WMSR — QT Chapter 139

 

WMSR – QT Chapter 139

By

siofra

Chapter 139: The Senior of the Apocalypse

Xiao Yi narrowed his eyes dangerously, fixing Qi Yuanyuan—who still appeared somewhat lost and uncomprehending—with a low, chilling cadence: "Pack your things. Someone will be here shortly to escort you out."

What?

Qi Yuanyuan's eyes widened in sheer astonishment. Escort her out? Escalate her to where?

Though Xiao Yi offered zero explicit details, Qi Yuanyuan acutely detected that something was profoundly wrong. In particular, the expression currently plastered across Xiao Yi's face bore no resemblance to anything remotely favorable.

Masking her terror behind a veneer of panic, Qi Yuanyuan stammered: "Leave—where to? Don't I still need to report to Mengchen tomorrow? My mission isn't completed yet!"

Had Qi Yuanyuan kept quiet, it might have spared her; uttering those exact words detonated Xiao Yi's lingering restraint. Fixing her with a cold, mocking sneer, Xiao Yi hissed: "Mission? Do you genuinely believe you still stand a chance at completing any mission? How much longer did you plan on keeping me in the dark? Speak! Before I brought you face-to-face with Ling Mengchen, had you already snuck off to see him alone, and spewed a bunch of unpardonable nonsense?"

The instant those words left Xiao Yi's lips, Qi Yuanyuan's complexion drained to a deathly, ashen white.

Reading the absolute panic locking down Qi Yuanyuan's features, Xiao Yi required no further verification. Casting a look of cold, unmitigated disgust in her direction, he snapped: "Pack your things. Someone will be here momentarily to deliver you to the slums."

With the absolute worst-case nightmare officially confirmed, Qi Yuanyuan shrieked in absolute disbelief, instantly scrambling off the mattress in a desperate bid to cling to his legs.

Yet how could an unpowered civilian ever overturn the absolute decree of an ability wielder—especially one who had grown thoroughly sick of her existence? With a casual, effortless flick of his arm, Xiao Yi batted away her hands as she lunged for his legs, striding out of the room without a shred of lingering attachment.

Left behind in the empty chamber, Qi Yuanyuan dissolved into a frenzy of desperate, despairing wails: "No! I refuse to go to the slums! Do not send me to that godforsaken place!"

Author's Note:Please don't interrogate me over why I dedicated so much narrative real estate to Qi Yuanyuan's subplot—the overarching plot demanded it, and my hands were tied! = =

Chapter 72: The Senior of the Apocalypse (28)

Regardless of how violently Qi Yuanyuan resisted, she was ultimately dragged away by the enforcers who arrived shortly after. Once she was gone, Xiao Yi let out a weary, exhausted sigh. Since the Qi Yuanyuan pipeline had suffered a catastrophic collapse, he was forced to pivot and accelerate alternative strategies.

An acute, deeply unsettling premonition gnawed at Xiao Yi. Based on various behavioral indicators, he suspected that Lin Jiawen harbored active intentions of whisking Ling Mengchen away from the survivor safe zone. Though analytical probability suggested such a move was currently unrealistic—winter had arrived in full force, forcing virtually all surviving humans to huddle tightly within sanctuary walls, while the surrounding wasteland had been entirely stripped of edible flora and alternative safe zones lay agonizingly distant.

Following the onset of the apocalypse, winters had grown infinitely more ferocious than in the past. While a lone ability wielder might manage an independent journey on foot, attempting to shepherd an ordinary, unpowered civilian across the frozen wilderness in the dead of winter was an absolute impossibility. Even if they miraculously limped into a new safe zone, an ordinary civilian's biological constitution would inevitably buckle under a severe, debilitating illness; and given contemporary medical infrastructure, surviving a major systemic infection remained a coin toss. Consequently, not only was Lin Jiawen statistically unlikely to risk a winter evacuation, but should he actually attempt to execute such a mad gamble, Xiao Yi was fully prepared to intercept and block him by any means necessary.

Yet even if his rival chose to remain stationed through the freeze, the window remaining for Xiao Yi was critically narrow—signifying that the moment temperatures moderated into spring, the pair would break away. He needed to conceptualize and deploy a foolproof retention mechanism within the next two to three months.

Strolling over to the window, Xiao Yi cast a cold, distant gaze toward the visible corner of that specific villa, dark undercurrents churning in the depths of his eyes like an unmapped storm brewing on the horizon.

Following the abrupt disappearance of Qi Yuanyuan, a prolonged spell of deep tranquility settled over the compound. Yet Lin Jiawen recognized that this outward peace was merely a deceptive facade. Given his comprehensive psychological profile of Xiao Yi, the man was fundamentally incapable of quietly accepting defeat. Lin Jiawen maintained his internal combat readiness at maximum vigilance.

Anchored by that perpetual wariness, a full month dissolved into the past before he blinked. The sanctuary now found itself gripped by the absolute dead of winter, with multiple heavy blizzards blanketing the sector in an uninterrupted expanse of pure, blinding white.

Gazing upon that pristine, unblemished world, it was difficult to reconcile the serene scenery with the grim reality that this was a post-apocalyptic earth swallowed by the zombie virus.

Yet while the snowscapes carried aesthetic grace, the brutal drop in temperature birthed severe operational consequences. Humanity no longer possessed the industrial energy grids required to power indoor climate control, leaving homes incapable of mimicking the spring-like warmth of the pre-apocalyptic era. The bitter chill inevitably drove a wave of civilian infections across the base population. More alarmingly, the outbreak manifested as a highly contagious respiratory pathogen; with the sanctuary lacking the dedicated research and chemical manufacturing infrastructure to synthesize specialized pharmaceuticals, their singular recourse was dispatching scavenger units into the ruined urban sectors to unearth legacy antibiotics and medical supplies.

"Chief, according to our cumulative tracking data, 131 individuals have fallen ill across the residential sectors. They have been quarantined and consolidated into an isolation ward to restrict cross-contamination. Base winter thermal provisions have been fully distributed. Based on diagnostic cultures cultivated by our resident physicians, the active viral strain has been officially identified, but our stockpiles of corresponding antibiotics and curative drugs are critically depleted. Medical leadership strongly recommends launching a targeted search operation into Z City's First Municipal Hospital and major metropolitan pharmacies. They have compiled a comprehensive procurement manifest."

The sharp, highly competent subordinate delivered his briefing while deferentially presenting an elongated inventory scroll.

Xiao Yi listened with a heavy, furrowed brow, absorbing the details before scanning the itemized medical list. The sudden viral epidemic arrived entirely outside his projections; fortunately, this wasn't the sanctuary's maiden encounter with a biological contagion. During the brutal winter immediately following the base's foundational establishment years prior, a similar viral wave had swept through the population—striking unprepared and inflicting catastrophic casualties. Yet years later, armed with hard-earned institutional experience, the administrative apparatus functioned with military precision, quarantining the vector instantly upon detection. Even so, handling contagious pathogens required unwavering caution.

Xiao Yi fell into deep contemplation. Launching a medical retrieval expedition into Z City was an absolute operational necessity. Given the lethal sub-zero temperatures outdoors, unpowered civilians were structurally useless; the deployment vector was restricted exclusively to elite ability wielders.

As that realization surfaced, Xiao Yi's pupils flashed with sudden intensity. While the viral outbreak was an unforeseen variable, it materialized as an exceptionally timely, ideal logistical window. Since the crisis demanded immediate intervention, he no longer needed to fabricate an artificial pretext—this presented a readymade, unassailable operational justification to formally dispatch Lin Jiawen on an extended deployment far outside the perimeter of the survivor safe zone.

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