Chapter 178: Paradise of the Apocalypse

This episode turned out to be a solo instance, which no one had expected.

Seeing Li Zhi competing in a popularity contest across different parallel worlds with numerous well-known high-ranking players on the leaderboard, Ou Wendong and the others were immensely relieved they hadn’t been bound to her in this round.

If they had joined, wouldn’t they have died miserably?

Apparently, team-up cards weren’t foolproof either—if you ended up in a high-stakes instance with top-tier players, it might backfire. They’d need to be more cautious in the future and stop banking on clinging to big shots just to farm popularity.

Li Zhi brushed the confetti out of her hair. “Who was eliminated this round?”

Everyone answered in unison: “Gong Wenbo!”

Even Lian Qinglin sighed with regret. “Ranked fifty-nine and still got knocked out. What a shame.”

This game was riddled with deadly traps.

Gong Wenbo probably never imagined he’d fall in this instance when he first entered it.

“Congrats to Big Boss Zhi for beating Hou Shao by just ten votes and moving up another three spots!” You Jingmeng shook a champagne bottle vigorously, and with a pop, it burst open, sending bubbly flying as the villa erupted in celebration again.

Ou Wendong, once a Chinese cuisine chef, had honed his skills across various cuisines after living with such a diverse group of foodies. Now he could even make Western desserts.

He made a lopsided three-tier cake. Li Zhi barely ate a bite before her face got smeared with cream. By the time she went upstairs for a shower, You Jingmeng had already started another game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who would clean up.

Li Zhi glanced down from the stairs—everyone’s face and hair were smeared with cream, even the chandelier had a dollop hanging off it. The living room was a mess, but filled with the warmth of life.

It was only in moments like these that the contrast between the instances and real life felt so stark.

If she could, she would have loved to stay here forever and never enter another instance.

After her shower, Li Shuang video-called her. She and Shang Jinru were living in an apartment complex within the safety zone. Space was limited—thirty square meters total—but it was already considered spacious.

The two of them sat on a couch under the window. Through the lens, Li Zhi could see densely packed buildings outside.

Li Shuang, as always, was excited enough to jump through the screen. “Sis! You were amazing this round! And you even beat Hou Shao, who’s ranked fifth. You wouldn’t believe how chaotic his livestream got—tons of viewers were flaming him for being overrated!”

After chatting about the instance for a bit, Shang Jinru took the phone. “Zhi Zhi, there’s only one month till New Year. Your brother said he’d bring us out to spend it with you, but I haven’t been able to reach him. Shouldn’t we start the application process now?”

Security checks for entering and leaving the safety zone had grown stricter, especially after a few suicide bombings by players trying to infiltrate the zone and smuggling incidents. The process was now extremely complicated.

If a family wanted to reunite for the holidays, they needed to start applying now.

Li Zhi nodded. “Yeah, I’ll talk to a friend of mine later—the one who got you both into the zone last time, Yao Mingfeng. He can help with the process. We’ll definitely be together on New Year’s Eve.”

Shang Jinru was thrilled. “That’s great, really great! Ask your friends what they like to eat—Mom will cook for everyone when we get there!”

Li Zhi chuckled. “No need, Mom. We’ve got a chef living here. You can try everyone’s cooking when you come.”

Shang Jinru nodded eagerly. “That works too!”

Right after the family call, Yan Feishu rang. Li Zhi didn’t even need to guess why—his gloating laugh confirmed it immediately.

“Well played, Li Zhi. We just started working together and you’ve already handed me a gift. I’ll have to thank you in person soon.”

Li Zhi opened the tablet and checked the leaderboard. “Sure, I beat Hou Shao this round. But I also bumped you out of seventh place. Aren’t you a little too happy?”

Yan Feishu replied, “It sucks to fall behind, but watching my enemy lose feels even better!”

Li Zhi: “…”

Fair enough.

She said, “Don’t celebrate too soon. Hou Shao picked up something in the reward zone—I don’t know what it was, but his eyes looked weird when he came out. I suspect he’s planning to nuke both of us.”

Yan Feishu clicked his tongue. “No way. If he wanted to go nuclear, he’d have done it already. Why bother plotting to steal my clients?”

Li Zhi thought for a second. “Maybe I got under his skin this time.”

For elite players, even a ten-vote gap could wreck their confidence.

Hou Shao wasn’t exactly known for being noble or honorable. Judging by the shady tactics he used against Peacock, he was ruthless and vindictive. After sitting at the top of Tianwen for so long, his ego had likely inflated.

When the system lets people play god, most start believing they actually are gods.

Such people couldn’t tolerate the slightest doubt or defeat.

Yan Feishu agreed. “Alright, I’ll dig around and see what trick he’s planning.”

Li Zhi raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got moles in Tianwen?”

Yan Feishu: “We infiltrate each other. Peacock’s got people in Tianwen too. Everyone knows.”

Li Zhi didn’t want to get involved in the messy politics between the two factions. After a bit of joking about how he missed out on seeing Hou Shao’s shocked face when Li Zhi outshone him, they moved on to planning the next instance.

Li Zhi said, “I didn’t pick the time for the next round. You guys decide. Once you’re ready, send me the team-up card.”

Yan Feishu agreed without hesitation. “Alright, three days from now.”

Li Zhi added, “I need to bring one more person.”

Last time she’d entered in a rush and didn’t help the system with escorting a player. This time, she’d already planned to bring the boss, so adding an official player wouldn’t be any trouble.

Yan Feishu had no objections. In fact, he generously offered, “Take as many as you want. I’ll even give you team-up cards for free.”

A token of appreciation for helping him defeat Hou Shao.

As if he was the one who’d won.

Yan Feishu: “How is it not? We’re partners. If you beat Hou Shao, then technically I beat Hou Shao. Which means Peacock beat Tianwen!”

Very generous use of technicalities.

After hanging up, Li Zhi planned to call Yao Mingfeng about the holiday application, but seeing how late it was, she decided to wait until tomorrow.

To stay physically and mentally sharp, she stuck to a healthy schedule. Under her influence, everyone in the villa had kicked their bad habits and joined her in going to bed and waking up early.

Even though it felt late, it was still before ten.

As expected, public safety outside the zone was getting worse. At night, gunfire was often heard.

It was hard to believe this country had once strictly banned firearms.

But now, the authorities no longer regulated weapons. With combat now dominated by special items, hot weapons had lost their edge. Even a headshot could be reversed with the right item.

Gunshots rang out again in the villa area. A moment later, Chi Yi knocked on the door. “Zhi Zhi, are you awake?”

Li Zhi sat up and turned on the light. “Yeah.”

Only then did Chi Yi enter, wearing pink pajamas and diving into bed beside her. “Another villa got robbed just now. Did you hear the shots?”

Li Zhi walked to the window, pulled the curtain back slightly, and saw a brightly lit villa in the southeast corner with a noisy commotion.

She turned off the light and lay back down. “Has this been happening often?”

Chi Yi nodded. “Yeah. It happened every night while you were in the instance. During the day, someone even came to scope us out, but Lian Qinglin and the others beat them up and scared them off when they realized you lived here.”

She clutched Li Zhi’s arm and sighed. “When will this end?”

Li Zhi, eyes closed, replied calmly, “Soon.”

Chi Yi giggled. “If anyone else said that, I’d never believe them. But when you say it, I feel totally at ease!”

Li Zhi smiled. “Go to sleep.”

Growing up in a law-abiding country, she’d never imagined falling asleep to the sound of gunfire. Most people hadn’t even seen a real gun before the system arrived. Now, it was their bedtime lullaby.

The next morning, everyone noticed Chi Yi yawning as she came out of Li Zhi’s room and immediately got jealous.

You Jingmeng, chewing on Ou Wendong’s freshly fried dough stick, protested, “It’s my turn to sleep with Big Boss Zhi tonight!”

Chi Yi put her hands on her hips. “You want to sleep, he wants to sleep—what does that make our Zhi Zhi?”

The young fanboys in the back quickly waved their hands. “We don’t want to! We really don’t!”

Ou Wendong: “... QAQ”

I want to, but I don’t dare say it.

After breakfast, Li Zhi went to the garden to call Yao Mingfeng. It was already cold, and a thin layer of frost covered the swing. She used her sleeve to wipe it off and sat down to gently sway.

A group of fierce-looking men walked past outside the garden fence. Their probing gazes softened noticeably when they saw Li Zhi on the swing. They whispered among themselves, then hurried away.

Yao Mingfeng picked up. “Did the gunfight from last night’s home invasion affect you?”

Li Zhi was surprised. “You guys know about that?”

Yao Mingfeng gave a bitter laugh. “Of course. Even the non-safe zones are under our jurisdiction.” He paused, then sighed. “But there’s just too much going on—we can’t cover everything. We were too idealistic before. The outside world’s collapsing too fast. At this rate, in another year, non-safe zones might become full-on apocalypse parks like overseas.”

Given the limited manpower and items available to the authorities, Li Zhi understood.

She had originally wanted to discuss the New Year’s application with him. But after thinking it over all night and hearing what he just said, she changed her mind. “Chi Yi said someone’s eyeing our villa. Can I trouble you to keep an eye on it while I’m away?”

Yao Mingfeng replied, “No problem. You’re a priority. We’ve got our eyes on you whether you say anything or not.”

Reassured, Li Zhi asked, “Is Director Fang around? I’d like to speak with him.”

Fang Yangxing was too high-ranking for her to contact directly, but with Yao Mingfeng and Tan Manyu around, it wasn’t hard to reach him.

Yao Mingfeng said “hold on,” and called back ten minutes later.

A deeper, steadier voice came through the line, warm and smiling. “Xiao Li, you wanted to talk to me?”

Li Zhi smiled too. “Director Fang, I’ve made a discovery.”