Chapter 174
Forty years of apocalypse.
Everyone present—men and women, young and old—had, at some point, dreamed of the day a voice would announce, “Your apocalypse is over.”
They had imagined themselves overcome with joy, bursting into tears, hugging loved ones in disbelief, staring into each other’s eyes over and over…
But when the moment actually arrived, everyone’s first reaction was—
Blank stupor.
“W-what?”
“The apocalypse is over… really? This isn’t a joke? Why does it feel so unreal?”
“Is it because of Boss Jian?”
“Pinch me. I must still be dreaming.”
Yes, after hoping for it so many times, this disembodied voice had just casually declared that the forty years of blood and tears, forty years of humanity struggling to survive—were over?
While most were still frozen in shock, a lone figure suddenly rushed out from the crowd, flipped off the sky, and roared:
“Who the hell are you?! Who says the apocalypse is over?! I DON’T AGREE!!!”
Everyone: “…”
Everyone: “Huh??”
The man was Li Zhou.
To be precise, it was Li Zhou with his hair singed off, half his leg crippled, having survived only by sacrificing all his lackeys as human shields.
Throughout the apocalypse, he and his gang had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to make a grand, domineering entrance—one where they could crush these “traitors,” seize the porridge stall that could repair cores, and reign supreme.
But Li Zhou waited… and waited.
From drooling over the pumpkin and seafood porridge, to enduring the mutated Devourer’s acid rain (using his underlings as meat shields), to the sky descending, the heavens and earth nearly merging—
His big moment never came.
When the world seemed on the verge of collapse, he, like many others, thought it was truly the end.
But then he heard something worse than the apocalypse.
“The apocalypse… is OVER?!!!” Li Zhou’s eyes were bloodshot, his expression deranged. “No! I won’t allow it! I’m S-rank mercenary Li Zhou! I have the most powerful lightning-type core! I REFUSE TO LET IT END—”
Before the apocalypse, Li Zhou had been a petty thug—a dropout who dabbled in theft, even serving time in prison. Back then, life had felt meaningless.
But the apocalypse changed everything. He awakened an A-rank ability, a genetic enhancement that extended his lifespan—which was why, forty years later, he still looked like he was in his twenties.
Thanks to his power, he rose to prominence in Eastern Base, enjoying privileges, respect as Mu Dongsheng’s right-hand man, and first pick of all resources.
But it wasn’t enough.
Now, after finally stealing Mu Dongsheng’s ability and becoming Eastern Base’s true leader—his golden days had barely begun! And they were telling him the apocalypse was over?!
UNACCEPTABLE!!!
Yet, against the will of the heavens, mortal protests meant nothing.
Mu Dongsheng’s eyelids fluttered weakly, and at the same time, the red-haired baby in his arms opened its eyes.
The infant’s tiny fists clenched slightly as it gazed at the sky, its pupils glowing. The next moment—
A surge of warmth spread through everyone’s dantian.
Then—
One after another, orbs of light emerged from their bodies, rising into the air.
“That’s… my ability core!” someone gasped, staring at the light leaving them.
Amidst the stunned exclamations, everyone watched as the cores that once belonged to them ascended into the starry sky, merging with the cosmos.
Strength-enhancing, sensory, healing—all abilities vanished from the world.
Well, if the apocalypse was over, they wouldn’t need them anymore.
After relying on their powers for so long, many thought losing them would feel unbearable.
But instead—
They felt lighter.
No more bloodshed. No more watching comrades die.
From now on, they would rebuild their homes with their own hands.
People turned to one another, slowly clasping hands.
“…”
Li Zhou, however, wasn’t so lucky.
As his core was extracted, the genetic enhancements rapidly faded. His body withered, revealing his true age—hair turning gray, back hunching, wrinkles carving into his face.
“No… NO! You can’t do this to me… NO—” He trembled, clawing at his sagging skin.
But no one cared.
Then—
A distant rumble shook the ground, growing louder.
The celebration froze.
Li Zhou’s blurry vision barely focused on the horizon before he burst into manic laughter:
“Hahaha! The apocalypse’s over? Yeah right! Look—here comes the aberration horde! With no powers, you’re all DEAD! Hahaha—HAHAHA!!”
At first, no one believed his ravings.
But when they looked closely in the direction of the sound, their hearts skipped a beat.
What came into view was:
A horde of aberrations.
A vast tide of aberrations, just like every previous devastating invasion, surging menacingly from the distance. Those familiar with the geography would realize they were coming from the direction of Eastern Base’s Nursery. Clearly visible were high-level aberrations—Voidwalkers, Hundred Ghost Nian, Abyssal Mimic Butterflies…
They moved fast. In the blink of an eye, they had crossed the distance and arrived nearby.
Everyone’s faces instantly turned pale, and many legs gave out beneath them.
They had all lost their abilities now. How could they possibly fight back against so many high-level aberrations?
“Was the end of the apocalypse just a lie?”
“Heh, was it all just to lower our guard so they could wipe us out in one go…?”
“Wait, don’t despair yet—look again!”
Murong Miao suddenly shouted, “Those aberrations… don’t seem to be coming for us!”
Half-doubting, everyone turned to look—
And sure enough.
When the aberrations passed by the mercenaries, they didn’t even pause. Not a single glance was spared as they rushed past, ravenous, heading straight for—
The Simple Porridge Stall with its lantern still lit.
Everyone: “???”
The mercenaries huddled together, trembling, cautiously observing the aberration horde. And upon closer inspection, they noticed something else.
At the very front of the horde was a little girl.
She was delicate and adorable, with big, dark eyes, her jet-black hair tied into two little buns. Dressed in a blue Daoist robe, she sat majestically atop an Abyssal Mimic Butterfly, commanding the aberrations with great authority:
“Charge! My boss’s porridge stall is right ahead!—Hey, no cutting in line, one at a time… Wait, holy shit, where’s my boss?!”
A… little girl?
How could a little girl appear in a place like this?
And… all these aberrations were actually obeying her?!
Everyone rubbed their eyes, wondering if they were still dreaming.
But the reality before them was undeniable.
The scene was almost too surreal:
A group of massive, high-risk aberrations—each capable of annihilating an entire base on their own—were lining up obediently in front of the Simple Porridge Stall under the little girl’s command.
Voidwalkers lowered their heads. Hundred Ghost Nian retracted their writhing tentacles. The Desert Wood Wraith even chopped itself in half just to squeeze into the line.
Hu Danggui nodded in satisfaction. “Good, you all know the rules! Did everyone bring enough money?”
The aberrations nodded obediently.
“Alright! Pumpkin porridge and seafood porridge, three gold coins per bowl. Line up in order and come get your porridge!”
…And so, a jaw-dropping scene unfolded.
The aberrations waited patiently in line. No matter how eagerly they craned their necks or drooled in anticipation, not a single one cut in line. After receiving their porridge, they squatted nearby, savoring it carefully.
Their massive bodies holding tiny bowls of porridge looked almost comical.
Among them was a Wasteland Revenant, its enormous skeleton hunched awkwardly into a small ball as it cradled its bowl—the porridge was literally smaller than the gaps between its teeth, not even enough to “fill the cracks.”
Yet, the Wasteland Revenant ate with reverent care, taking tiny sips, savoring each mouthful, even smacking its lips.
Meanwhile, Hu Danggui single-handedly took on the roles of shopkeeper, server, and line enforcer, soon sweating from the effort. But seeing how well-behaved the aberrations were, she nodded approvingly. “Not bad…”
The reason Hu Danggui was here was simple.
While Jian Yunlan, Taotie, and Niu Tou were setting up stalls in Eastern Base and the Desert of Death, she had been undercover in the Nursery, completing its side quest. Beneath its peaceful facade, the Nursery hid dark secrets—not a single real child was inside, only high-level aberrations in disguise!
After painstakingly completing the quest and taming all the aberrations lurking in the Nursery, she promised to bring them to the Simple Porridge Stall for a meal.
But when she finally led them there, Jian Yunlan and Taotie were nowhere to be found…
Left with no choice, Hu Danggui had to step up as the temporary boss.
Wiping her sweat, she sighed as she watched the happily slurping aberrations. “Sigh, I’ll finish up here quickly and then go find Master and the others.”
Suddenly, a timid voice spoke up beside her:
“Um, excuse me… Sorry to bother you, but is this porridge only for aberrations… or can humans line up too…?”
Hu Danggui froze, then turned to look.
The mercenaries looked at the porridge with longing, then at the surrounding aberrations with fear.
They seemed to hesitate for a long time, but in the end, they overcame their fear and walked up to Hu Danggui to ask the question.
…
…It was only later that people learned: the pollutant “Yun Wen” was the core of all pollutants. When Yun Wen lost all its aggression and reverted to its original state, the other aberrations no longer had any reason to attack humans.
Starlight sprinkled down from the night sky.
On the ground, people spontaneously lit bonfires.
In the ruins of the post-apocalyptic world, the scene was clearly divided into two sides.
On the left were the terrifying aberrations, shrinking their massive bodies, holding their porridge bowls obediently as they ate.
On the right were the surviving human mercenaries, huddled together with family and friends, wrapped in blankets around the bonfires, holding steaming, fragrant porridge as they discussed plans to rebuild their base.
When Mu Dongsheng woke up, the first thing he smelled was the rich aroma of seafood porridge—Boss Jian’s seafood porridge. The familiar scent jolted him awake instantly.
Faint laughter and chatter from Squad 11 reached his ears.
Plop. A snowflake landed on his cheek, but was quickly brushed away by a small hand.
Mu Dongsheng opened his eyes.
His blurred vision gradually focused, revealing a red-haired boy with a youthful face smiling at him. “Hello, my name is Yun Wen. Nice to meet you.”
After a long pause, Mu Dongsheng reached out and took the boy’s hand.
“I’m Mu Dongsheng,” he replied.
“…”
The first winter shared by humans and aberrations had begun.
