What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH53

Chapter 53: Little Lover

The elite sentry guarding the primary automated terminal also locked his visual sensors onto her coordinates. Extending his gloved forearm, his voice dropped to a strict administrative frequency. “Identify your command registry, miss. State your operational objective. Please execute a biometric fingerprint scan before entering the terminal.”

Pei Xiqing’s processing unit rapidly searched its memory banks, but she only recalled the numerical string for Ling Lang’s private code—and her current manifest wasn’t routed to synchronize with the captain’s station.

Furthermore, her radar lacked the data to verify whether Ling Lang was currently entrenched inside the command hub or deployed on an active frontier sweep.

Following a brief, tense window of observation, the officer who had just challenged her line executed a sharp pivot.

A striking, highly disciplined female officer with a crisp, short haircut, dressed in the immaculate, hyper-tailored dress uniform and formal cap of the central command, analysis her silhouette. “Non-registered background? Is your line scheduled for an evolutionary biological diagnostic? Do your authorization chips contain a verified appointment with the core bio-labs and the primary director?”

Pei Xiqing found her vocal receptors slightly paralyzed by the intense wave of questioning. Before her brain could configure a compliant reply, the heavy reinforced pneumatic threshold anchoring the secondary blast door hissed open, and Ying’s towering, black-masked frame stepped directly into the light. “The asset is logged under Miss Pei’s registry, operating as an elite guest of the high tribunal. Authorize an immediate bypass for her column.”

The elite sentries instantly dropped their helmets in absolute submission. “Understood, sir!”

The short-haired female general slightly shifted her head, a trace of genuine surprise flickering across her features.

To command the physical manifestation of Ying—a sovereign black division executioner attached exclusively to the personal security shadow of the Sovereign Chief Judge—meant this casual girl’s asset sheet carried an unimaginable, terrifying index of importance within the syndicate’s hierarchy.

Pei Xiqing was cleared to pass the threshold with zero additional checks.

The female officer, her polished leather riding boots clicking evenly against the metallic floorboards, smoothly altered her trajectory to match Pei Xiqing’s marching vector toward the main transit capsule. “The designation is Xia Jingyu, Major General attached to the base’s supreme command headquarters. Identify your registry, miss.”

“Pei Xiqing,” she replied generously, her eyes meeting the officer’s gaze behind her lashes. “A pleasure, General.”

Xia Jingyu offered a brief, formal nod. The moment their boots cleared the threshold of the massive high-velocity elevator capsule, she resumed the diagnostic probe. “Is your timeline integrated as the domestic family asset of a Franlun executive?”

Pei Xiqing let out a soft, low laugh behind her collar, casually deploying a vague evasive algorithm. “Let’s calculate the value at approximately fifty percent compliance.”

Xia Jingyu’s analytical units failed to fully parse her hesitation, but her visual sensors remained locked on the armored tracking hound heeling tightly beside her boots, completely accustomed to the sight of domesticated predators inside the command ring.

The absolute lack of friction left Pei Xiqing slightly disoriented. “Your processing units seem entirely unbothered by the reality that my column is trailing a large canine through a secure military terminal.”

Not a single sentry or high-tier ability soldier guarding the outer plaza had launched a formal objection against the animal’s presence.

Xia Jingyu gestured toward the massive viewports anchoring the rear flank of the superstructure. “Do your visual sensors track the colossal auxiliary architecture flanking the secondary ring?”

The elevator capsule initiated an aggressive, high-velocity ascent, the cybernetic gravitational dampeners working seamlessly to ensure her civilian baseline registered zero physical pressure or neurological dizziness during the climb. The observation glass shifted into a translucent, shimmering blue matrix, providing a flawless panoramic view of the hyper-dense lab sectors and operational grids unfolding across the interior tiers.

“The architecture is fully logged,” Pei Xiqing murmured.

“That specific quadrant functions as the primary luxury lifestyle retreat engineered for the family assets and ancestral lineages of the high command,” Xia Jingyu briefed her colds. “A massive demographic of the directors’ spouses and descendants accompany their columns past the frontier walls, permanently anchoring their timelines inside that secure sector to consume high-end resources, access elite logistics, and exploit the base’s wealth. The vast majority of those assets continuously trail premium exotic pets through the transit lanes, and my office has even logged a few instances of elite citizens maintaining chained, domesticated mutants as status trophies.”

Pei Xiqing’s lips twitched into a flat line. “So that is the underlying baseline running beneath the fortress.”

Xia Jingyu’s gaze focused intently on her facial parameters. “Your aesthetic metrics are remarkably optimized, aren’t they, Miss Pei?”

“The data is standard.”

“Mhm. My database has officially finalized the deduction,” Xia Jingyu paused, her tone laced with a sharp, subtle undercurrent. “My initial calculations had severely misaligned your classification.”

“My line tracks zero misunderstanding, General. Is your own timeline permanently embedded within the dreadnought’s administrative staff?”

Xia Jingyu’s jaw tightened for a fraction of a second, before her red lips curved into a sharp, deeply amused smile. “Negative. But let’s apply your own algorithm: the compliance sits at fifty percent.”

Pei Xiqing arched an eyebrow. “Are your vocal receptors copy-pasting my precise linguistic style?”

“Why should my board decline the template? Your psychology runs a remarkably quirky thread, miss—though I hadn’t calculated that an asset under Ying’s overwatch would harbor such a fluid relationship with raw honesty.”

“A significant fraction of my current data defies a simple, baseline explanation within a military corridor,” she murmured. Utilizing the definition of a formal domestic ‘family asset’ felt entirely too serious, as if her chaotic timeline had suddenly been escalated to an unverified bureaucratic level.

She and Duan Xiaolin hadn’t calibrated their board to that explicit signature yet. Shifting her vocabulary to match a more accurate parameter, she clarified, “Our timelines are locked within a standard boyfriend-girlfriend synchronization matrix.”

“Magnificent.” The elevator capsule executed a fluid deceleration, snapping to a halt at a high-tier command deck. Xia Jingyu adjusted the brim of her officer cap, before suddenly extending her gloved hand to smoothly flatten a minor wrinkle scoring the collar of Pei Xiqing’s casual windbreaker. “Little lover… if the narrative parameters align, our systems shall execute a secondary synchronization later. My shift logs are active; I am breaking rank now.”

Pei Xiqing’s eyes widened to sharp circles, her breath catching.

What?

What precise transcript did that female general just drop into my processor?

Xia Jingyu lowered her head slightly, a dark, half-smiling glint flashing across her features, before she smoothly pivoted and strode out of the capsule, her leather boots ticking against the steel as the blast doors hissed shut behind her shadow.

The elevator capsule resumed its upward sprint.

Pei Xiqing remained frozen in a minor quagmire of psychological disorientation.

Ying leaned his heavy shoulder against the reinforced bulkhead, his hoarse voice slicing through the quiet. “Does your database contain the identity of the asset who just cleared the capsule?”

Pei Xiqing’s fingers tightened over the nylon lead. “My tracking system lacks a direct file on her name, but her aura projected zero biological or psychological hostility; my perception logged the metric with absolute certainty. Does your station command a file on her history, Brother Ying?”

Ying’s chest heaved under his tactical vest as a rough scoff escaped his mask. “What precise terminology are your vocal receptors deploying? Why does your system default to classifying every single executioner in this syndicate as a ‘brother’?”

“Bury the attitude. It functions as a baseline protocol to communicate respect to your station,” Pei Xiqing blinked, her eyes innocent behind her lashes. “Does your board require me to reference your identity via your raw code name? My internal metrics register that as entirely non-compliant.”

The expression beneath his matte-black mask remained an unyielding wall of stone. “The linguistic parameter is irrelevant to my board. Run the template your system prefers.”

He turned his torso to the flank, a quiet, guttural murmur leaving his throat. “No wonder the Judge’s restraint collapsed…”

The acoustic static inside the capsule co-opted the frequency, preventing Pei Xiqing from intercepting the transcript. She shifted her navigation focus, training her visual sensors through the transparent blue viewports of the rising shaft.

Every single deck they breached operated like a colossal, active X-ray diagnostic machine. The internal mechanics, cybernetic research labs, and sterile engineering bays occupying the deep core of the dreadnought were exposed to her lens with perfect clarity through the capsule walls. The elevator design was clearly engineered to allow high-ranking overwatch officers to systematically audit and monitor the real-time performance of every sub-sector on every tier. The entire environment was choked with an impossibly advanced, hyper-sci-fi atmosphere.

She turned her eyes toward the black mask. “Is it mathematically factual that humanity required a mere five winters to erect a megastructure of this scale?”

“The timeline hasn’t even breached the five-winter milestone,” Ying stated flatly. “If you run the construction logs, the actual engineering window for Base Three spans less than twenty-four months.”

“That speed defies standard physics.”

“The timeline is compressed, but do not allow your civilian baseline to underestimate the sheer kinetic output of awakened human biology after the global mutation flipped.”

Ying adjusted his utility belt, supplying a critical piece of intelligence. “The woman who just cleared our grid commands a Major General rank within the supreme command headquarters. Her current manifest flags her as a Sovereign Inspector General, which grants her authorization to override the security locks of this capsule. Under standard operating protocols, this transit line is strictly restricted to internal judicial oversight officers. Her background sheet carries immense leverage at headquarters.”

“Mhm… outline the lineage.”

“She is the biological daughter of the Supreme Marshal.”

“Impressive,” she murmured. Running through the plot files of the pre-written novel… did a character matching that profile exist within the chapters?

“She stands as one of the exceptionally rare, high-tier female generals commanding a frontline division inside the empire.”

Her memory logs returned an absolute blank file regarding her presence.

“Your current memory cells may lack the capability to index her tactical code,” Ying noted, his voice dropping an octave, “but if my office references a specific historical violation she executed against the high command, your processor should instantly recall the data.”

“Vocalize the entry.”

Ying countered coldly, “Did Long Yan’s sub-unit ever synchronize a transcript with your station detailing a high-status woman who once forcefully touched Representative Duan’s formal military uniform jacket?”

“The metric matches her profile?!” Her eyes sharpened. She vividly recalled Sister Long Yan detailing a localized crisis where a wealthy woman inside the walls had compromised the boundaries of Duan Xiaolin’s apparel, prompting the administrator to instantly vaporize the custom uniform jacket into ash with his elemental fires.

“The variable tracks straight to her code,” Ying confirmed.

Pei Xiqing felt a sudden wave of analytical surprise.

The polished, hyper-composed general who had just adjusted her windbreaker collar didn’t look like an asset driven by the unhinged desperation required to breach a tyrant’s physical boundary.

Before her mind could run a deeper simulation, the elevator capsule executed a final, fluid stop, the reinforced blast doors sliding open with a low hiss. The breathtaking view waiting outside the platform instantly co-opted her entire sensory focus. Stepping forward with rapid strides, she firmly gripped the reinforced viewing rail, training her eyes across the vast expanse.

This specific tier was explicitly reserved for the supreme administrative elites of the high command. Standing at this altitude, the entire fortress layout was mapped beneath her lens in a single panoramic sweep—extending past the titanium inner city to track the jagged, snow-capped mountain pass her boots had climbed hours ago, before dissolving into the bleak, polluted horizon of the desolate post-apocalyptic surface.

For the first time since her transmigration, she achieved an objective, staggering calculation of the absolute chasm separating the hyper-fortified civilization built by humanity’s infrastructure from the rotting, toxic wasteland outside the walls.

She remained locked against the rail until Ying’s voice broke the silence from the rear flank. “Miss Pei, Representative Duan is anchoring the inner lab sanctuary; your arrival timestamp has reached zero. The biological physical examination must initialize immediately. Furthermore… my division requires your authorization to take possession of this canine’s lead.”

Pei Xiqing turned her torso, her brow furrowing with sudden protectiveness. “Will the diagnostic screening arrays inflict physical or cellular trauma on Xiaobai’s bone structure?”

Ying let out a dark, amused grin behind his visor. “The Judge’s explicit mandate strictly prohibited my squads from deploying a microsecond of trauma against your own cells. Regarding the reanimated hound… my database contains zero instructions to preserve its comfort.”

As the words left his lips, Pei Xiqing’s visual sensors quickly audited the layout of the elite tier. Although the elevation was immense, mapping the distant peaks through the glass, the entire corridor was crowded with dozens of hyper-secure laboratory chambers. Every single vault was synthesized from an advanced, transparent acoustic glass designed to completely isolate high-frequency noise and environmental bio-toxins from the main lane.

Trailing her eyes across the transparent cells, her blood ran instantly cold. Hundreds of active zombies and uncalibrated human test subjects were wildly crawling and twisting in profound physical agony against the reinforced glass, their jaws unhinging to release a continuous, silent stream of muffled groans into the sterile vacuum.

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