Chapter 81: Your contributions will all be recorded (seeking first subscriptions)

There were so many people…

After countless hardships and endless peril, Su Miao and Xia Xiaoan finally reached the temporary safe zone.

The sight of so many packed together at once made Su Miao’s social anxiety hover on the edge of a full-blown attack.

Even if she tried to think of them all as pumpkins, the pressure was still immense.

Yet after seeing Su Miao, the disaster survivors in the temporary safe zone seemed even more frightened.

Just moments ago, they had seen that wherever Su Miao passed, the nearby mutated giant rats, mutated beetles, and the like would suddenly sway out of control and die in eerie silence.

Where the witch of slaughter walked, there was nothing but death.

Aside from Qin Longzhang and the others, the survivors collectively took several steps back.

Su Miao blinked.

Following the survivors’ gazes, she glanced behind her and saw that vast carpet of mutated carcasses, and more or less understood.

The mutated giant rats and similar creatures that had been riddled to death by drone fire were all mangled and bloody.

That was normal enough, and she could barely accept it.

But the mutated giant rats that had not been hit by the drones had merely eaten some of the corpses left on the ground, and then, one by one, they had toppled over in a drunken stupor and died.

Even now that Su Miao had reached the temporary safe zone, the deaths of those mutated creatures were still spreading rapidly.

Su Miao looked oddly unsettled, and quickly understood why.

When she and Xia Xiaoan had withdrawn, she had poured a highly poisonous hallucinogenic potion to both sides.

That potion had landed on the dead mutated giant rats and the like, and then been eaten by later-arriving mutated beasts. Passed along layer by layer, the mutated creatures that liked to feed had died in ever greater numbers.

Not only that, the deaths of these mutated beasts were spreading toward the entire tourist district.

But was the poison in the potion she had brewed really that potent?

Su Miao was skeptical.

If she had still been lingering in the ruins of Villa 36, she would have discovered that the mutated animals had licked the poisonous potion clean from the remains of Chi Wanning’s ashes.

After all, it had been fused and refined from dozens of kilograms of beautiful mushrooms, and was exquisitely delicious.

For mutated beasts, it was even more impossible to resist.

The potion that had spilled here was far more lethal than the first successfully brewed hallucinogenic poison, by who knew how many times.

So the fact that these mutated beasts were dying even faster made perfect sense.

In any case, seeing them die in swathes, hope kindled in Su Miao’s heart.

At this rate, perhaps this catastrophe of mutated creatures could be brought to an end here.

The only problem was that with so many mutated carcasses lying around, the tourist district could no longer be lived in.

“Miss…”

Xia Xiaoan called out softly.

Su Miao looked at her and noticed that Xia Xiaoan’s face was somewhat pale.

Was she still affected by the earlier explosion, with her injuries too severe?

Suddenly, voices rose from the crowd.

“Commander, don’t let her into the safe zone. She’s the witch of slaughter. She’s killed so many people…”

“Exactly. Wherever she walks, all the mutated giant rats die. If she comes into the middle of us and we end up like those rats, what then? It’s too terrifying!”

“A flash flood and landslide came, and everyone was starving to death, yet she hid alone in the villa eating hot pot and sharing nothing with anyone else. That’s downright vicious!”

“She killed so many people. More than half the people in the tourist district were killed by her.”

“She’s no different from the company’s demons. She should die!”

“Waaah, my husband was killed by her.”

“The witch of slaughter deserves to die!”

“…”

It began as accusation, a demand to drive Su Miao away.

No one knew when it started, but more and more voices joined in, and gradually the demand to expel Su Miao turned into a demand that Qin Longzhang and the others kill her.

Su Miao swept those people with a cold glance. She offered no explanation, only instinctively wanting to retreat.

At the same time, a magical spatial array spread out, preparing for any disastrous development.

If Qin Longzhang and the others had not been present, she would probably have drawn a gun or a crossbow at once and killed the people harboring malice toward her in advance, to prevent something worse.

“Shut up! You ungrateful wretches! If it weren’t for Su Miao, you’d all have been slaughtered by the company’s demons already!”

Chang Jieming stepped out from the crowd first, cursing furiously. “And those people who were killed—if they hadn’t followed the company’s men to attack Su Miao, would they have been killed?”

“Su Miao acted in self-defense!”

With Chang Jieming’s shout, Song Yourang and the rest of the security team all joined in as well.

Even the survivors who had earlier hidden in the villas in the western landslide zone began shouting too, backing Su Miao.

When the company had first arrived and seized control of the scene, it had been Su Miao who killed a combat squad from the Demon Company and rescued them; otherwise, many more of them would have died.

There were also some who sided with no one at all and simply kept backing away in silence.

They were terrified Su Miao would get angry and kill them too.

Had they not seen the masses of dead mutated giant rats?

The witch of slaughter was too terrifying!

“You security people started off by tricking us out of our food, and later you colluded with the witch of slaughter. What is there to say?”

“Exactly. We have so many people here. I don’t believe the witch of slaughter can kill us all before she’s punished!”

“The witch of slaughter must be punished!”

“…”

The tide of voices rose one over another.

Su Miao cast a cold look at Qin Longzhang.

So far, Qin Longzhang had not said a word.

According to the intelligence provided by Xiong Hui, Su Miao was the one who had rescued the entire tourist district.

But from the mouths of these disaster survivors, the reputation of the witch of slaughter, Su Miao, was almost on par with that of the demon Chi Wanning.

In any case, their target in coming here had been Su Miao.

That was their mission!

Now, he had to say something.

Qin Longzhang said, “Su Miao, hello. I am Qin Longzhang. I have been ordered to take you away. This is not the place to talk. Please come with me.”

Su Miao did not sense any malice from him, so she nodded and led Xia Xiaoan over with her.

Whatever the case, leaving was better than staying here.

Facing so many people, such a roar of voices—

Su Miao was truly afraid. Especially since in the crowd, the malice of several people was growing ever more obvious; she was nearly unable to resist taking out her crossbow or the remaining poisonous hallucinogenic potion.

This was the apocalypse, not a normal world of order.

At such close range, if they really rushed her, it would be dangerous.

However, the survivors stirring up trouble had no intention of taking matters into their own hands. They wanted Qin Longzhang and the others to help enforce punishment.

Because the witch of slaughter was truly terrifying.

No one had expected Qin Longzhang to invite Su Miao away in this manner.

Seeing this, some people began cursing, while others wailed, hoping Su Miao would be punished.

“Do you believe me if I say that if the witch of slaughter, Su Miao, really dies, those mutated giant rats will have no one left to fear and will all go out of control, just like at the beginning, and rush in to eat you all?”

“Look outside. There are still so many mutated giant rats. Do you really think ammunition is endless?”

“When the ammo runs out, let’s see how you die!”

In the crowd, someone spoke a few quiet, righteous words.

The noisy crowd fell silent at once.

They looked toward the mutated beasts still charging this way, faces turning ghostly pale.

These had all been drawn over by their earlier uproar.

Yet there were still some who continued shouting and making trouble.

That person added, “The witch of slaughter, Su Miao, has left for now. Keep crying, keep making a scene. When those mutated giant rats rush in, the first thing they’ll love chewing on are the people who shout the loudest.”

The crowd instantly fell quiet.

Chang Jieming and Song Yourang exchanged a glance.

The scene looked absurd beyond belief, but the end of the world had already arrived; nothing seemed strange anymore.

They wanted to find the person who had just spoken the fair words, but could not locate him.

They only felt that the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Moreover, they were deeply puzzled by Su Miao’s identity.

What kind of person could possibly make such an elite special forces team risk unimaginable danger to come and meet her?

Who exactly was Su Miao?

…

Upon reaching the room serving as the temporary command post, Qin Longzhang invited Su Miao to sit.

Su Miao sat down and kept her icy expression tightly in place, waiting for Qin Longzhang to explain his purpose.

Beside her sat Xia Xiaoan, whose face was still pale, but after being taken away from the clamorous survivors, she looked much better.

Here, Xia Xiaoan no longer had to face the endless din of the survivors’ thoughts.

Qin Longzhang took out a document sealed in waterproof wrapping and placed it on the table. “Su Miao, we have been ordered to take you to Shelter No. 1. This is the official document. Please take a look.”

Huh?

Su Miao looked in surprise at the document on the table.

It stated the times and key points of the apocalyptic disasters she had provided, as well as other catastrophes that might arise in the future. These pieces of intelligence were extremely important to the nation, and so on.

Therefore, in recognition and gratitude, the nation had resolved to bring Su Miao to Shelter No. 1 and grant her certain benefits and privileges.

If possible, they hoped that if she recalled anything later, she could provide even more crucial intelligence.

The signature bore the name Qin Xuezheng.

The seal was that of the military district unit to which Qin Xuezheng belonged.

As for the survivors outside denouncing her, Qin Longzhang did not mention a single word.

Qin Longzhang said, “Su Miao, because of the disaster intelligence you provided…”

Su Miao was so flattered she nearly lost composure, her body trembling faintly.

She had never imagined such a thing.

She had only done so little; it truly was nothing to speak of.

Thinking of it another way, it was already very good that no one had treated her like a madwoman.

But what she had not expected was that the higher-ups would value her so highly, and even specially arrange for such an elite special forces team to receive her and escort her to Shelter No. 1.

Su Miao took out her phone and checked the time.

October 29, 2123.

There were still just over thirty days until the global snowfall.

She did not have much time left to hesitate.

Besides, due to the many disasters brought by Chi Wanning, the mountain scenic tourist area was no longer suitable for ordinary people to continue living in.

Su Miao asked, “Is Shelter No. 1 far away? If we go, how long will it take?”