Apocalyptic Disaster: I Hoard Billions in Supplies and Kill the Saint

216: Side Story 4: Chu Yunting’s Faint TracesJust a moment before that ball of fire was about to backfire,

Chu Yunting suddenly moved.

He had been standing at the back of the team in silence, as if he were merely an observer, watching coldly from the sidelines.

But at this moment, he took a deep breath, turned to look at everyone, and said word by word:

”Since one person isn’t enough.”

”Then what about all of us?”

”Didn’t they say fire is hope? Didn’t they say we have to light it once?”

”—Then let’s light it to the end!”

He suddenly took a step forward and leaped into the Space Tinder Resonance Zone!

Shen Qingyan cried out in alarm, ”Chu Yunting, you’re crazy! You’ll die!”

Zhou Cheng grabbed his sleeve, but was repelled by a counter-shock.

Chu Yunting looked back and smiled, his gaze as firm as steel:

”If I can’t stay with her until the very end...”

”Then there’s no point in remaining in this world.”

His gaze fell upon Ye Nanxing, who was being torn apart by the Tinder.

Most of her clothes had been burned away, her skin was covered in cracks and bloodstains, and psionic energy seeped through her body like a half-burnt lamp.

But in Chu Yunting’s eyes—

She had never been so beautiful.

Not because of the light, but because of the way she lit up even when she knew she would lose.

He reached out and touched her fingertips:

”I’m here.”

At that instant, the Tinder vibrated once more.

The civilization structure that was about to collapse actually began to move toward equilibrium under the weight of their shared Spiritual Consciousness.

The psionic energy was no longer violent, and the flow of fire circulated slowly like a pulse—

Changing from a ”Devourer” to a ”Resonator.”

Chu Yunting poured all his memories, emotions, and thoughts into the fusion core:

The silence of childhood ruins, the night wind on the wasteland at the edge of the battlefield, her single glance back, and his unspoken love.

The Tinder accepted these—it no longer refused.

[Tinder fusion complete]

[Civilization structure stabilized]

[Consciousness carrier path updated: Ye Nanxing × Flame Born (Remnant Soul) × Chu Yunting]

[Status: Resonant Fire Core · Alive]

The wind stopped. The firelight returned to silence.

That ball of fire no longer struggled; instead, it pulsed gently between the three souls like a newborn baby.

The Realm Creator lowered his head and remained silent for a moment.

Then, for the first time, he let out a sigh.

”Love is the only element that cannot be observed.”

”It has no logic, no model, and no repeatability.”

”It can destroy, and it can also bring rebirth.”

”Before me, you have used it to save a flame.”

He slowly raised his hand, and the airspace split open like a curtain, as a magnificent gate of light slowly opened in the sky.

”Go.”

”This flame is no longer a trial subject.”

”It is already—a part of humanity.”

”Next time, it won’t be lighting a fire.”

”It will be—sowing seeds.”

In the sky, a gate of light traversed down from the horizon, as if a line had been split across the firmament.

The Realm Creator stood outside the boundary and took one last look at everyone:

”You were never in my data predictions.”

”But now, you may leave.”

He slowly raised his hand and pointed a finger at the sky:

”Behind the gate is the world you came from.”

”But it is no longer the way it was when you left.”

Everyone looked up; through the gate of light, they could vaguely see torn mountain ranges, collapsed city ruins, forests flickering with eerie points of light, and giant alien creatures occupying the surface.

Flame Born leaned on Ye Nanxing’s shoulder, blood still at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were filled with a smile:

”Going home, huh.”

”It looks more like... we’re going to steal some land to plant vegetables.”

As the gate of light slowly closed, the world restarted like a silent breath.

Ye Nanxing gently opened her eyes.

She was still alive, and Flame Born was severely weakened but conscious.

Beside her were her gasping companions; the light of space returned to her body, and the Tinder no longer pulsed or struggled,

It—had completely merged with her.

But the only difference was that the space beside her was empty.

Chu Yunting was not there.

Not in the team, not in the records, not in anyone’s sight.

It was as if he had never entered this world,

And yet, it was also as if he had always been in the deepest part of this world.

Ye Nanxing stood up in a daze, looking at the dust in the wind, and asked softly:

”Are you... always watching me?”

No one answered.

But the fire in her chest gave a little jump.

The surface after the earthquake was broken and desolate.

From a high-altitude perspective, the cities were mere skeletons, the mountains were fractured in many places, and the continental plates had shifted slightly.

The sky was abnormal, the magnetic field was disordered, geothermal flows were constantly rising, and global cataclysm had become the norm.

But Ye Nanxing closed her eyes and, for the first time, truly guided the power of the Tinder into the Space Core.

Her consciousness expanded layer by layer, ascending, spreading, and sensing.

In the next second, the entire world appeared in her mind:

In the Northwest Desolate Belt, a survivor unit of only forty-seven people was gathering around an old vehicle to generate electricity.

In the cracks of the ice in the Far South Frozen Domain, six children huddled around the wreckage of a probe for warmth, relying on a picture book to maintain their linguistic memories.

In the Central-East Sunken Lake District, a lone traveler leaned on an iron rod, repeatedly writing the words ”People are still here” in the ruins.

She exhaled slowly:

”Humanity... is not extinct.”

”We are still here.”

After reorganizing the map, Ye Nanxing led the group back to Orchid Rock Base.

It had become a semi-abandoned area, but there were actually survivors still persisting with broadcasts—

When they saw Ye Nanxing appear in the base square, the first thing they did wasn’t cheer, but—

Stand at attention.

”Did you really... bring the fire back?”

The base commander asked with tears streaming down his face.

Ye Nanxing just nodded and opened her palm.

That ball of fire pulsed quietly; even if the world’s ruins were like a tomb, it remained warm.

Subsequently, they arrived at Tianlang Mountain.

That was the starting point of their journey.

Now, however, it had become a monument of rubble and falling snow.

But surprisingly—inside the underground Shelter, twelve people were still alive, including several veterans and researchers.

Shen Qingyan stood at the entrance, her eyes tearful but her teeth clenched:

”As long as people are still alive, the world still has value.”

As the survivors from the two bases joined, Ye Nanxing began to form a new joint team,

No longer an ”Expedition Team,” but a—”Fire Gathering Team.”

Their goal was no longer to find answers.

It was to find—people.

Every ”person” who hadn’t been swallowed by the Black Tide, hadn’t been eroded by despair, and was still alive.

The Tinder had been unified, and the world was still broken, but the fire could not land on its own.

Ye Nanxing sat in an old patrol car, looking at the wasteland ruins slowly passing by the window, and mused in a low voice:

”I have to choose a place.”

”Not the one with the best terrain, nor the one with the richest resources.”

”It’s... a place where when people stand there, they can look up and see the light.”

That night, Ye Nanxing leaned against the window of an abandoned sentry post, keeping watch alone.

She opened her Space Notebook and wrote a sentence within the Tinder’s energy:

”I don’t know if you’re still there.”

”But I know that the place where I survive... must have the light you wanted to protect.”

The moment the notes were written, the spatial spiritual light flickered gently.

She looked up and saw—in the night mist of the distant horizon, a figure flashed by.

Blurred, illusory, without a physical form.

But her eyes trembled, and she whispered:

”Goodnight, Chu Yunting.”