Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 327: Chapter 317: Whirlpool of Depression

By now, Qin Ling and his men had been out for several hours. They had no idea how far they’d walked through the darkness, only that everything their flashlights revealed looked completely different from the environment they knew.

S Base was their territory; logically, they should have been incredibly familiar with the place.

But now, every place felt so unfamiliar. There were no buildings left to serve as reference points, and all the plants had grown wild into completely different forms.

The once-prosperous city had transformed into a desolate wasteland overnight, as if it had been abandoned for decades.

"Boss, we’ve gone so far. If we keep going, we’ll never find our way back."

"Cut the crap. It’s not like you can find the way back now."

This time, Qin Ling had only brought a few of his Strength Attribute brothers. After all, it was freezing cold outside, and Power Attribute Superpower Users had better-enhanced bodies, making them more resistant to the cold.

However, what they hadn’t expected was that the pitch-blackness outside, combined with the transformed environment, had caused them to get lost in the dark after walking for several hours.

"If only Lao Wu were here right now..."

Spirit Attribute Superpower Users could use their perception to find the way back. Unfortunately, among the group this time, everyone except for Qin Ling was a Power Attribute Superpower User.

Although they were resistant to the cold, they had been out for several hours. If they kept wandering around outside like this, even bodies made of iron would be frozen into blocks of ice.

Qin Ling’s handsome face was grim. It was indeed difficult to discern the way back relying only on the faint light from a flashlight.

Their ID Watches had no signal at all. Even if they wanted to call for help, they couldn’t contact anyone else right now.

Just as the men were feeling lost, helpless, and completely at a loss in the darkness, a golden light ignited in the distance.

That was the color of Tang Mo’s protective circle.

Right then, the light was like a beacon guiding Qin Ling and his men home, allowing the men who had been walking in circles in the darkness to immediately find their way back and heave a sigh of relief.

Freezing outside for several hours is no easy feat. After seeing the protective circle light up, each of the men ran faster than the last, sprinting back toward it.

Meanwhile, Tang Mo, nestled warmly in her tent and playing with Yangyang and Xianxian, had no idea that her act of providing light for the people within the circle had unintentionally pulled Qin Ling and his men back from the clutches of death.

"Xiao Tao, have you noticed it’s much quieter inside the protective circle today than it was last night?"

As the light brightened, the faces of the crowd appeared more clearly before Tang Mo’s eyes.

Everyone was sitting quietly, doing their own thing. There wasn’t even anyone speaking loudly.

Compared to their panic last night, everyone was noticeably more well-behaved today.

It made Tang Mo feel a bit uneasy.

"Isn’t it because of what you said yesterday, Momo? You told them the admission fee they paid was only for last night. Now that they’re overdue, they’re all on their best behavior, terrified you’ll remember and kick them out. In this frozen, pitch-black world, how many hours could they possibly survive out there?"

Only after hearing Xiao Tao say that did Tang Mo remember her words from yesterday.

’I’m so clever. I didn’t expect my spur-of-the-moment idea yesterday to have such a great effect.’

It was pitch-black outside, and the situation was still unknown. Naturally, Tang Mo had no real intention of kicking them out right now to die.

Just as Tang Mo was enjoying the rare moment of quiet, Qin Ling and his men rushed in from outside.

"How is it? What’s the situation outside now?"

Tang Mo got up and helped Qin Ling out of his greatcoat, which had frozen somewhat stiff, replacing it with a new, soft, and warm jacket.

Then she took Qin Ling’s ice-cold hands in her own to warm them.

Qin Ling had been freezing outside for quite some time. Now, dressed in a warm jacket with a beautiful woman warming his hands, he felt much of the chill seep away in an instant.

"Outside... it’s not optimistic."

Qin Ling thought about the environment they’d seen outside over the past few hours. The Hell Era was, as expected, an even more terrifying existence than the last apocalypse.

"We walked a long way and didn’t see a single mutant beast."

Not even one mutant beast. This was Qin Ling’s biggest discovery from his excursion.

"Isn’t it because they’re holed up somewhere from the cold?"

’Although they were within the S Base’s territory, its defensive fortifications had long since vanished. With so many people gathered here, it was impossible for there not to be a single mutant beast around.’

’The physical makeup of mutant beasts is different from humans; this cold isn’t fatal to them, but starvation is.’

"No." Qin Ling shook his head.

He had searched carefully for a long time. He hadn’t just failed to see any mutant beasts—he hadn’t found a single trace of them.

He hadn’t even sensed a whisper of a mutant beast’s presence.

It was as if all the mutant beasts, which had previously fed on humans, had vanished overnight.

Tang Mo fell silent.

In the current situation, not seeing any mutant beasts was not a good thing for humanity.

This meant they had lost their most important food source.

In this kind of weather, planting—even hydroponics—had become a luxury. If there were no more mutant beasts to provide enough meat, human survival would truly be at a tipping point.

"Don’t think about that for now. Have some soup."

Tang Mo pulled Qin Ling down to sit, and Xiao Tao handed over the soup Tang Mo had prepared earlier.

Including the men who had just returned with Qin Ling, everyone was given a bowl of hot soup. The chance to drink a steaming bowl of soup at that moment moved them to the brink of tears.

For the rest of the time, everyone sat blankly within the protective circle, heads tilted back to gaze at its golden light, their thoughts unknown.

Perhaps they were thinking about their fate tomorrow. But no one knew what the world would be like tomorrow, so how could they possibly plan for it?

Everyone felt so insignificant, without even the strength to push back against fate.

Fortunately, Tang Mo had brought a little light into their world; otherwise, most of them would have likely had a mental breakdown.

Emotions are a contagious thing. Tang Mo leaned on Qin Ling’s shoulder, looking at everyone’s numb faces.

It didn’t seem like their mood was one of sadness. After experiencing so many partings and deaths, so many joys and sorrows, everyone had long been desensitized to grief.

Beneath their numb faces, there was only emptiness.

It was a kind of self-exile that came after powerlessness, casting themselves into the torrent of this Hell to be swept along, letting fate arrange an ending for them.

Tang Mo hated this feeling of everyone being caught in a whirlpool of despair, like being in a pool of stagnant water.

’In her eyes, weren’t they still alive?’

’As long as you were alive, there was hope. Being alive represented infinite possibilities.’

’If you gave up on yourself, wasn’t that the same as throwing your still-breathing body into a fissure and burying yourself?’