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墨書 Inktalez
In the dark interior, there was no light whatsoever.
When Chu Donglin walked in, the only sound was the hollow echo of his footsteps on the floor.
Although the residents of Wangcheng Base had restored their electricity, the large population put immense pressure on power usage.
To maintain a stable power supply, the military imposed strict limits on electricity consumption for residents and various government departments. Essentially, power to residential areas would be cut off after ten-thirty, and while places like the Registration Office, which did not operate at night, did not have their power shut off, typically no one would visit at such late hours.
A visitor like Chu Donglin arriving in the dead of night could very well be the first since the Registration Office was built.
He approached the light switch and pressed the button.
As the power surged through the lamp with a faint crackle, bright light illuminated the entire hall.
In fact, if it weren't for the fear of drawing attention from those outside, Chu Donglin wouldn't have needed to turn on the lights at all.
High-Level Zombies possessed exceptional night vision abilities. Especially for a Zombie evolved to Chu Donglin's level, what he perceived as darkness was merely a dimmed version of daylight.
However, considering that searching around without turning on the lights would seem suspicious, he decided to switch them on.
Bathed in bright light, he entered the side room filled with files and quickly began sifting through the mountain of documents.
As an outsider, Chu Donglin was not particularly familiar with how these documents were organized or recorded. He spent a long time trying to understand the order of population registration and housing allocation at this base's Registration Office.
He started searching for his parents' registration records.
As long as he could find his parents' registration, he would know where they were currently living and could subsequently locate them.
However, this process was anything but quick.
Searching through the mountain of documents, Chu Donglin felt the powerful force he possessed lose its effectiveness at that moment, unable to assist him in any way.
It wasn't until an hour and a half had passed, and the clock's hands pointed to nine-thirty, that Chu Donglin finally found his parents' names among the piles of paperwork.
Chu Jianguo, male, forty-eight years old, assigned residence: Houlinc District, Qilin Road, Building Three, Second Floor, Apartment 05.
After his father's name, Chu Donglin also saw his mother's name. The assigned residence was the same: Houlinc District, Qilin Road, Building Three, Second Floor, Apartment 05.
Naturally, couples were assigned to the same housing.
Chu Donglin's hands trembled slightly as he felt a surge of emotion.
His parents' names had not been crossed out, which meant they were indeed still alive and safe.
If they had unfortunately passed away, their names would have been struck through, and the vacant housing would have been reassigned to others in need.
Although Chu Donglin had always known that he didn't need to worry about his parents' safety for the time being, knowing was one thing; seeing it confirmed was another.
He took a deep breath and lowered his head again, carefully examining the documents several times. After firmly committing the address to memory, Chu Donglin organized the papers and put them back.
As he stepped out of the Registration Office, the two young soldiers still stood there with vacant expressions, yet to break free from their mental control.
Chu Donglin paid them no mind; as long as he didn’t continue exerting Mental Power on them, it wouldn’t be long before they would awaken.
Moreover, once they awoke, they wouldn’t feel anything amiss and would regard Chu Donglin as someone sent to inspect the documents.
As for who sent them, that was something they would have to figure out for themselves.
This ability to manipulate and toy with souls was something Chu Donglin had gradually explored, unrelated to the evolution of Zombies. He knew it belonged to Acha... or Nyarlathotep.
According to Mordigian's law, after Acha's death, Chu Donglin would become the new Nyarlathotep, living on as Acha's successor.
And he was slowly awakening some of Nyarlathotep's abilities.
This ability to control others was just one of them.
After leaving the Registration Office, Chu Donglin returned to a bustling residential area and found that the people on the streets were still joyfully celebrating.
At this rate, it seemed the festivities would last well into the night.
However, it didn't matter; tonight was a special night. To celebrate the holiday, the higher-ups at the base had even issued a statement that there would be full power supply tonight, unlike usual when power would be cut off at ten-thirty. Thus, humanity's revelry appeared carefree and untroubled.
As he walked through the crowded streets, Chu Donglin suddenly spotted two familiar figures.
He paused for a moment and walked over.
Not far away, a girl named Shishi stood eagerly by a stall, her hands filled with various treats.
Candied hawthorn, Silk Dolls, buckwheat pancakes, and more local delicacies from Qianzhou filled her arms. In front of her was a stall making Sugar Figurines.
The so-called Sugar Figurines were not just limited to that.
On the stall was a platter adorned with various designs—people, phoenixes, dogs, and nearly ten other shapes. After customers paid, they could spin a wheel; whatever design it landed on, the Boss would create that shape in sugar for them.
Chu Donglin vividly remembered how much he loved to run over and make Sugar Figurines, not because he particularly enjoyed eating them, but because he was passionate about the process of spinning the wheel.
At that moment, seeing Shishi's eager and expectant expression, Chu Donglin couldn't help but smile as he caught a glimpse of his younger self.
"You all look like you've had a great harvest, eating so many things... Is the food here in Qianzhou still good?"
His laughter instantly drew the attention of the two. Shishi perked up her ears and turned around in surprise, her eyes lighting up as she spotted Chu Donglin approaching from a distance, looking very happy.
"Daddy, come look! This phoenix is so beautiful!"
"Ha ha... Shishi, you turned it into a phoenix? You have pretty good luck."
Chu Donglin chuckled as he picked up the girl, glancing at the stall owner who was finishing up a vividly crafted sugar phoenix. He playfully rubbed Shishi's nose and asked, "So, did you have fun today?"
The girl nodded repeatedly. "I had so much fun! Shishi ate a lot of delicious things. But some of them tasted really strange; I couldn't get used to it."
Having evolved to the Third Stage, the Zombie had nearly regained the taste and smell of a Normal Human and could eat some human food. However, the instinct to consume living beings was still ingrained in the Zombie's body. Coupled with the fact that most Third-Stage Zombies were not very intelligent, they didn't have much desire for human food.
After taking the sugar phoenix from the stall owner, Chu Donglin turned to Snow beside him and smiled. "Snow, did you have fun?"
The girl glanced at him, thought for a moment, and nodded.
"Yes."
Though she said so, her cold expression made it hard to discern any happiness.
It was puzzling; despite having eaten a peach and evolved to a powerful level just like Chu Donglin, according to the evolution stages of Zombies, she should have regained her memories and intelligence from when she was human by now.
However, it was quite frustrating that the girl standing in front of Chu Donglin still wore a blank expression, as if nothing had changed from before.
Nonetheless, Chu Donglin had grown accustomed to her cold and vacant demeanor, so he smiled lightly and handed her the phoenix he was holding. "It's a bit inconvenient for me to hold Shishi, could you help me carry this?"
Then, noticing the girl's empty hands, he felt a bit puzzled. "Did you not buy anything to eat?"
"I did."
"Uh... then why don't I see you holding anything? Don't you like the food here in Qianzhou?"
"I already finished eating."
"Uh... okay, I see."
Carrying Shishi alongside Xue, they walked for a while amidst the bustling crowd of newcomers. Brilliant fireworks occasionally lit up the sky above them, and the cheerful sounds of the festival filled the air. Chu Donglin inexplicably felt a sense of illusion.
It seemed as though he was not in a post-apocalyptic world but rather still living in peaceful times.
Shishi was his daughter, and Xue was his wife; the three of them were out together enjoying the temple fair, happily living their lives.
The moment this thought crossed his mind, he instinctively glanced at the girl beside him with her indifferent and vacant expression, and his eyes suddenly felt a bit teary.
If she had evolved to this extent and still couldn't return to normal, would she be forced to remain like this forever…?
"Your eyes..."
The girl's confused voice brought Chu Donglin back to reality.
He came to his senses and seemed to see the girl leaning closely in front of him, her gentle breath almost brushing against Chu Donglin's face.
The girl's voice was filled with confusion as she gazed intently into Chu Donglin's eyes, curiosity shining through. "…You were crying?"
Chu Donglin was taken aback, instinctively reaching up to touch the corner of his eye.
It was true.
He forced a bitter smile, avoiding the girl who was so close and creating some distance between them. "Isn't it enough? Don't get so close to others; girls should be reserved."
The girl took hold of his hand.
"You are special."
She looked steadily at Chu Donglin, her pure eyes devoid of any impurities, filled only with determination.
Holding his hand firmly, she spoke slowly, "Only for you… will it be like this."
Chu Donglin stared in astonishment at the girl, almost believing she had returned to normal.
Yet in those pure and beautiful eyes, there remained an ethereal calmness, not at all resembling someone who had regained their senses. (To be continued...)
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