Chapter 22

Trigger warning: mentions of child abuse and a bit of graphic violence

Face Slapping the Original Leaders of the Military Base (Apocalypse)

People had asked Wang Ying for more details about what she said while they were on the road. So in an instant, nearly all of their doubt disappeared and they became convinced.

How could Ding Zhaoyu and Tang Wanxin explain themselves? It was true that they did have that in mind when they were discussing their plan. They weren’t a match for Zhou Xu. If they had managed to defeat Zhou Xu, they probably would have immediately killed him.

In order to divert everyone’s attention, Ding Zhaoyu said that Zhou Xu’s power was not normal. Zhou Xu didn’t hide the truth and said, “The nucleus of a zombie can increase the strength of powers. This matter is being studied by the base’s research institute, and I am the subject of the experiment. Are there any objections?”

As expected, everyone’s attention was successfully diverted. Ding Zhaoyu breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhou Xu’s mouth curled into a sneer. You didn’t die this time, because other people came by chance. If there was another time, would you be so lucky? It’s hard to say.

Everyone was immersed in the fact that zombie nuclei could upgrade their abilities. Ding Zhaoyu and Tang Wanxin were so busy being glad that their diversion were successful that they were also distracted, and so Zhou Xu took the opportunity to continue walking.

Xia Qingfeng followed him because he found that Zhou Xu he knew seemed very different from Zhou Xu in reality. When he bowed his head, he had a sinister expression with vicious eyes, far different from the warm man he thought had a smile like a willow tree blowing in the spring breeze. But Xia Qingfeng was very interested in such a contradictory Zhou Xu.

Zhou Xu ignored Xia Qingfeng, and then finally, he found his father Zhou Kang in a corner.

Xia Qingfeng’s eyebrows wrinkled. Why did Zhou Xu have to come here? Why did he continue to walk in when everyone was not paying attention to him? Why did he look around? Did he know from the beginning that someone was here?

“Dad?”

Zhou Xu examined his father’s condition and found that due to the fact that his father had run out of water and was dehydrated, he was a little disorientated.

“Xiaoxu, is that Xiaoxu?” Zhou Kang’s throat was hoarse, and he could only speak in a whisper.

Zhou Xu held his father’s hand and said, “Yes, Dad, it’s Xiaoxu. Can you sit up and drink some water first?”

Xia Qingfeng went over and helped Zhou Kang sit up while Zhou Xu used his powers to pool water into his hand and then brought his hand to his father’s mouth.

Zhou Kang’s body was extremely dehydrated. Although he had food, he hadn’t drank water in a long time, and his body couldn’t bear it.

Zhou Xu didn’t let his father drink too much because he knew that in this case, he could only slowly replenish his father’s water supply. If Zhou Kang drank too much water at a time, his body wouldn’t be able to absorb it all.

As his spirit slowly recovered, Zhou Kang couldn’t believe that he saw his son again.

Tears flowed down from the old man’s face. He wiped his tears and then began to babble, saying, “Xiaoxu ah, I thought I would never see you again. I thought you were eaten by those demons too. I couldn’t even imagine… Every day I told myself that I couldn’t die. I still had to go back to my hometown to check. Maybe you were okay… I didn’t expect that you’re really okay ah, I’m so happy… Xiaoxu, I was so scared to death… If I couldn’t find you at home, I didn’t want to live anymore.”

Zhou Xu gently patted his father’s back. Zhou Kang’s long-winded words changed to sobs, and then he slowly calmed down. Zhou Xu held him the entire time, patting his back as if he was coaxing a child.

Xia Qingfeng’s eyes slowly darkened. Like Zhou Xu, his father was also alive. However, in this world, there was a kind of father who could give his son a hard hand.

Xia Qingfeng vaguely remembered that once, when he was a child, his father had been in a bad mood. His father had picked up a stool and hit him with it. The stool broke, and Xia Qingfeng also lost consciousness. At that time, what was he (XQ) thinking? Oh that’s right, he was thinking of revenge. He wanted to kill his father with his own hands and his hatred sustained his will to keep on living. At that time, he had been no more than ten years old.

Xia Qingfeng never knew why he was treated like that. Even his mother didn’t have a good expression when she saw him. She didn’t beat him, but she constantly scolded him, calling him a waste. To her, he was useless, dumb, and someone who never thought things through.

In his over twenty years of life, the happiest day was the day when the apocalypse broke out. The whole world was miserable, helpless, and lonely, just like him.

Those desperate eyes and miserable cries made Xia Qingfeng feel happy. He hoped that all human beings would perish like this. He was even waiting to become a zombie. But in the end, he didn’t turn into a zombie. Instead, his powers emerged.

After his powers broke out, he became so tough that ordinary people couldn’t compare with him at all. His father and mother began to flatter and fawn over him to try and get what they wanted. Their begging eyes made Xia Qingfeng feel sick, and he didn’t bother killing them.

The apocalypse gave Xia Qingfeng a way to vent. He could kill zombies in a frenzy and nobody would say anything. This unusual and varied method of venting preserved Xia Qingfeng’s sanity.

Xia Qingfeng thought that he wouldn’t be interested in anything else…until he met Zhou Xu.

The first time he met Zhou Xu, he was shocked, because the figure that was fighting a group of zombies was so stunning. The movements weren’t wading in mud and water at all. The deadly speed of the knife and the man’s devil-like expression all showed a violent beauty.

When they met again, Zhou Xu no longer had that evil appearance. He was gentle, kind, and had a warm smile, which always made Xia Qingfeng’s heart tremble.

Right now, seeing how Zhou Xu was, Xia Qingfeng decided that the feeling was probably jealousy. He was envious that Zhou Xu could be so generous, envious that he could have warmth in his gaze for all things in the world, and was also envious that the had the forbearance to not put the world in his eyes at all.

Zhou Xu was contradictory. Xia Qingfeng was also contradictory. He had been looking for someone like him, but Xia Qingfeng suddenly thought that if he could always be around Zhou Xu, whether he was a fierce ghost or a spring breeze, it didn’t matter.

Perhaps love was just like this, only needing a single moment to decide to solely belong to someone.

Zhou Xu had his wish fulfilled when he harvested a lot of potatoes under Zhou Kang’s advice. However, what surprised him even more was that on their way back, they met five or six low-level zombies. It was almost impossible for someone to be bitten. So how did his father get bitten by a zombie in the last life? Zhou Xu let out a “hehe”.

Sure enough, it was the so-called protagonist’s doing. Only, his despicable tactics were called strategy, while a villain’s despicable tactics could only be called tricks.

Zhou Xu handed over all of the potatoes they’d harvested once they returned to the base. Since then, the base began to grow potatoes on a large scale. Potatoes were easy to grow, and they also produced a high yield, so after a few months, potatoes became the main food source of the base.

Zhou Xu also received the attention of the higher-ups of the base and became one of the leaders of the base.

At the same time, Ding Zhaoyu’s and Tang Wanxin’s reputation also spread throughout the base, but infamy was attached to their name.

Wang Ying went to Zhou Xu several times to attract him, but she was completely shut out by Zhou Xu. Gradually, the part that wanted to cling to his heart changed.

Zhou Xu led the team out again three months later. This time, however, the mission was more dangerous. Their task was to go to a military factory, and it took more than two days on the road to get there.

Because he was a young and new leader, some people didn’t want to go out on the mission. Zhou Xu had to go as an example.

This time, three teams were assigned to the mission. There was a total of 35 people and 12 vehicles, which included three large trucks, three medium trucks, and six off-road vehicles.

Zhou Xu was not the chief commander of the mission. The chief commander was Yin Yun, the captain of another team. The other captain was Xia Qingfeng.

Zhou Xu felt several times that Xia Qingfeng might be interested in him. Otherwise, he would not always follow him like this. Although he still spoke coldly, his eyes weren’t so fierce, at least not towards Zhou Xu.

Zhou Xu admitted that he had loved Han Zikui. He also acknowledged that he was open-minded and loved and accompanied him for his entire life. He felt that what he had done was enough. In this lifetime, he would not be confined to the so-called moral cage. Confining himself to a lonely life wasn’t being loyal to Han Zikui, but being disloyal to himself.

For Zhou Xu, love was a supplement to life, but not a necessity. Of course, it would be better if he had it.

At this time, the power system had been developed and the levels of zombies could now be differentiated. Zhou Xu was currently a sixth-class power, Xia Qingfeng was seventh-class, and the rest of the team were mostly fourth-class. Ding Zhaoyu was fifth-class.

When he left for the mission, Zhou Xu knew that the mission was dangerous, but he didn’t expect that they would be attacked by dozens of fourth-level zombies as soon as they arrived.

Because the zombie attack was so unexpected, the whole team was thrown into turmoil for a moment.

What they didn’t expect, however, was that there were two fifth-level zombies within the group of fourth-level zombies.

Fifth-level zombies, as the name implied, were conscious zombies, and their strength was similar to fifth-class powers.

For a while, both the powers and the corpses suffered heavy casualties, until the fifth-level zombies were all that was left. Suddenly, their team members began to kill each other.

Zhou Xu was alarmed. Among the zombies, there was a sixth-level zombie with strong mental abilities. This was the zombie emperor.

In his shock, Zhou Xu was distracted for a second, but he watched Xia Qingfeng be stabbed in his throat by his teammate. Blood splashed everywhere, and in the sunshine, Zhou Xu even saw small rainbow appear.

“Fuck!” Zhou Xu roared and threw a water bomb at his controlled teammate.

The teammate died and Xia Qingfeng fell.

Zhou Xu saw Yin Yun slowly stand up and walk step by step to a warehouse not far away.

Looking up, Zhou Xu saw a zombie in red waving and greeting them on top of the warehouse.

Comments:

I wanted to cry when I was translating this chapter lol. Poor Xia Qingfeng…

Thanks to the people who helped me translate some tough bits for this chapter!

There will be no updates next week, as I will be out of town. I will see you the Wednesday after that!

If you see any mistakes, let me know! I’ll try and fix it as soon as possible when I come back.

Chapter Twenty One ~ Chapter Twenty Three

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