this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Taking advantage of the chaos, Jiang Ci used her black mist to engulf all the survivors in the corridor.
The black mist, now satiated, churned even more vigorously, soon spitting out a pile of crystal cores, supplies, and weapons for Jiang Ci.
Jiang Ci quickly gathered them up and then walked straight to the innermost door. Using the black mist, she melted a large hole in it, revealing a descending staircase.
Below was a pitch black darkness, impossible to see through. Jiang Ci had to activate the lighting in the system on her body to illuminate the path around her.
The two of them descended the stairs, the basement’s air damp and foul, mixed with various other odors.
The passage to go downstairs was narrow, connecting to a series of rooms.
Jiang Ci had seen the map before and knew the general location where the survivors were being held.
Just then, she suddenly heard a scream, sharp and piercing, immediately shattering the silence of the night.
Xu Yi held on tightly to Zhou Nian, the thin boy beside her. They were huddled in a corner of the room, with the air still carrying the lingering scent of blood. A head rolled to a stop in front of them, its eyes wide open, as if it had suffered immense injustice and pain.
Standing before them were three people, all wielding knives to dismember the human torso in front of them.
The entire scene was bloody and horrifying. The two of them shrank into the corner, trembling with fear. Xu Yi even began to retch involuntarily, but having not eaten, all she could do was only dry heave.
Beside her, Zhou Nian’s eyes were wide open, seemingly having lost the ability to think independently, his body shaking uncontrollably.
The two of them were from the same base but hadn’t been particularly close. But at this moment, all they could do was rely on each other for support.
The three people in front of them had clearly brought them here intentionally to witness this, aiming to break their psychological defenses.
The smell of blood grew stronger with their subsequent movements. Xu Yi felt as if her vision was entirely filled with a red haze, unable to see anything else besides that colour.
One of the survivors, with a belly as large as a hill, chuckled and moved closer to them, “These two look rather tender.”
The two instinctively took a step back, but all they could feel was the wall behind them, leaving them no room for retreat.
“How do you two want to die? I, Old Zhu, am in a good mood today, so I’ll make it quick for you.” The man in front of them approached, his massive body shaking as he did so, making it seem as if the very ground were trembling.
A greasy, blood-stained hand reached out and touched Xu Yi’s face, causing her to shake uncontrollably.
Their reactions clearly pleased the men in front of them, and their laughter grew more unrestrained.
But the next second, the laughter stopped abruptly, startling Xu Yi and Zhou Nian into immobility.
Soon, the three figures standing in front of them disappeared. Xu Yi could sense a somewhat dangerous presence stopping in front of them, seemingly with no intention of harming them.
“Are you two okay?” A clear female voice then rang out beside them.
At this moment, had someone come to rescue them?! Xu Yi could feel Zhou Nian’s tense body beside her. She could only try to call out, “We’re… we’re okay.”
As soon as those words left her mouth, she realized her voice was trembling, and the fear she had just suppressed seemed to be fully exposed through her tone.
“I’m Jiang Ci from C City’s Gourmet City. I’m here to rescue you. Follow me out first, and after we save the others, we’ll leave together,” Jiang Ci said.
“I know you!” Xu Yi’s voice suddenly became excited. They had been captured on their way to C City’s Gourmet City, so naturally, they knew of the famous boss of Gourmet City.
Hearing Jiang Ci’s voice, Xu Yi felt her last bit of worry slowly dissipate, and she let out a sigh of relief as all her strength drained away.
The two of them struggled to drag their legs, which had gone weak from fear, out of the room and followed behind Jiang Ci, not daring to look back even once.
Jiang Ci naturally saw this scene. The room was filled with a strong smell of blood, and she frowned before turning to leave.
Not long after, footsteps could be heard one after another. Someone had also entered this basement. Jiang Ci told Xu Yi and Zhou Nian to hide behind her while she and Song Jinchuan went to confront the people who had come down.
The survivors were clearly surprised by the sudden invasion of outsiders in this basement. It seemed they were indeed formidable, with quick reactions to boot. Unfortunately for them, they had encountered Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan, and thus, could only silently disappear in this basement.
Xu Yi stood behind Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan, feeling an overwhelming sense of security.
After dealing with these people, the footsteps upstairs continued unabated. It seemed the commotion they had caused had indeed caused quite a stir, though this was also good, as it made Jiang Ci’s actions easier to execute.
The corridor here connected to many rooms on both sides, not all of which held people. The map hadn’t clearly marked them, so Jiang Ci had to search each room one at a time.
The basement was quite large, so it took Jiang Ci some effort to find everyone.
Just as she had finished opening all the doors, the basement door suddenly clicked shut, and a voice, as clear as if it were speaking right next to their ears, came from nowhere.
“Welcome, intruders. Now that you’re here, please enjoy the meal I’ve specially prepared just for you.”
As soon as the voice sounded, Jiang Ci heard a hissing noise, like the sound of a balloon leaking air.
“Oh no, it’s poison gas!” one of the survivors shouted.
At this moment, the black mist that had been vigilantly guarding Jiang Ci’s side began to stir, and then, it actually leaped out of Jiang Ci’s palm and started absorbing the toxins in the air in waves.
Although the black mist had no emotions or expressions, Jiang Ci inexplicably felt its joy.
“Everyone, stay calm, don’t be afraid,” Jiang Ci said as she distributed gas masks to the survivors. “Put these on, and you’ll be fine.”
Under Jiang Ci’s reassurance, the panicked survivors gradually relaxed. They found that this time, the poison gas really didn’t affect them as it usually did, often causing them to have difficulty breathing or stiff bodies.
While distributing the gas masks, the black mist was still actively absorbing the poison gas. Jiang Ci didn’t pay it any mind and walked to the staircase. Sure enough, the door had been firmly shut and wouldn’t budge.
At this moment, the black mist was still devouring the poison gas, but Jiang Ci wasn’t in a hurry. Since the people upstairs seemed very confident in this poison gas, they would likely come down to check on them later.
Sure enough, after a short while, the sound of the door opening echoed, accompanied by the sound of voices. Jiang Ci, who was hiding in the shadows, soon learned that the crisis above had been resolved. It was clear that now they had decided to deal with the major crisis down below.
After releasing the poisonous gas, they waited for about ten minutes, presumably to ensure that those below had fully absorbed the toxins. Then, they activated the air circulation system to expel the gas from the lower levels.
Jiang Ci’s black mist had returned to her side once the gas was fully absorbed.
Seemingly confident that those below had been subdued by the gas, the survivors spoke without restraint, discussing how to handle the intruders amongst themselves.
They didn’t believe the intruders were here to rescue anyone; instead, they believed that they were also thieves who had stumbled upon this place by mistake. After all, there had been a precedence of such people before.
Those who dared to steal from them must pay the corresponding price.
However, as they descended the stairs, what awaited them was not the intruders who should be barely clinging onto life, but the ferocious black mist and wall of flames.
The descending survivors were either swallowed by the black mist or turned to ashes.
Jiang Ci guarded the entrance, collecting supplies until her pockets were almost full. The survivors behind her were dumbfounded—could things really be done this way?
The people upstairs seemed too afraid to come down. Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan instructed the remaining survivors to stay put while they went up to investigate.
As soon as they reached the top, the sound of gunfire rang out, followed by the strong scent of gunpowder filling the air.
Thanks to the system’s protection and the protective layer she had applied to Song Jinchuan before setting out, Jiang Ci dared to stride confidently into this area that had been set up as an obvious ambush.
For anyone else, the combination of poisonous gas and gunfire would have surely been fatal, and surviving would have been due to sheer luck.
“Are they dead?” a voice asked after the smoke cleared.
“They should be. We fired a whole magazine after all,” another voice replied with certainty.
“Check first. Those two are a bit strange. Confirm their deaths first before we proceed…”
But before they could finish, a dragon made of fire and a seemingly sentient black mist appeared before them, and soon after, their screams also filled the air.
“Brothers, let’s talk this out. Whatever you want, we can give it to you. Or you can stay, and we’ll treat you with the highest regard,” another voice rang out, tinged with an obvious urgency.
Jiang Ci didn’t bother responding, continuing to work with Song Jinchuan to eliminate the survivors who were still resisting.
Jiang Ci felt her hands growing steadier, and the weapons, crystal cores, and ability beads she collected were increasing rapidly.
Soon, the entire building had been declared as completely cleared by them, leaving it empty, with not even a single scrap of clothing remaining. Those observing from outside were terrified and fled at the sight. Song Jinchuan noticed the commotion and gave chase, while Jiang Ci stayed behind to guide the survivors downstairs upstairs.
She took the vehicle out from her space and placed it outside, allowing the survivors to board one by one.
The air conditioning inside the car completely isolated the blizzard outside, and the warm atmosphere soothed the survivors’ anxious hearts.
Xu Yi noticed that Zhou Nian had been acting strangely ever since he came out of that room. He seemed dazed and didn’t speak, and his eyes stared blankly ahead, as if he was still shell shocked.
Having gone through such an ordeal together and sharing countless hardships, Xu Yi couldn’t possibly just ignore him. She helped him into the bus and called out to him several times, but there was still no response.
Just then, Jiang Ci also boarded the bus, and Xu Yi, concerned, stopped her and explained the situation.
Seeing Zhou Nian sitting silently in his seat, Jiang Ci frowned slightly. Indeed, such events could easily cause mental trauma due to extreme fright.
She crouched in front of Zhou Nian. He was sixteen, but was too thin, with dark skin and long hair that covered his eyes, seemingly also blocking him from the light.
Jiang Ci placed her hand on his, and a gentle white light suddenly appeared, slowly flowing from her hand into his.
When Zhou Nian regained his consciousness, he felt as if he was immersed in a warm spring, with warmth flooding not just his body, but even down to his bones too.
Jiang Ci saw Zhou Nian’s eyes begin to focus again, and his pupils started to shake. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad that her method was effective.
There were more than twenty survivors, all of whom were from different bases, and each with different destinations initially, all having been kidnapped to this base.
“Originally, there were more than forty of us, but now… only we remain,” one of the survivors spoke up.
The atmosphere quickly turned somber, with a hint of heavy gloom in the air.
Soon, Song Jinchuan returned, carrying someone who seemed to be barely alive. Seeing Jiang Ci, he said, “This person has dual abilities.”
Jiang Ci immediately understood his meaning and got out of the car to let the black mist consume him. The man, upon seeing Jiang Ci, wanted to say something, thinking women were more soft-hearted, but before he could speak, he was completely engulfed by the black mist.
Jiang Ci collected the dual-colored ability orb. The chance of encountering someone with dual abilities was small, with the chance to consume them being even smaller. As a result, she hadn’t collected many such ability orbs yet.
Before leaving, Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan thoroughly combed through the buildings and found a few survivors who had been imprisoned to research the poison gas. They took them along as well, and Jiang Ci didn’t waste the remaining poison gas, letting the black mist consume it all.
Jiang Ci noticed that after the black mist consumed the poison gas, it seemed to become even darker and more active.
The mission had been successfully completed without much harm done to them, and the park had also been claimed by Jiang Ci, though it hadn’t been placed anywhere yet.
Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan parked the bus outside the train station. Survivors who needed to return to their respective bases could take the train from here, while those heading to C City could go with Jiang Ci and the others.
Xu Yi and the remaining survivors from the base were originally planning to seek refuge with Jiang Ci in C City, so they stayed in the car without getting off.
Zhou Nian had recovered a bit, but his spirits were still low. Although the apocalypse had already been harsh enough, they had never directly faced such a brutal scene before.
The one who had been killed earlier was a woman who had just been locked in the same room as them. Before that, she had spoken to Xu Yi and the others, saying that if her children were still alive, they might have been around the same age as them.
Zhou Nian’s heart felt heavy. In truth, when those people came to capture them, they had initially intended to take him instead, but the woman stood up and blocked them, so she had been the first to be seized.
By the time they met again in the same room, the woman had already been tortured to the brink of death. When she saw them, she managed one last smile at them, but in the next second, her head was immediately severed.
After sending off the other survivors, only five people remained in the vehicle, including Xu Yi and Zhou Nian.
These were the people who had originally been planning to seek refuge with Jiang Ci. On the way, Jiang Ci briefly explained the rules of the base to them. They were simple, with few restrictions, as the rules were mainly targeting survivors with ulterior motives.
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
The return journey wasn’t as rushed. Jiang Ci opened the map and noticed a red light indicating a delivery order not far from them. After discussing it with Song Jinchuan, they decided to take a detour.
The survivors in the vehicle had no objections either. Jiang Ci had prepared meals and hot water for them, and with such a spacious vehicle, they didn’t dare to voice any other complaints.
The vehicle quickly approached the red dot marking the mission location.
Lin Ya swung her long blade, her breath coming out in increasingly rapid white puffs. Blood dripped steadily onto the ground, and her consciousness began to blur. She felt as if she couldn’t hold on much longer.
Beside her, her brother, Lin Tang, and father, Lin Jun, were also struggling, their movements growing more sluggish as time passed by. In front of them was a massive mutated bear. Bears were already large to begin with, but after mutating, its fur had become as tough as iron, making it extremely difficult to penetrate.
“Hold on a little longer. I’ve already ordered takeout. Boss Jiang will surely come to rescue us once she sees the delivery request,” encouraged Lin Ya’s mother, Tang Xing, her hands trembling as she gripped her weapon.
As soon as she finished speaking, the enormous mutated black bear slammed its massive paw down, sending snow flying and creating a large crater in the ground. The earth seemed to tremble from the impact.
The group barely managed to dodge, gasping for breath. Who could have imagined that such a deadly creature would be hidden in this snowy expanse?
Perhaps frustrated by the agility of these tiny humans who kept evading its deadly strikes, the mutated black bear let out a deafening roar, causing the surrounding snow to cascade down.
It was at this moment that Jiang Ci arrived. Seeing the mutated black bear, which was as tall as a building, and the four small figures in front of it, she and Song Jinchuan quickly parked the vehicle and rushed over to help.
“We should go and assist them,” one of the survivors in the vehicle stood up.
“No, stay put,” Jiang Ci said curtly before leaving swiftly.
The survivors could only remain in the safe, warm confines of the vehicle. While they were moved by the protection, they also felt a sense of unease, stemming from the fact that they were unable to do anything but wait.
“Ah Ya! Be careful!” The howling wind and the heart-wrenching cries of her loved ones filled Lin Ya’s ears. Instinctively, she crouched down and covered her head, feeling a pang of sadness. The thought that she was now going to die, yet hadn’t even had the chance to bid her family a proper goodbye clouded her mind.
However, the anticipated pain never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw a figure standing in front of her. Between the person and the mutated black bear was a large sphere of water.
The sphere of water quickly enveloped the mutated black bear, and no matter how much it struggled, it couldn’t escape.
On the other side, Song Jinchuan swiftly dealt with the mutated beasts and zombies that had been attracted by the scent of blood in the air.
Jiang Ci turned to look at her, “Are you alright?”
Lin Ya stared in awe at Jiang Ci, who seemed to have descended from the heavens like a divine warrior. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she threw herself into Jiang Ci’s arms, bursting into loud sobs.
Jiang Ci stood frozen in place, while Song Jinchuan’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot. Lin Tang, Lin Jun, and Tang Xing scratched their heads awkwardly in response.
“It’s okay now, everything’s fine,” Jiang Ci said, freeing one hand to pat Lin Ya on the back, comforting the sobbing girl.
After crying for a while, Lin Ya finally realized her own embarrassment and glanced at Jiang Ci sheepishly, “I’m sorry, Boss Jiang, I couldn’t help it.”
Jiang Ci nodded, “I know. Let’s get to the bus and tend to your wounds. The mutated beasts and zombies are starting to gather around us again.”
The group quickly followed Jiang Ci to the bus. Blood was everywhere, especially from Lin Jun, whose blood had almost formed a small river. As soon as he got into the car, he collapsed onto the floor due to excessive blood loss.
“Sorry, Boss Jiang, we’ve made a mess of your bus,” Tang Xing apologized, casting a worried glance at Lin Jun.
“It’s fine,” Jiang Ci replied, knowing this wasn’t the time to worry about such things. She used her healing abilities to treat the most severely injured, Lin Jun and Lin Ya, with one of them in each hand.
Simultaneously healing two people was almost unheard of among healers. Overuse of abilities would drain the ability user’s energy and stamina, especially for healers, which is why they typically treated one person at a time.
Unaware of the survivors’ thoughts, Jiang Ci’s hands glowed with a white light. Gradually, the incessant bleeding came to a stop.
After treating all four of them, although their bleeding had ceased, their lost stamina and blood couldn’t be immediately restored. They would still need time to recover.
“Where are you planning to go next? Back to your base?” Jiang Ci asked.
Lin Jun and Lin Ya had already fallen asleep, but Tang Xing and Lin Tang were still awake, sitting in their seats and talking to Jiang Ci, “We’re not going back. Our base is too cold-hearted. Boss Jiang, can we join you?”
“Of course, we can all head to my base,” Jiang Ci nodded.
Tang Xing spoke about their base, where even with such heavy snow outside, the survivors were strictly required to hand in a set number of crystal cores with no room for leniency, “Our neighbors were forced to hand in their crystal cores. Even in this snowstorm, the couple were still forced to go out and never returned, leaving behind a little girl who had to be taken in by other relatives. It’s so tragic.”
“We all think the rules are too rigid. The current base leader is worse than the previous one. Everyone protested, but he had his ways to deal with it, like cutting off our electricity and supplies, so we ran away,” Lin Tang said. “But before we even reached the train station, we somehow encountered this mutated black bear.”
Jiang Ci nodded, “A management style like that really is too authoritarian.”
As they talked, night quickly fell. As the bus drove across the flat terrain, they could see a sky full of stars when they looked up.
Jiang Ci glanced back and saw that everyone had already fallen asleep from exhaustion. “You should rest too. There’s no rush now. We can continue driving at dawn.”
Song Jinchuan obediently stopped the car. With so many people in the vehicle, it wasn’t convenient for them to rest in tents, so they made do by curling up in their seats for the night.
When Jiang Ci woke up, the car was already back on the road. Song Jinchuan was in the driver’s seat. Sensing her gaze, he turned his head and smiled, even reaching out to squeeze her palm.
Outside the window, the sunlight that had been absent for days finally streamed down, seemingly heralding the end of this harsh winter season.
After returning to the base, Jiang Ci took the survivors to get settled, then returned to her room with Song Jinchuan to discuss where the park should be located. They finally chose a plot of land adjacent to the base.
The park covered a vast area, even larger than the entire Gourmet City. Once it was established, this large piece of land would also come under Jiang Ci’s jurisdiction.
Because of its size, the construction took nearly a month to complete. By then, the sun had fully emerged, finally melting the remaining ice and snow, signaling the end of the severe cold.
On the day the park’s construction covering was unveiled, many survivors gathered for its opening. Although the park had been under construction for a month, they had heard numerous rumors about it—its expansive size, the free training facilities, and more.
So Jiang Ci wasn’t particularly surprised as she stood inside the park’s large iron gate, looking out at the dense crowd.
the translator has nothing to add ◡̈
