Chapter Sixteen: Who Is the Mastermind Behind the Scenes

Liang Fei was quickly and unceremoniously sent away, covered in dust. Sorry to disappoint, but nothing scandalous happened—Qi Xi really wasn’t that sort of person. As he watched the woman’s retreating figure and finished his second cup of tea, Qi Xi couldn’t help but sigh. Truly, there were all kinds of people in this world: people who annoyed you, who charmed you, who disgusted you, who could be ignored, who were both laughable and pitiable, and those whose very existence left you speechless with awe.

Just then, a flash of insight struck Qi Xi. It was as if he’d finally grasped a thread.

All kinds of people—people. Yes, people!

He shot to his feet, then immediately sat down again, frowning deeply as he pondered this strange notion.

Three epicenters: what had turned the humans of this world into zombies? What was the origin of it all? What had caused this apocalypse?

Perhaps it was worth approaching the problem from another angle. Humans could become zombies, but if they fully accepted this evolutionary form, what would they become?

Watermelon understood how to use the virus to trigger human evolution; Qi Xi should have realized it then—the virus was created with the intent of turning humans into gene-humans!

This virus was almost certainly man-made, and the one who turned the world’s population into zombies was a human.

It was humans who had brought about the end of the world!

But who? Who was it that, from the shadows, had orchestrated the near-extinction of humanity and was pulling the strings behind the scenes?

If he could find that person, or that group, he would surely be able to access the core secret at the heart of this world.

Qi Xi’s thoughts raced further: what could the mastermind possibly gain from destroying human civilization? Was it truly the mad fantasy of some deranged villain bent on world destruction?

If so, that would be ridiculous.

But the likelihood was low. Someone with the power to pull off such a feat would only be driven by unimaginable profit. Yet, what profit could there be in annihilating all of humanity?

Qi Xi could not imagine an answer.

For a while, his head ached. He shifted on the sofa, still uncomfortable, and finally lay down, gazing at the corridor outside the door. Drowsiness washed over him, and when he next regained consciousness, it was already past eleven.

Qi Xi rolled off the sofa, feeling his strength fully restored. Though his arm was still faintly weak from overexertion, it was nothing serious.

Still, he had to be careful. This body was, after all, just that of an ordinary man. Using the Thunderblade Technique to attack zombies so furiously inevitably took its toll. If he didn’t deal with it promptly, by morning his hands would surely ache and swell—his muscles were already strained.

There were two ways to treat this: one, get some medicine from a pharmacy; two, fetch a syringe from the pharmacy, extract zombie virus, dilute and heat it to weaken it, then inject it into the body to trigger gene evolution. Then, muscle strain would be nothing at all.

There was some time left. By now, Watermelon had finished sleeping and was preparing to come see Qi Xi, but Qi Xi beat him to his room and shared his theory.

Watermelon was astonished. This was information he hadn’t known even in his previous life, and it was shocking enough to seize the initiative.

His senior was truly remarkable.

Watermelon was quietly full of admiration.

After a short while preparing, Qi Xi suddenly thought of something. “Does anyone here know how to drive?”

“I do,” Li Feidao replied, nodding.

“I do as well,” said Qiu Xiaoyan, who was a professional driver.

“Then we’ll use the police car to go to the pharmacy.” Qi Xi pointed to a police car nearby. “Though it might draw a horde of zombies, it’ll make escape much easier. With my combat skills, I can quickly handle any fight in the pharmacy and get us back to the car—then slipping away will be simple.”

“But we don’t have the keys,” Li Feidao pointed out immediately. He’d already thought of the vehicle and searched many zombies, but hadn’t found the car keys.

“No keys?” Qi Xi frowned, turned to Watermelon, and said, “Go find the keys.”

His tone brooked no argument, as if finding the car keys in this massive police station was a trivial matter. Watermelon nearly choked. “Hey, senior, you—”

He meant, Senior Qi Xi, you can’t just say it outright like that! We should all look together, then I could ‘luckily’ find them—it would seem more believable! What kind of attitude was this?

Hearing Qi Xi’s words, Li Feidao and the others exchanged baffled glances. Was this Xihongchen really so incredible?

“Hurry up and get them!”

Qi Xi’s tone grew firmer.

“Alright,” Watermelon had no choice but to comply. He dashed into a room, kicked open the door, strode over to a cabinet, opened it, took out the car keys, and hurried back—all in less than a minute.

Li Feidao and Nan Housheng stared in disbelief at the keys. My god, I searched for so long and never found them, but this guy got them in under a minute! Was this even possible? It was absurd.

Li Feidao stammered, “How—how did you know where the keys were? How did you find them so quickly?”

He wasn’t the only one with this burning question; the others shared it as well.

Qi Xi decided that, at this point, he had to reveal something. Even if he didn’t explain now, once they got to the pharmacy, got syringes, and began injecting the zombie virus, the question would be impossible to explain away. Even if he managed, they still wouldn’t be willing to inject themselves first. Even if they later accepted it and became gene-humans, they would remain suspicious. Cooperation would be difficult. Of course, all this depended on whether they could truly become gene-humans and gain real strength. If not, there would be no cooperation anyway.

“Many things aren’t so complicated in my eyes. I surveyed the layout here early on and deduced where the keys would likely be. So it’s nothing to be surprised about. You’ll see even more amazing things in the future,” Qi Xi said with unashamed calm, smiling faintly.

In fact, everyone already knew Qi Xi was extraordinary. Hearing this, they didn’t think he was boasting—they all nodded, convinced.

Truth be told, Qi Xi had no idea where the keys were, nor did he know the station’s layout. He only knew that his first instinct was to leave by car, and that in his so-called ‘past life,’ it must have been done this way. Watermelon, with his memories of a previous life, would surely know where the keys were, so Qi Xi unceremoniously told him to get them. There might have been a chance the keys weren’t there, but seeing Watermelon’s confident demeanor, it was obvious he knew the location.

And so, the adulation Watermelon should have easily won was completely stolen by his senior’s heavy-handedness, leaving him to grumble in silence while the others ignored him. In truth, Watermelon was a bit clueless, but he wasn’t ambitious, so he didn’t mind being upstaged by his respected senior.

Soon, everyone climbed into the car.

The driver was Qiu Xiaoyan. After all, she’d driven taxis for years and was much more skilled than Li Feidao.

“Hold on tight—” As soon as she started the police car, she floored the clutch, gently released it while slamming on the accelerator, shifting gears rapidly. In just ten meters, the car was already in fourth gear, barreling toward the electric gate.

With the power out, the electric gate couldn’t move at all—they had no choice but to ram through it.