After an unknown amount of time, the three of them finally began to squeeze their way out of the densely packed zombie horde, and the crowd ahead gradually thinned.
The farther they went, the stronger the feeling of familiarity became.
Chu Tian had a premonition that they might be about to see someone they knew.
At last, the three emerged from the circle of zombies, only to find themselves surrounded by layers upon layers of monsters.
Quan Xiaoyu could not bear to look up at their heads. Every single one had the face of a child. He kept his head lowered and followed closely behind Chu Tian.
When the monsters saw the three of them appear, they voluntarily made way for them.
As they continued forward, Quan Xiaoyu was still thinking about the children at the Dawn Base with his head bowed when he heard Chu Tian let out a deep sigh.
“Long time no see. I truly never imagined this would happen!”
As he spoke, he actually began to laugh.
Only then did Quan Xiaoyu raise his head. In an instant, he was struck speechless with shock as well. He stared at the face of the man standing not far ahead, unable to make a sound for a long time.
“Children, it’s been a long time. I never imagined I would meet you here, either. You’ve all grown up and are doing very well. I’m surprised, and I’m happy to see it.”
The man smiled at the three of them, his eyes filled with affection.
Nothing had changed! His presence and demeanor were exactly the same! Just as when they had first met him, he was still filled with an air of compassion for all living things.
Even the way he looked at them was exactly the same as before!
Why? Why was it him? How could it possibly be him?
Quan Xiaoyu’s eyes widened. It took him a long time to recover from the shock.
“We never imagined that when we met you again, it would be under these circumstances, either.” Chu Tian smiled. He was usually a gentle person. Glancing at Quan Xiaoyu, who still wore an expression of utter disbelief, he said to the man, “Do you know, Father? Back then, he thought you were dead and was sad about it for quite some time.”
The priest was taken aback. He had imagined several possible reactions the three might have upon seeing him. He had anticipated Quan Xiaoyu’s reaction, but he had not expected Chu Tian to say something like that.
He had been sad because he thought the priest was dead?
What a kind child.
The priest could not help looking at Quan Xiaoyu a little longer.
“How has such a kind child managed to survive until today?” he asked Chu Tian in puzzlement.
Bai Mingxi was visibly angered by those words, but an expression of surprise appeared on Chu Tian’s face instead.
“Do you believe that pure-hearted people shouldn’t be allowed to live? Including innocent, untainted children?”
Since the apocalypse began, the priest had encountered many people who had witnessed his strength. Yet Chu Tian was the first person he had met who could discuss such a question with him so calmly, as though they were simply chatting and nothing else mattered.
The priest immediately became interested.
Even before the apocalypse, he had studied something called “human nature.” Human beings were inherently self-interested. Whether they pursued “fairness” or “justice,” they first considered things from the perspective of the self.
That was why the term “empathy” existed. It still placed the self at the center, using the self as the starting point for understanding things.
So, if human beings were one hundred percent self-interested, how did so-called “kindness” come into existence?
Was it charity offered by the wealthy? A sense of superiority gained by standing on the moral high ground? Or a form of coercion imposed on genuine human nature?
Before the apocalypse, this theory had been nothing more than a hypothesis. But after the apocalypse, every event that unfolded each day, every tragedy that played out across the world, seemed to confirm it.
And he was both the one conducting the experiments and the one bearing witness to the results.
The priest did not answer Chu Tian’s question directly. Instead, he began discussing the hypothesis and its supporting evidence with Chu Tian, even seriously asking what Chu Tian thought about it.
Chu Tian considered the question before answering.
“Have you heard of Schrödinger’s cat? Human nature is like a cat locked inside a box. It could be good or bad, and you won’t know which until you open the box. But once you open it, you can’t tell whether the cat was already bad or whether it became bad when you opened the box. Since opening the box gives you a conclusion, does that necessarily mean your conclusion is correct?”
The priest nodded emphatically when he heard this.
“I thought the same thing after opening the box.” He actually agreed with Chu Tian’s words. “That’s why I began wondering whether there might be another way to determine what’s inside without opening it.”
“Have you found one now?” Chu Tian asked.
The priest’s expression showed a trace of regret.
“No, but I’m in the middle of searching.”
“So you began your investigation with children?” Chu Tian asked again.
The priest nodded, his expression solemn and almost sacred.
“Exactly. Human beings have always believed that children are the purest, most innocent beings in the world, and that their souls are the most sacred and immaculate. So that is where I began.”
Bai Mingxi was furious beyond words. He understood the question they were discussing, and he also understood that the priest was committing the most inhumane acts under the guise of the holiest ideals.
He made no attempt to hide his anger as he glared at the priest’s still-kindly, saintly face.
Quan Xiaoyu’s gaze was equally complicated as he stared at the priest.
“I’m guessing that before we die, you’d be willing to tell us your story. After all—” Chu Tian pointed behind them. “It’ll probably take some time for things over there to come to an end.”
The priest seemed to enjoy talking to Chu Tian. Without even glancing toward the Dawn Base, he replied quite happily, “Young man, I truly admire you. If only I’d recognized how delightful you were back when we were at the church.”
He seemed somewhat wistful, but in the end, he continued smiling.
“Are you ready to hear a story, my children?”
“Of course.” Of the three, only Chu Tian responded with a cheerful smile.
At the same time, he quietly traced three characters into Quan Xiaoyu’s palm with his finger.
He did not dare use his mental power. He had a feeling that the other man was definitely stronger than he was!
Quan Xiaoyu’s body stiffened for a moment. Before long, he returned to his previous appearance. However, at the same time, he slipped something into the hand Chu Tian was holding.
The priest began his story, and the three concentrated on listening. What he revealed included many secrets about both the pre-apocalyptic world and the world after the apocalypse—secrets that few people knew.
The story began before the apocalypse.
Long ago, before he became a priest, he had been a biologist. He possessed a fervor for the life sciences that other people simply could not understand.
He was passionate about investigating every detail related to life. Over time, he crossed the forbidden boundary of biological research: human experimentation.
Human beings were currently the most advanced organisms on Earth. The human body was extraordinarily complex and precise, containing endless secrets.
But uncovering those secrets required an endless supply of research subjects. Experiments needed test subjects.
In every country, however, such experiments were strictly forbidden, both on moral grounds and under the law.
The priest did not care about any of that. In his mind, life and compassion existed for the sake of science. Only the secrets brought to light through research gave life meaning. He firmly believed this.
But his beliefs made no difference. Countless proposals were rejected, and countless theories could only remain laughable hypotheses because he lacked concrete research data.
His research could not continue! He could not conduct experiments or obtain the data he needed.
Without research, his life would become meaningless! His very existence would become meaningless! That could not happen. Absolutely not!
So he moved his research from the public eye into the shadows, reaching out to countless people who were alone and vulnerable.
Homeless people, missing children, single women, elderly people without family… They became his first batch of experimental subjects.
While committing these acts, he discovered that he possessed more than a talent for science. He also had a perfect talent for crime.
He carried everything out flawlessly. He even moved frequently, changing residences and locations. Ten years passed. Stories of serial killers emerged in various places, yet he was never discovered.
Over those years, his research also achieved several groundbreaking results. This made him even more convinced that everything he was doing was right. Once he achieved complete success, humanity would undergo a transformation beyond imagination.
But as the number of missing people continued to increase, the police drew ever closer to him. With no other choice, he returned from abroad to his own country and went back to S City, entering the largest church in the city under the identity of a missionary.
With his abilities, he soon turned the church into a domain entirely under his control.
After lying low for a while, the priest began to grow restless again.
The church already had a basement. He secretly began renovating it and resumed his research.
The church received many visitors. Many people came to confess, revealing the sins and desires hidden deep in their hearts.
Their confessions disclosed a great deal of information, making it even easier for the priest to select his targets.
Everything went smoothly. Everything proceeded according to his plans, step by step.
Until the disaster arrived without warning!
The entire world was caught off guard. The world descended into chaos, humanity descended into chaos, and S City descended into chaos.
The disaster shattered all the rules and order that had previously existed.
When the priest awoke from his initial unconsciousness, he felt that, at that very moment, he had truly received a divine calling! God had told him that a new world was coming and bestowed new powers upon him. His wish would finally be realized!
In the priest’s eyes, this disaster was magnificent.
He no longer needed to carefully select his targets. Experimental subjects were everywhere, there for the taking!
He had gained tremendous power. God was guiding him to establish an entirely new world.
At first, he actively took in the prey that came to the church of their own accord. As more and more victims walked straight into his trap, he became increasingly picky about the quality of his prey.
Gradually, he discovered that human nature was far more interesting than the human body. So he came up with a new kind of testing game.
For example, what would happen if he threw someone foolishly kind like Xie Mingxuan, someone hypocritical like Master Lei, a hardline soldier like Ouyang Jing, and a typical self-centered individual like Xiao Ziran into a horde of zombies together? What kind of chemical reaction would occur between them?
He found these games endlessly entertaining.
By then, he was already able to control zombies at will and make them carry out his plans. So, like a child playing a game, he created one trap-like scenario after another for people to face.
It had to be admitted that the group Quan Xiaoyu belonged to had been the best batch of people he had taken in since the apocalypse, in terms of their overall qualities. Even though he put them through all sorts of ordeals, their survival rate remained exceptionally high.
Quan Xiaoyu’s attempt to persuade him to leave had been an unexpected incident. Since the apocalypse began and he started taking in all sorts of people, it was the first time anyone had genuinely cared about his safety.
At the time, however, the priest had thought that someone like Quan Xiaoyu probably would not survive for long.
He had never imagined that he would see Quan Xiaoyu again today, much less see him standing before him in an even stronger state.
That was an unexpected turn of events!
Quan Xiaoyu had given him two rare surprises in his life.
In fact, when Quan Xiaoyu had warned him, he had already sensed the coming danger and begun making preparations to leave. So while Quan Xiaoyu and the others were still delayed on the road by various zombie hordes and battles, the priest had already taken his research materials, experimental subjects, and several assistants who were utterly devoted to him to J City.
His immense power had given him many advantages. These included experimental subjects who had successfully developed formidable combat abilities, vast amounts of research data, large quantities of supplies gathered with the help of his powers, and useful belongings taken from various “prey” he had captured.
He understood human nature deeply, and the people at the top of J City were greedy as well. He established himself there without much difficulty. He had enough capital to negotiate terms with those so-called elites and politicians.
Capturing prey became an entirely open and legitimate operation. Those sanctimonious politicians and decision-makers personally delivered a steady stream of children—the most suitable subjects for his research—right into his hands!
Everything came to him with virtually no effort!
As time passed, his appetite grew, and the things he pursued gradually became very different.
At first, all he had wanted was to verify his theories. Gradually, he wanted to put those theories into practice. Later, his imagination ran wild, and he came up with more and more novel, even bizarre, ideas.
The smooth progress of his work in the real world pushed him into an endless cycle of exploration and acquisition. The apocalypse gave him the greatest possible resources, an inexhaustible supply of subjects, and ideas more novel than anything he could have imagined before.
Humans who had developed supernatural abilities, as well as mutated plants and animals, all belonged to fields that had been completely inaccessible before the apocalypse simply because they had not existed.
The apocalypse had opened the door to a new world for him.
Species could potentially be combined in limitless ways. Entirely new species might be created, shattering biological laws that had existed on Earth for tens of millions of years.
All of this thrilled him beyond measure.
He believed this was an era of creation, an era in which gods were born. And he was entirely capable of becoming a creator himself.
In J City, he obtained everything he wanted at the time. After draining that survivor city of its resources, his ambitions surged even higher.
In truth, his experiments in J City had not gone particularly well. The failures far outnumbered the successes, but the data he obtained from them was invaluable.
So he abandoned the city decisively, without the slightest reluctance.
He attracted a massive horde of zombies and monsters, mainly because he wanted to test the limits of his own abilities.
As for the people crying out in agony amid the disaster, he saw them as a peculiar, broken, yet beautiful painting.
Originally, he had intended to witness the city’s destruction. He had planned to enjoy the sight of humanity struggling desperately at the moment of its greatest despair.
Unfortunately, he discovered something unusual.
He realized that another force was controlling the zombies, and the zombies that had previously obeyed him seemed more willing to submit to this other force.
Moreover, this had nothing to do with the relative strength of their abilities. The zombies themselves seemed capable of choosing whom to follow.
It was instinct. The other party was a zombie, while he was human!
After that, disturbances began occurring in the laboratory as well. The failed experimental subjects seemed to have staged a mass revolt.
At the time, he did not have anything close to the armed forces he possessed now. After weighing his options, he decisively left.
He stopped paying attention to that patch of scorched earth that was about to become a death zone. He needed to find a new breeding ground. He needed to turn his precious research data into reality once more.
He had done it before. Of course he could do it again.
He successfully caught up with the retreating army heading north and repeated the same tricks as before. He helped the general establish the Dawn Base, creating yet another breeding ground in which he could raise his little white mice.
Originally, he had not intended to abandon the Dawn Base so soon. Although the place no longer had much value, he had not yet found a new home.
Then Chu Tian and the others arrived, disrupting his original plans.
Su Muxu’s actions had been carried out on his own initiative, but the priest had tacitly approved of them. Otherwise, how could Su Muxu have so easily taken the children from the Gu residence to assassinate Chu Tian and the others?
The priest had merely recognized those familiar children and sent Su Muxu to test them, to see how much they had grown.
In the end, the other children had all been left behind at the Gu residence, while Su Muxu had fled. He had not dared return to face the priest and had disappeared without a trace.
The priest could not be bothered to look for him or hold it against him. Su Muxu was merely one of the many little white mice under his care, albeit a rather conspicuous one. He could indulge the creature’s whims once in a while. If it got lost, he could always find another. There was no reason to be angry, nor was there any reason to regret the loss.
What surprised him instead was Chu Tian and the others. He had never expected that they would grow so quickly, considering they had been ordinary ability users back when they were at the church.
What good children, he thought. If he had kept them by his side back then, they would probably have been much more interesting than the others.
This meant he would have to bring his departure forward, but that was all right. It would not affect the overall plan.
And so, the scene that had once unfolded in J City was repeated!
Only this time, there were no mutated beasts. In their place stood even more powerful zombies and his army of monsters.
He himself was still growing stronger, as was the force surrounding him.
So this time, he had nothing to fear. He sat there quietly, enjoying the destruction of the Dawn Base and listening to the anguished cries of the people inside. The raging fires and the desperate screams of humanity formed a picture of breathtaking beauty in his eyes.
The priest spoke in a deeply absorbed tone. His voice was low and soothing, just as it had been before, carrying the same power to entrance and manipulate people.
Yet the words slowly flowing from that kind and saintly voice were utterly devoid of humanity.
Quan Xiaoyu’s face filled with grief and indignation. His fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails dug deep into his flesh.
Bai Mingxi pressed his lips tightly together, his expression growing colder by the second.
Only Chu Tian seemed to maintain his original composure.
“Child, what is your name?” the priest asked Chu Tian kindly.
Perhaps he had asked his name before, but who would remember the name of an insignificant ant? Even so, this young man had truly impressed him today.
“Would you like to stay by my side? I can tell that you’re different from the others. You won’t be bored if you stay with me.”
Chu Tian smiled and actually nodded slightly.
“You certainly wouldn’t be boring. But to avoid boredom by turning myself into a monster like you? I can’t do that.”
The word “monster” was somewhat offensive, but the priest did not become angry. Nor did he insist. He merely said, “What a pity,” then calmly stepped backward.
At that very moment, the surrounding monsters surged forward as one!
The three reacted quickly. Before the monsters could reach them, each of them had already launched their own attacks.
Their battle began!
To the priest, however, this seemed to be nothing more than another little game to enjoy after a meal.
His voice faded into the distance, but his final words still drifted over to them.
“I’ll let my children play with you. If you can make it out alive, I’ll forgive you for spoiling my mood.”
The priest’s voice grew farther and farther away, but the monsters attacking Chu Tian and the others continued to multiply!
As he fought, Chu Tian quickly swallowed the object he had been hiding in his palm.
It was none other than the seven-colored fruit from Quan Xiaoyu’s space!
The fruit was nearly ripe. Chu Tian had once suspected that its seven colors were almost identical to the colors Xiao Ziran had seen on his body. If so, could it be related to his mental power?
Today, from the very first moment he saw the priest, Chu Tian had known that he was no match for him.
That was why he had immediately signaled Quan Xiaoyu to take out the fruit. He intended to make one desperate attempt, treating it as a gamble.
After swallowing it, Chu Tian could clearly feel his body changing. He continued attacking, but a wave of heat began slowly accumulating inside him, surging and building.
Gradually, the heat spread throughout his entire body. Chu Tian felt as though he were about to burst into flames.
At that moment, his body was covered in thick scales, and he suddenly felt as if he could barely breathe.
Quan Xiaoyu quickly noticed that something was wrong with Chu Tian and moved close to him.
“You ate that fruit?”
In fact, he had already guessed what Chu Tian intended to do when he received the signal. Although he asked the question, his tone was certain, and filled with worry.
“Mm.” Chu Tian had no choice but to shed the scales covering his entire body and retreat behind Quan Xiaoyu. He gave a bitter smile. “I’m afraid I’ll need you to hold them off for a while. Right now, I…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you!” Quan Xiaoyu said, his eyes firm and bright.
A fire dragon burst from his hand as he swung his katana at the monsters in front of him.
Bai Mingxi also noticed that something was wrong with Chu Tian. He immediately moved over, and together with Quan Xiaoyu, guarded Chu Tian securely from the front and rear.
Chu Tian sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes. Heat began to rise from his entire body, as though he were about to catch fire.
None of his previous advancements had ever been like this.
But the other two had no time to worry about Chu Tian’s condition. With one less fighter, the monsters’ attacks became even more ferocious.
What they did not know was that, while Chu Tian was struggling against the wave of heat inside his body, he was also being attacked by more than ten potato-shaped monsters surrounding them from outside the circle.
Their target seemed unmistakable.
Chu Tian alone!
The pressure on the two inside the circle increased sharply, but they could only grit their teeth and fight with everything they had.
Just then, cannon fire suddenly rang out from beyond the circle. The mental attacks that had been concentrated on Chu Tian abruptly disappeared, allowing him to devote all his attention to the power surging inside his body.
Outside the circle of monsters, cannon fire mixed with supernatural attacks, all raining down on the monsters.
The potato-shaped creatures at the outermost edge, which had been in the safest position, were the first to fall.
They had almost no defensive capabilities. Apart from their mental power, they were even more fragile than humans.
The firepower coming from the perimeter was fierce. The monsters that had been pressing toward the three inside the circle began turning around one after another, rushing toward the newly arrived attackers.
Quan Xiaoyu and Bai Mingxi immediately felt the pressure of battle ease. Without needing to say it aloud, both breathed a sigh of relief.
They had fought these monsters before and knew their weaknesses. The problem was simply that there were too many of them. Outnumbered so badly, the two of them would eventually be unable to hold out. At that point, they would have no choice but to retreat into the space.
Somehow, that would have felt like running away from the battle.
Now, however, it seemed that reinforcements had finally arrived. Their spirits rose immediately.
They had not forgotten that Chu Tian had said people from the capital might come looking for them.
Could these be the people he meant?