Chapter 41: Come With Me to See the Vast Stars

Thank you for the peace charm I received this year at the age of fourteen, and thanks to everyone who has cast a recommendation vote. Please continue to bookmark and recommend—group hugs all around.

“Go to the city?” Du Yun blinked, not quite understanding what the leader meant. According to the information Douzhi provided, this planet would fall completely to the zombies in just a few short months. That meant the world was already overrun. Wouldn’t it be safer to avoid cities and head somewhere even more sparsely populated?

“Yes, we’re going to the city.” The leader’s face was serious as he looked at Du Yun, but there was a hint of gentleness in his eyes. He cleared his throat. “My name is Xiao Yi. I’m twenty-six years old, captain of the Royal Special Forces from Wisdom Planet 025, also known as the Emperor Star. I was on a mission here on Bluewater Star.”

“Hm. Ah?” Du Yun was still preoccupied with the idea of heading to the city, barely registering his self-introduction. It took her a moment to process what he’d just said.

“Now that the mission is complete, we need to return to Emperor Star. The signal here is poor, and the starship can’t land. We need to reach a more open city, one capable of accommodating a small starship, in order to return home.” As Xiao Yi spoke, his entire body felt tense. Looking at Du Yun’s bewildered expression, he hesitated, unsure whether he should continue. He grew increasingly anxious about how she might react.

Would she refuse to go with him?

“He actually has the authority to summon a small starship! This is fantastic, simply fantastic!” While Du Yun’s mind was still frozen with shock, Douzhi could barely contain its excitement, shouting in her head. With access to a small starship, they could escape this zombie-infested Greenfield Star. It was a rare chance for survival.

“Go with him, go with him!” Douzhi screamed in Du Yun’s mind. If they wanted to uncover the cause of the zombie outbreak and prevent the apocalypse from overtaking the entire star system, survival had to come first. Since this quiet man had a means of escape, how could they pass up such an opportunity? There was no time to hesitate—just go!

“You mean you really have a way to leave this planet?” After a long moment of her mind stalling and Douzhi’s shouting ringing in her ears, Du Yun finally snapped back to herself. She grabbed Xiao Yi’s sleeve, her voice trembling with excitement.

“Yes!” Xiao Yi nodded. Seeing the joy flicker across this little woman’s face sent ripples through his heart. A moment ago, he’d wanted to take her with him simply because an unexpected feeling stirred within him—he didn’t want someone so good to perish on a planet crawling with zombies.

Now, Xiao Yi felt he wanted even more. He wanted to bring this little woman to the bustling Emperor Star, to show her the splendor and grandeur of the imperial palace. He wanted to bring her home, let his family see her lovely smile. He wanted to journey across the universe with her and let her see the vastness of the stars.

“This is wonderful, truly wonderful! I’ll go with you!” Du Yun’s eyes sparkled with happiness. To leave this planet teeming with zombies, to no longer face death at every turn—nothing could be better.

As for what came afterward? Right now, her mind was so full of thoughts of survival that she could think of nothing else.

“Mm.” The leader gazed into Du Yun’s shining eyes, his heart brimming with joy, his anticipation for the journey home growing ever stronger.

“Let’s resupply first, then set out.” He reached out, ruffling Du Yun’s hair. Although a little tousled, it felt unexpectedly soft and smooth under his palm, sending a soothing warmth through him.

“Boss, come quick, we have a signal!” Up ahead, Dazhuang suddenly shouted in delight. He held a palm-sized screen, its display blinking—just the device they’d used to navigate out of the village.

Dazhuang hadn’t noticed the leader and Du Yun’s interaction earlier because, aside from keeping an eye out for zombies, he’d been searching for a communication signal.

“Send a message!” The leader, in a good mood, took Du Yun’s hand and went over. Seeing that there truly was a signal, he nodded.

“Right!” Dazhuang was so excited his lips trembled, but his hands flew across the screen without hesitation.

In no time, he looked up and reported, “Message sent. The nearest starship port is in a city 400 kilometers away. Ten days from now, at ten in the evening, the starship will land at the city’s northern spaceport.”

“This is perfect. We can finally go home! I’ve had enough of this godforsaken place—I don’t want to stay another second!” Skinny Monkey, having heard the commotion, hurried over as well. He let out a long breath and fanned himself with his cap.

He couldn’t stand another day in this zombie-infested hellhole. Dangerous or not, just seeing zombies—creatures who were once human—tear apart both the living and their own kind like beasts, filled him with disgust.

“Stock up on food and get ready to move.” The leader tightened his grip on Du Yun’s hand and spoke in a low voice. Covering 400 kilometers in ten days would take plenty of supplies—they had to act quickly.

“On it!” Dazhuang and Skinny Monkey answered in unison, their faces alight with excitement as they raised their weapons, ready to begin searching for provisions.

Though the town looked small, it actually housed tens of thousands of people. While this planet’s technology was low, there were still some supplies to be found. Packaged bread, chocolate, instant meals—these had already turned up. As for basic nutrient packs, who could say if there’d be any? They’d find out as they searched.

Du Yun gripped her bow and arrows, trailing behind the leader for a while. They had walked several hundred meters from the warehouse when they entered a building that looked like a general store.

“Be careful, there might be zombies trapped inside.” Seeing how winding the interior was despite the shop’s modest size, Du Yun couldn’t help but whisper a warning.

“Du Yun, we’re not little girls like Peach—we’re battle-hardened old soldiers. You don’t have to remind us about things like that,” Dazhuang said, his mood a little too exuberant at the prospect of going home, leading him to speak without thinking.

“What are you saying!” Skinny Monkey couldn’t help but glare at Dazhuang, then glanced at the leader, worried that Dazhuang’s tone toward Du Yun might cause trouble.

Their boss was fiercely protective and famously uninterested in women. But judging by how he was treating Du Yun now, she might well become their sister-in-law in the future. Speaking like that was practically courting death!

“I understand.” The leader, who had been holding Du Yun’s hand all along, gave a low, affirming reply, tightening his grip to show he’d heard her warning. As he spoke, he shot Dazhuang a cold glance, making the latter’s back prickle with unease.

Du Yun, whose hand was being held so tightly it felt almost like an iron clamp, stood still, her skin burning. Embarrassed by the leader’s intense gaze, she bowed her head, not noticing the sudden flash of a red dot in the upper left corner of her vision.