Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 111: Get to the warehouse as soon as possible

"I’m always selling sweetheart" he said, voice low and smooth. "Question is whether you’re smart enough to buy it."

She stepped forward, cautious. "What do you know?"

"Enough to make me useful. Enough to make me dangerous." He tossed the strip of meat into his mouth and chewed. "You want to know about the dead things, don’t you?"

Qingran didn’t flinch. "Go on."

"The government’s not just watching the outbreak, they’re guiding it," he said, spitting the last bit of meat to the floor. "They cleared Sector Twelve (Kungdam) days ago. Didn’t report it. Let the infected things run loose so they could track how fast it’d spread."

Haoyu stiffened when he heard it. He still found it hard to believe they’re willing to kill innocent people.

"They’re building walls in the south districts." the man continued. "Not to keep the infected out" He grinned, "But to keep them in. They’re letting Guyoung rot from the inside so they can control the narrative. Wicked isn’t it?."

"You’re sure?"

The man tapped his temple. "Sure enough to not sleep at night. Sure enough that all my friends skipped town three days ago. Sure enough to know that if you want to get out—" He leaned forward, eyes sharp now. "You’d better do it soon."

Qingran stared at him, mind working quickly.

"How much?"

"For you, sweetheart?" He winked. "A favor. One day, I might need something. You do well to remember this face."

Haoyu scoffed. "You don’t want cash??"

"No," the man said, licking his thumb. "I love my life more."

Qingran hesitated. Then she reached into her coat, pulled a small, tightly wrapped envelope, and handed it over. "My name’s not sweetheart. Call me that again and I’ll make sure you limp for life."

The man chuckled as he tucked the envelope into his coat. "Fair enough"

She turned on her heel. "Let’s go."

As they walked away, Lingquan hummed softly.

[Good job host, that’s some progress to your mission. Best to leave this place, go wait for your man.]

"Yeah. Got it. He’ll be here by 3pm. Maybe we can do a little shopping. Though I don’t think it’s deal to buy that much clothing in times like this. Let’s just head to the hotel, I have to give Anya a call."

[Understood host.]

Qingran felt the weight of the conversation sink into her mind as they walked, the narrow alleys and dim lighting of the black market now behind them.

The hum of voices, hushed and urgent, faded into the distant echoes of their footsteps.

Haoyu, still processing what they’d learned, walked beside her, his hand absently running through his hair. "So, they’ve been letting it spread... just to control things? The government’s truly that far gone?"

"Looks like it," Qingran replied, her voice low. "And they’re not stopping anytime soon. They’re building walls to trap the infected in. They’re controlling the narrative, making sure people think it’s just a chaotic outbreak, while they work on something else. We’re not just dealing with an infection anymore, Haoyu. We’re dealing with an entire agenda."

The weight of her words hung heavy in the air as they navigated the streets, heading back toward the hotel.

The tension from the black market still lingered on their skin, like an oppressive fog.

Haoyu looked over at her, his eyes narrowed. "So, what now? The capital?"

"Yeah," she replied, her pace quickening. "We have to find out more. What the government’s doing, where they’re moving everything—starting with that lab. The one they supposedly shut down."

"You think they’ve moved everything there?"

"I know they have," she said, her voice sharp. "The outbreak’s a smokescreen. They’ve been using it as cover for something bigger."

Haoyu didn’t argue. He wasn’t one to question her instincts—not when they had kept him alive through so many close calls.

Instead, he just nodded, pulling out his phone to check the map one last time.

They reached the hotel by mid-morning, just as the city around them seemed to settle into a tense kind of normalcy.

The streets were quieter, but the air still crackled with a strange, electric pulse—like everyone was waiting for something to break.

Inside, they made their way to the lobby, and Qingran stepped up to the desk, giving the receptionist a brief nod.

"Morning," she said, her voice calm. "I’ll need to make a call."

The receptionist gestured toward the corner of the room, where a small booth for private calls stood. She moved toward it, her eyes flicking to Haoyu as he grabbed a seat at the far side of the lobby.

Qingran took a deep breath before dialing Anya’s number. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

"Qingran? It’s early. What’s going on?"

"Morning, Anya." Qingran replied, she paused for a moment, her hands shaking slightly.

"Listen and listen to me very carefully.."

"Qingran..what’s—"

"Listen to me. It’s not a joke. How’s the kids and Shiyue?"

"They’re doing well. I took a few days off work. They seem to be following your training plan well and Miss Bai is doing well, she eats and goes to the hospital for her checkups. What’s this about Qingran.."

Qingran took a deep breath and nodded "Great, now listen to me very carefully. Right now, the situation in Guyoung is very dire, there are zombies roaming around as we speak, I saw two earlier in B city, I have warehouse in Sangnam, there are guns and some food and essentials there."

"On the 29th, I want you, the kids and Bai Shiyue to head to that warehouse, barricade it, I’ll try my best to make to to B city before the 30th. This is not a joke Anya, I’m being completely honest, the end of the world is upon us as we know it.."

Anya’s voice came through the phone, muffled at first, as if she couldn’t quite grasp what Qingran had just said. There was a long pause before she spoke again, her tone shifting from confusion to disbelief.

"Zombies? Qingran, this... this doesn’t make sense. Are you—"