Chapter 157 - 6.17 Third Green Star - New Year I
The first month after the apocalypse had passed.
January 1st.
Now is the new year. It is supposed to be a moment when everyone welcomes a new page in their lives. Another beginning which others say. Unfortunately, because the world had ended last year, this new year had no fireworks, no red lantern, and no banquet.
In the first place loud noises attract zombies, there is no way to get materials to create red lanterns and since food source is limited there will be no parties or dinner banquets happening. There is no joyous new year, only a quiet and cold new year was welcomed by the survivors. In just one month the population in the country had plummeted greatly.
Now there are even fewer elderly, children and women. Even if there are some, most of them were unawakened and weak, that they needed protection at all times. Though there are some rare women that awakened even those ladies had already been partnered up with strong men.
Thanks to the winter season, the zombies had been frozen to ice popsicles. Level 1 Zombies had already turned to ice statues during these times. It is currently the mid-winter season.
The base build in Z District is not doing too well right now. A food source but the people are entering the base are getting bigger each day. There are a limited number of houses and tents. Moreover, the number of ability users that reside in the base is not enough to protect the numerous survivors who are unawakened.
Before Shi Moye had fallen from stress, Old General Sun had provided support to this young leader. But deep inside his heart, he knew that this young man isn't enough to take responsibility for such a huge number of lives under his protection. Shi Moye is still too young, unexposed to the elite circle and he is too ambitious.
There is no stability to back his position as a leader up. His awakened dual abilities might be amazing but those who had seen General Cao fights already knew how large the difference of strength between Shi Moye and Cao Junye was. Those who put Shi Moye in his current position are those greedy old bastards who only knew how to gain but not to give.
They weren't afraid of him, Old Sun, much less a lad like Shi Moye. Clearly, they are using Shi Moye as their puppet to gain control over the base. Thankfully this young man isn't foolish and acted the routine of acting like a pig to eat the tiger. Even then it is not enough.
Z District, Base named Hope.
The State Head and the Prime Minister before they died had gathered all resources and poured everything they've owned in this base. They named it Hope, this is to allow the survivors to remember that even if that world is ending as long they don't give up there will be some time in the future that would bring hope into reality. Bringing the original world back to normal.
Shi Moye even in his past life had liked the name this base. These are the words that support most of the survivors that live on this base. But in his past life, Shi Moye is not the leader. The one who leads and controls the base is none other than General Cao.
Under his reign, no one is allowed to go against him as he is the strongest ability user that exists during those times. With his dual ability of darkness and fire, he is undefeated like an impregnable wall. He towers in front of them like a mountain protecting them from inside and out. Shi Moye wanted to become like him which is why he was happy when everyone in the base had voted him to become the temporary leader of the base. This is only until Cao Junye returned to the base.
Leader's office.
Shi Moye is buried in paper works. He needed to list down the location where they could find a new source of food. They also need another way to create electricity. The Solar panel factories he remembered from his former life must be listed as well. There is too much work that he would already collapse if not for Old Sun and his lover Yun Suisen helping him with work. He truly wanted to thank them properly for solving the problem with food sources.
But he couldn't leave the base as he is the leader. Now he understood the disadvantages of being a leader, in his last life he could leave the base and do missions like everyone else. Yet as a leader he could only stay at the base and protect the base. The rest of the problems must be solved by issuing orders. Unfortunately, he couldn't explain to them how he knew things normally, something he shouldn't know.
He could act as a prophet but after making changes in the past event, like a butterfly effect, the future had also undergone changes. Just the fact that an abnormality like Ximen Xueya exists, the future he knows has turned even bleaker. General Cao not returning the base is the heaviest change from the future he knew.
He is not the original General Cao. How could he know how the young general had handled those annoying elders of elite families in his past life? All he could remember that those old men had embezzled food enough to last for a year which angered General Cao. He threw them all out of the base in anger. Those who didn't comply were all killed by him.
Thinking of the base Shi Moye felt as stressed as he could get.
"Sigh~"
Yun Suisen and Old Sun who were with him inside the office all looked at him.
"Are you tired, ge?" asked Yun Suisen worriedly.
Old Sun who could see the black bags under the young Leader's eyes commented,
"Boy, take a rest. Let this old man take over for a bit."
"It's true that I'm a bit tired but that's not the problem. I'm thinking about the food source we have right now. It's supposed to last for at least half a year but a month has only passed and it's already about to be used up." said Shi Moye.
Hearing Shi Moye's explanation the other two inside the office had their faces turned dark. They could easily understand the meaning behind those words.
Yun Suisen spoke, "The greedy nobles and elite families."
"The world is already like this! And they are still acting like that! Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything about it. I may be a general but I had long retired. Most powers in the military had been handed to Cao Junye and the government was under the control of Ximen Xueya. Unless any of them returns it would be impossible to punish those nobles." said Old Sun.
"But no one knew where those two were," replied Shi Moye.
Old Sun sighed as he responded, "Try contacting them but for now let's focus on the limited food problem we have."
"Old Sun If you believe me I could bring food. There are few food factories hidden. But to get it I need to leave the base for a while." said Shi Moye.
Old sun replied, "How long would you be out?"
"The nearest one would take 3 days to go back and forth. But those are only grains. I need a week to get both the grains and the canned goods." said Shi Moye.
Silence ascended inside the office, the oldest among the three had fallen in his deep thoughts as if weighting things in comparison.
"Is it dangerous?" asked Old Sun.
Shi Moye replied, "A bit but it can be handled. A small team I would arrange from my side but I need at least 3 space ability users to bring back as many resources as we could. Sui-chan must come with me."
Old Sun then looked at Shi Moye's lover whose ability is space and plants.
"Agreed. I will keep the news of your leaving from others. But return as soon as you can, a week is plausible but beyond that those greedy old men would make their move to overtake your position if you're gone for too long." said the old general.
Shi Moye smiled after getting a positive reply from this old general. This retired general was the only person from his side who could hold back those greedy parasites.
Shi Moye replied, "We will disguise ourselves as ordinary mercenaries and take up a fake mission I would bring out tomorrow. We will take our leave in three days."
"Good. Xiao Yun, please complete the preparations on your side. It's New Year but our base feels so lonely." said Old Sun.
Shi Moye spoke, "Since it's the new year. Let's have a banquet tonight. Ask the kitchen to cook a buffet for everyone in the base. I will be responsible for restocking food."
"Then I will have someone tell your orders, leader," said Yun Suisen with a smile.
---
Somewhere in X District.
In an empty, ruined, and small city, few zombies were roaming around under the daylight. X District is well known for its factories creating clothes like silk, cotton, and such. Now that the district is most likely deserted, there are only zombies roaming around the area.
In the main road of the said district.
Gurgle... Gurgles...
The sounds of zombies created by something being chewed echoes in the empty road. A familiar sound of something like crunching on bones or gnawing on some flesh. Then within that echoing sounds of eating, unknown footsteps caught the zombies' ears. They've all moved their attention to that other sound.
A clear and cheerful yet bubbly voice resounds in the area accompanied by the sound of huge animals running over.
"Daddy~ daddy~ there is really a faint sound of breathing over here~ someone must be alive."
The owner of this adorable baby voice is none other than our baby Chino.
Wearing a little black bear hoodie and white shorts, Ximen Chino looks like a small bear cub from a distance. Especially when he is riding on a black and white-furred Tibetan mastiff whose size is that of an adult in spite of it just being a few months old puppies. A normal adult Tibetan mastiff usually has 26 inches tall reaching barely above half a human waist height. But the Tibetan mastiff puppy Ximen Chino is riding on has already had this size. Obviously, even animals started to mutate after the blood moon.
This Tibetan mastiff puppy is something Ximen Xueya bought for his son before the world ended. They bought a set of mother and father dogs with one litter puppy Tibetan mastiff as guard dogs for their secret base in Ximen Mountain. These dogs had successfully mutated under Xueya's guidance.
After mutation, the litter puppy which is only a few months old had grown to the size of a normal adult Tibetan mastiff while its parents had grown twice the original. Even an adult human could ride on their back now.
Not only that, its strength and figure had also mutated, this mutated Tibetan Mastiff had strength stronger than that of a lion and speed faster than a jaguar. It's no longer a normal dog but most likely equated to being called a beast instead.
Following not that far from Chino is an adult white lion Tibetan mastiff. On the top of that mastiff is Ximen Xueya wearing loose white sleeves and tight-fit black pants. The father and son are wearing a couple of clothes. They both look gorgeous and captivating while being surrounded by ruined buildings and broken roads. Their appearance totally does not fit the world-end scenery around them.
Moreover, the handsome daddy had his brows knitted in a bad mood at this moment with his right hand holding a black handkerchief to cover his nose. His blue-violet eyes looking around with disgust imprinted within those tanzanite orbs.
"Chi-chan, clean up the field, and then we can look for survivors," said Xueya.
Chino happily listens to his daddy's words. He activated his Ice element which instantly turned the water vapor around him into icicles. After it hovers around him like snowflakes, those icicles follow the baby's command and gesture.
"Ice shards! Fall!" yelled Chino as Ice fell all over the zombies instantly turned them into ice popsicles.
But it doesn't seem enough for the child to just turn the zombies into ice statues, he outreaches his small hands and closed his hands with a grip.
"Break!"
As if following Chino's command the Ice statues slowly broke into fragments eliminating the zombies on the road with his ice ability. As the wind flutters towards him, a part of his short light brown hair turns light blue light highlights at the end of each hair strand. This signifies that Ximen Chino's control over ice elements is quite powerful.
Chino cheered, "Daddy~ I'm done!"
"Good! Go ahead and play. If you find something alive, tell daddy right away." said Xueya who finally put down the handkerchief covering his face.
"Okay, daddy~"
[Host, I've checked the area. There are few survivors within the 10-meter circle around you. They are hiding even though they've seen the young master clear the place. As for the closest living person, there's a baby hidden inside the empty trashcan on your left.]
Xueya's face turned ugly when the trashcan is mentioned but he still chose to save the baby's life. He looked back at the two men who came out with him as guards. These two men were few survivors Chino had saved before.
They were former policemen who were used and betrayed by those whom they've tried to save. Chino saved them on a whim when he saw the two being surrounded by zombies.
At that time one of them had a huge open wound on the legs clearly someone slashed him to be used as bait. The other policeman is his close friend who chose to remain and tries to save the other person. They were called Lu Meng and Si Wan.
Lu Meng and Su Wan have awakened ability users as well. The former being Water while the latter is Earth. It could obviously be pointed out with a few strands of their hair turning blue and orange respectively. But it isn't like Chino's whose half of his hair turned light blue. There are only a handful of strands dyed.
"Wow~ Young Master's ice ability has gotten stronger."
"Yes, before there were only a few light blue highlights on his hair but now half is turned."
"Did his ability evolve?"
Ximen Xueya ignored the nonsense and said, "One of you checked the trash can on the left. There's faint breathing coming from inside."
Lu Meng instantly made his move and checked inside the said trash can. Upon opening the lid and looking down, he saw a small curled baby inside. There's some bruise on its small arms and head. The baby is unconscious and no one knows whether it is still alive.
He took out the baby and checked if it's still alive or not. Su Wan who saw the baby in his partner's hands walked over and took the baby in his partner's arm which allowed the latter to check on the baby easier than before.
Su Wan asked, "How was it?"
"Barely breathing. Slight concussion on the head and high fever. Still alive."
The two sighed in relief after knowing the baby is still alive. Lu Meng used his ability and soaked the sleeves of his clothes to clean the baby's face gently. The curious Chino approached them as well. Seeing a baby which is smaller than him, he could help but ask.
"Daddy, is this a baby? So small and... Ugly."
"Hahaha, young master, it's only a few months old. It will look like a monkey for a while," said Lu Meng.
Su Wan spoke, "Can this Su Wan ask the young master to heal this child with your ability for a bit? He seems to be suffering from fever."
"Okay!" responded Chino. Putting his hand over the baby's his amber irises slightly glows with gold shade. This time he activated his other ability which is light.
"Heal!"
Once Chino's baby voice was heard the small figure was covered with gold light and slowly its purple bruises and small scratches disappeared, even the slight reddish face of the baby turned back to normal as even his fever fades under the light.
It didn't take long for the baby to wake up revealing those adorable big eyes of his. Seeing the faces of the three who save him, the baby joyously chuckles bearing his toothless gums into a smile.
Kyaa~ aha~
Xueya spoke, "Since there's a baby with use let's return early this time."
"Yes, Master!" said Lu Meng and Su Wan.
"Okay, daddy. Chi-chan had played enough for today!"
Xueya just smiled at his excited son who was jumping above his dog. Then he touched his snowflake earring once and another adult Tibetan mastiff appeared out of nowhere.
"The two of you and the child can ride that one. Chino came to daddy. I will bring your dog to daddy's space first. Ride with daddy back home." said Xueya.
Lu Meng who cleansed himself with his water ability carried the young master once his clothes dried. Xueya carried his son over to his lap and kept his baby's dog in his space.
"Daddy, it's the new year. Chi-chan wants to eat rice cakes!"
"Don't worry daddy~ already made it last night. My baby can eat as much as you want after dinner."
"Haha~ Chi-chan will eat a lot."
Once Lu Meng climbs up on the other adult dog's back with the other two they head back home to their base at the fastest speed.