Top floor of the research building.
Those walking here were either half intelligence-based ability users or highly intelligent ordinary people.
Since the apocalypse, Lin Weiran had rarely found herself in an environment surrounded by so many ordinary people… especially when many of them clearly had no abilities yet carried themselves with an air of arrogance all day long.
If it really came down to capability, most of them were just doing miscellaneous work. The ones truly producing research results were still the intelligence-based ability users.
What exactly were these people so proud of?
“Miss Lin.”
After seeing off Sun Zhichun, Assistant Zhang turned his head and saw Lin Weiran pushing a wheelchair over, with Si Zhe seated in it.
The former, with the help of the Sage, had already advanced to a Tier 6 Ability User, though not many people outside were aware of this.
As for the latter… sigh, just a cripple.
Assistant Zhang’s smile was neither particularly warm nor particularly respectful.
As he approached, his gaze remained on Lin Weiran the entire time—he didn’t spare even a single glance at the crippled man in the wheelchair.
“Why are you here so early today?”
Lin Weiran replied perfunctorily, “No missions recently, so I woke up early.”
Assistant Zhang smiled meaningfully. “There’ll be a new mission soon.”
What did that mean?
Lin Weiran froze for two seconds, wanting to ask further, but Assistant Zhang had already waved his hand and walked several meters away.
A suffocating sense of frustration surged in her chest.
“What kind of attitude is that?” Lin Weiran kept her voice down, mindful of the people around them. “Just an ordinary person—relying on his smooth-talking ways to secure a foothold in the guild—who does he think he’s putting on airs for?”
She couldn’t be blamed for feeling unbalanced. Assistant Zhang was a two-faced schemer—he could be exceptionally warm toward visiting Tier 5 Ability Users, yet she, a Tier 6 Ability User, couldn’t even get the same level of treatment from him.
Si Zhe had kept his gaze lowered the whole time. Upon hearing his lover’s complaint, his hoarse voice finally broke the silence. “He’s only enthusiastic toward other visiting Ability Users because it’s the Sage’s command. As long as he does this well, he gains their favor, and naturally, he doesn’t need to concern himself with anyone else.”
In this guild, who held more power than the Sage?
Hearing Si Zhe’s reasoning, Lin Weiran’s smile turned even more bitter. “Yeah… in a little while, even Tier 6 Ability Users will be everywhere. Who’s going to care about us then?”
As soon as she spoke, she realized something was wrong, but it was already too late to take it back.
Sure enough, Si Zhe fell silent again.
No matter what topic Lin Weiran brought up next, he only responded with nods or shakes of his head and never spoke another word.
A silent ache spread through her chest. Fatigue washed over Lin Weiran all at once, and her heart clenched with dull pain.
Wasn’t their situation improving?
She had reached Tier 6, and the Research Guild offered hope for Si Zhe’s recovery. Then why did their relationship still feel so fragile, as if they had to tiptoe around each other?
Even their past sweetness had now turned into her one-sided encouragement.
After yet another carefully chosen topic was met with Si Zhe’s silent dismissal, Lin Weiran desperately wanted to say—
“Si Zhe, can’t you pull yourself together? We’re both striving toward recovery—does failing to reach our goal immediately mean we have to keep drowning in despair day after day?”
But she opened her mouth and, in the end, did not say those words.
In the silence, they arrived at the operating room for treatment.
Lin Weiran pushed the wheelchair inside, then lifted the emaciated Si Zhe—now nothing more than skin and bones—and placed him on the operating table.
After completing these actions, she paused for a moment. Unlike before, she did not offer any words of encouragement. Instead, she turned and left the operating room directly.
The doors shut tightly. Lin Weiran stood outside, able to observe the scene inside only through the glass wall.
During the first few treatments, she had watched the operating table with intense focus, cautious and anxious, unwilling to let her gaze shift for even a second.
But after so many times, she had grown weary.
Now, she simply leaned against the wall in silence, lost in thought.
“You don’t seem to be in a good state today?”
A gentle inquiry broke her thoughts. Lin Weiran turned her head to find an elderly man with white hair, also in a wheelchair, manually pushing himself closer to the glass wall.
“Sage, why are you here?”
“I came to see how he’s recovering.”
The Sage quietly gazed through the glass wall. Inside, the machines began their operation. A protective shield automatically enveloped the thin man lying on the operating table, and from that moment on, everything else was obscured from the outside world.
Lin Weiran didn’t know what to say.
The research on repairing a shattered dantian was still in its early stages at the Research Guild, and Si Zhe was their first test subject. When he would recover, and to what extent, remained unknown.
She had opposed it before, but this was Si Zhe’s decision. Since he had chosen to be the first, only he could walk this path.
“Weiran.”
Called by the Sage, Lin Weiran instinctively responded, “What?”
“Do you regret it?”
Lin Weiran hesitated for a few seconds.
Sometimes, she did regret it. But other times, she felt that taking the gamble might not be a bad choice.
She couldn’t just let Si Zhe remain a cripple for the rest of his life, could she? He certainly wouldn’t be willing, and she… she couldn’t bear to see it either.
The Sage seemed to perceive the thoughts she left unspoken and smiled kindly. “I’m asking if you regret not abandoning your lover.”
Lin Weiran abruptly turned her head. “…Sage, what do you mean by that?”
“If you had abandoned him early on, you wouldn’t have had to suffer so much. With your Tier 6 strength, you could join any guild you wanted. You wouldn’t have to work for this old man, constantly going out on missions, earning crystals and rewards, only to pour everything back into him. A cycle with no end in sight.”
The cost of treating Si Zhe—the machines, the various expenses—was anything but cheap.
Lin Weiran had only been able to waive all costs because she sought refuge in the Research Guild and agreed to work for them.
But food, clothing, housing, and transportation all required crystals. Going on missions meant she couldn’t personally care for Si Zhe, so she needed crystals to hire others to do it. To grow stronger, to hire healing-type Ability Users for his injuries, she needed even more crystals…
Supporting two people on her own, running between the base and the outside world without rest—within just a few months, her once vibrant beauty had faded into exhaustion.
She no longer had the same radiant, high-spirited appearance as before.
Of course, Si Zhe had changed even more than she had. Now, he had completely become the kind of gloomy, crippled man that even ordinary people—let alone Ability Users—no longer wanted to spare a second glance.
The Sage watched as they gradually evolved into what they were today.
“I told you before, repairing a damaged dantian is not one of the guild’s main projects. To initiate this project, aside from my full support, you must also pay a price that satisfies the others.”
“You have indeed done well, having already resolved many of the guild’s difficult tasks.”
“But I still want to ask, do you really have no regrets? If you put all this effort into yourself, you could be as carefree and unrestrained as the other Tier 6 ability users in the guild, living far more gloriously and freely than you do now.”
Lin Weiran hadn’t expected the Sage to say such things.
She… did she regret it?
Her teammates had turned against her one after another, her lover was no longer as high-spirited as before, and she still bore the burden of a future shrouded in fog… Did she regret it?
Before regret could spread through her, her mind first recalled the moments they had shared—
The days and nights of idle chatter and mutual understanding before the apocalypse;
The life-and-death struggles and the sweet ambiguities after the apocalypse;
And in countless moments of crisis, Si Zhe standing at the forefront, shielding her… The final scene in her memory was frozen at the eastern hunting ground of the southern base, where he stood behind her, taking the most dangerous and lethal attack in her stead.
As the memories ended, Lin Weiran resolutely said, “I do not regret it.”
Once Si Zhe fully recovers, all of this will have meaning. Even if he never recovers, it would still be her wholehearted love for her lover.
The Sage was slightly surprised but smiled. “You two are the most unwavering couple I have seen in the apocalypse.”
Lin Weiran didn’t quite understand what he meant. To avoid the possibility that he was testing her, she carefully picked her words to ensure she wouldn’t say anything wrong. “The Sage is incorrect about some things. If I had abandoned Si Zhe and never joined the guild because of him, I wouldn’t be a Tier 6 ability user now. Wanting to live freely and unrestrained would undoubtedly be nothing more than a fool’s dream.”
In the now-stabilized base, all resources were controlled by a small handful of top-ranking individuals.
Unless she risked venturing outside the city, gambling with her life in zombie-infested areas, she would remain stuck at Tier 5. By the time everyone else reached Tier 7, she might finally be able to accumulate enough over time to exchange for Grade 6 crystals and advance to Tier 6.
She was no longer in the same position she had been a few months ago. Her early accumulation had been completely overtaken by others due to Su Su’s deliberate targeting and a series of unfortunate coincidences.
The Sage could tell that Lin Weiran’s words were spoken from the heart.
The smile on his face became even more genuine. “Good child, since you and your lover are so deeply devoted to each other, I have a mission for you.”
Lin Weiran was already used to sudden missions. “What mission?”
“This morning, the guild’s outpost in the southwest sent back a message. They encountered a zombie horde led by a Tier 7 zombie. I need you to bring back all the children and the valuable research data they’ve worked so hard to compile, completely intact.”
Upon hearing “Tier 7 zombie,” Lin Weiran’s expression changed.
The strength difference between different tiers of zombies was like night and day. With her current abilities, facing a Tier 7 zombie would be no different from seeking death.
“Don’t worry.” The Sage reassured her, “I have already issued this mission to the entire base. With a Tier 7 zombie as bait, the people joining in will only be strong, not weak.”
“What do I need to do?”
“I will have Huiling lead the team, and you need to remain hidden within it to protect her. Let those people compete for the Tier 7 zombie. Your only task is to follow Huiling’s instructions and ensure the research data is brought back safely.”
As long as she didn’t have to go after the Tier 7 zombie, the mission didn’t sound too difficult.
Lin Weiran’s gaze shifted to the glass wall. Si Zhe was still wrapped inside the mechanical protective pod, with a few minutes left before this stage of the treatment would be completed.
“I’ll be away for at least half a month this time…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll have someone take good care of him.” The Sage added, “If this mission is successfully completed, your lover will be able to receive the highest level of treatment, and the guild will also increase its investment in this project.”