The Apocalypse 1
1551 trembled violently, recalling the painful memories of being pounced on like prey by a certain cat.
Tang Xi sneered coldly: [Heh.]
He was no longer the easily fooled little cat he used to be—now, he was a fierce and formidable one.
1551 had a sudden idea: [Didn’t you draw that teleportation talisman?]
Tang Xi paused for a moment: [Oh, right. But where am I supposed to teleport to?]
Feeling guilty, 1551 quickly took the initiative: [I checked for you. The person we need to save should be in the neighboring city.]
Tang Xi’s invisible tail flicked slightly. Fine, he would forgive the system this time.
Without knowing the exact location, the teleportation talisman could only send Tang Xi somewhere within the city.
As he took in the sight of the devastated city before him, he felt momentarily lost.
Rotting zombies with horrifying appearances and a nauseating stench wandered aimlessly past him.
He stood there, a living and breathing human in the middle of the road, yet none of the zombies attacked him. Instead, they treated him as if he didn’t exist.
Tang Xi: [Is this another one of the original host’s special traits? No wonder—someone naturally immune to the virus.]
Perhaps the original host really did hold the key to ending the apocalypse. But tragically, such an important person had been discarded by that selfish little base, left to die in agony. If Tang Xi hadn’t arrived in time, the original host would have met a pitiful fate—trapped in a containment unit, dying of thirst.
Sensing Tang Xi’s melancholy, 1551 comforted him: [The original host has already been sent to a world more suited for him.]
It carefully avoided answering the real question.
Even the original host would have been chased by zombies, but Tang Xi was not.
There was only one possible explanation—the world itself favored him.
1551 had no concrete evidence to prove this theory, so it buried its suspicions for now.
Meanwhile, the naive little cat didn’t think too much about it. Seeing that the zombies ignored him, his confidence grew significantly.
Like a playful cat extending its paw, testing the waters before quickly retracting it.
After a few attempts, Tang Xi grew bolder and swaggered up to block a zombie.
This particular zombie was noticeably cleaner than the others, with even its wounds appearing less severe.
Shamelessly, Tang Xi reached out and began rummaging through the zombie’s backpack.
It was clear that this zombie had only recently turned—its body was still relatively clean, and its backpack was still full.
Tang Xi found some water and bread inside, happily slung the bag over his shoulder, and even earnestly thanked the zombie.
Though he wasn’t at risk of being chased, he still chose to move cautiously—he couldn’t just openly search for his poop scooper.
After all, he understood the simple principle of keeping a low profile.
He had just escaped from a research facility, getting captured by another one was not an option.
Most zombies were heading north, which meant there were likely survivors there.
Since he hadn’t met any key figures or triggered any major events, Tang Xi’s priority was to understand the world he was in. The original character had been locked away in a research facility for quite some time, leaving Tang Xi with no knowledge of the current state of the outside world.
Although zombies wouldn’t attack him, that didn’t mean mutated plants and beasts wouldn’t either.
Fortunately, the plants he encountered along the way weren’t too aggressively mutated. Some grasses had grown taller than a person and developed terrifying serrated edges, but they remained oddly docile.
In fact, when the little cat passed through, they even parted for him.
Tang Xi: [What a group of good plants.]
1551: […As long as you’re happy.]
Along the way, he even encountered a parrot that had grown to half the height of a human. It had become too large to fly and instead waddled forward rapidly on its two feet. Upon spotting Tang Xi, it took one glance before turning around and fleeing.
Had it not been for the severed, bloodied human forearm in its beak, Tang Xi might have considered greeting it.
Continuing forward, he soon discovered the source of that human flesh.
Ahead, a group of zombies was devouring a corpse. Tang Xi could clearly see one zombie clutching a human bone, gnawing at it desperately in an attempt to consume the last scraps of flesh.
Shivering in fear, he forced himself to keep running.
As an ability user, his stamina was fairly decent. He dashed through the smaller roads, hiding and weaving for quite a while without stopping.
Finally, he saw living people.
But instead of approaching recklessly, he chose to observe from the shadows.
The group had stopped in front of a convenience store. The leader, a man wearing an exaggeratedly thick gold chain, had his arm around a woman who kept her head down. He shouted orders at the others to go check the store.
One of the smaller men hesitated but didn’t dare disobey. Clutching a baseball bat, he carefully stepped inside.
Thankfully, there were no zombies inside.
Unfortunately, there was nothing left either—the place had already been looted.
The leader grew furious and lashed out, kicking one of his subordinates.
Yet, the man who was kicked still wore a fawning smile.
The woman in his arms trembled as well, clearly intimidated by his anger.
This group was obviously not easy to get along with. Tang Xi immediately gave up any idea of interacting with them and tightened his grip on his backpack straps, preparing to slip away.
But just as he took a single step back, the man with the thick gold chain turned his head sharply, locking eyes with him.
Tang Xi even felt like he’d been momentarily blinded by the reflection of that flashy chain.
In an instant, he was certain—the gold chain man was also an ability user. His heightened senses were a clear indication of a high-ranking power.
No wonder he was the leader of the group.
However, Tang Xi didn’t feel the least bit pleased about this discovery, because the moment the man got a clear look at his face, he strode over without hesitation.
Tang Xi quickly searched through his inherited memories but found no recollection of this person.
Before he could think further, the man had already approached and introduced himself as Chen Jinhao.
Out of politeness, Tang Xi responded with his own name.
Chen Jinhao flashed a fake smile. “Brother, why don’t you join us? You’re an attack-type ability user, aren’t you?”
That last sentence was stated as a fact, not a question.
Tang Xi wasn’t surprised to be mistaken for an attack-type ability user. After all, no one would believe that a clean, unscathed person traveling alone was just an ordinary survivor.
So, he simply went along with it. “Yes, but I have things to take care of here, so I can’t join you.”
Chen Jinhao laughed heartily. “You know what they say—there’s strength in numbers! Little brother, you should come with us. We’ll keep you safe. Besides me, there are two other ability users in our group. One of them is even a water-type!”
He gestured behind him, and when Tang Xi followed his line of sight, he was surprised to see a woman carrying a child.
Chen Jinhao seemed confident, believing that no one would refuse such an offer. After all, a water-type ability user was an essential asset in the apocalypse, a necessity for survival.
But Tang Xi was destined to disappoint him. With the system in place, he could simply use points to buy water, making this “rare resource” completely irrelevant to him.
He shook his head firmly, indicating that he preferred to travel alone.
Chen Jinhao’s expression darkened instantly. The man who had been all smiles just moments ago now reached out abruptly, trying to grab Tang Xi’s backpack.
“This belongs to one of my teammates! Why do you have it?”
Tang Xi dodged swiftly, avoiding his grasp.
He frowned. “I picked it up.”
But Chen Jinhao refused to let it go. He raised his voice, calling over the thin, timid-looking man from earlier.
“Come take a look! Isn’t this Xiao Wu’s backpack?”
The skinny man trembled as he spoke. “But… Brother Wu is already…”
Before he could finish, Chen Jinhao shot him a sharp glare, silencing him instantly.
The man quickly changed his words. “Yes! This is Brother Wu’s bag! He even had four Golden Sun brand breads inside!”
Chen Jinhao gasped theatrically. “What did you do to Xiao Wu?! Why is his bag with you?!”
Tang Xi: [1551, are the breads in the bag really Golden Sun brand?]
1551: [Yes.]
Tang Xi’s expression darkened in displeasure. He hadn’t expected that the backpack he casually picked up would, by sheer coincidence, belong to someone from this group.
Or rather, someone who used to be.
Judging by the timid attitude of the skinny man, they were already well aware that Brother Wu had turned into a zombie.
Now they were just deliberately making things difficult for him.
If this man really wanted to use this as an excuse to act against him, Tang Xi wouldn’t have much room to resist.
Left with no choice, he reluctantly changed his stance and agreed to stay with the group.
Seeing how “cooperative” the young man was, Chen Jinhao immediately put on a smile again, speaking words of welcome while his gaze lingered on Tang Xi’s face.
The others in the group barely reacted to Tang Xi’s addition, their faces dull and emotionless.
It was a group of about a dozen people, and Tang Xi quickly noticed that everyone followed Chen Jinhao’s orders without question—not out of respect, but out of fear.
His gaze briefly met that of the woman Chen Jinhao had been holding earlier. He saw tears glistening in her eyes.
But she quickly averted her gaze, unwilling to make any contact.
Chen Jinhao, noticing Tang Xi observing the group, smirked with a hint of arrogance. “I’m a fire-type ability user. Stick with me, and you’ll be safe. Our goal is Dawn Base—you’re heading there too, right?”
Dawn Base was the leading stronghold among the major settlements, known as the “Utopia of the Apocalypse.”
Everyone longed to reach Dawn Base.
Tang Xi gave a half-hearted nod. He didn’t actually care where he went. His only goal was to find his poop scooper and ask what they meant by see you in the next world last time—ask if they had finally remembered everything.
Chen Jinhao: “What’s your ability?”
His gaze flickered over Tang Xi’s waist and abdomen with an unsettling intent.
Tang Xi didn’t notice—he was too busy thinking about how to answer. What kind of lie should he tell?
His animal instincts screamed that Chen Jinhao was bad news. He had to avoid exposing his true capabilities.
If this man realized he wasn’t an attack-type ability user and had no real means of fighting back, his situation would become extremely dangerous.
1551 reminded him: [You can say it’s a special-type ability.]
Under the weight of pressure, Tang Xi spoke, “It’s a special type. Hard to explain, but you’ll see when the time comes.”
After dropping that line, Tang Xi felt like his whole presence became more imposing.
Sure enough, the moment Chen Jinhao heard “special-type,” a trace of wariness flickered in his eyes. He didn’t push further and merely chuckled. “Then I’ll make sure to see it in action when I get the chance.”
In an apocalypse full of zombies, there was no shortage of battle opportunities.
He wasn’t worried about being deceived.
Tang Xi knew he had to get away from this group as soon as possible—or at the very least, put some distance between himself and Chen Jinhao.
So, when the team prepared to set off in their vehicles, he volunteered to take the last one, under the pretense of guarding the rear.
That vehicle was filled with people who didn’t seem to have much combat ability.
Chen Jinhao agreed to Tang Xi’s request, his gaze growing increasingly brazen.
From the moment the boy agreed to join the group, in Chen Jinhao’s eyes, he was already under his control.
Author’s Note:
The poop scooper will appear in the next chapter!
Our little kitten is so cute—what kind of zombie would have the heart to eat him?~