Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 174: You’re still my sun

Qingran was waiting when he finally stood. He handed the phone back silently, his expression unreadable but his eyes shining with something fierce and fragile. frёewebnoѵēl.com

"Thank you," he said simply.

She nodded. "You deserved to hear him. Even if just for a while."

The signal cut out.

Feng Yizhou slipped the phone into his pack, still feeling the echo of her voice lingering in his mind. The moment had ended, but the weight of it pressed down on him, sharp and clear.

Six minutes.

Only six, and yet it had filled a hollowness in his chest he hadn’t even known was so deep.

He stood on the roof of the command outpost, wind tugging at his coat, sand and grit stinging the exposed skin on his face. The skies here were heavy with dust, darker than the haze he remembered from before the world fell apart.

Still, compared to the constant tension and heat inside the outpost, the rooftop felt like the only place he could breathe.

She was alive.

Qingran. His Qingran.

He closed his eyes for a long moment. He had held himself together for days, acting like being separated from her didn’t affect him much.

But now he felt unmoored, like his center had finally returned but he hadn’t yet figured out how to fit himself back around it.

She had listened to whatever nonsense he had to say, he could feel her smile and hear her laugh.

And he wanted nothing more that to give up everything here and find his way back to her.

To ease the ache behind his words, the guilt he hadn’t voiced. She had always seen through him. Always known what he was really trying to say.

He remembered the way her voice softened at the end. Like warmth in winter. Like shelter, it made him so hopeful.

He had called her his sun.

And she had said she was waiting for him.

Feng Yizhou exhaled, shoulders sagging slightly. The truth was, he’d been afraid. Afraid that when they finally spoke again, he wouldn’t recognize her or worse, that she wouldn’t want anything to do with him.

He hadn’t been able to protect her before the collapse.

There were promises he hadn’t kept.

But she called him. She had laughed. She had told him the world hadn’t beaten her down.

And somehow that undid him more than any battlefield injury ever could.

His fingers curled slightly, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out the phone again.

He opened the photo gallery, tapping on the image he had taken of her recently, if she knew about it, she definitely send a punch to his guts.

Her smile lit up the frame, it was bright, confident, the way she used to be before the apocalypse, he doubted she smiled much now.

He brushed his thumb across the screen, letting the wave of yearning wash over him.

There were so many things he wanted to say. So many regrets he hadn’t voiced. Not in that brief call.

But this wasn’t the end.

She was building something, strong, sustainable, real. She had a plan. And he could hear the steel beneath her gentleness, the command in her calmness. She wasn’t just surviving. She was going to live while doing it.

And it made him want to be better. Stronger. So that when he stood beside her again, he’d be worthy of her.

The world was not kind to hope. Not anymore. But somehow, she’d kept hers alive.

He opened his eyes and looked across the distant ridge lines, where broken cities slept beneath the haze.

"You’re still my sun" he murmured.

And this time, it didn’t feel like a goodbye. It felt like a promise.

For Haoyu, it was quite different. He felt oddly at peace and energized after hearing Meng Nian’s voice.

Haoyu walked away from the makeshift communication station, his footsteps quiet on the dusty ground.

The conversation with Meng Nian had left him feeling introspective, emotions swirling beneath the surface.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on why Meng Nian’s voice had affected him so deeply, but he felt a sense of peace settle within him, like a weight had been lifted.

As he walked, the fading light of day cast long shadows across the ground, and Haoyu’s thoughts turned to the past.

Memories of his time with Meng Nian surfaced, bittersweet and tinged with regret. He wondered what could have been if circumstances had been different, if they’d had a chance to explore the possibilities of their relationship.

The sound of murmured conversations and the clanging of makeshift tools filled the air, but Haoyu’s mind was elsewhere. He felt a sense of longing, a desire to reconnect with Meng Nian, to understand what lay between them.

The question was, would Meng Nian want to reconnect?

Haoyu’s pace slowed as he reached the edge of the camp.

He gazed out at the desolate landscape, the ruins of buildings stretching out as far as the eye could see.

The world was broken, but in this moment, Haoyu felt a sense of hope.

Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for redemption, for second chances.

DING! DING! DING!

MISSION OBJECTIVE FROM APOCALYPSE SYSTEM.

DEAR PLAYERS A FIRESTORM CHALLENGE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU.

YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO PREPARE YOURSELVES.

AFTER THAT....ALL HELL WILL LET LOOSE.

GOOD LUCK.

It wasn’t only Haoyu that heard it, everyone heard it and soon the whole of zone 5 was thrown into chaos despite being in different sectors.

{Well this isn’t looking good. Why are y’all going to find a place big enough to protect you? Not to mention it has to be heat resistant, it’s going to real hot soon.}

"..."

"I understand Lotus, is there anyway for you to help?"

The system kept quiet for a brief second.

{Alright. I shall discuss with that Feng’s system. }

"Thank you! I’m going to meet him as well. He’s the only one that can think of solution this fast. "

{You won’t be able to save everyone and you should know Feng Yizhou, he’s going to use this objective to reduce the numbers.}

Haoyu sighed, he couldn’t blame Feng Yizhou, no one that that much food to feed 457 people and that was minus the people in Feng Yizhou’s time.

"Then we should protect this one we can. We’re not gods, we’re no one’s savior, so now is the time for everyone to fight for themselves."

{{Host my advise is too take 150 people. It’s an hassle finding large safe house, reducing the numbers will help greatly. I’m going to find a place that can house 150 people and that’s including yourself and Haoyu, you will pick the remaining 148 people.}}

"Noted. I was looking for a way to minimize the numbers."

{{".."}}

{The place we first saw was good but it’s too small. 5 miles east, there’s a community center there. It has the capacity to house 150 people.}

"It would be impossible to ferry 150 people there and in under 24 hours with no cars. Caocao help me something, you can name your price."

{{I’m intrigued...go on}}

"Get me two Yutang buses. The ones with 75 seats."

{{"..."}}

{{It’s going to cost you big time. For the cost of two 75 seats Yutang buses, you’ll forfeit 5 months of your call time to Gu Qingran. Meaning in the next 5 months she won’t neither will you be able to call each other.}}

Feng Yizhou chuckled lowly "Your costs are always expensive Caocao, I’ll give you that."

{{Do you accept?}}