The Absolute Favorite in the Apocalyptic Rebirth

The winter in the northwest arrived earlier and lingered longer than in the east. Even in March, the weather remained bitterly cold, though the sun did rise punctually.

Lou Ling raised her head from a patch of chives, noticing the brilliant sunset painting the sky. It was already evening.

A gust of wind swept by, making her involuntarily shrink her neck. She looked at the chives in front of her, now ready for harvest. She turned to the three ordinary workers responsible for harvesting and said, "This patch of chives is ready. Thank you for your hard work today. I'll be going now."

The three workers, seeing the approaching dusk and knowing it was time to finish work, smiled and nodded. With only one patch of chives left, the harvest wouldn't take long. They urged her to hurry home, lest her boyfriend come looking for her again.

Lou Ling, now thick-skinned, brushed off their teasing. After bidding them farewell, she entered the nearby rest area. Hot water was provided here for those who had worked outside all day, offering some respite from the cold. After washing her face and hands with the hot water from the tap, she went to the adjacent office to hand over her tasks to the worker registering the field work.

"Mr. Zhang, here's my ID card. You can have it back." Lou Ling returned the ID card required for entering and exiting the plantation. She wouldn't be coming tomorrow and needed to return it.

"Miss Lou, you won't be coming tomorrow?" Zhang Chufeng asked, his deep eyes fixed on her face.

Lou Ling smiled and nodded, unfazed by his gaze. "I've discussed it with my companion. We'll be leaving the base to take on missions tomorrow and won't be coming to the plantation for a while. Thank you for your care, Mr. Zhang!"

Hearing this, Zhang Chufeng was visibly disappointed. His gaze held a hint of reluctance and unusual affection, though his handsome face remained calm and composed. He didn't say anything further, simply smiling and bidding her farewell, welcoming her to visit again when she had time.

Lou Ling smiled politely, said goodbye, and left with her backpack.

Zhang Chufeng walked to the window, watching her as she made her way to the plantation gate, where she met a man in a black wool overcoat. The man was tall and slender, his black hair, slightly longer than shoulder-length, ruffled by the wind. His back alone exuded an outstanding, noble aura that was captivating. As Lou Ling approached, he embraced her, opened his coat, and enveloped her within, shielding her from the cold.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Chufeng sighed inwardly. It was rare to encounter such a pure and bright girl after the apocalypse. Having seen too many women who had abandoned their humanity and morals, or betrayed themselves and their companions for survival, such a girl was truly rare and made his heart stir. Unfortunately, she was already taken. Before the apocalypse, such a girl wouldn't have warranted a second glance from him, but after the apocalypse, she had become incredibly precious.

Lost in thought, his gaze met the cold eyes of the man in black. Devoid of any warmth, they held only a warning, a murderous intent, like a fearsome beast lurking in the darkness, warning any enemy who dared covet its possession. Zhang Chufeng frowned uncomfortably.

A mental warning! Truly powerful and terrifying!

After they left, Zhang Chufeng leaned against the wall, catching his breath. He understood that perhaps only such a powerful person could protect his woman and preserve her innocence. The apocalypse was not an excuse for depravity. Many people still maintained their nature and moral bottom line in this world, but only if they had the strength to do so. Without strength, everything was empty talk, and even human morality became a joke.

Lou Dian indeed possessed such strength.

Lou Ling tucked her hands into his pockets for warmth. Her body, chilled after a day's work, felt much warmer, making her feel languid.

"The base is so large, and you're not the only Wood-type ability user. You don't need to work so hard," Lou Dian said disapprovingly, seeing the fatigue in her expression. He knew she had another day of intense work.

Lou Ling shrugged. "Although there are other Wood-type ability users, the base is so large, and there are so many mouths to feed. It's still not enough. Besides, it's not just me. Everyone is doing this. If I were to ask for special treatment, I might as well not have come."

The plantation and breeding grounds were crucial to the base. Humanity couldn't keep consuming pre-apocalypse resources without finding ways to produce more. Therefore, to increase food sources, ability users were often recruited to help. During the cold winter, when people rarely left the base, many Wood-type ability users were assigned to the plantation. As a member of the Lou family, Lou Ling could have used her privilege to avoid this work. However, she felt that practicing her abilities at home was the same as practicing here by stimulating plant growth, so she might as well contribute. This also didn't interfere with Lou Dian's activities.

Indeed, throughout this winter, Lou Dian had been with Lou Zhan and the others, serving as the Lou family's trump card to deter the base's powerful figures. He used this time to suppress or eliminate restless factions. As a result, the base was currently peaceful, and there wouldn't be a repeat of last winter's incidents anytime soon, allowing Lou Dian to leave with peace of mind.

Lou Dian knew his younger sister had a somewhat saintly tendency; giving brought her more joy and ease than receiving. He understood this flaw in her character but never tried to correct it or shatter her idealism with reality. Even if she was a bit of a saint, it was part of her personality, and she wasn't foolish or without a bottom line. This small quirk was harmless, and he didn't want to change her. Besides, there was already one dark and twisted person in their midst (himself); having a touch of saintliness to balance things out wasn't bad.

Stroking her face, Lou Dian didn't say anything more, leading her towards the Lou family home. They were having dinner there tonight.

Tonight's dinner was prepared by Aunt and Lou Yan. Lou Yan made her specialty, egg pancakes, which had a unique flavor that Lou Ling enjoyed immensely. The eggs were from the chickens raised at the plantation. Before the apocalypse, this place had been a military camp, and some poultry had been raised there. Fortunately, they hadn't mutated and were carefully preserved. Now, the base's scarce egg products relied on those hens.

After dinner, the family sat on the sofa, eating fruit and chatting.

Lou Ling held the adorable little Ye Ye, playing with him while listening to the men's conversation. Lou Dian exchanged words with the Lou family's father and son, while she waited in the background for the outcome.

"You're leaving? Going where?"

"I don't know. Maybe the desert, maybe the east. Just wandering around."

"Wandering? In this day and age? Aren't you afraid of something happening?"

"It's alright, I'll protect Xiao Ling! We won't die!" Even if we die, we'll die together!

"Hush, hush, hush! Don't speak such ominous words, child!"

"I'll listen to Uncle! We'll leave tomorrow and bring you gifts when we return."

"…I knew it! You brat planned this all along and only told us now, clearly not giving us a chance to object!" Lou Tang wanted to give this stubborn boy a good beating. Why was he so disobedient?

Lou Dian smiled without speaking, calmly sipping his tea.

After a while, Lou Zhan asked, "When will you be back?"

Lou Dian thought for a moment. "If all goes well, we'll be back by winter. If not, it might take a year or two."

Lou Zhan nodded silently, saying "Take care," indicating his support.

Lou Shang and Lou Yan looked at him with envy and resentment. But their abilities were inferior, so they didn't dare boast about wandering outside for a year or two and returning. They would likely be eaten by zombies or mutant beasts. Of course, if they dared to entertain such a thought, their father would eat them alive right now.

So, at this moment, Lou Dian was truly radiating dominance!

The matter was thus happily decided. The Lou family was worried sick but couldn't dissuade him. Although they treated Lou Dian and Lou Ling like their own children, there was still a distance, and they couldn't exert parental authority. They could only agree with heavy hearts.

Aunt held Lou Ling's hand, looking at her sweet and well-behaved appearance, like a girl next door. She felt some resentment towards Lou Dian for taking her sister on such a dangerous journey – Aunt, you're mistaken. This one is also quite ferocious, even more so than your own daughter.

"Xiao Ling, be careful out there. It's not like before the apocalypse, where you could travel the world without worry… Ai, if you have children, be careful. If you find out you're pregnant, come back immediately, you hear?"

Lou Ling: (⊙o⊙) What children? Where did they come from?

Seeing her dumbfounded expression, Aunt also became momentarily stunned. Then she looked suspiciously at Lou Dian, wondering if they had been sleeping together all this time and just chatting under the covers.

At this time, Qiu Rong said, "Mom, it's not easy for ability users to get pregnant. The chances are much lower than for ordinary people."

Aunt was shocked. "How can that be?"

Although Qiu Rong was a soldier, she also oversaw the Northwest Base's research institute to help her husband. She had seen the research data and knew that ability users' bodies had been modified. They had gained abilities to survive the apocalypse and a lifespan twice as long as ordinary people, but they had also lost some things, such as the ability to easily reproduce. Of course, it didn't mean that ability users couldn't have children, but it was several times more difficult for them to conceive than for ordinary people. Since the start of the apocalypse, no one had heard of an ability user getting pregnant.

This research finding revealed nature's fairness. After the apocalypse, everything had changed. The Earth had undergone a great cleansing, and humanity was no longer at the top of the food chain. Human territory had shrunk, and zombies, humanity's natural enemies, had emerged. But soon, a new food chain was established, with a symbiotic relationship between humans and zombies, humans and mutated plants and animals, and zombies and mutated plants and animals.

Therefore, ordinary people, who initially seemed useless and only existed under the protection of ability users, now proved their worth. For humanity to continue, ordinary people were needed to reproduce and carry on the human lineage. In addition, scientists had discovered another finding: the union of an ability user and an ordinary person was far more likely to produce offspring than the union of two ability users.

Hearing Qiu Rong's words, everyone's mood became somewhat somber.

Aunt looked at Lou Ling with pity and was secretly grateful that her eldest son and daughter-in-law, although both ability users, had given her a grandson before the apocalypse.

Lou Ling left under the sympathetic gazes of the Lou family. After the initial confusion, she felt utterly speechless.

She was only twenty-two years old. Before the apocalypse, she would have just graduated from university, busy finding a job and starting her career. She wouldn't have been thinking about marriage and children so soon. Call her slow or whatever, but after the apocalypse, she had been busy surviving and fighting. Although she was with Lou Dian, he always managed to distract her, and she had never considered the issue of children.

When they returned home, Lou Dian saw she was still in a daze and patted her head, telling her to take a hot bath.

When she came out of the bath, she seemed to have returned to normal. Lou Dian gazed at her for a while, noticing that she seemed to have… forgotten about it.

Caressing her face, Lou Dian suddenly said, "If you want children, you'll have them in the future."

"Eh?" Lou Ling looked at him in surprise. "But didn't they say it's difficult for ability users to get pregnant?"

"Who knows if scientists will solve this problem in the future? Technology is so advanced now, anything is possible," he said casually.

Lou Ling was instantly invigorated. "Really? Really? If that's the case, it solves the problem of human continuation, and we don't have to worry about extinction. But if I get pregnant, without a good environment for the child to grow up in, it would suffer…" She became conflicted again. Humanity currently faced too many threats. It was only the beginning of the third year of the apocalypse, and many new systems were still incomplete, with many problems to be solved. The continuation of future generations wasn't as important right now.

Lou Dian didn't say anything more, pulling her into his arms and lying down on the bed.

In fact, what Qiu Rong said today wasn't a big deal. Because seven years after the apocalypse, scientists had developed a solution for ability user pregnancy. Moreover, children born from the union of ability users were mostly ability users themselves, and even more powerful. This discovery had driven scientists almost crazy.

Emotionally, Lou Dian longed to have children with his beloved, to continue their bloodline. But rationally, he didn't want a child to divide Lou Ling's attention, leaving him feeling conflicted.

But those things were still far off. Even seven years into the apocalypse, Lou Ling would only be twenty-seven, the prime childbearing age for a woman. There was no rush. But would they really have a child then? The environment seven years into the apocalypse wasn't necessarily worse, but it wasn't the best either. Newborns were rare, and it was difficult to guarantee their survival…

Thinking of this, Lou Dian decided to put the matter aside. If Lou Ling wanted to have their child, they needed an absolutely safe environment, and the current environment was too harsh to even consider it.

Author's Notes:

Today's Goals:

Lou Ling's Goal: Everything for humanity!

Lou Dian's Goal: Everything for my sister!

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