Virus King - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Time Resets to Zero! The New Era Begins!

TL: Yang

June 14, 22:49.

Only 1 hour and 11 minutes remained until the Apocalypse begins!

Lu Li looked at that seductive figure with deep admiration.

Just moments ago, after what had just happened, and in that posture, that pose… She still managed to keep her expression steady, showing no concern for the presence of an outsider like her. She didn’t care in the slightest.

Although, when she looked at the man in front of her, a hint of grievance and an attempt to please would occasionally flicker across her face.

But if she were being honest with herself, Lu Li knew she could never achieve that level of composure!

“I’ll let it go this time. But if there’s a next time, you and Song Ge will both go together!”

As soon as these words were spoken, Song Ziqiong’s face went several shades paler.

The thought of being led along with Song Ge by the man in front of her—no matter how she looked at it, she found that image a bit hard to accept.

Of course, if it were purely hand-holding, she might be able to tolerate it; she had come to terms with that long ago.

But if it involved chains and ropes… that image…

Yet, despite her thoughts, Song Ziqiong bit her lip and murmured in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s:

“If you want to try, I’ll talk to Song Ge about it… and convince her…”

Chen Bai glanced at this woman.

Damn it, how had he not realized in his previous life that this femme fatale was such a twisted woman?

After what had just happened, Song Ziqiong no longer dared to question whether her abilities could surpass Chen Bai’s.

She also knew that if it were a straightforward question about her abilities, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Instead, her words had carried an underlying hope of surpassing Chen Bai.

This had made Chen Bai displeased.

The dark of the night slowly enveloped them. In the inner courtyard of the villa, Chen Bai sat by the tea table in the pavilion, holding a cup of black tea and gazing at the night sky above.

In the courtyard, only Chen Bai, Song Ziqiong, Leng Shuang, and a still somewhat bewildered Lu Li were present.

Song Ziqiong didn’t speak again. She quietly moved behind Chen Bai and began to gently massage his temples with her fingers.

It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but this act of submission was quite nice.

So Chen Bai spoke up, easing the stern atmosphere from earlier:

“Nothing happened these past two days, right?”

“A few things, but they’ve all been handled.”

“Go on, tell me…”

“In the distance, over by the villa of the head of the Hantian Corporation, a mutant rat the size of a wolfdog appeared in Mr. Li’s home. In one night, it killed everyone in the Li family, including the housekeeper!”

“That thing was fast. Even with our people, we lost one of our own just to take down that mutant rat!”

“Afterwards, I had all the manholes and sewer covers sealed. Only the regular toilets are still in use.”

Chen Bai listened to Song Ziqiong’s report and nodded.

He had to admit, although East Mountain was a villa district, the surrounding forests had a fair number of rats.

And East Mountain’s sewer system was an independent pipeline.

The sewer outlet was located at the foot of the mountain.

However, seeing mutant rats appear so quickly cast a shadow over Chen Bai’s heart.

Mutant rats and zombie rats weren’t terrifying because of their individual strength, but because of their terrifying numbers!

Although the scale of East Mountain likely wouldn’t allow for a full-blown rat swarm, it could still be one of the most significant threats to early-stage Evolvers.

“These past few days, some elderly people in the villa district, even those who haven’t been bitten by zombies, have started turning into corpses. Now, no one in the entire villa district dares to go outside.”

“Corpse transformations are to be expected, but there’s no need to send people to clean up just yet. We can handle it tomorrow. By then, though, I expect the population of the villa district to drop by more than half.”

Only by becoming an Evolver and slaying zombies would one gain experience.

At Chen Bai’s current level, slaughtering low-level zombies didn’t bring much reward, but he could delegate this task to others.

Building a future city wouldn’t be something that could be achieved by just a handful of people.

“Over by the residential apartments, there was a bit of trouble yesterday. Some families were unhappy about being forced to move so quickly and demanded to go back.”

“Some people also tried to trade supplies with us, but I turned them down. Those people probably won’t let it go easily…”

“…”

So many things.

All sorts of small issues.

The closer they got to the apocalypse, the more chaotic people’s hearts became.

Chen Bai listened, occasionally offering a few comments or suggestions on Song Ziqiong’s methods of handling things. Overall, though, he was quite satisfied.

And he had every reason to be satisfied.

After all, in his previous life, Song Ziqiong had single-handedly established the enormous Qionghai City, absorbing the remnants of Jiangcheng completely—a feat that was truly remarkable in and of itself.

For a woman like this, whatever else might be said about her, her competence was indisputable.

Minute by minute, time continued to slip away.

Chen Bai silently calculated the passing seconds in his mind. Finally, in the dead of night, as they were about to step into a new era, he opened his eyes and spoke:

“Tell Chu Xin and Song Ge to come out. The time is almost here!”

Indeed, the time was nearly upon them.

Song Ziqiong glanced at the diamond watch on her wrist: 23:51.

Only nine minutes remained until the apocalypse would begin.

Chen Bai even took a moment to glance at the group chat.

[Overlord: 540]

[Your Han King: 549]

[Liu Huai: 548]

[…]

The automatic countdown, set by the six admins, was ticking down.

Almost every second, someone in the group spoke up.

They were excited, nervous, full of anticipation.

They were the darlings standing on the frontlines of a new era!

They were the helmsmen of this new age!

In the apocalypse, they were the ones with the privilege to be among the first to rise above and become the elites.

So no matter what their previous identities or statuses had been, at this moment, they were all expressing the tumultuous emotions in their hearts.

In these final minutes, everyone waited together.

They waited for the dawn of a new era.

They waited for the arrival of the apocalypse!

Chen Bai waited as well.

In the silent courtyard, even as Song Ge and Chu Xin arrived, they made no sound.

The two of them sat down. Leng Shuang and Lu Li stood in the courtyard, positioned behind Chen Bai and Song Ziqiong, remaining silent from beginning to end.

Over the past days, everyone had come to understand what was about to happen.

They looked out over the world around them.

Even though, aside from the villa lights illuminating the darkness, there was nothing else to see, at this moment, they all still wanted to take in one last look.

To gaze upon civilization, to glimpse this world where social order was still intact, for one final time.

Then, they would follow Chen Bai into the new era—whether with steadfast resolve, hesitant caution, or even reluctant unwillingness.

And in that very moment, time reset to zero.

June 15, 0:00!

The time had come!