End of the World Cycle

The world today is full of zombies and order has long been paralyzed. All the major rescue stations in the past have become bases ruled by superpowers. The South China Rescue Station that Zhou Lili was going to has now become the South China Base.

Xie Qin had an impression of this base. In the third year of the apocalypse, it was forced to move south due to the tsunami and merged into the third base. The base chief of the South China base was not described in detail in the book. Xie Qin only knew that his name was Jiang Zheng, and he should be a first-level water-based superpower. He was not the most powerful superpower in the base. But Jiang Zheng was the deputy director of the police station in the base city before the apocalypse. Three of his subordinates evolved into superpowers after the rainy season. Xie Qin was not sure what their specific superpowers were.

She just hoped that there was a special power among them that she could use, so that this long journey would not be in vain.

Xie Qin didn't stop too much along the way. There were a lot of zombies along the way. He just kept chopping and stopping and heading straight to the South China Base. Zhou Lili was very excited along the way. The suitcase was filled with sweaters knitted for his son during this period, and Ultraman toys that he brought along when he followed Xie Qin to collect supplies.

After the snow melted, the road conditions improved, but the roads in many places were broken, so we had to take detours or manually fill them up, which took a lot of time. We encountered several zombie waves again, and we arrived at the entrance of the South China Base on the eighteenth day after stopping and walking.

The South China Base was surrounded by a three-meter-high brick wall. Although it was a bit crude, it was still effective in resisting the first-order zombies. However, the surrounding area should have been cleaned up. There were no zombies within one kilometer of the base.

The main gate was made of cement and was about four meters high. The two large iron doors were open. The width and height should be just enough for a bus to pass through. There was a small door next to the main gate, but it was closed. There was a sign on the small door saying "Registration Office". I guess it was the place where people who came to the base on foot registered to enter.

There was a small room similar to a security booth at the door. Two men were sitting inside. They were not superpowered, but they looked very strong. They looked at Xie Qin and her friends' RV with vigilant eyes. As Xie Qin and her friends approached, the two men walked out of the security booth. Xie Qin could see clearly that these men were armed with guns.

Xie Qin didn't meet anyone else along the way. He thought that he and his group were the only strangers who came to the base during this period. That's why the guard at the door was so alert.

Zhou Lili got off the car to negotiate, and when she came back she told Xie Qin that this place no longer rescued outsiders. If you want to enter the base to seek asylum, you have to pay 10 kilograms of food per person, and you can exchange it for a base permit. You can enter and exit the base freely, but you have to take care of your own food and lodging after entering.

Xie Qin asked her mother to park the car on the side of the road outside the base and did not go in. They did not know what was going on inside, and after discussion, only Zhou Lili and Xie Qin entered the base.

Zhou Lili carried her own suitcase, and Xie Qin carried 20 kilograms of rice.

The South China Base is located on the top of the South China Mountain. Although it is a mountain, the top of the mountain is very flat and open. Therefore, there are many people and it is also large. After entering the gate, there are special people to check their bodies. Zhou Lili is a talkative person, and she also knows the general situation of the base during the gap between the physical examinations.

There are now 30,000 survivors in the base. There are eleven superpowers. In addition to the base leader, the remaining ten superpowers led ten teams to collect supplies. Each team has 300 people, which is the armed force of the entire base. They are all young and strong, and they are all brave enough to kill zombies, so this place is still safe.

The rest of the people, regardless of gender, must perform sacrifices at the base on weekdays in exchange for points. During the rest of the time, they can also organize themselves to go out to find supplies, but they need to take care of their own safety.

Nowadays, the zombie infection time is very fast. Basically, if you are bitten or scratched, you will turn into a zombie within 30 seconds, so the base is not afraid of people who have been bitten sneaking in.

If they wanted to find someone, they had to go to the population registration office in the central square of the base, which was of course not free. Two points were required for each inquiry. The points redemption office was also in the central square, so the two of them planned to ask for directions and went to the central square.

After entering, I found that it was indeed large, somewhat like a small town in the 1970s and 1980s. On both sides of the flat charcoal slag road were white and blue construction floor houses. Most of the small houses were occupied by a family. The doors were closed, and some of them only had small stalls selling things outside. They were basically some clothes or small accessories. After walking a few steps, a boy of about 13 or 14 years old trotted up to the two of them.

"Are you two new here? Do you need someone to lead the way? You can go anywhere. I'm familiar with it. You can ask me for information or find someone. I know everything. This place is big. You won't lose out if you ask me. It only takes five points." The boy was very thin, and his clothes were a little worn, but his face and hands were clean. He spoke in a cheerful voice, which was not offensive at all.

Just as Zhou Lili was about to refuse, Xie Qin had already taken out a first-level corpse crystal from his pocket.

"Here, take it. Follow us and run errands all day long."

"Okay!" The young man's big eyes instantly widened and became sparkling. When he took the corpse crystal, he carefully opened his outer cotton coat and put it in the innermost pocket.

"My last name is Qiao, Qiao Zhishuo. What do you call me, beautiful lady?" Adhering to the idea that whoever pays is the boss, the young man walked to the side of Xie Qin happily, not too close nor too far away, half a step ahead of her.

"My last name is Xie."

"Hello, sister. Who is this?"

"My surname is Zhou."

"Hello, Sister Zhou."

"Xiao Qiao, do you know what special powers those psychics in the base have now?" Xie Qin did not speak, but Zhou Lili helped to inquire.

"Of course. Our base commander is Jiang Zheng, a second-level water-type psychic. Some time ago, we got the news that corpse crystals can be upgraded to other powers, so several psychics in the base have upgraded. There are two deputy base commanders, Lei Jun, who has the same name as him and is a second-level lightning-type psychic. There is also a female named Xu Wanqing, who is also a second-level water-type psychic. There are ten psychics left. Three are strength-type, two are wood-type, two are earth-type, and three are speed-type."

When Xie Qin heard that there were three power systems, her eyes lit up instantly. This trip would not be in vain. This guy knew quite a lot, much more than what they had just found out.

"What is the current exchange rate for corpse crystals?" Xie Qin asked calmly.

"The first-level corpse crystal is 20 points, the second-level is , and the third-level is . One point can be exchanged for one kilogram of food. As far as I know, this is the price in all major bases. But if you have a third-level corpse crystal, you can go to the inner city and directly find psychics to exchange supplies, and you can get more. So, sister, what you just gave me is enough food for our family of four for several days." The young man looked at Xie Qin with a smile.

"Inner city? What's the situation in the base now?"

"The current base is divided into the inner city and the outer city. We are now in the outer city. Including the central square, everything is in the outer city. The inner city is at the highest point of the base and is surrounded by iron plates. There are only 40 villas inside. All of them are inhabited by people with special abilities and their families. There are also some capable people. It is the safest place in our entire base. I have never been in there, but I heard that it is full of fruits and vegetables, and life there is better than before the end of the world." Qiao Zhishuo swallowed his saliva when he said this.

"Can we get into that place?" Xie Qin only cared about whether he had the chance to get in touch with those power-type psychics.

"Of course not. Unless you can afford to rent the villa inside."

"How to rent?"

"Use points. The housing management office has prices. There should be some vacancies in the villas. For example, the single-room board houses we saw on the street cost 10 points a month.

There are slums in the West City. You don't need to earn points. As long as you can occupy a spot, you can build a shed and live there. But you can't take other people's spots. If you are reported for fighting, robbery, etc., you will be thrown out.

There are small suites on four floors in the city center. Three bedrooms and one living room are 80 points per month, and two bedrooms and one living room are 50 points per month. They are all new houses, built later by the base construction team. The quality is very good.

If you need to rent a house, you can come to me. My cousin works at the Housing Management Office. After all, other people make money from the agency fee, but we are destined to be together. Right, sister?" Qiao Zhishuo said to Xie Qin with a flattering look on his face. Xie Qin just nodded slightly and said nothing more.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the three of them arrived at the central square and headed straight to the points exchange place. Xie Qin took out a second-level corpse crystal and exchanged it for 200 points for his pass.

"Let's go find someone first." To be honest, Xie Qin didn't want Zhou Lili to find her family. But she had to admit that Xie Qin already liked having Zhou Lili around. Xie Qin admired her cooking skills and other abilities.

If her family can't be found, Zhou Lili can stay with me forever. This is the best.

There was only one window at the population registration office in the hall, and a young woman was sitting inside, almost dozing off. Zhou Lili went up to greet her, and the woman was stunned for a moment, and only sat down after seeing clearly that someone had arrived.

"Hello, what business do you want to handle?" The woman smiled professionally, and one could tell at a glance that she must have been doing a similar job before the end of the world.

"Looking for someone." Zhou Lili handed the note to the woman. There were four names written on it: his father-in-law, mother-in-law, husband, and child.

"Looking up a person's name is five points. But if you find a duplicate, you will get three more points for the screening."

"Then check the last name, Liu Ruiyang." That is the child's name. It is relatively uncommon and the probability of having the same name as someone else is low.

"OK, just a second."

The woman turned on the computer. It seemed that few people came to this place. It took a while to get the results.

"Ma'am, there is this person in the base who is four years old. He lives in the slums of West City. We don't have a specific address for that place. You can only find it yourself."

"Poor...slums" Zhou Lili's heart almost broke when she heard that her son was in the slums.

Xie Qin could see that Zhou Lili was distressed. She had also thought that with Zhou Lili's ability and conversation, her family background before the end of the world should not be too bad. The family that someone with a similar appearance and figure would marry should not be bad either.

Her son was the only child of two families, and he must have been loved by everyone since he was a child. Just now on the road, she heard Qiao Zhishuo talk about how bad the environment in the slums was. At this moment, Zhou Lili wanted to go to her son immediately.

Xie Qinduo took two corpse crystals, asked Qiao Zhishuo to get Liu Ruiyang's photo, and found four or five children about his age to go to the slums to look for him. When they arrived at the entrance of the slums, an unpleasant smell hit their noses.

All I could see were tattered tents, the better ones were made of wooden planks. The tents were close together, densely packed with people. The roads were not paved with charcoal slag like other places, but were all dirt roads. The ground was muddy due to the melting snow. The air smelled of mold.

Zhou Lili, who was used to a good life, felt a little uncomfortable. Xie Qin took out a mask from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Lili. Zhou Lili shook her head and indicated that she didn't want it. When she thought about her baby living here, her eyes became very hot.

Several people went door to door asking questions. After searching for an entire afternoon, they finally found the man in a tent in the corner of the west city near the wall.

The man was found by Qiao Zhishuo's friend, who ran over anxiously and called Zhou Lili. Zhou Lili couldn't stop crying as she listened to the young man's description.

"There were only three people living there, an old couple with a child. The old man was half paralyzed in bed, very pitiful."

Zhou Lili felt very disappointed when she heard this. Her husband was not here. Did it mean that...

It was already dark in the tent, so Zhou Lili knocked on the door with a flashlight.

"Who is it?" The voice inside was hoarse and low. Although it had changed a lot, Zhou Lili still recognized it as the voice of her father-in-law.

"Dad, it's me."

"Lili? Zhuangzhuang! Go open the door quickly, it's mom, it's mom."

"Mom!" The child's voice was sharp and powerful, calling out for his mother. The door was opened, and Zhou Lili finally saw her child. He had grown taller, and was wearing a thick cotton coat, which was worn but very clean.

The little face is pale and has some flesh on it, so it looks like it's not hungry.

"Mother."

"Baby! Mommy's sweet baby." Zhou Lili held her child, tears streaming down her face. The child also cried, murmuring that he missed his mother. The old man inside did not speak. In the light, Xie Qin also saw the old man half-sitting on the bed wiping his tears.