Chapter 84: Restarting the Dawn Project

“He didn’t tell you because he had no reason to. He didn’t report it to the Dawn Tower Intelligence Department because he believed that the survival points he could earn weren’t worth more than the advantage of keeping it to himself. He thinks that if everyone knew, if everyone survived, then his own value would diminish. Everyone has their own little calculations. It all depends on their perspective and position.”

Jie Xi sat in her seat, head lowered as she wiped her greatsword, speaking slowly to Wang Zhi.

Just as she said, some people are content merely to survive in the Dawn Tower, while others strive to advance even in the apocalypse—just in different ways.

“People often call the light in the darkness salvation. But more often than not, light cannot save those who willingly sink into depravity,” Jie Xi continued.

“Then, Captain Jie Xi, don’t you have any other plans? Are you going to stay here forever?” Wang Zhi asked, looking at the slightly melancholic expression on her face.

“Oh? Like what?” Jie Xi looked up and asked in return.

“For example… one day returning to the surface! Taking back the home that once belonged to us!” Wang Zhi said with longing.

“Heh… Then how about leaving that grand mission to you? When the time comes, maybe you can be a lord of your own land on the surface. I’m sure the Tower Master would be thrilled to hear you think this way,” Jie Xi said with a smile.

“No, no, no! I don’t have that kind of ability! I just want to live down here a little longer!” Wang Zhi quickly waved his hands. Just one mutant zombie had already been enough trouble—he wasn’t about to go charging out there to fight more of them.

“But what you just said… The Dawn Tower has already been preparing for it.”

“What?!” Wang Zhi’s eyes widened in shock.

“It’s called the Restart Dawn Project. That’s all I can tell you. It’s the Tower Master’s highest-level confidential plan,” Jie Xi replied, her smile vanishing and replaced with a solemn expression.

A short while later, Wang Zhi left headquarters with Jia Liuli. As they walked, the words “Restart Dawn Project” echoed in Wang Zhi’s mind over and over.

“Liuli, what do you think?” Wang Zhi turned his head and asked.

“Hmm… I think we should tell Sister Ying and the others,” Jia Liuli said after thinking for a moment, looking up at him.

Seeing the intelligence in her eyes, Wang Zhi couldn’t help but question himself—why had he even asked her that?

“You’re so smart. That’s exactly what I was thinking. But—what we’re going to talk about today can’t be told to anyone else,” Wang Zhi added.

When the two returned to their residence, they found Fatty and the other two curled up on the sofa with Su Muying, all watching a soap opera starring Ling Lingyao. Even though the plot was painfully boring, the three seemed to really enjoy this brief moment of peace.

Wang Zhi joined them and sat down. No sooner had he taken a seat than Su Muying shot him a cold glance and casually said, “Took my Liuli out to mess around again, huh?”

“Sister Ying, come on, can we not use that word? ‘Mess around’ makes it sound shady!” Wang Zhi replied, exasperated.

Hearing that, Fatty, who had been focused on the show, instantly turned his head, his eyes darting back and forth between Wang Zhi and Liuli.

“Hey hey hey! Fatty! What’s with that look?!” Wang Zhi snapped, irritated by Fatty’s shifty, suggestive expression.

“Sigh… Poor little Liuli!” Fatty shook his head, then turned back to the screen.

“We just went to see Jie Xi! What are you even imagining? You guys really need to purify your thoughts,” Wang Zhi said, staring at them all.

“Captain, it’s not that we want to think that way… It’s just hard not to, with the way you act,” Fatty said with mock seriousness.

“What the hell, Fatty! You’re the biggest perv here and you have the nerve to lecture me?” Wang Zhi shot back.

“Exactly because they all know I’m a perv, they stay on guard around me. But you? You’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Fatty grinned.

“Alright, Liuli, you explain it to them,” Wang Zhi sighed and went to pour himself a glass of water, done arguing.

“Come here, Liuli. Tell Sister what Captain did to you,” Su Muying pulled her over and asked.

“Captain asked me what I thought… then said I was smart, that I was thinking the same as him,” Liuli answered truthfully.

“Oh? What else?” Su Muying arched an eyebrow.

“Hmm… then he said what we talked about today shouldn’t be shared with outsiders,” Liuli recalled.

Pfffft! Wang Zhi choked on his water, nearly spraying it everywhere.

“Oh~” Fatty widened his eyes, mouth hanging open, pointing at Wang Zhi.

Wang Zhi was completely dumbfounded. He’d only said three sentences to Liuli—just three! How could this have turned into that?

He quickly retraced the conversation in his mind. Liuli had only said one thing—about telling Sister Ying. If Su Muying kept pressing and Liuli said that…

“Wait!” Wang Zhi suddenly jumped up from the sofa.

The four others stared at him, puzzled.

“I’ll explain it myself!”

He then told them everything that had happened with Jie Xi in one breath, just to avoid any more misunderstandings.

“Restart Dawn Project? What kind of project is that?” Old He asked.

“No idea. Jie Xi said it’s the Tower Master’s highest-level classified plan. But from what she said, it seems related to returning to the surface,” Wang Zhi replied.

“The surface? Isn’t it much better staying down here? Why bother going up?” Fatty asked.

“There must be a reason. Even if nobody wants to go, the Dawn Tower will find a way to make you want to go—just like they convinced us to take on missions,” Su Muying commented.

“She’s right. The Dawn Tower controls a massive amount of resources. And what it aims to do definitely goes beyond just keeping us safe underground,” Wang Zhi agreed.

“Going outside isn’t totally impossible. After all, there were camps out there before,” Old He added.

“Yeah, and those camps didn’t run into mutant creatures! Just that giant python alone could wipe out an entire camp,” Fatty said with a shudder.

“Don’t overthink it. Let’s just focus on the present,” Wang Zhi rubbed his temples. Just thinking about those mutants gave him a headache.

After Su Muying finished the soap opera episode, Wang Zhi asked Ling Lingyao to pull up the team stats. Their total survival points had already reached 48,000.

Just 2,000 points more and they would become the first Level 4 team in the entire Dawn Tower!