Chapter 114: Doomsday 29

That day, Old Man Wang drew another tube of blood from Le Yixian. The latter hung her head, motionless, as if she were dead.

Yang Zhengqi shifted his body closer to her. "Hey, you holding up alright?"

Le Yixian raised her head, her face deathly pale. "Don't come near me. How long has it been since you bathed? You reek."

"Calling me stinky? Aren't you exactly the same?" Yang Zhengqi retorted.

Le Yixian: "..."

That was a fair point; she couldn't argue with that.

"It’s been a month already. Why hasn't your man come to find you?" Yang Zhengqi asked again.

Le Yixian sighed. "Didn't you hear them say he went to the research institute?"

The round trip alone would take a month. It was even more likely that he was searching everywhere else.

"How stupid. Didn't you suspect your old man?"

"Who told you to come knocking on our door and pick a fight?" Le Yixian rolled her eyes. "If I don't suspect you, who else would I suspect?"

"Can you blame me for that?"

"I blame you," Le Yixian said.

After bickering for a while, the two fell silent, their energy spent. With nothing left to say, they both closed their eyes to rest.

Le Yixian’s lips were deathly pale, devoid of any color. She didn't know if it was because of the frequent blood draws lately, or the bite Yang Zhengqi had given her earlier, but she could no longer feel her own body temperature.

—

When Ke Yuandao returned to the base, Li Ziqing and Wang Qiang were among those who greeted him.

"How did it go?" Li Ziqing asked.

Ke Yuandao shook his head. "How are things on your end?"

"We didn't find her," Li Ziqing paused, "but we have a lead."

Ke Yuandao, who had been walking forward, stopped abruptly and stared straight at her. "What lead?"

"After you left, the Xia family found an old gentleman who was once a leading figure at the research institute. He has been studying a zombie vaccine, and just last week, he developed a drug that cures the zombie virus." As Li Ziqing spoke, she took a transparent, thumb-sized bottle from her pocket.

Ke Yuandao took it; under the sunlight, the liquid inside shimmered with a dark green glow.

"Has it been tested?" Ke Yuandao asked.

Li Ziqing nodded. "It was tested in the plaza in front of many people."

A superpower user who had been tightly bound—whose eyes had turned white and whose nails had grown long and hard, the telltale signs of turning into a zombie—was given a bottle of the potion. The superpower user calmed down, and soon, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the individual returned to normal.

Everyone went wild. The drug was quickly mass-produced, and now almost every capable superpower user in the base carried one. Because of the existence of the anti-zombie potion, the number of people searching for Xia Meimei had dwindled.

"Go to the Xia residence," Ke Yuandao narrowed his eyes.

When they arrived at the Xia residence, they saw General Xia walking out of the house with an old man in a white lab coat with squinty eyes. The latter was carrying a briefcase.

"General Xia," Ke Yuandao blocked their path.

General Xia was surprised to see Ke Yuandao and asked with concern, "Captain Ke, you're back. Where is Meimei?" He looked behind him, but did not see his daughter.

"She is not at the research institute," Ke Yuandao said. "I wanted to ask if you have any leads here."

"No, I have searched the entire base and the surrounding areas," General Xia said, looking as if he had aged significantly. "I don't know where that god-forsaken wretch has taken my daughter."

Ke Yuandao stared at him for a long moment. "I will bring her back."

"Thank you," General Xia nodded. Noticing Ke Yuandao’s gaze fixed on the old man beside him, he quickly introduced him: "This is Old Wang. He was once a researcher at the institute and was a professor who led the institute alongside Meimei’s teacher."

"Professor Wang, nice to meet you." Ke Yuandao greeted him, his gaze lingering briefly on the silver case in the old man's hand before shifting away.

"I’ve heard much about you, Captain Ke," Old Man Wang said, his eyes still squinted. "Meimei is an invaluable researcher. Please, you must bring her back."

"I will. Rest assured, no matter how long it takes, I will find her." Ke Yuandao’s tone was calm, yet it carried a weight of sincerity that was impossible to ignore.

"Then I am relieved," the expression on Old Man Wang’s face remained unchanged.

"Where are you two headed? Let me walk with you," Ke Yuandao asked.

"We just finished breakfast and were planning to go to the research institute to check on the status of the vaccine." Old Man Wang said cheerfully, "We'll be going now. Captain Ke, you've been traveling for a long time, you should go back and get some rest."

Ke Yuandao stood in place, watching them leave without saying a word.

Wang Qiang asked, "Boss, what do we do now?"

Ke Yuandao didn't answer. Just as Wang Qiang was feeling puzzled, his straight, pine-like frame swayed, and the latter hurriedly reached out to support him.

"Boss? Boss?"

...

"It seems he hasn't rested for a month. Let him sleep for a few days and he’ll be fine."

"Alright, thank you."

Ke Yuandao heard the voices of Wang Qiang and someone else.

His dark brows furrowed, and his eyelashes fluttered before he opened his eyes to see a somewhat familiar ceiling.

"Boss, you're awake?" Wang Qiang, having just seen the water-element user out, walked into the room and saw his boss staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Wang Qiang?" Ke Yuandao looked at the man with the worried expression on his face and spoke calmly.

"Yes, Boss, I'm here. Do you want to eat something? The doctor said you haven't had a proper rest in a month," Wang Qiang asked.

At his reminder, Ke Yuandao felt the hunger in his stomach and nodded. "Thank you for the trouble."

"It's no trouble at all, Boss, just wait here." Wang Qiang rushed to the door and shouted to someone outside: "Bring the hot porridge in! The Boss needs to drink some porridge!"

Soon, a bowl of hot porridge was brought in.

Ke Yuandao finished three large bowls in one go, but after eating, his face showed signs of exhaustion again.

"Boss, don't worry. Just focus on recovering your strength, and we will continue to look for Miss Meimei," Wang Qiang said.

"Then I’ll leave it to you all," Ke Yuandao did not push himself and nodded.

Wang Qiang took the bowl and went outside. As soon as he stepped out, he was surrounded by the others: "Boss, how is he?"

"He's fine, probably just too tired," Wang Qiang said, scratching his head. "I just feel like the Boss is a bit different."

"Miss Meimei hasn't been found, the Boss must be very heartbroken," one team member said.

"Exactly, let's keep working hard to find her."

The soundproofing of the villa wasn't great, and the voices from outside carried clearly into the room. Ke Yuandao, who had been lying on the bed with his eyes closed, opened them and asked, "Is Meimei really the culprit behind this apocalypse?"

"Yes, Mr. Ke!" An indifferent voice rang out in the empty room, devoid of anyone else. "We at the Time Administration sensed that something was wrong with this world and specifically sent me to assist you. Only by killing Xia Meimei can this world return to how it was before."