Chapter Ninety: Human Lives as Fleeting as Grass

Rebuilding Civilization Without Barriers

I’m sorry—today not only did my computer break down, but the power was out for an entire day. The electricity has just come back, so I'm updating for everyone right away.

Among the over one hundred thousand people comprising the Skywatch Base, the population was remarkably diverse, drawn from nearly every profession and walk of life. This amalgamation led to a tangled web of relationships throughout the base. Of these numbers, men accounted for roughly two-thirds, inevitably making women a disadvantaged group in the post-apocalyptic world.

In this era, survival was the foremost principle, eclipsing all other concerns. The existence of women, more often than not, depended on attaching themselves to men in exchange for a space to survive. Their role, sadly, was often reduced to providing men an outlet for the oppression and fear brought by the end times. In such an environment, regardless of how pampered or distinguished a woman might have been before, faced with survival or simply a better quality of life, she would typically bow her head and sell her body for whatever she needed.

As time passed, this phenomenon only grew more rampant. Eventually, almost every woman in the base learned how to use her body to exchange with men for enough food to sustain herself. Because of this, obscene scenes and various depraved acts—methods that would never surface in peaceful times—played out in the dark corners of the base.

It was only a little past ten o’clock; sunlight had not yet reached every corner of the base.

Wang Hanghai, feeling somewhat satisfied, rolled off the pale, scarred body beside him onto the bed, exhausted. The intense pleasure just experienced left him nearly faint and breathless. For a man of boundless energy like Wang Hanghai, his favorite pastime was, after a night’s rest, to torment his sexual partners with every possible method in the early hours of the morning. Such indulgence occurred every three days or so, and he wouldn’t stop until he had released himself three or four times.

As a member of the hunting convoy, Wang Hanghai had earned plenty of food these last few weeks, giving him the means to pursue the women he desired. For the women, as long as the price was right, even the most perverse acts were within their tolerance. With this understanding, Wang Hanghai, who had unique tastes, easily found suitable partners.

The price, to Wang Hanghai, was astonishingly cheap. In peaceful times, those noble women who would never cast him a glance now required only a few pounds of food to kneel in pleasure beneath him. If he offered more, he could indulge in even more specialized desires.

Perhaps yesterday’s haul left Wang Hanghai overly excited; in just a few hours that morning, he had vented himself four times. Even his strong legs felt weak, his whole body drained. The woman beside him lay motionless, like a corpse, her eyes occasionally betraying emptiness when she forced a smile.

Wang Hanghai did not join the hunting convoy today. He reasoned that the more often he went out, the higher the risk. Now, with enough food, he preferred to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Even as his legs were still weak after a brief rest, the sight of the pale, delicate body before him stirred his desire once more. He was surprised—was it because she was so perfect and beautiful? Otherwise, why was he suddenly aroused again?

Seeing Wang Hanghai suddenly excited, the woman lying on the bed showed a hint of fear in her eyes. Her previously motionless body began to move.

Just as Wang Hanghai was about to pounce again, a piercing siren erupted, echoing through the entire base. With the alarm blaring, every room’s smart system was forcibly activated, and the display screen revealed the stern, pale face of Yang Xingjun. Then came a shout: “I am Deputy Commander Yang Xingjun. The base is commencing emergency evacuation. Emergency evacuation...”

Wang Hanghai froze. Even the woman, writhing moments ago, was now dumbfounded, staring at the smart system’s screen in disbelief, unable to determine if the sudden message was real or false. But their minds were blank for only a few seconds before they snapped into action, leaping from the bed, frantically gathering their scattered clothes and pulling them over their naked bodies.

No one considered it a joke. Yang Xingjun’s face was familiar to nearly everyone in the base—how could they mistake it? Besides, such an evacuation order was not casually issued. Just a glance at Yang Xingjun’s pallor revealed that something catastrophic had happened.

Ignoring his weakened legs, Wang Hanghai donned his clothes and pants as quickly as possible and dashed towards the door. But a slender, pale hand suddenly gripped his coat with unexpected strength. “Take me with you...” the woman pleaded, her voice nearly desperate. She understood all too well what evacuation meant for a weak woman: if lucky, she could leave with the group; if not, she would be abandoned, left as food for the zombies.

Wang Hanghai viciously slapped away the hand clutching his coat, not even bothering to look back, cursing, “Take you with me? Damn it, what a joke!” He had experienced such emergency evacuations before. He still remembered how, during the last evacuation, many who brought women along ended up not only failing to save them but losing their own lives as well.

Seeing Wang Hanghai rush out without a backward glance, the woman seemed to go mad, summoning strength from nowhere to lunge at him, desperately clinging to his clothes, crying, “Didn't you just say you’d always be good to me, that you’d stay with me no matter what?”

Wang Hanghai finally turned, sneering, and kicked her hard in the chest—the same chest that had just captivated him. “I said it, but don’t forget your place. You still think you’re somebody? A whore. I was just playing with you, getting my fill.” With that, he spat heavily and threatened, “Don’t force me to kill you.” Then he strode away.

Wang Hanghai knew he had to retrieve his stored vehicle from the management before he could safely leave in the evacuation.

The woman, knocked to the ground, flashed a look of hatred in her eyes. Ignoring the burning pain in her chest, she struggled to her feet and rushed out after him. She knew that, as a weakling, if she could keep up with the strong, she might still have a chance to escape the base.

The entire base descended into chaos after Yang Xingjun’s emergency evacuation order. Everyone scrambled to collect whatever they could carry and then surged toward the command center. Some bold individuals, risking everything, didn't evacuate immediately; instead, they looted. Their targets were, of course, those worth taking a risk for—now that the soldiers were busy fleeing, who would stop them?