Chapter 1: Betrayal—A Helpless Farewell

“What did you say? Mutant beasts are besieging the city?!” Bian Changxi shot to her feet, the white light from the ceiling lamp blurring before her eyes. A wave of dizziness hit her—she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

“It’s true, sister-in-law!” The man who’d burst into the office shouted in panic. “Countless mutant beasts and zombies are already at the outer city walls. We can’t hold them off! But Brother Zhu is still out trying to negotiate with the nearby bases and hasn’t returned. What should we do?”

“Why didn’t you notify me earlier!” Bian Changxi grabbed the black walkie-talkie on her desk, only to find it completely dead. She strode to the floor-to-ceiling window and yanked open the curtains. Instantly, the city outside was awash in flashing red warning lights.

She saw chaos spreading across the base in the night. In the distance, flames of battle raged atop the city walls, dazzling powers and the fire of advanced weapons lighting up the sky, as if they might burn through the heavens themselves. Yet for every wave of mutant beasts that fell, more swarmed up behind them—endless, unstoppable.

Those grotesquely shaped monsters, with their sharp claws and gaping maws, even unleashed powerful abilities as they hurled themselves madly at the defenders.

Even though the office was nearly soundproof, Bian Changxi could almost hear the earth-shaking roars and the screams of people tumbling from the walls.

Her face turned ashen.

She’d survived seven years in the apocalypse and witnessed countless zombie and beast sieges, big and small. She could tell at a glance—this attack was orchestrated by someone.

There was something very wrong with the behavior of these mutant beasts!

Besides, the city gates were over thirty meters high, the outer city was smooth and bare, and there was heavy firepower suppressing the area. How on earth had these creatures managed to get up here?

A chill settled in Bian Changxi’s heart. She forced herself to steady her trembling, hoarse voice and spoke rapidly: “There are two layers of electronic surveillance outside the base, three manned checkpoints, and we’ve sent out three reconnaissance drones. For the mutant beasts to get this close without anyone noticing, there must be a traitor! Someone wants to destroy Yunhua Base! Xu Hong, go find Yunhua right now and tell him to—”

She turned as she spoke, only to see Xu Hong—who had been panicking just moments before—now wearing a twisted, ferocious expression. She froze. A rocket pierced her chest, blasting through her back and shattering the window behind her with a deafening crash.

Bian Changxi’s whole body convulsed, her torso folding forward as if she hadn’t yet realized what had happened. She stared blankly at the gaping wound in her chest, then slowly, ever so slowly, looked up at Xu Hong.

Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

A few strands of hair stuck to her sweat-dampened face, adding a rare touch of fragility to this woman known for never showing a hint of softness.

Xu Hong hesitated for a moment, a flicker of guilt passing through him. He should have launched a second attack immediately, but instead he turned away and said coldly, “Don’t blame me, sister-in-law. Blame yourself for standing in Brother Zhu’s way. Only if you die can he rightfully marry Cai Jiangmei. And it’s not just the zombies and mutant plants and animals getting stronger—Hong Kong Base is being forced inland by rising sea levels, and we just happen to be in their path. Do you think they’ll pass up the chance to loot us? They’re one of the three major bases. If we fight, we’ll lose; if we retreat, Tengyang Base is right behind us, waiting to swallow us up. Our only option is to ally with Feitian Base.”

“Feitian Base is powerful, and their leader’s daughter, Cai Jiangmei, is a dual-type ice and psychic ability user—a mid-eighth-tier powerhouse who’s head over heels for Brother Zhu… He’s doing this for the greater good. If you were him, you’d make the same choice.”

Bian Changxi’s eyes widened. “You… and Zhu Yunhua… planned this?” She couldn’t believe they’d conspired to kill her.

Yes, with Hong Kong Base pressing from the front, Tengyang entrenched in the capital behind, and increasingly dangerous mutant flora and fauna all around due to climate change, the second-tier bases like theirs had little room to survive. Most of the upper management believed they couldn’t abandon the base and insisted on strengthening defenses and forming alliances with nearby bases to weather the crisis together.

But alliances were never easy. The bases had argued endlessly for days without reaching any workable agreement. Feitian Base, the weakest among them, had indeed suggested a marriage alliance, which made the other leaders eager. But Zhu Yunhua already had her as his wife. Even if their marriage was loveless, would a proud eighth-tier like Cai Jiangmei settle for being a concubine?

Bian Changxi had thought this had nothing to do with her.

Who could have guessed that Zhu Yunhua had already decided to kill her!

A wave of sorrow swept through Bian Changxi, quickly replaced by deep hatred. “To kill me, you’d even lure a beast horde to the city. What a grand gesture.”

Xu Hong smiled smugly. “Don’t worry, sister-in-law. All the important supplies have already been moved, and all ability users above level five have been transferred out. The only ones left defending the city are your loyalists and those who refuse to follow Brother Zhu. In half an hour, Brother Zhu will ‘receive’ the news and rush back to ‘rescue’ everyone. The base won’t suffer much.”

Bian Changxi instinctively reached for her empty left wrist. Of course—her jade bracelet farm had been “borrowed” by Zhu Yunhua that morning, supposedly as a bargaining chip for negotiations, but really to use its spatial abilities to move the base’s supplies.

And now, with the beast and zombie hordes as cover, Zhu Yunhua could not only kill her and eliminate dissenters, but also push the base’s 500,000 survivors to the brink. On the surface, the base would appear devastated, making it worthless for Hong Kong Base to bother looting.

What a clever ruse—feigning weakness to mislead the enemy, slipping away while everyone’s distracted!

What a plan. What cruelty! She was both shocked and furious. After years of hardship together, even if there wasn’t much affection, they’d been the closest of partners. Yet the true face of that gentle, handsome man was so hideous!

He’d hidden it well, that’s for sure.

Bian Changxi let out a bitter, chilling laugh.

Xu Hong’s gaze flickered. He stepped closer and whispered, “Don’t hate Brother Zhu. To be blunt, your ability is useless now. Medical technology has improved, agriculture is thriving, and low-level plant abilities are basically obsolete. You’re only late-stage level six—you can’t help Brother Zhu. Besides, you’re too strong-willed, too independent. Take this crisis, for example: everyone wanted to stay and defend, but you insisted that the timing, terrain, and people were all against us, and said we should retreat north, even seek help from Tengyang Base if necessary…”

Suddenly, he glared at her with venom. “Everyone knows the leader of Tengyang Base, Gu Xu, is your old flame. Are you trying to cuckold Brother Zhu in broad daylight? Do you know how humiliated he felt?”

Bian Changxi’s laughter stopped abruptly. She snapped, “There’s nothing between me and Gu Xu!”

“Is that so? Who knows?”

Bian Changxi glared at him, then slowly sneered, “You’ll get what you deserve! Just wait—you’ll regret this soon enough!” She staggered backward, bumping into the shattered, webbed glass of the window. The entire pane collapsed with a crash, and she toppled out, hitting the ground with a heavy thud that sent up a cloud of dust.

The people fleeing in panic nearby screamed in shock. Xu Hong frowned—he’d tried to grab her but missed, and now everyone’s attention was on them. What now?

No matter. Wouldn’t it be better for her to die in public? With a quick shift, he wore an expression of utter terror and worry, then jumped down after her. The six-story drop was nothing for an eighth-tier fire user. He landed lightly and hurriedly scooped up Bian Changxi. “Sister-in-law, what happened? Even if you’re desperate, you can’t just jump! What if you got hurt?”

As he shouted, he called to the crowd, “Quick! Get the medical team!”

Before he could finish, he suddenly sensed a surge of danger. Instinctively, he summoned his power, forming a shield around his body. A layer of fiery energy erupted from beneath his skin, enveloping him in a red glow. But almost simultaneously, green vines shot up from the ground and from Bian Changxi’s body, their needle-sharp tips stabbing at him from every angle—piercing his abdomen, the soles of his feet, and his groin. Two wooden spikes, hidden among the vines, shot straight for his eyes!

Xu Hong screamed, unleashing a pillar of fire two or three meters high, instantly incinerating the vines and spikes. But Bian Changxi, who had been playing dead in his arms, sprang up, drew two small black pistols from her thighs, and pressed them to his eyes—pulling the triggers without hesitation.

Bang—

“Aaah—!”

Xu Hong hurled Bian Changxi away, rolling on the ground in agony.

Bian Changxi was thrown far off, her body engulfed in flames like a fireball. She convulsed, but a faint smile curled on her lips.

Xu Hong was as good as dead.

In theory, an eighth-tier ability user feared nothing but missiles or nukes. But her pistols were loaded with bullets fused from purified bones of a sixth-tier mutant tiger—large caliber, immense penetration, aimed at the weakest spot: the eyes. Once the bullet entered the skull, the spinning vortex would turn the brain to mush.

No brain, no life. No matter how powerful an ability user, without a brain or a heart, death was inevitable—unless a ninth-tier plant user intervened in time.

How many ninth-tiers were there in the world? Yunhua Base didn’t even have half of one.

Xu Hong had drugged her food to suppress her powers. She’d realized it when she tried to heal herself after being hit by his fire blade. That’s why he’d let his guard down around her. But he’d forgotten—she was a plant user, specializing in healing. How could she not have countermeasures against poison?

Give her even the slightest chance, and she’d be like a nail in the bone—relentless, never giving up.

But…

She suddenly remembered the year she’d rejected Gu Xu, and the cold, frosty look in his eyes as he left: “Zhu Yunhua is no good. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

She’d thought it was just a fit of pique, never expecting it to come true.

If he knew what had become of her, would he sneer and say she deserved it?

Bian Changxi smiled bleakly.

Her pupils dilated, staring blankly up at the pitch-black sky above—no light, no warmth. In the distance, the screams of humans and the howls of beasts never ceased, the air thick with the stench of death.

This wasn’t the world she wanted. Maybe it was better to just let go.

*Thought of an interesting twist, so I made some changes to this chapter.*"