Chapter 17

Chapter 17

After all, the apocalypse wasn’t going to start right away. Power would still be restored for a few hours tomorrow.

Between now and tomorrow afternoon, the higher-ups would be hashing out a plan.

Thanks to his warning this time around, he was sure things would play out differently.

At the base of Two-Boundary Mountain, a large number of police officers entered to search, but the police dogs quickly lost their tracking ability.

Zhou Jin rushed back from the film set: “Liangzhou still hasn’t found Baby Yan?”

Huo Liangzhou stared darkly at the endless mountain range. The young master had bolted into the mountains in a panic with Baby Yan—way too risky.

Though wild beasts were rarely seen nowadays, that didn’t mean the deep mountains were devoid of them.

This was the Two-Boundary Mountain, stretching eight hundred miles. The old-growth forests definitely had bears, and further in was a nature reserve. Even if tigers weren’t spotted, leopards and wolves were certainly present.

Snatching up his young master and the kid would be a piece of cake.

Huo Liangzhou turned to Wu Di and said, “Have Third Master Bai gather a group to block the entrance to the reserve. We can’t let the young master freak out and bolt in there.”

The kid’s skittish as it is. Even if it wasn’t his fault, he’d be terrified if someone got hurt.

Huo Liangzhou kicked himself for not putting bodyguards on him—this whole mess could’ve been avoided.

“When’s Qi Huai’s surgery done? Send him to the detention center. The scar the young master gave him? Let him keep it as a souvenir,” Huo Liangzhou said.

Wu Di began making calls to arrange things.

With the big stuff handled, Qi Mo cheerfully pulled out a boba tea. Just as he inserted the straw, he paused and put it back into his storage space.

Then he swapped it for pumpkin congee and chugged it. Pregnancy cravings be damned—he had to watch what he ate.

At 1:20 p.m., Qi Mo dialed Huo Liangchuan’s number.

No way was he calling Huo Liangzhou—he was still kinda spooked and guilty, if he was honest. Qi Huai’s words nagged at him. *Did* he actually like him?

Then why didn’t he agree when I confessed? Why’d he have to embarrass me like that?

If it weren’t for Baby Yan, Huo Liangzhou wouldn’t even give him the time of day, calling him some freakish in-between thing.

There were plenty of people like him—it’s not like he woke up and picked this.

Shouldn’t he blame the universe while he’s at it?

Why curse me?

Pissed. Bitter…

Huo Liangchuan—shooed back to Jiangcheng by his big bro after striking out on finding the young master—saw his phone light up with an unknown number.

A text buzzed through.

Sender: *Baby Yan*—Qi Mo’s digits.

Huo Liangchuan jerked the wheel and stomped the brakes, skidding to the shoulder.

A text told him to pick up the phone.

An unknown number—was Xiao Mo actually kidnapped?

"Hey, Xiao Mo, where are you? I'm worried. Get the kid home fast. Don’t worry, it was Qi Huai’s fault. No one’s coming after you—it was self-defense," Huo Liangchuan blurted out.

"Huo Liangchuan, don’t talk. I’ve got something important to say. Listen close—this is about whether you and your brother make it out alive," Qi Mo urgently cut in.

Huo Liangchuan was stunned. What had happened?

"Okay, I’m listening. Go ahead," he said.

Qi Mo took a deep breath and began, "At 1:30, power’s gone—wiped out, like the element never existed. It’ll come back for a few hours tomorrow afternoon, then vanish again for seven months. Water will evaporate fast—only water in sealed containers’ll last."

"Also, plants and animals will mutate. Crops’ll die off—nothing’s surviving. I’ve already set up the Jiang family’s food factory for your brother. The goods are still there. Tell him to stash it all—this is life-or-death later." Qi Mo spoke quickly.

Looking at the glaring sun, he continued, "I died seven months into the apocalypse and came back. I left two guns, 200 rounds, and some close-combat gear in the safe—they’re your lifeline. There’s cash and gold in there too—worth something early on."

"In the basement, I set up ten water tanks. Aunt Zhang’s filling them now. Check they’re full when you’re back. Hide everything—these are your survival tools. Five months of hellish heat, then a deep freeze. For the rest, work it out with your brother. That’s it. Hope we all make it." Qi Mo sighed.

Living so long with Huo Liangzhou, leaving sudden left him uneasy—like a hole in his chest.

Seeing Xiao Mo about to hang up, Huo Liangchuan shouted, "Xiao Mo, what about you? Where are you? Your brother’s losing his mind worrying. He’s crazy about you—don’t ditch him! He—"

Before he could finish, Xiao Mo hung up.

Huo Liangchuan checked the time. Seven or eight minutes till 1:30.

Double back for his brother? Nah—go straight to the villa.

The car’s gonna be junk soon.

But first, call his brother.

He dialed fast. Xiao Mo ran—he’d died seven months into the apocalypse and came back. No other way to come back, right?

His brother didn’t protect Xiao Mo. Xiao Mo doesn’t trust him anymore.

What about me? Where was I?

If my brother failed him, did I fail too?

Maybe I died before Xiao Mo even.

The line picked up. His brother’s voice came through, "Xiao Chuan, did Xiao Mo contact you?"

Hearing how wiped out his brother sounded, Huo Liangchuan rushed, "Brother, Xiao Mo called. He said he died seven months in and got a second chance. He told me—electricity disappears at 1:30—gone, like it never existed..."

He relayed everything fast.

"Did he say where he’s going?" Huo Liangzhou asked grimly.

The end was here. Xiao Mo died seven months in—no wonder he bolted.

Huo Liangzhou exhaled hard. "Xiao Chuan, get home now and lock everything down."

Then he rang security to watch the warehouse stash.

He checked the clock—five minutes to 1:30.

Huo Liangzhou turned to Wu Di: "Wu Di, Zhou Jin—fall back."

Instantly, the people with Huo Liangzhou cleared out instantly.

The Little Master hadn’t fled into the mountains in panic—he should be safe now.

Inside the car, Huo Liangzhou issued orders to his team searching for the young master: fan out and search for three days, and if no one is found by then, report back to Security.

After giving the command, Huo Liangzhou stared at his phone—only two minutes remained.

So, after the apocalypse arrived, the Little Master naturally wouldn’t relive his past life’s fate. He would consider that place safe and must have gone to where he believed was the safest.

The seconds crawled by—1:29...

Huo Liangzhou commanded: "Pull over—now. Everyone out."

They stepped out, moved off the road, and stood among the trees.

1:30, 1:31, 1:32... A screech—a car slammed to a halt, and another plowed into it from behind.

Some cars halted, others collided, and the highway became a warzone.

Wu Di stared at the horrifying scene before him: "What’s going on? What happened? You knew this would happen, Boss?"

Zhou Jin, hearing this, shouted: "Liangzhou, spit it out! You’re killing me—what’s happening? A terrorist attack? A cyber virus..."

Huo Liangzhou glanced at Zhou Jin’s overactive imagination: "You’re overthinking it. Not terrorists, not a virus—just the apocalypse arriving. The power’s out. Water’s next."

"Let’s go back to the city," Huo Liangzhou said, leading the way.

Zhou Jin was stunned: "What do you mean? Terrorists or a virus worse than the apocalypse!"

"Nothing is scarier than the apocalypse," Wu Di added.

So why did President Huo act like the apocalypse wasn’t terrifying?

At 1:29, Huo Liangchuan jerked the car onto the sidewalk, parked, and got out in one fluid move.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed—nothing happened. The cars on the road were fine, pedestrians were fine. Huo Liangchuan even thought Xiao Mo was messing with him, worried his brother would kill him for crying wolf.

Then—*BANG!*—cars around him went haywire.

Some stopped, others crashed, flames bursting out.

Huo Liangchuan’s pulse steadied. Ignoring the chaos, he sprinted toward his family’s villa.

He was still ten kilometers away.

Spotting a bicycle shop by the roadside, Huo Liangchuan dashed over, tossed a wad of cash, and rode off.

A huge shadow tore across the sky—a plane that had just taken off was now plummeting toward the ground...

Qi Mo watched as his phone suddenly went black, then tucked it into his spatial storage. Picking up Baby Yan, who was sucking his fingers, he walked over to the coal pile.

Out of hundreds of tons of coal, Qi Mo took over twenty tons.

The rest would be needed by many others later.

The apocalypse wasn’t just filled with bad people or cannibals—there were still good people too.

Someone had given him and Baby Yan water, biscuits, candy, mantou, bread...

Now that surveillance, phones, and cars were completely nonfunctional, no one should be looking for him anymore. Qi Mo held the baby as he walked down the village road, continuing eastward along the roadside.

The road was in complete chaos, with many people wandering around like headless chickens.

Qi Mo didn’t approach them—he couldn’t help anyone.

He could only protect himself and his baby.

There was no way to transport people over such a long distance without vehicles. Those with severe injuries were beyond help.

Besides, hospitals were probably overrun by now.

Many pedestrians on the streets had been injured, cars’ engines died instantly causing collisions due to inertia. Countless people were injured or killed. The streets were filled with the smell of blood and billowing smoke...

Qi Huai had just been rushed into the operating room a few minutes ago. The doctor was about to begin surgery when the operating lights went out.

The doctor was temporarily blinded.

The operation couldn’t proceed.

The entire hospital was in panic. The lights went out instantly, the air conditioning stopped blowing cold air, the oxygen supply stopped flowing, machines shut down, and emergency alarms didn’t work.

Holding the little one and walking along the national highway, Qi Mo was soaked with sweat.

The midday sun was scorching and suffocating.

Wiping away the sweat that dripped into his eyes—his eyes stung. He couldn’t keep walking any further or he’d pass out from heatstroke. Baby Yan was sweating too.

Once they ran out of sweat, they’d be done for.

Qi Mo looked around. There were no houses nearby, so he found a large tree, surreptitiously took out a baby cart from his space, settled the baby inside, and placed two ice packs beside the cart.

He opened a bottle of water, giving some to the baby before chugging most of it himself.

Under the shade, Qi Mo finally felt human again.

He had nearly suffered heatstroke.

Even Baby Yan seemed lethargic, no longer babbling cheerfully. His chubby little chin rested on the cart as he absentmindedly chewed on his fingers.

Pulling out a folding stool, Qi Mo sat down. Traveling at this hour, he feared he wouldn’t make it to Huo Village before passing out from heatstroke.

Checking the time—it was almost two o’clock.

Qi Mo decided to wait until the worst of the midday heat passed, then resume his journey around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon.

His stomach growled. Ever since becoming pregnant, he was always getting hungry.

He took out a sandwich and a bottle of milk to replenish his energy, feeding Baby Yan a few bites of toast as well.

With something in his mouth, Baby Yan stopped chewing his fingers, obediently gnawing on the toast his daddy gave him. The little one, with his three tiny teeth, ate agonizingly slowly.

While Qi Mo rested leisurely, the capital of Daxia had already fallen into complete chaos.

Bai City had taken the phone call seriously—the Empire State Building had indeed collapsed, the bridge had fallen, and even Chou Hu had been captured.

General Chou’s grandson had also been rescued. But 1:30 came too quickly, and the devastation outside had them shaking with fear...