PSW - Chapter 179

Chapter 179

Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan had both returned.

Zhao Haiyue was on the sofa, eating raspberry-flavored ice cream. Before her was a table made of pure ice, on which sat tubs of various ice cream flavors, causing the entire surface to emanate a frosty mist.

It would have been wonderful if Zheng Yi had returned sooner. An ice cream and popsicle party during the high-temperature period would have been something to look forward to. But the weather wasn't exactly cold now, and indulging freely was just as blissful.

The simple house, specially tidied up for the occasion, was now nearly full of people. Quietly eating ice cream on the sofa with Zhao Haiyue were Yun Lingjian, Zhu Lanyuan, Yu Yinan, and Grandma Xu. This area was relatively quiet, not as lively as the round, ice-crystal table in the main hall. A full circle of people sat there: Zhu Lanyuan's squad members, Lian Langxi, Chi Heqing, and the girls Zheng Yi had rescued before.

"Where did Zheng Yi go?" Zhao Haiyue pressed her lips together, her teeth aching from the cold. She breathed out slowly to warm them up, then couldn't resist another bite before turning to ask Yu Yinan, who was sitting beside her, "You've been out and about for so long, how are you still so unsociable? You seemed so outgoing in your letters."

"…I'm not. I just said hello to them. We just didn't have much to talk about," Yu Yinan explained, a little embarrassed. She just… didn't have anything to say. Sitting there eating in silence might have been even more awkward.

"Sit wherever you like. It's a party, so having fun is the most important thing." A voice came from behind them. It was the Director from the Dawn Research Institute. She was eating a lemon popsicle and sat down right next to Grandma Xu. "I'm telling you, sis, I wish I had teeth as good as yours at your age. Even though you're an ability user, you should still take care of your body and eat less cold stuff."

"Oh, what's the use of living so long? I've lived long enough. All that matters is enjoying the present." Grandma Xu waved her hand dismissively, not wanting to hear it. "You yourself said that being happy is what's most important."

"Oh, but those kids at your school would hate to see you go." The Director couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle. "But you're right. I should think of a way to improve the enhancement serum so you can use it too."

Yun Lingjian had been leaning against Zhao Haiyue, earnestly eating her vanilla ice cream one spoonful at a time. Suddenly, she caught a few words and immediately looked up. "Improve it? I believe research in that area can still proceed from the direction of mutated plants. The suppression of mutations by these plants, as well as our experience in creating the zombie antidote, could serve as a reference."

The Director's expression turned to one of astonishment. She raised a hand and lightly slapped her own mouth, shaking her head. "My fault, my fault. I shouldn't have brought this up today."

Yun Lingjian froze for a moment, and Zhao Haiyue was already pulling her hand and collapsing against her in laughter.

"What's all the happy chatter about?" Amid the laughter, Zheng Yi appeared out of thin air. She smiled as she brought Feng Shuxian into view beside her. The base leader's face was filled with astonishment, and she was still a bit dizzy from the teleportation. She instinctively scanned her surroundings before straightening up and giving a formal self-introduction.

"I am from the Zhongshan base. I am the base leader of Zhongshan, Feng Shuxian. I…"

"Don't be so formal, it's just a party. Pick an ice cream flavor you like and have some. Eat as much as you want." Zheng Yi gently pushed her down to sit next to the Director and casually handed her a clean paper bowl and a small spoon, letting her help herself to the ice cream on the table. "There are more flavors over there, you can get to know them too. The popsicles and ice cream bars are in the big freezer by the door."

Zheng Yi had barely finished speaking when a cheer erupted from the main hall. She turned to look and saw Light Pretty Cure and the Poli Guli Robot had started juggling while eating ice cream. Dazzling light effects filled the hall, and an anime BGM completely ignited the party's atmosphere.

"Oh, right, this one is rum-flavored. It has alcohol. Don't eat it if you can't." As Zheng Yi spoke, she produced another large tub from thin air, marked it with the words 'Contains Alcohol,' and then placed it on the ice table.

Almost everyone who was supposed to come had arrived. They were nearly all girls; only three men had come inside.

One was Zhou Xiji, who had come to accompany Zhou Xiyue. Another was Xie Congdong, who never left Wan Yinyue's side. As for the last one… that was naturally Xia Sheng, transformed into Light Pretty Cure.

Ling Xunyun, the vice-leader of the Changping base, and Lian Langxi were hitting it off splendidly. The two even went out together and brought back a keg of home-brewed wheat beer, which they passed around the large table before drinking with their arms slung around each other's shoulders. Wan Yinyue had been sitting to the side, looking on with envy and smiling as she listened to their conversation. But after Xie Congdong complained jealously for a bit, Wan Yinyue joined them directly and started drinking beer as well.

"Little sister, it's not my place to say, but your boyfriend is really not all that. He talks too much nonsense and is too controlling. I don't know what you see in him." The wheat beer had a very low alcohol content, so drinking a lot only made one tipsy. Ling Xunyun glanced at Xie Congdong, who was sulking and fuming with jealousy nearby, and couldn't stop shaking her head.

"Him?" Wan Yinyue paused for a moment. She glanced over at Xie Congdong. The man's lips were pressed into a thin line, looking thoroughly unappeasable. His dark eyebrows were knitted tightly, and his stern expression was actually a little intimidating. She raised an eyebrow slightly, couldn't help but smile, and winked at him. Before she could even beckon with her finger, Xie Congdong immediately sidled up to her.

"What's wrong? Did you drink too much? Are you feeling sick? I told you… okay, I won't say it. I'll go get you something to eat to line your stomach. Drinking after eating won't make you feel so bad. How about some peanuts or dried fish? I think the stalls have dried squid and stuff recently…" Without waiting for Wan Yinyue to reply, he was about to dash outside with a whoosh. Wan Yinyue had to grab his sleeve to stop him.

Wan Yinyue smiled and looked back at Ling Xunyun and Lian Langxi, saying a little sheepishly, "Maybe… I just have a thing for silly dogs like him."

Ling Xunyun and Lian Langxi were speechless. They exchanged a look, clinked their glasses, and said, "You're really a lost cause."

Wan Yinyue just laughed. She paid Xie Congdong no mind and continued chatting with the other two. The three of them had already changed topics three times, but Xie Congdong was still standing there in a daze, not having processed it yet. He was partly annoyed that Wan Yinyue had called him a silly dog, and partly couldn't stop grinning foolishly. When he finally came to his senses, he wiped his face and went out to buy snacks.

Meanwhile, Sun Ziying and the others who were first rescued by Zheng Yi had started chatting with Si Zhuangjing. They spoke of the moment Zheng Yi saved them, while Si Zhuangjing recounted with great reverence the miracles Zheng Yi had performed in Xuancheng. The group grew more and more animated and found they got along wonderfully, eventually turning the conversation to the current management of Xuancheng. Zheng Yi's deterrent power in Xuancheng was still very strong. With Si Zhuangjing's diligent and earnest promotion, her Saint Points had barely decreased each month. Now that Zheng Yi had naturally shown off her power again when she went to pick her up, her Saint Points would probably double.

"Still, shipbuilding is very necessary." Feng Shuxian, having reached this point in the conversation, glanced at Yu Yinan, who was sitting with Zheng Yi. It was Yu Yinan who had first brought it up—of course, back then she wanted to go out and find Zheng Yi. Now that Zheng Yi was back, Yu Yinan no longer needed it, but they still did. "After all, there are many bases and survivors overseas. The zombie threat is under control for now, but evolution is inevitable. Sooner or later, the whole world will be connected again."

"Base Leader Feng has a point." The Director nodded. "We have received the mercy and protection of a god, so our development has been much better than those overseas. Now that we've gathered, the most important thing is for our bases to cooperate and unite, to act as one. As for those countries overseas… we don't know what their attitude toward us is, but we must be fully prepared to deal with them."

"Good wine for friends, shotguns for enemies," Grandma Xu said with a kindly smile, quoting a common saying.

At this point, their conversation somehow drifted to the future. They mused about future developments, speculating that more and more ability users would appear in the world. Once the awakening serum was mass-produced for ordinary people, it wouldn't be long before the entire country was full of ability users.

"We still need to establish a classification for ability user strength; there's no standard for judgment right now." And it was unclear what to use as a benchmark—definitely not Zheng Yi, though. She was the undisputed ceiling for humanity. Even her double was about the same.

"With our bases forming a preliminary alliance, maybe we should start specializing a bit—agriculture, animal husbandry, research, education, and so on…"

"Isn't it too early for that? We should think about integration after each of us can withstand the periodic disasters on our own."

"In the future, maybe everything will return to the pre-apocalypse order, with the only difference being that everyone has special abilities," Zhu Lanyuan mused softly. "By then, mutated animals might not be kept as pets but could become independent, working to support themselves. And those mutated plants could take on security jobs."

"Ah, then urban construction and development would be incredibly fast… No, wait, with special abilities, maybe things that were impossible to create before—those conceptual inventions—could be brought to life?"

"Thinking about it that way, mental-type ability users are really worth studying. That ability is quite different from the others…" the Director said thoughtfully.

Zhao Haiyue froze for a second, then immediately sat up straight, pulling away from Yun Lingjian. "What! Can you even figure out things like the mind and soul through research? Don't go messing around with that! If you want to study something, you'd be better off figuring out how transformation-type abilities work. They can create things from anime! That power of imagination is far more incredible."

"Elemental abilities are also incredible, and everyone's upper limit is different… though I suspect that's related to mental strength." The Director seemed completely oblivious to the hidden meaning in Zhao Haiyue's words and simply continued along the same train of thought. "Sigh, the research on the serum isn't even finished… Oh, dear, how did we get back on this topic? Today is a day for celebration. Don't let me be a wet blanket. Come, come, let's talk about something happy. Everyone, keep eating."

Everyone present was happy. The house was filled with a lively, boisterous clamor, and the sounds of laughter and conversation carried outside. Many ability users who passed by couldn't help but stop for a moment, but by tacit agreement, no one approached without invitation. They just watched for a while before going on about their business.

Zheng Yi sat with Yu Yinan in a corner, quietly watching everyone's smiles and soaking in the atmosphere and emotions.

Over there, Zhou Xiyue seemed to have had too much beer, or perhaps too much rum-flavored ice cream. In any case, with a flushed face and slurred speech, she draped an arm over the shoulder of Chi Heqing, who was listening intently to someone else's story, and shamelessly extended an olive branch. "Captain Chi, you're so outstanding… Changping's development isn't as good as ours, right? Why not switch over to our side? We're all partners, partners… it's not really job-hopping, hehe. I-I'll give you a food subsidy, and an extra water subsidy, too. Think about it! We—hic—Humanity's Light needs a talent like you!"

Chi Heqing was aghast. Before she could politely refuse, the Director couldn't sit still any longer—after all, Zhou Xiyue's voice was not quiet. She immediately stood up. "Please don't. We're honored by your high opinion, but Captain Chi is the captain of our Changping special squad! She is one of Changping's foremost protectors."

"Oh, why be so formal? Humanity's Light and Dawn… they're both 'light.' Why distinguish between yours and mine? We're one family! Hehe, one family… Director, you should stay too, Director… Director, I really admire you. You're like… hic… like my mom… Waaah, Mom…" Zhou Xiyue staggered to her feet, looked at the Director, and started walking toward her. But as she spoke, she suddenly began to sob and fell headfirst into the Director's arms.

The Director was completely stunned. Over on the other side, Zhou Xiji finally noticed something was wrong and rushed over. He apologized profusely as he helped Zhou Xiyue up, first to Chi Heqing and then to the Director. His face was red with anxiety as he tried to soothe Zhou Xiyue, who had started her drunken antics in his arms. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. My sister is drunk. She's not normally like this. She's drunk, I'm sorry. She didn't mean to offend you. She admires you both, she genuinely likes you both. We've caused you so much trouble! I'm truly sorry, so sorry!"

"I'm not drunk! I'm not drunk! I can still sing! I want to sing! Where's Zhao Haiyue? Let's sing together! Back in the day, I was… a karaoke king! I'm a god of song! I'm… I'm… hic… anyway, I'm not drunk."

Accompanied by a completely off-key, drunken singing voice, the entire party descended into chaos. The others paid no mind to Zhou Xiji's apologies. Instead, they started heckling and singing along, shouting for Zhou Xiyue to sing louder. Some even egged on Yun Lingjian and Zhao Haiyue, whom Zhou Xiyue had called out, to stand up and sing with her. This made Yun Lingjian and Zhao Haiyue shrink back into the sofa, not daring to look up, both pretending they didn't know Zhou Xiyue.

Amid the boisterous fun, the ice cream party finally wound down around midnight. Zheng Yi, Yu Yinan, Yun Lingjian, and Zhao Haiyue organized themselves to send everyone back to their residences in Humanity's Light one by one. As for the guests specially invited from other places, they spent contribution points to get them single rooms for the night.

After all, the entirety of Pujie was now within the domain of Humanity's Light Shelter, so there was no shortage of residential housing. Rent had been lowered again and again, to the point where ordinary people could easily afford to rent a place with just a little effort.

After seeing everyone home safely, Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan walked home side by side. She didn't use teleportation, simply walking quietly with Yu Yinan under the night sky, letting the silvery moonlight spill over their shoulders and illuminate the path ahead.

"Jiejie didn't say much today," Zheng Yi said, looking at her. "Why didn't you chat with everyone?"

"I was already very happy. I felt very content, and that was enough." Yu Yinan smiled. She looked up at the bright moon and said softly, "Seeing them all so happy, seeing everything developing in a good direction… that's enough. Zheng Yi, you don't belong here, and I no longer belong here either. We will leave eventually."

"Everything is good, and that's enough."

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