Chapter 8: In a Time of Chaos, There Is No Such Thing as Black and White

After dinner, Di Dahu and Mei Yasha took turns standing guard on the balcony. Ji Mingchen lay back on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest, while Wen Yao went to the small study nearby.

She rummaged through it and found an old notebook and a pen that could barely write.

Human memory is limited, and she was afraid she would forget the dream, so she took this opportunity to record it.

At first, Wen Yao also guessed that the mysterious dream might be due to her watching too many melodramatic TV shows as a child, so she unconsciously made up such a plot.

But later, after careful analysis, this dream was too clear and profound, not like a dream at all.

It was more like… she had glimpsed some secret of heaven during this ordeal, deeply realizing that she was just a small supporting character in the story, with a predetermined fate.

Wen Yao returned to the small hall, holding the pen and leaning against the carpet next to the sofa, writing down the details she remembered one by one.

Shen Yichuan, in the future, will awaken a gold-type ability, possessing powerful physical fitness and the ability to control metal. Copper walls and iron walls are nothing to him, even bullets from guns can be controlled by him, a complete male lead archetype, invincible…

Mu Shengsheng, in the future, will awaken a wood-type ability, not only able to control plant growth, but also gain healing skills. For combat-type ability users, this is a very powerful auxiliary.

In addition, various mutated animals and plants, zombie mutants, will emerge one after another, and natural disasters will also rage wildly in the next two or three years, shrinking the survival range of humans.

Even, Xizhou will be covered with flying sand and stones, Nanzhou will be submerged by seawater, and hundreds of survivor areas will be reduced to only a dozen…

“…”

The night was silent, Wen Yao held the pen and pondered, unable to sleep…

Just as she put down the pen and decided to rest, she suddenly noticed a head leaning closer beside her. She gasped in fright, dropping the pen in her hand with a clatter: “…What are you doing?”

Ji Mingchen’s gaze unintentionally glanced at the notebook in her hand, and coincidentally, he caught sight of the name “Shen Yichuan”.

His brows lowered, his tone lazy, and he spoke in her ear, sounding leisurely and intimate: “I’d like to ask, why are you up so late at night?”

Wen Yao closed the notebook and whispered, “I can’t sleep, I’m… writing a diary.”

Ji Mingchen smiled, his eyes dark and deep: “Are you disappointed…”

“What?” Wen Yao looked at him in confusion. The man’s face was half-lit and half-dark by the moonlight, beautiful like a night demon from somewhere.

“Disappointed… that the person who saved you wasn’t Shen Yichuan but me.” Ji Mingchen lay back down again, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his voice long and drawn out, seeming to have deep meaning.

Wen Yao withdrew her gaze, her eyes falling dejectedly: “There’s nothing to be disappointed about.”

“I’m already very satisfied to be alive.”

Ji Mingchen raised an eyebrow: “Is that so?”

“Then why do you look so unhappy?”

Wen Yao gently placed the notebook in her hand: “Do I?”

After asking, she suddenly realized that his question was strange. In this desperate apocalypse, people only care about whether they are in danger, whether they are safe, and whether they can survive. Who would think about irrelevant emotions like happiness and sadness?

No one used to care about this, Shen Yichuan wouldn’t, and even she herself didn’t bother to think about it. Now, in the dead of night, when asked so abruptly, Wen Yao felt something strange, she couldn’t say what it was, but it wasn’t repulsive.

Ji Mingchen silently withdrew his gaze, said nothing more, and closed his eyes again.

The rain outside had stopped, and a full moon emerged from the thick clouds. The cold moonlight illuminated the earth, like a layer of silver frost sprinkled down, adding a strange beauty to this desolate purgatory.

Wen Yao quietly watched the window, thinking about the events of the past two days.

Sad?

If you really want to say it, it’s really quite sad…

The person she had been devoted to for so many years, the teammate who protected others in times of crisis, the one she risked her life to defend, also abandoned her when disaster struck.

In the near future, she will also be branded a traitor, condemned by the survivors of the Thirteenth District, and finally tortured to death in a dark dungeon by Shen Yichuan’s own hand.

Perhaps she should understand their desperate measures for self-preservation, perhaps she should sympathize with the fact that everyone is struggling to survive in this world…

But, the faith she had held for seven years, the belief she had held in standing on the side of righteousness, had truly collapsed in that blizzard…

What in this world is truly black and what is truly white?

Wen Yao suddenly didn’t understand…

Since the outbreak of the zombie crisis, the order of countries around the world quickly collapsed. After a year or two of turmoil, humans quickly established order in the chaos.

Based on the gathering of survivors and armed forces, the only land suitable for human survival was divided into four continents: Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest. Each continent was scattered with dozens or even dozens of safe zones.

The Northeast two continents, the most suitable for human survival, had the strongest combat power, followed by the Southwest two continents, with harsh weather and geographical conditions.

In a time of chaos, human greed prevails. Not only is there conflict between continents, but also between districts.

However, due to the ravages of zombie mutants and various natural disasters, the struggle between humans is not about territory or power, but mainly about the competition for resources.

Among them, the Thirteenth District of the Beizhou and the Fourteenth District of the Dongzhou, which are adjacent to each other, are the most antagonistic, the two most irreconcilable survival districts.

For a long time, the rulers of the Beizhou have been more merciful, not easily killing humans except for capital offenses, and their management of various districts has been mainly focused on saving as many human survivors as possible.

The Dongzhou, on the other hand, is completely different. Their leader manages the various districts according to the principle of “survival of the fittest”. He believes that since the apocalypse has arrived, resources are limited, and those who cannot adapt to survival are not worthy of pity. Being eliminated is actually saving resources.

One with compassion in his heart, the other with profit as his king.

Therefore, most surviving refugees believe that the Beizhou, although weak, will prevail, while the Dongzhou, like bandits, will resort to any means, destined to be defeated by righteousness.

Wen Yao once believed this too.

She adhered to her faith, supported the principles of her own base, believing that she was white and the other side was black.

Ji Mingchen once said with a smile: “In this time of chaos, there is no such thing as black and white.”

But she retorted: “At least on this land, I am white, you are black.”

The Beizhou is white, the Thirteenth Base of the Beizhou is white, it is righteous, it is humane, it is the path to light…

But what was the result? Those who have merit are discarded like worn-out shoes, the innocent die unjustly without anyone to speak for them…

Even Shen Yichuan, who claims to be fair and just, will later kill the rulers to take power, sacrificing countless refugees, using violence to forcibly conquer the remaining human safe zones.

“…”