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Regardless of whom the little one learned her sleeping posture from, the fact remains that Nong Jiusi, with his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, couldn’t bear to see such an adorable little girl sleeping in such an improper position. At least let her stretch out both legs properly!
He gently turned her over, arranging her soft little body into a proper sleeping position. Only after completing this did he nod in satisfaction.
Then his gaze swept over the colorful origami animals nearby. Picking up a small pink pig, Nong Jiusi examined it carefully. Glancing at the scattered crayons, sketchbook, and crumpled sheets of discarded paper beside it, he needed no further explanation to reconstruct what had happened.
The little one fell asleep from exhaustion while folding the paper.
Is this the gift for him?
[These are all painstakingly folded by Bianbian as a token of affection for Daddy; please do not disdain them.]
Lord Jiusi’s lips twitched upward slightly. Of course he knew that a game character programmed to be a five-year-old child, even when giving a gift back to the player, could never offer anything particularly valuable.
He was wondering what kind of gift the little one would give him.
He never expected it to be such a big surprise.
Soon, his attention shifted to the unfinished Azure Dragon. It was purely coincidental that within the Dragon Clan, some members possessed dragon wings on their backs, allowing Nong Jiusi to instantly recognize this half-finished creation as a dragon.
Whether by chance or deliberate design by the system, upon seeing this Azure Dragon, Nong Jiusi’s expression faltered slightly before he let out a soft chuckle.
Suddenly, from this childish pet-raising game, he experienced a strange sense of emotion that even surprised himself.
This feeling was like hearing Bianbian’s word “Dad”—somewhat ethereal, yet undeniably real, subtly influencing his perception of the game on a subconscious level.
Nong Jiusi took two steps, sat down on the ground beside Bianbian, and holding the unfinished Azure Dragon, his beautiful, slender fingers moved lightly as he dismantled the incomplete figure.
Then his fingers spun rapidly; within moments, an Azure Dragon completely different from the previous one emerged. Its body elongated, unnecessary edges were torn away, its wings vanished, and two paws appeared beneath its feet, each paw unfolding nine sharp claws.
That was the hallmark of the Nine-Clawed Celestial Azure Dragon.
Ordinary Azure Dragons possess only three claws, Dragon Kings five; only Nong Jiusi bears nine, symbolizing the utmost power and the purest bloodline.
However, after folding it, Nong Jiusi held the little green dragon at arm’s length to examine it, his brows knitting tighter the longer he looked.
—It didn’t look nearly as majestic as the green dragon Bianbian had folded herself; the key feature, those nine claws protruding from its belly, no matter how you looked at them, seemed… silly.
After pondering for a few seconds, Nong Jiusi, with an expressionless face, tore off the claws. And so, this Nine-Clawed Azure Dragon he had personally folded now resembled a dull-witted green snake.
Lord Jiusi, mysteriously confident in his origami skills: “…”
Just as Nong Jiusi was about to destroy it, Bianbian woke up. Rubbing her eyes as she sat upright, she immediately spotted the “Nine-Clawed Azure Dragon” floating in midair.
Bianbian: “?”
Seeing that the little one had awakened, Nong Jiusi, having lost his chance to destroy it, helplessly gave up.
“Uncle, you’re here!!” Bianbian quickly realized that the invisible uncle had arrived and shouted happily.
Call me Dad!
“Uncle, did you fold this little snake? It looks so beautiful!” The little girl had no idea that her single sentence made a certain handsome man’s mouth twitch.
Seeing Uncle take apart the green dragon he had originally folded and refold it into a small snake didn’t make her angry; instead, it made her especially happy—because if Uncle could fold small animals, it meant he liked them too, so he wouldn’t dislike the other little creatures she had folded.
Bianbian pushed forward the finished products as if offering a treasure: “Bianbian didn’t know what to give, so I can only fold little animals. When Grandpa used to cheer me up, he would fold little animals for me. Every time I got a new little animal, Bianbian would be so happy.”
“Uncle, I hope you like them.”
The little girl unconsciously hugged the teddy bear tightly to her chest, clenching her small fists, her grape-like big eyes eagerly gazing in the direction of the “little snake.”
She couldn’t see where Uncle was.
Faced with the little one’s expectant and longing gaze, few could resist such an unconscious assault of cuteness; clearly, Lord Jiusi was no exception.
After two seconds of silence, he picked up the few finished figures the tiny child had folded, then cast a disdainful glance at the “himself” he had painstakingly crafted with his own hands, before finally resigning himself to handing that “himself” over to Bianbian.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
Nong Jiusi could transport real-world weapons into the game, but he couldn’t bring anything from the game back out. Standing there holding these little animals would, for the tiny child, be tantamount to rejecting her gift.
At that time—
He glanced again at Bianbian’s dark, clear eyes, fearing she might burst into tears.
Nong Jiusi sighed inwardly, stood up, and walked straight out of the room holding the origami animal.
Bianbian watched the door open and then close again; she froze for a moment before realizing her uncle had left.
Yet, upon confirming that her uncle liked the gift she had given, her mood instantly brightened, and she eagerly began fiddling with the little snake in her hands.
Although this little snake was a bit ugly, Suibian still solemnly placed it in the second drawer of her bedroom, alongside the small animals her grandfather had folded for her.
　　*
Stepping out of the room, Nong Jiusi pondered how to deal with the origami animals; tearing them up directly felt somewhat reluctant.
Looking at these small animals that seemed especially childish when spoken to by an adult, Nong Jiusi pondered for a moment before lifting his gaze to the metal wall, already having formed an idea.
He approached the metal wall, pushed the little animals through the opening one by one, and said lightly, “It’s most fitting for you to keep them.”
At this moment, several system notifications popped up in succession:
[Ding! Advanced zombies can evolve further. Upon reaching a certain stage, they can regain partial self-awareness. Are you willing to help Lu Yu successfully evolve and restore his self-awareness?]
[You have two choices. One, assist in the evolution. Two, abandon the assistance.]
[Warning! Successfully evolving to Level Five will restore 10% of self-awareness. Lu Yu’s current level: Four. The higher the evolutionary stage, the greater the difficulty; the success rate upon advancement is only 20%. Should the advancement fail, Lu Yu will die. Please choose carefully.]
Nong Jiusi read through each of the suddenly popped-up system notifications one by one.
—Is the player triggering a side quest?
That makes sense. In an ordinary child-raising game, if the gameplay revolves solely around the child’s daily routine without any additional storylines to unlock, players will eventually grow bored over time.
However, Nong Jiusi played this game merely due to the stir in his heart caused by the little one’s call of “Dad.” He was only interested in the little one, felt completely indifferent toward other side quests, and had no desire to waste time on such optional content. Therefore, he毫不犹豫地 chose [Decline Assistance].
The system seemed to have anticipated this outcome all along, as another prompt immediately popped up the next second—
[Alert! Chen Jiahe and Zhao Jue, en route to the base, were ambushed by their enemies from the Flying Dragon Organization. Outmatched, Zhao Jue fled wounded while Chen Jiahe was captured. To save herself, Chen Jiahe revealed to the Flying Dragon members not only the existence of abundant food supplies at Jinxin Supermarket but also mentioned Bianbian. They are now heading toward Jinxin Supermarket and are expected to arrive within ten minutes.]
—The supermarket that Zhu Yuan emptied before his departure was none other than Jinxin Supermarket.
[Feng Leijie, the leader of the Flying Dragon Organization, is a powerful Class-B ice-type ability user who commands a group of fellow ability users. He has a particular predilection for young girls; should he discover Bianbian’s existence, her life will be in immediate peril. As her father, you must ensure her protection at all costs.]
Nong Jiusi’s expression instantly darkened.
　　*
“Brother Jie, look, we’re almost at that supermarket. Can you let me go now?” On a heavy-duty truck driving down a street over ten miles away, Chen Jiahe smiled coquettishly at Feng Leijie, who sat opposite her.
She never expected to be so unlucky as to run into Feilong.
—Earlier, she and Zhao Jue had encountered a D-class ability user surnamed Feng. That man had spoken rudely to Chen Jiahe and even laid hands on her. Zhao Jue taught him a lesson, but they hadn’t anticipated the man was so weak; he died outright.
Later, they learned that lecherous man was Feng Leijie’s younger brother. Naturally, they dared not provoke Feilong, so they hurriedly destroyed all evidence of their crime and sped toward the base. By chance along the way, they came across Jin Xin Supermarket, where they discovered Bianbian inside.
At that time, Zhao Jue had wanted to take Bianbian with him to the base, but Chen Jiahe found an excuse to stop him. She had assumed they could reach the base safely, never expecting to run straight into Feilong in such a deadly encounter.
Zhao Jue managed to escape. Chen Jiahe didn’t expect him to come back and save her; nowadays, Zhao Jue was merely a Class-C, pathetically weak. Even if he truly did return to rescue her, he would only go there never to come back.
To survive Feng Leijie, you can only rely on yourself.
Thinking quickly in her desperation, she recalled that the Feilong group, notorious beyond their ranks and unwelcome in the base, operated with limited supplies. Immediately, the food remaining at Jinxin Supermarket came to mind.
As did that beautiful little girl.
She was certain that, barring any unforeseen accidents, the child must be living either inside the supermarket or within a nearby building.
Chen Jiahe used to read novels where protagonists either transmigrated into idol dramas as sweet heroines or into normal worlds as main characters. Yet, she had the misfortune of being reborn into a brutal post-apocalyptic novel.
And it was a male-oriented post-apocalyptic novel at that.
As cruel as they come.
She had to survive, and the most basic rule for surviving in the apocalypse was: never show mercy, and definitely don’t act like a saint.
So… that little girl named Bianbian, if she’s still alive, had better stay far away; otherwise, don’t blame her if she gets found.
　　……
Feng Leijie stared grimly at Chen Jia and said, “You’d better not try any tricks.”
“How would I dare?” Chen Jiahe looked at him cautiously, her eyes reddening. “Please believe me. If I were really lying, I-I would have fled with Zhao Jue just now. Why would I stay behind to pledge allegiance to you? The Jinxin Supermarket and that little girl are my proof of sincerity…”
“You are so wise and mighty; if I were to deceive you, wouldn’t that be inviting my own death?” she sobbed, her appearance stirring pity in anyone who saw her.
Feng Leijie greatly enjoyed the look of worship mixed with awe that women directed toward him. Before the apocalypse, he had been a wandering beggar who refused to work for a living, spending each day pretending to be pitiful to beg for money.
He often used the alms he received to eat at restaurants, only to be kicked out because of his dirty and disheveled clothes, suffering considerable discrimination. This gradually twisted his mind.
When the apocalypse arrived, he miraculously awakened special abilities and became a powerful figure. Five years later, he advanced to Rank B, established an organization called Flying Dragon, and recruited a group of ability users to serve under him.
He gave a subtle nod to his subordinates, and immediately someone untied Chen Jiahe.
　　……
A few minutes later, several vehicles pulled up one after another in front of Jinxin Supermarket.
Chen Jiahe was shoved heavily out of the car; upon seeing that the supermarket had been almost completely emptied, her eyelid twitched violently, and her face turned markedly pale.
“Is this the large amount of food you mentioned?” Feng Leijie, who had followed her off the vehicle and scanned the supermarket, suddenly grabbed Chen Jiahe by the throat with a deadly grip. His eyes flashed with murderous intent as he lifted her nearly off the ground.
Chen Jiahe’s breathing stopped; the agony of suffocation triggered her instinctive struggle. As death loomed closer, she managed to force out a single sentence from her constricted throat: “Little… girl…”
Feng Leijie released his grip. Chen Jiahe collapsed softly onto the floor, coughing violently. Her face turned blue-purple, her body trembled involuntarily, and her gaze fixed on Feng Leijie in sheer terror.
“Where is the little girl?” Feng Leijie’s expression of rage subsided slightly. Then, in a light, casual tone, he said, “Think carefully before you answer.”
“If you can’t find it, or if you were just spouting nonsense from the start to buy time…” A knife had somehow appeared in his hand; he licked its blade, his eyes filled with cruel excitement. “Then I’ll hang you upside down over the charcoal fire, roast you until cooked, and slice you up piece by piece to eat.”
　　……
Meanwhile, Bianbian, believing her uncle had already left, rubbed her empty little belly and prepared to boil water for noodles.
Suddenly, she heard a woman’s voice coming from downstairs outside—
“Bianbian, where are you?”
　　※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
Lord Jiusi: You are playing with fire.
　　*
Finally finished writing QAQ