Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 324: Chapter 314: Meeting at Last

Given the strength of Qin Ling and his team, the blizzard raging outside and the plunging temperatures weren’t yet a life-threatening danger to them.

”Lao Wu, take a look at this Protective Shield. Any thoughts? Think you can pull it off?”

Although Qin Ling wasn’t a Spirit Attribute Superpower User, he could tell that the various-sized rings of light making up the shield were all sustained by spiritual power. The one with the strongest spiritual power on their team was Lao Wu, who was ranked twenty-first on the Huaxia leaderboard.

Qin Ling had already braced himself for the worst-case scenario. He figured that with such a sudden and harsh change in the environment, the unprepared people of S Base would suffer massive casualties, with more than half likely to perish.

He never expected that Momo’s Spiritual Light Ring would appear, giving humanity a pocket of space to survive.

As long as they had this temporary buffer, everything that followed would be much more manageable.

It was the first time Qin Ling had ever seen someone use a Spiritual Light Ring sustained by spiritual power like this, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Lao Wu, the strongest Spirit Attribute user on his own team, could accomplish the same feat.

”I never imagined the Spirit Attribute could be used like this. Now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, it would probably take me half a month to figure it out on my own. But if I were lucky enough to get some pointers from our sister-in-law, I could probably get it in three seconds. With my Spirit Attribute Value, I could likely sustain a protective circle a few hundred square meters in size.”

As Spirit Attribute Superpower Users, seeing such a miraculous application of spiritual power, every single one of them was green with envy.

Lao Wu’s eyes were now fixed with a fanatical gaze on their sister-in-law’s figure inside the massive protective circle, wishing he could jump into the learning queue immediately.

They didn’t even need to ask. From the snippets of conversation in the surrounding crowd, Qin Ling and his men had already pieced together what was going on.

”If you want to learn, go get in line.”

Seeing the look in Lao Wu’s eyes, how could Qin Ling not understand what he wanted?

”Remember to pay the entrance fee. Don’t even think about using any back channels.”

”You got it, Boss! I’m on my way!”

’His boss had given the order, so what was he waiting for?’ Without a moment’s hesitation, Lao Wu immediately joined the queue.

’It was a bargain, even if it cost his entire fortune, let alone just a third of it!’

’After all, in this Hell Era, anyone with eyes could see how incredible this protective circle was.’

’Then he’d be able to protect his boss and his brothers. That was something money couldn’t buy, and an opportunity like this wouldn’t come twice.’

Qin Ling and his brothers had no intention of going inside to fight for space with the crowd of people who were on the verge of freezing to death. They stood with their arms crossed, watching Tang Mo patiently teach her students.

Qin Ling’s physical constitution was already strong, and he had also fused with an agility attribute orb. Naturally, he remained poised and unaffected by the freezing weather.

The rest of his brothers weren’t having such an easy time. While they weren’t in immediate danger of freezing to death, the snow was already up to their thighs, and standing around was far from comfortable. They pulled their padded coats tighter, eagerly waiting for their brother Lao Wu to master the skill and return.

However, while Qin Ling’s group didn’t plan on going in, someone inside had a sharp eye.

”Honey, isn’t that Qin Ling? He’s not here to cause trouble for our Momo, is he?”

Lin Yi was the first to spot Qin Ling and his men, and she asked Wen Jianshu worriedly.

Her daughter was powerful, but she was making such a huge scene right now. Lin Yi was still worried that Qin Ling might be here to cause trouble for Momo.

After all, Lin Yi had been living at the base ever since the apocalypse began. Even though she was just a stay-at-home mom, she was still aware of the major and minor happenings at the base.

’What was Qin Ling’s status? He was someone even the patriarch of the Wen Family couldn’t compare to, a man who held absolute authority in the base.’

She hadn’t heard Jianshu mention any bad blood between Qin Ling and their family, but for someone of his stature to show up at a critical time like this and just linger... it was hard not to worry that he was here to cause problems.

In contrast to Lin Yi, Wen Jianshu had a much better understanding of the relationship between Qin Ling and Tang Mo. ’How could he be here to cause trouble?’ he thought. ’He’s the one who’s trying to whisk your precious daughter away.’

Of course, Wen Jianshu would never say that out loud. If he did, he’d get an earful—and probably a beating—from Lin Yi. Ever since his wife had given birth, her temper had grown increasingly fiery, a far cry from the gentle and sweet woman she used to be. He absolutely did not dare to provoke her.

’Ah, the pain of being a henpecked husband... how could ordinary people possibly understand?’

”You can relax. Qin Ling and Momo were university classmates. They were close back in school, so what’s there for us to worry about?”

”Oh, university classmates? I don’t think Momo ever mentioned that. Well, that’s good, that’s very good.”

Hearing Wen Jianshu’s explanation, Lin Yi’s worries immediately vanished.

”If they were university classmates, then hurry up and invite them in! How can we just let them stand out there in the cold!”

Lin Yi nudged Wen Jianshu with her elbow, gesturing for him to quickly welcome them inside.

What choice did Wen Jianshu have but to comply?

With Wen Jianshu personally coming out to greet them, it would have been rude for Qin Ling and his men to refuse. They followed him into Tang Mo’s protective circle.

When the crowd saw that it was Qin Ling who had entered, no one raised any objections. They were all too busy waiting anxiously in line, hoping their turn would come soon.

Tang Mo saw Uncle Wen leading Qin Ling and his men in, but she was already at her wit’s end dealing with the tireless, knowledge-hungry crowd. She was in no mood for romance, so she could only spare a moment to shoot Qin Ling a helpless look that conveyed all her exasperation.

Qin Ling gave Tang Mo an understanding, indulgent smile and walked straight toward her.

”Tired?”

”I’m holding up. Is everyone on your end okay?”

”We were prepared, so we’re fine. Are you holding up?”

”Do I look like I’m holding up?”

Tang Mo glanced at the seemingly endless line in front of her and, exhausted, leaned directly against Qin Ling.

Feeling the warmth of Momo’s body against him, the corners of Qin Ling’s mouth lifted uncontrollably. He lowered his head and whispered softly in her ear.

”What’s this? Done hiding our relationship? Finally ready to make it public?”

The warm breath tickling her ear made Tang Mo jolt back to her senses.

’I must be exhausted to the point of stupidity,’ she thought. ’There are so many people lined up right in front of me, how could I just collapse against Qin Ling like that?’

’But since I’m already leaning on him, I might as well not get up.’

’At a time like this, who has the energy to gossip about other people’s love lives? I can’t be bothered to hide it anymore. Let things take their natural course.’

Apparently, however, Tang Mo had underestimated everyone’s love for gossip.

Perhaps the environment she had provided was just too comfortable. Seeing the woman ranked number one on the leaderboard snuggling up to the base’s top leader, everyone fell silent.

A profound silence descended.

’What were they seeing? Was this real? Were they just hallucinating from the cold?’