PSW - Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Zhu Lanyuan had a strange expression. "They won't give up."
"They've started believing in the Saint," Zhu Lanyuan added.
The Saint, whom they had never even seen, had already become their spiritual anchor. She had appeared out of nowhere and, with absolute power, killed so many ability users—even their nightmare, Yang Zhengming.
That night, many people wept with joy. Some, refusing to believe it was over, repeatedly stabbed at Yang Zhengming's corpse, which was already mangled beyond human recognition.
People want to live, and when they do, there's always a force that helps them find the motivation and reason to go on.
And the next day, when they walked out of the dormitory gates and saw the purgatory-like scene on the field, that motivation and reason became even stronger.
They wanted to live, at the very least, to catch a glimpse of the Saint.
That Saint was probably a very powerful ability user, but in their hearts, as time passed and with no knowledge of the Saint's appearance or any other information, the image of the Saint had become nearly perfect, approaching divinity.
"…" Wu Dailing was a bit helpless. "What about Qi Lingshu?"
"In the lab, assisting Yun Lingjian," Chu Yi replied. She had her hands in her pockets and said casually, "The moment that man leaves the shelter's gates, I'll let you know."
"The temperature is rising now. If this continues, I'm afraid a heatwave will follow the extreme cold." Chu Yi smiled. "Let's just focus on surviving for now."
Anything short of death is a small matter.
"They weren't affected at all." Yu Yinan led Zheng Yi back, suddenly speaking up. "Are you going to kill someone tonight?"
"Why?" Zheng Yi looked at Yu Yinan. "No."
"Oh," Yu Yinan acknowledged, then asked no more.
Zheng Yi suddenly became a little curious about what kind of person she was in Yu Yinan's eyes. But she didn't ask directly; her intuition told her the answer wouldn't be a pleasant one.
Just as Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan were heading upstairs, one after the other, they suddenly felt the ground vibrating up and down, then swaying from side to side. The entire building was shaking!
Almost instantly, Yu Yinan pulled Zheng Yi and rushed downstairs, standing in an open area to the side.
The buildings were swaying, and the earth was trembling. But the sensation wasn't very strong where they were. Ability users on the upper floors were jolted awake and rushed downstairs in a panic. Some small furniture and utensils even toppled to the floor from the tremors.
"An earthquake? It's an earthquake, right? Where's the earthquake?" someone yelled, rushing down in a panic.
The tremors were noticeable in Humanity's Light Shelter, but it clearly wasn't the epicenter.
"What is wrong with this world? First zombies, then extreme cold, and now an earthquake… If a flood or a tsunami comes next, how are we supposed to live!" Maybe ability users could put up a fight against natural disasters, but what about ordinary people? Wouldn't they just be waiting to die!
The shaking only lasted for three minutes before it subsided. The shelter's buildings weren't significantly affected, and there were no signs of cracks in the walls. But clearly, the shelter's upper management would be busy again. They had to find out where the epicenter was.
The pre-apocalypse earthquake-prone zones couldn't necessarily be used as a reference after the apocalypse.
About half an hour later, the aftershocks were much weaker than the initial quake. Many ability users had calmed down and returned to their rooms to rest. Even if they felt a slight tremor in bed, they weren't too worried.
Intermittently, Zheng Yi received fragmented Saint Points almost every day. But because the people who devoutly believed in her didn't know her true identity and couldn't deeply connect the Saint with her actual self, the amount of Saint Points she received was reduced.
But all in all, it was constantly increasing.
Those unfamiliar names would stop appearing after [ding]-ing three times, only to reappear the next month. Wang Jingzhu, Yang Fangfang, Li Chenxu, Sun Ziying… Zero One quietly recorded all these names that had appeared. It didn't know if Zheng Yi paid any mind to these names, but it wanted to remember them.
They weren't ability users, yet they contributed the most devout souls of ordinary people. They practically treated the Saint as their last hope, even weaving her into their very reason for living.
As the Saint Growth Plan System, Zero One was actually quite sentimental.
During her rest period at the shelter, Zheng Yi continued to go to the water station every day to dispense three tons of water, earning 30 contribution points. But besides that, she would occasionally visit the camp of the women who had been rescued and fill their water vats and buckets for free, earning Saint Points that accumulated "1 point" by "1 point."
Zero One no longer wanted to ask what deep meaning lay behind Zheng Yi's actions—whether it was purely for Saint Points or if there was a hint of compassion. Regardless of what Zheng Yi was thinking, she had helped these people and performed a saintly act, and that was enough.
This was an inspiration it had gotten from Yu Yinan. True intentions or false pretenses—there was no need to see them so clearly, so truly. Zheng Yi was its host; it didn't need to delve so deeply. If it had to scrutinize the deep meaning behind every little action Zheng Yi took, it would be too exhausting—not to mention it couldn't see through Zheng Yi at all.
During these days, Zheng Yi didn't mention leaving the shelter, and Yu Yinan didn't ask. When Zheng Yi was willing to have her along, she would go out and wander around with her. When Zheng Yi didn't want her to follow, Yu Yinan would go to the mission center alone and gather information about the shelter to avoid missing any major news.
The way they interacted seemed to have changed, yet it also seemed not to have changed at all. Zheng Yi would still sweetly call her "Jiejie," hold her hand, and cling to her arm coquettishly. But in private, Zheng Yi would also ignore her with emotional detachment. Two completely different personas switched perfectly within Zheng Yi.
One morning, just as Yu Yinan and Zheng Yi arrived at the cafeteria for breakfast, they ran into Chu Yi, who had come looking for them.
Her trench coat had been swapped for a pure white one, and a nameplate with her codename was pinned to her chest. She walked straight into the cafeteria and sat down across from Yu Yinan. Without any unnecessary pleasantries, she got straight to the point: "There's a new mission. Are you interested in hearing about it?"
"Go on."
"Previously, a camp suddenly appeared near the shelter, and an ability user went missing. After discussion, the higher-ups decided to conduct a large-scale search of the surrounding area. And didn't we have that earthquake last week? We don't know which city was the epicenter or if the nearby areas were affected." Chu Yi explained briefly, then continued, "We need a brand-new map for Humanity's Light Shelter. Using the shelter as the center, we need to create a post-apocalyptic map of the city of Pujie."
"Your strength is beyond doubt, and Yu Yinan, the maps you sold to other ability users before were very good. Plus, we have the rapport from working on a mission together before, so I thought of you first." Chu Yi's tone softened a little. "Once the entire map is drawn, as long as it's clear and accurate, we can give you three hundred contribution points immediately. When this map is mass-produced and sold in the future, you can get a 10% share of the contribution point profits."
"After this mission is posted, the area-clearing missions will cover the entirety of Pujie City. You can accept all of them and take your time. If you need other people-"
"We can take it," Zheng Yi said suddenly. She smiled at Chu Yi. "Chu Yi Jiejie~ We can accept the mission, but we don't need anyone else. Just me and Jiejie will be enough."
"…Are you sure the two of you can handle it?" Chu Yi became a little uncertain. "Pujie is very large. Although the deadline won't be too tight, we still hope you can finish it within two months."
"We can do it," Yu Yinan interjected. She said seriously, "Even if you don't believe us, once you post the missions, I'll accept all of them."
"…" Chu Yi was momentarily at a loss. She spread her hands. "I'm not saying I don't believe you. So, I'll just assign the mission directly to you? I'll go to the mission center to register it later. When will you set out?"
"Tomorrow. We'll go accept the clearing missions later," Yu Yinan said. Then she looked at Chu Yi. "The shelter is expanding too quickly. That might not be a good thing."
"I know, but the infrastructure still needs to be built, and the external cleanup has to be done as best we can… The contribution point system is quite fragile in its own way. We can't just stop exploring and live off our reserves. Even if crops can be ripened with wood-type abilities, it still takes time." Chu Yi sighed. "Fortunately, I don't have to worry about these things. By the way, the temperature is constantly rising. Compared to the extreme cold, future temperatures might break forty, or even fifty degrees. The shelter might raise the price of water for ability users and then allocate as much water as possible to ordinary people to ensure they can survive."
"The higher-ups have argued about this several times. Some believe it must be fair, and that any preferential treatment should go to ability users. But others think that ordinary people are no longer asking for a life, just to survive. As a shelter, we have to bear that responsibility."
"I'll supply plenty of water," Zheng Yi said, blinking. She picked up where Chu Yi left off and smiled. "When the high temperatures arrive, I'm willing to provide free water for ordinary people too."
"Thank you. Don't worry, we'll privately compensate you with contribution points, deposited directly into your account," Chu Yi said with a smile. "We can also use this as a bit of publicity. The relationship between ordinary people and ability users… many ability users no longer see ordinary people as their own kind. It's a terrifying thing."
"Hasn't the shelter thought about trying to improve the situation?"
"It's hard to improve… Educate the ability users? If only it were that easy. The rules are just basic rules; the gap between ability users and ordinary people is too obvious." Chu Yi waved her hand. "The shelter has a hard enough time mediating conflicts between ability users… Ha, just take it as my personal complaint. I won't disturb you anymore." She stood up, and true to her word, she didn't linger, leaving quickly.
The shelter must have been really busy lately.
As soon as Chu Yi left, Yu Yinan and Zheng Yi continued with their breakfast. Once they had eaten their fill, they went to the mission center to accept the clearing missions. The map-drawing task was a direct commission from Chu Yi, registered in the backend, so it didn't go through the mission board, and they didn't need to accept it separately.
Just as they had taken care of everything and were heading back to the dormitory building, after climbing two flights of stairs, Yu Yinan, looking at Zheng Yi's back as she walked ahead, suddenly spoke up: "Did I… help you?"
"Of course." Zheng Yi stopped and turned to look down at Yu Yinan, her voice incredibly gentle. "Jiejie, you helped me."
"So, are you looking for some kind of reward?"
Yu Yinan looked into Zheng Yi's eyes and smiled. Her cold, unapproachable image completely shattered, making her look a little silly. Like a child who had just received candy, she just shook her head in satisfaction. "I've already received my reward."
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