Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 56

As soon as the door opened, the entire observation room was in a frenzy. Every observer was intensely focused on the fluctuating data on the screens, while simultaneously inputting figures into another set of screens, generating various data charts within seconds. The printer had already produced a thick stack of analytical reports on the changes.

One person stood up and reported to Claire, who had just entered. “Your Excellency Bishop, the stimulation was effective. The subject showed signs of abnormal activity. However, the current data indicates extreme instability. Based on certain anomalies, we suspect the subject is on the verge of breaking the cocoon.”

As he spoke, he handed the freshly printed data reports to Claire.

Breaking the cocoon?!

Claire’s fingers trembled slightly as he took the reports and flipped through them quickly.

He occasionally glanced up at the data fluctuations on the screens. Yet, under the expectant gazes of everyone in the room, the numbers gradually leveled out.

“What’s happening?” Claire asked.

“I—I don’t know. We’re adjusting the data now!” someone replied in a panic.

Within seconds, all the data returned to its usual flatline, without a single fluctuation.

“Your Excellency Bishop, should we administer another dose of the stimulant?” someone beside Claire suggested in a hushed voice, still unable to suppress their excitement.

Most people in the observation room had no idea what was inside the giant cocoon. But he did. Inside was their future king, the one who would lead them to end the apocalypse.

Claire stared at the data. Multiple doses of the stimulant in a short period could be dangerous to Her. He shook his head. “No, wait. Just wait a little longer. She is about to wake up.”

After a year of stillness, such significant fluctuations had finally appeared. She had to be waking up soon. Perhaps today was merely a sign of Her impending awakening.

Claire gazed at the white cocoon, his eyes filled with devotion. He lowered his gaze and placed his fingers on his chest in a sacred gesture.

Seeing that, the others instinctively followed Claire’s lead in prayer.

But if one looked closely, Claire’s gesture did not form the symbol of the sun. It was the symbol of a star.

It was a prayer sign exclusive to the Aurora’s Bishop.

***

“Xi Ya, are you sure this will really bring your mom back?” Tang Mary was drenched in sweat from the scorching black flames around her. She looked at Lin Bai who was placed near the fire and worried whether her body would end up completely dried out. The others were also soaked, their clothes sticking to them from the heat.

“My mom isn’t dead!” Xi Ya retorted loudly. But deep down, she wasn’t so sure. Her mother had been unconscious for a long time. Even though Uncle Captain had conjured black flames to warm her up, her mother still hadn’t shown any signs of waking up.

Xi Ya’s face and body were covered in dried mud stains. She gazed at Lin Bai lying on the ground, her eyes brimming with tears. Pouting, she rubbed her nose against Lin Bai’s cheek and pressed close to her ear, her voice trembling with suppressed sobs as she pleaded softly, “Mom, please wake up, okay?”

Suddenly, Lin Bai’s shoulder moved slightly. Xi Ya’s eyes widened in surprise but it was Lou Tiannan who had helped Lin Bai into a half-sitting position.

Xi Ya bit her lip and called out anxiously, “Uncle Captain…”

Lou Tiannan looked at Lin Bai’s tightly shut eyes, feeling an inexplicable emptiness in his heart. It was as if something was missing, leaving him lost. He could hear his own heartbeat but every beat felt irregular, unsteady, and incomplete.

He thought he had accepted the reality of Lin Bai’s death with calmness. The only regret was that there were still things he hadn’t had the chance to say to her.

Standing nearby, Bai Chuan was growing increasingly anxious but dared not say anything.

When he saw Lou Tiannan pick Lin Bai up in his arms, Bai Chuan stepped forward and asked, “Where are you taking her?”

Lou Tiannan’s face was firm and after a brief pause, he replied hoarsely, “To find her a quiet place.” It had been seven or eight hours. No matter how much he refused to accept it, Lin Bai… was gone.

“!!!” Bai Chuan sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re not thinking of… burying her, are you?”

“No, no! You can’t!” Xi Ya grabbed Lin Bai’s hand and shook her head desperately. Tears streamed down her flushed cheeks as she sobbed uncontrollably. She had finally gotten a mother. Her mother wouldn’t die just like that!

The atmosphere grew heavy and everyone fell into silence.

Then, in the midst of the silence, Xi Ya’s wailing echoed through the underground chamber, “No, no, no…” She kept crying out the same words over and over, unable to accept it. Her mother would never leave her behind.

“So noisy.”

Bai Chuan and Lou Tiannan, who were closest to Lin Bai, exchanged stunned glances.

“No, no, no…” Xi Ya was still crying loudly.

“Mm!” Xi Ya’s cries were abruptly muffled as Bai Chuan swiftly covered her mouth.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the person Lou Tiannan was carrying. The air grew still and their breaths became shallow.

Then, in Lou Tiannan’s arms, the supposedly lifeless Lin Bai’s head moved slightly.

“!!!”

Tang Mary and the others widened their eyes in disbelief. “She’s… alive?”

Lou Tiannan’s hands, supporting Lin Bai’s arms, stiffened slightly. He stared unblinkingly at her as her eyelashes trembled. Then, she opened her eyes.

“What the—?! She’s really alive?! That’s insane!” Zhou Yu rushed forward to take a closer look at Lin Bai but in a blur of movement, Lin Bai flipped out of Lou Tiannan’s arms at an inhuman speed. Landing swiftly against the wall, she drew the black blades strapped to her thighs and assumed a defensive stance, her eyes filled with wariness.

Her voice was cold. “Who are you?”

“???” Everyone’s joy at Lin Bai’s miraculous revival instantly turned into collective shock. They exchanged bewildered glances.

Xi Ya, who had been crying moments ago, clamped her mouth shut and blinked. “Mom?”

Lin Bai looked at Xi Ya, the one who had just called out to her, then shifted her gaze to the unfamiliar faces before her. A frown formed on her forehead as fragmented, disjointed memories flickered in her mind like a broken videotape stuck on replay.

Song Yan spoke up, “Lin Bai, do you not remember us?”

Lin Bai didn’t recognize them but she felt an inexplicable comfort from the energy particles radiating from Lou Tiannan. It was strange. Those people seemed to know her, yet she had only just taken over the android body from the observation room.

Unless… she had used the android body before.

She leaned against the wall, still on high alert toward them. However, inside her mind where they couldn’t see, she was rapidly retrieving data from the memory chip in her head. The process of detaching from and entering a host always consumed some non-native memories.

The lost memories were usually stored in the final host’s chip. She quickly searched through the various components in her mind and found a chip with a vast amount of stored memory. Without hesitation, she chose to load it.

As the fragmented memories flooded in, Lin Bai slowly sheathed her black blades. Her expression returned to normal as she said, “Oh, it’s you guys…”

“Mom?” Xi Ya ran up to Lin Bai eagerly, her eyes swollen like walnuts.

Lin Bai looked down at her. The little girl was tiny, her face smeared with dirt, looking like a muddy radish just pulled from the ground.

“So dirty.” Lin Bai clicked her tongue but still crouched down, lifting Xi Ya with one arm. “Who bullied you that you cry like this?”

Hearing Lin Bai’s familiar tone, Xi Ya pouted, wrapping her arms around Lin Bai’s neck as she sobbed, “Waaah! Mom, they said you were dead… waaah… They even tried to bury you…”

“They tried to bury me?” Lin Bai’s tone lifted slightly in surprise. Do people still bury others these days?

“Lin Bai, do you remember us again?” Zhou Yu asked cautiously.

“Yeah.” Lin Bai nodded. “You all made it out of the Security Bureau?”

“Yeah but… what happened to you just now? And how did you suddenly stop breathing? It’s been hours and we really thought you were… Well, you know…” Zhou Yu trailed off, avoiding the word but everyone understood what he meant.

Holding Xi Ya in her arms, Lin Bai looked at the group and spoke calmly, “I’m fine. It was actually just a side effect of my ability.”

“Huh? A side effect of your ability?”

“You actually have an ability?”

“Yes.” Lin Bai nodded steadily. “It’s a special-type ability. What happened just now was a side effect of it. But for my own safety, I won’t be telling you what my ability is for now.” Since she was already keeping so many of their secrets, one more wouldn’t make a difference. Whether they believed her or not wasn’t her concern.

After she finished speaking, she immediately sensed the different emotions in the gazes directed at her. Elena’s was filled with suspicion and curiosity. Bai Chuan’s held surprise and intrigue. The others mostly looked shocked, understanding, or skeptical.

But…

Her gaze swept over Lou Tiannan. He had been standing quietly to the side, saying nothing since earlier. His eyes on her were different from the others.

She couldn’t quite understand what his expression meant. Happiness? Relief?

What was he relieved about? That she wasn’t dead?

Lin Bai felt a little confused.

Maybe it was for the 621 Biopharmaceutical Research Institute?

Xi Ya didn’t care what kind of ability her mom had. As long as she was okay, that was all that mattered. Ever since Lin Bai woke up, Xi Ya had been clinging to her, refusing to let go. She had to stay as close to Lin Bai as possible.

After confirming that Lin Bai was truly fine, Zhou Yu, Lu Jia, and the others couldn’t help but size her up. After all, someone who had lost all vital signs for over seven hours had suddenly come back to life. It was hard not to be shocked.

For the next few minutes, they kept finding opportunities to talk to Lin Bai, as if trying to confirm something. Lin Bai lazily responded but her mind was focused on how to make Elena drop her suspicions. She knew Elena well. She was an adjudicator of the Law Enforcement Department, someone skilled at piecing together details and drawing multiple possibilities before pinpointing the one closest to the truth.

However, Elena, the most suspicious person there, had yet to make a move. But that didn’t mean Lin Bai would let her guard down.

Tang Mary, relieved that Lin Bai had come back to life, tapped her spiked club against her palm. She needed to find a chance to talk to Lin Bai. There was something very important she had to confirm.

But that opportunity wasn’t easy to come by.

After Lin Bai woke up, the black flames that nearly suffocated everyone in the underground room finally extinguished. Her energy battery fluctuated slightly in the lower bar and she needed to replenish her energy quickly. If her consciousness remained unstable, the stimulants on the other side could affect her. Holding Xi Ya, she subtly moved a little closer to Lou Tiannan.

No one noticed her movement, as everyone’s attention was drawn to what Elena had just said.

“I suspect the Federation is sheltering people from Blood Bone,” Elena spoke calmly, voicing her suspicion to the group.

The statement was as shocking as when she had announced Lin Bai’s death earlier, like a bolt from the blue. The ones who still trusted the Federation were visibly shaken.