. 4 hours were soon to be over and I looked forward to what the contestants would bring.

    What I didn''t expect was huge sugar statues, 8-tier cakes, cakes with chocte spirals and caramel drops all over...

    The few contestants who had small sweets and cakes trailed pitifully behind the ones who had impressively huge ones.

    ...I don''t know if I''d be able to finish them all.

    With the help of world famous patissiers, they couldn''t possibly mess up too terribly in the appearance category. They all seemedplete, but I would have to make sure with a taste to see if it was in the oven for not enough time or there too long.

    Then I proceeded to taste test all 16 of the "desserts". I don''t think you could call some of them desserts anymore...

    Many tasted overbearingly sweet. I couldn''t stomach it.

    I liked sweet stuff, but I didn''t enjoy tons of sugar, I liked having a tangy, spicy, sour, or deep taste with the sweetness. Like lemon candy, coffee candy, etc.

    There were only a few I could agree with the taste on. Only 5.

    So the 5 that I approved and the 3 that earned the highest appearance scores were moved forward.

    I still thought all of them were better than Xiao Bing at cooking or baking.

 Chapter 85: Meanwhile...

    Chapter 85: Meanwhile...

    While Shui Yu was filming, Shui Lai decided to rest all day at home.

    It was a Saturday after all, and he deserved some rest after what happened the day before.

    He decided to train since he hadn''t in so long and he didn''t want to ck off and lose his abs.

    After 3 hours of training and target practice, he cleaned all of his precious rides with utmost care. This resulted in 3 more hours passing by.

    Now it was time for lunch. And although he was toozy and wanted to stay at home, he didn''t know any good takeout numbers.

    Shui Lai decided to head out and just wore slippers and a jacket over his flimsy pajamas.

    He didn''t expect it to be so cold outside, so shivering, he went back inside to equip himself with a parka, warm pants, gloves, a scarf, a beanie, and boots. Truly, now he was all set.

    Shui Lai imagined that he was a great adventurer and trudging out in the snow in the arctic. He would have lost all his toes bute back as a national hero. Nevermind, he''d like to keep his toes.

    But wait, his outfit looked too ugly! It made him look like an overgrown egg! He couldn''t possibly have anyone see him in this attire!

    To him, it didn''t matter that everyone else looked like walking eggs because they wore manyyers to rid themself of the cold. To him, all that mattered was how he looked.

    ''Sigh, I''ll go change. I''ll also bring out my new love, cabbage.'' he thought.

    Cabbage was his newest custom ride by the way. It was a sports car of a yellow-green tint, thus named Cabbage.

    Tch tch, Shui Lai didn''t have a habit of staying loyal to his favorites. He had at least 40 cars, all of them his favorites. He was like one of those emperors who had a thousand beauties, except this being only 40 "beauties".

    The transport system in the base was very advanced, they had highspeed bullet trains everywhere and you barely needed to pay a thing to get to work. Goodpanies would let thepany pay for office workers to get on time. And if the office workers came to workte, they''d pay it. A small but fit punishment.

    Those who had cars usually bought them if they had too much to carry, had kids, or wanted to show off their status.

    As you can probably guess, Shui Lai was firmly stuck in the 3rd category.

    Cars were still widely used but ran on sr power.

    Anyways, after Shui Lai went back in for the second time, he changed into fashionable clothes. But anyone looking at him would feel cold. The denim jacket he wore didn''t do much in protecting Shui Lai from the cold, and he had on ripped jeans too.

    On the way to get lunch, Shui Lai was craving for noodles. So he went to a Japanese restaurant that a staff member at school rmended. The soba noodles were delicious and he decided to only bring his two older brothers next time. He was still mad at his sister after all.

    After lunch Shui Lai decided that it was just too wasteful toe out only to eat lunch, so he went to Shui Jing''s ce to see his beloved niece.

    But before going over, Shui Lai made sure not to forget to buy a toy for his lovely niece. Shui Bao had already grown tired of the princess toys, she liked the animal character tv show now. As a dedicated uncle, he even knew the show''s name: Dodo''s Adventures.

    The Dodo show was pretty popr these days, and there was plenty of merchandise in the mall and shops all over the base.

    Shui Lai bought a Dodo doll the size of Shui Bao''s hugging size and also bought some peach candy that the little girl loved.

    Shui Jing got a notification from Shui Lai that he was visiting and cleaned up parts of the house that had toys scattered all over. Lu Han was lying on the sofa tired and Shui Jing didn''t have the heart to tell him to move. Shui Jing just put a nket over him and kissed his husband''s forehead.

    Then Shui Jing went to turn off the tv to get his daughter''s attention. She fussed a little, saying "Dad! No!" But she was soon attracted to the ringing of the doorbell, indicating a guest hade.

    "Uncle!"

    "How has my princess been doing?"

    Yes, it was Shui Lai. He had finally arrived.

    Shui Jing scolded, "It''s cold outside, what are you wearing such clothes for? Parading yourself around? When you get sick, you''ll know what you''ve done wrong."

    The house was warm and toasty. Shui Lai held his niece up high and spun around. The child giggled and wanted more "airnes" even though she was already dizzy.

    When Shui Lai brought out the doll he hid behind his back, Shui Bao squealed and happily cried out, "Dodo! Dodo!"

    "What do you say?" asked Shui Jing.

    Having done this routine many times, Shui Bao answered cutely, "Thank you!"

    "Alright, you go y now. I''m going to talk with your uncle."

    Shui Bao quickly ran off to y with her newly acquired toy.

    Shui Lai had wanted to y with his niece, so he was confused when his brother held him back for a talk.

    They sat facing each other on the small dining table and Shui Jing started the conversation.

    "Yesterday, Xiao Bing called me. She got a boyfriend, but he''s Jack Larson. I''m worried about her and she hasn''t told Xiao Yu yet. Do you know about this?"

    "Yes, Yu Ge knows too. She wanted me to tell Yu Ge about her rtionship and I couldn''t help but get mad at her for being irresponsible and scared of Yu Ge."

    Shui Jing sighed as he watched his little brother make an angry frown on his face.

    "Well, go y with Ah Bao now, I''m going to go shop for groceries."

    "Wait, let me do that! I''ll go grocery shopping with Ah Bao!"

    Shui Lai had perked up right away.

    And Shui Jing couldn''t help but smile.

    "Ok, be careful. Here''s the list, and here''s the bag. Don''t buy anything useless, and don''t buy anything even if Ah Bao begs for it!"

    "I know! We''re going!"

    With that warning, the uncle and niece pair drove with their fancy car to the fanciest supermarket around.

    They bought all the vegetables, meat, milk, tofu, and other food materials that were on the list.

    It was only when they passed the snack aisle that things went awry.

    "Uncle, uncle," Shui Bao called.

    "Hm?"

    "Uncle, that. That." Shui Bao pointed towards the banana puffs she liked so much.

    "But your dad said you ate a lot of snacks today..."

    "Uncle, that!"

    "Ah Bao, what about peach candy?"

    "Peach candy?"

    "Yup, delicious peach candy! It''s waiting for you at home, don''t you want to quickly go home?"

    "Peach candy!"

    "Ok, let''s hurry up and get home!"

    Crisis averted.

    After a quickly done check out, the duo headed back.

    Meanwhile, while Shui Lai and his niece were out shopping, Lu Han groggily woke up.

    "You''re up?" Shui Jing noticed.

    "Mm."

    Lu Han stretched his arms out and naturally, Shui Jing hugged him.

    After sharing a kiss, Shui Jing murmured, "Don''t overwork yourself."

    "I''ll try. Managing a n or two and acting as a mediator is tiring. I just want to stay home and love you properly."

    Shui Jing blushed and shyly replied with, "What are you saying?"

    "We haven''t done it in so long, why don''t we leave Ah Bao to your brother just for tonight?"

    "Should we?"

    "We should."

    "Then I''ll ask during dinner."

    "Dinner?"

    "He went out to go get groceries with Ah Bao. He''ll be eating with us."

    "Ok, what are we eating?"

    "Braised Beef. You and Ah Bao both liked itst time I made it."

    Such was the conversation of the married couple.

    When Shui Bao and Shui Lai got back, Shui Bao quickly veered towards the peach candies and Shui Lai proudly gave over the bag of ingredients.

    Shui Jing thanked him and went to work in the kitchen.

    Shui Bao focused on peeling the candy wrappers away from the sweets, when she heard, "Give me one too."

    She happily cried out, "Daddy!" when she saw that he was awake.

    Lu Han opened his mouth to receive a candy, but his daughter shot him down with a "No."

    What hurt was, she was happily giggling while she did so.

    "Ah Bao, give me one?" this time Shui Lai asked.

    "No!" and as if afraid someone would steal her candies away, the little girl ate all the candies she peeled and closed the candy bucket''s lid.

    Shui Jing''s voice rang from the kitchen, "Don''t tease her. It''s time for Dodo''s adventures to air, go watch with her."

    And so they went, with Ah Bao excitedly screaming "Dodo!" and bringing her new doll along.

    The show ended and advertisements were shown afterward.

    The dinner was delicious and Shui Lai agreed to take care of Ah Bao for the night. He had eaten the dinner and could do them at least this favor.

    When Shui Yu got back from filming, he was surprised to find his brother and niece sleeping on the sofa under the cover of a parka.

    He carried them both upstairs onto a bed and the three all slept soundly in peace.

    For Shui Jing and Lu Shu, they had an exciting night, details being left out.

    All seemed to be well.

    But did you know?

    There was a person traveling under the dark back into the country they once lived in.

    Guess who~

 Chapter 86: Im Back

    Chapter 86: I''m Back

    The Shui family may have put me off their minds.

    The readers may have forgotten me.

    The author dared to forget about me for many months.

    I was considered dead by many.

    But I was still alive.

    After myst appearance, I went back to Greece with my mother.

    My mother had changed from being a good office worker but meek to a bold and firm representative in thepany she worked in.

    She had changed so much that I was surprised at first. I had guessed it was due to her finally being fed up with my father''s antics and deciding to stand up for herself.

    It turned out to be wrong though.

    The Peridot was a stone that was either formed around volcanoes or from asteroids. The ones from asteroids had a small chance of granting you spatial abilities. And rarest was the power to regress, basically to go back in time.

    My mother had a peridot pendant passed from my grandmother. She had always thought it was an emerald pendant, but after hearing about the properties of peridots after a long time during the apocalypse, she realized that her spatial powers were from her "emerald" pendant that was actually peridot.

    And when she died, she returned to the time when I was shipped off to China.

    In her past life, she didn''t know what happened to me, but now that she had an inkling, after interrogating my father, she found me.

    I was chilling and living in China with the Shui siblings.

    She kept her strength when she returned back to her office days.

    When she came to pick me up, she didn''t tell me all this. My mother only told me these things when we came back to Greece.

    This made me suspect that Shui Yu, that monster-like kid, also came back in time. Why else would he train his siblings and be so powerful? My mother couldn''tpare to his strength and he had so many properties and money.

    Or if he really didn''t regress back, then he surely is some evil genius, some underworld boss. His sister was an assassin and his brother was a hacker. Only the eldest, Shui Jing, was normal.

    ...Sigh, I wonder how Shui Jing''s doing.

    Shui Yu certainly was the most astoundingly beautiful person I''ve ever seen.

    But Shui Jing really was better. He looked more handsome, masculine, he was strong, but his attitude was really naive and responsible to a fault.

    I was surprised when I saw him on tv one day. He had be a superstar.

    His concerts were really expensive and I used up almost all my saved up allowance for several months to attend one.

    I got a good seat but there were too many people jumping up and down. But seeing his face again was a great moment.

    He had be taller, and although he was lean, he had muscles and wasn''t skinny. His face was just a mature version of his younger self and still looked handsome. No, much more handsome than before. And his smile still looked pure and still shook my heart.

    That was about 5+ years ago.

    I had no doubt that he was still alive. Shui Yu would keep him alive at the very least.

    I dislike, more like hate, him, but I had to admit that kid cared for his family members. I was childish and immature back then, still kind of am, but he was really like an adult. If I see him now, I''ll probably forgive him, and admit that I was a stupid kid. But back then, I really was scared and hated him.

    And now, I hade back to China to look for Shui Jing.

    My abilities were powerful.

    I gained 3 abilities from Red Phase. Electricity, water, and space.

    I touched electricity from a taser, just in water, and peridot from space.

    My mother only had one power before and wasn''t lucky enough to get a second one this time either. She still chose her pendant and gained her spatial ability.

    Her spatial ability was to transport a viewable distance away and recing something else. So say there was a small rock a few meters away, as long as she could see it, she would rece it and the rock would be ced where she was.

    My mother used this ability in herst life to quickly grab up food and supplies, as well as jump on top of opponents and rece herself with a car or another heavy object.

    She wasn''t strong but she made do and lived fairly wellpared to others. It was only when she encountered a mutant zombie whose ability was speed that she died.

    This life, she earned money to have a storage ce and a safe environment.

    It was good that this would be avable to us when the apocalypse struck, but the thing was, I didn''t enjoy this.

    My mother had changed.

    She wasn''t considerate, she wanted me to go over my limits and seed. I could ept it as strict, but she seemed to want me to be grateful.

    I''m pretty sure I lived well in herst life. I could live well this life too.

    People change, and the apocalypse is something that changed everyone. But my mother went from a meek yesdy to an irritabledy with high standards.

    I don''t think she loves me anymore. She just sees me as a variable that she should take care of to erase her past life''s guilt.

    So, even though our life after the apocalypse was peaceful and we were viewed as saviors who built amunity of non-infected people, I ran away.

    Unlike my mother''s spatial ability, mine was storage. It was a nk space that I could store things, non-living things, in. I stuffed as many supplies as I could and wore protective clothing.

    I didn''t go by sea. There were too many sea monsters and I didn''t know how to sail.

    But I knew how to drive.

    So after driving for 7 days straight, with barely any rest, eating in the car, and only stopping to go answer calls of nature or fight zombies blocking the way, I arrived to China.

    I still had the Language chip in my head so I understood every word on signs and such.

    I headed to the base nearest to the city I used to reside in, but no luck.

    There was a person that did know of the Shui siblings though.

    It was a person who imed they knew Shui Jing as a schoolmate.

    "They invited people to their base. I mean, everyone went there. But my dad thought that the military and government would do better, so we stayed. We don''t know where that base is, but it should exist. Or maybe it copsed by now? Hahaha!"

    Crazy.

    But I found this clue at the very least.

    After visiting different bases and getting information while pretending to be a stranded tourist who got separated from a nomadic group, I narrowed down on specific spots.

    There were more than 30 spots.

    ''Sigh, this is going to take me forever.''

    That''s what I thought.

    But unexpectedly, I was lucky.

    I found a suspicious ce on my 6th spot.

    Using binocrs, you could see a round near-invisible orb surrounded by dead trees.

    I say near-invisible because you can only see it when sunlight hits the right spot.

    Climbing the mountain was an arduous task.

    It was too hot, unbearable. I surrounded myself with water to keep cool, but in just several hours, they all evaporated.

    Trudging on with mere willpower and water bottles, I arrived at a point where I could see the invisible barrier if I shined a shlight on it. It was still far away though.

    It was huge.

    A dome thisrge... It should be a base, right?

    It took all day to climb up, now it was turning colder as night struck.

    Iyered on shirts, jackets, and parkas to stay warm.

    Once again, I trudged on with pure will power and the help of hot packs.

    Finally, after 30 minutes, the barrier was right in front of me.

    Behind the invisible barrier were walls set high up.

    ''Now, how do I get in?'' I thought while shivering.

    I''ll worry about that tomorrow.

    First, get out the camping supplies.

    My warm tent, my warm sleeping bag, my hot water boiler, and more hot packs.

    Sigh, this was the life.

    I sipped hot cocoa slowly to not burn my tongue and got out my phone to read some saved up webnovels.

    Drowsily, my eyelids began to flutter and close up...

    Then-

    "Hands up! Who are you?!"

    A group of people in ck uniforms with guns and all that stood in front of me.

    ...FBI? SWAT team? What was this???

 Chapter 87: Caught

    Chapter 87: Caught

    *Author''s Note: I know it''s weird of me to suddenly put it here, but go read the new auxiliary chap!*

    "This one looks strange, he set up a camp here...!"

    "...Does he know about the base? Somebody contact the Chief."

    "Already on it, he''sing soon."

    Chief?

    I wondered who it was, could it be Shui Yu?

    Luckily, I seemed to have found the right ce.

    If I hadn''t, then it would be near impossible to run away from these people, they looked like very capable ability users.

    But what was most important to me right now was getting to a warmer area.

    "Looks like a foreigner, and by the looks of it, an ability user. How''d he get here?"

    "The real question is, how''d he know about this ce?"

    I spoke up, "I didn''t. I only wanted to find a person. Do you know Shui Jing?"

    They became quiet.

    Then someone asked, "Ah? Isn''t that Chief''s older brother?"

    "Stupid, you''re not supposed to answer! Who recruited you?!"

    "Eh, but sir, you recruited me!"

    "Shut up!" and a knock to the head was the result.

    The "stupid" recruit made a miserable expression and scratched his head.

    "So, Shui Jing is here! How is he? I-I knew him when we were kids!"

    "Ai, he''s healthy, that''s all you gotta know," answered the recruiter.

    Suddenly, a woosh was heard and the surrounding dead leaves rose into the air sharply.

    As the leaves fell gently with a light crinkling noise, a gentle voice was heard.

    "Sorry, I took some time getting here. What''s the situation?"

    I moved my gaze to the location of the voice and sure enough, it was the person I expected.

    Shui Yu.

    I could only see his profile, but he had grown much taller, his hair was shoulder-length now, and he still looked serious and cold.

    The only thing that hadn''t changed was his looks.

    Nevermind, he''d gotten more good looking.

    You could tell he was a man now though. He looked androgynous before, but now there was a clear difference.

    So, a handsome pretty boy described him perfectly.

    "Chief, an intruder. He seems to have known about our base''s location."

    "Telescopes and other devices can''t see our base because it''s protected. Only bying very close can you see the barrier. This situation is quite strange. Unpredicted."

    "Also, the intruder asked about your older brother."

    "My brother? What does Jing Ge have to do with-" he turned around.

    Seeing his full face, I stilled my heart and stopped breathing.

    It brought memories from the past.

    I was scared of him.

    Still.

    "I said I would be back."

    "So you are."

    Silence.

    "I''ve realized that I was an ungrateful and unreasonable brat. I apologize."

    "It''s been overdue."

    "..."

    We didn''t talk for at least 3 minutes.

    Shui Yu crossed his arms and just stared at me.

    His calm demeanor was a contrast to the fidgety team beside him.

    "I gotta go pee... sir."

    As everything was to quiet except for the asional whispers of the wind, everyone could hear it.

    It was the same recruit again.

    Shui Yu looked over and sighed.

    "Head in, I''ll head backter."

    "Thank you, sir!"

    After they were gone, we resumed the staring contest.

    Frankly, I was too afraid to speak.

    And Shui Yu seemed to have gotten annoyed at me.

    "So what do you want? You can''t havee all the way over here to give an apology."

    "I-I want to meet Shui Jing."

    I hadn''t thought clearly about ns for anything after meeting Shui Jing.

    I had no ce to stay, and I definitely didn''t want to go back to my mother.

    "I! ...I was wondering if I could stay here too."

    I carefully looked up and saw no obvious emotion on Shui Yu''s face.

    "What can you offer me? What great worth do you have that would make me do that?"

    I was about to speak but I really didn''t know what to say.

    What worth was I?

    Was I so blind to my desire to think it would so easily happen?

    But besides wanting to meet Shui Jing again, I had no motivation.

    "I''ll do anything. Please let me see him," I begged with everything.

    It was the most serious I had ever been in my life and I even fell on my knees.

    "Anything?"

    "Yes! Anything!"

    "Well, we arecking workers. You have space storage and lightning abilities, right?"

    "I do."

    How''d he know?

    "If you do your job properly, I''ll mention to Jing Ge that you want to meet up with him. But you need to meet my expectations first."

    "I will! Thank you! I''ll do a good job!"

    "I expect so. Then, follow me."

    Quickly, I gathered up my tent and supplies.

    Then I sprinted to follow Shui Yu.

    Things were heading for the better!

    My dreams were finallying true.

    ...

    I had no idea that I was in for difficulties I could have never expected.

    It was indeed unexpected to have Calix show up.

    He seems to have an obsession with my brother.

    What a creep.

    Right, we were in severeck of nursery workers, nobody was willing to stay with a ssroom full of powerful ability using babies.

    I could put him to work there!

    How brilliant!

    This guy was weak, had a regr physique, and only had two abilities!

    If things didn''t work out, I could get his memories erased and throw him out.

    Or better, just straight up kill him.

    Ha, he seriously expects me to let him see Jing Ge?

    Well, it''ll depend on his performance.

    Oh, and he still doesn''t know Jing Ge''s married!

    And that they have a child!

    He seems rather poor now, how unfortunate.

    I guess the saying is true.

    Seeing others in an unfortunate situation worse than yours makes you happy.

    I was in a bad mood because of all the recent troubles but seeing Calix in a worse situation than I does make me feel considerably better.

    What''s the word for it?

    Ah, yes.

    Schadenfreude.

 Chapter 88: Babysitters nightmare

    Chapter 88: Babysitter''s nightmare

    When I followed after Shui Yu and entered the base, I was surprised.

    I knew that it should look good, but after having seen the bases nearby and their destitute states, it was a wonder to see electricity everywhere, lighting up the streets.

    There weren''t many people around at thiste time, but the ones who were out all were going home or having drinks and a meal.

    It just seemed so normal that I seemed to have gone back in time, to when everything was alright.

    Nevermind, not really.

    This area was way too technologically advanced.

    I couldn''t even see these sights when I was a kid.

    This fluorescent city in the darkness of the night seemed like something out of an old sci-fi drama from the 21st century.

    It wasn''t a culture shock, but it was a... no word could describe it.

    It was a shock nevertheless.

    A happy shock. To think that I could live in better conditions without being shackled down-well, to my mom that is- was a godsend.

    Of course, I wasn''t as happy as the author who had herment read out loud and agreed with by Stray Kid''s member Changbin for his birthday live voice-only VLIVE event, but I was still grateful that I would get to live here.

    At least I wasn''t hyperventting and screaming in joy, or almost crying tears of happiness.

    ...The author''s weird.

    Anyways, I would spend one night at a designated apartment watched by guards. And then the next day, I would head to my job.

    I expect it to be a hard job, but I can do anything and will do everything just to see Shui Jing''s face again.

    Yes, I was determined to do this, I would persuade Shui Yu with my hard work and win him over to thinking me as fine to meet with Shui Jing!

    Oh yeah, I still didn''t know what I would be doing starting from tomorrow.

    "Shui Yu, what''s the job that I''ll be doing?"

    "Nursery Care, not many people are up for it, so we were in need of some helpers. Don''t worry, you''ll be paid."

    "Oh, ok."

    Childcare. Hm, it shouldn''t be a hard job.

    Sure, babies were a handful; you had to change diapers, y with them, feed them, all kinds of stuff.

    But, it wasn''t a bad job.

    Heck, I was even looking forward to it!

    ---------

    [The Next Day]

    I woke up early.

    I''d gotten maybe 6 or fewer hours of sleep, but I was ready for my first day of work.

    Since I was a morning person, I hummed a tune while cooking up an omelet.

    The ingredients in the fridge were so fresh, it was really nice having vegetables that weren''t dried for once.

    After breakfast, I got to shower in warm water, dress up in soft, clean, new clothes, and packed a notebook to write down memos in.

    I was totally ready.

    ''Gonna kick butt today!''

    The guards escorting me didn''t say a word and only brought me to the front of the school''s entrance.

    From then on, a security guard escorted me to the principal''s office.

    The principal was some friendly dude and told me I''d be paid handsomely.

    He realized that I didn''t know the currency here, so he exined it to me nicely.

    I then realized I needed one of those newfangled core device wrist watch thingy.

    I guess I''ll ask Shui Yu for er.

    "Now, you''re in luck. All three nursery teachers are here today! They are still recovering though, so you might have to help them out with trivial stuff."

    Ok, I could do that.

    "Oh, and the kids in the nursery are 2 to 5 years old. There are 8 of them here today. Some are out because their parents work outside of the school for now."

    8 kids, that''s not too many human beings. I could do this!

    "Here we are! Your shift ends at 1 PM, and directly after, you''ll be taken to Chief''s office for a report. Good luck!"

    The principal left with a bright smile and hurried away after bidding me good luck.

    Alright, I could do this!

    For the sake of a better life!

    For the sake of Shui Jing!

    With immense anticipation, I knocked on the sliding door of the nursery.

    I couldn''t hear anything until the door slid open.

    There stood a tired-looking man with a cast on his arm.

    "You must be the ''volunteer''. Wee, doe in."

    He sounded more tired than he looked. Yeesh.

    With his able arm, the man dragged me in and shut the door.

    When I finally was able to see what the nursery looked like, many pairs of eyes stared at me.

    8 pairs of energetic and adorable eyes and 2 pairs of tired but excited eyes.

    Of course, the 8 adorable ones were the children and the 2 tired and strangely excited eyes were from the other two nursery staff.

    I didn''t fail to notice that one of them had two ck eyes and the other had crutches and casts on both legs.

    What was with this group? How could the principal let injured people take care of kids?

    The two nursery teachers approached me carefully as if they were afraid I would be scared away.

    But before they could even get out a word, the 8 adorable children rushed at me.

    Speaking in multiplenguages and wing at me with a strength that I couldn''t win against, I was confused and scared I''d drown in children and also get broken limbs.

    I only knew how to speak English, Greek, and Chinese.

    These kids spoke all kinds since they were of different ethnicities.

    The three teachers (saviors) pried them off of me and held them back.

    One teacher even made seats that buckled the children in with her earth ability.

    I sighed in relief and got up with shaking legs.

    "T-thank you," I said in gratitude.

    "You might need to get an auto trantor... Ask the Chief for er," the earth abilitydy said.

    "Yeah, you really should. Anyways, wee. What''re your abilities?" asked the man with ck eyes.

    "Lightning and space storage."

    The three all sighed in disappointment.

    The tired-looking man answered my inquisitive look.

    "We were hoping for a mental ability user. Then maybe they could put the kids to sleep or calm them down easily. Your abilities are strong... but they''re useless here."

    And as he said that, the chair of one of the kids lit up on fire and crumbled into broken pieces of pottery.

    "Grahh!" cried out the little monster.

    The other kids followed in suit and used their abilities to break, melt, and destroy the chairs in one way or another.

    "Especially since these babies have much more powerful abilities than some adults."

    ...

    ...

    ...

    ...Grahh!

    I never should have believed in Shui Yu!

 Chapter 89: Babysitters Relief

    Chapter 89: Babysitter''s Relief

    I had fought zombies, evaded mutant nts, and hunted down mutant beasts.

    But never have I been more troubled than now.

    The usual nightmares for peoplee with darkness, unknown creatures, terrifying events, and such.

    I bet they don''t involve me-throwing babies.

    But they''ll appear in my dreams now.

    The fire ball babies.

    ...Alright.

    I know, Shui Yu is scary, but I had to stand up for my rights.

    And the rights of my colleagues.

    I''ll even get on my knees, kowtow, and beg for a psychic ability user!

    My colleagues and I couldn''t stay in this situation without some help. We would definitely be mentally unstable and get depression, I mean, some of them already seem to be mildly depressed.

    Guards arrived as soon as my time was up for today.

    I was ready to get out of this hellhole.

    Looking mournfully at me, my colleagues watched me enviously as I got out earlier than them as parents would arriveter.

    I mouthed ''Good luck!'' to them and left with the guilt of not being able to help them out.

    Through the hours of pain, all four of us had formed a close bond.

    So, while they fended the fort, I would go meet the boss and try my best to ask for some amodations.

    At this time, there weren''t many people out on the streets. Students would be in school, workers in offices, and the like.

    In the center of the city existed the Chief''s office.

    It looked grand, butpared to other morous modern buildings, it looked older in terms of style.

    We went up to Shui Yu''s office and one of the guards knocked politely.

    "Come in."

    Shui Yu was currently on a call with somebody.

    The guards left me after Shui Yu nodded at them and I just stood there awkwardly.

    The call seemed to take forever and I eventually plopped onto the sofa since my feet began to hurt.

    After an eon passed, Shui Yu ended the call coolly with an "Alright then, see you tomorrow."

    "Sorry, that was Ge."

    Shui Jing?! I should''ve listened closer! No, how could I have failed to recognize his voice! I''m an utter failure as his admirer and fan...

    I cried my heart out in my head and Shui Yu looked at me like I was pathetic.

    I felt pretty pathetic right now, but his gaze made it worse.

    "So, first day at work. Pleasant?"

    "No, I couldn''t have imagined children with abilities to be that... terrifying. Shui Yu, please, I don''t care if I have to keep working there, but for the sake of myrades who have broken limbs and mental trauma, you''ve got to send a psychic ability user! Please!"

    "Ah? It''s that bad huh. No wonder volunteers never go back."

    "Yea-"

    "But when I went, all the kids yed and ate quietly. They didn''t make one mess and put all their toys back neatly after ying with them."

    "That''s because they know how strong you are. Their parents must''ve warned them severely too."

    "Hm, I can consider sending a psychic ability user over."

    "Really?!"

    "But they are considerably rarer than other ability users."

    I got the gist.

    "What do you want me to do?"

    "There''s a kid I usually y with. Used to be his bodyguard actually. But now that I''m busy, I don''t have time to y with him. Why don''t you go in my stead? He''s not like the children in the nursery, so rest assured, he won''t behave badly."

    I-I guess I could do that. As long as my colleagues and I were safe and wouldn''t be harmed, anything was worth it.

    "Ok, I''ll do it."

    "Then, we should go right now. I''ll drop you off. I''ve got something else soon."

    I followed him to the first-floor lobby where everyone respectfully gave their greetings to Shui Yu.

    Somedies were swooning and squealing at the sight of him. Wait, wrong, it wasn''t onlydies, there were also men who were pretty smitten with him to it seems.

    Many also looked at me and gossiped. Of course, although I was quite out of it, I was an outstandingly handsome individual. Only Shui Jing and Shui Yu could equal my status.

    What I heard most from the gossipers was "I wish I qualified for that show!!!"

    In the end, I got curious, so I asked Shui Yu, "Are you in some show?"

    "A matchmaking show. I was asked by a family friend to participate."

    "So what, you''re being pursued by several people?"

    "Yes. There are only a handful of contestants left. That''s what I''m supposed to decide right after I drop you off."

    I looked at his profile.

    Clean cut jawline, high straight nose, longshes. What a stud.

    ...Snap out of it! Although he looks good, his personality was awful! And you''ve got Shui Jing! What are you thinking about!

    Of course, I didn''t like him. It was obviously another one of the author''s plots to boast about how handsome her kid turned out to be.

    At least I turned out to be taller than him. 189 cm was considerably taller than Shui Yu. I used to be as short as Shui Lai when I was a kid, but now, I was probably taller than any of them.

    As a 20-year-old, almost full-grown man, I had toned muscles, a handsome face, a great height, everything a man could want.

    Yeah, I didn''t have to put myself down. I was always chased after, had a lot of people asking me out. I even had powerful abilities. I was great!

    I was gr-

    "We''re here. Let''s go in."

    When I realized we arrived. I looked properly at the ce and stood awestruck.

    What a huge mansion! So decorative! So... grand! It even has a maze garden! A rose garden! A huge fountain! The naked cupid statues! What was this ce?!

    My vocabry was limited and I could only keep my mouth shut and follow Shui Yu in.

    "Zuan~!" a cheerful voice burst in.

    Shui Yu exined, "My nickname. I gave him diamond earrings before."

    Ah, so "Diamonds" meaning "Zuan". Got it.

    I looked at the kid.

    Bright blinding smile. Cheeks with baby fat. Eager eyes.

    I wasn''t falling for it.

    The babies at the nursery had the same look.

    Urgh, just thinking about them gave me the shivers.

    "Little Blue, how are you? I can''t stay here, but I brought someone who could y with you."

    "You aren''t staying?"

    "No, I''m sorry, we''ll have to have our ydate another time."

    Pft. ydate. What a childish word.

    This "Little Blue" shot me a look.

    I knew it, all kids are scary.

    "Zuan, are you going to a shoot for that reality show?"

    "Yup, it only has a couple episodes left. I only need to go two more times."

    Oh, I got it now.

    This kid liked Shui Yu too.

    ...What was with people falling for him left and right?!

    "Zuan, lots of people want to date you. What are you going to do about it?"

    "They''ll have to beat me first."

    "..." Does that mean I have no chance at all?

    Poor little blue.

    Poor Calix.

    Poor me.

    Wish I was taller.

    <strong>A/N: Author notes are cut short these days. Anyways, thank you readers for providing so many useful facts and suggestions! And I really want to delete the old chapters and start writing anew, but that''s really... taxing, so I''ll edit when this novel''s over. Which is something I don''t know when it will happen...</strong>

    <strong>Anyways, if you can, please support me. Even a few cents or a dor will do. If you don''t want to give monthly, then give donations through coffees, please. You don''t need to give, of course, I''m not pressuring. But if you''ve got enough and you want to help me out, you''re more than wee to.</strong>

    <strong>Also, feel free to join my discord channel or message me through discord! We barely talk there, but I''m usually on, lurking in other servers.</strong><ol><li data-annotation-id="5f438712aa9b6">https://discord.gg/MwX3PAX</li></ol>

 Chapter 90: A Person in a worse situation than I

    Chapter 90: A Person in a worse situation than I

    "Zuan, lots of people want to date you. What are you going to do about it?"

    "They''ll have to beat me first."

    "..." Does that mean I have no chance at all?

    "Anyways, Little Blue, y nicely, I have to go now."

    "...Ok, bye."

    Now I was left with the big oaf over there.

    Sigh. If only I was older, I could participate in the show.

    And if I was older, I''d be more powerful!

    Maybe I''d be able to beat Zuan!

    Then I''d be able to date him.

    Or at least be friends.

    Zuan... he doesn''t treat me like a kid, but he doesn''t treat me like an adult either.

    I''m not on equal grounds with him.

    Whew, I was having mature thoughts again, I was a kid, I should be more childish.

    My mom always said that I should be like other kids.

    "Fuss more and cry more! Have fun and get angry! Don''t try to be considerate!"

    Haizz, but as the boss of this territory and the most popr kid at school, my 8 year old self had to be responsible!

    Because I was the boss!

    I even had to be responsible for when my buddies didn''t do their homework!

    I helped them study and pass supplementary sses or a remediation test.

    Of course, I couldn''t fail at my school work either.

    I had to get a 100 on everything.

    If you showed even one mistake, people would doubt if I was worthy of leading.

    Only with those I trusted fully, could I be more rxed.

    For example, Jing Shao was a reliableckey.

    And his random ability really was impressive.

    Against enemies, not that we really had one, he could stack up bad luck on them.

    Once we tested it out on the grumpy school guard, and while he was dozing off, a dog peed on his trousers.

    We almost got into trouble, but since it couldn''t be proven that we did it, we were let go.

    Fun times.

    "So, what''s your name?"

    Oh yeah, that oaf was left behind.

    "Shouldn''t you introduce yourself first?" I asked with a nd expression. Deep down, I was thinking of what to do with this guy. Hmph, who even are you to talk to me this way?

    "Well, I''m Calix. Calix Cora."

    "Yang Xiaoshen. A pleasure to meet you." As a boss, I had to be polite to everyone.

    "Nice to meet you!"

    The guy seemed relieved.

    "I haven''t seen you before. Are you Zuan''s friend?"

    "Oh, I came here about 2 or 3 days ago. I only lived with his family when I was younger."

    2 or 3 days ago?

    I thought outsiders couldn''t enter easily?

    Then, he must have abilities.

    "What''s your abilities?"

    "Electricity, Water, and Space, the container kind."

    Huh, pretty powerful abilities even for the base residents.

    And this person probably hasn''t even gone through the zombie trial.

    That''s a bit impressive I''ll admit.

    He was... pretty cool.

    I could call him Ge.

    Since he was older. That''s all there is!

    "What are your abilities?" Calix Ge asked.

    "Jellyfish(Irukandji), Diamond, Red-crowned crane, Tiger shark, Tiger, Telepathy, Teleportation, & Telekinesis, Water, Salt, and Leather," I said in one breath.

    It took me a long time to pronounce all the words right and in one sentence.

    A dumb looking expression showed on his face.

    "D-do people here usually have that many abilities?"

    "No, usually five. Water is a regr choice, then some people choose pets or animals. If they get through the red phase, they can have one or more abilities added."

    "Wow, and what''s the animal thing about? Do you turn into the animals you choose?"

    Eh, I did hear that outsiders usually only have elemental abilities. So they really didn''t know what animal abilities were like.

    "No, you gain traits. Night vision, flight, stronger bodies, faster speed, better hearing, being able to breathe underwater, etc. And you also gain favoritism with the animals that you chose, this is especially good for pack animals."

    "Really? You don''t turn into the animals?"

    "No, but you can gain animal traits. Like ears, tails, wings, sharper and tougher nails."

    "Can you show me?"

    How could I say no to such an individual who looks up to me?

    So of course, I changed into my Tiger form. I didn''t bring out my tail since I wasn''t wearing clothes that my tail could poke out of.

    Tiger ears that twitched at the smallest of sounds grew on my head and my nails became a little longer and tougher.

    "See, now I can hear better, although zombie trial users on top of being ability users already have greater physical abilities."

    "Wow. Wow. Wow! I heard about the zombie trial from my colleagues. I should get an animal ability!"

    I was puzzled.

    Outsiders can''t get zombie trials.

    That rule was still very much in ce.

    The outsiders that came here all had no choice but to agree.

    It might get changed if we have more outsiders.

    But who knows?

    We were already a bit xenophobic.

    Only people brought in or approved by our Chief Zuan were ok.

    So, even if this was hard to break, towards this slightly stupid-looking oaf, I had to break it to him.

    Yeah, I gave up on calling him Ge. He''s a little weird.

    Too pitiful.

    "Outsiders can''t go through the zombie trial."

    "Huh? Really?"

    "Yes. Sorry."

    As expected, the big oaf had a sad look on his face.

    From his reactions so far, he easily got into things, wouldn''t forget easily about the things he want, and got emotional easily.

    "It''s ok. I get that there arews here that I shouldn''t try to break."

    At first, I didn''t like this guy named Calix, but he really was pitiful now.

    "Anyway, how did youe here? Did Zuan bring you in?"

    "To the base? I found the base while looking for traces of the Shui family."

    "You found the base yourself? Where are you from?"

    Calix looked like a foreigner, but he spoke ournguage well, so did he grow up here?

    Wait, but if he was a close family friend, then why wasn''t he invited to the base?

    "I''m from Greece. I came here since I knew Shui Yu would have kept his family safe somehow. Didn''t expect he would build a base though."

    "Why''d youe here?"

    He didn''t look like a spy. Just must have good enough luck to find the base. He looked and was too stupidly honest.

    "I came here to find Shui Jing. We were really good friends, and I was wondering how he was..."

    It certainly didn''t look like that.

    Because.

    Calix was blushing and smiling as he talked about Jing Ge.

    It was obvious that he had a crush on Jing Ge.

    I could certainly break the news that outsiders couldn''t go through the zombie trial.

    But I couldn''t break this news!

    The fact that Jing Ge was already married!

    Already had a kid!

    A daughter!

    Goodness!

    I was starting to sound like my mom when she watched soap operas!

    Whew, well, um, although I was a boss, I wouldn''t stick my nose into private matters.

    All I could think in my heart was:

    Good Luck Calix.

    May you somehow find out and not have your heart crushed.

    Sigh, I could only wish this as I watched this grown adult man smile so happily talking about his crush.

    I, a kid who had a one-sided love for about 2 years, couldn''tpare with the guy who had a one-sided love from his childhood.

    Even I felt bad for him!

    That''s how bad it was!

    I offered my condolences to him in my mind!

    Goodness!

    I was truly starting to talk like my mom!

 Chapter 91: I was wrong!

    Chapter 91: I was wrong!

    I was wrong!

    This kid, Yang Xioshen wasn''t bad at all!

    What a polite kid!

    I was never that polite when I was a kid.

    I was more unruly, sarcastic, and stubborn.

    Only nice to people I liked.

    Yang Xiaoshen was a really nice guy.

    He exined thews and basic rules that I should know in the base.

    He also talked about different abilities.

    It was disappointing that I couldn''t go through the zombie trial, but I immediately thought about another way.

    I could go find a zombie and bite it!

    Then with a bit of luck, I''d get to have some more abilities.

    And then I could get some animal abilities!

    I didn''t expect for a kid to know much about love. Kids only had puppy love and it went away quickly.

    I kept it a secret that I came to the base searching for Shui Jing.

    When I talked about how we met and how the Shui family rescued me from a ve auction, Yang Xiaoshen looked even more pitifully at me.

    He was feeling very sorry for me as I listed the events that happened while I stayed with the Shui siblings.

    Yang Xiaoshen even brought me inside to have some refreshments with him.

    I was getting thirsty from talking too much, so I agreed.

    The butler- I reckon he''s the butler, he had on a suit and everything- seemed surprised to see us in the kitchen, eating delicately made cookies and drinking tea.

    I mean, even if it was me, I''d be surprised seeing a small kid and a huge man talking delightfully over tea.

    ...Even imagining gives me goosebumps for some reason.

    Far into our conversation, I felt guilty all of a sudden.

    I was supposed to be ying with him, but here we were chatting away.

    I knew that kids liked ying outside and were unruly.

    If nothing, my experience today in the nursery seriously taught me that.

    "Xiaoshen, do you have anything you want to do? I was supposed to be ying with you, but now I''m just talking and you''re listening."

    "Then can we watch Zuan''s show? I want to watch it all over again!"

    The butler cut in, "Young Master, you''ve watched it 24 times already..."

    "It''s ok. Just in time before Episode 14 toe out! This will refresh my memory!"

    I was fine with it, I wanted to see some tv, I hadn''t in a long time.

    We went to the movie room where they had a huge screen.

    With popcorn and drink in hand, we sat backfortably in the recliner chairs.

    [Episode 1: The Start of the Grand Elimination]

    ...

    After a run of all the current episodes, more than 4 and a half hours had passed.

    The show really was fun, as I much preferred variety shows to dramas.

    While we were watching, Xiaoshen gave small tidbits of info.

    "That guy''s a subordinate of my father''s branchpany''s manager. He''s not very good at his work."

    "Oh, that girl''s my mom''s friend''s daughter''s friend. She has huge tattoos on her back, and her mom beat the heck out of her for concealing it from her. She didn''t care about the tattoos, but the girl used up a lot of the family savings. She''s not reliable."

    "He''s actually balding. I heard from my mom''s hairdresser, he goes for appointments to her friend''s salon to add wig attachments. It''s really well done, isn''t it?"

    "He''s a senior at a nearby college. He''s the top student in engineering. There are no bad rumors about him, but that''s the suspicious part."

    "She''s not going by her real name. I heard from her little brother that her real name was so manly, that she hides it and bribes teachers into not saying it. But she doesn''t want to change her name because she got tricked by a fortune teller years ago that if she changes her name, she''ll have really bad luck."

    "Ah, that young looking girl... she''s actually in herte 30s. She''s really good at using her water abilities, and she''s got Aloe abilities. I don''t even know why she came here. She''s a cougar!"

    I don''t know where he got all this information, I''d be interested to find out.

    Xiaoshen also had a lot to say about who he thought wasn''t good enough or was too weak for the show.

    "That guy... his abilities are so weak! Not his elemental and animal abilities, but the control over his abilities!"

    "Haizz, every time I see this episode, that girl irks me. She''s doesn''t even know how to use her animal abilities. Rabbit are supposed to be fast, but why is she just using it to have rabbit ears as decorations?!"

    Almost every contestant was ridiculed or their ck history was pulled out.

    There were only a few that Xiaoshen didn''t know of.

    "Xia Jiayi. He''s an outsider, but with his intelligence that''s above many, he was able to deal with all the trials except for when ability using trials urred."

    "He''s an outsider? How did he even join?"

    "Hmph, he got in because Zuan saw that he was a genius. Right now, he''s even living in Zuan''s home!"

    "He does seem really smart."

    "Hmph!"

    When we got out of the movie room, it was dark.

    Shui Yu had sent some people to pick me up and send me home.

    "Bye, Calix. When youe over next time, we''ll watch Episode 14!"

    "Ok, go back in, good night!"

    I watched Xiaoshen go back in and walked away with the guards to go back home.

    But before we could get past the gates, Xiaoshen''s voice yelled out, "Wait!"

    He looked panicked. What could be wrong?

    "What''s wrong?"

    "I... I think you should know this," he said hesitantly and handed me a picture.

    "Be sure to ask about it!" Yang Xiaoshen yelled as he ran back in.

    I turned the picture over and saw a familiar face.

    Shui Jing!

    But... who was that next to him?

    And they were wearing... wedding clothing?

    Haha, surely it couldn''t be, but was...

    Was Shui Jing already married?

    On the way back home, I couldn''t think of anything but the horrible possibility.

    What if Shui Jing was already married?

    No way.

    No way, right?

    It couldn''t be.

    No, it wasn''t true.

    There was no way it was real.

    If it was...

    What would I do?

    I came all the way here.

    Just to see him.

    Just to ask him out.

    Just to be his one and only.

    Because to me, he had always been my one and only.

    But if he was already someone else''s, married, and happy...

    I couldn''t take him away.

    I wouldn''t.

    I wanted to see him happy.

    I loved his smiles.

    ...

    Iid in bed thinking and arrived at a conclusion.

    If Shui Jing was single, then I''ll earnestly ask him out.

    If he''s married, wish him happiness and fortune and get out.

    I had no faith in myself to be just a friend.

    I had to forget, move on, do something else.

    Argh, I really wanted to know what his status was!

    ...

    Next morning, I was tired from not being able to sleep.

    I wasn''t the type to get dark circles, but an annoying pimple had sprouted up right next to my nose and it hurt.

    Even without the guards urging me to Shui Yu''s office, I walked quickly.

    First thing I said to him: "Shui Jing''s married."

    What he said back: "Oh? You found out pretty quick, bummer."

    More than shock at the truth, I felt intense fear and anger towards Shui Yu.

    What an evil being!

    He wasn''t human.

    He was inhumane.

    How could humans be so horrid to have such humor?

    Shui Yu was much more terrible than I thought.

    Much more terrifying.

    I really was wrong to try to think of Shui Yu as a better person.

    I thought it was just me who was bratty in the past, but no.

    Shui Yu was evil.

    I wish I wasn''t.

    But.

    I was wrong.

 Chapter 92: A terrible thing called Love

    Chapter 92: A terrible thing called Love

    Hm, maybe I went a little too far.

    I didn''t expect Little Blue to be so nice and hand over such key evidence to Calix.

    Guess he''s still a kid although he tries to act mature.

    Calix was fuming and looked terrified but ready to fight.

    Psh, it was fun but now seeing this reaction I didn''t want to bully him any further.

    "After that, do you still want to meet my Ge?"

    The main point really. Did he still want to chase after my Ge?

    "...Is he happy?"

    "Yes. Very much so," I replied with a slight smile.

    "Then I don''t want to see him anymore."

    Hm, how unexpected. I didn''t expect him to be that mature and know how to give up properly.

    He really had changed from a vengeful brat to a decent person.

    "Then, do you want to stay?" I asked. I could let him stay.

    "I''m allowed to?" Calix asked with a confused look.

    "Don''t you not like me? I like your brother. Didn''t you want to chase me out?"

    "No, having fun is not disliking you. You''re wee to stay if you want, we''ve got more than enough space."

    Calix seemed to consider it carefully.

    Outside waiting was the harsh weather and environment, a harsh world overall.

    Here in the base could be considered paradise.

    "I want to stay."

    "Good choice. Then do you want to keep your job? I can transfer you to another one."

    I had expected that he would stay with hisrades that he so pitifully asked a psychic ability user for, but it turned out-

    "Assign me another job! Please!"

    -he immediately backed out of it.

    He''s be amusing, I evenughed.

    "Then, I can see that Little Blue''s taken a liking to you. Would you like to be a butler? He''s getting ready to retire soon."

    "Ok, I''ll take it!"

    We ended the conversation and I had guards send him back.

    When I got home, the house felt empty.

    Ge wasn''t around, Xiao Lai was busy, Xiao Bing was somewhere with her boyfriend I guess.

    I used to be overprotective of them.

    But I realized that one day, we were all going to have our own families and would have to live our own lives.

    I was mad at Xiao Bing before, but I didn''t care much now.

    She should make her own decisions and stick to it.

    Through making bad choices and learning from them, you could grow as a person.

    She was making her own money, was eating properly, and not having any problems, she was doing fine.

    But with nobody home, it certainly felt lonely.

    I made some tea for myself and sat down on the couch to destress.

    Eh, there was someone outside the door.

    Not my siblings... oh, it''s Xia Jiayi.

    "Ah? You''re home early!"

    "Mm, you''rete."

    "Theb found new results from a discarded petri dish! We were frantic trying to find out why it turned out so different when it wasn''t showing any results a week ago."

    "Good work. Have you had dinner yet?"

    "Not yet, you?"

    "I have, what do you want?"

    "Ah, no need to trouble yourself, I''ll make it myself."

    "Ok."

    Whew, it was nice having people around.

    And I feltfortable around Xia Jiayi thankfully. If it was some stranger or just an acquaintance, I''d have put on a front.

    It really was nice seeing him around.

    ...huh?

    "Hold this for me."

    A bowl of noodles was ced into my hands.

    Xia Jiayi made his way around and sat next to me.

    He turned on the tv and scrolled through the channels.

    He picked the show we attended and proceeded to start from the beginning.

    After dropping the remote next to him, he took back the noodles and slurped them while watching episode 1.

    "Is it that interesting? We were the ones to participate."

    "You haven''t watched it, right? The producers really edited the whole thing well! And I look so cool, I must''ve watched it at least 30 times."

    "Hm, I''ll watch with you."

    I really hadn''t watched the show before.

    It turned out more fun than expected, and we discussed about what happened at a certain point or how thatpetitor was actually different than they looked.

    "Ah remember that course? If not for the revival round, I would''ve been outed for sure!"

    "Ugh, that guy grabbed my ankle and I fell at thest second! At least I''m in the top 3! Hahaha!"

    "Huh, howe I''ve never noticed that before?! I''ve watched this 30 times!"

    With the naturalmentary beside me, I wasughing along pretty shortly.

    But although the show was fun and it brought back memories, I couldn''t help but focus on something else.

    Xia Jiayi smiling looked really nice.

    Hisughter, although loud, wasn''t annoying, it was nice too.

    Subconsciously, I smiled while looking at him.

    Although he wasn''t family, I was reallyfortable being around him.

    I also wanted to take care of him as I did for my siblings, but it was a little different.

    Hm, maybe it was something I didn''t want but happened anyway.

    Maybe I did like him.

    But I wasn''t going to let him know that.

    Until I was sure he liked me.

    Besides, I wanted to find out what kind of person he was.

    I wasn''t the type to do things before thinking through.

    Xia Jiayi was hiding things from me.

    If not, how could my trusted hackers and crackers fail at trying to find his background and history?

    Sigh, maybe I was crazy.

    I fell in love with a person I don''t even knowpletely.

    And howe so suddenly?

    There were and are many great people around me.

    I could''ve developed crushes on any one of them and then be somewhat assured.

    Why''d I have to go and like this guy?

    Just because I want to protect him?

    Just because his actions are cute?

    Well, it''s already happened, might as well get closer and find out his secrets.

    At the exact moment, because Xia Jiayi got too excited for the newest episode that the production team quickly edited today, his bowl spilled over.

    "Ahh, I''m sorry! I''ll clean it up!"

    In the end, his efforts to clean made a bigger mess.

    He looked flustered and instead of getting stains out, rubbed them in.

    ...It''s no use, everything he does looks cute.

    I was already beyond the point of no return.

    Love was a terrible thing.

 Chapter 93: No Clue

    Chapter 93: No Clue

    To be honest, the Shui family was nice.

    I never had parents or siblings and the people I knew at theb were and weren''t like family.

    It wasplicated.

    They didn''t fawn over me like a child.

    Of course, they tried, but I wouldn''t give them any hints or answers, so they gave up in the end.

    I was more of a professor you have a decent rtionship with but is less than a friend.

    But watching the Shui family and other families living around made me realize that everyone was really close.

    In myb, nobody was really focused on romance.

    Or building a family.

    Many were single or divorced because they wanted to focus on their work.

    The rare asional married people were couples in theb itself, or they could only send out video calls and go visit once in a while.

    So there wasn''t much love in thebs, more of a friendly colleague situation.

    Maybe the factor that most kids who were my age were at most assistants.

    I was the only one considered a genius.

    Only because I knew what my past self had experienced or found out.

    But actually, the kids my age were geniuses. Real ones.

    At most, I was a prodigy through suspicious means.

    My past self, they had made a lot of friends, some rivals, teachers.

    I wondered what went wrong, as I never made a friend properly in this life.

    "Xia Jiayi!"

    I bolted up right away.

    "You aren''t paying attention, are you? We''ve got a show to get going and you''ve got to present yourself properly!"

    Di Li Feng scolded sharply and knocked his rolled paper script onto my head 3 times.

    "So, what should I do again?"

    "Sigh, be grateful I''m such a magnanimous person. If I were anyone else, they''d have thrown you out of the crew already! No, In the first few episodes! No, even before the show started!"

    "Thank you, Director."

    He liked being called that, or Director Di.

    Director Di gave a satisfied grin and asked me, "All right, will you listen this time?"

    "Yes, Director."

    "Good! Ok, so this time, it''ll be a simple game. Truth and dare, heard of it?"

    "No."

    "You get to choose truth or dare. Truth, somebody asks you a question and you''ve got to answer it truthfully. Dare, you have to do something somebody tells you to do."

    "Is there a prize?"

    "Err..." Director Di looked around and found something that caught his eye.

    "I''ll give you a deluxe lunchbox! We''ve got more in today as a bonus, we''ll give you two sets even!"

    "Deal."

    I was quick to take it because... well, our normal lunches were nd, sometimes had disgusting vegetables and mushrooms. I hate mushrooms.

    The deluxe lunchbox was way bigger than ours, had meat in it, more side dishes, and soup too.

    And if I went through it well, I''d get two sets!

    What a great deal!

    I ate a lot and a normal lunchbox was never enough for me. I was a growing boy!

    I got serious.

    "Do I have to y with the other contestants?"

    "No, solo y. The staff are going to ask and you choose whichever; truth or dare."

    Ok. I could do this. I''d only choose truth. That seems to be the easiest way out... right?

    But noo, they just had to make it difficult.

    "To be sure that you''re speaking the truth, we''ll have this liar zapper attached to your left hand."

    My n to BS everything... cut!

    "Here are the options! For truth, answer a question nicely! For dare, you''ve got to go through a bowl of ghost peppers!"

    Evil staff members! They''d nned this!

    "Sigh, we racked up a lot of ideas to make this Q & A session possible. This was the only way."

    "..."

    "Anyways, contestant Xia Jiayi, what''s your sexual orientation?"

    "Uhh."

    Zap!

    "Not an answer, reply quickly!"

    My hand was still stinging from the electric zap, but since I didn''t want to experience that again, Iplied.

    "I guess gay?"

    "Ok, pass. Then, are you a dog person or a cat person?"

    "Neither."

    "Le gasp, you don''t like animals?"

    "I don''t know what they''re like. They''re both ok?"

    "Hm, suspicious, but we''ll let that pass."

    "Thank you?"

    "Next question! ...hey, who put this here?!"

    The staff snickered. What was it?

    "Sigh, well, we have to go through it I guess."

    No, you don''t!"

    "There''s been many a fanfiction floating around with contestant and chief pairings. And your pairing is among the most popr."

    "There''s fanfiction of us?!"

    "Yes, and due to your age and stature being smaller, they''ve deemed you as..."

    "As what?"

    "Haizz, it''s too embarrassing to say."

    Director Di passed the script to his assistant director, ady who was known to fangirl a lot.

    "They''ve deemed you as a bottom!"

    "...What does that mean?"

    She looked shocked. The staff too. Director Di as well.

    "On a second thought, let''s skip that one."

    "Ok?"

    What was that just now?

    Bottom?

    I''ll ask Shui Yu what that ister.

    We went on with more weird and strange questions, filled with words I didn''t know.

    It was indeed strange, I had all of my past life and this life to find out more about the world and learn of its mysteries, but how could I not know what these people considered "simple terms"?

    Was it some sort of ng?

    Were they pronouncing the words wrong?

    Who knows?

    This crew is a bunch of weirdos after all.

    "Last question."

    Whew!

    "Do you like Shui Yu?"

    "Of course!"

    I mean, I do, but like you have to if you want to participate in this show.

    "Romantically?"

    "Uhh."

    Zap!

    "Ow!"

    "Oho, are you too embarrassed to say? I see what''s going on. I''ll let you off then. Sigh, I''m too gracious, aren''t I?"

    This assistant director sure was a narcissist.

    In the end, through a series of questions. I got my two sets of deluxe lunchboxes.

    Immediately, I forgot my worries and dug in.

    How delightful!

    No mushrooms!

    More meat!

    Delicious sauce!

    Even soup!

    And it actually filled me up for once!

    My stomach wouldn''t go growling now, haha!

    But really, what were those words?

    Bottom?

    What''s that?

 Chapter 94: School is necessary, young man!

    Chapter 94: School is necessary, young man!

    I''d been relocated to an assistant butler at the Yang household.

    The butler didn''t seem to like me.

    It was obvious whenever he scoffed at my shoddy cleaning skills.

    He was an old dude, maybe 60, 70 years old.

    I don''t have as many years of experience dusting vases as you do, ok?!

    Lay off me old man!

    At least I knew how to be a bodyguard and schedule manager well.

    The oldie was in charge of the Yang household''s master, Little Blue''s dad.

    He was already busy and tired from doing all that, so considering his ancient ass, the job of managing Little Blue''s schedule was handed over to me.

    "Young master Xiaoshen" as I was supposed to call him enjoyed my presence more.

    I think it''s because I let him eat junk food and didn''t lecture him every day for 3 hours.

    Of course, it didn''t mean that I would let him do everything he wanted.

    This kid, although sweet and thoughtful, had lots of bad friends.

    Not counting that Jing Shao kid who''s, uh, supposedly a secretary in making.

    He seems sly, but he''s a kid after all, the two, although their age difference is somewhat a bit further apart, 8 & 13, they still fight over the stupidest things. Just kids trying to act like adults.

    So besides work, where I now even lived in the residence, I didn''t have anything to do.

    I mainly acted as a bodyguard to earn extra pay and followed the young master around.

    He wandered around everywhere, even dangerous ces.

    It may sound weird to have bad ces in such a safe area, a safe base that Shui Yu himself made, but it was true.

    There were always some bad eggs.

    I don''t think Shui Yu doesn''t know of this.

    He probably lets it be.

    As long as they don''t do stuff bad enough for them to get sent to jail, they should be fine.

    They''re just small time crooks.

    And everyone can fight them off, they''ve all got powers.

    Oh, maybe he''s letting it be so that he can have examples of troublemakers.

    Then he''d throw them inside a jail or worse, maybe exile them?

    I shivered at my imagination.

    Shui Yu was really terrifying, but maybe I thought him even more ruthless than he was.

    Anyways, enough about Shui Yu. At this point, if I continue to think of what future decisions he may make, he''ll turn out to be a demon king.

    Just focus on work!

    And earn enough money to live a stable life with no worries!

    Did I even need this much money?

    No, but I had nothing to do, no hobbies either so might as well keep busy.

    Besides, the bodyguards were friendly folks.

    Some of them looked big, tough, rough, scary, you name it, but they were all nice to the workers under the Yang family.

    Not super friendly, of course. But they were able to joke around and talk normally.

    They cared deeply for the young master like he was their own child.

    They''d been watching him grow up all his life.

    One day, the young master asked me, "How old are you again?"

    "20."

    "Sir," the old butler chided.

    "20, <em>sir</em>."

    "20...20, huh. Then, aren''t you still supposed to be in school? College, university, right?"

    "No, sir," I replied.

    I already had a job, school would be no use!

    "Young master you are right, master and I had been nning to send Calix to the training academy."

    "What training academy?" I asked bewildered. This old man, what had he been up to?

    "The butler academy of course!"

    "Those actually exist? Aren''t they only in like anime?"

    "These days, every newly acquitted servant is not suited to working right away. They need to learn proper skills to serve their master properly."

    To what extent was this going to go???

    "I already know how to clean and sort out letters and schedule appointments and take care of-"

    "Stop acting like I don''t exist," young master pouted.

    "I don''t want to go to an academy for... butlery!"

    "No such word is used. Butlery is a butler''s room. Even I know that," the young master scoffed at my poor word choice, no, my poor vocabry skills. He sipped tea elegantly, with his pinky raised.

    "You shall learn to do housekeeping as well as the necessary skills to serve the young master as he grows into a respectable adult."

    Do I even want to be a butler in the future?

    Wait, the more pressing question was, what other job option would be left for me?

    Electricity manager? No, the base''s sr power panels were better than me at giving energy.

    What could I do without any technical school education or license?

    Dangit, maybe I did have to go to school.

    I take back what I said before, school had its uses!

    Oh, maybe I''ll be a bodyguard instead?

    The old man saw through my thoughts and told me, "There''s also a school for bodyguards as well. It is much tougher than the butler academy."

    With grave faces, the trusty bodyguards nodded.

    "D-did this school transfer in with the base?"

    "Of course, many influential people live in the base, and with their work, not many can afford to spend time and effort in housekeeping and managing unexpected duties as well."

    Now the old dude had a reminiscent expression on his face. Gross.

    "I remember when I was ad. My mother shipped me off to the academy. I didn''t have the best results, so I honed my skills and became the top student. That was how I became employed in the Yang household. Young man, although youck the eye to see detail, you must not betray the Yang household name! You must be #1!"

    "You talk as if I already go there."

    From behind me, a voice sounded.

    "That''s because you already are a student there."

    The bodyguards, the old butler, and young master all turned and greeted.

    "Master!" "Father!"

    I btedly greeted as well, "Master... What do you mean?"

    The Yang patriarch smiled wisely.

    "You already signed the contract before, don''t you remember?"

    Contract...?

    "In your work contract, it contained a condition that you would have to learn skills at the academy."

    A very mindful reminder to always read the small print and not skip over paragraphs that look like filler.

    "The academy is starting their second semester next week, don''t let us down, young man."

    The Yang patriarch patted my shoulders lightly, but I felt a heavy weight.

    Physically I mean, the burden was mentally pressuring as well, but the Yang patriarch was a strong ability user on top of being a powerful influential being. His hand was heavy.

    Anyhow.

    I was ced with being valedictorian.

    This was considering that I was shoddy at wiping windows and dusting vases.

    I could take care of scheduling.

    But I''d seen the work the old butler did.

    Although he''s crummy, I had to admit, he was impressive, managing the whole household.

    Our household did have a housekeeper. But the housekeeper was also an old man, even older actually. He had bad eyes, even if he was an ability user, so he couldn''t do his work properly and only did a portion of it with his own sessor.

    So, the old butler was both a butler and housekeeper, it really was tough on him.

    I did have imaginations of taking over his legacy since they mentioned it before, but whenever I looked at his schedule, it seemed too much for me.

    Now, I had to somehow do it all.

    This anime-like academy for butlers... I''d conquer it!

    Like any protagonist would!

    Yeah?

 Chapter 95: Confession

    Chapter 95: Confession

    While everyone seemed to be going through trials in their life, my life was calm.

    There were no big happenings.

    I would hear about the so-called "Butler Academy" that sounded like it came out from a manga, or teacher and students banding up to be a close group, or a romance with eloping included.

    They sounded like stories, fantasies, not realistic.

    But they still happened.

    I suppose the apocalypse would also sound like a fantasy to all not in it.

    Today, though, might be different.

    I was to visit the children I saved from the cannibalistic group outside the base.

    ording to reports, they were treated well and went to school normally. Some of them even getting jobs.

    But reports didn''t tell everything, so I scheduled to go see them.

    It did make me feel bad, how I had forgotten about them for several months.

    So, I brought gifts and food.

    Had they ever seen my real age form? I forgot, they might''ve only seen me as a child.

    My memory was certainly getting dull these days. Is it because I slept sote? Maybe my mental age was getting old.

    The children were doing well.

    They were epted by their neighbors, some even lived with some families.

    After adoption processes were set properly, they told me, they''d want to belong in a family again.

    They''d gone through such hard times but received hope and a bright future.

    Matureness, well more of a wariness, was still evident, but it couldn''t be helped.

    One even said, "It''s like a dream! I know it''s not, but it seems like one!"

    That childughed happily and went over to watch a show with his friends.

    It really is like a dream.

    I could have never imagined being given a second chance.

    And somehow, with bizarre luck, I was able to build the base and keep people safe.

    Although, I was still selfish and small-minded to only try to keep a specific number of close people alive, I wasn''t wrought with guilt.

    I was essentially an employer, I''d have to provide my employees lots of benefits.

    Yes, that''s one way to put it. That way, the clenching in my heart will lessen.

    This wasn''t guilt.

    Why should I feel for those I don''t know?

    But my chest felt tight.

    It must be stress.

    I could only conclude that and return home.

    Today, I would ask Xia Jiayi if he would want to be in a rtionship with me.

    If he does, I would do my best to be the perfect lover.

    If he doesn''t, then I would let him go.

    I''d respect his wishes.

    Of course, it doesn''t mean that I won''t try any further.

    I''m not one to give up easily.

    A few days ago, all my co-workers''ptop was hacked.

    There was nothing done, but an extra file appeared in the documents folder.

    This happened in other departments as well.

    But since it was a small case, nobody really mentioned it. At most, they gossiped, wondering who it was that yed such a prank.

    When I saw the document, I knew it wasn''t a prank.

    Sigh, it was the organization, they tracked me down.

    The coded document contained chastisement.

    [Why''d you leave your bodyguards behind?!]

    [You''re way past the time limit,e back or at least send us a reply!]

    [Dr. Thornton wants to ask your opinion on the increase of those with Hyperthemesia over the years. Is it due to a reliable test being produced or gic mutation, perhaps evolution?]

    [Dr. Pennington wants to ask whether you think his cross-species of chicken duck hybrids would be a hit if there was still a meat industry.]

    Etc. etc. etc.

    Aiyo, I forgot about them and now they ask me so many things.

    I didn''t want to go back yet.

    The living area, food,pany here was great!

    And I still had toplete my revenge although it was usually out of my mind.

    Fine, I just liked this ce better than the freezingb in Greend.

    I didn''t care about revenge anymore.

    I felt bad for my previous life''s self, Shui Jing was a monster back then.

    He''s a nice individual today, so I don''t feel any hatred although he killed "me".

    I only leeched off of my previous self''s memories, I still can''t resonate with his experiences properly.

    Shui Yu was really too nice.

    Giving me a ce to stay, buying me clothes and supplies, feeding me delicious food.

    I gained weight from all the pampering!

    He was an intelligent, caring person.

    These days, I didn''t even need to speak. He''d just show up and ask if I wanted this or that.

    I think everyone needs a Shui Yu in their life! I have one, hehehe.

    I finished up work and decided to write back a reply.

    Simple e-mail style.

    I didn''t bother answering all the questions, except for some that caught my eye.

    None asked if I was well or sick, or whatever.

    They knew that I would do fine, maybe starve a little, or be dehydrated, perhaps even close to dying, but I was still alive, so considered "ok" to them.

    Hmhm, now time to go home!

    I wonder what''s for dinner today~

    -------------

    Dinner was filling and delicious as always.

    This time there was even dessert, and it was meringue cookies. They tasted slightly sweet with a hint of peppermint in them. Shui Yu said he got them from a co-worker who liked to bake.

    Well, thanks to the baker co-worker, I got to taste such delectable sweets.

    Going along with our usual routine, we sat in the living room sofas to watch some tv.

    There was a re-run of the show an old breakout room game with several stars in a grand set design. Both the Korean and Chinese versions were great to watch!

    "Wait."

    Ah? It was rare for Shui Yu to stop me, and he looked so serious.

    I was getting a little nervous.

    Had he found out that the organization hacked theb''s devices?

    Did he find out that I wasn''t just a refugee?

    What could it be?

    Could he... would he kick me out?

    Maybe my emotions showed through my face, but Shui Yuughed.

    Whew, so he shouldn''t have found out...

    "I just wanted to ask you something, no need to be so scared."

    Scared? Me?

    What did he want to ask?

    "I... realized that I seem to have feelings for you."

    Blink.

    Blink.

    Blink.

    What feelings...?

    "Xia Jiayi, will you be my boyfriend?"

    I don''t know what I even replied.

    There''s a high chance of "um", "uh", "what"s mixed in.

    I suddenly lost my ability to form sentences, no, my ability to speak.

    "Think about it, ok?"

    Shui Yu quickly went upstairs with red ears and blushing face after throwing that at me.

    How was I supposed to answer that?

    Somehow part 1 of my revenge seeded?!

    But did I even want revenge anymore?!

    Did I like Shui Yu?!

    How would I be able to sleep today?!

    I confessed.

    It was embarrassing, and I ran away in the end.

    I still did it.

    Xia Jiayi didn''t know where to look and seemed confused.

    He was flustered.

    I truly hope it''s a good sign.

    Ah, my face is still so hot.

    I want tomorrow toe soon.

 Chapter 96: Reply

    Chapter 96: Reply

    With a confession, there had to be a reply, right?

    The next morning, I stayed in my bed all day.

    It was the weekend.

    I had not gotten any sleep.

    My eyes hurt from ying on my phone the whole night.

    I didn''t want to go see Shui Yu downstairs.

    But.

    I was hungry.

    ''No! You can''t go meet him right now! You have to hold it off for now!''

    Telling this to myself didn''t help because the fragrance of whatever dishes were being made permeated into my room.

    Urgh, curse him for being such a good cook!

    No, I had to think it over, over, and over.

    I didn''t know how to face Shui Yu.

    If he was waiting for me toe down there, he wouldn''t get his results.

    No matter what, before I had a definite answer, I wouldn''t see him.

    I should have at least stored some snacks here.

    Anyways, I was getting fat, so I should take this chance to lose some weight.

    As the agonization of my stomach came to make a noise, a knock on the door came to a sound.

    "I''m going to leave your portion here. Careful not to bump it with the door."

    I leaned my ear to the door and made sure the footsteps were gone.

    Whew, I wouldn''t starve today. I''ll just exercise next time.

    I slowly opened the door and sighed in relief.

    Only a tray of food and drink was ced on the floor.

    No humans in sight.

    He really is considerate, isn''t he?

    It was curry for today. And as always, impably delicious.

    At this point, I should really just surrender and let myself be spoiled to death, right?

    I wouldn''t mind living like this for the rest of my life.

    You know what, I had to man up.

    I coulde to like Shui Yu romantically, I was willing to develop feelings for him.

    Maybe I did already like him, it''s just that I didn''t think of it too much.

    I didn''t want to be like the lonely professors and doctors stuck in their research forever in Greend.

    I loved research, I want to do it my whole life, but I don''t want to be like them, forgetting everything else.

    The colleagues I had here had happy families although they were busy. Such a life was much more preferable.

    Mm, I liked living here, I didn''t want to go back.

    Whew, alright, revenge was a bad thing, I''d deeply regret it if I did anything to make Shui Yu sad or angry.

    ...I can''t imagine an angry Shui Yu. How scary would that be?

    Even imagining it is terrifying.

    Well, it wouldn''t happen. Probably.

    In the future, I reckon it''ll be calm and peaceful.

    Shui Yu worked, but he did the housework as well.

    Since he was so busy with housework and work both, if things calmed down enough and he could take a break, I would take care of him with my own sry.

    I would be the breadwinner of the house!

    Although I was young and ignorant of the ways of the world, I was confident in my skills, talent, and potential!

    And if nothing worked, at the very least, I was handsome enough to live off my face.

    Sigh, it''s a pity that I don''t want to be an idol. If I did, I''d be famous in the base by now, a rising top star!

    I''ve decided. I was the man for Shui Yu, I had to reply properly and give him a confession scene like they always mentioned in tv shows and novels. That''s the correct etiquette, right?

    The 999 roses scene? A candlelight path? A building with light on in some rooms to create a certain message? What should I do?

    Ah, so much to n out!

    After my confession, Xia Jiayi didn''te out of his room for the whole day.

    The next day, he also didn''te out.

    The day after that, he came out because he had to go to work.

    I had work too, but we missed each other in the morning because I could tell he wanted to avoid me.

    I gave him space, but it did feel awkward and disheartening that he would go out of his way to not see me.

    At least he didn''t starve himself and still ate the food I made.

    Today, I would work hard and try to keep my mind off of the confession.

    I said my good mornings, how are you, and listened to some office gossip along the way to my office.

    They were especially chatty today.

    Well, they always were on a Monday.

    Secretary Jing listed off the events on my schedule today and I noticed that I had time left over.

    "I don''t have anything after 6 to do today?"

    "Yes, you can leave early. A previous appointment was rescheduled for ater date."

    "I see. You should go home early as well. Get some rest and spend time with family.''

    "Thank you, I will do so," he gave a smile.

    -----------

    Work indeed ended early today.

    Going down to the lobby, I didn''t see anyone.

    "Is everyone off today?"

    "Someone''s having a wedding, they invited everyone to attend."

    Hearing this, I was a bit miffed.

    Why didn''t they invite me?

    Seemingly noticing my mood, Secretary Jing exined, "At the time, you still had a filled schedule, so they didn''t invite you. They didn''t want to bother you."

    I still could have made room at least. They were being considerate, but I could have attended.

    It was such an important day after all.

    Then I seemed to hear whispers outside.

    "Are they having the wedding near here? I can hear their voices..."

    The people who gossiped all the time in the office, of course, I knew their voices.

    I could see Secretary Jing starting to break a sweat.

    Hm? What were they hiding?

    Well, I''d find out soon.

    I mentally prepared myself, but what came at me... wasn''t something I could''ve ever expected.

    The people I knew... they were all dressed in red and holding up a huge bouquet of flowers each.

    They were formed into a slightly lopsided heart shape presumably if seen from above.

    "He''s out! Light ''em up!" somebody shouted in the distance.

    With a ring "BOOM!" shing lights surrounded me.

    Fireworks? Roses? What was-

    "BzZttT- Shui Yu!"

    The static hurt everyone''s sensitive ears, and we all cringed.

    But I recognized that voice and looked for the direction where the voice came from.

    And there he was.

    "Xia Jiayi?" I quietly mouthed.

    "Shui Yu! I-I-I feel that we understand each other very well! And, although I know many things, it took me a long time to find out that... I like you! I ept your confession! Let''s go out! Be my boyfriend!"

    Seeing him so flustered with blushing cheeks, even stuttering, but still bravely saying what he wanted to say, my heart melted.

    In his own excessive and childish way, he made this scene happen.

    Some tears slipped out in relief and happiness.

    Xia Jiayi quickly threw away the megaphone, which made another static noise, causing more moans of irritation.

    "You, why are you crying? I''ve epted your confession... Do you not like me anymore?" he asked quickly with a confused face.

    "No, I like you very much."

    I smiled and hugged him tightly.

    "Thank you for liking me back."

    "...Mm. So we''re a couple now?"

    "Yes."

    After a while, the workers all began to leave.

    "I thought it was a proposal!"

    "Dummy, he''s too young!"

    "Yeah, and who''d make a proposal like this?"

    "Eh? What''s wrong with it?"

    "It''s way too excessive! Anyone would be scared away!"

    "The chief likes this kind of thing? I wouldn''t have known."

    "I think it''s just Xia Jiayi''s preference, he wanted it like the movies or something."

    "So we''re just extras?"

    "I guess so? I wonder how much he spent on all of this."

    "Researchers do make tons here... I should''ve studied harder when I was in school!"

    "Hm, I think they make a nice couple. It''s nice seeing the chief happy."

    "Yeah, everyone participated because they wanted to see him happy."

    "Let''s wish them luck!"

 Chapter 97: From here on

    Chapter 97: From here on

    I was still feeling giddy from the confession.

    The preparations were hard to assemble in such a short time, but it worked fantastically!

    I knew that the red theme would be great, it always did wonders in dramas and web novels. Hopefully, Shui Yu got it.

    Ah, I''m so excited for our future!

    Do we ride off into the sunset now?

    Ah, I didn''t prepare a car!

    Also worse than that... I don''t even have a license!

    ---------

    The confession was sweet.

    A bit overdone, but considering that he only had ideas and examples from media sources... it was the best he could do.

    The effort he put in was adorable really.

    And now, if this is going the way that movies do... we''re supposed to ride off into the sunset.

    ...Which is not going to happen.

    But we could go on vacation some time outside the base.

    That could count as "riding off into the sunset."

    For now, the best we could do was go home and have a nice meal.

    We walked home together silently, both giddy.

    I grabbed his hand but he took it away quickly.

    "My hands are sweaty! Sorry!"

    I thought that was it, but he wiped his hands and stuck them back on mine.

    "I-I''ll be good to you Shui Yu."

    "Mm, I''ll be good to you too."

    "Then, should wee up with pet names now? Or does something elsees first?"

    "Things cane as theye. You can call me whatever you''d like."

    "Ok, you can too. But nothing like honey pot, pumpkin, cupcake, that stuff..."

    "Pft, alright."

    I sniggered at his shivering of nauseatingly sweet pet names and thought of something to continue the conversation.

    "Ah, that''s right. We can call each other this at the very least."

    "What?"

    "Boyfriend~"

    "...Mm."

    Seeing the light blush creep up his ears was more than enough to make this day even better.

    -------------------------

    Although we knew we liked each other, there was much more we didn''t know.

    For example, birthdays.

    I hadn''t realized that his birthday had passed a few weeks ago.

    He hadn''t realized that my birthday had passed a few weeks ago either.

    My birthday was just two days after his.

    His being June 4th and mine June 6th.

    "I used to celebrate my birthday. But people wanted to make it a holiday, so I decided to forget about it."

    "I just forget about mine. Unless someone tells me, I don''t really remember."

    "So I''m 19, and you''re 16."

    "Yeah. But I''m still growing, I''ll be taller, don''t worry!"

    "Hahaha, ok, ok, I won''t," Shui Yuughed.

    Urgh, I looked mature enough, but I was shorter than Shui Yu.

    I couldn''t provide him that "sense of security" that people wanted in boyfriends.

    So I''d eat a lot, drink lots of milk, and actually exercise from now on!

    "Shui Yu, can you help me exercise? I don''t know where to even start."

    "Of course, boyfriend," he replied with a refreshing smile.

    I didn''t realize that he would have such a teasing side to him... but it wasn''t bad.

    ---------------

    As I was ving away at the butler academy, I heard the news that a certain someone had hooked up.

    Ahhhhhhhh!!!

    This kind of demon-like human being could also find love, so why can''t I?!

    At least I got augh out of how that kid confessed with such "extravagance".

    I''d share that video with the young masterter, he always liked to know what Shui Yu was up to.

    My heart wasn''t hurt anymore, I could only recall fondness for Shui Jing, no regrets either. I was truly d that he was happy.

    But really, I wanted to find a lover too, someone who I didn''t need to hide anything against.

    Someone I could care for and be cared by.

    It was hard for me to trust people easily in the first ce, so I didn''t know about it though.

    I could have acquaintances, but anything closer than that made me suspicious of their motives.

    Trauma probably, or maybe even before I was sold away, I couldn''t trust people.

    Ahh, but I still want to find somebody that will understand me!

    ------------------------

    So.

    My brother got a boyfriend.

    And.

    I only found out from the gossip news!

    I mean, sure the confession happened today, so they''re new to this, whatever.

    But couldn''t he have texted me?

    [We''re dating now.] For instance???

    I''m happy for them. I really am.

    But also. Very miffed!

    Romance wasn''t working out for me, so at least having Yu Ge be happy was great.

    Wait.

    Could it be?

    I''m the only one in our family who''s alone!

    Even that brat Shui Bing has a boyfriend!

    Although I hear things aren''t really good, even she has one!

    Ah, I was getting angry now.

    Calm down, calm down, you''re still young, the future is vast, there are tons of people out there with good specs.

    Just nab yourself one and if things don''t work out, move on to the next.

    ...Nah.

    What was I thinking?

    I couldn''t think so lightly about this.

    I shouldn''t use people like that.

    Sigh, I''ll just take care of Zhang Xing for the rest of my life.

    He''s starting to remember things after taking in loads of nuclei.

    Not a nice feeling that he''s so loyal but alienated, but he may be warming up to me who knows.

    It''s not a bad idea, living in peace and harmony with a talking zombie.

    He doesn''t take much to care for either, just a ce to live and some nuclei every few days.

    Why was I even thinking about this, might as well go over to Shane''s and game.

    I packed some snacks, pajamas, and a toothbrush and headed out.

    "Shane, are you home?"

    "Yeah, what''s up?"

    "Can I stay over?"

    "Sure, you alright?"

    "Yeah, I''ll be there soon."

    "K, bring some snacks!"

    "Already am."

    I drove my precious Goldie out of the garage when something went smack.

    "Are you ok?!"

    "I''m fine, are you-"

    "Goldie! Oh no, a dent! Ahahaha... what do I do?! Ok, ok, I can call Mr. Tremaine to fix you up, but what if he doesn''t do well? Then I can call Mr. Spraggens, he does equally well and his daughter is great with vinyl wrapping, I can even give you a makeover! But no, I like the way you are right now... what should I do?!"

    I took out my Goldie, who I don''t take out for 364 days a year, but s, something had to happen to her.

    In my distress, someone called out with ament that saved me.

    "I know someone who can revert time on objects. I''m sorry for the dent, can I take you to them?"

    "Yes, please do! And I''m sorry for hitting you."

    "No worries, I''m not hurt at all."

    Oh, I recognized that voice, it was Jing Shao.

    "Sorry, Jing Shao, please take me to that ability user. Also, what are you here for?"

    "My dad forgot to give Chief something, I''m here to deliver it. And I forgot but the ability user I mentioned has ns today, but I''ll take you to them tomorrow, I promise."

    "Ok, as long as they exist... Hey, then are you free?"

    "Yes?"

    "Come with me then, there are several four-person games I''ve been wanting to y, we''re justcking one!"

    To get him on my good side and to keep him until tomorrow to meet the ability user with the miraculous ability I would take him to have fun.

    I wasn''t just wanting to y four-person games.

    Obviously.

 Chapter 98: Game Night

    Chapter 98: Game Night

    <em>Biubiubiu~</em>

    Theser gun in the hands of alien hunter Shane did its deed by killing off all the green goop monsters.

    "You missed one!"

    <em>Biubiu!</em>

    Rapidly, blindingsers fired from theser gun in my hand, killing the pink spy goop monster before it slinked off.

    "What are you guys doing, cking off, huh?" muttered Shane in frustration.

    I was pretty frustrated too, who could have imagined the two easiest roles couldn''t even do their job?

    Mechanic and Pilot were the simplest roles in the game .

    For the Mechanic, their job was to fix up broken parts of the spaceship we were on. Basically, they had to y mini-games, hooking up the right cord, gathering materials, etc.

    And the Pilot was as anybody could guess, just flying the damn spaceship. Avoiding wormholes, asteroids, and enemies we were too low leveled to fight against was their job.

    Shane and I, knowing that we were in this to blow off steam, took the roles of the two alien hunters.

    And we killed off asional enemies, space pirates, and aliens brilliantly.

    It''s just... it''s bing too hard to catch up with the terrible duo''s mistakes!

    The aliens kept on invading because the spaceship was sailing straight into theirirs.

    On top of that, because the shield wasn''t fixed and only our cafeteria seemed to be upgrading tremendously, they invaded too quickly and too many at once.

    "Why''s the cafeteria upgrading? Go upgrade somece else! No, don''t go upgrading the game room! Not the gym either!"

    Shane was quite frustrated and lost his cool at Andrei who had now moved on to finally upgrade our spaceship properly.

    I didn''t know Jing Shao well, so I wasn''t in a position to yell at him for doing a bad job.

    If so, I would have made him practice ying the game ten thousand times over!

    Anyways, with the way the two were ying, we weren''t going to make it through this round.

    <em>Diririri~ You have failed your mission.</em>

    <em>Would you like to start your journey anew? Yes/No</em>

    Shane quickly answered, "No" and we decided to take a break.

    "Argh, you guys suck at this game, let''s just eat. What do you guys want?"

    "Chicken!" I shouted.

    "Pho?" Andrei questioned his own decision.

    "And you?" asked Shane to Jing Shao.

    "Is a hamburger alright?"

    "Sure. I''m going to order pizza for myself. It''s on me by the way, no need to pay, just rx."

    Jing Shao said his thanks politely and sat back down on the sofa.

    "Shane Ge is really nice."

    "Yeah, just rx, we''re not strict or anything. And Shane gets a lot of money from teaching martial arts, so we can binge off him."

    "Hey, that''s not nice!" Shane called from somewhere.

    "You earn more than me, can''t you do at least this for us?" I replied back with augh.

    "If it weren''t for mecking in gamer friends..."

    "Haha, and Andrei sucks at games at first, so as long as you''re willing to y games with Shane, he''d be happy to have you as a friend. Ah, but seeing your gaming skills..."

    "...Was I that bad?"

    "...How can somebody sail straight into every alienir? And asteroid? And worm hole? And-"

    "Ok, ok, ok. I was bad. I''ll practice and be better at this game next time."

    Shane called out from who knows where once more.

    "You said next time! Come y any time! We''ve beencking a fourth yer for a lot of games I''ve been meaning to y!"

    "Alright Shane Ge, I''ll visit again soon."

    "It''s nice to have someone call me Ge for once!"

    Shane then disappeared somewhere again.

    Andrei was working out and I became bored.

    I didn''t know much about this kid.

    Just that he was Yu Ge''s secretary''s son.

    Oh, and him being little blue''s friend.

    ...Well, more like ackey.

    His random ability was really interesting.

    Luck.

    And apparently, his eyes change color when he''s using his ability.

    I may have seen it once? I don''t quite remember.

    Ah, but if his eyes are like that, he should wear sunsses to hide his power.

    Curious, I turned my head to look at Jing Shao.

    As I was sitting on the right, I could only see his blue eye.

    "You have pretty eyes. Does it run in the family?"

    Heterochromia usually tended to be gics.

    He turned to face me and I could see his red eye as well.

    Honestly, they didn''t look like contact lenses, not chunni either.

    The blue eye looked light blue with ripples like a beach on it.

    The red eye-well more like only red in certain light positions, was more of a pink

    "Yes, my grandmother from my mom''s side has it I heard. But for my right eye, it''s also because I have albinism. This I have from my mom''s side as well. Her eyes are both blue though."

    "Oh?"

    "My hair''s now more brown, but it used to be blonde."

    "I heard that Asian albinism is usually a case of blonde hair that turns darkerter on and a lighter skin tone. I thought you''d dyed your hair."

    "No, I''ve never dyed it before..."

    "Really? I''ve dyed my hair in all sorts of colors. I was reckless with it and my go-to hairdresser told me to stop killing my hair, so I''m letting it recover now."

    Jing Shao looked interested.

    "What sort of colors?"

    "I''ve done the regrs, blonde, brown, red, etc. But it''s fun to have a green, pink, light blue, that type of stuff you know?"

    "Would it look like cotton candy?"

    "Yup, plus if you perm it just right, it looks more realistic."

    "That sounds nice. What''s your favorite hair color?"

    This I had to think about.

    But I still arrived at my answer.

    "Green."

    I exined with more detail after seeing curiosity wanting to burst out.

    "My crush had green hair before. I started dying my hair to match."

    "How romantic," he sighed.

    Iughed.

    "Not really. I was rejected."

    "...I''m sorry."

    "It''s ok. I was too egoistic and didn''t try to understand them either."

    "Who is it by the way?"

    Ha, more than regr chit chat, he was the type to like gossip I see.

    "You don''t know- Actually you might have seen him before."

    After all, I think if he watched the broadcast or was there as a kid, he probably saw XingXing.

    "Really?"

    "Maybe?"

    "I don''t remember seeing anyone with green hair..."

    "Then you were too young to remember."

    "Oh. What''s their name?"

    "Zhang Xing."

    "I don''t seem to know anyone with that name?"

    "Of course, he''s a zombie now."

    "I''m terribly sorry."

    "Don''t be, he''s doing well. I can take you to see him some time."

    "Is he a research subject?"

    "Kind of. But he doesn''t reside in the research center."

    "I haven''t heard anything about a female zombie being researched outside of the center before."

    "He''s not a girl."

    "Ah? Wait. Then... you like boys?"

    "I thought you already knew? I''m gay."

    Judging from his shocked face...

    He didn''t.

    Well.

    Surprise!

 Chapter 99: Binge Night

    Chapter 99: Binge Night

    From what my dad told me yesterday, I knew that the chief had found himself a boyfriend.

    And that the chief''s older brother, an ex-idol, married a man and even had a lovely daughter.

    Also, I think the youngest Shui family member ran away to live with her boyfriend.

    I hadn''t heard anything about Lai Ge''s preferences or dating life.

    My thought was that he just didn''t have the time or maybe wasn''t interested in the time being.

    I didn''t expect any of the shocking news I heard from him today.

    To my knowledge, he had a crush.

    And that crush rejected Lai Ge.

    I thought girls liked his type.

    The slightly unruly, free spirit-like type. A mix of rebelliousness and charm.

    So I was pretty surprised to hear that he was rejected.

    Then the next news was that the crush had turned into a zombie.

    And was being researched outside the research center.

    That meant it had to be specially taken care of, contained by a strong ability user.

    There was also a high chance of the zombie being aggressive or having an ability.

    These zombies were dangerous, and I wouldn''t be able to take care of them on my own.

    His crush was probably a poor human who turned into a strong zombie.

    It couldn''t be someone from our base. Everyone was immune to being turned into a zombie.

    Thinking of that, it''s been years since the base weed its residents.

    Did that mean Lai Ge''s crush was someone he knew years ago or an outsider?

    That must have been hard for him to bear.

    Also, it was really sappy but romantic of him to say that green hair was his favorite.

    Even though, the person in question was gay.

    I didn''t have anything against his sexual preference.

    As anyone could have children, lots of parents had let go of their previous scorn for all types of rtionships.

    Of course, some didn''t like it, but with the chief''s older brother marrying a man himself, it was hard for them to speak out. It caused less unrest and less work for the government workers so that was nice.

    And as soon as the news gets out about the chief getting a boyfriend, they would have to hide their intentions away even more covertly.

    Now that I knew, I thought to myself.

    ''Does he like Shane or Andrei?''

    My information-seeking self wanted to know, or as young master little blue called it my "gossip radar" was going off.

    He seemed to have found out my intentions.

    "Don''t look at me like that. I don''t like either of them that way."

    Disappointment washed over me.

    "You sure like gossip. But sorry to say this, I don''t like anybody right now."

    That works! There were girls interested in Lai Ge at the school he worked at. If this got out, they''d be grateful for the grapevine.

    "Don''t spread this around. I''m not interested in dating either."

    Bummer. Such a good piece of information was ruined.

    The doorbell rang and Shane ran to go get the door.

    "Food''s here, let''s eat!" he cheerfully shouted after paying the delivery man money and tip.

    I didn''t get many chances to eat junk food, so today''s hamburger was especially delicious.

    The cheesy pizza slices shared were really good too.

    Mom would probably say that I was making myself unhealthy.

    Her nagging face came up in my mind and I smiled.

    It was hard to see Mom''s face except for dinnertime.

    And these days with new discoveries after more discoveries, she was busier than ever.

    Dad was busy too, so I was alone most of the time.

    They didn''t have time to nag me anymore.

    Kind of sad, but at least they were working hard in jobs they liked.

    I wonder what I would be.

    Maybe a journalist?

    Maybe a secretary like Dad? I was already into that role for Little Blue, it seemed like a good job.

    "Hey, what''re you dazing off for? Finish eating, we''re going to walk around after."

    I sat up straight indicating I was paying attention now.

    Shane ruffled my hair and said, "He''s a kid, be nice."

    Andrei seemed to nod but noted, "Are you sticking up for him because he called you Ge?"

    "You found me out! But still, be nice Shui Lai, isn''t he, your brother''s secretary''s son?"

    "True that. And he''s supposed to introduce me to a girl too."

    "A girl? I thought you were gay!"

    "Don''t get me wrong, she can revert time back on stuff. I''m not interested in girls."

    "Woah, cool ability. If I ever break stuff, I''ll look for her then!"

    After the older boys finished joking around, we got jackets or coats on and headed outside.

    It was a slightly chilly night, but we were warm under our outerwear.

    We walked around, talking, eating street stall foods.

    The night was still young, and it felt like youth.

    Haha, I felt old even though I wasn''t.

    For Shane and Andrei, they didn''t treat me like a kid. More like a friend or a younger brother.

    It felt like I''ve known these people all my life. It was thatfortable to be around them now.

    But they weren''t really my friends, they were Lai Ge''s friends.

    At this moment, although I was happy andughing, I felt something else.

    Jealousy and guilt.

    I wanted to be their friend, wanted to fit in, but was I even qualified?

    They were all powerful, older although not by too much, and looked up to by those who remembered their deeds for the base.

    If I was the same age, would I be able to fit in and y with them like this every day?

    No, it might be worse in that case because I may be even more underqualified even at the same age, alwaysparing myself to them and then bing self-loathing and jealous.

    "Jing Shao."

    I looked up to see Lai Ge waiting.

    "What''re you dazing off for again? They''ve gone ahead to go see a snail race. There''s a prize for the person who guesses the time of the slowest or fastest snail. "

    "Sorry, Lai Ge."

    "Nothing to be sorry about. I do wonder what''s going on in your head though."

    "Just something... Hey, Lai Ge. Do you think I can be friends with the others?"

    "Is that what you were worried about?"

    Lai Ge grinned andughed at me.

    "Hahaha, how adorable! Now don''t pout at me, this really is too cute. You don''t even have to be worried. They consider you a friend already. Shane and Andrei set boundaries against strangers or people they don''t trust. They treat you sofortably, just do the same."

    Hmph.

    I wasn''t pouting.

    "How could I have thought before that you were a calcting sly kid? You''re such an adorable kid! Hahahaha!"

    Lai Ge was having a greatugh and I couldn''t stand it anymore.

    I kicked him and shouted, "Stopughing! I''m not adorable!"

    "Pft. Sure you aren''t. Hahahahahaha!"

    Urgh.

    How could I have ever thought he was cool! Clearly, he was just a jerk who made fun of me!

    ...But still, he was nice.

    Is this what big brothers are like?

    Then I really do wish Lai Ge was my big brother.

 Chapter 100: Snail Fraud

    Chapter 100: Snail Fraud

    This kid wasn''t as bad as I thought,

    He was not scheming, sly, nor cold in attitude.

    Just a kid who wanted to act cool and haughty.

    I used to be like that.

    Except, I was probably worse.

    Everyone called me narcissistic, which is true.

    I''m too good, how can I not like myself?

    But it''s not like I don''t have faults, that''s why I try to improve myself to be better.

    Right now I''m doing great.

    I have a stable career, have good friends, and my mental health is returning to full health!

    And considering how popr I was at school although being a teacher, school life was fun.

    The only problem right now would be my lovely being scratched, but that could be fixed.

    Ah.

    Also, that brat Xiao Bing.

    How could she run away without an exnation...

    Fine. She did give one but running away without even trying to make us feel reassured about this rtionship was ridiculous.

    I hear she''s doing well with tutoring, but in her rtionship, I''ve heard nothing.

    For heaven''s sake, her boyfriend was a criminal!

    How could you trust that kind of psychopath?!

    In my head, I cursed at her for being stupid but I couldn''t voice it out loud.

    Haish, my older brothers didn''t like us cursing. I felt bad even out of their sight...

    And a kid was next to me, I shouldn''t teach him bad stuff.

    "Lai Ge. You told me not to be dazed but you''re doing it."

    I gave a quick smile.

    "Yes yes, sorry for being a hypocrite."

    "...I didn''t mean it like that."

    "I know, I''ll pay attention to you~"

    "Lai Ge!" pouted Jing Shao.

    "Alright, I won''t tease you anymore. Let''s go see the results for the snail race. Shame you didn''t get to see it, it''s quite fun. Hm, maybe we can see it another time."

    "When would that be?"

    I wasn''t busy these days, so...

    "What about next weekend?"

    "Ok! I mean, yeah, I can make time."

    This enthusiastic... I felt a little sad for him.

    He was worried about friends, had responsible but busy parents, and because of his luck ability, people were wary or wanted to get close to him.

    What a burden on such young shoulders.

    Abilities tired people out, especially abilities that couldn''t be exined in scientific measurements.

    Like, ''how much luck can I control?'' type of abilities.

    You can''t measure luck.

    Or maybe you can, I hear the researchers are making something to measure some random abilities'' usage.

    But right now at least, you can''t.

    There''s luck like finding money on the streets or not getting hurt at all after a crash. They are both situations of good luck. Although finding money does sound good, it''s true that if it came to the asion, people would prefer thetter type of luck.

    So I did feel bad for this young child to be used in small situations for some luck.

    "Woah, this snail looks small but it''s fast!"

    I paid close attention to thatment and looked more closely at the "quick" snail.

    Congrats to the little fe I guess.

    "That''s... not a snail! It''s a slug!" shouted Jing Shao.

    The owner of the "quick snail" looked flustered and quickly scooped up the gastropod.

    But he was unfortunately caught by the bouncers and quickly apprehended.

    A manager came out from the crowd and thanked Jing Shao.

    "Really, I was wondering how he always managed toe in first ce. Thank you!"

    "It''s no problem, just know that slugs are twice as fast as snails, so if anything like this happens again, it may be another slug."

    "I sure will! To repay this favor, you can have either have the prize money or the snail goblet."

    Jing Shao chose the snail goblet.

    It wasn''t much of a goblet as the snail shell used for the cup portion wasn''t big, but it did look grand.

    The kid was happy so everything was good.

    From the fervent snail race fans who were mad at the owner of the impostor snail, Shane and Andrei came out.

    Andrei was impressed and asked, "How''d you know it was a slug, not a snail?"

    "The mucus it left behind looked different. I''ve spent so much time in the garden at young master Little Blue''s mansion, that I can tell them apart! That type of slug is the one that looks like bird poop as the mucus it leaves behind is whitish."

    "Impressive, I hope they teach that guy a good lesson. This is a holy ce for all animal races!" Shane spat. He sure was mad at that guy.

    Jing Shao''s eyes widened and he asked, "This wasn''t just a snail racing ce?"

    "No, this ce has animal races. But the snail races have been poprtely, and lots of contestants entered, so they''ve been at it for a week now."

    "Ah, I see. No wonder there were even bouncers!"

    Haha, it''d be pretty strange to see bouncers at a snail race ce.

    "The boss here owns the racing venue far away from here. People usually ce bets here to watch from the screens if they can''t go there," exined Andrei.

    "Yeah, fights are bound to happen, so there''s a rule that says you can''t use abilities in this building. Basically, if you''re going to have a fight, get out before you get in one. But some meatheads still don''t get it and make trouble. The bouncers here are pretty good ability users, but they have powerful physiques, so they take care of the troublemakers," Shane added in.

    We went back to Shane''s, grumbling along the way because the rest of the snail races for today was canceled due to the fraudmotion.

    "The second season of the matchmaking show is airing tonight I hear," Jing Shaomented.

    "The one that''s being produced by Di Li Feng?" I asked.

    "Yeah, they didn''t announce the love interest this time for suspense. If it''s not as interesting as your brother, people aren''t going to watch it though..." Shane voiced his worries.

    "Why''s the show scheduled at such ate time?"

    "The broadcasting station was worried about the season''s view rating, so they''re testing the waters to see if people will be interested even if the first episode is set at such ate time."

    "Weird strategy. Then let''s help our buddy Di Li Feng increase his view ratings."

    ----------------------------------

    "I didn''t expect the love interest to be the movie queen! I''m her fan!" gushed Shane.

    "I think it''ll be a good season, the contestants are interesting!" agreed Jing Shao.

    Andrei wasmenting on the official website of the show already and nodded along to the two''s praise.

    The show was fun, but it was long.

    Now it was time to sleep.

    Good night to all, may all of us have a peaceful sleep.

    And tomorrow would be another fun day.

 Chapter 101: Dishwasher

    Chapter 101: Dishwasher

    A new day in a strange environment.

    Oh, it''s Shane''s home.

    Not too strange then.

    Everyone was sleeping still.

    I guess after binging more shows and movies, everyone sprawled in the living room.

    I got tired early yesterday, so I grabbed a nket to wrap myself in and gotfortable on the sofa.

    ''Twas not the same for the others...

    Andrei was asleep on the recliner but didn''t set it back, so was having trouble sleeping sitting up.

    Shane''s posture looked horrible, with all his legs and arms somehow tangled into the rug. But at least he was keeping warm?

    And Jing Shao was leaning on the sofa I was on. The only thing I could think of was that he looked the most ufortable.

    I mean. His neck was bent so that his chin touched his chest. That gives you wrinkles you know, I NEVER do that. And his butt must hurt sitting on the wooden floor for so long. And he was kinda shivering.

    Shane and Andrei liked colder temperatures. Apparently, American schools turned on their air conditioning like it was the hottest day recorded. Basically, it was like a blizzard temperature for them. I asked Yu Geter and he did shiver a little at that mention.

    He wouldter tell me, "That is one of the things I didn''t get used to at the school."

    Anyways.

    The AC was on full st. Shane and Andrei slept well even in this cold temperature. I had a nket. And Jing Shao was shivering and maybe even rattling his teeth.

    I got up and was reluctant to get out of the warmth, but put the nket around the kid.

    It made me really ufortable to see him in such an ufortable position, so I lifted him and ced him on the spot I just left. Good for him, it was still warm.

    I headed to the kitchen to grab breakfast and ended up looking at the clock on the wall.

    11:04 AM

    Uhh, I guess brunch then!

    So Shane has this really nice Panini grill. And he stocks up on the bread and all his usual ingredients too. He usually lets us never touch it, saying that while Andrei is the master of the meat grill, he''s the master of the Panini grill.

    How could I not take it upon myself to use it while the "Master" was asleep?

    I began to prepare the precise amount of food that we would probably eat. The panini bread, meats, fried onions, all sorts of veggies, and of course the cheese.

    One by one, starting with Shane, the slumbering teenagers woke up.

    Shane''s firstment was, "Panini? Mmm... PANINI?! Who''s using my grill?!"

    "Chill dude. I''m no "master" but I can still handle this. Just sit at the table and wait."

    Shane red at me for a bit and resignedly went to sit down to wait for the food.

    Andrei woke up and saw the situation.

    He asked, "Do you need any help? I''ll do the dishes afterward."

    "Well, no- never mind, please do."

    I don''t like doing the dishes. Even if you use rubber gloves, my hands feel a bit pruny after. I''ve got delicate skin, I do my best to keep myself the best I can be.

    Or.

    He could''ve just used the dishwasher.

    Wait, they don''t have one.

    "What century are you guys living in?! Go get a dishwasher! How did this apartment, condo, whatever even forget having a dishwasher?!"

    "Oh... We don''t know how to use it, so we sold it. I mean, we bought Tales of Linx 7 and more game devices with the money! I think it was a good deal..." Shane made an excuse.

    "I don''t know how to use it, since I never had one before. Poor neighborhood you can say. And Shane doesn''t know, because he had maids do the dishes for him."

    I smacked my forehead in... wonder at their weird stupidity.

    "You guys are rich now. Washing dishes is so much work. Just go buy a dishwasher! Alright, tell you what. I''ll even buy you a dishwasher! And teach you! So just freaking stop having dishes piled up sometimes!"

    "Ok..." they both replied sheepishly.

    As I was about to continue my teaching of how useful dishwashers were, how I used to hate washing the dishes, and more tales of how house chores were cleared out by machines, making life much easier, a groan came from the living room.

    Albeit a small groan, but we all had good hearing.

    "Jing Shao woke up. You guys set the table. We''re not washing the dishes until we get a dishwasher installed. Shane, go check on the paninis after setting tableware."

    After ordering the two around, I went to the groaning creature on the sofa.

    "...Ge?" Jing Shao asked in a tired voice.

    "You woke up? I made some food. Go wash up first. I''ll get you some clothes."

    "...Thank you," he slowly drawled out and ended with a yawn.

    "Mhm. Go go. I''ll save enough food so that they don''t steal everything."

    The kidughed a little and unsteadily headed towards the bathroom.

    Shanemented, "Dang. he looks like he''s having a hangover."

    We tired him out with ying all night, and after the adrenaline wore off, of course, he was tired.

    I put on some music and headed back to the kitchen to rummage the fridge.

    Some fruits. Some leafy greens. And the sd sauce I put in the fridge thest time I came. I also spied a bad of croutons that Shane''s been snacking on.

    I sliced the fruits and made an easy light sd.

    The boys started eating, so I joined in too but kept enough food as promised.

    After we all finished, I grabbed my wallet and dragged all three of them out with me.

    Off to buy a dishwasher!

    We went to Home D. Poe the store and looked all around. All of us kinda got distracted by the robot section, but we eventually reached the dishwasher section.

    I told the sales staff, "I don''t care about the price. What''s the best one that''s easiest to use?"

    They were really efficient and brought me straight towards the most expensive one.

    "I''ll take it."

    Shane wanted to pay for it, but I stopped him.

    "Dude, just let me. It''s enough that you buy food all the time for us."

    "If that''s what you want then. Thanks, bro."

    It was a bit expensive of course, but considering all the other stuff I usually bought, this was nothing.

    I actually needed to get some other stuff for the teachers since some of them requested supplies.

    We held the dishwasher from the bottom, all four of us. The height difference made it kind of unbnced, but we had fun moving it back home.

    The installing was a bit of a problem, and we ended up having some trouble with the pipes. Water exploded everywhere... Even with our water abilities, holding back the water while concentrating on setting up the dishwasher.

    "Uh... Shane Ge, I found a video on setting it up. Maybe it''s better than the instructions manual?" Jing Shao spoke up.

    "What instructions manual?" Shane asked in wonder.

    "You... you aren''t looking at the directions in the instructions manual?"

    "I''m sure we don''t need it. I''ve fixed up a lot of stuff in my short 19 years of life!"

    "If you say so..."

    I yelled at Shane for ignoring it, "There was an instructions manual?? Of course, there is! And the only things you''ve fixed up are some prank machines!"

    Andrei voiced out as well, "It''s true. One of the school janitors wears a wig. And Shane made a spray can machine that targets his wig to spray it a weird color every morning from above as soon as the janitor walks out of his room."

    He continued, "I mean who gives an old man polka dot hair?"

    "..." Jing Shao seemed to have an appalled look on his face.

    I heard him whisper, "Poor grandpa janitor..." and snickered at his thinking.

    Anyways, this time with the help of the video and the manual, we were safely able to establish the dishwasher.

    And thus came the time to wash the dishes without washing them.

    You get what I mean.

    To use the dishwasher!

    1. Load the top and bottom racks of the dishwasher

    2. Load the dishwasher detergent

    3. Select a wash cycle

    4. Start the dishwasher

    That easy peasy!

    Just in case, I wrote the instructions down if they forgot.

    Now it was time to rest and let the machine do its work while we ate dinner and the rest finish their binge watching.

    Ah, it sure was nice to hang out like this.

    ...I dread going back to work tomorrow already.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!