ATDIWR Chapter 138

Chapter 138: The End, A New Era

Helping humanity?

They must be mistaken. Zombies and humans are born enemies; one feeds on the other, and the other uses the core within the other’s brain as a means of advancement.

How could zombies possibly help them? They wouldn’t even dare dream of such a thing.

Suddenly, the light screen shook violently, as if detaching from the wearer’s wrist, cutting across the sky, then rapidly descending, finally landing somewhere unknown, but by chance, at an angle that allowed a view of the entire interior situation.

It really was zombies. The not-so-small interior was filled with dozens of high-level zombies. These zombies were organized and disciplined, their objectives clear, and their abilities powerful, pushing back the people of Y Base step by step.

However, among these zombies, one was particularly outstanding. Regardless of how high their ability levels were, the other zombies were all messy and barely clothed.

Only the zombie at the end was neatly dressed, the entire body clean, so clean it looked like it had just bathed. Although his hair was a bit long, it wasn’t greasy and was tied in a ponytail at the back of his head, looking quite handsome. He even wore a pair of small white shoes on his feet, which were cleaner than those worn by humans, as white as snow.

“Look at the one at the end, is he really a zombie?” Zhou Qin and the others noticed this unique zombie.

“He is.” Ji An carefully watched the zombie. “Although he is very clean, looking even cleaner than some humans, he is definitely a zombie. Pay attention to his movements.”

That zombie was leaning lazily against an operating table. Originally, this should have been a very cool and rebellious, lazy yet unrestrained pose. But due to the stiffness of zombie joints, this zombie’s movements appeared very rigid and mechanical, like a mechanical puppet.

At this moment, the group had already run out of the command center and reached the base of the space elevator. As long as they got on the space elevator, they could ascend to the artificial planet.

Owen stopped, as if struck by a stasis spell, motionless, her eyes fixed on the zombie in the light screen.

“Owen, get on the space elevator first, there’s no time.” Ji An urged.

But Owen seemed not to hear. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, tears blurring her vision.

“It’s him, it really is him.” Owen’s voice trembled, large drops of tears falling.

“Who?” Ji An asked.

“Ruanlan, Du Ruanlan!” Owen suddenly shouted loudly at the light screen: “Du Ruanlan, it’s you, I know it’s you! Turn your head, look at me, Du Ruanlan!”

Owen’s heartbroken cry was transmitted through the light screen to the other side. The zombie’s figure, with its back to them, suddenly stiffened. Even though a zombie’s body was inherently stiff, it was still possible to see that he had become even more rigid.

“Boss, I know you miss Boss Du. But Boss Du… even if Boss Du was exceptionally talented and really turned into a zombie, zombies have no memories from before, and they can’t understand human language.” Jiang Fuzhong said painfully: “I miss Boss Du very much too, but I know Boss Du can’t come back.”

Owen shook her head and pushed Jiang Fuzhong away. “You’re spouting nonsense! Ruanlan is so powerful, he’s different. I would recognize anyone but him, this zombie must be Du Ruanlan!”

Ji An and Gu Jinsheng didn’t spend much time with Du Ruanlan, so they really couldn’t recognize someone just from a back view.

Owen shouted at the light screen: “Du Ruanlan, don’t pretend you can’t hear! Those messages were all sent by you, right? Don’t deny it, besides you, no one knows our secret code words.”

The zombie, with its back to them, acted as if it really didn’t understand, not turning around. Only when a Power User broke through the zombie horde to attack him, did he swing his arm to release his ability and repulse the attacker.

“Du Ruanlan, don’t play dead, turn around!”

No matter how heartbreakingly Owen cried out, the zombie remained indifferent.

Jiang Fuzhong said: “Boss, it won’t be Boss Du. Boss Du cared for you so much, if it were really him, he wouldn’t bear to see you in such pain!”

Owen fiercely wiped her face and said angrily: “Du Ruanlan, you’re playing dead, huh? Fine! I’m going to find you.”

“Boss!”

“Owen, don’t be impulsive.” Ji An said.

“I’m not being impulsive. When The Apocalypse came, Du Ruanlan and I swore to heaven and earth that we would live and die together in this life. Now it’s just fulfilling the promise we made.”

Owen wiped away her tears, frighteningly calm. “You go, don’t worry about me. Since I know where he is and that he’s still alive, I will venture into the Dragon’s Pool and Tiger’s Den.”

The figure on the other end of the light screen became even more rigid. Owen took out her mecha.

Jiang Fuzhong urgently said: “Whoever you are on the other side, if you can really understand human language, please turn around and show yourself, let my boss give up. Otherwise, she will really fly over to find you.”

The zombie clearly understood. He slowly turned around, and that face that Owen had longed for in her dreams appeared directly on the light screen.

“Boss Du!”

“Du Ruanlan!”

Ji An and the others exclaimed in unison.

The tears Owen had managed to stop once again fell like broken strings of pearls.

“I knew it was you, I knew it must be you, no one else knows our secret besides you.” Owen cried uncontrollably, “Since you’re still alive and remember me, why didn’t you come to find me? Do you know how I’ve been living during this time?”

Du Ruanlan slowly shook his head. He opened his mouth and let out a hoarse, unpleasant roar like a wild beast.

Owen’s expression froze for a moment, then her tears fell even more fiercely.

“How could this happen? How is this possible? No, you’re lying to me!” Owen didn’t want to believe it. Du Ruanlan was standing there alive, he remembered her, so how could he have truly become a zombie?

Du Ruanlan reached out a hand, as if to wipe Owen’s tears through the light screen, but everyone’s eyes were fixed on his fingernails.

Du Ruanlan’s fingernails were very long, appearing greenish-black, which was one of the unique physical characteristics of zombies.

Du Ruanlan seemed to make a bitter smile, but Ji An and the others couldn’t see it clearly because zombies’ facial nerves were underdeveloped and couldn’t make subtle expressions.

Du Ruanlan pulled a pair of nail clippers from his clothing pocket. He awkwardly held the clippers and tried to trim his nails.

But his nails seemed to have a will of their own; as soon as he clipped them, they grew back wildly.

Owen shook her head. “Stop, don’t clip anymore, it’s enough.”

Du Ruanlan stopped his movements. His deep eyes looked at Owen, filled with surging sadness.

Owen cried: “It’s okay, it doesn’t matter even if you’ve become a zombie. We once made a vow, no matter what we turn into, we will always stay together and never abandon each other.”

This time it was Du Ruanlan who shook his head.

“I don’t care, I’m going to find you right now. At worst, I’ll become a zombie with you.”

Du Ruanlan panicked. He searched everywhere for the smart device’s location and finally found it on a very tall machine. Du Ruanlan leaped lightly, and the zombie’s developed motor abilities propelled him up, allowing him to easily reach the smart device.

Du Ruanlan tapped on the smart device with his fingernail, and soon a string of text was sent to Owen’s smart device.

“Don’t look for me, promise me you’ll leave.”

“I won’t. I know you’re still here, so how could I leave?”

“Leave.” Du Ruanlan kept sending these two words, over and over, each time representing his determination.

Just then, a scream came from behind. Du Ruanlan turned around. The person who screamed was Charles.

Charles coughed up blood, and his arm was scratched by a zombie, blood pouring out.

Charles didn’t seem nervous, his eyes filled with even greater madness.

He dialed a phone number and gave his order: “Launch missiles! All of you, launch missiles at Jing Shi Base, right now, immediately.”

Du Ruanlan immediately sent Owen another message, “Leave, quickly!”

Owen didn’t want to go, but Du Ruanlan’s eyes were full of pleading. Owen closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, I broke my promise. For the rest of my life, I can’t stay with you.”

Owen’s tears burst forth. She lifted her foot and stepped onto the space elevator. Ji An and Gu Jinsheng followed immediately, and the space elevator slowly ascended.

When they reached the artificial planet, Du Ruanlan’s face suddenly disappeared from the screen. The artificial planet temporarily had no network, unable to connect externally.

“Log in,” Ji An said softly.

Owen took one last look back at Earth before logging into the artificial planet.

Wan Xueying helped them up one by one and then asked: “Boss, how is Earth?”

“Y Base has allied with Charles and has already launched missiles at Jing Shi Base.”

“Owen, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Owen was crying uncontrollably, unable to say a word.

Ji An explained: “The person who has been helping us, the one secretly sending messages to Owen, was Du Ruanlan.”

Wan Xueying asked: “Where is he? Why didn’t he come up?”

“He has already turned into a zombie. Although we don’t know why Du Ruanlan still retained his human memories, he has indeed become a zombie.”

Wan Xueying was stunned.

Jiang Fuzhong looked at Owen and comforted her: “Boss, please don’t be sad. Looking at Boss Du, even if he became a zombie, he’s a Zombie King. He’s not living any worse than when he was human, he’s very powerful, I saw his zombie subordinates listened to him.”

“Mental-type,” Ji An said.

The zombie ability that Du Ruanlan awakened should be Mental-type. Only a Mental-type Zombie King could so effortlessly control the zombie horde under his command.

Ji An and Gu Jinsheng exchanged glances, both thinking of the spiritual spring water they had given Du Ruanlan before Gu Jinsheng turned into a zombie. The spiritual spring had the effect of stimulating Mental-type abilities; Little Stone and Little Rose both awakened Mental-type abilities after drinking the spiritual spring water.

It was normal for Gu Jinsheng to awaken as a Mental-type zombie, they just didn’t know why he still retained his memory.

Suddenly, the artificial planet shook violently, like an earthquake was happening.

“What’s going on?” Wan Xueying asked.

Ji An checked the satellite monitoring equipment and discovered that the artificial planet seemed to be slowly rising.

“This is bad. Y Base destroyed the space elevator. Without the support of the space elevator, the artificial planet is being affected by gravity and starting to ascend.”

Kong Zhongcheng was terrified. “What will happen then?”

“I don’t know,” Ji An shook his head.

The artificial planet was constantly rising due to the effect of gravity. It drifted in space for an unknown amount of time. When the residents of the artificial planet had adapted to their planet’s constant wandering, it seemed to find its place and stopped.

At this point, the artificial planet was nearly four hundred thousand kilometers away from Earth.

Humanity settled on the new planet, beginning a new era.