Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Uses for Crystal Cores
“Ahem.”
A soft cough cut Sun Wang off. Lian Yi didn’t even have to look back to know who it was.
“Captain Eaglewing,” Sun Wang said, grinning like the whole world hadn’t ended.
Ying Yi’s face stayed blank, professional. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I came to launch the drone. We need to track the zombie groups moving through the city.”
“It’s fine,” Lian Yi said, tone light. “We were just getting some air.”
Ying Yi hesitated only a beat before going straight for the throat of it. “Miss Wu—earlier, I heard you say you want to join the army as ability users. Is that true?”
“Yes.” Lian Yi didn’t flinch. “In times like this, humans survive by clustering together. Real strength shines anywhere.”
Ying Yi thought back to their last two missions. She wasn’t wrong.
“Then, on behalf of the Black Eagle Special Operations Squad,” Ying Yi said, “I’m inviting you to join. Are you willing?”
Sun Wang’s eyes flared, bright and hungry—then he forced himself still. This wasn’t his call. He was the underling. He followed Lian Yi.
Lian Yi didn’t answer right away. “Special operations means high-risk missions. It also means better intel, better equipment, better logistics.” She met Ying Yi’s gaze. “That fits my needs. If you treat people fairly, I’ll consider it.”
“Of course,” Ying Yi said. “Once you join Black Eagle, everyone is family—brothers and sisters. Twelve members total, split into two squads. I lead Squad One. If you agree, you’ll join my squad.”
Lian Yi nodded slowly. “I’ve heard your sincerity, Captain Eaglewing. I’ll talk it over with my teammates. I’ll give you an answer after we return.”
She and Sun Wang left the rooftop.
Ying Yi finished launching the drone, then went back to his squad and gave them a brief warning to keep their eyes open.
The deputy captain spoke for the rest. “They’re strong. Two missions with them and nothing felt off. If their character holds, we don’t object.”
“They’ve taken culling missions,” Ying Yi said. “They’ll keep working with us for a while. Watch them. If they’re clean, they may become companions.”
“Understood.”
At dawn, the trucks rolled out again to keep hauling supplies. The manpower had been replaced, and the pace picked up. One more day would strip the market bare.
Sun Wang caught a returning young soldier and asked him to deliver rice, flour, and packaged food to Sun Yi. At least until they got back, she wouldn’t go hungry.
After that, Lian Yi and Sun Wang joined two more culling missions. They helped clear two zombie tides—each over ten thousand—and assisted with evacuating more than ten thousand survivors. Ten days bled away before they finally returned to the temporary settlement.
The resettlement camp had changed. Survivors were building walls—closing the place in to make it harder to breach.
After nonstop killing, Lian Yi and Sun Wang felt hollowed out. They filed their mission report and went straight back to their temporary housing. Zombies didn’t sleep. Humans did.
When they reached the room, it was empty.
Sun Yi wasn’t there.
Sun Wang’s face tightened, panic flashing hot in his eyes.
“Don’t spiral,” Lian Yi said, calm as stone. “Your sister has a perception ability. As long as she hasn’t left the resettlement camp, she’ll be fine. Go look. Ask patrol. Someone will know.”
“Okay.” Sun Wang was already moving. “Sister Lian Yi, you rest. I’ll find her.”
He bolted.
Lian Yi really was spent. She went to the public showers, scrubbed off dried blood and rot, and changed into clean clothes. Then she cooked something simple, ate until the edge of hunger dulled, and pulled out the crystal cores she’d collected in her pocket space.
From what she’d learned, crystal cores could help ability users grow stronger.
In the original timeline, the original host had turned into a zombie and—by sheer luck—climbed to seventh rank. But Yun Rou, that bug in human skin, had lured her in with fake sisterly warmth, tricked her into a trap, and stolen her seventh-rank crystal core. Yun Rou used it to become a seventh-level ability user, claw influence in the Capital Base, stir chaos, and finally shove the entire Pocket World toward ruin.
Lian Yi rolled a crystal core in her palm. It was the size of a red date, faint power pulsing inside like a trapped heartbeat. She closed her eyes, ran a thread of lightning cultivation through her meridians, and drew the energy in.
The core crumbled into powder.
She clicked her tongue. For her, it was a drop in the ocean—barely a nudge. But a drop was still water. She took out more cores and absorbed them one after another.
After a hundred, she stopped. The energy needed time to settle.
That was when she heard voices outside.
The door opened.
Sun Wang and Sun Yi stepped in together, smiling—dimples mirrored like a stamp: his on the left cheek, hers on the right.
“Sister Lian Yi,” Sun Wang blurted, relief tumbling out, “my sister took a job at the work site. I found her near the wall.”
“I got the supplies you sent back,” Sun Yi said, voice warm as she explained. “You two weren’t here, and I didn’t want to stand out alone. So I picked up some light work.”
“You did the right thing,” Lian Yi said. “We’re still early in the apocalypse. A lot of people haven’t accepted reality yet. When they finally realize the old order is dead, the worst parts of people crawl out. Don’t underestimate human nature.”
Sun Yi’s smile thinned. “I’ve seen it these past ten days. Some people will shove family forward as a shield the second things get ugly.”
Lian Yi didn’t linger. “Sun Wang. Tell your sister about Black Eagle. Talk it over. Tomorrow, give me your answer.”
“Okay.” Sun Wang pulled Sun Yi close and started whispering fast about the invitation, the squad, the perks—and the risks.
Lian Yi dropped into bed and slept like a corpse.
When she woke the next day, late morning sunlight spilling through cracks and dust, Sun Yi was already up.
“Lian Yi,” Sun Yi said, “wash up. I’ll make noodles.”
She boiled a bowl on a small induction stove and dropped in beef sausage and an egg. By apocalypse standards, it was a feast.
After they ate, Sun Yi didn’t dance around it. “Underling told me everything last night. We have no objections. We’ll follow your lead.”