Chapter 22: Surrender
At noon, someone came by with food.
The door was knocked open — it was one of the ability users who had come with Zhou Shun yesterday to pick them up, a man named Zhang Mao. He was holding several sweet potatoes in his hand. “Brought you something to eat.”
“Thanks.”
He glanced inside as he spoke. “…Where’s your companion?”
Yan Chuanbai paused for a second. “Taking a bath in the yard.”
Zhang Mao seemed to perk up his ears to listen.
The tall man’s figure blocked his view, and Yan Chuanbai looked at him calmly. “Something else?”
“No.” Zhang Mao drew his attention back and added, “We’re short on materials. Your vehicle can’t be repaired for now — it’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow. Brother Zhou agreed to let you stay another night, but don’t wander off again.”
With that said, he closed the door and left.
Once the door shut, Yan Chuanbai picked up the bowl and set it aside.
…
Qi He didn’t come back all afternoon.
With no signal on the communicator, Yan Chuanbai sat on the edge of the bed, the space between his brows faintly furrowed.
It wasn’t until the sky began to darken that a faint sound came from the courtyard — thud.
Something had fallen.
He immediately stood up and pushed the door open—
The moment the door swung out, a zombie’s face suddenly slammed into view.
Yan Chuanbai’s pupils contracted sharply, his hand instantly going for his gun.
“Don’t shoot — it’s one of ours.”
A familiar voice spoke from behind.
The zombie was dragged aside, revealing Qi He’s clean, calm face — one that showed no hint of aggression. Wearing gloves, he laid the zombie down by the door. “It’s completely dead. Don’t worry.”
“…” Yan Chuanbai lowered his gun. “Where did you go?”
“The nearby area’s been cleaned out too thoroughly,” Qi He said. “I walked for quite a while — let’s skip the boring parts in between—” like finding a patch of grass and sunbathing for a bit, “—and finally caught a zombie with pretty tough skin.”
Yan Chuanbai decided not to dig too deeply into that. “And then?”
Qi He closed the door. “The residents have a fixed routine. After 8 p.m., everyone goes back to their own rooms, leaving only the patrol squads on rotating duty. Every fifteen minutes, a team passes by the front of the residential area. Zhou Shun’s place is right at the center of the district.”
Yan Chuanbai said quietly, “You’ve scouted quite thoroughly.”
“Just a small thing along the way.”
As Qi He spoke, he suddenly looked up.
His eyes were bright, and when they landed on someone, they carried a subtle, convincing warmth — the kind that made people feel needed, like they had a purpose. Yan Chuanbai watched as he looked at him with that eager gaze and said:
“Lend me your ice ability.”
—
8:00 p.m.
All the residents had gone back to their rooms on time.
Zhou Shun hadn’t returned yet. As the leader of the shelter, he stayed a while longer at the small plaza in front of the community center, making sure the night patrols were running smoothly.
After fifteen minutes, two patrol teams crossed paths right in front of the plaza, right on schedule.
Seeing everything in perfect order, Zhou Shun felt relieved.
‘Another peaceful night,’ he thought.
He was just about to stand and stretch when suddenly, a dark figure burst out from the opposite side of the residential block.
Under the cover of night, it moved so fast that within seconds it had reached the plaza—
In the light, he saw it clearly — a zombie!
Zhou Shun jolted in shock. How could there be a zombie in the middle of the residential area?!
He swiftly drew the gun from his waist and fired— Bang!
The bullet hit the zombie’s head, and it collapsed on the spot.
Zhou Shun let out a breath and holstered his gun, his face darkening. What the hell were the patrol teams doing? They had just passed by this area — how could a zombie possibly break through all the checkpoints and get into the residential zone?
Thankfully, everyone was already back in their homes by now.
He was about to call for his subordinates. “Zhang—”
The word had barely left his mouth when the fallen zombie in front of him suddenly stood back up.
Zhou Shun froze for a split second. Before he could think, he fired again, fast and hard — Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
The zombie staggered, then started hopping toward him in quick, jerky motions.
What the—?! Zhou Shun was utterly stunned.
The rapid gunfire startled nearby residents and the patrol teams not far away. People rushed over from all directions. They saw the zombie charging right up to Zhou Shun, dodging the ability attacks aimed its way with unnerving agility, before leaping straight at him—
“What’s going on?!”
“…A zombie!”
More gunshots rang out, but in the panic, the shots went wide.
Zhou Shun could only watch as the zombie lunged at him, its reflective claws slashing down—
It wouldn’t die. No matter how many times he shot, it wouldn’t die!
His heart raced wildly. His arm instantly hardened with earth and rock, and he swung a punch straight at the zombie’s head. A faint chill seeped in — the zombie’s claws, coated in an almost invisible layer of thin ice, tore through his clothes.
“Brother Zhou—!”
Thud! The zombie was knocked flying, crashing to the ground several meters away. The surrounding ability users surged forward, pinning the creature down.
…
Zhou Shun collapsed to the ground, still dazed.
The zombie had stopped moving now.
The ability users stood several meters away, surrounded by onlooking residents. Their expressions were filled with dread and grief as they looked at Zhou Shun.
“Brother Zhou… you’ve been scratched by the zombie.”
“Boss…”
Zhou Shun scrambled to his feet. “What’s with that funereal tone?” He tugged at his sleeve. “It just tore my clothes, that’s all!”
“But… there’s a scratch on your arm.”
Zhou Shun fell silent.
After a brief pause, he insisted, “No, listen — that zombie was already dead before you guys even got here!”
Everyone: “…”
“Brother Zhou,” one of them said at last, “dead or alive, when we show up, the zombies usually end up the same way.”
Zhou Shun grew anxious. “I mean I killed it already! I shot it in the head — it was completely dead! I don’t know why it got up again, but I wasn’t infected!”
The group exchanged uncertain looks. When they arrived, all they’d seen was the zombie lunging at him.
“…Maybe you missed the shot?” someone said hesitantly. “If you killed it, how could it stand up again?”
“I’d like to know that too — how can something that’s dead get back up again…!”
Zhou Shun muttered in disbelief.
It felt like his entire understanding of zombies had just collapsed.
—
Silence fell over the plaza.
No one dared to approach Zhou Shun.
After a long pause, the patrol captain finally spoke, voice low but heavy with regret. “No one who’s been scratched by a zombie ever escapes infection.”
They respected Zhou Shun deeply — he had given them this safe haven. But if a powerful ability user like him were to suddenly mutate, the casualties would be unimaginable.
They couldn’t risk letting him stay, gambling on how long the incubation period might last.
Zhou Shun refused to accept it. “Impossible. I swear I killed it — how could it possibly—”
Around him, uncertain murmurs began to spread.
“Didn’t they say… the zombies outside have started to evolve?”
“Didn’t think they’d evolved this far… able to come back from the dead.”
“So what do we do about Brother Zhou now?”
Amid the tense silence, a calm voice suddenly cut in: “Don’t rush.”
Everyone turned. Qi He and Yan Chuanbai were walking over from the other side.
Qi He stopped in front of Zhou Shun and examined his arm carefully. His tone was gentle, carrying a quiet reassurance. “No bleeding — that means there’s still hope. If you want to confirm whether you’re infected, there’s a very direct way to find out—”
Zhou Shun’s eyes lit with urgency. “What way?”
Qi He said, “Our base has a testing device.”
Zhou Shun paused. The base.
But soon, his will to survive overrode his hesitation. “Is it accurate? If the test says I’m clean, that means I’m really not infected?”
Qi He nodded. “Very accurate.”
The surrounding residents murmured in surprise.
“There’s an instrument like that? The base’s tech is that advanced?”
“Then you wouldn’t have to wait out the incubation period in constant fear…”
Yan Chuanbai looked at Zhou Shun. “Once the car’s fixed tomorrow, will you come back to the base with us?”
He added casually, “But once you’re registered, it’s considered a permanent stay.”
Qi He’s gaze flicked sideways — Yan Chuanbai could bluff like it was second nature.
Zhou Shun gritted his teeth. “…I’ll go! I’m going.”
Yan Chuanbai nodded, then swept his eyes across the gathered crowd. “Conditions here are limited. You can all think it over too — whether you want to come to the base.”
Then he turned back to Zhou Shun. “Tonight, you’ll stay in the room next to ours. We’ll keep watch.”
For now, the matter was settled.
The patrol teams tightened the perimeter security, and the residents gradually returned to their homes.
As for the zombie — it was cremated.
The flickering firelight cast shifting shadows across Qi He’s profile as he looked at Zhou Shun, who had just staggered up from the ground, still shaken.
The system’s voice echoed in his mind: [Are you sure he’s alright?]
“Positive. I put in double safeguards.”
Not only had he meticulously sealed the zombie’s teeth and claws with thin layers of ice — ensuring Zhou Shun had only come into contact with frozen surfaces — he’d also had Yan Chuanbai repeatedly freeze and thaw the corpse afterward.
Qi He explained, “Repeated freezing and thawing lets the ice crystals destroy the viral structure — it speeds up inactivation.”
The system hummed slowly: […Oh.]
After a moment, it asked again: [Do you think the others will go to the base too?]
“They will.”
Qi He and Yan Chuanbai walked back with Zhou Shun between them.
All of Zhou Shun’s former confidence had vanished; he was still lost in the dazed collapse of everything he thought he knew.
“When the information barrier breaks,” Qi He said softly, “they’ll make their own choice.”
—
Early the next morning, Qi He was up.
Yan Chuanbai went next door and opened the door.
Zhou Shun immediately popped out, his eyes bloodshot from a sleepless night. “Did you two sleep well?? I couldn’t!”
He stepped past Yan Chuanbai and out into the yard, looking up. “Ah… the sun.”
Yan Chuanbai turned his head slightly. “…”
The system muttered: [Has he gone crazy?]
Qi He translated calmly, “He’s just marveling that he actually lived to see another sunrise.”
[…]
Yan Chuanbai called out, “Pack your things. Time to head to the base.”
The three of them walked all the way to the community center.
Up ahead, a group of people was already waiting neatly in formation.
At the front, several ability users glanced first at Zhou Shun, then looked at Qi He and Yan Chuanbai. “We’ve talked it over,” one of them said.
Yan Chuanbai stopped, waiting for their answer.
“We… we’re willing to go to the base.”
It seemed the talk about zombie evolution hadn’t been an exaggeration.
And now they finally realized that, for all its self-sufficiency, the shelter lacked the one thing that truly mattered — technology.
Zhou Shun’s expression was complicated. “You’re all really willing to leave?”
The patrol captain replied, “Most of us are. Without you here, the shelter isn’t that safe anymore. We might as well go together to the base.”
There were still a few who chose to stay behind, but they were scattered and few. Staying was almost no different from waiting to die.
Qi He smiled slightly and said to Zhou Shun, “Now you can set out without worry.”
Zhou Shun, already sensitive, was silent: “…”
Once everyone agreed, they began to prepare for departure.
The shelter had a few vehicles of its own — about ten in total. They decided unanimously that the elderly, children, and weaker residents would go first.
Yan Chuanbai said, “I’ll make sure someone comes back to pick up the rest as soon as possible.”
While Qi He stood nearby, watching people board the vehicles one after another, he suddenly spotted two familiar figures — Aunt Tian and Xiao Tian Luo. The boy looked reluctant as he climbed into the car. “We didn’t bring our stuff…”
Aunt Tian patted his head. “We’ll leave it.”
Qi He paused, then turned to see a small flowerpot sitting by the door. He picked it up, meeting the boy’s bright, surprised eyes.
The flowers were in full bloom — vivid and delicate. They weren’t useful in any practical sense, but they had been carefully grown here, something unique that didn’t exist back at the base.
He placed the pot gently into Tian Luo’s arms. “You can take this.”
Someday, he thought, they would find another paradise — a place where flowers could bloom again.
When Qi He returned to the car, he found Yan Chuanbai watching him.
He paused for a moment, then met the man’s gaze and said, “This time, I wasn’t scheming anything.”
Yan Chuanbai leaned against the car door, his eyes lingering on Qi He’s face for several seconds. Then, as if smiling faintly, he said, “I know.” With that, he turned and opened the door. “Get in.”
“…” Qi He was alarmed. “System, he smiled at me. Does that mean he’s plotting something?”
The system replied dryly, [How could I possibly take part in the games of calculation between the two of you?]
Qi He endured its outburst of inferiority-induced sarcasm.
The car door slammed shut with a bang.
The vehicle had already been repaired. Zhou Shun was riding with them, sitting in the back seat. Yan Chuanbai was behind the wheel. He glanced at the convoy through the rearview mirror.
“They probably can’t keep up with our speed.”
Qi He fastened his seat belt. “It’s fine. I’ll make sure they do.”
Zhou Shun, from the back seat: “?”
“Alright,” Yan Chuanbai said casually, releasing the handbrake and starting the car.
—
The entire convoy sped down the road like the wind.
Who knew what the others behind them were thinking, but Zhou Shun, sitting in the car, after his worldview had already collapsed once today, began to question reality all over again.
After racing nonstop for two hours, they finally broke into Zone III.
The communicator signal came back.
Yan Chuanbai picked it up and contacted the base headquarters. “Coordinates transmitted. Send a team for support — there are still 216 civilians from the shelter who need to be transferred to the base.”
Zhou Shun, still reassembling his shattered understanding of the world, failed to notice the subtle tone in his voice.
The military’s efficiency was remarkable.
By the time their convoy reached the border between Zones I and II, they were already met head-on by the base’s large military fleet.
One by one, the heavily armored vehicles rumbled through the forest, crushing grass and dust beneath their wheels. Their thermal weapons swept expertly through the surrounding area, clearing out the mutated plants and opening a safe path back to the base.
As they passed Qi He’s vehicle—
The entire military convoy shifted slightly aside, giving way in a neat, disciplined line. Each vehicle let out a brief, respectful honk as they went by.
In the cars behind, Xiao Tian Luo gasped in awe. “Mom, those cars are huge! Are they honking to tell us to move aside?”
Aunt Tian’s heart stirred with an incredulous thought. “…No, it seems like—they’re saluting their superior.”
…
With support from all sides, they finally reached Zone I before nightfall.
The convoy came to a halt at the entrance.
Everyone got out. When they looked up at the towering gray walls standing before them, a chill ran down their spines.
—Was this the fortress, the impregnable structure bristling with heavy weaponry, that the people inside used to fend off the zombie hordes?
Yan Chuanbai and Qi He also stepped out of the car.
Zhou Shun hurried up to them. “Where’s the testing site?”
Yan Chuanbai gestured ahead, and the inspector at Gate A immediately led him to a machine. Zhou Shun nervously stretched out his hand; a small needle pricked his skin. The inspector checked the result and announced:
“Not infected. Safe.”
Zhou Shun let out a heavy breath. After walking the line between life and death, he had no desire to return to that constant fear.
The others who had followed him broke into smiles. “Brother Zhou! Congrats, you made it out alive!”
The inspector glanced at them, slightly puzzled. “…?”
Since Zhou Shun was an ability user, he proceeded to the power test next. Signal lights blinked one after another until the indicator stopped on A-Level. He looked slightly disappointed. “Sigh, only A-level? I thought I’d hit S.”
The inspector tried to comfort him. “An A-level is already excellent. As of now, there are fewer than twenty confirmed S-levels in total.”
Zhou Shun looked a little more balanced at that. He turned to Qi He and Yan Chuanbai. “Hey, then what about you two—”
Before he could finish, a military officer came out from inside.
He stopped in front of Yan Chuanbai, snapped to attention, and saluted crisply. “Colonel! Professor Yu requests your presence.”
Zhou Shun froze mid-sentence. “…???”
Yan Chuanbai replied evenly, “Understood.”
The officer left immediately.
Silence fell over the area in front of the base gates. Everyone seemed to stop breathing—wait, Colonel?
That meant… the commander of Base I himself had personally escorted them back?
Zhou Shun was the first to recover, turning to Qi He again. “Then you’re his subordinate?”
Qi He happened to be handing over his ID card for verification.
Beep!
[Verification complete. S-level ability user.]
Zhou Shun: “……”
The crowd: “?”
The inspector smiled politely, stepping in to explain. “Mr. Qi is also part of our upper command.”
A much heavier silence followed.
After a long moment, Zhou Shun—ever the survivor—quickly adjusted his tone. Remembering how he’d behaved earlier, he tried to smooth things over. He leaned toward Yan Chuanbai with an ingratiating smile. “Brother Ji—uh, Colonel, right? And you too, Brother Guo.”
Qi He: “……”
Yan Chuanbai: “……”
The inspector blinked, looking utterly bewildered. “?”
Zhou Shun went on earnestly, “I know I said and did some things before—please don’t take it to heart. We’re all on the same side now.”
Yan Chuanbai just stared at him without responding.
Qi He, out of mercy, murmured, “The less you say, the fewer mistakes you’ll make.”
Zhou Shun, properly chastened, nodded rapidly. “Right, right, got it.”
…
The matter of resettling the civilians was handed over to the subordinates.
Qi He and Yan Chuanbai headed to the research institute first—apparently, Yu Tianxing had something to discuss with them and was already waiting.
The two walked one after the other up to the third floor.
Qi He asked, “If he needed something, why didn’t he just send a message?”
Yan Chuanbai looked straight ahead. “Because he likes to make a scene.”
“……”
“Come on. You’ll see when we get there.”
As they spoke, they arrived at the office door.
The automatic sensor doors slid open to both sides. In front of the bright floor-to-ceiling windows stood three figures: Yu Tianxing, Yu Jiang, and another person with his back turned.
Qi He’s gaze fell on him—something about that silhouette seemed familiar.
Yu Tianxing clapped his hands together cheerfully. “Ah! It’s great you both made it back safely. We lost contact earlier and couldn’t reach you, but now that you’re here, I can introduce you in person.”
The person in front of them turned around. Slightly long bangs brushed past his brow; his features were delicate and pale, and his eyes—soft and glistening—seemed to ripple like water.
“This is a newly joined S-level ability user, Guan Shangchun.”
Those eyes lit up the moment they met Qi He’s.
Then, as if suddenly recalling something, he exclaimed, “It’s you, Qiqi—!”
Inside the office: “?”
