IABI – Chapter 108 Humanity’s Counterattack (9)

The place they had chosen was not wrong. Although a fierce battle had just taken place outside, it did not prevent Professor Jing and the Sero couple from remaining in their original room, sorting through past materials.

Click.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, all three looked up at the same time. When they saw Chi Xin carrying someone into the room, different degrees of astonishment appeared on their faces.

Before Chi Xin and Jing Xiubai could explain, Sero let out a startled cry and rushed forward in a few quick steps. She stared at Lou Chen’s unconscious face, her outstretched hand hovering in midair, afraid to let it fall.

“Y-You… you really caught him?” She looked at Chi Xin in disbelief.

Chi Xin nodded in silence.

The ensuing chaos need not be mentioned. When the three scientists, filled with incomparable excitement, wanted to take Lou Chen back to the laboratory, Chi Xin’s arms holding him instead tightened subconsciously.

“Chi Xin?” Sero asked in confusion.

Chi Xin lowered her head. Lou Chen in her arms seemed to sense that he was about to be taken away from the embrace that made him feel at ease. His brows knit together as he nudged closer into the hollow of Chi Xin’s neck.

Like a stray puppy that had finally found its way home.

“I can hand him over to you,” Chi Xin said, facing the three greatest scientists of the age. A slanted wound on her cheek had yet to be treated, adding a quality utterly different from her usual self. “But you must give me a guarantee.”

The three scientists exchanged glances. Taking the lead, Professor Jing looked at his son, then asked gently, “What kind of guarantee do you want?”

“He is a person, not an experimental subject labeled as the Zombie King,” Chi Xin said. “No matter what you plan to do, you must find a way to wake him up. Only when he is conscious and willing should you proceed to the next step.”

Professor Jing did not answer immediately. He turned to Jing Xiubai. “Do you think the same?”

“Even before performing surgery, you still need the patient or their family to sign a consent form,” Jing Xiubai said calmly. He did not directly answer his father’s question, but his stance was already unmistakably clear.

Professor Jing smiled.

“Of course. I have always been a doctor with medical ethics.”

This world-class medical authority still referred to himself as an ordinary doctor. He made a promise to Chi Xin: “Rest assured.”

Only after receiving Professor Jing’s personal assurance did Chi Xin finally feel at ease.

She followed Professor Jing’s car to the research institute, watching all the way as they carefully transported Lou Chen into a dedicated ward, watching Professor Jing lead his team in performing various examinations on Lou Chen. Only then did Chi Xin feel the tightly wound nerves in her body relax slightly.

She leaned back against the wall outside the ward, closed her eyes, tilted her head up, and slowly let out a breath.

Jing Xiubai stayed by her side the whole time. His gaze passed through the observation window into the ward. His voice, deliberately lowered, was still enough to rouse Chi Xin in this environment.

“Do you have a rough psychological preparation for what you’ll be facing next?”

“What else could it be?” Chi Xin kept her eyes closed. “Since you and Yu Xiang dragged me into the power center of this base, there are only two possible outcomes.”

Jing Xiubai made a gesture of listening attentively.

“I’m a very useful gun, and now I’ve also captured the Zombie King. Whether Yu Shizhao is Yu Xiang’s brother or not, as a ruler, he won’t let me go,” Chi Xin said, her eyes opening, her gaze somewhat vacant. “And Xiao Li—he’s completely different from the little soldier I knew back then. I’ve never had the habit of being sentimental. He might treat me as an old friend, but he’s also one of those in power now. I won’t forget that.”

Chi Xin did not turn her head, and naturally did not see the fleeting smile that crossed Jing Xiubai’s face.

“You think they’ll use both coercion and persuasion, forcing you to sell your life to the base?”

Hearing Jing Xiubai’s question, Chi Xin shot him a sideways glance.

“You rarely ask such blunt questions. But since you’ve asked, I’ll answer just as bluntly: yes.” Her tone barely fluctuated, as if she had long thought this through and made all the necessary mental preparations. “Jing Xiubai, you probably noticed this long ago—I don’t really have a sense of belonging here. But you should also know that I don’t have the habit of standing by and watching people die. This place is now a target under Raphael’s watch. No matter the reason, I won’t be leaving here for the time being.”

“But you’ll still be hurt,” Jing Xiubai said softly. “If Yu Shizhao really uses Yu Xiang as leverage against you, if Xiao Li truly negotiates with you from the standpoint of a ruler, you’ll feel conflicted, won’t you?”

Chi Xin was silent for a moment. Then, as if unwilling to think about such possibilities, she straightened up and abruptly changed the subject. “They should be back by now. Let’s go directly.”

She turned and walked out. Jing Xiubai tilted his head, thought for a moment, said nothing, and followed her.

When they returned once more to the administrative building, the simultaneous return of the two highest-ranking leaders had clearly made the area far livelier than before. Entering and leaving the building were not only staff members, but also soldiers still wearing blood-soaked uniforms they had yet to change.

And when those soldiers saw Chi Xin step out of the car, no matter where they were standing, they all snapped to attention in unison, faced Chi Xin, brought their five fingers together to their brows, and rendered a crisp, forceful military salute.

That perfectly synchronized momentum startled everyone around them.

People instinctively stepped back, whispering among themselves as they looked at Chi Xin—who was being seen off by all the soldiers—and speculated about her identity.

After all, not even the two leaders of the base had ever received such treatment.

Chi Xin was not facing such a scene for the first time. She recalled the last time she had been watched with such unified gazes—it had been when she first arrived in this world, when she was brought into L Base as a criminal.

And this time, she was a complete hero.

“Within half a day, your name will echo throughout A Base,” Jing Xiubai said softly by her ear as they walked up the steps. “Perhaps in a few more days, it will echo throughout the entire human world.”

“Just because I captured the Zombie King?” Chi Xin’s expression was calm.

“Most people don’t know the truth,” Jing Xiubai pressed the elevator button. “They’ll simply believe that once the Zombie King is caught, the apocalypse is about to end. And your name will leave a bold, indelible mark in human history.”

Chi Xin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Whether my name gets to stay or not isn’t really up to me to decide.”

Jing Xiubai lowered his head and glanced at her.

Chi Xin said nothing more. The two of them waited in silence for the elevator to reach the top floor. The doors slid open.

A-Qing was still standing outside the conference room. This time, when he saw Chi Xin, his attitude took a full one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn from before.

Before Chi Xin even reached him, he jogged over with small steps, wearing a polite and attentive smile. “Miss Chi, are you here to see Chengji?”

“Yes. Are they inside?” Chi Xin’s tone hadn’t changed much.

“They are, they are. Besides Chengji, Major General Xiao is also here, along with your friends,” A-Qing said with a beaming smile as he moved to open the conference room door.

“No need to announce me this time?” Chi Xin raised an eyebrow.

“There’s no need anymore. From now on, anywhere in the entire base, you won’t need anyone’s permission to go.”

The smile on A-Qing’s face seemed to carry some deeper meaning to Chi Xin, but she couldn’t be bothered to probe further. Since someone was opening the door for her, she walked in without ceremony.

At a glance, the conference room was far livelier than before.

The three fathers and sons of the Yu family, Xiao Li, and Jiang Congyun were all there. When they saw Chi Xin enter, they all turned their gazes toward her in unison.

“Xin Xin!”

The first to rush over was Jiang Congyun. Before Chi Xin could even speak, she raised her hand, and a milky-white light enveloped Chi Xin’s face.

When the light faded, Chi Xin reached up and touched the spot where the wound had been—it had already returned to smooth, flawless skin.

“Thank you,” she said.

Jiang Congyun wrinkled her nose unhappily, then pulled Chi Xin down to sit beside her.

During the time Jiang Congyun was healing Chi Xin’s injury, not a single person in the room made a sound. They all watched quietly, as if even in such a setting, Chi Xin doing her own thing did not feel like a waste of time to any of them.

“Miss Chi.”

An aged voice rang out. Yu Xiansheng stood up, his expression grave, and walked toward Chi Xin. Suddenly, he bent deeply at the waist.

Behind him, everyone else stood as well, making the same gesture.

Chi Xin was startled and immediately stood up too. “Professor Yu, please don’t!”

“No—please accept our gratitude and our apology,” Yu Xiansheng said. Given his age, he panted twice as he straightened. “This isn’t just on my own behalf, but on behalf of all the residents of Base A, and more than that—on behalf of the remaining human society.”

When Yu Xiansheng tried to bow again, Chi Xin reached out and grabbed his arm. No matter how much strength he used, he could no longer bend.

“You’re overstating it,” Chi Xin said. “Now isn’t the time for gratitude yet. The real war between humans and demons has only just begun—you know that.”

A trace of relief flashed through Yu Xiansheng’s eyes. Supported by Chi Xin, he sat back down, looking at her with a kind of affectionate fondness that made her feel a little uneasy.

“Do I really need to say more?” Chi Xin turned helplessly to the others. “Let’s get down to business already.”

The others all smiled faintly.

After everyone sat down, Chi Xin still felt that something wasn’t quite right.

She looked left, then right—then left and right again—before suddenly realizing it. Everyone had taken their seats, but not a single person had spoken. They were all looking at her. It was obvious—they were waiting for her to speak first.

Chi Xin instantly felt her head grow twice as big.

Instinctively, she called out to her strategist. “Jing Xiubai?”

When everyone’s gazes shifted away, Chi Xin finally let out a breath.

“Uncle Yu, Major General Xiao—before this, what plans did you have for this war?” Jing Xiubai picked up the cue, tapping his fingers lightly on the tabletop as he threw out the question.

“Just call me Xiao Li,” Xiao Li said. Though he was speaking, his eyes were still on Chi Xin, and it wasn’t clear who the words were really meant for.

“I didn’t have any concrete plans before,” Xiao Li said bluntly. “Let the situation develop, climb to a position with the power to speak—that was my goal. And now I’ve already achieved it.”

Yu Shizhao shot him a look of exasperation.

“Brother Yu?” Jing Xiubai prompted, calling him out by name.

“I really didn’t expect that the Major General Xiao I’ve been competing with for so many years would have such a… down-to-earth goal.”

Chi Xin wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Yu Shizhao was practically grinding his teeth as he spoke.

Of course, he didn’t dwell on the complaint. He quickly turned serious. “To be honest, although we suspected that someone was still manipulating things behind the Zombie King, we lacked evidence. Everything we planned before was centered on capturing the Zombie King first. As for what to do next, we…”

Yu Shizhao gave a bitter smile and swallowed the rest of his words. But no one present was foolish; they all understood what he hadn’t said.

He had originally believed that humanity wouldn’t even survive long enough to capture the Zombie King, let alone live to see the truth revealed.

Chi Xin lifted her eyes to look at the man and suddenly realized that he wasn’t much younger than Yu Xiang—just past thirty. Yet his temples were already streaked with white, deep furrows were permanently etched between his brows, and his expression was far more stern and aged than Yu Xiang’s.

Only at this moment did he reveal a profound exhaustion.

“Now you can think about it,” Chi Xin said as soon as she spoke, drawing everyone’s attention to her. She looked straight at Yu Shizhao, her tone firm. “The previous objective has already been achieved. It’s time to consider the next step.”

“The next step,” Yu Shizhao murmured.

“To bring this apocalypse to a complete end,” Chi Xin said, her words ringing with finality.

Everyone in the conference room looked at her. Though the apocalypse had not yet ended, they seemed to already see the darkness fading away, sunlight flooding the room—

all of it falling upon the face of that young girl.

“Chi Xin is right. Right now, we’re still two steps short,” Jing Xiubai said, drawing everyone’s attention back. “Lou Chen—and Raphael.”

“Leave Raphael to me.” A faint, cold glint flowed through Chi Xin’s eyes. “He’s always wanted a head-on showdown with me. How could I not satisfy him?”

“We’ll discuss that in detail later,” Jing Xiubai said. “At present, we know nothing about where he is, what resources he has, or what we’ll be facing. We’ll probably have to wait until Lou Chen wakes up.”

“No matter whether he’s got three heads and six arms, as long as there’s a fight to be fought, hand it to Sister Chi and you won’t go wrong,” Yu Xiang said with a grin. He even mimed an exploding firework. “He’ll go bang like this and get blown to pieces.”

What answered him was Jing Xiubai’s sharp glance.

“This matter needs careful, long-term planning,” Jing Xiubai said, turning to Chi Xin, urgency in his tone. “Against him, we must ensure a single, decisive strike. Otherwise, no one can predict what will happen afterward.”

“Xiubai is right,” Mr. Yu said slowly. “This is a hurdle all of humanity must overcome. It can’t be placed on Miss Chi’s shoulders alone.”

“Just call me Chi Xin,” she said. “So what you mean is—uniting all the bases that are still alive and working out a plan together?”

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere in the room froze in an odd stillness.

Chi Xin: “Hmm?”

“We tried that before,” Yu Shizhao said, anger and sorrow flickering across his face. “When we realized the Zombie King was targeting Base A, we tried to contact other large bases, hoping everyone could unite and survive this crisis together. The result…”

“The result was that every single base replied that they were barely holding on themselves and had no intention of joining forces,” Xiao Li continued grimly. “If not for their refusal to respond, we wouldn’t have been dragged to the brink of running out of ammunition and supplies, nor would so many people have died.”

The young soldier had grown up. With his face darkened, he carried an air of quiet authority even without anger.

A thought flashed through Chi Xin’s mind, but she was immediately struck by the cruelty and coldness behind those words and frowned.

“They… refused to come?”

“More than that,” Yu Shizhao sighed. “After we sent out distress signals, even the bases we’d been in contact with before stopped responding altogether. You can’t blame them. Humanity is already at a dead end. In just a few short months, countless small and medium bases have been wiped out. We had no capacity to help them either. Everyone’s just barely clinging to life, hoping to survive a few more days.”

“So it’s already come to this,” Chi Xin murmured.

“If we release the news that Lou Chen has been captured,” Jing Xiubai said, looking at her, “the situation might change. As for the rest—it depends on you.”

“Me?” Chi Xin was taken aback. “Of course I’ll do everything I can—”

“I’m not talking about your combat ability,” Jing Xiubai said. “Do you really have no idea how much influence your name carries in this world?”

Chi Xin looked stunned. “What are you talking about?”

Jing Xiubai raised his head and looked at the others. “It’s worth a try.”

“Wait.” Chi Xin couldn’t help leaning forward. “In what capacity do we try? To be blunt, you’re still dealing with internal conflict yourselves. A leader like that—would there really be followers willing to rally behind them?”

“Internal conflict?” Yu Shizhao smiled faintly. “It’s already been resolved.”

“Resolved?” Chi Xin found it unbelievable. “You were still arguing just before the fight started. And now it’s resolved?”

“That’s right. Yu Chengji and I have already reached an agreement,” Xiao Li said. The weakness from his severe injuries was gone from his sun-darkened face, and every word he spoke carried weight. “There’s only one condition that can stop us from fighting—and that is for you, Chi Xin, to give the orders. Both sides will come under your banner. That’s the best possible outcome.”

Chi Xin: …?

Perhaps her stunned expression was too obvious. Xiao Li grinned at her, and for a moment, she saw a trace of the young soldier he once was.

“I said earlier that striving was about standing in a position where one has the right to speak,” he said slowly. “But I never said that I was fighting for that power for myself.”

The meaning of those words was self-evident. Chi Xin’s eyes widened.

Seeing the invincible god of war on the battlefield wearing such a dazed, almost adorable expression, everyone present smiled kindly.

“Xiao Li is right. This is the only result both sides can accept,” Yu Shizhao said. “You hold the most information now. Only you can lead humanity toward greater odds of victory. We may be struggling numbly, but we haven’t gone blind in our hearts.”

“Miss Chi, may we ask—are you willing to take on this scorching burden, face this dark era, and lead us in carving open a path to daylight?”

Would you be willing to face this dark era and lead us in chiseling open the light of dawn?

Led by the eldest, Mr. Yu, everyone stood again. Including Jing Xiubai. Even Yu Xiang’s face had lost its usual levity. All of them stood straight before Chi Xin and bowed in unison.

“This is not coercion—it is a request,” Mr. Yu said, bent at the waist, his voice rasping faintly through his throat. “Please… give it some thought.”

Chi Xin slowly stood up. Arms that never trembled when holding blades or guns now shook slightly.

“You place such enormous expectations on me—aren’t you afraid I’ll mess it all up?” she asked, doing her best to steady her voice. “You have a lord of a city, a meritorious major general, a destined genius. Any one of you has experience and the ability to lead survivors.”

“But none of us are you.”

Jing Xiubai lifted his head. The look in his eyes reminded Chi Xin of what he once said about moths flying into flames.

“Chi Xin, you are our hope,” Yu Xiang said.

“Xin-xin, only by following you do I feel like I can truly go on living,” Jiang Congyun said.

“Trust yourself,” Xiao Li said.

Chi Xin took a step back and sank into her chair.

Her fists slowly clenched.

That very night, a message spread through the special channels of the apocalypse, carrying a single voice across the vast land, echoing over every free territory.

“I am Chi Xin. Perhaps this name is unfamiliar to you, but you may have heard of the destruction of the ‘Market,’ and the surrender of the Zombie King.”

“The devil’s conspiracy is closing in. He seeks to divide us, to destroy us one by one. As base after base falls, as the number of zombies gradually surpasses that of humans, we must realize—this is the moment when resistance can no longer be avoided.”

“I understand your fear. I understand why you hesitate to take that step. You may fear being torn from your loved ones, the blood of your compatriots spilling freely. You may fear the total collapse of human society, dying without ever reclaiming the dignity of being human.”

“But not today.”

“Please believe that the light has not yet gone out. Lift your heads and look to the east—the brilliant morning sun is rising.”

“I am not a ruler, nor do I claim to be a savior. But with these achievements, I can prove to you what I am capable of—and that I intend to do even more.”

“Leave everything you worry about, everything you fear, everything you dread, here today. Because today is the day you take up your weapons and make your choice.”

“Follow me. Break through the darkness and walk toward the dawn. Let light once again shine upon the land. Let free smiles return to every face.”

“Before daybreak, I want to take your hands, forge them into an iron fist of freedom, and shatter the devil’s conspiracy.”

“I am Chi Xin. I am waiting for you at Base A.”

Under the starlit sky, beside countless bases and makeshift camps, before radios and various pieces of equipment emitting hoarse, clear, or indistinct sounds, people lifted their faces—eyes filled with fervent hope.