Soon, the shady real estate agent led Shiyi to the tenement building. Compared to when Ruan Qingan lived here before, it had become relatively more orderly, and even the dirt and disorder had improved. The real estate agent then led him all the way to the top floor.
As they walked, he said to Shiyi, "Actually, you're quite lucky. You happened to come when Mr. Zhou was reorganizing the base, and the environment in the outer area has improved a lot. Look."
"Speaking of which, we really have to thank Miss Ruan. If she hadn't disappeared, Mr. Zhou wouldn't have been so angry that he almost turned the base upside down. As a result, we people living in this chaotic area also benefited from the chaos."
"Is that so..."
Shiyi murmured to himself as he walked up to the top floor. He turned around and looked out from the corridor—he could see most of the outer area from here, and further in were the middle and central areas. It was a pretty good place to see half of the base.
His dark green eyes seemed to have lost their composure, even the flow of data looked somewhat chaotic. He suddenly asked, "Mr. Zhou and...Ms. Ruan?"
"You were introduced to this client by Miss Ruan, don't you know anything about her affairs?"
Upon hearing this, the shady broker clicked his tongue in amazement, looked Shiyi up and down, and seemed to have thought of something. His eyes gleamed with gossip as he said, "I vaguely know some things about them. They used to have a very good relationship."
"Look, many of the fashion designers and jewelry designers in the central area before the apocalypse were supported by Mr. Zhou and went to serve Miss Ruan. But I don't know what happened later, the two of them broke up, and Mr. Zhou went even crazier during that time."
The shady agent took another deep drag of his cigarette, then unlocked the door with his key: "Alright, are you satisfied now?"
"Okay, this is fine."
Shiyi didn't even look at it, just said something casually, and leaned against the door, his dark green eyes gazing at the distant central area.
Seeing that he didn't say anything more, the shady real estate agent smiled meaningfully, tossed the room key to Shiyi, and patted him on the shoulder as he passed by.
Exhaling smoke rings, the shady real estate agent waved and walked away.
“Young man, Miss Ruan is indeed very charming, but—she and Mr. Zhou have been through so much, you have no chance.”
Only after the shady broker's figure disappeared did Shi Yi turn back into the narrow room, close the door, and raise his hand to cover his face, concealing his almost distorted expression. Even the faint laughter that escaped his lips sounded mocking and sarcastic.
Through the gaps between his fingers, his increasingly somber and obsessive dark green pupils were revealed—"Having been through so much?"
Eleven curled her lips into a sneer.
That was his "host," that was his Qing'an. They had experienced countless worlds together, and those memories, intricate and complex, filled his mind. Every fleeting memory fragment was of her.
No one has experienced more with her than him, but why? He is imprisoned in this world, like a prisoner, slumbering in darkness for countless years, while Ruan Qing'an is the only anchor point where he still exists, where he still has residual meaning.
But Zhou Ziqi was different...
He is able to live in this world; he has a research institute and a base; he has his own ideals and ambitions; he has everything.
"Why, why is even the anchor point leaving me?"
Finally, Shiyi lowered his hand. He murmured softly, and all the expression in his dark green eyes calmed down, turning into an even heavier and more intense darkness.
He stood up and went to the window of the room. Behind the tenement building was a secluded alley, and Shiyi stretched out his hand—
The mutated plants grow in the dark and spread silently.
"There are too many people who are in contact with her."
"Clearly, she's all I have left in this world..."
Meanwhile, outside the Third Human Base, following the trail, a thousand meters away, were densely packed zombies, like a tide, even forming a long black line on the horizon.
They seemed to be asleep, until they received a mysterious signal and mechanically raised their rotting heads.
—The source of the virus is calling them.
—It is their "king".
...
The next day, Zhou Ziqi's cell phone, which was in the pocket of his white research coat, kept vibrating, forcibly pulling him out of his sleep.
He hadn't rested this well in a long time, as if he had found the other half of his life, making up for the missing part in his heart, and even his exhausted soul was comforted.
He instinctively picked up his phone, held it to his ear, and said in a hoarse voice, as if he had just woken up, "Hello, what's up?"
"Mr. Zhou, you finally answered the phone!"
The person on the other end of the phone was the captain of the superhuman team. He sounded like he was about to cry: "If you don't answer the phone, I'll really think... I'll think Mr. Zhou is dead."
"What happened?"
Zhou Ziqi pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed softly: "I've said it before, if there's an emergency at the base, come to the research institute."
The team leader wrinkled his nose and said, "Well, well, we'd have to be able to get in first, Mr. Zhou. We're all being kept outside the research lab; we can't get in at all. We can only make phone calls!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziqi was slightly taken aback.
After a brief conversation, he finally came to his senses and realized that the person he had forcibly pulled into his arms was nowhere to be seen. Zhou Ziqi stood up while holding the phone.
He didn't see her until he left the lounge.
The petite girl was standing in the corridor, with the scabbard of the knife he had given her slung across her waist, and she was holding the knife in one hand, blocking the door.
"No entry."
"As I said, Mr. Zhou is still resting."
The person she stopped at the door was the leader of the superhuman team, who was on the verge of tears. He looked pitiful, waving at Zhou Ziqi with snot and tears streaming down his face: "Mr. Zhou—"
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing'an sheathed his knife, turned to look at him, and found that Zhou Ziqi was in much better spirits than yesterday.
Looking at her puffed-up cheeks, I felt sullen.
It seems the standoff with the captain has lasted for quite some time...
For a moment, Zhou Ziqi couldn't help but laugh out loud. This feeling was so similar to before, so similar that in a daze, it was as if she had returned to the time when she was still blankly calling out "boss".
He stepped forward and pinched the girl's soft cheek: "Alright, alright, I've rested enough. Let him in."
"Okay, fine."
Ruan Qing'an stepped aside, and the captain rushed in. Zhou Ziqi then looked at him and asked, "What happened?"
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