Chapter Sixty-Seven: Survival Against All Odds, Rebuilding the Homeland

Chen Yaxi stuck out her tongue with a playful smile, then tugged coquettishly at Chu Yunxi’s sleeve.
“Sis, don’t scold me!”
Yaxi scratched her head in embarrassment.
At that moment, the zombie on the ground, which had seemed on the verge of death, suddenly sprouted wings and lunged straight at Chen Yaxi.
“Yaxi, get out of the way!”
Without hesitation, Chu Yunxi pulled Chen Yaxi into her embrace.
“No!”
Seeing that Chu Yunxi was about to be struck by the merciless zombie, Yaxi’s eagle wings instantly reappeared.
She sped forward, grabbed the zombie, and hurled it down from the sky.
With a crash, the zombie was smashed into a mess of flesh.
Chen Yaxi returned to Chu Yunxi’s side, spreading her arms and gazing steadfastly ahead.
“Whoever dares to harm my sister Yunxi will die!”
Chu Yunxi was stunned.
Chen Yaxi’s strength seemed to have grown even greater.
Though she had been able to use her abilities freely before with Chen Yi’s help, it had never gone so smoothly as now.
Now, Chen Yaxi stood like a true grown-up, bearing everything with her petite frame.
Chen Yi finally let out a sigh of relief.
Just moments ago, seeing Chu Yunxi nearly struck by the zombie, he had almost lost control and gone on a rampage.
“The way big brother looked just now, it was as if he wanted to devour that zombie alive!”
Having finished off the last of the zombies nearby, Lu Kai and Hu Sanhan came over to Chen Yi’s side.
Chen Yi didn’t answer. The surge of emotion was because he had already experienced separation and loss; he truly did not want any more regrets.
“How many zombies are left?”
Gazing at the slowly rising sun, Chen Yi could tell this wave of the horde was nearly over.
“Around fifty,” a team member reported solemnly.
“Should we wipe them all out, or...?”
“Kill them!”
Chen Yi didn’t hesitate for a second.
“I’ve already learned enough about their mutations during the fight. There’s no need to keep any samples.”
“That’s great!”

Chen Yaxi ran over, dragging Chu Yunxi with her.
“Brother, let us join—”
“No!”
With a serious look, Chen Yi stared at Chen Yaxi.
“You’re my sister, not a weapon for slaughter. Listen to me—your task is to protect Yunxi. Leave the rest to us!”
“Oh, just like that?”
Yaxi pouted, but soon understood her brother’s intentions.
“All right, since you’re worried about sister-in-law, leave it to me!”
Once more wielding his curved blade, Chen Yi, together with Hu Sanhan and Lu Kai, plunged into the horde of gelatinous zombies.
Though some zombies tried to regenerate after being sliced to pieces, Lu Kai would immediately scorch them with a high-powered flamethrower, obliterating the horrid creatures for good.
The idea to use fire had come to Chen Yi as he watched these things slip through solid walls as if they were water; their composition had to be largely liquid.
At such times, it made sense to use their natural opposite.
Half an hour later, the battle was over.
At long last, the long-lost sun drove away the darkness.
Though they had won, no one could smile.
The once firm base had suffered devastating losses in this struggle.
The professors who had been so eager to study plant propagation perished during the fight.
As they cleared the site, they even found some human remains not fully devoured by the creatures.
Both Yaxi and Chu Yunxi retched uncontrollably.
Though Lu Kai and the others managed not to vomit, they fared little better.
In the face of nature’s mutated power, humanity was utterly insignificant.
After tallying the numbers, there were thirty-seven wounded, and only fifty fit members of the strike team left. Counting Chen Yi and his companions, barely over a hundred remained.
Chen Yi had anticipated such dire circumstances, but not that the threat of death would come so swiftly.
It seemed, when the next round of the doomsday roulette came, he’d have to ensure not only that Chu Yunxi gained power, but that Lu Kai and the others also got their share of benefits.
“Brother.”
Chen Yaxi tugged at Chen Yi’s arm, pouting.
“Have you ever thought about the possibility that we might die?”
“Yaxi, don’t say that!”
Chu Yunxi looked at her, startled, unable to keep a note of reproach from her voice—but Chen Yi only smiled.
“There’s nothing to run from. Death is simply a part of life.”

He paused, his expression growing grave.
“But we, all of us here, won’t die so easily. Yaxi, don’t worry. No matter what difficulties come, we’ll overcome them!”
“Oh, that’s right!”
Yaxi’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“I find it strange—last night, when things started going wrong, it all began at the seaside. I think I heard something, though the sound was sickening.”
Chen Yi recalled Yaxi’s odd reaction the night before, and agreed it merited careful investigation.
But aside from that, they still had to rebuild their safe house.
What they called a safe house was now only a means of comforting themselves.
Chen Yi understood: the simultaneous appearance of zombies and mutants had nearly wiped them out.
Even those with a hundred fighter jets had perished so miserably—it was a sign of how terrifying these monsters were.
Extraordinary events always came with warning signs.
Chen Yi glanced at Chu Yunxi, but before he could speak, she stepped forward.
“Yaxi is particularly sensitive to disasters. Let me investigate with her. Don’t worry—we’ll solve it!”
Chen Yi nodded with a smile.
“Very well, I’ll leave it to you.”
Then he turned to Lu Kai and the others.
“As for us, we’d better get moving.”
Lu Kai and Hu Sanhan immediately rolled up their sleeves.
“All right! If we fell here, we’ll get up here. I don’t believe we can be wiped out by mere zombies and mutants!”
“Let’s go—let’s find a new base. The first one is destroyed and unusable. We have to be ready before nightfall!”
As he spoke, Chen Yi used his twin blades to carve a deep mark into the ground.
It wasn’t just caution—it was survival instinct in the apocalypse; he refused to let any opportunity for betrayal slip by.
Chen Yaxi and Chu Yunxi watched the deceptively calm sea, not daring to let down their guard.
In the unseen depths, a massive black shadow writhed, gathering strength for a charge, its crimson eyes fixed unwaveringly on the people ashore.
The instant a young dolphin swam by, the behemoth swallowed it whole.
As blood-red ripples stained the surface, Chu Yunxi and Chen Yaxi tensed at once.
“Damn, something’s coming!”