Chapter 110: Grateful for Your Highness’s Mercy!

The large vehicle was blown to pieces. The surrounding snow had all evaporated, but there was no sign of Zheng Yingjun’s body or remains.

Sun Rong, Guo Yixing, Teng Jingyu, Chu Zekai, Luo Zhengyi, and Yu Feng had taken shelter in a corner by the wall, which offered decent protection. They only felt a wave of heat wash over them but suffered no injuries.

However, the terrifying explosion was so overwhelming that none of them dared to turn around and see what had actually happened.

Su Miao anxiously looked ahead and saw Zheng Yingjun crawling out from a snow pit.

Zheng Yingjun was clever and fortunate. There happened to be a snow pit nearby, and he rolled into it, narrowly avoiding the blast of the blue fireball. He quickly summoned a barrier of swirling snow and wind, so only a few minor wounds appeared on his body.

“Just wait, the Vulcan Base won’t let you off!” Zheng Yingjun grit his teeth and spat out this curse before leaping down the mountain.

The entire mountain was now covered in thick snow—his home turf. If he couldn’t win the fight, escaping was no problem.

Blood flowed incessantly.

Su Miao raised her hand, sending a ray of magical light into Zheng Yingjun’s body.

Unaware of this, Zheng Yingjun beneath used the wind and snow to form a makeshift snowboard, gliding down the mountain at high speed.

Not only that, but as he slid, a thick veil of swirling snow gathered around him, preventing any sniper attacks during his escape.

For safety, he sent out a distress signal to the Vulcan Base while fleeing.

“Wretched woman, I will make sure you can neither live nor die!” Zheng Yingjun thought fiercely.

But for some unknown reason, he suddenly felt his energy draining rapidly. His vision blurred, and even his control over the wind and snow faltered.

Boom!

Suddenly, his powers spiraled out of control. The swirling snow vanished, and propelled by inertia, Zheng Yingjun was violently thrown out, tumbling over a hundred meters across the snow before finally coming to a stop.

Even so, his intense will to survive kept him conscious.

He looked up toward the mountain, but the terrifying woman did not pursue him. Yet, why...

The next moment, Zheng Yingjun saw a horrifying crimson snow and ice spreading down the mountain toward him.

“How could this be?”

He looked down and realized that the small wounds on his body were bleeding uncontrollably, far worse than a severed artery.

“No, I must survive.”

Fear took root in his heart.

He immediately tried to cover the wounds with his hands, but the blood continued to flow unceasingly.

His body trembled as he desperately hardened his resolve and froze the wounds with ice and snow, but the blood seeped right through the icy barrier.

“Ah!”

After repeated attempts to save himself, weakened by blood loss, Zheng Yingjun screamed in agony.

He convulsed and struggled in the snow until his blood drained dry and his body grew cold.

At the brink of death, he vaguely saw a black magpie circling in the sky.

“Damn you! Like a cat! Like a cat!”

“Like a cat! Like a cat!”

Damn it...

Hearing the magpie’s curses, Zheng Yingjun gasped for breath but couldn’t recover. His eyes widened before plunging into endless darkness.

...

On the mountain.

The magpie flew down to check on Zheng Yingjun’s condition.

Su Miao stood at the doorway, looking toward the six people crouching in the corner.

“You may stand now,” she said, her cold expression taut.

Sun Rong, Guo Yixing, Teng Jingyu, Chu Zekai, Luo Zhengyi, and Yu Feng turned around cautiously.

“Your Highness, these people were all brought here by Sun Rong…” Teng Jingyu quickly reported, thinking on her feet.

She spoke rapidly, shifting all responsibility for her own actions onto Sun Rong.

“Sun Rong led these people here intending to use Your Highness’s hands to kill them. The best outcome for him would be to see Your Highness and them all die in a fierce fight.”

“Your Highness, such a treacherous villain must be eliminated!”

Teng Jingyu knelt in the snow, tears streaming down her face, showing her loyalty.

Sun Rong was utterly shattered.

He had never seen someone so boldly twist the truth. He could only tremble on his knees in the snow, unable to utter a word.

A Type 95 assault rifle appeared in Su Miao’s hand, the muzzle aimed at them.

Guo Yixing, Chu Zekai, Luo Zhengyi, and Yu Feng wanted to speak but dared not once they saw the gun pointed at them.

They remembered the first time they came here—it was exactly like this.

Whoever talked too much, made too many moves, died.

It was over.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

All six closed their eyes.

After a while, Sun Rong was the first to open his eyes, surprised to find he was still alive.

The others opened their eyes as well, realizing they were alive.

Glancing sideways, they saw Teng Jingyu lying in the snow with a terrible blood hole in her forehead. Her eyes were wide open, her face frozen in death without peace.

She seemed never to understand why her usual tactic of playing the victim and tattling, which had always worked before, failed here.

The witch hadn’t even questioned her—she was simply killed.

“Take the body away and discard it,” Su Miao said to the rest, her voice light and soft, yet every word rang clear as a heavenly melody to those present.

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Sun Rong immediately knelt, “Thank you, Your Highness, for sparing us! Thank you, Your Highness!”

Guo Yixing, Chu Zekai, Luo Zhengyi, and Yu Feng followed suit, bowing and expressing their gratitude.

It turned out they had all misunderstood.

The witch was truly a good person.

She hadn’t killed them despite everything and was even willing to continue providing them with food.

“Leave,” Su Miao said.

Seeing so many people bowing to her frightened her.

If the experiment hadn’t been ongoing, she would have killed them all without hesitation.

Sun Rong and the others promptly stood, dragged Teng Jingyu’s corpse away, and threw it down the mountain.

They stripped the cold-weather coats and weapons from the bodies of Lü Qigang and Lin Hong, laid them out in a clearing, then tossed the bodies down the mountain as well.

As for the guns on the ground, they didn’t dare touch them and left them behind.

“Your Highness, they brought three snowmobiles when they came…” Sun Rong recalled Zheng Yingjun and the others’ snowmobiles and quickly reported, hoping to barter for some salt.

“You keep them. Take everything except the guns and ammunition,” Su Miao said.

Using snowmobiles was indeed convenient.

But there were human bases nearby, and many mutated animals prowled the snow in search of food.

Riding a snowmobile was like announcing to hidden enemies and mutated beasts that food had arrived.

Su Miao dared not use them either.

If she absolutely had to go out, she had skiing gear in her magical space.

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Sun Rong and the others left with two cold-weather coats and some daggers.

After they left, Su Miao collected the two assault rifles and ammunition into her magical space.

It was about then that the magpie returned.

“Your Highness, that man is dead.”

“Mm.”

Su Miao and the magpie went home.

Three empowered individuals had died, and Vulcan Base would not let this pass quietly.

Who knew when they might launch a retaliatory attack.

What should be done?

Su Miao looked at the tome of Alchemy and recalled the cold-resistant flowers, shrubs, and weeds she had cultivated from discarded growth agent residues. An idea formed in her mind.

She could specially concoct a batch of highly poisonous growth agents and use them to cultivate vegetables for the Vulcan Base’s people to harvest.

“No.”

Su Miao quickly dismissed the plan.

Because if anyone at Vulcan Base had even a shred of intelligence, they would have others eat first to confirm safety before consuming themselves.

This would be a wasted effort and might even backfire, effectively supplying the Vulcan Base with deadly toxins for their own use.

“Tomorrow, you fly out and see if there are any strangers. If so, report back,” Su Miao instructed the magpie.

The magpie nodded, “Understood, Your Highness!”

Su Miao stared at the Alchemy book, deep in thought about what to do next.

Suddenly, she had another idea: to cultivate a batch of cold-resistant mutated giant trees. How about that?

Though a bit risky, it should be feasible.

Outside, the snow continued to fall.

Soon, all traces of the battle and the bodies scattered down the mountain were buried and frozen, as if no one had ever been here.

At Zheng Yingjun’s body site, the signal device initially kept transmitting.

But as time passed, it ceased functioning.

Night had fallen.

At the six-person villa.

No—now it was a five-person villa.

Sun Rong, Guo Yixing, Chu Zekai, Luo Zhengyi, and Yu Feng sat by the fireplace on the second floor, staring into the flames and at the pot of rabbit stew simmering quietly. No one said a word.

Today’s events had truly frightened them all.

They thought they were done for.

“The rabbit is ready,” Chu Zekai coughed twice, breaking the silence. “Teng Jingyu is dead. We should eat more to honor her memory.”

Yu Feng said, “The three from Vulcan Base who died all had snowmobiles. They must be big shots. Will they retaliate against us?”

Guo Yixing shot him a glance. “Do you think they won’t retaliate? We won’t have it easy either way.”

Luo Zhengyi said, “Right now, every day we stay alive is a win. Think of the starving people we saw on the road. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t dwell on it too much—unless you want to end up like Teng Jingyu.”

They all looked to their mascot and captain, Sun Rong.

“Everyone, you know I’m cowardly and just want to survive,” Sun Rong said. “I beg you all, no matter what happens, never reveal the location of Your Highness. If there’s a next time, she’ll kill us all.”

“When facing Your Highness just now, for a moment I truly thought I was going to die—just like last time.”

Guo Yixing, Chu Zekai, Luo Zhengyi, and Yu Feng’s faces grew grim.

Many had mocked Sun Rong’s cowardice along the way.

But it was precisely his cowardice that had given them a chance to live.

Now, Sun Rong’s intuition meant the witch had really intended to kill them all.

Especially Guo Yixing—his face went pale.

The thought that had flashed through his mind just now was too dangerous.

“With things as they are, let’s eat first,” Chu Zekai said, having already ladled some rabbit stew into a bowl for himself. “I’ll try this first to test for poison.”

“You bastard! Trying to steal a bite again!” Luo Zhengyi immediately moved to stop him.

Everyone knew Chu Zekai’s character too well.

The others quickly joined in the scuffle; if you weren’t eager to eat in these end times, there was surely something wrong with you.

...

“Zheng Yingjun has sent a distress signal,” Mili reported as she entered the office at Vulcan Base. “Captain Yu, should we send a rescue?”

Yu Yuangui glanced at the wall clock. “It’s 5:35 p.m. Now. In 25 minutes, I’m off work. You want me to work overtime?”

“But Captain Yu, Zheng Yingjun is the base commander’s nephew—or so the rumor says, an illegitimate son.”

“That still doesn’t mean I’m working overtime!”

Yu Yuangui patted Mili’s shoulder as he walked by. “Zheng Yingjun, Lü Qigang, and Lin Hong all have strong powers. Even I might not beat all three alone.”

“If you insist on rescuing them, go ahead. The seal is on my desk. Fill in a few names, write the order, stamp it, and it’s good to go.”

“Mili, remember, if you get lost out there at night, even empowered ones can freeze to death.”

“Now, I’m going to patrol the base and check if any mutated animals have sneaked in.”

Yu Yuangui left.

Mili stood still holding the report form, unsure what to do.

If she took the seal and issued the order, it would certainly anger those conscripted empowered individuals.

Going out at night to rescue them was like gambling with her own life.

Not to mention the risk of getting lost in the blizzard or facing terrifying mutated beasts or plants—it could be a death sentence.

Though Yu Yuangui hadn’t said it outright, his meaning was clear: if Zheng Yingjun and the others didn’t return, it meant they were dead.

After some thought, Mili went back to the intelligence room and altered the distress signal’s recorded time to 6:06 p.m.

At that hour, everyone would be off work and in the cafeteria, so missing the signal was understandable.

Oh, and this form.

She took it to the oil lamp and burned it to ashes.

The next day, a heavily made-up woman entered the office and strode straight up to Yu Yuangui, pleading urgently, “Captain Yu, my son Zheng Yingjun is missing. Do you know where he is?”

Her name was Zheng Qiongmei, the Vulcan Base commander Zheng Kaicheng’s younger sister.

Thanks to Zheng Kaicheng and her son, she held a high status.

Yu Yuangui picked up a duty roster and feigned surprise, “Zheng Yingjun had no assignments yesterday. Maybe he went to that place?”

That place was where Vulcan Base housed young women.

Zheng Kaicheng claimed it was for the continuation of human civilization—all women who joined the base later were classified and assigned there based on rank.

In truth, it was a place for him and other high-ranking men at Vulcan Base to vent their desires.

The polite explanation was just a facade.

If any children were born, they were taken away and raised separately to become loyal dogs of Vulcan Base.

Zheng Qiongmei said, “He didn’t go there.”

Yu Yuangui nodded, “Then there’s only one possibility: he found it boring and deliberately went searching for something new.”

Zheng Qiongmei hesitated but agreed with this possibility because such things had happened before.

Yet soon she felt uneasy and said, “No, Captain Yu, last night I dreamed of my son. He stood before me, covered in blood. Something’s wrong—please save him!”