Chapter 59: Fellow townsmen?

After delivering a brief mission report and enjoying the expressions of Liu Hui and Wu Zirui, the members of the motorcade went their separate ways.

Longing for a proper hot bath and a solid twenty-four hours of sleep, everyone hurried home with eager steps.

However, the moment Qi An unlocked the door to her small apartment, a cloud of dust rushed out to greet her.

Having been away for nearly a month this time, the wind had whistled through the window cracks, leaving a thick layer of dirt over the bedsheets.

Qi An gritted her teeth; next time, she was definitely going to buy some plastic sheeting to cover all the furniture before heading out on a mission!

Even though her bones ached with fatigue, Qi An set down her various bags and resigned herself to cleaning the room.

For a full hour, she hauled garbage to the recycling station, took a long shower that squandered twenty contribution points, and finally collapsed into the fresh sheets.

She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, but her dreams were chaotic. Qi An dreamed of the little girl in the red coat at the Northern Base 1, the burning city on the day Southeastern Base 4 fell, and the roar of helicopter rotors on the rooftop helipad.

Her sleep was far from peaceful, and Qi An woke up after just three hours.

When she opened her eyes, the sun was slanting westward outside the window. On her phone—connected via the Starlink network through a communication app called "Blue Conch"—was a new friend request.

It was from Yang Yuning.

So Yang Yuning had figured out she had a smartphone after all, or perhaps he had known back when they went to Northern Base 1.

He had held back until now without bringing it up, simply tracking down her account through someone and quietly sending a friend request.

They were too familiar with each other by now—Qi An had hitched rides on his back many times—and she could not think of a legitimate reason to refuse, so she had no choice but to accept.

A minute later, a flurry of emojis popped up from his end, some cheering jubilantly, others smiling with gentle shyness.

[Are you done resting? Would you like to come to the East Camp cafeteria for dinner?]

Qi An could not help smiling at the emoticons, but she replied:

[I won't be eating at the cafeteria.]

There was a brief pause on the other end, followed by another smiley face:

[Alright, make sure you eat well and get your fill. You have to call me whenever you come to the East Camp!]

Qi An rested her chin in her hand and typed back:

[Mm, you get some good rest, too.]

She put down her phone. The nightmares had vanished without a trace, and feeling lazy, she lingered in bed, lounging idly for a long while before finally getting up to write in her journal.

Strictly speaking, this could no longer be called a journal; it was more of a "monthly record."

[Mission gains: Proficiency in using firearms, drones, and other weapons has improved significantly. I feel an enhancement in both my physical strength and speed.

The detection range for corrupted bugs has expanded by about five hundred meters, and I can now clearly distinguish between intellectual bugs and ordinary worker bugs.

Witnessed battles against higher-tier intellectual bugs......]

Writing up to this point, Qi An's pen paused.

[Some gaps in combat power seem impossible to bridge through mere training. No matter how hard I practice, I probably won't be able to defeat people like Chen Yuezhou and Yang Yuning. Maybe I can eventually reach Zhuang Xiao's level?

Teacher Tang says that whether in the apocalypse or before it, human beings survive through cooperation.

On the battlefield, we need each other, which is why I can save them.]

Having written these words, Qi An fell into an even longer trance, her pen tip unconsciously tracing a line beneath the phrase "save them."

Her father used to say that she might be able to save everyone.

Yet during her twelve years at Southeastern Base 4, she had not managed to save a single person.

And yet, she was truly saving people now.

When purifying Wan Chenxi and Yu Zi, and when working with Yang Yuning to intercept the autocannon vehicle and save the entire motorcade, Qi An had genuinely felt a sense of fulfillment welling up in her heart... a sense of accomplishment?

She could not pinpoint the exact feeling, but it left her heart full and happy.

Sitting on the edge of a rice paddy, basking in the sun and waiting for everyone to call her for dinner, was also quite pleasant.

Qi An daydreamed for quite a while longer before scribbling a few more lines. She tore off this page of her "monthly record" and, after hesitating for a long time, chose not to burn it.

She rested her head on her desk for a while, waiting until the sunlight outside the window turned into a rich, tender gold, before gathering some game and a bouquet of flowers and heading toward the research building.

It was the familiar fifth floor of the research building, featuring the familiar "two kings confronting each other" layout of the twin laboratories.

This time, Qi An could not help glancing curiously toward the gene-enhancement laboratory, reminded of the red-skinned experimental subject she had seen at Northern Base 1.

Her own base was quite strong in that field of research; she wondered what kind of situation was hidden inside that gloomy laboratory across the hall.

Qi An shivered slightly and quickly turned to stride toward the mental-enhancement training laboratory on the sunny side.

She had brought plenty of food this time, leaving donkey meat jerky and wild grapes at the desks of everyone she knew.

The donkey meat jerky was supplies given to them by Northern Base 3 that she hadn't finished, while the wild grapes had been picked along the road yesterday.

Engineer Xu Bingjie's round, plump, and fair face creased into such a wide smile that his eyes vanished entirely. He repeatedly declared that if Dr. Xiao Qi ever had any electronic equipment that needed repair or upgrades, she should not hesitate to find him!

Tang Xinying was even more pleasantly surprised to see Qi An than she had been last time.

Qi An had been away for far too long this time, and through her inquiries, Tang Xinying had known that the mission was exceptionally perilous, keeping her heart on edge the entire time.

"You seem to have lost weight..." Tang Xinying reached out and gently touched Qi An's cheek.

A warmth bloomed in Qi An's chest, and she smiled, saying, "I haven't lost weight. I've gotten sturdier—my weight actually increased by one kilogram compared to before I left!"

She had grown muscle!

Tang Xinying placed that large bundle of snow-white pear blossoms into a vase on her desk, gazed at it with a smile for a long time, and then dragged Qi An off to dinner.

This mission did not involve many classified details, so Qi An talked a great deal during the meal, also mentioning Li Yi and Liu Weiyun.

"In truth, quite a few people surrender out of fear of corrupted bugs or even develop a cult-like adoration for them. The human heart is terribly fragile after all.

This Captain Li you mentioned, did he have any family?" Tang Xinying asked.

"......I suppose not?" Qi An replied.

"Then there won't be any disputes over distributing survivor pensions. Given his situation, his family probably isn't eligible to collect one," Tang Xinying sighed softly.

Qi An nodded, and master and apprentice fell silent for a moment over the heavy topic.

As the meal drew to a close, Qi An predictably used a trip to the restroom as an excuse to settle the bill.

She rarely stayed at the base nowadays, but her salary was paid in full regardless, meaning money was the last thing she lacked!

However, when she returned, Tang Xinying looked at her with a gentle smile and asked a question: "Xiao Qi, when you were at your original base, did you live with your father?"

Qi An froze, instinctively straightening her back. "......Yes. He was my only family member, but he passed away when the base fell."

Her tone was tinged with sorrow. Tang Xinying reached across the table to stroke her head:

"I met someone the other day who said he also came from Southeastern Base 4, and that he was a friend of your father."

Qi An jerked her head up sharply.