Chapter 178 Ending
Late spring of the fifth year of the new era.
Northwest New City District, Residential Area No. 7.
Morning light filters through the leaves of newly planted sycamore trees, casting dappled shadows on the walkway.
The air was filled with the scents of grass, earth, and the faint aroma of bread—the newly opened bakery on the street corner had just opened for business.
Ruan Ning pushed open the white fence gate of the small courtyard. The courtyard was not large, but it was well-maintained.
One corner is a small vegetable patch tended by my grandparents, and the other corner has a grape trellis with rattan tables and chairs placed under it.
The fire was dozing in the shade under the grape trellis. Hearing the noise, it twitched its ears, peeked out, and then lazily closed its eyes again.
It is now the size of a large dog, its golden fur gleaming softly in the morning light, less ferocious on the battlefield and more leisurely like a domesticated animal.
Grandma's voice came from inside the house: "Ningning, breakfast is on the table, eat it while it's hot. Your grandpa went to the community center to play chess."
"I understand," Ruan Ning replied and went inside.
The restaurant windows were open, and a gentle morning breeze was blowing.
On the table were warm soy milk, fried eggs, and perfectly toasted bread slices.
The electronic screen on the wall was playing the morning news, showing the opening ceremony of the seawater desalination plant in the Donghai New City area. Well-dressed people were cutting the ribbon with standard smiles.
The announcer calmly introduced the progress of reconstruction in various places and the latest statistics on the rate of newborns' mental arousal.
Five years. The world is moving towards "normal" at a near-steady pace.
With the cleanroom network operating continuously, global pollution levels have fallen to historic lows.
Zombies and most high-threat mutated creatures became specimens in textbooks and museums. The city was rebuilt from the ruins, and new transportation, energy, and communication networks gradually covered the main settlements.
Superpowers, which once meant survival capital and weapons of war in the apocalypse, are quietly changing in nature.
People with psychic abilities (now more often referred to as "high-psychic individuals") are highly sought after in fields such as scientific research, education, and precision manufacturing.
The abilities of the Wood element (Nature Affinity) shine in agriculture and ecological restoration.
Fire-based and metal-based superpowers, which are geared towards combat, are increasingly being used in engineering construction, energy development, and security defense. The once clearly defined classification of superpower levels is gradually being replaced by more refined mental strength and specialized precision assessments.
More profound changes are coming in the next generation.
Children whose parents possess special abilities are far more likely to awaken powerful spiritual abilities than ordinary people.
New social structures and classes are slowly emerging from these differences, but at least for now, the coalition parliament and local governments are still trying to maintain a superficial balance and equal opportunity through education and resource allocation.
After finishing her breakfast, Ruan Ning cleaned up the dishes.
She changed into a simple cotton shirt and trousers, and casually tied her long hair up.
The person in the mirror has a peaceful gaze, but the sharpness and tension that belonged to a hunter in the apocalypse have been worn away by five years of peaceful life, leaving only a calm and collected demeanor.
She walked into the yard, and Da Huo immediately stood up, flicked its tail, and followed her.
"Let's go for a walk by the lake." Ruan Ning patted Da Huo's head.
As I walked through the neat residential streets, the neighbors I encountered nodded and greeted me warmly.
There were young mothers pushing strollers slowly, children walking together to the newly built school, and elderly people pruning flowers and plants in their own small gardens. Everything exuded a sense of orderly and thriving daily life.
Tranquil Lake in the west of the city is one of the landscape projects in the new urban area. The lake water is drawn from a purified underground water system, and the banks are planted with willows and flowers. There are not many people by the lake in the early morning, only a few elderly people doing morning exercises and students sketching.
Ruan Ning walked slowly along the lake shore, with Da Huo quietly following half a step behind.
She gazed at the shimmering lake, the outline of the new city clearly visible against the pale blue sky in the distance.
The institute's work officially ended last month, and most of the non-sensitive data from the "Origin" project has been archived and transferred to the new Civilization Reconstruction Archives.
The first batch of hardcover editions of "Records and Reflections of Six Years in the End Times," which she helped compile, has also been published.
It seems that everything that needed to be done has been done.
Ruan Ning continued walking forward. Da Huo rubbed his nose against her palm.
Zhou Min and Lin Yan are still at the Special Operations Academy, but their teaching duties have increased, and they have less fieldwork. Shen Yan has become extremely busy in the technical department, dealing with piles of data and new purification equipment all day long; it's said he's been going on blind dates lately.
Everyone has found their place in the new era and is trying to adapt.
At noon, Ruan Ning went to her maternal grandparents' house for lunch.
At the dinner table, Grandma chattered on about the latest happenings in the community: whose child had developed a keen sense of perception and was admitted to a top middle school ahead of schedule; whose elderly relative had used their retirement pension to lease a small orchard outside the city and was managing it successfully using their wood-based abilities.
Her grandfather served her food while nagging her not to stay alone all the time, but to go out more and make new friends.
After dinner, Ruan Ning helped clean up the kitchen. Outside the window, the sun shone brightly, and the neighbor's children were laughing and chasing each other in the yard, playing a new kind of game where they controlled small balls with their mental powers.
"Grandma," Ruan Ning asked suddenly as she wiped the dishes, "Do you think things are... alright as they are now?"
Grandma stopped what she was doing, looked at her, and said gently, "What's wrong with that? We don't have to live in fear, we can eat hot meals, sleep soundly, and watch our children grow up safely. This is the kind of good life we could never have dreamed of before."
She paused, then took Ruan Ning's hand in hers; her palm was rough but warm. "Ningning, the past is the past. You've done enough for today. It's time to look forward."
Ruan Ning remained silent, then nodded.
In the evening, she carried the fire to a low observation deck on the edge of the new city.
From here, you can see most of the new city and also the outline of the old site in the distance—parts of which have been transformed into memorial parks and museums, while others have been completely demolished and integrated into the new urban plan.
As the sun sets, it bathes the city in a warm, golden-red hue.
Smoke curls from chimneys, and lights come on one by one. Traffic flows smoothly on the streets, and occasionally, the latest public transport boats, using anti-gravity technology and mental assistance to navigate, glide silently overhead.
There were no howls of zombies, no flashes of energy explosions, no tension of life and death. There was only a city striving to heal and grow, and its people, some busy, some leisurely.
Big Fire squatted down beside her, making satisfied snoring sounds in its throat.
Ruan Ning stretched out her hand, palm up. A wisp of extremely fine, cool moisture condensed at her fingertips, transforming into a small, delicate hexagonal ice crystal, refracting tiny sparkles in the setting sun. She watched the ice crystal slowly melt, the water droplets falling into her palm, slightly cool.
The superpower is still there, but it's no longer used for fighting and killing. It has become a part of life, as natural as breathing.
She recalled the last words of the central ruins: "...the flame of civilization has been rekindled."
Perhaps this is what it looks like when a spark ignites.
In the distance, the lighthouse in the central square of the new city lit up, its soft beams sweeping across the sky—a peaceful signal for the new era.
Ruan Ning turned around and patted the fire: "Let's go home."
A person and a dog slowly walked down the steps of the observation deck, blending into the warm, ordinary lights of thousands of homes below.
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