The next day, Commander Xia followed a few soldiers to the new Capital City for a do-over of his formalities, because he had lost contact for a long time. On the third day, Huo Dong and Lin Xiaoji received a conscription notice from the force. Huo Dong was posted at a station troop nearby. Before the apocalypse, he had been just a businessman. Under the circumstances though, whether he liked it or not, his only options were either working at the factory or enlisting in the army.
Lin Xiaoji was an evolved person, so he was posted at the frontline Army District 12 nearby. He was shocked as he had not expected to be posted there. The frontline was nothing like the station the troops were usually assigned to. It was much tougher and a lot more dangerous. He thought he would be able to find a stable, lucrative job in the handling the back-end of things, considering that he was an evolved person. He didn’t want to risk his life anymore or have to please anyone. Little did he know that this would happen.
Before he departed, he looked at Luo Yuan, hoping that he could say something to get him out of this. He knew very well that what Luo Yuan said would be taken very seriously by the superior, so there was still a chance to change things. In the end, he could not bring himself to ask though. His ego did not let him. He didn’t want to yield to anyone, even to someone who had saved his life.
On the fourth day, Huang Jiahui and the rest were assigned jobs. Huang Jiahui was assigned to do what she used to do, and she was actually promoted, becoming the new director of a police station in a small district nearby. Zhao Yali was assigned to the finance department, while Mu Wenwen got a job at the Second Weapon Company in the Desert City. Chen Jiayi and the rest of the kids who were underage were sent to a local school. Initially, Wang Shishi had been sent to the same school, but no matter how they tried to convince her, she was unwilling to go.
She had lost all passion for studying. She had probably never been the kind of kid who enjoyed studying anyway. At Luo Yuan’s request, she decided to stay with him, the two of them remained unemployed. Time was flying by. Besides spending most of his time training, Luo Yuan was not doing much else. He did not get any assignments from the superior, but there were people visiting him every day.
Most of the main leaders of the city had paid him a visit. In the beginning, Luo Yun had still been patient and nice, but soon he started to get annoyed. He tried to give them a hint using his Will and discovered that it was quite effective. With this, he managed to make them fear him, and eventually, there were fewer people coming to see him.
Huang Jiahui was allocated a house, but she remained at the villa. Some of them would visit sometimes, but not Zhao Yali. She did not want to be seen spending time with Luo Yuan alone in public. However, Luo Yuan had familiarized himself with the house where she was staying. Although Zhao Yali was shy and hesitant, she usually gave in to Luo Yuan. The heart wanted what it wanted after all.
Indulging in this peaceful life, Luo Yuan often thought that things had gone back to how they’d used to be before the apocalypse began.
The occasional noise from bombs going off and smoke in the air would bring him back to reality. This was not a time of peace but of war. Many people were being killed, and blood was being shed anytime, anywhere.
Although his life was one of peace, he did not stop training.
He spent most of his time training with his saber, but he did not stop training his body using his Will either. His body began to emanate a certain kind of beauty as a result of his training. It was an indescribable feeling. If he had to put it into words, it could be said that his body used to feel as if it was covered with a layer of cotton, heavy and inflexible; but now the cotton was getting thinner, allowing his body to become flexible.
He had been eating more in recent days, unlike before, when he had not felt hungry even if he had not eaten for a whole day. Fortunately, there was still plenty of superfood in storage, or else the amount of food he consumed every day would be insufficient, even with Huang Jiahui’s salary.
This odd behavior did not worry Luo Yuan though, as he noticed that the more food he ate, the more attributes he gained. Although it was not visible on the attributes panel, he could feel it in his body. He used to be able to jump seven meters from the ground, but he had never been able to reach the top of the villa. Now though, he could reach the top if he tried, and could even move the giant rock that he had failed to move before.
It was an overall improvement. Apart from his magical attributes, including Sensory Perception and Will, his other attributions had shown a certain degree of growth as well. Sometimes he felt like he was a growing seed, his body going through a transformation that nobody could understand.
Perhaps his Will was subconsciously activating a positive change in his body. He was not sure how long the transformation would take or how much it would raise his attributes, but it was something exciting, and it was boosting his mood.
As the air-tight subway stopped, Commander Xia came out of the subway station. He looked tired, excited and worried at the same time. He had just come back from the New Capital City, where he had gone to undergo all the necessary procedures. He made a quick stop at Lanhui City. The city that used to be his home now felt like a complete stranger. There were many more factories there with more funnels than there’d used to be when he’d left a year ago. It looked nothing like before, and it made him feel afraid.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked in the direction of his house. There were no buses, so he had to walk. He was walking fast along the way, but his footsteps became heavy as he approached his home.
He knew from the Military Political Department 9 that a death report had been sent to his family. He had lost contact for almost half a year, so his beautiful wife must have come to terms with his death. His young children would be like strangers to him. Maybe they had started living on their own already.
As he thought about that, his heart filled with mixed feelings. It didn’t matter, He would still pay them a visit. If his wife had moved on, he would give her his blessing. He would not blame her for anything. The only thing he could blame was the world.
He took out the cigarettes he had just bought, lit one up, took a puff, and then put it out using his hand. He walked quickly to the district where his house was. The district was empty, and there was nobody around. He had gotten used to that sight. In the apocalypse, nobody was allowed to do remain idle. Even old people had to do things that they were not capable of.
He was strangely relaxed as he walked towards his home. The door was locked, so he took out the keys that were hanging around his neck. Ever since the plane crash, he had been hanging all his precious belongings around his neck to avoid losing them.
When he opened the door, his mind went blank. He stood there for awhile before he walked into the living room. The house was clean and neat. There was barely anything different. His wedding photo was still hanging on the wall. In the photograph, his smile was stiff, but his wife was smiling happily.