Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

After taking Song Kexin to the Hanging Flower Pavilion in the backyard, Xie Ning returned to the main living room, meeting everyone’s questioning gazes.

"What’s wrong with Kexin?"

"It’s nothing, Mom. Kexin just got into a fight. She’s about to advance."

"What?" The others in the living room asked in surprise, "What happened?"

"Didn’t you go out to register your squad? Why are you back so late, and you got into a fight?"

Xie Ning glanced at her uncle, Song Youzhi, hesitating on whether to say anything.

A knock came from outside the courtyard house.

"Is Miss Xie home?"

Xie Ning went out and opened the courtyard gate, only to see Xiao Qi Zi grinning at her.

Two of his teammates were with him, dragging a skinny, hogtied young man.

It was the same guy who’d been secretly filming them, the one they caught at the shopping center a few days ago.

Xie Ning remembered. She had been very busy that day at the shopping center. After crushing the man’s bracelet, she had left with her team, completely forgetting he even existed.

She hadn’t expected Captain Zuo to detain the man for her.

Xie Ning smiled at Xiao Qi Zi. "Sorry, I completely forgot about this guy."

"No problem, we’ve brought him to you now. How does Miss Xie want to deal with him?"

"No, no, no! Please, brothers!" The scrawny man’s howl was surprisingly loud. "Boss, Boss, I meant no harm!"

"I swear! I’m a special liaison from the Capital! I was just sent out to gather statistics and investigate the situation at the major bases. I’m not some secret agent or spy! Really..."

Xie Ning stared at him, her expression blank. "The footage you took of me—who did you transmit it to, and for what purpose?"

She seemed to recall something, and her face instantly turned to ice. "You sent my information to the Capital?"

The moment she finished speaking, Xiao Qi Zi and his two teammates grabbed the skinny man and started pummeling him.

The skinny man let out a series of howls, "AHH AHH," and pitifully raised his hands. "I... I... no... yes, yes."

’SOB... He was wrong, okay?’

’How could he have known this young lady was so sharp?’

’She had been mixed in a crowd, and he had secretly started a live broadcast, but she still noticed.’

’A boss is a boss for a reason.’ Tu Hou had no idea where he had slipped up.

Xie Ning’s elegant brows furrowed, her eyes betraying no emotion.

She reached out, took the thick hemp rope binding the skinny man, and nodded her thanks to Xiao Qi Zi and his men. "Thanks. Tell your captain I’ll be keeping this person here for now."

"Understood." Xiao Qi Zi’s purpose was just to deliver the man, so he naturally had no objections to Xie Ning’s decision.

After seeing Xiao Qi Zi and his two men off, Xie Ning closed the courtyard gate and dragged the howling, scrawny man inside.

"Shijun!"

"Coming, Sis." Song Shijun grabbed a rag from nearby and rushed to his sister’s side.

The brother and sister duo tied the hogtied man to a dead tree next to the red-brick house.

Song Shijun decisively stuffed the rag into the man’s mouth, ignoring his bulging eyes.

Xie Ning looked down and tapped on her Satellite Bracelet, contacting Gu Chen with a deadpan message: *Where are you now?*

Stuck on the highway, a certain someone had been lazily leaning against a car. He watched his teammates move vehicles and clear out a horde of zombies, irritably scratching his messy hair.

Suddenly, a message popped up on his wristband, jolting him to full alertness. He was ecstatic.

’This is the first time the young lady has ever sent me a message!’

All the messages he’d sent her before had... vanished without a trace.

’This message is definitely a momentous occasion, worthy of being saved and cherished forever.’

Takayuki finished moving a dozen or so cars blocking the road and walked over, drenched in sweat, only to see his boss staring down and fiddling with his wristband.

"Captain!!"

"Quiet." Gu Chen turned and quickly sent a voice message.

Xie Ning, expressionless, played the voice message.

[Ningning, I’m stuck on the Jinhu Highway right now. It might take me another half a day to a full day to get to you. The timing is a bit uncertain.]

Xie Ning: ...

’Didn’t that guy just get back to the Capital?’

’He must think it’s fun to run back and forth.’

Xie Ning tapped the input box: *What’s my situation?*

Gu Chen quickly sent another voice message.

[Ningning, you already know? You’re famous in the Capital now. Some dumbass sent your information to headquarters, and they’re taking your superpower situation very seriously. But don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control.]

The "dumbass" tied to the dead tree stared, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets. He gaped at the Satellite Bracelet on Xie Ning’s wrist—a model even newer and more advanced than his own—and let out a series of muffled sobs.

’Holy shit! Holy shit, what is going on? Why does the boss have a Satellite Bracelet that only the Jingji Superpower Special Operations Department should have?’

’And it’s the latest model, too?’

’Why is such a familiar voice coming from the boss’s wristband...?’

"Mmph, mmph!" ’It couldn’t be... the big boss from the Special Ops A-Team, could it?’

Tu Hou felt like he might have just royally screwed up.

’Is it too late to save myself?’

Xie Ning tapped her bracelet again, pursing her lips as she sent another message.

[*Can I kill him?*]

Gu Chen nearly choked on a mouthful of mineral water. He coughed a few times, twisted the cap back on the bottle, and quickly sent another voice message.

[Ningning, the man’s real name is Tu Hou, and his codename is Tu Hou. He’s an Earth Ability User. You can beat him half to death and make him build you a courtyard wall or something. He’d make a decent long-term laborer.]

Tu Hou, tied to the tree: ???

’Is this really our dear captain from the Special Ops Department?’

’Is he serious about the "beat him half to death" part??’

Xie Ning shot the man a cool glance. "You got off easy."

’What does that mean?’ Tu Hou almost burst out crying with a WAH.

’So if Captain Gu hadn’t suggested that, this girl was really planning to kill him before, right? Right?’

Song Shijun kicked Tu Hou. "Stay put!"

The two of them were still in a foul mood because of their former aunt.

Back in the living room, Xie Ning informed everyone about the squad registration and the mission they had accepted.

Only then did she turn her gaze to Song Youzhi and purse her lips. "Uncle, do you remember your ex-wife?"

Song Youzhi’s expression changed drastically. The words flew from his mouth, "You just ran into her?"

"What? Meng Lanfang is at the Golden City Base?" The faces of Song You’ai and He Shuping also changed abruptly.

Xie Ning nodded. "After we registered the squad, we went to the East and West Alley market. We ran into your ex-wife there."

"Kexin is probably in a very bad mood."

She hadn’t heard much about her uncle’s ex-wife back then, only that she was materialistic and had left with another man.

In her past life, she had never even encountered this person in Golden City Base.

"Can I get the full story, Uncle?"

Mr. Song was the first to nod. "The children are all grown up. It’s time they heard about certain things, lest they be kept in the dark and get taken advantage of in the future."

"Yes, Dad." Song Youzhi took a sharp breath, his face pale.

Song You’ai saw her younger brother’s distress and took over the conversation. "Back then, Meng Lanfang caused your uncle a world of hurt."