Back to the Apocalypse

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Walking along the broad streets, Bai Jing was in the mood to look at their surroundings. A sudden feeling overcame him, and it was like he had returned to life before the apocalypse. The crowd, the noisy streets, and the cheerful shouts all seemed to reflect a time full of vitality.

“They're really leisurely.” Xu Feng tsked twice and looked around admiringly.

Yang Lin rolled his eyes at him, "So what? Are you regretting it? Do you want to stay in the Capital and develop here?"

“Get lost, what the hell are you talking about? The Capital is good, but isn't taking a look at it good enough?" Xu Feng's dissatisfied rebuttal was one thing, but he was still full of enthusiasm. He had never been to the Capital before, and at this time he really looked like a country bumpkin.

The few of them leisurely ambled along the street towards the trading area. The Western District with all its villas belonged to a high level area, and those who could walk around here were naturally different. Although they were fresh faces, nobody belittled or looked down on them. While asking for directions, Yang Lin made good use of his glib tongue to obtain a map of the Capital Base with a crystal core.

“Good job.” Xu Feng raised his thumb.

Yang Lin raised his chin and spoke without any modesty, "As long as you know it."

“You still have to show off despite getting praised.” Xu Feng scorned him.

“Enough, stop squabbling. Bring over the map and let me see it." Once Xiao Sa spoke up, the two men immediately clicked their mouths shut, leaving only Bai Jing covering his mouth and snickering.

Yang Lin opened his mouth wide and watched the map as it flew away from his hand. What the hell was this?!

Xu Feng grinned. He was suddenly in a good mood.

Regardless of whether Yang Lin dared to speak up or not, Xiao Sa opened the map and looked at it carefully. The map was very simple, and the paper wasn't colourful like it would've been before the apocalypse. The lines were drawn out in black and white and depicted several areas, buildings, roads, and other important places in the Capital Base.

Xu Feng stretched his neck over from the side, scanned the map, and couldn't break his gaze away. He couldn't help but curse, showing obvious jealousy and envy, "Motherf*cker, Lao Tzu doesn't even get enough to eat, but others have hotels. Damn, they even have restaurants and bars."

“You've been starved?" Bai Jing raised his eyebrows and asked the question coldly. The team now had good things to eat, enough to wear, and occasionally they even splurged a bit. Despite this, Xu Feng was complaining about not having enough to eat, so what on earth was Xu Feng trying to say?

“No--what is Young Maser Jing talking about?" Xu Feng quickly apologized and wiped off his cold sweat. Based on his experience, he preferred offending Brother Sa over provoking Young Master Jing. Young Master Jing's petty revenge wasn't easy to deal with.

“Hmph!” Bai Jing sneered coldly, then let him off as he turned his attention to the map. He discovered it wasn't as exaggerated as Xu Feng had made it seem; next to the trading area, the so-called hotels and restaurants in the entertainment district did not occupy a large area at all. It was only a tiny space on the map, but Xu Feng's eyes were sharp and had even noticed such small words.

“Would you like to go and take a look?” Xiao Sa looked at Bai Jing and asked.

Before Bai Jing could speak, Xu Feng and Yang Lin nodded hurriedly out of fear that Bai Jing would disagree. Yang Lin rushed to answer, "Go, go! It's not far from where we are. Let's walk over together and see how the Capital is doing along the way."

Bai Jing snickered. He looked at Yang Lin's amusing appearance and didn't plan to tell him that tonight's welcome feast was arranged to be held at the hotel. It was still early, and it was better if they first familiarized themselves with the environment.

The surface of the roads in the Capital were clean and orderly, and the four of them strolled along slowly. Xu Feng and Yang Lin were normally pretty well behaved, but they were a little overexcited today. They seldom had opportunities to relax, and the two of them bickered the whole way. Yang Lin was a very talkative person and constantly angered Xu Feng to the point where smoke was steaming out of his head. They originally thought that he would be able to take a break and stop for a bit, but not long after, he started talking again. Xiao Sa and Bai Jing walked in front, too lazy to deal with their bickering. Bai Jing admired Xu Feng quite a bit, because clearly Yang Lin was purposefully endlessly provoking him, yet Xu Feng still let himself get fooled. It left them really quite speechless.

The several of them arrived at the market area. The streets were lined with shops, and there were many small stalls set up on the roadside. People were coming and going, and it was even more bustling than it had been before the apocalypse.

“In the future, our base must be even better." Xiao Sa gave a heartfelt sigh and internally resolved to make it happen.

“Yes! We'll definitely make it better." Bai Jing nodded vigorously, then looked at Xiao Sa and the two of them exchanged smiles. They did not need to discuss it; now that they had made it to the Capital, they must make sure to return with a full load.

“Oh, what is this?” Yang Lin looked curiously at a booth that was selling a blue glass bottle.

“You guys must be from the outside." The stall-holder was a white-haired old man. Though he was thin and bony, he looked to be in good spirits.

“Yes, we just arrived in the Capital today. What’s this? Why haven’t we seen it before?” Yang Lin became interested and picked up the blue bottle to play with.

Fearing that he wouldn't be careful with it, the old man quickly got up and said, “Be careful, don't drop it. This is the gene solution for level one abilities that we've discovered at our base. I can sell it to you cheap, ten level one nuclei for the bottle."

Yang Lin was shocked, “What kind of highway robbery is this?” He hadn't used a single crystal nucleus to advance to level one - it had all been done under his own power.

“You probably don't know, but don’t underestimate this bottle. You'll definitely advance if you drink it. This is something our research institute has developed, and they've worked really hard to produce it. Nowhere else has such good things."

Bai Jing was also attracted by their voices, “Old man, you're so old, aren't you afraid of encountering any danger standing here by yourself?"

“My son is from the Xiongfeng Mercenary Corps. Everyone around here knows that. Besides, the guards of our base aren't just for show, and they all have identification." The old man spoke complacently and deliberately showed off his wrist. A smile slowly appeared on Bai Jing's face. It was difficult to encounter such a good-natured old man after the apocalypse.

“Hey! Are you going to buy something or not?" On the other hand, the old man was unhappy.

“Yes, buy, buy, but we don’t want this gene solution, we'll get something else.” Bai Jing laughed and picked up a jade Buddha about the size of his palm. He didn't know whose private collection it had come from before.

“I thought there would be a big business because of the way they dressed.” The old man muttered in a low voice as he waved his hand. He was no longer very interested in them, "One level one nucleus."

“Good.” Bai Jing paid the money very quickly and asked carelessly, “Old man, I don’t think your gene solution is very rare. How come everyone is selling it?" As he spoke, he glanced at a nearby grocery stall, where a few identical small bottles were put on display. The only difference was that they were different colors.

The old man choked. He didn't expect to be called out like this. Bai Jing laughed as he pulled out another crystal nucleus and stuffed it into his hand. The old man weighed it in his hand and then smiled in satisfaction. He immediately stopped trying to deceive them and lowered his voice to whisper, "To tell you the truth, the level one genetic solution has already been sold to the outside world. As long as anyone has enough crystal nucleus on hand, they'll be able to buy it. But I'm offering it for the genuine price. I heard that the research institute is currently working on level five gene solutions, and level two gene solutions will soon be available to the public. If you want, I can find a way to obtain it for you, but you have to be willing to pay the price."

“Thank you. What about level four? Can you get it?"

“You’re just trying to scare me now, right? There isn't even enough level four gene solution for the people inside the base, how could I get it for you? I can get level three, though. If you want it, just say the word."

Bai Jing had originally been joking and wasn't disappointed when he heard the old man's words. He'd obtained the information he wanted to know, so they continued on. Bai Jing felt a little relieved. No wonder no one had been surprised by level three ability users at the checkpoint earlier--According to that old man, most people could get their hands on level three gene solution. Level two and level one were both already readily available. With this kind of broad move, it was no wonder that the Capital's development could proceed so quickly. Jing Sa City really had a long way to go if they wanted to catch up.

They casually wandered through the market. Xu Feng and Yang Lin went shopping while Bai Jing hesitated but finally said nothing. He let the two of them do as they like, but the supplies he had in his space were really much better than any of the goods available in the market.

Xiao Sa maintained his good mood all the way, turning a blind eye to the actions of his two subordinates. His mind was crammed with dirty thoughts, and all he wanted to do was go to bed tonight.

The entertainment area wasn't far away from the market, only two blocks away. As they walked over, Xu Feng shouted out loudly that they really had to go to the bar.

The hotel that was located at the entrance of the entertainment area used to be a five-star hotel. After the apocalypse, all the hotels in the capital had closed down and become residences for people in the base. Only this one was still open, and it was now part of the Qi Family's businesses. Bai Jingcheng had ordered a banquet here tonight.

Because it was still early, the hotel wasn't crowded. Bai Jing looked away as he did not have any intention to go in and check it out. In any case, they would know what it was like once evening came. Under Xu Feng's urging, they went straight to the bar.

“Lao Tzu wants to smoke and drink. Don’t stop me. It’s my treat today.” Xu Feng spoke boldly, and his loud voice instantly attracted sideways glances from the people around them.

Bai Jing rolled his eyes at him. He normally didn't treat them that badly, did he have to be so embarrassing?

As soon as Xiao Sa arrived at the bar door, he regretted it immediately and wanted to turn around and leave right then and there.

“Gentlemen, please come in.”

More than a dozen women stood at the entrance of the bar. The clothing they wore barely covered them up and left quite a lot exposed depending on how they moved, striking poses to attract customers. Their soft voices seemed to suggest sex and decadence, and like a group of succubi, their seductive gazes focused on their group.

“What would you gentlemen like? Xiao Lin can serve you. We sell everything here." Xiao Lin leisurely stepped forward, revealing her thighs as she stared at Xiao Sa, fixing her gaze on him as she wantonly shook her body and showed off her pale white cleavage.

Bai Jing's expression immediately turned black. He pulled at Xiao Sa and wanted to leave. Red wine, white wine, liquor, he had all of those things in his space. They didn't need to go to such bars.

Xiao Sa’s heart relaxed a little. He quite enjoyed his little lover's jealousy.

This was probably something like karma; Xiao Sa did not realize that after joy came sorrow.

"Bai Jing, Bai Jing, are you Bai Jing?" A woman with heavy make-up came up suddenly, her eyes full of tears, and her eyebrows twisted with emotion. If she hadn't made her face up in various colors, she might have appeared quite pitiful and not charming at all…

Xiao Sa’s expression instantly changed. Cold air began to emanate from his body, and his face was darker than the bottom of a burned pot.

“Who are you?” Bai Jing turned around and frowned with displeasure. The woman indeed looked familiar.

“I’m Zhu Ting, I’m Zhu Ting! Bai Jing, I've missed you so much. I looked for you for such a long time. Do you know how much I’ve suffered?”

Xiao Sa’s expression became even uglier. Xu Feng and Yang Lin didn't even dare breathe.

Zhu Ting? Bai Jing sneered, his lips forming a playful smile as he looked ironically at the woman in front of him. He studied her face and found that he had long been unable to remember her original appearance. He had suffered for her in his last life, but in the end, she had turned around and kicked him to the curb when he was down and hooked up with another high level ability user. He hadn't expected that without him in this life, the originally lofty lady would end up having to sell her body to live on.

“I don’t know you.” Bai Jing spoke indifferently. There wasn't a single ripple in his heart. Perhaps to Zhu Ting, it had only been two years since they'd seen each other, but for Bai Jing, it had already been nearly ten years. If she hadn't mentioned it, Bai Jing thought that he probably wouldn't even have remembered that she existed.