QT: LAC Chapter 120: Eighth World (3)

Chapter 120: Eighth World (3)
Translated by Zombie Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Sulo

Although Bai Duan said “see them off”, Bai Duan didn’t want to go back after he left. He just didn’t bother to talk with others, so he used the excuse of ‘seeing them off’ — more importantly, most people didn’t think Bai Duan would be stupid enough to give up his safe and good life in the base for a monkey.

However, Bai Duan did seem to think differently from normal people. For others, animals were just pets. They were not necessities, but an increase in living quality. Besides, in order to make their lives better, people were even willing to abandon relatives, lovers and friends, let alone just an animal.

But for Bai Duan, who had no sense of belonging to human society, the golden snub-nosed monkey was indeed a companion who would live and die with him, and no one else could match him. He had brought the golden snub-nosed monkey into his own world, so he would do his best to protect and accompany it, and he really couldn’t leave it outside the base to survive on its own.

What if other people couldn’t understand it? As the ancient people said, “You aren’t a fish, what do you know about a fish’s happiness?” Bai Duan acted only for his own peace of mind and happiness, he never took into account the opinions of others.

What’s more, Bai Duan slowly grew to dislike his life in the base.

Although the security of the base was high, there were all kinds of intrigue with people. At the beginning, human beings were busy resisting against zombies and striving for survival. As such, they had to work together to form a base, so that they could quickly stand firm in the fight against zombies.

But just as the so-called people are never satisfied, when human beings gradually mastered the methods to deal with zombies and were no longer trapped by survival problems, their endless desires started to urge them to think about ‘deeper level’ needs, such as power, status, getting richer and better living supplies.

With the gradual evolution of zombies, the effect of military weapons on zombies was getting worse and worse. On the contrary, the esper powers with low initial lethality began to show their advantages gradually after step-by-step exercising. Compared with the physical weapons the damage of esper powers on zombies was more in-depth, at least when used against evolved zombies with crystal cores in their heads, that was the case. If it was against ordinary zombies, the difference was not obvious. At least, in the face of zombies, an esper had a higher chance of winning against zombies than an ordinary man with a weapon in hand.

Due to the role of espers in the battle against zombies, their treatment in the base was getting higher and better, and they had gradually opened a gap from ordinary people.

Many espers who did not join the military gathered to form an organization. They were dissatisfied with the fact that they had been living under the control of the military, and began to ask the leadership of the base for a higher position or even control of the base. And different voices began to appear in the army — after all, before the end of the world, there was a struggle for leadership in the army itself, but it was not triggered under the pressure of the general environment. Now that the situation was stable, these deliberately suppressed contradictions were naturally highlighted again. Although it seemed peaceful in the base, the waves of discontent were slowly surging. Several forces were competing secretly. Only after a period of struggle and possibly bloodshed, would they finally be able to choose the strong as the real commander of the base.

Bai Duan had not joined any forces and refused to be drawn in by others, making his life in the base more difficult. If he was not affiliated with any forces, no one would be willing to protect his interests. Even if he had cooperated happily with the military before, he was not really ‘one of their own’, there was a big difference.

As the various forces continued to carve up the base, the living space for Bai Duan, who was a free esper, became more and more narrow. If he didn’t leave the base, it would not be long before he would have had to choose a side to join under the pressure of survival.

Once he joined a side, Bai Duan would have to say goodbye to the leisurely life he had been leading. He would have to obey the orders of the leaders of the forces, and use his own strength for the development and expansion of the force. If the side he chose failed in the struggle, a life of severe survival pressure would only await him.

Bai Duan didn’t like such a life. He was tired of such a foreseeable future. He didn’t care about power and status, but wanted to be free.

So when the base decided to expel the animals, he quickly made the choice of leaving before even thinking about it — even before he knew that the golden snub-nosed monkey was going to be expelled, Bai Duan had thought about leaving, otherwise he would not have prepared the luggage and supplies in advance. He also bought the cross-country Jeep suitable for the long journey, and he even stole a military map while on a mission.

The military map was much more detailed than the common civilian map, and many hidden buildings and roads had also been marked on it. This kind of thing belonged to the level of state secrecy before the end of the world broke out. It was absolutely not allowed to be leaked or even stolen, otherwise it would result in a major event affecting national security.

However, after the end of the world, the state power barely survived, and the supervision of this kind of state secrets had become weak. That gave Bai Duan the opportunity to commit such a ‘crime’, and not only did he succeed in taking the map, he also avoided being seized by the military — Bai Duan had a smart and cute face after all, he stood aloof from the rest of the world, and had a good reputation in the military, so it was quite natural.

As the map unfolded, Bai Duan drove and thought about where to go next.

By his side, the golden snub-nosed monkey realized that the crisis of parting had passed, and he was extremely happy. He waved his arms and danced in the jeep, howling twice, and was really ‘singing and dancing’.

As for the dogs running behind the jeep, they were not as happy as the golden snub-nosed monkey.

At the beginning, the dogs were extremely excited because it was rare for them to get to run about so freely. Sometimes, because of their previous training, they would jump at zombies and force Bai Duan to call them back.

These loyal little guys were not afraid of the Apocalypse Virus and would not be affected by the virus, so when killing zombies, they didn’t know how to protect themselves. They didn’t have clothing to protect themselves, and they wouldn’t attack from a distance or isolate themselves from the source of infection as human beings did. This made it only natural for their hair, teeth, claws and even blood, intestines and stomach to be infected with the virus and turn them into carriers of the Apocalypse Virus, which eventually drove them out of the base.

——It was ridiculous and pitiful that they fought hard to protect human beings, regardless of life and death, but in the end, this kind of loyalty to their duties had become the reason for human beings to abandon them.

As they got further and further away from the base, the dogs finally realized the problem, and they ran more and more slowly, and even stopped.

They turned their heads and looked back at the direction of the base.

Seeing the dogs in the rearview mirror, Bai Duan had to apply the brakes. He got out of the jeep, looked at the dogs and sighed a little, then gave them the order to assemble.

The dogs cocked up their ears and subconsciously gathered in front of Bai Duan, squatting in two rows.

Bai Duan squatted down. He pulled the leading dog into his arms and combed his hair, “After this, you will stay with me. You can’t go back to your former home anymore.”

Appearing to understand Bai Duan’s words, the dog whimpered, the tail drooped, and other military dogs were also affected, drooping their heads and looking powerless.

Bai Duan beckoned the dogs to gather around him, and stroked their fur one by one to soothe their emotions.

The golden snub-nosed monkey stood on Bai Duan’s shoulder and stared down at the dogs, but surprisingly, the monkey didn’t lose his temper. His face was even arrogant, as if saying, “You guys are so pitiful, I’ll let you go this time.”

It has to be said that the presence of Bai Duan was a great comfort for these dogs who realized that they had been abandoned by their owners. Although they left their former trainers and organizations, being accompanied by Bai Duan, a new friend, meant that they were not completely abandoned by human beings.

At the appeasement of Bai Duan, the dogs’ moods were finally stable, and their tails were slightly swinging.

Bai Duan breathed a sigh of relief and saw that there were no wandering zombies or passers-by around him. He took the map from the jeep and spread it on the ground.

Raising his hand and pointing to the map. Bai Duan looked at the golden snub-nosed monkey on his shoulder and at the dogs sitting around the map. He didn’tt know whether he was talking to himself or asking them, “We are here now. Where should we go next?”

The dog and golden snub-nosed monkey all lowered their heads and looked at the location indicated by Bai Duan. After a while, the golden snub-nosed monkey called out, jumped off Bai Duan’s shoulder and clapped his paws directly in a green area of the map.

Bai Duan was stunned. He carefully examined his ‘first level protected animal’. For a while, Bai Duan was confused about whether the monkey understood his meaning, or whether he just learned his movements and pointed at the map at will — so why did he choose this place? Maybe it’s because monkeys like green things?

After raising his eyebrows, Bai Duan pondered for a moment, “The mountains in the West side of the city, huh? It’s sparsely populated and densely vegetated. It’s really suitable for animals. You’ll probably like it. As for my wood type esper powers, maybe it could play a better effect there. I don’t know if the mountainous area is dangerous or not, or whether the plants will produce any unknown variation.”

Listening to Bai Duan’s murmuring, the golden snub-nosed monkey made a loud cry and raised his two front paws to clap.

Bai Duan’s mouth was slightly drawn, and he felt that his little monkey seemed to be really smart. Then he turned his eyes to the dogs and said, “What do you guys think? How about going to the mountains?”

The head dog greeted Bai Duan’s eyes and barked merrily. His dark eyes are full of innocence and ignorance. The other military dogs all barked with him, they also raised their heads and wagged their tails. Bai Duan immediately saw several dog tails swaying in the wind.

Holding his forehead silently, Bai Duan didn’t know how to describe his complicated and delicate feelings. He folded the map and stood up, “Then, since everyone has agreed to it, it’s decided that the next destination is the Mountain Area — this first plenary session was a great success!”

Hearing Bai Duan’s words, the dogs seemed to be more excited. They put out their tongues to make a “huhahuha” sound, and their tails were shaking more happily. The golden snub-nosed monkey raised his arms and jumped twice, without concealing his excitement.

Bai Duan looked at his cheering companions silently, “………”

——Since being alone with the animals, he seemed to be talking to himself more and more. Although it might appear weird to others, it seemed to be pretty fun too?

The author has something to say:
Originally, I wanted to GuanGuan out today, but the plan couldn’t keep up with the changes. →_→