Holding Their Own Space, the Family Returns to the Apocalypse

54: Out-of-control Ai YueAs soon as they entered the door, the two men found Ai Yue holding an electric baton, looking at them expressionlessly.

They were startled at first, but after looking around and finding she was alone, the man with large yellow teeth grinned, showing his teeth, and quickly shut the door.

Rubbing his hands together, he said in a thuggish manner, ”Little beauty, don’t be afraid. We brothers are just here to discuss life with you. We mean no harm. Be good! Put down the baton, and we promise not to hurt you.”

Ai Yue felt disgusted looking at the two men across from her. ”Who sent you?”

”What are you saying, little beauty? No one sent us. We just heard you’re always home alone, so we brothers made a special trip to help dispel your loneliness.”

”Monkey, why talk so much nonsense with her? Just go for it, I’m starving for this...” The other man said, pulling a fruit knife from his waist and rushing straight at Ai Yue.

That’s it?

With a sweeping kick, Ai Yue sent the man crashing to the floor. She stepped hard on his hand, which was still clutching the fruit knife, and ground her foot down viciously.

The man let out a blood-curdling scream.

Seeing things were going south, Yellow Teeth grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it at Ai Yue. Seeing the chair flying toward her, Ai Yue reached out and caught it, setting it down carefully. This was her own furniture; she couldn’t let them break it.

Ai Yue kicked the man on the ground unconscious and quickly subdued the remaining one. ”Speak. Who sent you?”

In truth, she already had a faint idea of the answer.

”If you don’t talk, I’ll cut off your fingers one by one.” Ai Yue held the dropped fruit knife, hovering it over his fingers as if measuring them.

”No one instructed me.”

”Oh? Quite the tough guy. Then I won’t be polite.” Ai Yue raised the fruit knife and brought it down swiftly, looking as if she were about to slice his finger.

He had intended to be stubborn, but seeing Ai Yue was serious, he immediately shouted, ”I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Ai Yue hadn’t actually intended to cut off his fingers—she didn’t want to get her house dirty—she was only trying to scare him.

Ai Yue stopped her movements. ”I’m listening. Speak.”

”Yes, yes... it was Captain An of the patrol team. He told us to... to do ’that’ to you, and to find a chance to throw you out of the Safety Tower.” The terrified man’s voice grew smaller and smaller as he spoke.

However, Ai Yue still heard him loud and clear.

”This isn’t the first time you’ve helped him do this kind of thing, is it?” Ai Yue asked.

”Yes, yes. We have a faction with many people. We all handle dirty business for the tower’s management...” Hardening his heart, the man spilled everything he knew.

Ai Yue hadn’t expected the so-called safest Safety Tower to have such a dark side.

She knocked him out with a punch and picked up her walkie-talkie to call Gu Xiheng. This time, he picked up quickly.

”Did something happen?” A hint of anxiety leaked through Gu Xiheng’s calm tone.

”Something did happen. Do you have time to come to my place right now?”

Without hesitation, Gu Xiheng said simply, ”Wait for me.”

Ten minutes later, Gu Xiheng arrived. Ai Yue opened the door, and the first thing that met his eyes were two filthy men lying on the floor.

”What’s going on?” Gu Xiheng asked solemnly, his brow furrowed.

Ai Yue detailed the events leading up to this. Gu Xiheng hadn’t expected such a massive lapse in the Safety Tower’s security.

Fortunately, Ai Yue had stumbled upon it; otherwise, who knows how long it would have taken to discover.

For a dark faction to exist for so long meant there was a powerful figure behind them providing cover.

The Gu Clan had poured a great deal of effort into the construction of the Safety Tower, and he would never allow others to sabotage it.

If he didn’t handle this, the Safety Tower would eventually become a place that wore the cloak of salvation while being rotten to the core. The Gu Clan did not want such a base.

At the thought of the Safety Tower being turned into a foul mess by them, a fierce light flashed in Gu Xiheng’s eyes.

Realizing the severity of the situation, Gu Xiheng promised Ai Yue he would give her an explanation and then left, taking the two unconscious men with him.

Ai Yue didn’t pay any more attention to the subsequent events.

It was only later, when she heard her parents chatting after they returned, that she learned the Gu Clan had conducted a ’Great Purge’ of the Safety Tower. They had rooted out many ’rats’ and the dark factions that worked specifically for them.

Happily, not one of the three families who had caused trouble for Ai Yue was innocent. Aside from the patrol captain who was executed for having blood on his hands, the others had their entire fortunes confiscated and were kicked out of the Safety Tower.

They also dragged out a high-ranking figure who caused a public outcry—the fifth-in-command of the entire base. When this news broke, many soldiers and people who had participated in the early construction of the Safety Tower were shocked.

They were all in disbelief. In their memory, when the construction of the Safety Tower began, the fifth-in-command had been devoted to the base, working tirelessly and without complaint.

He was an upright and honest man; how could he have become a protective umbrella for dark and evil forces?

Whether everyone believed it or not, it was the truth. It could only be said that one cannot judge a person by their appearance, nor can one judge them by a single side.

No matter how the outside world clamored, it didn’t affect Ai Yue.

After this incident, Gu Xiheng seemed to disappear. His promise to give Ai Yue an explanation had no follow-up. She didn’t know if the outcome of the situation was his explanation to her, as he never told her personally.

After the entire Safety Tower was reorganized, many new regulations were promulgated. For a time, even brawls and fights within the tower decreased significantly.

After Ai Yue stayed home for a full month, Da Wang couldn’t hold back anymore. Every day, he dragged Ai Yue toward the base entrance. Because of this, several pairs of her trousers had been shredded by Da Wang.

Ai Yue herself had stayed in long enough, so she took Da Wang out in the marauder, heading to another city to search for gold and jade, while taking the tiger for a walk along the way.

Coming out this time, Ai Yue clearly felt that the number of robbers had increased.

Since the Safety Tower stopped accepting people, the remaining survivors had gradually become fierce in an environment where their lives were constantly threatened and resources were scarce. Their humanity was slowly fading away.

She encountered a group of people beating two others to death, then cheering excitedly. An uninformed person might have thought they had killed prey. Then she watched them dismember the corpses and throw them into a pot... This scene suddenly triggered her experiences from the Apocalypse in her previous life. That transition from initial fear and panic to gradually becoming numb, cold-blooded, and accustomed to it, until her death... This nightmare-like scene circled repeatedly in her mind. Instantly, rage rose in her heart, and her eyes became bloodthirsty. Looking at those ugly faces about to eat meat, they suddenly transformed into the faces of the demons who had caught her and eaten her alive. Her mental state collapsed instantly.

With blood-red eyes and a face full of hatred, she jumped out of the car and ran toward the group of people who were gorging on meat.

Seeing the abnormal Ai Yue, the group immediately grabbed nearby weapons to face the enemy.

Although they were formidable, they were still no match for the agile Ai Yue.

Ai Yue was like a wolf among sheep, launching a frenzied slaughter. By the time she stopped, the ground was covered in corpses—not a single one was intact—and she was drenched from head to toe in blood, looking like a bucket of gore had been poured over her.