It's been three whole days since the group lead by the leaders had left the base to head to the forest. Lou Lan had stayed at the base to be the proxy leader while the two were away.
Evening at the District Z. Hope Base.
At the residential area where most survivors live, rows of apartment buildings stood. This area used to be an empty lot before the world ended. The military and the government had used the borrowed money from the Ximen Family to construct these buildings in preparation for the apocalypse.
Now at the time of the apocalypse, these buildings were put to use. Ability users with their teams live in these buildings with their members. They exchange points or zombie crystals to rent these places. Some teams with the greater numbers even rented a whole floor from themselves. On the other hand, ordinary unawakened ability users or ordinary people could only live in tents provided by the government and military.
The base provides food and necessities for everyone in the base in exchange for labor. The abilities users would complete missions for rewards while ordinary people were able to eat every day in exchange for simple tasks like sweeping, watering plants in greenhouses, or carpentry.
As long as they do some task, they would be rewarded with points which could be exchanged for food and many other things. Life in the base is simple yet stable. Except for the zombies outside the walls, the survivors inside the base live their daily ordinary lives.
Unfortunately, peace didn't last long. Children and the elderly started suffering from fever for an unknown reason. Those who went to the hospital say that it's only an ordinary hay fever and can be cured with antibiotics.
The civilians had calmed down but the fever had spread vigorously within the base. Now even level 1 to 2 ability users started suffering from fever. It didn't take a while for chaos to arise within the base. In the end, the simple hay fever had become rampant.
Now that the leaders, Cao Junye and Ximen Xueya, are not in the base. This commotion had become the proxy leader Lou's responsibility but for some reason, there is no response from Lou Lan at all. It is because of this that the survivors started complaining about the base's current leadership and began to compile some complaints to the main office. But the main office remains silent the whole time.
Some courageous survivors started rioting and putting the entrance of the main office on fire. The ability users whose families were affected by the pandemic joined the uproar causing chaos in front of the main office of the leaders. They were quite fearless knowing that none of the two leaders were at the base and only a proxy remained to supervise. What they didn't know was that this proxy leader, Lou Lan, was given orders not to interfere in this kind of event.
Cao Junye and Ximen Xueya knew that the moment they left the base, someone who had hidden within the crowd would incite disorder in the base. They've expected this and made some plans for this type of situation. But what they are planning to do is to bait the unknown danger hidden among the crowd. The last destroyer.
While the rioting outside continued, some people remained on the sidelines and just watched. They were waiting for the real leaders to return. Only when the general and his lover come home that everything would return to normal. Most of the bystanders in this event are those who were well exposed to political confrontations. They already knew that someone was pulling the strings and incited those civilians to attack the main office of the leaders. They wanted to wane the authority the great general and his wife held.
At the Yun Clan's place, Yun Lu had just put his son, Yun Ren, to sleep. His son had been suffering from the same kind of fever as the rest. After changing the fever patch on Yun Ren's forehead and wrapping him into a thick blanket, Yun Lu finally took a breath of relief seeing his son's complexion slowly turning to normal.
Yun Lu spoke softly, "Son, rest well. Dad is here."
Covered in sweat and heat, Yun Ren kept his eyes close to rest. His father took his leave after he closed his eyes pretending to sleep. Once the door of his room had closed after Yun Lu left, Yun Ren's eyes suddenly opened. He looks around in his room with intense vigilance and fear in his eyes.
Yun Ren's ragged breathing echoes within the darkroom. "Pants~ ha~ liar. You weren't speaking the truth when you've said that as long as I kill Shi Moye, Su Liye, and my elder brother that the apocalypse would end. You lied to me, system!?"
He started talking on his own within the empty room. Yun Ren looked agitated as he looked at the empty air in front of him. It would be hard for a normal being to see this thing he calls a system. As if responding to the words Yun Ren had spout a part of the space before him, had twisted in a circle. Then a black butterfly the size of an adult human fist appeared up ahead a meter away from where Yun Ren is. Its wide wings flutter as it hovers around Yun Ren.
"The three of them are dead now! How come the apocalypse has yet to stop!?" grumbled Yun Ren, his eyes were now obviously bloodshot from hatred and guilt.
A female voice was suddenly heard from the black butterfly flying around Yun Ren. The voice is mechanical as usual but the tone had seductive hints on it.
[Heh~ since when did this system tell you that the apocalypse would end when you've killed those three? I only told you that the apocalypse is closely related to those mortals~ and this lady no... this system hasn't said a word of the apocalypse ending after they died~]
"You!!?" With his anger raging, Yun Ren tried to grab the black butterfly only to suffer getting electrified. "AAAH!!~~"
[You can continue screaming~ this system has put a barrier around the room. Even if you scream all night no one could hear you~ Hahaha~]
"You... Ah, ~ made me... k-kill... my brother~ Ha~ he is dad's... real... son!! AH~~"
[ Snort* I only gave you a choice. You were the one who put things to action. Deep in your heart, you knew that once your dad learned about Yun Suisen's identity that you'd lose your place in this family. What a hypocrite~
Haha~ one more thing. Before you crook, let me tell you something~ those three people you've killed... they were the only mortals who could have ended all this world's sufferings~ but you killed them with your own hands. Now, this apocalypse will continue until all humans~ died!!]
"You bitch!! Liar... LIAR!!! AAHHH!!"
The black butterfly never intended to let go of Yun Ren as he would lead those people to her real host. Her master had tasked her to make sure those outsiders did not notice his existence.
The clan had tasked her master to kill one target. The target mission is called Ximen Xueya, supposed to be a mere mob character of this world. But who would expect that the Ximen Xueya of this world turned to be a foreign soul like her master? Not only him but a few more foreign souls had entered this star.
Even after hacking this star's world data, the information they've got is pure nonsense. Ximen Xueya's original data had been replaced and it cannot be accessed any matter she does. It was for this reason that her master had decided to keep themselves hidden and found a scapegoat. His master had chosen Yun Ren for that. This hay fever is something they've made as well. They've wanted for the stability of the base to crumble while the tigers are not at home.
After successfully inciting chaos, his master had deemed Yun Ren no longer of use which is why she, the black butterfly, had to eliminate the bootless element. There is no need to cover up the dead body as this base would no longer exist in a while. When she finished her task of elimination, the black butterfly avatar system had returned to her real host's side.
Above grounds within the evening sky, a man's figure can be seen afloat. This man is wearing a military coat accompanied by countless medals which shows his achievements. Despite his old appearance, this man stood straight as a pole as if unhindered by his old age. The appearance of this man is very familiar. He is the retired old general with the surname of Sun. Full name: Sun Yu.
His cold gaze overlooked the chaos and uproar under his feet. There are few humans creating fires while bombing the main office of the authority in this base. This is something he planned to do before leaving this place. He wanted those men to lose a place to return to. In a while, those mortals who were suffering from fever would turn to zombies as he had them infected with a mild zombie virus that would be incubated in the infected body for a while before surging instantly in three days. Today is the third day since the virus has spread.
In the middle of the night, the hope base had fallen into mayhem. Old General Sun watches the scene he made without any emotion on his face. The only difference in his appearance is that his original dark brown eyes had now turned silver. The argent orbs glow within the darkness. It was at this time that a black butterfly had appeared by his side.
[Master. Black Butterfly had returned. The task of eliminating the character Yun Ren had been done.]
Old General Sun touched his face and ripped off his current appearance. After he peeled off the skin, his original appearance was revealed. A young man in his twenties whose appearance had similarities to Hei Jue. But unlike Hei Jue's refined features which emit kindness and gentle temperament, this man's appearance is a bit androgynous. If no one looked closely, they wouldn't know he is a man because of his quite feminine face.
The man said, "Good job, Hudie."
[What should Black Butterfly do next, master?]
"Accelerate the activation of the zombie virus and then we're leaving this star." replied the man.
[How about the mission, master?]
A frown appeared on the man's feminine face, "We are bailing. I've finally recognized whose soul is in that mob character called Ximen Xueya. If he is really whom I thought it was then... this mission is an impossible task."
[What do you mean, master? Who is the soul in Ximen Xueya?]
"Coldness as if touching the unmelting glaciers in both north and south poles. Aloofness and indifference towards strangers as if no one is allowed to enter his line of sight and... overprotectiveness towards his own loved ones.
His endearment can already be called an obsession. He is crazy enough to destroy anything if someone touches a nerve they shouldn't. Even the Clan's Ancestor and elders were fearful of his anger. There is only death when facing him."
[Who is he, master?]
Silence is the only thing given to the system as an answer. The delicate-faced man with argent eyes didn't respond, instead took a single step and left the place without any word. Forgotten, the black butterfly system just hummed as she was used to her master ignoring her. She only left the place after activating the zombie virus.
Another surge of chaos which would equate to the scene of hell had occurred within the base. Those humans who were just suffering from high fever had started convulsing. Their skins instantly turn bloodless with black veins starting to manifest. Instead of screams, low tone growls had come out of their mouth together with uncontrolled drool. Their eyes turned red and inhumanely started biting the other humans around them. Zombies were created and hell on earth had once again begun.
The Hope Base had fallen that night. Leaving only a few survivors who had hid in an underground open area right below the base. This is the only safety measure the military and the government had created in times like this. They've put into consideration what could be done if the base got infected with the zombie virus and thus the underground facility was made.
The one who led the survivors to the underground facilities is Lou Lan. This is something Ximen Xueya had told him to do. Though they've expected the last destroyer to cause turmoil in the base, who would have expected that the bastard would cause a zombie outbreak within the base. Thankfully, Lou Lan is ready for this situation and already sent secret orders to their people.
The survivors stayed within the underground facilities just beside the secret warehouse waiting for Ximen Xueya and Cao Junye to rescue them. They were not afraid of waiting, within the secret warehouse food and necessities were prepared for them. They can eat without problems for months and there is no way that that journey their leaders had taken would take months to complete. Everyone waited for the rescue patiently under Lou Lan's lead.