I told you to plant peas, and you summon Mordekaiser?

During those dark and hopeless days, Qiqi's world consisted only of cold laboratory tables and pungent medicines.

And endless experiments involving flesh and blood.

The experiments continued endlessly, and time itself was trapped in this deep darkness.

Black runes were driven into her flesh.

She cried and wailed until she lost all feeling of pain.

Only during lunchtime could Qiqi briefly escape this tedium and terror and play with the other children.

But as time went on, the children disappeared one by one.

Each day, she saw fewer faces than the day before.

In the end, she was the only one left in the huge laboratory.

She asked the men in white coats, and they simply replied coldly, "They're dead."

What does it mean to be dead?

Qiqi didn't understand.

Perhaps we'll never see each other again.

That night, Qiqi sat alone in the corner of the room, listening to the mechanical sounds coming from deep inside the laboratory.

Click...click...

That sound accompanied her through countless lonely nights.

She had assumed that today would be no exception.

Until the sound of light footsteps reached her.

She looked up and saw a girl.

The girl was incredibly exquisite, as flawless as a porcelain doll, making her seem almost unreal.

Her skin was as white as snow, without a trace of blood.

In contrast to her skin were her pupils.

It was an extremely deep black, like an abyss.

Qi Qi was stunned; she didn't know how this girl had gotten into the room.

The girl walked over and extended her hand to Qiqi: "Qiqi, right? I'm Ling."

Qi Qi stared at her blankly.

"Zero, zero of one, two, three, four."

Zero's voice was soft yet carried a chilling undertone, but she felt a familiarity she had never experienced before.

"Are you... also a child from here? I've never seen you before," Qiqi asked.

Ling smiled slightly: "Yes. I have never left this place."

Qi Qi didn't ask any further questions; she felt a strange sense of joy in her heart.

She finally has a new playmate.

So she took Zero's hand.

From that day on, Qiqi's life was no longer lonely.

Zero is everywhere, whether it's beside the lab bench, in a dark corner, or in her dreams.

She had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't resist the sense of security she felt when she was with Zero.

Although from that day on, she also found that her memory would occasionally be fragmented.

Every time she woke up, there were always a few unlucky people lying next to her, and the floor was stained red in large patches.

"Zero, are they dead?"

"Yes, they are going to a very, very far place."

"Then please don't die."

"Qiqi, we will be together forever," Ling said softly.

......

......

"Seven Seven? Seven Seven!"

The familiar voice kept echoing in my ears.

"Wake up, Qiqi!"

very noisy.

Who is calling me?

Qiqi's eyelids trembled slightly, and she opened them with difficulty, revealing a blurry and dark scene before her, as if shrouded in a hazy mist.

She blinked, and her vision gradually cleared.

The scene before me was a devastated battlefield, with the pungent smell of blood filling the air.

The wreckage of the collapsed convoy was scattered all around, with broken wooden crates and metal fragments piled up haphazardly on the ground.

The surrounding pools of blood resembled a shocking canvas, with broken corpses and scattered weapons all stained crimson.

"Seven Seven..."

A deep, hoarse voice drifted over.

That voice... is it Parker?

Qiqi rubbed her sleepy eyes, her head still a little dizzy, and couldn't help but yawn.

She slowly sat up, glanced around, and vaguely understood what was going on.

It seems that "Zero" has come out to play again.

In the distance, Chen Yang and Huang Aotian stood together, their expressions somewhat wary.

Whose kid would wipe out an entire convoy of cars in a fit of rage?

Just as the group was about to approach the convoy, Qiqi suddenly disappeared, leaving only a plume of black smoke.

This brat probably used her teleportation ability.

The next moment, the convoy was struck as if by a tornado; almost instantly, countless people died.

Blood stained the entire avenue red.

By the time Chen Yang arrived, the convoy was already deserted.

Parker certainly had the ability to stop all of this, but he felt it was unnecessary.

Qi Qi raised an eyebrow, looking at this strange scene, her tone tinged with displeasure: "Hey, what are you all doing standing there?"

She paid little attention to the pool of blood covering her and walked straight towards them, her feet splashing and splattering in the sticky blood.

Chen Yang's Adam's apple bobbed.

He still remembered making eye contact with the girl lying in the pool of blood; her eyes were extremely black, without a trace of white.

Like an abyss.

Now, the girl's pupils have returned to their usual bright red.

Chen Yang tentatively asked, "Qi Qi? You're Qi Qi?"

Qi Qi paused for a moment, then nodded, her tone languid: "Otherwise, who else could it be?"

“That was my friend, her name is ‘Zero’. I hope I didn’t scare you.”

"zero?"

The girl, clutching her robe, carefully stepped across the red pond. "She asked me if I could kill those people, and I said yes, so she came out. You greeted her, right?"

Chen Yang's brows furrowed even more.

This girl is probably schizophrenic.

He killed an entire convoy without a word.

If it were just about strength, he could accept Qiqi staying by their side.

But if this girl can't control herself and could turn into a ruthless killer at any moment, then Bu Chun Chun is a ticking time bomb.

As the seventh day of the seventh lunar month drew closer, Chen Yang began to consider whether he should continue to take the girl with him.

Pike slowly approached Qiqi: "From now on, we can't kill people indiscriminately like this without any reason."

Qiqi blinked, looked up, her face full of innocence: "Why not?"

Parker lowered his head slightly, getting closer to the girl: "Because that way, they died too easily. It wasn't punishment, it was a release."

His voice was low and slow, as if carrying a chilling abyss: "Only by letting them die slowly in pain can they truly understand what despair is."

Qiqi blinked, then nodded as if she understood: "Oh... I see."

Her expression remained innocent, without a trace of regret, and she even seemed to be studying diligently, trying hard to remember Parker's "teachings".

Chen Yang was speechless. He stepped forward and pushed Parker aside, saying, "Go away, don't corrupt the children."

Chen Yang crouched down to be at eye level with Qi Qi, trying to calm his tone: "Qi Qi, Pike is just talking nonsense, don't take it to heart. I have a question for you, those people... why did Zero kill them?"

Qiqi tilted her head, thought seriously for a few seconds, and then looked puzzled: "Ling said she was hungry, so she wanted to kill someone."

Her tone was completely unburdened, as if she had no concept of death itself, let alone any sense of guilt.

Chen Yang was numb.

He could sense that the child didn't understand life and death at all, let alone distinguish right from wrong.

He had been too naive in the past; this child had developed a distorted value system within the Corpse Cult.

Chen Yang looked up at the sky and sighed.

He now understands that he can't treat this girl like an ordinary child.

Although she looks only about ten years old.

Values ​​can be reshaped, but this child needs time.

He couldn't abandon the child; that would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.

"Qiqi, so, do you want to go to a human town to have fun and eat delicious food?"

"Mmm." Qi Qi nodded.

"Then it's settled, you can't just let your friend Zero go out and kill people anymore, okay?"

"Hey, why?" Qiqi tilted her head, somewhat confused.

"I'll teach you slowly why you can't kill people... But if you do something like this again, I'll have Uncle Pike kill you first, so you won't get to have any fun or eat anything delicious."

......

......

After that, Qi Qi became a little more well-behaved and stopped making rash moves.

Along the way, they also encountered other human caravans.

These convoys were mostly loaded with meager belongings, and the processions were filled with civilians whose faces were etched with exhaustion and fear.

Through conversations with the people in the convoy, Chen Yang learned that these people were originally refugees living in the southern part of the human territory.

However, the southern front has been completely breached by the zombie army, large swathes of land have fallen, and countless people have been forced to leave their homes.

They are fleeing north towards the capital, seeking their last refuge.

Rumor has it that a new southern defense line has been built outside the ninth district of the royal city, serving as the first line of defense for the refugees.

Once they reach that place, they will be temporarily safe from the threat of zombies.

To avoid attracting attention, Chen Yang and his group also joined one of the fleeing caravans as refugees.

Like other refugees, they trudged northward with difficulty, their aim being to pass through the ninth district of the royal city and gather more intelligence.

During this time, Chen Yang gradually pieced together the whole picture of this world through communication with the people in the team.

Humanity in this world is divided into two major groups: natives and migrants.

The native humans, who call themselves "Yuanmin," consider themselves to be of the orthodox bloodline.

They held themselves in high esteem, believing their bloodline to be noble and pure, and that they were the true masters of this land.

All the extraterrestrial humans who ascended from other dimensions, and their descendants, were derogatoryly referred to as "vagrants" by the original inhabitants.

The status of the original inhabitants and the displaced people was extremely divided.

In the eyes of the Yuanmin people, refugees were a lowly existence.

Only a few 'vagrants' were allowed to enter the so-called royal city; the others didn't even have the right to set foot there.

But over the years, no one has been able to change this situation.

One reason is that the royal city monopolizes most of the key resources. Although the world has highly advanced technology, migrants can only travel by horse-drawn carriage.

Even now, as humanity faces an unprecedented zombie threat, the self-proclaimed noble Protoss still hide within the high walls of the royal city, enjoying their luxury and comfort.

In contrast, the refugees formed humanity's last line of defense, almost single-handedly resisting the zombie army's attack.

On the front lines, 99 percent of the soldiers were refugees, while the Yuan people had never set foot on the battlefield.

The capital city is the most central city of mankind, surrounded by eighteen satellite cities, like stars surrounding the moon.

After the front line of the human zombies is breached, the next line of defense will be the eighteen satellite cities.

The satellite cities are arranged clockwise, representing different strategic positions.

The southernmost royal city, the Ninth District, has become a hub connecting humanity's front lines and rear.

Now, a new southern defense line has been established outside the Ninth District.

This is a temporary shelter for refugees, and also the front line of humanity.

If this place is breached, the zombie army will advance unimpeded, and the eighteen satellite cities will be the first to suffer.

Today, countless refugees are heading towards District 9.

Chen Yang chose to travel with a convoy he encountered.

Pike's appearance was too frightening, so Chen Yang temporarily sent him back to the card game.

Qiqi, on the contrary, became friends with the other children in the same car team.

......

......

They finally reached the newly established Southern Theater Command defense line.

From a distance, it looked like a large temporary camp.

A large area was enclosed by tall barbed wire fences, and searchlights on the defensive towers constantly scanned the area. Various plants patrolled the area, and an atmosphere of extreme tension permeated the air.

Outside the defense line, countless refugees were lined up in long queues, with their families in tow, looking exhausted but with a glimmer of hope.

They waited for identity verification so they could enter the defensive perimeter for temporary refuge.

Anxious voices could be heard from time to time in the crowd, but they were quickly silenced by the officers at the front.

A middle-aged military officer in uniform stood on a makeshift platform and shouted coldly to the group: "Those at the back, don't rush, keep order! As long as your identities are verified and you are confirmed not to be members of the Corpse Cult, you may enter the city!"

The crowd calmed down a little, but unease and fear still filled everyone's eyes.

Qiqi stood in the crowd, her hands behind her back, her eyes darting around with curiosity.

She was captivated by everything around her, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the various plants, the notices hanging on the barbed wire, and the passing vehicles.

“It’s so lively here.”

Qiqi turned to look at Chen Yang, her eyes full of excitement: "There are plants, cars, and so many people!"

Chen Yang ignored Qi Qi's exclamation and whispered to her, "Don't run around, wait for me to come back."

After instructing Huang Aotian to arrange the Qiqi meeting, he pulled up his hood and found a secluded corner.

After confirming that no one was paying attention, Chen Yang flashed a light in his hand: "Parker, come out."

A cloud of black mist billowed out, and Pike's figure gradually emerged from the shadows.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone playful: "Sir, what do you need me to do?"

Chen Yang looked up at the distant defensive line, then lowered his voice and said, "The headquarters should be located in the center of the camp. Go in and take a look."

Parker nodded without asking any further questions.

His body gradually became transparent, turning into a shadow, and silently swept towards the depths of the camp.

Looking in the direction Parker had left, Chen Yang's gaze deepened.

He glanced at the crowded line of refugees before him, a smile playing on his lips.

He had no intention of queuing up obediently like these people.

Moreover, he has no way to conceal the true state of his arms. If it is discovered that the arms under their gloves have all turned into zombies, things will become much more complicated.

Now that he has enough chips in his hand, he naturally wants to make full use of them.