Chapter 1 A Terrifying Roar

A hoarse yet penetrating roar seemed especially frightening at the break of dawn.

When Mingmei heard the sound that morning, she immediately got up, dressed, and rushed to the workroom where she made boxed meals.

With the dissipation of the beast tide and the increasing number of zombies surrounding the base, almost everyone was mentally prepared for the inevitable.

After Mingmei finished making today's batch of boxed meals, the staff member who had been waiting at the door to pick them up took them and quickly left, urging Mingmei to stay within the inner city and not leave without reason.

The people here knew that she had a very capable boyfriend, and that she often risked going to the outer city for him. At this critical moment, she couldn't go out again.

"I understand, don't worry," Mingmei said earnestly, but their distrustful gazes were obvious.

Mingmei touched her nose, knowing her credibility was overdrawn.

Although she had quit her job helping in the cafeteria, she had sneaked out a few times.

Actually, it wasn't that she wanted to get close and romantic with Mu Chen. It was just that the ten-day rotation meant she couldn't get timely updates on important changes outside, which was really frustrating!

Habitually listening for news everywhere was a habit Mingmei had developed over so many games.

Although some people in the inner city knew things, their news also came from the outer city, making it third-hand information by the time it reached her!

As a result, she was now surrounded by bodyguards.

"Forget it, forget it, do you have any crystal cores? Give me some. The boxed meals I had saved up were used up in the previous battles, right?

Give me crystal cores so I can recover and keep making boxed meals."

"Huh? You can make boxed meals right after absorbing crystal cores?"

They never knew that Mingmei could immediately make boxed meals after replenishing her energy with crystal cores. Last time she ran out of energy, she took the crystal cores back with her!

"Ah... just trying it out~" Mingmei didn't give a clear answer.

According to the timeline, tomorrow should be the day they completed the one-year survival requirement for their mission, right?

...

"Ahhh! My eyes! That's disgusting!"

Lu Xiaoyao and Mu Chen were on duty in the outer city, and happened to be on the night shift. Before they could even hand over to the morning shift, they were the first witnesses.

They watched as a zombified mutated tiger, half skeleton and half rotten flesh, nearly thirty meters long, leaped over the ten-meter-high city wall. Everyone was stunned!

Even the trumpet creeper (a mutated vine plant) didn't react in time.

The key point was that this zombie tiger was carrying a bellyful of humanoid zombies! Lu Xiaoyao was truly speechless!

Watching the zombies jump from the zombie tiger's rib cage, skipping the step of being disemboweled, and rush towards them, Lu Xiaoyao cursed under her breath and took the heavy machine gun off her back, spraying bullets at the zombies!

Other ability users suitable for ranged combat also chose their positions and unleashed ability attacks at the incoming zombie tiger.

"Lure it to the city wall!"

Seeing that their attacks barely scratched the zombie tiger's copper skin and iron bones, and that the zombified mutated tiger felt no pain, everyone's abilities were like firecrackers hitting a marble floor, leaving only a mark.

How could they tolerate this?

The mutated trumpet creeper belatedly lashed out with its vines, waiting for the zombie tiger to get close for a good beating. The ability users naturally had to cooperate!

"Yes!"

...

"What's going on?"

Mingmei was in her workroom, forcibly absorbing excessive crystal cores to restore her abilities and continue making boxed meals when a large group of children suddenly rushed in.

Zhen Hu's two children, Lou Jia's five, and the child of the NPC mother in Lu Gui's team were all there.

"Dad said he's going to save the world..."

Dabao and Erbao couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.

The other children, some even younger than Erbao, hadn't been crying, but Dabao and Erbao's crying triggered a flood of tears, filling her entire workroom with the sound of children wailing!

The guards protecting Mingmei, watching the scene inside, instantly regretted agreeing to the request of the ability users to bring the children in.

What if they caused the person inside to have an emotional breakdown?

Then, they saw Mingmei pull out two cotton balls from somewhere, plug her ears, and continue making boxed meals.

Guards: ???

Children: Q…Q?

What do you do when children cry?

Mingmei: Let them cry!

In the end, Dabao and Erbao started and ended the crying.

The teary-eyed children looked at Mingmei making one boxed meal after another, even directing the older children to help wash and pick vegetables!

Hey! What's going on with this adult?

How could the usually gentle and kind older sister be so cold and heartless at this time?

Perhaps Dabao and Erbao's accusing gazes weren't obvious enough; Mingmei "without a trace of perceptiveness" handed them a basket of carrots and said, "Done crying? Go wash these carrots over there."

Dabao & Erbao: !!!

"Why aren't you comforting me?" Erbao, as a delicate little girl, questioned Mingmei in a childish voice, "Why does my daddy have to save the world?"

What's the connection between those two questions?

Although Mingmei had doubts, she pondered seriously while making rice balls and replied, "Why should I comfort you? You're asking a stranger who's busy with work why they shouldn't abandon what they're doing to comfort you. Am I your dad or your mom?"

Erbao: "..."

"Also, why does your dad have to save the world? Hmm... Do the rest of you want to know the answer to that question, too?"

When Erbao asked this question, the other children secretly glanced over, also filled with questions.

Going to the outer city meant death. This was what the adults had repeatedly told them these past few days, and it was what they remembered most.

The adults who usually stopped them from going out were now leaving them behind to go to the outer city. They didn't understand!

Even if everyone around them said their dad/mom was an amazing person, they were still afraid, anxious, and worried that their parents would never return. Why couldn't they stay, but had to save the world?

"Don't they... love us enough?" The little girl from Lu Gui's team asked with tearful eyes, "They're going to save the world. Did they give the love they had for us to others?"

"Hold on, that's a dangerous thought, little girl~" Mingmei looked up, her clear and gentle eyes meeting the little girl's confused gaze, and simply said, "Because you were born into this world."

"The world they're saving is because you exist here."

Mingmei finished making the latest batch of boxed meals, wiped her hands with a towel, and walked to the children, using a dog-petting motion to rub the heads of the confused children, saying:

"Because without this world, you wouldn't exist either. If... you have the chance, you can ask them yourselves if that's the reason.

The reason they're willing to sacrifice their lives to save this world might not be because they're altruistic, but simply because you live in this world."

Mingmei couldn't vouch for everyone else's mindset. After all, there were always people with light in their hearts and noble character. Most players who had received school ideological education should also have this awareness.

Of course, there were also many who didn't ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for the few people Mingmei currently knew, the reason they were willing to risk their lives to protect this base was probably more because of these children in front of them.

Mingmei smiled and glanced at the crystal cores that had been reduced to dust after being absorbed, lying next to the boxed meals. The cycle of replenishing energy at high capacity, converting it into boxed meals, and then continuing to replenish energy was causing her head to throb with pain...