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“Aunty Xinqing, I have something to confess. Actually, I’ve awakened a certain ability ever since becoming an evolved ability user. It’s not just me. Sis Bitong, Lixiang, and Qiaoqiao have all awakened abilities too. The whole story is a little long for an impromptu conversation, I’ll fill you in when there’s more time.”

Naturally, Aunty Xinqing already knew that Bitong and the girls had some sort of ability, else she would not have been able to put them in the Bureau, no matter how much authority she wielded.

As the name suggested, this bureau wasn’t meant for ordinary civilians.

“Alright, since it’s not convenient to talk about it here, I won’t pry further.” Aunty Xinqing had complete confidence in me. Seeing as I did not want to talk now, she knew I had my reasons. She simply told me to be careful before parting with this, “Oh right, General Rodenas said he wanted to talk to you.”

She then winked at me after which the screen went black. The next time the screen lit up, a different person was displayed. A decidedly balder, ugli- Ahem… Well, the bald Raging Bear wasn’t exactly an affront to my eyes, but he certainly wasn’t related to the word handsome at all. And that shiny head… Pfft… Ahem. Laughing at his baldness would be rude, so I definitely did not do that!

“We finally meet again, Lady Mo Ke.” The bald general started off with a beaming grin in a bid to present a softer image of himself. However, with a face that even a mother wouldn’t love, smiling was only going to make him seem scarier.

I coolly nodded my head. “Greetings, General sir, I hear you’ve got something for me?”

“Actually, it’s nothing big… I just wanted to talk to Lady Mo Ke about a certain matter.” At that, the bald general blushed like a schoolboy talking to his crush. “The 12th District has a military warehouse that has been abandoned for five years. There’s a number of unused exosuits stored there. They should come in handy for you… That facility was supposed to be a maintenance facility, but it was later sealed up for reasons… I’m not entirely sure what reasons they are, but I just came across this piece of information and I thought it would help you.”

“You have my thanks, General sir.

Since the start of this zombie virus outbreak, it could be said that all the possible armed forces in Southern Plains had been mobilised. But the enemy had proven too unpredictable… Even without factoring those zombies, the appearance of those ghosts and skeletal beasts had resulted in the loss of ninety percent of Southern Plains’ forces.

The only two ways of strengthening ourselves now could be broken down into two broad categories: searching for surviving members, or scavenging usable exosuits, and then filling those exosuits up with anyone able to pilot them.

Thanks to advances in technology, the controls of an exosuit could be perfectly simulated in games. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if some of these survivors knew how to control an exosuit.

In that sense, we weren’t really lacking in soldiers, just weapons to arm those soldiers -something General Rodenas helpfully delivered right into my hands. How thoughtful of him.

They might be five year-old goods, but something was always better than nothing. I mean… they couldn’t be worse than those entertainment exosuits we piloted, right?

“Haha, there’s no need for that. As long as Lady Mo Ke finds them useful, I’m happy.” The general scratched his non-existent hair and put on a stupid grin in response to my thanks. It was just a pity that even this series of innocent actions looked terrifying on a face like his.

Not long after closing the comms channel with Rodenas, I sent out a video call to Bitong. She quickly accepted the request and the image of her cockpit appeared before me.

“Ke, how are you doing over there?” She immediately opened up in concern.

“Everything’s fine. I’ve found the first batch of survivors, roughly fifty civilians and five SAT members.” I began telling her about my encounter. “… but now I’m faced with a lack of manpower. There are too many survivors to escort them safely to the inn. I can only leave them here for now… Oh right, there’s another important matter regarding that serum… The incubation period doesn’t seem to be constant amongst those who drank it. There might still be infected hiding amongst the survivors… I did not have much time to check them all before leaving… If possible, you guys should buy one of those 100 point virus detection kits…”

“Got it, I’ll do it right now…” She immediately attempted to access the Marketplace.

“It’s not working, the Marketplace seems to be locked down…”

“Locked down?” I tried opening up the Marketplace myself. I succeeded without any difficulty. “That can’t be right, my Marketplace is working fine. Are you sure yours is locked down?”

“I’ll try it again.” A while later, she came back with a sigh. “It failed again. The system says the Marketplace is locked down.”

“Hold on a second, Sis, I’ll have a chat with the system.”

“Got it.” Seeing my furrowed brows, she nodded simply.

I closed the comms channel and called for the system mentally.

System, get out here now! I have something to talk to you about!”

“Valued host, how may I assist you?”

Didn’t you tell me that Bitong and the girls can use the Marketplace once they are in the Book of Oaths? Why can’t they buy anything now?

“Has our valued host forgotten already? One of the requirements for opening up the Marketplace is for our valued host to be near his harem members. Should that distance exceed a hundred kilometers, they will temporarily lose the ability to access the Marketplace.”

A distance requirement, huh… Now that you mention it… I do remember you saying something like that…

“Are there any other questions, valued host?”

For some reason or another, she sounded really snarky when she said that. But wasn’t she supposed to be unfeeling, right? So how dare she get snarky with me!

System, is there some way I can lift this restriction for the girls?

“There is. For 1000 points per nameslot, our valued host can give his harem members the ability to access the Marketplace without a distance restriction.”

1000?

“That’s right. 1000. Cheap, ain’t it? That’s just 10 points per 1 km. Criminal pricing, love~”

System… I suddenly have this urge to murder someone. What should I do?

“Does our valued host wish to purchase this authority?”

Hey, don’t ignore me! Bah. I’ll buy it… I’ll buy three!

No matter how annoyed I was with the system’s unscrupulous sales tactics, I couldn’t say no. After all, what was a mere 3000 points compared to the girls? I had the strength to earn points easily now, so even if 3000 was a sizable chunk, it was manageable.

Yet when I saw my 6142 points decrease down to 3142, I still couldn’t help but feel a stab in my heart!

“Thank you for your kind patronage.”

You dirty merchant, are you not satisfied unless I murder you?!

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

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If there was ever a competition for World’s Most Obvious Bootlicker, Sima Junmo would have been first. Bar none! Now… if only he would convert all that raw talent into learning how to address me as SIR Mo Ke.

Even so, there was no reason to turn down someone so willing to offer his service. “Alright. You can feed him then. Hopefully, we can still make it.”

“No problem. You can leave this to me.”

Sima Junmo happily picked up the antidote, then with the gentlest of pinches, popped open the seal on the vial.

The blonde pilot took the opportunity to force open the zombie’s mouth, without instruction, all the while maintaining a chokehold on the zombie. Sima Junmo quickly stuck the vial into the zombie’s mouth, pouring all its content without ever wasting a drop.

A few seconds later, the zombie started reacting to the antidote. Its body began convulsing violently, as if it was going through the seizure of the century. Then as suddenly as it came, the seizures stopped. It slowly closed its eyelids like it was going to sleep.

But just when everyone thought the antidote had worked, the zombie suddenly opened its eyes. Its feral claws raked at the blonde pilot with no remorse, as if to announce to the world that it was back.

“So it failed… Dispose of it.” Faced with irrefutable proof, I could only shake my head in disappointment.

Looks like I still don’t have a way to turn them back… and killing it off now would be a lot easier than trying to preserve it for a future cure.

Without ever needing me to do the dirty deed, the blonde pilot snapped the zombie’s neck a full one eighty degrees.

Having taken care of the zombie, the blonde pilot dragged the corpse to the window, before tossing it out of the building…

“Thud!”

A thud and a sickening splat later, the world was quiet once more…

That entire sequence of events was brutally efficient but quick. Witness to the whole process, the survivors were even more on edge now that they had a firsthand experience with my methods.

Now… onto that aunty and her five serum-drinking companions. Why isn’t there any sign of the virus on them? Is their body special in some way? But if that’s the case, six of them appearing in one single location is just too much of a coincidence…

“Kay. Now let’s talk about your situations.” I swept my eyes over the six survivors in question. “How did you guys get your hands on the serum? How much did you pay? And how many bottles did you get? Who else has drunk it? Tell me everything you know.”

“Young lady, your aunty over here has… actually…” Perhaps my little altercation with the zombie was starting to show effect, but the middle-aged survivor was a lot politer when she addressed me this time.

She started mumbling about a bunch of unrelated matters, then just as I was starting to get visibly irritated, I received a video call from Aunty Xinqing.

Naturally, there was no comparing an old hag like her to the mature beauty that was Aunty Xinqing. I quickly accepted the call.

“Officer Sima, I’ll leave the questioning of these survivors to you. I have another matter to attend to.”

“Roger, you won’t be disappointed!” Sima Junmo acknowledged with a smile that immediately disappeared when he turned to those survivors. “You’ve all commited a crime, you hear me? Now, come quietly, and I will be sure to interrogate you lot gently.”

Then without even waiting for them to respond, he signalled for his subordinates to take them away to the segregation room.

From behind, I could hear their constant griping, but I was more than happy to chuckle at their misfortune now. In my opinion, these six were clearly up to no good; a little lesson was in order. After all, how could my detection pearl ever make a mistake? Hah! As if something made by my system could ever be a lemon? Preposterous.

“Ke, your aunty was just watching your heroic slaying of that giant monster. Well done!” As always, Aunty Xinqing was more than ready to shower praises on me without reason. “Absolutely superb! Beautiful, even!”

“Aunty Xinqing, could you use the word handsome instead? Unless my memory is playing tricks on me again, beautiful is the word you use on a girl.”

“And if your aunty Xinqing’s memory isn’t playing tricks on her, then Ke’s bio says that Ke is actually… a girl.” She then pulled up a holographic display of my personal details. The word “female” was clearly written in the gender field.

Ahhhh… damn it! I can’t believe Bitong’s single blunder is still haunting me! And Aunty Xinqing is constantly rubbing that in as well… No wonder they’re mother and daughter…

In order to avoid delving deeper into the endless rabbit hole that was my gender, I hurriedly said, “Aunty Xinqing, were you looking for me for something?”

“It’s like this. Your aunty just got into contact with a nearby SAT team, but they seem to be in trouble and need Ke’s help.”

“Oh? I understand, I’ll be right there.”

“Here’s their coordinates, they are in the same district as you Ke, the 11th District.”

“Oh right, I just uncovered an alarming piece of information…” It was only in the midst of my clever sidetracking that I remembered I actually had something important to distract her with. “I found some infected amongst the survivors. None of them had shown signs of zombification when I arrived. And their numbers weren’t low either….

I briefly recounted what happened to Aunty Xinqing.

“Understand, I’ll be sure to remind the other policemen and soldiers. But, Ke… how do you have an antidote for the virus?”

Aunty Xingqing looked me right in the eyes – I knew there was no avoiding this question then..

However, how to answer was a dicey issue as well… After all, there was no indication of me ever having such an antidote. If I was in her shoes, and it wasn’t me who was saying this, I would have definitely suspected the person of plotting something…

Naturally, I was innocent, but I had no way to logically explain the antidote… Maybe I should just dump this all on the system?

Hmmm. It could work, but I need to change the story a little…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

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“Come over here for a second.” I beckoned to the six survivors who claimed to have drunk that serum. I raised my pearl up to them individually for a quick check and… nothing, as I had expected.

“Are you sure that pearl of yours isn’t a fake?” The first of the survivors to claim to have drunk the serum -the aunty figure- eyed me with barely disguised envy. She bluntly stated, “Young lady, are you sure that antidote of yours is even real?”

Hey now, when have I offended you? Why are you looking at me like I’ve stolen your husband?

“Sigh. Aunty, the antidote is real.” I patiently explained to the best of my ability. “The detection device is real too.”

“Who are you calling an aunty? Do I look that old to you?” The middle-aged woman’s face immediately turned black. “I’m only sixty this year; the only reason I look a little old is because I’m tired from overworking! Don’t you know sixty is the prime of our lives? Hmph, now you’re being rude, young lady!”

She wasn’t actually wrong about the sixty part. Thanks to medical advances, a woman at sixty was the equivalent of a woman in her thirties in the past. Yet for some reason or another, this middle-aged aunty did seem a lot older, resulting in me stepping on that landmine…

Honestly, her hostility towards me was apparent even before I blundered – I wonder when did I ever offend her?

“Calm down, I will look into your situation, so just…” I did my best to placate her, but before I could get another word in, the sounds of someone banging against a door interrupted us…

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The heavy banging continued. It was that segregation room I had specifically dumped that annoying youth into which was causing this disturbance.

Completely focused on arguing with me, the middle-aged aunty was startled to silence by the suddenness and sheer ferocity of the banging. Because the area we were in was a lounge for the staff, the doors were all made of sturdy wood. The full-bodied thud of the bangs were different from that of a metal door’s banging. I knew right away that youth was the source.

“Lady Mo Ke, that man has started to show signs of zombification…” The pilot’s voice started to trail off at the end, the weight of his blunder finally starting to sink in.

“Didn’t I tell you to make him drink it?” I glared at the pilot. Through his holographic display, I could tell he was desperately trying to avoid my gaze.

“It was inconvenient to feed him the antidote while in an exosuit…” The pilot feebly replied. “So I left the antidote there for him to drink.”

“I guess my words mean nothing to you then.”

The blonde pilot immediately lowered his head in shame. “I did place the antidote there… he just didn’t drink it. That’s all…”

From his story, I’m guessing he just wanted to inconvenience the youth a little. Probably to get some payback for me… or perhaps he thought I was exaggerating the situation. Most likely, both. Even so, the fact was that the antidote was within reach for the man. He could have drunk it anytime before the process started. He had only himself to blame for not doing so.

Regardless, it seems like this die has been cast for me. Whatever reason motivated that pilot to do what he did is no longer important. What’s important is how do I minimise the fallout… I am still under surveillance, after all… I mean I’m livestreaming…

“Open the door.”

“But…”

“Lady Mo Ke told you to open the door, didn’t she?!” Sima Junmo finally lost his temper with the younger pilot, smacking him on his head. “Now, get to it!”

Even his team leader had spoken, what else was that pilot to do at this point.

Having just reprimanded his subordinate, Simo Junmo immediately turned around to me, face as gentle as summer breeze, as if that barking monster from before was someone else entirely. “Lady Mo Ke, this is all my fault for not controlling my men well. If there’s any way I can make up for this, do not be shy.”

I threw the man an annoyed look. “You can start by calling me SIR Mo Ke.”

“Haha. Lady Mo Ke is such a kidder.”

“I wasn’t joking!”

“Hahaha…”

“…” Bah.

Not long after our quick exchange, the blonde pilot had the door to the segregation room opened.

“Rawr!”

The zombie pounced out the moment the door was even slightly ajar. Its sudden appearance sent shockwaves through the survivors. Screams started to erupt amongst their ranks as their already fragile mental state was pushed past the brink.

Now that it was fully a zombie, it had lost all sense of reason. The only thought left in its head was to grab the living and feast on them. It just so happened that the blonde exosuit pilot was the closest.

Still safely protected by his exosuit, the blonde pilot easily grabbed the zombie by his arm, subduing it in a couple of quick moves.

“Wait! Don’t kill it yet!” I yelled -just in time too- as the pilot was mere seconds away from snapping its neck. Instead, the blonde pilot switched his grip back to a restraining chokehold. No matter how much that zombie struggled, there was no overcoming the sheer strength difference between an exosuit and a zombie.

In the meantime, I walked into the room and found the antidote on the floor, just as the pilot stated. It was standing upright, as pristine as the moment when the system first spat it out into my hands. In other words, that annoying youth never bothered to drink the antidote. This was completely on him.

Yet just as I was about to pick up the antidote, Sima Junmo suddenly called out, “Wait.”

“Hm?” I turned around, confused. “What’s wrong?”

Sima Junmo strode across the lounge towards me, his grin as wide as the berth I wanted to give him. “How about I do it instead? There’s no way I can let Lady Mo Ke handle such a dirty job… There’s no telling if the virus is still lingering inside the room. And even if it isn’t, it’s unthinkable to let a lady breathe in the same air as that scum.”

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

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There just so happened to be a hall large enough to hold all the survivors, as one would expect from a giant shopping mall. Thus the survivors were herded like schoolkids in a single file towards the hall where they were neatly lined up in rows and columns.

Some bemoaned the treatment, but for the most part, everyone complied quietly.

As I swept my eyes over them, I couldn’t help but marvel at the spread of survivors before me. Some of the survivors were just standing there with their arms folded and brows knitted in annoyance, as if this entire crisis had nothing to do with them. There were those who were shivering where they stood, as if a simple breeze could topple them. Then there were those who stood there with blood in their eyes, the look of grief written all over their haggard faces. In all likelihood, these were the unfortunate ones who had lost someone close to them during the crisis. However, the majority were just in a daze. Their soulless eyes would stare at me as they pleaded and cried about their lost future.

“All the survivors have been gathered, Lady Mo Ke. What should we do next?” Sima Junmo asked.

“Next, I need you all to watch them closely. I will search them for signs of the infection.” Having said that, I walked to the front of the survivors and raised my voice. “Amongst you are people who have been infected. If you’ve drunk the Gene Enhancement Serum, I hope that you would voluntarily step forward.”

My request was only for those who drank the serum to step forward, because only in them would the virus incubate silently for a period. If they were bitten, they would have turned to a zombie already.

A nearby youth immediately scoffed at my question, even going so far as to thumb his nose at me. “What a waste of time… If someone here had drunk the serum, they would have already turned into a zombie. Why would he wait till today to turn?”

I paid the youth no heed. “I hope those of you who have drunk that serum would stand out. I have the antidote.”

“Huh? You have the antidote?” Realising that I was ignoring him on purpose, the youth raised his voice even higher. “If you really have the antidote, why didn’t you take it out yesterday to save us?”

While that man’s attitude was annoying, this last question of his was on point. No longer able to ignore him anymore, I sighed before turning to him in earnest. “The availability of the antidote is low, and it just arrived as well.”

“The virus just began surfacing yesterday, and you’re telling me you have the antidote the next day? Are you the one who spread it?” The youth pointed his finger right in my face. “And even if you didn’t, I bet you had something to do with it.”

I had to really hold myself back when he said that. No matter how annoying his harassment was, I had to endure… since I was the face of the Federation right now… Not that I liked that status… But I had my principles – I won’t use violence against an ordinary civilian.

“The virus has nothing to do with me, and the antidote is real.”

“As if! You say the virus has nothing to do with you, and somehow this so-called antidote of yours is real?! No way, there’s definitely something up with you!”

He wasn’t wrong. If it wasn’t for my system, even I would find what he just said believable.

“It doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. What matters is that you’ve drunk that serum, haven’t you?” I could already see my detection pearl glow brighter as I stepped towards him. From the looks of things, he was one of those infected.

But there was no guarantee he was the only one either.

“Drink this and you will be saved.” I exchanged one of the antidotes for 10 points, then handed the bottle to the man, fingers still gripping its cap tightly.

“Oh hoh. So the mythical antidote does exist.” The youth unrepentantly threw a snide comment my way before reaching out with both hands to grab the antidote. However, his hands seemed to be stretching even further than the bottle cap…

That b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲… there’s no way I’m letting some random man touch my hand.

I reflexively pulled back.

Because of that, the youth ended up grabbed onto nothing.

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You say you will give me the antidote, but you took it away at the last minute. You’re just trying to make fun of me.” And to no one’s surprise, the youth immediately turned around to accuse me.

“I want him segregated.” This time, I just ignored him entirely. I handed the antidote to one of the exosuit pilots. “Make him drink the antidote later, and take a video of the process.”

“Understood.” The SAT member received the antidote from me, then unceremoniously shoved the youth to a nearby room for segregation.

Naturally, the youth wasn’t going to cooperate at all. Unfortunately, this was an exosuit he was dealing with, and the pilot within had absolutely no fondness for him. Whether he liked it or not, he was tossed into an empty room, after which the antidote was placed inside. Whether he drank it or not was up to him.

If we were being perfectly honest here, I did not want to save him either. But I still had a duty to fulfill, and I couldn’t very well abandon him while I was still the face of the Federation.

And while we were being honest, I was damned sure this youth would end up turning into a hoodlum like that tri-colored scumbag, given the right circumstances. However, he still hadn’t done anything wrong yet, so I couldn’t punish him preemptively.

Shortly after dealing with that youth, I ended up finding three more infected. They were a young couple and a dead-looking teen. They were apprehensive of the antidote at first, but the Federation’s name still carried some weight. And it was true that they had taken that serum, so they knew that I wasn’t without reason. Thus, they drank the antidote I offered them.

As I watched them gulp down the contents of the bottles, I saw the glow in the detection pearl calm down before my eyes. I knew then that the infection was finally under control.

“Alright, you all can leave now.”

“Wai- wait…” A quaking hand was raised, belonging to a middle-aged aunty the size of a pig. “I… I’ve taken the serum as well. Can I have a bottle?”

“You’ve had the serum?” I paused in surprise, but I soon recovered and brought the detection pearl close to her. No reaction.

“You’re sure you’ve drunk it? My detection kit would have picked up the infection if you have.”

“Actually… I’ve drunk it as well…”

“Me too…”

Five other survivors raised their hands, all expressing that they’ve taken the serum. However, the detection pearl clearly showed that there were no traces of the virus on them. Were they special in some way? Perhaps they were immune to the virus?

Or maybe they were lying?

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

Leave a comment

“The only people that can save you are your own selves, never others.”

I ended up saying that, but what I was actually trying to say was that I was not an angel. I just so happened to have the bloodline of an Angel-type within me. However, what ended up leaving my mouth was a string of nonsensical, almost middle school-esque, string of words.

“Blasted fool. We’re the ones that are supposed to be rescuing others right now, not getting rescued ourselves!” Sima Junmo chided the young policeman. He then turned to me, face significantly softer looking than before. “Lady Mo Ke, now that the enemy has been taken care of, let’s get down to the business at hand. This building is a treasure trove of supplies, so let’s grab some refreshments while we talk. It’s not like the owners will be open for business anytime soon.”

“I’m sorry, Officer Sima, but I have to turn down your offer. Now’s not the time for idle chatter. There are still many survivors out there waiting for us to save them. It would be better if we keep our conversation short.”

Even though I really wanted to correct his usage of “lady” right now, that’s an issue we could spend an entire day harping on. For now, discretion is the better part of valor, and all that.

Sima Junmo wasn’t disheartened by my rejection. Instead, he furiously nodded his head before saying, “Oh, absolutely. The people’s safety comes first. There are still many survivors in the midst of danger who need rescuing by the Goddess of Hope.”

Hmph, don’t think you can butter me up that easily! Especially not when you use the G word on me! Damn it… why a goddess…

Now that we had sorted out our priorities, Sima Junmo brought me to the shelter they had set up in this building. It was the staff lounge, within were several dozens of civilians mulling about with whatever they could distract themselves with. They were mostly shoppers who had visited the building while the rest were staff, judging by the uniform they wore. Given their familiarity with the building, the location of this temporary shelter was probably suggested by them.

A neatly sorted stack of supplies were placed in a corner of the room. In all likelihood, the staff volunteers were to thank for this as well.

I swept my eyes over them. Most of them were just idling about, but they couldn’t very well go to work in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, I guess. Some of the braver youths were already playing their holographic games, while those who were still traumatised were in a daze, wandering about in a corner.

“When the zombies first appeared, we rushed here immediately. There were tens of thousands of shoppers at that time…”

Sima Junmo started recounting his valiant efforts at rescue. Like how he led a squad to break through the zombie blockade around the building. Like how he chased away those ghosts last night through sheer force of will and bravery. Or like he was so noble…

At this point, he might as well have been Superman. Not that he was, nor did he say so. But he definitely implied it.

Now that he was done praising himself, he began recounting what he termed, “the greatest regret in his life”.

They had no reliable way to distinguish the infected from the healthy. And the survivors weren’t helping either with their lying. That led to massive casualties in the beginning. Completely avoidable, had it not been for their deception.

Finally, he confidently guaranteed that the remaining survivors were all clean. After all, the incubation period was over.

However, that last bit wasn’t important at all. What was important was that my virus detector was giving me a warning glow.

Realising that I wasn’t all too interested in his tale, he was about to change the topic when he noticed the strange object in my hands glowing.

“Lady Mo Ke, what is that wondrous-looking pearl you have there? It’s even glowing, how strange.”

“Oh. This? It’s a virus detection kit. It can detect any undead energy in the vicinity. Meaning if there’s an infected person who comes near this pearl…”

I paused at that instant, eyes wide as I realised the implications of what I was explaining. There was an infected here!

Sima Junmo was still listening to my explanation like a happy student, or maybe just a braindead ape. “What happens if there’s an infected person?”

“It will glow!” I nearly called him an idiot at that point.

I thrust the pearl in front of him. Even through his exosuit, the pearl should still be able to function. It was, after all, an item that cost me a whopping 100 points.

However, there was no obvious change in the pearl. In fact, it even grew a little dimmer, meaning Sima Junmo wasn’t infected. I then checked the remaining SAT members. Clean.

That left only one group…

“Officer Sima, separate those survivors immediately! One by one!”

“Got it.” Having finally realised the severity of the situation as well, Sima Junmo did not even question the efficacy of the pearl. He had complete faith in my words as he turned to the other three exosuit pilots and commanded them. “You heard Lady Mo Ke, I want all the survivors segregated.”

“But we don’t have enough rooms.” One of the male pilots answered.

“Then have them put in a larger area with at least three meters between them. I want them facing each other as well, just in case one of them turns.” I cut Sima Junmo off before he could reply.

“Roger!”

The SAT members promptly carried out my instructions. In the beginning, the survivors were annoyed by the sudden disruption, but they complied for the most part… Sigh. Just goes to show how fast human beings get complacent. Just five minutes ago, they were all shaking in their boots, now they’ve already recovered enough to complain. But I guess I’m partly to blame for not telling them the true situation…

Hiding the truth from them was something I had specifically instructed them to do. After all, if it got out that there were infected people amongst them, a panic would break out.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

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Damn it… can we talk about something proper for once? Sorry, but I don’t care if you swear on your life… that’s just gross. No, thank you!

However, now wasn’t the time to argue with the man as I could sense danger creeping in on us. I whipped around to face the source of the impending danger. But just as I did so, Officer Sima called out to me. “Don’t go… I meant it when I said I will protect you with my life…”

Suddenly, the ground nearby shook with a deafening bang. The sheer shockwave from the impact sent even Sima Junmo stumbling a little, despite his exosuit nearly rooting him to the ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of loud impacts happened in quick succession soon after the first. As the impacts reverberated throughout the floor, we could feel the entire building sway from the force.

“What’s going on?”

“An earthquake?”

“If only it was an earthquake… At this point, an earthquake is the least of our worries in Southern Plains.”

“A monster?”

“Enough talk, they are here.”

“Lady Mo Ke, do you know what’s going on?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I know there’s a strong foe beneath us.”

I definitely did not miss the usage of “lady” just then, but the situation did not allow for such talk.

Just endure it for now… there’s an enemy in front of us.

“Sir! What’s happening outside?” From behind the door, the last of Sima Junmo’s squad dashed out. Just as before, this newcomer was suited in a battered and bloodied exosuit. The pilot’s voice was clearly female. “The survivors are in a panic…”

“Well, they aren’t the only ones!” Sima Junmo snapped at the newcomer. “Go back to your post, and don’t come out without my orders, no matter what happens outside!”

“Roger!”

The newcomer immediately left through the door. Her mission must have been to guard the survivors. Given the unpredictable nature of our enemies… definitely not an easy job.

A second after that female pilot left, another frightening collision shook the building.

BANG!

With that last impact, the ceiling rained down dust on our heads, and a gigantic hole cracked open from beneath the ground.

“DIE!”

I did not even hesitate before tossing out a massive Fireball in the direction of the hole. Just as the projectile reached the hole, a monstrously huge zombie head emerged. The Fireball blasted it right away, but the damage seemed minimal at best. Rather than a sphere of concentrated heat, that Fireball might as well have been a pleasant breeze on a summer beach, gently caressing its ugly mug as it emerged from the sea of rubble beneath it.

Next came the zombie’s pillar-like arms which wrenched its upper body through the hole, widening it further in the process. I could tell it was a tight fit for its sheer size, what with how its putrid flesh seemed to almost spill at the seams of that cragged hole. There was no life to be found anywhere on its deathly green visage. Its head was completely barren like a desert, and its eyes shone like a pair of bloody rubies.

“Fire!” Sima Junmo gave the order to his remaining subordinates on standby near him. Immediately, ten beams of laser zipped towards the exposed zombie with frightening power. At the very least, I knew my current self had no way of standing up to such a concentrated beam of energy.

However, what happened next could only be described as shocking. Or perhaps, horrifying. The beams hit the zombie, as expected. But the zombie actually managed to raise its hand in time to guard its weak spot, avoiding a direct hit against its head. What was even more surprising was that even those laser beams were unable to penetrate the zombie’s hand. In fact, the burn marks seemed to be healing up right before our eyes…

Oh sh*t, you’re telling me they can regenerate now?! That’s a zombie evolution, right there!

“Keep firing!” Realising that his first volley had failed and the zombie was even clawing its way up further, Sima Junmo immediately commanded his soldiers to fire in a stern tone, tinged with a worrying hint of fear. “I don’t believe it can keep healing up forever!”

The laser volleys continued without rest. Yet none of their attacks seemed to have a lasting impact on the zombie who kept squeezing through the hole unabated.

“Officer Sima, sir, this isn’t working at all… let me have a go instead.” It was that pesky young policeman who volunteered to fight the monster in melee. However, such a course of action was nothing short of suicidal.

“No! Keep your distance and keep firing!” Sima Junmo answered without hesitation. “And even if it comes to that, it would be me who fights that monster!”

I know you’re all ready to sacrifice your life and all that… but that thing is still climbing up. Look. it’s shoulders are completely through… Crap, their lasers aren’t going to cut it at all.

It’s already two meters tall right now. In all likelihood, it’s entire body should reach up to five meters. This zombie was most likely designed with building destruction in mind…

“Everyone, stop. Let me handle this.”

I knew I couldn’t stand back and watch any further.

Having given that heads-up to Sima Junmo, I kicked off in a running jump, Icy Inferno pointed right at the zombie’s head.

The massive zombie that it was gave out an aura of stench that could only be described as death. I thoroughly despised this stench, thus I was already trying to scorch the smell away using Icy Inferno,even before I reached it.

A second later, the zombie’s head was cleanly split in half; Icy Inferno did not disappoint me, as always.

Rumble…

Without its Soul Flame to animate it, the zombie lifelessly tumbled down to the nineteenth floor, slamming the ground with a force that shook the entire building.

“It’s… dead?” Sima Junmo gasped in disbelief.

“It should be.” At the very least, I did not think that a zombie would be able to survive with its head sliced up. If that wasn’t its weak point, it wouldn’t have instinctively tried to shield that area when Sima Junmo fired at him.

“That was amazing!” It was that youth who had argued with me prior who yelled first. “You’re just too amazing! You must be an angel sent down from the heavens to save us!”

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

Leave a comment

“Look closer, this is an official appointment letter from the Federation. There’s even the President’s seal and signature… are you seriously telling me you don’t recognise it?!”

“I already told you, I don’t. Stop being so persistent. Just because you’re pretty doesn’t mean you can do as you like!”

“Are you calling me a woman? You must be illiterate. That’s right, otherwise why can’t you read the letter? Ugh… nothing is worse than dealing with the illiterate, especially when they are blind as well!”

“Who are you calling illiterate? Who’s blind? Just because you’re hot, doesn’t mean you can get away with insulting others! It doesn’t matter how good looking you are if you go around treating others like morons – no one will like you, especially not me!”

“Why the heck should I care if you like me or not? Wait! When did I even say that I’m a girl? I am a man!”

“Hah! You think you can just change your gender just because you’re beautiful? What are you if not a girl? Geez, get your gender right before leaving the house, why don’t you!”

“That’s it. I can’t take it anymore! Where’s your superior? You can’t be the only survivor in this building. Bring him out, I have something important to discuss with him.” At this point, I was beyond exasperation and did not want to waste anymore time dealing with a coward hiding behind the anonymity of his exosuit.

“There’s no need for that. I’m already here.” A door not too far behind the police sentry I was arguing with opened up. An equally battered and bloodied exosuit stepped through a second later and addressed me. While he still did not reveal his face, I could tell from the voice that he was a middle-aged, mature officer. “You mentioned you are from the Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users?”

“That’s right. Here’s my appointment letter, I hope at least you are able to read.” I enlarged the holographic letter so that even a short-sighted person could see it, let alone a pilot whose sight would be auto-corrected by his exosuit.

“There’s no need for that, I know you.” The mature officer’s voice almost quivered at that last word. “I just received a notification from the brass mentioning that we will be temporarily placed under your command should we encounter you. Till the danger in Southern Plains is resolved… I couldn’t believe the notification at first, but I understand why now… you’re so… outstanding… to oversimplify things with my limited vocabulary…”

“Huh? Could you just get to the point in one sentence? It’s annoying trying to piece together what you’re saying when you speak in fragments.” I curtly cut him off, slightly creeped out the longer he spoke. Somehow, I was getting a bad feeling from him.

“Right. Right. Initially, I thought that you were chosen just because of your looks, but, oh, how wrong I was.” His holographic display turned on, revealing a tanned man in his thirties with a squarish face. His gaze shifted slightly as he smiled shyly. “I’m saying I accept your authority.”

“Oh, then you have my thanks.” Even though having a mature man smile at me like that made my butt cheeks clench a little, his ready acknowledgement of my command made me feel a lot better. “Start by introducing yourself, then we can talk about your situation. How many combatants do you have? Are there any survivors under your care? Lastly… have you guys noticed anybody who has awakened supernatural abilities?”

“My name is Sima Junmo, I’m a commander of a Special Assault Tactics (SAT) squad. As of right now, there are five members in my squad, including me. They are all capable subordinates…”

Sima Junmo began explaining his situation next. Apparently, they were suddenly attacked by those skeletal beasts last night. Coupled with those ghosts ambushing them, their losses were heavy. That was how their squad size was reduced to five. However, these five were all seasoned veterans, seeing they actually survived an attack from those incorporeal monsters. This sudden increase in the undead’s power led to Sima Junmo making the decision to hole up in this position.

In actuality, there was one more reason why he had to do so. That was because he also had fifty civilians to guard. As policemen under the Federation, Sima Junmo and his men were all fiercely loyal to their duty. While they still drew breath, they would never abandon their charges. Unfortunately, this hampered their movements significantly. In light of that, they could only take up a defensive position while hopefully waiting out this entire undead crisis.

Roughly ten minutes ago, Sima Junmo received a message from a representative of General Rodenas, informing him that the Federation had noticed something was amiss in Southern Plains before the zombie apocalypse. In order to investigate this abnormality, they even created a new but secretive bureau.

Naturally, the seasoned Federation policeman that he was immediately realised that this was just the Federation’s version of bullcrap.

But regardless of whether or not the citizens actually bought this story, the civil servants of the Federation were basically convinced, seeing as the General even went so far as to pull that Goddess of Hope into the mix. When he first saw the photo of said girl, he was quick to throw shade at the general. Perhaps this girl was just the old bear’s niece, or maybe something more?

The moment I heard him say that, I almost wanted to roast him alive in his bloody tincan. But I soon gave up on that idea as trouble soon reared its ugly head once more…

“But I understand now, you got to where you are by sheer ability.” He then stared at me with the intensity of the sun. “Only a girl as perfect as you could be considered a goddess…”

“I’m sorry, but let me interrupt for a second…”

“I know, I know. You’re going to say that you’re a man and all that.” Sima Junmo briskly cut me off. “I understand completely. It’s not easy travelling out and about as a girl. Especially for a goddess such as yourself. But that’s not an issue anymore. I hereby swear on my life that I will protect you!”

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE