Chapter 915 - 514: I Am the First Among Generals and Ministers (Part 5)

"It’s not exactly a rumor. Just keep your shop open as usual. Anyway, you’re far from the north. If something happens there, the whole world would have a problem. By the way, what year did that junior graduate?"

"He just graduated this year, seven years younger than the both of us, and like you, he’s a northerner."

"Then you must introduce him to me sometime."

"Alright, take care."

The guy in the checkered shirt hung up the phone, looked at the young man organizing the equipment, and smiled, "You don’t have to be so meticulous, just put it aside after you’re done. Anyway, it’s just the two of us in the studio for now, so there’s no worry about losing it."

The young man in the black shirt stood up, his tall and strong frame over six feet, with relaxed brows and eyes, carrying the clarity and vigor unique to university students, "Brother Ran, almost everything’s sorted."

"Nice job, I’ll take you out for a meal later and introduce you to someone."

"Who?"

"Yu Yao, my university roommate."

"By the way, Su Li, which part of the north are you from?"

The young man had a bright smile, "Changbai."

...

[Now]

In the depths of the Eternal Night.

Su Huan had a look of sudden realization in his eyes. He had seen this scene in his memory: a two-story shop filled with photography equipment, with newly opened fake flowers stacked on the side, a patch of fiery red.

After a long while, Su Huan murmured, "Is this the first loop?"

"No." Sitting across from him, Yu Yao shook his head decisively, "This is the first time I met you. Back then, it took me a long time to gain the government’s trust and send out that doomsday warning, but it was too late. Our methods were too limited, and we were utterly defeated. In less than two months, the enemy had completely broken through the multiple defense lines set by Donghuang."

"The military suffered heavy losses. We, no, all of humanity were utterly defeated in this invasion."

As he spoke, he exhaled a breath of mist, forming a map in mid-air, divided into ten equal parts.

"So based on this idea, I designed ten defense lines, now known as the Twelve Calamities, to stop their invasion."

The mist dissipated and entered Su Huan’s body on the other side, instantly restoring the energy and spirit worn down by the army to their peak.

Su Huan, however, showed no intention of acknowledging it, only said with a complex expression, "What about this time? What caused the failure this time?"

Yu Yao pondered, "This time, I learned from my mistakes and advanced the timeline significantly. After gaining the nation’s trust, I deployed many measures in the Eternal Night Zone like now. But later, I realized that relying solely on the army was not enough to defeat them. We had to find a way to accelerate other powers. So, I converted energy from another world into what you know as ’Pan Energy,’ giving rise to the Evolvers..."

Su Huan sighed internally upon hearing this.

He didn’t need to hear more to know that this would inevitably fail. The emergence of Pan Energy came with enormous side effects, converting large numbers of people with failing "qualities" into zombies.

As Su Huan expected, a zombie outbreak occurred, with the population concentrating en masse. Various factors stacked together, causing the entire Donghuang to collapse instantly. However, relying on the Twelve Calamities, Donghuang stood firm for over three years, and under Yu Yao’s help, Su Huan reached Tier Three.

But that was the extent of it.

Tier Three, in the face of the overwhelming tide from the Otherworld, stirred not even a ripple.

Yu Yao did his best to preserve Su Huan’s memory, then decisively restarted.

Thanks to the preserved memory, Su Huan quickly escaped the High Temperature Zone and, after the apocalypse, successfully awakened as a Fighting Master and, as agreed, headed north.

...

December 20, 2035, [Ten days after the apocalypse outbreak], [Su Huan’s Second Rebirth].

Wen’an City.

The bustling street echoed with hurried footsteps, as the wandering "pedestrians" collectively turned to the young man running towards them. The scent of blood on him drove them mad, charging like rabid dogs.

Su Huan’s eyelids twitched as he glimpsed the surrounding buildings and quickly made a decision.

He leaped onto a car by the roadside, using its rooftop as leverage to jump onto a two-story building, evading the zombies gathering behind him, then jumped into a structure with high courtyard walls.

He didn’t recklessly enter but instead kept a vigilant gaze on the room’s interior. Only after confirming that no zombies were rushing out did he lean against the wall corner and sit down.

Not realizing where he had entered at first, he observed for a moment and discovered it was an orphanage.

The yard had a slide and trampoline meant for children.

’No wonder the courtyard walls are so high and tightly sealed.’

Su Huan felt a mix of laughter and tears, unexpectedly fleeing to the place he knew best in a panic.

Not sure how the headmaster is doing...

Su Huan felt a wave of melancholy and simultaneously complained about his senior. If only the time node had been advanced a bit more, maybe it would have been better. Near the outbreak, even plane tickets were out of reach.

He brushed off his soaked clothes and forcefully suppressed distracting thoughts, checking his haul.

Though dangerous, this time’s haul was quite abundant. The food in his backpack would suffice for a week, and if rationed, could last half a month.

"Bang!"

A loud noise came from within the orphanage.

Like someone deliberately smashing things, the sound alarmed the zombies on the street, repeatedly slamming into the iron gate, causing Su Huan’s belatedly calmed heart to jump to his throat once more.

’Which damn fool!’

Su Huan cursed internally, organized his backpack, held an ice axe in hand, and cautiously approached the building’s interior.

As soon as he squeezed through, he saw three or four men tearing off a woman’s clothes. The noises came from the woman’s struggles. On the other side was an overturned wheelchair, with a boy painfully curling up, gazing at the woman with agony.

In an instant, a frost spread beneath Su Huan’s narrow eyes, and he gritted his teeth, cursing the beasts.

He kicked over the man with his back turned and unhesitatingly drove the ice axe into the back of his head. The man’s body jerked violently once, then fell motionless.

The other two also caught sight of Su Huan, one in terror, the other showing viciousness.

Before he could decide between fighting back or using the woman as a shield, Su Huan’s ice axe had already pierced his face.

The other attempted resistance, but against an already awakened Su Huan, he had no chance and soon met the same fate as the other two.

In an instant, three men were killed in rapid succession.

Yet, Su Huan’s emotions remained unflinching; instead, he felt a tinge of relief in his heart.

He had seen many creatures like these in his past life. With the world in chaos and the nation unable to oversee them, their base desires consumed their sanity, turning them into beasts.

There was no need to hold back. Instead of educating them, it was better to swiftly end them, saving energy to rescue those who still adhered to their principles.

"Thank you."

The woman’s voice was hoarse, her delicate face streaked with tears.

But she quickly pulled herself together, hurriedly checking on the fallen child.

Fortunately, he had arrived in time; neither was injured.

Altogether, six children remained, all capable of moving around freely.

The oldest was the boy in the wheelchair.

...

Before dawn, Su Huan had already buried the three bodies, returning nonchalantly to have breakfast.

Feeling the eager gazes from a group of seven, Su Huan sighed, shared his food, and prompted a small cheer.

"Aren’t you eating?"

Su Huan directed his question to the woman on the side, who concealed her pointed chin within the wide collar of her clothes.

"Let them have it. My needs are low."

The woman’s voice was distinctly frail.

Su Huan relented, tossing her two sausages.

Back in his room, as he packed his backpack, a polite knock came. Su Huan invited the visitor in, and the wheelchair rolled inside. The boy glanced at Su Huan, busy with preparations, and spoke in a low tone, "Are you leaving?"

Su Huan paused his movements, "Yeah, I have plans to meet someone."

"Is there something you need?"

"How can I be as strong as you?"

Asked the boy.

Su Huan looked at his legs, hesitating to speak.

He opened his packed backpack, emptied half of the food onto the bed, hesitated a bit, then poured out some more, finally emptying all of it. Only then did he step aside, walking toward the door, knowing time was tight. He had to head north to meet Yu Yao, and there wasn’t much time to waste here.

Inside the room, the boy clutched his knees tightly, his eyes gradually losing their light.

Yet, the footsteps outside returned, and a large hand ruffled his hair.

With a sigh carrying a hint of hesitation, "I can stay for two days, teach you the way to evolve, but I can’t guarantee it will cure your legs."