What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH286-288

Chapter 286| Chapter 287| Chapter 288

Chapter 286: Not All Bad Things

Her physical condition was fine on the surface, but she constantly needed the high-grade crystal cores to sustain herself. Otherwise, she would become highly susceptible to the virus and unable to maintain her… normalcy?

Her version of “normal” was the same as before: she wouldn’t lose her mind or be fully infected by the zombie virus, but she would still develop those dark, necrotic lividity spots.

However, maintaining this normalcy required a terrible price behind the scenes.

Every single crystal core was hard-won. No wonder Brother Duan cared so much about hoarding them.

She let out a soft sigh.

After closing the encrypted document, she browsed through the rest of the research files. The more she read, the tighter her chest felt, as if her heart were being weighed down by countless heavy stones. The price Duan Xiaolin had paid to allow her to sit here safely today was truly immeasurable.

Qiu Chao popped his head in from the adjacent room. “What are you daydreaming about? Come on, I’ve found something new. Hurry up!”

Pei Xiqing quickly turned off the screen and followed him next door. Looking down at the clusters of wriggling, fleshy worms squirming in a stainless steel surgical tray, she frowned in disgust. “Parasite eggs?”

“Larvae,” Qiu Chao corrected cheerfully. “I just picked them out. They’re fresh, lively, and look perfectly tender.”

“…” Pei Xiqing took a half-step back. “Why exactly are you showing me this?”

“Look here.” Qiu Chao gestured toward the two corpses strapped to the examining tables. “They do have the exact same lividity spots you had before, but the mechanism isn’t quite the same as yours.”

“How so?” she asked.

“Your body can withstand the strain, but theirs can’t,” Qiu Chao explained. “It seems that your system is the only one capable of accepting a true viral symbiosis.”

“Hmm… I figured as much.”

Pei Xiqing stared at the two lifeless bodies for a few seconds. Suddenly, without warning, one of the corpses snapped its cloudy eyes open. It lunged forward against its restraints, its jaws snapping wildly at her.

Having encountered plenty of zombies coming back to life before, she was already on guard. She swiftly grabbed a heavy metal surgical tray and shoved it directly into the creature’s path. The zombie clamped down hard, its unnatural jaw strength actually puncturing two holes straight through the solid steel.

Pei Xiqing took another step back, firmly pinning the tray against the infected man’s mouth. She turned to look at Qiu Chao. “Replaced? Honestly… he just looks like a standard zombie to me.”

If the terrifying mutated virus only caused this basic level of infection, it wasn’t anything particularly special.

“Not so fast. How could we actually let a full cellular replacement happen right now?” Qiu Chao said, his eyes glinting behind his mask. “Wouldn’t that throw the entire base into absolute chaos? Just the news of it would cause mass panic if it got out.”

Who could accept the horrifying reality that while walking down the street, their friends or family could be secretly replaced by intelligent monsters at any given moment? Just thinking about it was enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.

Such terrifying news absolutely could not be allowed to spread so quickly. Furthermore, the researchers couldn’t afford to let anyone truly be replaced by the parasites here in the lab yet. The resulting consequences would be entirely unpredictable and impossible to contain.

“Then what stopped the replacement?” she asked.

“Crystal cores,” Qiu Chao answered, a mysterious smile spreading beneath his mask.

Pei Xiqing was taken aback.

“The effects of the parasites come with both immense advantages and devastating disadvantages,” he mused. “These natural disasters… they aren’t necessarily all bad things.”

Pei Xiqing didn’t quite understand the profound meaning behind Qiu Chao’s parting look when she left the laboratory. But he had specifically highlighted the crystal cores. She reckoned this new, terrifying mutation was deeply connected to their energy.

After returning home on the aircraft, she continued to ponder the nature of the mutated species while preparing a bowl of food for Xiaobai.

Outside the villa’s reinforced walls, the situation at headquarters was looking increasingly grim. Just as she finished mixing the dog food, another piercing round of emergency alarms wailed across the flooded city.

Pei Xiqing gently stroked Xiaobai’s large head, then walked out to the covered patio to gather the laundry she had hung up to dry. Having lived here for so long under Duan Xiaolin’s absolute protection, immersed in domestic peace, she had almost begun to forget the brutal apocalypse raging just beyond their doorstep.

After tidying up the room, she leaned against the balcony railing, her mind drifting back to the parasites. Suddenly, she heard someone calling out from the courtyard below.

San She was standing on the deck of an idling military aircraft. He wore a heavy, rain-slicked cloak and his signature mask, revealing only a pair of icy, emotionless eyes.

“Miss Pei,” he called up to her. “Brother Duan requested that you start packing your things.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” she asked, leaning over the railing.

“This island can no longer be held,” he stated flatly. “The high command is preparing for a mass evacuation. However, you are receiving this news two days ahead of the general public.”

To prevent mass panic and deadly riots, the military planned to evacuate the elites in an orderly, phased manner. But as for how many ordinary refugees would actually make it out alive before the city fell… that remained unknown.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“The mainland,” he answered without a hint of emotion. “A completely new mainland.”

Pei Xiqing didn’t believe in the existence of some miraculous “new continent” for a second; they were probably just relocating to a higher-elevation mega-base further inland.

“Are we in a rush?” she asked. “If I pack all my things… it will probably take some time. But if it’s an emergency, I can just grab a few changes of clothes and we can leave right now.”

“There’s no rush,” San She assured her. “Just be packed by nine o’clock tonight. This aircraft will remain stationed downstairs. You can have the staff bring your luggage out when you’re ready. There’s plenty of cargo space; it can easily accommodate ten large suitcases.”

How could Pei Xiqing possibly fill ten suitcases? Even including all of Duan Xiaolin’s belongings, everything they owned would barely fill two. She packed some of Xiaobai’s necessities and a few changes of clothes into a separate, sturdy backpack.

She had accumulated a lot more things recently, mostly the result of her massive shopping spree at the commercial district a while back. Now, figuring out what to declutter was giving her a real headache. Every single item was useful and high-quality. She couldn’t bear to throw away anything Duan Xiaolin had bought for her with his own hard-earned money. But if she didn’t ruthlessly declutter, she would end up hauling far too much dead weight.

Fortunately, she wasn’t pressed for time. She completely engrossed herself in cleaning out the closets, rummaging through their belongings. It took her quite a while to finally get everything sorted and securely packed away.

Duan Xiaolin never returned to the villa; he was clearly far too busy managing the impending evacuation. However, he did call her once over the secure communicator. He simply told her to trust San She and follow his instructions. Since San She was his most loyal and capable operative, she had absolutely no reason to doubt the plan.

After the last piece of luggage was loaded onto the aircraft that evening, Pei Xiqing still felt a bit disoriented by the sudden departure.

She turned to San She and asked, “Is it really happening this fast?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be this fast,” he replied grimly. “Something went wrong.”

“What went wrong?”

“The zombie horde is coming.”

Pei Xiqing’s head buzzed at the terrifying news.

The horde was back. It seemed that even amidst the catastrophic floods and aquatic parasites, the undead were still the primary, overwhelming threat of the apocalypse. No matter how horrifying the new mutations were, nothing was as virulently infectious as the zombie virus. The situation was already catastrophically bad, and now a massive swarm of zombies had gathered to lay siege to the capital.

Moreover, the fact that they were being secretly evacuated in advance meant that a massive portion of the population would inevitably be left behind to face the slaughter. Many would be too slow to escape. If that was the case, it was highly likely that Brother Duan had other strategic plans in motion.

She had to go find him.

“Where is Brother Duan right now?” she asked urgently.

“He is waiting for you at the forward command post,” San She replied.

“Please, take me to him first,” she insisted, her tone leaving no room for argument. “I want to leave with him.”

San She nodded, taking Xiaobai’s heavy leash in one hand. “Understood.”

Chapter 287: Unstoppable

Pei Xiqing finally arrived at the headquarters’ command center, only to find it practically deserted. The usual bustling staff had completely vanished, leaving only a few masked operatives from Franlun standing guard. Along the way, she had only seen Franlun members and the desperate, stranded refugees.

As she climbed onto the raised platform, she immediately spotted the man’s tall, straight back.

Shadow emerged from an adjacent room. Despite the terrifying mask obscuring his face, it was obvious his mood was incredibly grim. He nodded slightly in greeting when he saw her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“It’s the relocation operation,” he replied, a hint of deep helplessness in his voice. “Someone deliberately leaked the intel. Now everyone outside knows the headquarters’ evacuation plan. The refugees realized they were being left here to die, so they panicked and tried to rush the exits. However, crossing the distance from the headquarters to the shore isn’t something they can just do on a whim. In their desperation, many have already fallen into the sea and drowned, or been dragged under and torn apart by the aquatic parasites.”

“Someone leaked it on purpose?” Pei Xiqing frowned. “Let me guess. The fewer people heading to the new safe zone, the more resources the elites get to keep for themselves. It suits their selfish interests perfectly, doesn’t it?”

Shadow lowered his head. The cruel calculus of human lives, gains, and losses within this headquarters was sickening. There were always those at the top who meticulously hoarded every last advantage, no matter the cost in blood.

“How many people have already evacuated?” she asked.

“Aside from Franlun and the trapped refugees, almost the entire headquarters staff has fled,” Shadow said grimly. “And the remaining refugees are in a very volatile state.”

In the past, Franlun would never have shown any mercy in suppressing a riot. But right now, it was the headquarters that had betrayed these people. Caught in the middle, the operatives found it difficult to justify using violent force against victims who had been condemned to die.

Pei Xiqing sighed. “You can go. I’ll think of a way to deal with this.”

Shadow nodded and turned to leave, but Pei Xiqing called him back. “Actually, could you go check on the village? Since word got out about the overnight evacuation, the villagers will definitely try to leave too. If you’re worried about them, go look after them. I’ll talk to Brother Duan.”

Shadow paused, falling silent. “…”

Pei Xiqing blinked innocently. “What? You don’t want to go? I guess you can just stay here and keep me company then…”

“Hell no!” Shadow blurted out.

Pei Xiqing laughed. “I knew you wanted to go. Hurry up and get moving.”

“But what about Brother Duan…?” Shadow hesitated.

“Leave him to me. We can handle things here, but Mengxiang really needs you right now.”

Shadow shifted awkwardly, uncharacteristically flustered. After a long pause, he muttered, “Thank you.”

Pei Xiqing nodded warmly.

“Brother Duan is just about finished anyway,” Shadow added before leaving. “There are no urgent threats here at the moment. When you’re ready, you two can just take the aircraft and leave. Contact me if anything comes up.”

He actually arranged everything already? she wondered. Did Duan Xiaolin anticipate these chaotic events at headquarters?

After Shadow left, Pei Xiqing walked into the main command room alone.

Duan Xiaolin was standing over a digital console, studying a set of complex blueprints.

She leaned in close. “What are you looking at? Are you scoping out our new location?”

The man smiled softly. “Yes. Just taking a look at our new home.”

Pei Xiqing leaned in closer. “Really? Let me see.”

The map displayed on the screen showed barely any remaining cities. Almost everything was submerged. The coastal landscapes that had been visible just weeks ago were completely swallowed by the relentless floodwaters.

She rested her chin on her hand, studying the grim topography. “Did you find a good spot? Are we going to check it out in person?”

Duan Xiaolin pulled out a chair and sat down. “Yes, I did.”

“Really? Is it the same place everyone else is fleeing to?”

“No.”

“Oh?” Pei Xiqing looked up, meeting his eyes.

Within his dark gaze, she saw an absolute, unnerving calmness, and… was that excitement? For a moment, Pei Xiqing thought she had misread his expression. A catastrophic natural disaster was destroying the world, yet he genuinely didn’t seem to care. He had arranged everything in a perfectly orderly, systematic manner.

“The headquarters elites all fled ahead of schedule,” she noted.

“Yes, I know.”

“Didn’t they say the evacuation would be staggered? Some leaving early, some later, split up in phases?”

“If a person is terrified and determined to run, you cannot stop them.”

“But won’t their panic disrupt the order and ruin your plans?” Pei Xiqing couldn’t help but ask. “Are you really indifferent to all this?”

“Their panic only adds fuel to the fire, accelerating the inevitable,” he replied smoothly. He reached out, gently rubbing her cheek. “Were you cold on your way here?”

“I wasn’t cold. The aircraft’s heating works perfectly, and I dressed warmly.”

Duan Xiaolin caught her hand, threading his fingers through hers and wrapping her small hand securely in his palm.

Pei Xiqing sat down in the chair next to him, looking at him with deep interest. “Brother Duan, the arrival of this disaster and the chaos at headquarters today… was all of this something you anticipated?”

The man let out a low laugh. “When true natural disasters strike, this kind of panic is bound to happen sooner or later. It’s simply human nature. The more you forbid people from doing something, the more desperately they will risk everything to do it.”

“The ‘New Continent’ that San She mentioned…” she asked bluntly, “it doesn’t actually exist, does it?”

Such a place was never mentioned in the original novel. This world was a living, breathing parallel universe. The flow of time and events here only moved in one direction—forward, with no turning back. There was no magical “New Continent” waiting to be discovered. If such a paradise existed, the novel’s original protagonists would have found it long ago.

“If we didn’t spread that rumor, who would willingly abandon the safety of these walls?” he asked simply.

“That’s true.”

“There will always be a way forward,” Duan Xiaolin said, his tone soothing. “Trust me.”

“I believe you,” she said softly. “I’ve always believed you. But those refugees stranded outside are going to have an incredibly hard time. We need to think of a way to help them…”

“Do you have any good ideas?”

“I haven’t even thought of anything yet!”

Duan Xiaolin lightly pinched the back of her neck, leaning in closer. “Really? I get the distinct feeling you already have a plan brewing in that head of yours.”

Pei Xiqing swatted his hand away playfully. “Hmph. Just focus on handling your own duties. Organize whatever needs to be organized. I’m going to go check on the refugees.”

“Take Shadow with you,” he ordered.

“Okay.”

The man caught her hand one last time. “Be careful out there. Come straight back to me once you’ve settled things.”

“Don’t worry.”

With that, Pei Xiqing left the command room.

Stepping back into the corridor, she spotted a rare sight: a few remaining headquarters staff members frantically running past. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, they rushed by without a second glance, shouting to one another.

“Go, go, go! Grab your bags and move! Don’t delay the aircraft’s takeoff, or we’ll be left behind!”

“Hurry up! This entire place is going to flood!”

“You guys…” Pei Xiqing’s words died in her throat.

She rolled her eyes in disgust. What a bunch of spineless cowards.

After heading downstairs, she found a masked figure waiting for her at the exit. The operative gave her a crisp nod.

“I am Shadow.”

“Okay.”

‘Shadow’ was just a codename, a mantle passed between operatives. Her usual ‘Brother Shadow’ was different from this new replacement, even if they answered to the same title.

Pei Xiqing opened her umbrella and stepped out into the pouring rain. “Come with me. Let’s go check on the refugee camp.”

“They are highly agitated right now,” the new Shadow warned. “They will attack indiscriminately if anyone from headquarters gets too close. Please be careful.”

“I understand. I’m just going to assess the situation and try to talk to them. If it gets too dangerous, we’ll turn back.”

“Right this way.”

Shadow stepped ahead, carving a barely passable path through the chaotic, flooded streets for her. Pei Xiqing followed close behind.

After navigating the flooded maze of the capital, their pant legs completely soaked with muddy water, they finally reached the refugees’ temporary shelter. It was an encampment built atop a massive, grounded ship.

The moment Pei Xiqing stepped onto the metal deck, she caught a blur of motion from the corner of her eye. Something was hurled directly at her. Relying on her sharp reflexes, she managed to catch the projectile mid-air; otherwise, it would have struck her squarely in the face.

She looked down at her palm. It was a rotting cabbage leaf.

Angry, desperate curses immediately rained down on them from the crowd.

“You treacherous, backstabbing headquarters dogs! After burning the bridge and leaving us to drown, how dare you even show your faces here?!”

Chapter 288: No Debt

The terrain here was relatively high, surrounded by towering high-rises, with several large ships moored directly in front of the buildings.

The floodwaters hadn’t completely swallowed the surface yet, but in this treacherous apocalypse, the situation was still incredibly precarious. This was especially true for the deck beneath their feet… it swayed violently with the churning water, groaning as if it might split open at any moment.

Pei Xiqing managed to steady herself, raising a hand to block the rotten vegetable leaves and other unidentified debris being hurled at her.

Shadow immediately stepped forward to shield her. “Stop this at once, or don’t blame Franlun for enforcing the rules.”

“Franlun? I don’t give a damn what kind of Franlun you are!” an angry voice shouted from the crowd. “The elites from headquarters have all run away! We don’t need you standing here pretending to be sympathetic!”

“Exactly! I don’t care who you are! We’re all going to die anyway, so who’s afraid of who?!”

“Come on then! Don’t think we’re actually afraid of you base dogs! If you’ve got the guts, just kill us all! We’ll come back as zombies and parasites to haunt you scoundrels!”

…

“Everyone, please.” Pei Xiqing stepped out from behind Shadow’s protective frame, looking at the angry crowd huddled in the gloom. “I know how you all feel right now. I am here to help you solve this problem. Time is of the essence. If you continue to resist like this, you’re only wasting the little time we have left.”

“Who do you think you are…” a man sneered.

Suddenly, several children ran out from a dark corner at the back of the boat. They were covered in grime but looked absolutely overjoyed. “Big sister! It’s you!”

“It really is! It’s the big sister who treated us to dinner at the restaurant!”

Pei Xiqing wasn’t entirely surprised to see them here. She crouched down, gently patting the little girl’s head, and asked softly, “How are you feeling? Have you been resting well since you got discharged from the hospital?”

The little girl clung to her hand. “I feel much better. My head doesn’t hurt anymore… but I’m really hungry.”

Pei Xiqing gave her a reassuring smile. “Once we get to a safe place, I’ll treat you all to something delicious again. But for now, you just have to eat some compressed biscuits and drink plenty of water, okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

The other children eagerly gathered around her as well. They were a little intimidated by the masked Shadow standing nearby, but after hesitating for a moment, the lead boy finally mustered the courage to step closer. “Sister, what are you doing here?”

“Looking for all of you,” she replied.

Looking for us? The children exchanged confused looks.

“Xiao Xiao! Get back here!” a harsh voice scolded from the crowd. “What are you doing standing over there with them?! They are the culprits who abandoned us!”

The boy, Xiao Xiao, whirled around and retorted, “Uncle, this lady isn’t a bad person! She’s the one who treated us to that huge meal at the restaurant and took my little sister to the hospital! Don’t you remember? If it weren’t for her, we would have been beaten and thrown out into the storm by that bad guy!”

“Yeah, he’s right!” the other kids chimed in.

With the children eagerly defending her, the crowd’s hostility toward Pei Xiqing thawed slightly, though their expressions remained incredibly sour and distrustful.

One of the men stepped forward. “So it’s you. But why are you here now? Are you actually in cahoots with the military?”

Pei Xiqing stood up smoothly. “I came to discuss the best way to evacuate. I want to help you all leave this place and safely reach the new continent.”

“You?” the man scoffed. “Why should we believe a word you say? If you’re with headquarters, you’re just here to fool us again! We’ve already lost so many people to your base’s lies. What guarantees can you possibly give us? Who do you even represent? What assurances do we have?”

“Exactly! Those bastards at headquarters! Not a single one of them is any good!”

“Damn it, if they thought we were just a burden, they never should have let us into the base in the first place!” another refugee yelled. “We endured so much just to get inside, only to be exploited, bullied, and used as cheap labor at every turn. We put up with all of it! And just now, when they were quietly packing up to leave, if one of our guys hadn’t been eavesdropping, we would still be completely in the dark! We wouldn’t have even known they were abandoning the city for some new base!”

“He’s right! Everyone at headquarters is a treacherous bastard! They’re worse than animals!”

“We know there are still some elites left behind tying up loose ends. We don’t need your fake concern!”

“Enough.” Pei Xiqing frowned, her voice cutting sharply through the noise. “You desperately want to live, but there are people here who want you to survive even more than you do. It’s perfectly fine for you to curse the cowards who ran away first. But you have absolutely no right to criticize or hurl insults at the people who willingly chose to stay behind to help you.”

She turned around coldly. “Sometimes, your fate rests entirely in your own hands. If you refuse to listen to reason, I can easily choose to walk away and say nothing at all.”

With that, she turned as if to leave with Shadow.

The angry crowd instantly fell silent. They exchanged uneasy glances, momentarily speechless.

Xiao Xiao quickly ran over and grabbed Pei Xiqing’s sleeve. “Sister! Where’s the big brother whose boots I shined last time?”

“Shined boots?” she repeated.

“He was wearing a mask too,” the boy explained, pointing at the operative next to her. “At first, I thought it was this big brother right here. But looking closer, he doesn’t seem like the same person.”

“Oh… I think I know exactly who you’re talking about.” She bent down slightly. “Why do you ask?”

“Because that guy still owes me two compressed biscuits,” Xiao Xiao pouted.

Pei Xiqing smiled. “Really? I’ll make sure you get them.”

Xiao Xiao leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Sister, if you have a plan, why don’t you just tell me? A lot of people have died over these past few days, and everyone is in a really terrible mood. My uncle gets angry super easily and has even hit me a few times. Just tell me what you need us to do.”

Hearing this, the adults who had been so fiercely aggressive just moments before stepped forward, their tone softening considerably. “Miss… we’re sorry. We were indeed too impulsive just now.”

“Over the past month, we’ve been absolutely ravaged by this disaster. In just the last two days, more than ten of our brothers and friends have died,” the uncle explained wearily. “We just found out that the headquarters elites secretly abandoned us to save themselves. We were so angry and terrified that we lost our minds and said things we shouldn’t have.”

Pei Xiqing nodded gracefully. “It’s good that you understand. The elites from headquarters are gone, and they certainly owe you a massive debt for leaving you behind to die. But the people from Franlun chose to stay. They owe no one anything.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. We made a mistake,” the man conceded, looking deeply ashamed. “Miss, please just tell us your plan. If there is truly a way for us to reach the new base alive, we will cooperate fully.”

Chapter 288: No Debt

The terrain here was relatively high, surrounded by towering high-rises, with several large ships moored directly in front of the buildings.

The floodwaters hadn’t completely swallowed the surface yet, but in this treacherous apocalypse, the situation was still incredibly precarious. This was especially true for the deck beneath their feet… it swayed violently with the churning water, groaning as if it might split open at any moment.

Pei Xiqing managed to steady herself, raising a hand to block the rotten vegetable leaves and other unidentified debris being hurled at her.

Shadow immediately stepped forward to shield her. “Stop this at once, or don’t blame Franlun for enforcing the rules.”

“Franlun? I don’t give a damn what kind of Franlun you are!” an angry voice shouted from the crowd. “The elites from headquarters have all run away! We don’t need you standing here pretending to be sympathetic!”

“Exactly! I don’t care who you are! We’re all going to die anyway, so who’s afraid of who?!”

“Come on then! Don’t think we’re actually afraid of you base dogs! If you’ve got the guts, just kill us all! We’ll come back as zombies and parasites to haunt you scoundrels!”

…

“Everyone, please.” Pei Xiqing stepped out from behind Shadow’s protective frame, looking at the angry crowd huddled in the gloom. “I know how you all feel right now. I am here to help you solve this problem. Time is of the essence. If you continue to resist like this, you’re only wasting the little time we have left.”

“Who do you think you are…” a man sneered.

Suddenly, several children ran out from a dark corner at the back of the boat. They were covered in grime but looked absolutely overjoyed. “Big sister! It’s you!”

“It really is! It’s the big sister who treated us to dinner at the restaurant!”

Pei Xiqing wasn’t entirely surprised to see them here. She crouched down, gently patting the little girl’s head, and asked softly, “How are you feeling? Have you been resting well since you got discharged from the hospital?”

The little girl clung to her hand. “I feel much better. My head doesn’t hurt anymore… but I’m really hungry.”

Pei Xiqing gave her a reassuring smile. “Once we get to a safe place, I’ll treat you all to something delicious again. But for now, you just have to eat some compressed biscuits and drink plenty of water, okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

The other children eagerly gathered around her as well. They were a little intimidated by the masked Shadow standing nearby, but after hesitating for a moment, the lead boy finally mustered the courage to step closer. “Sister, what are you doing here?”

“Looking for all of you,” she replied.

Looking for us? The children exchanged confused looks.

“Xiao Xiao! Get back here!” a harsh voice scolded from the crowd. “What are you doing standing over there with them?! They are the culprits who abandoned us!”

The boy, Xiao Xiao, whirled around and retorted, “Uncle, this lady isn’t a bad person! She’s the one who treated us to that huge meal at the restaurant and took my little sister to the hospital! Don’t you remember? If it weren’t for her, we would have been beaten and thrown out into the storm by that bad guy!”

“Yeah, he’s right!” the other kids chimed in.

With the children eagerly defending her, the crowd’s hostility toward Pei Xiqing thawed slightly, though their expressions remained incredibly sour and distrustful.

One of the men stepped forward. “So it’s you. But why are you here now? Are you actually in cahoots with the military?”

Pei Xiqing stood up smoothly. “I came to discuss the best way to evacuate. I want to help you all leave this place and safely reach the new continent.”

“You?” the man scoffed. “Why should we believe a word you say? If you’re with headquarters, you’re just here to fool us again! We’ve already lost so many people to your base’s lies. What guarantees can you possibly give us? Who do you even represent? What assurances do we have?”

“Exactly! Those bastards at headquarters! Not a single one of them is any good!”

“Damn it, if they thought we were just a burden, they never should have let us into the base in the first place!” another refugee yelled. “We endured so much just to get inside, only to be exploited, bullied, and used as cheap labor at every turn. We put up with all of it! And just now, when they were quietly packing up to leave, if one of our guys hadn’t been eavesdropping, we would still be completely in the dark! We wouldn’t have even known they were abandoning the city for some new base!”

“He’s right! Everyone at headquarters is a treacherous bastard! They’re worse than animals!”

“We know there are still some elites left behind tying up loose ends. We don’t need your fake concern!”

“Enough.” Pei Xiqing frowned, her voice cutting sharply through the noise. “You desperately want to live, but there are people here who want you to survive even more than you do. It’s perfectly fine for you to curse the cowards who ran away first. But you have absolutely no right to criticize or hurl insults at the people who willingly chose to stay behind to help you.”

She turned around coldly. “Sometimes, your fate rests entirely in your own hands. If you refuse to listen to reason, I can easily choose to walk away and say nothing at all.”

With that, she turned as if to leave with Shadow.

The angry crowd instantly fell silent. They exchanged uneasy glances, momentarily speechless.

Xiao Xiao quickly ran over and grabbed Pei Xiqing’s sleeve. “Sister! Where’s the big brother whose boots I shined last time?”

“Shined boots?” she repeated.

“He was wearing a mask too,” the boy explained, pointing at the operative next to her. “At first, I thought it was this big brother right here. But looking closer, he doesn’t seem like the same person.”

“Oh… I think I know exactly who you’re talking about.” She bent down slightly. “Why do you ask?”

“Because that guy still owes me two compressed biscuits,” Xiao Xiao pouted.

Pei Xiqing smiled. “Really? I’ll make sure you get them.”

Xiao Xiao leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Sister, if you have a plan, why don’t you just tell me? A lot of people have died over these past few days, and everyone is in a really terrible mood. My uncle gets angry super easily and has even hit me a few times. Just tell me what you need us to do.”

Hearing this, the adults who had been so fiercely aggressive just moments before stepped forward, their tone softening considerably. “Miss… we’re sorry. We were indeed too impulsive just now.”

“Over the past month, we’ve been absolutely ravaged by this disaster. In just the last two days, more than ten of our brothers and friends have died,” the uncle explained wearily. “We just found out that the headquarters elites secretly abandoned us to save themselves. We were so angry and terrified that we lost our minds and said things we shouldn’t have.”

Pei Xiqing nodded gracefully. “It’s good that you understand. The elites from headquarters are gone, and they certainly owe you a massive debt for leaving you behind to die. But the people from Franlun chose to stay. They owe no one anything.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. We made a mistake,” the man conceded, looking deeply ashamed. “Miss, please just tell us your plan. If there is truly a way for us to reach the new base alive, we will cooperate fully.”

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