Chapter 73: Into a Post-Apocalyptic Superpower Novel, Day 25

Chapter 73: The Twenty-Fifth Day in the Doomsday Superpower Novel

The smoke and gunpowder darkened Ji Zishi's chiseled face, but his eyes blazed with an astonishing light.

He opened his mouth, his heart laid bare, as if he wanted to tear out his heart and offer it to An Yi for all to see: "I know this is totally the wrong time, and it's stupid as hell... but I'm scared if I don't say it now, I'll never get another chance."

"I've said it many times, and it hasn't changed—I like you. It's the kind of like that means I want to spend my whole life with you! The kind that wants to see you every day, protect you, even though you're way stronger than me, I still can't help wanting to stand in front of you!"

"I'm a straightforward guy—no beating around the bush. I just want to see you every day, have your back, even if you don't need it."

"When I see you smile at someone else, I get this twist of jealousy in my gut. When I see you frown, I want to shatter everything in the world that's making you upset..."

"I... no, I love you."

"I used to think this was brotherhood, a bond forged through life-and-death situations... but I was wrong."

His voice dropped low, carrying a raw, heart-wrenching honesty: "That kid Nails was right—I'm a dumbass. Someone else had to point it out before I realized this isn't anything else—it's love."

"An Yi, I love you." He practically exhaled those three words, barely a whisper.

He panted heavily, his chest heaving: "I know I'm not good enough for you—I'm not as smart as you, and sometimes I act dumb... but... if... if we both survive this, will you give me a chance? Please?!"

"Is it weird that I'm saying this now? But I... I can't hold it in anymore."

From the moment he stepped onto the battlefield today, he'd had this feeling—a premonition that he wasn't going to make it out alive.

This place felt like his grave.

This had to be the most unromantic love confession ever, happening on the worst possible battlefield for romance.

An Yi looked at him, with the smell of gunpowder and blood all around.

In the original story, Ji Zishi died on this very battlefield.

Then, he turned his hand over and gripped back hard, holding that trembling, burning hand. His cold fingertips met the scorching palm, as if two completely different worlds were colliding.

His voice was quiet, but it reached Ji Zishi loud and clear, carrying a distinct promise:

"Okay."

Ji Zishi froze, almost thinking he was hallucinating.

One single word—crystal clear and firm, like the first ray of sunlight breaking through the dark clouds, slamming into Ji Zishi's heart, which had nearly stopped.

Seeing him standing there dumbstruck, a trace of a smile finally flickered in An Yi's eyes, and he added, "After we kill all these monsters, we'll be together."

A spectacular firework went off in Ji Zishi's heart. He suddenly pulled An Yi into a tight embrace, holding him so tight it was like he wanted to fuse him into his own bones, his voice choked with emotion and barely contained excitement: "It's a deal! No one backs out! Whoever backs out is a dog!"

"Yeah, it's a deal." An Yi let himself be held, even raising a hand to gently pat his sweat-soaked back.

The mutants surged forward again. Shells exploded not far away, kicking up clouds of dust. The firelight illuminated Ji Zishi's blood-streaked, deadly serious face, and his eyes, brimming with the most straightforward, scorching love in the entire universe.

"They're coming!" An Yi's eyes instantly turned cold and piercing, gently pushing Ji Zishi away. "Let's take them out first."

"Got it!" Ji Zishi replied loudly, roughly wiping his face.

Deafening roars and the crackle of superpowers blended into a cacophony.

Beyond the defensive line, it was a living hell.

The tide of mutants seemed endless. They trampled over the bodies of their own kind, frantically battering the crumbling defensive line.

Every impact made the reinforced alloy walls groan under the strain, as if they couldn't take much more.

Ji Zishi was like a thunder god incarnate, fighting at the very front, roaring as he fought.

Thick thunder serpents shot out from his hands, leaving scorched earth and flying body parts in their wake.

But his breathing was already ragged like a bellows, veins bulging on his forehead, and the lightning crackling around him had dimmed noticeably.

His prolonged, all-out assault had nearly drained every last bit of his superpower and stamina.

An Yi flitted like a ghost, appearing and disappearing at critical points along the defense line.

With a thought, the moisture in the air instantly condensed into countless razor-sharp ice shards, shredding a flock of swooping mutant bats midair.

The next second, he pressed one hand down, and a huge patch of ground in front suddenly turned as slick as glass, sending countless charging mutants sprawling, easily taken out by the follow-up fire.

His face was expressionless, almost with a cold, beautiful look.

But if you looked closely, you could see his complexion was paler than usual, and with each large-scale use of his power, his eyelashes would twitch slightly.

Maintaining precise control over multiple powerful abilities simultaneously was a huge strain on his mental energy.

Just then, a mutant snake, far larger than its kin, silently penetrated the layers of monitoring and reinforced underground defenses, erupting less than ten meters directly beneath Ji Zishi!

Its gaping maw, dripping with corrosive slime and like an abyss, was wide enough to swallow an armored vehicle in one gulp, and with a nauseating stench, it lunged precisely at Ji Zishi!

Time seemed to stretch infinitely in that moment.

Ji Zishi could even see the writhing, phosphorescent barbs deep inside its throat!

The shadow of death poured over him like ice water—was he really going to die here?

In that split second—

*Vwoom!*

An extremely faint sound—one that seemed to distort the surrounding space—rang out.

Ji Zishi felt an utterly irresistible, invisible force yanking him violently sideways and backward!

At the same time, the temperature at his original position plunged at a visible rate!

*Crack!!!*

An ice spike, several meters thick, crystal clear but radiating absolute-zero cold, shot up instantly like the most solid barrier, cramming itself into the mutant snake's gaping mouth!

An Yi sneered: "What the hell is this thing? Won the lottery or something?"

The snake's fatal bite slammed into the ultra-hard ice spike, making a teeth-grinding crunch, even shattering a few fangs!

It let out a pained, furious hiss.

But that wasn't the end!

Next, the massive ice spike, along with the snake's huge head and the surrounding ten-meter square space, seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand, squeezed inward, and twisted!

No sound. No light.

In the next moment, the arrogant mutant snake, with a chunk of its body, was torn, crushed, and shredded like paper fed into a shredder, scattering into bloody pulp that splattered everywhere, dyeing the ground a strange, dark green!