No Time

Nobody freaked out in the morning and everyone hurriedly started touching everything they could. I had transferred a wide range of animals and safe elements, so it was fine for everyone to touch anything. Nothing was dangerous or poisonous much. In this one hour, everyone was trying their hardest to gain powers.

I hadn't mentioned before, but Little Blue is pretty powerful. He wanted to take the original zombie trial. Of course, I didn't let him. What kind of caretaker would I be if I let him do such dangerous things?

But it proved useless as he had gone into the research center after getting a guest pass from my secretary during when everyone was out for lunch. He got into the zombie keeping area where zombie skin, muscles, and brain were being studied.

And he rashly ate some zombie skin by pinching some of the skin powder that was being studied onto his tongue and swallowing it. Of course, he started convulsing and I got suspicious to where that kid went, finding out about it almost immediately.

Little Blue fainted, and his skin was tearing and regenerating at a fast rate. I called his parents who came immediately, worried. We had already prepared the things that Little Blue had written down for his trial. But we weren't really going to give them to him at first because the people who used zombie trial reagents couldn't take some elements that would cause harm them.

If they were given electricity, air(including poisonous gasses), fire, or animals even, it wouldn't work. They would instead be harmed and be in danger of losing a chance for an ability. So almost everybody took the very useful water ability and it was kind of a must since water was so important. We could easily gather water from the lake nearby, but just in case the lake was contaminated in the future and when we had to clean it, the water ability would come in handy. After the water ability which everyone took, most also chose to take the plant ability as well. They could also choose the earth ability if they wanted.

Some risk-taking people chose small animals. And thankfully, small animals were fine. Small kittens, small puppies, hamsters, small birds, and such regular pets were chosen. Those people gained a bond with their pets and could now understand their pet's speech. People who chose small birds were delighted that they could fly, even if they had kind of smaller wings. But they soon realized that flying took a toll and it was very hard to do without practice. They could fly lowly, just about at 2 meters off the ground for a short amount of time. If they practiced and strengthened their wings, they would be able to fly longer though. Their wings were smaller and less powerful than my siblings' and mine because they didn't take the original zombie trial, which would enhance your powers to the max.

Insects were also chosen. Some of the permanent construction workers chose ants. I really hadn't thought of that before, but ants could carry things more than 100 times to their weight. Many other people thought that it was useful, but it was soon found out that these people could only carry up to 10 times their weight. But it was still a pretty good amount, so some of the other people picked ants after they took the reagent.

Some people knew that they would be safe in the base and that it wasn't really necessary to have these type of powerful abilities, so they picked powers that they liked for their looks. Most girls liked to choose small animals such as kittens, puppies, or birds, but there also was the choice of beautiful insects.

Yes, they chose butterflies. But this didn't last long.

On the small fluttering insects, their wings looked pretty, but on humans, it was kind of huge, and... hairy. Butterflies had hair on their wings too, I don't think the girls knew about it before they tried it out. It would look beautiful if they were high up in the air or a little far away, but to look at them closely, it was a little unnerving. And Shane, who had that butterfly phobia would not take a step out of his apartment when he saw what those girls had become.

But beauty was strived for and the girls moved onto dragonflies. They were a little better but the wings were not a pretty shape so it was once again ditched. After that, they just stuck to small animals and water to moisturize their faces and skin.

Anyways, back to Little Blue.

Little Blue's trial took 3 hours, making me worry a lot. I heard from my past that the longer the zombie trial took, the more powerful the person could be, but there was a higher chance of the person becoming a very high-level zombie mutant.

And since I'm talking about this now, Little Blue is still human, a little sticky boy. He touched the most powerful animals we kept. The dangerous Irukandji jellyfish I gave him for his birthday present, a crane, shark, and tiger. For his last power, before we could do anything, he touched his earring. A diamond power, that hasn't been done before. His parents were disappointed that he would only be able to use the power for searching for other diamonds, but I said that it might be useful. Diamonds were compressed jewels of carbon, especially the diamonds of our earrings were pure and entirely made of carbon. Maybe he'd be able to use pressure or something?

Since not a lot of people had come in at that time, I still had some time and trained Little Blue. His grandfather also came over and adviced the kid multiple times before going back to train his troops. He was really admirable. He knew that his troops would play a big role in helping the people, so he went back and didn't live in the base, instead, going back out to help the people.

Little Blue really could control pressure, and his random ability was telekinesis. But I suspect that he actually has two random powers.

Well, first of all, he showed his random power immediately, which was the telepathy, by saying, "You really don't mind..." when I still hadn't said anything about his choosing of the diamond.

He probably doesn't know his second power yet, but it'll probably be another powerful one. My Ge hasn't yet found out his second power yet either. Some of the people on base also have two or more abnormal powers, but they were found easily since the zombie trial reagent minimized the abilities' capacity.

Besides him, the people I knew that were going to be ability users, I let them have the choice of taking the zombie trial. It was a bit of a pity that the Merchant group couldn't be as powerful as they were in my past life. But as they still had taken the zombie trial reagent when it was still in its prototype form, they were powerful compared to the people who took the improved version.

The ones who took the original zombie trials so far are: Lu Clan x 37, Yang Clan x 29, Principal Ying Xuan, Little Blue, Li Hua, Shane Deus, Andrei Kovalev, my siblings and myself.

Old Bao said he didn't want to experience pain that would want to bring you to death, so he declined.

For Shane, I knew that he was well-trained enough to be able to pass the zombie trial. And Andrei was also trained with Shane after he saw that Shane was getting stronger. So they both chose to take it. Shane was really scared and threw up a couple of times before bravely eating the zombie skin.

Li Hua and her uncle also chose to take it. Her uncle wanted to protect his boyfriend, Di Li Feng, and his niece. And Li Hua said that she didn't want to be left behind. After she completed the trial, she complained: "God, that was the second most painful thing a girl can bear!"

I asked, "There's something more painful than this?"

"Periods."

"Really?"

"No, I'm joking. But it hurts like hell."

"I heard that female ability users who passed the zombie trial didn't get any more periods but could still become mothers."

"...This was totally worth it." Later, the researchers who overheard this conversation told their wives who became very happy. Are periods that painful? I am very lucky to be born as a boy then.

Back to the current time, everyone was still going easy. They knew that they were all safe on base and didn't need powerful abilities unless they were directed to helping out with building the base and making it into a city.

What worried them the most would be how to spend their life without boredom.

Meanwhile, what worried me the most was currency. These people would be guaranteed a peaceful life, but internal fights would break out. If nobody worked, the base wouldn't be able to keep running. Due to advanced solar panels and the water purifying system, the electricity and water were covered. But people still needed to learn and work. Students cutting class wasn't good. The teachers I hired were teaching and the students should be learning diligently. I even sent my younger siblings back to school. Proper education is still important although it is the apocalypse. They complained that I should be going to, but I replied back, "You try managing the base then" shutting them up and making them obediently finish their homework.

I gathered all the people on base who were knowledgeable about governing and we had a quick 20-minute meeting.

We concluded the meeting by declaring, "What if we use points as currency? Everyone has a phone on base, even those small children, so they can store up points on those devices. If they work, they can earn points to buy food and items. "

"Then giving food away in the cafeteria for free should be repealed. We should start by making a supermarket. And according to what we learned from your past life, there are mutant beasts and plants that have special properties. We could get some people who are strong to bring in some things from the outside and pay them with lots of points."

"Actually, everyone should go outside at least once a year and it can be a requirement so that they won't say anything about the rules at the base. If they really don't want to go outside, then they can pay with points to not go outside."

"Yes, even the apartments shouldn't be given away for free. They should start to be rented. Electricity and water bills should also be charged unless they are water users who are using their own powers. But even water users can't produce that much water easily, so they'll eventually have to pay the water bills too."

"Oh, and future researchers and current researcher will be paid more points than other jobs because they will come up with results for strengthening the people who will go and fight zombies who will increase in levels as well. This way, studying is encouraged and there will be children attending schools. And schools can be specialized in either fighting zombies and mutants or studying to gain a job in the base."

We decided that I would announce this with a very passionate speech tomorrow. I wonder how they'll feel if they found out that they'll have to pay taxes again. Pft, kind of funny to imagine now. Their depressed faces. The researchers and chefs would be fine, just a little peeved at the idea of paying bills, but the others who weren't working would be confused and angry.

After the meeting, everyone quickly left to go touch the items of the power they wanted. It wouldn't work even if you touch so many if you aren't destined you know...

After the hour was over, it was reported that only 67 people became ill and fainted. That should be about 2.4-2.5% of the population on base, better than I expected. The researchers also told me something else, but I couldn't hear the rest because I fainted.

This is kind of weird. It was morning. I mean, I had expected that I'd faint because it happened in my past life too, but still, it was a little weird. I didn't expect that going through the zombie trial before passing out during the red phase would make you this absurdly strong though.

The powers I gained. This time, I was able to gain 4 powers. Air, skin, muscles, and betta fish. For powers, you instantly knew them, unlike your random abilities. And somehow, probably due to passing the zombie trial, you could maybe gain more abilities during the red phase? Because during my last life, I had only acquired 2 powers.

"Chief, you have woken." Several figures sat next to my bed and were holding their tablets.

"En, what news is there?" I asked.

Scrolling through their tablets, they reported, "Including you, there are 68 people who have fallen ill and woke today. The people who took the original zombie trial have at least 2 powers while the regular people have one. The most they have is 9, with the second most being 5. The 9 is from Miss Li Hua."

"It is as I expected. Ok, they should all have woken up by now. Please gather them up at the ballroom. If they can't come, then whatever."

And with that, everyone who fell sick yesterday and got powers was in a crowd, chatting in quiet tones. There were several groups. Normal civilians, the Lu Clan people, the Yang Clan people, my family, and friends such as Tse Bao. Little Blue, that kid, was also there too with his parents. And of course, Lu Han was holding hands with Ge possessively and smirked when I looked over. Li Hua and her uncle were there and casually chatting with Shane and Andrei. Xiao Lai was talking happily with his dear Xingxing while Xiao Bing was talking with some aunties who were giving her snacks.

I crinkled my eyes and smiled. This was fairly good. Some of these men, especially if they were from the two clans would want points to establish their family name. These prestigious people, they would be traumatized if they were to be reduced to normal citizens.

Explaining the point system and new governing policies to them, the people understood fairly well. They had been living off of me, so they were originally filled with shame, so doing this to give back something was good.

Regular housewives and some workers definitely were afraid to go out and see the terrible outside world.

Everyone was dismissed and I had some responsible people plan out groups for the future.

Today, was my birthday. It was also my siblings' birthday too. It was a tradition for us to give each other a present. I had practiced this skill very hard and finally perfected it. I laughed to myself, would they be satisfied with my present?

It soon became noon and every man, woman, child, and elder came to celebrate.

I projected my voice, "Welcome. Today is the start of the apocalypse, but we will celebrate it with a party! From today, we will establish a righteous ruling and become a self-sufficient government that is closely contained and won't allow anything to break our relationship! Please enjoy as much food as you can because this may be one of the only times to get to eat food personally made by my brother, me, and the wonderful chefs! Again, welcome and enjoy!" Sounding peppy is really hard, but somehow I was able to do it a little.

The little kids, teenagers, college and university students, and the aunties that were familiar with me all laughed.

"Haha, Shui Yu, that was totally not like you!" a little kid, one who frequently requested for junk food laughed.

"I told you to call me Shui Ge didn't I?" I sighed. Well, I've gotten a bit familiar with all the people on the base.

"Ok, hurry along, go eat some of the fries I made for you. I don't even know if making junk food was a good idea. There are some barbeque chips baked by one of the chefs too."

Every guest got plates of food and sat down at the many tables that were set up. I nodded satisfactorily, now everyone had no discrimination, all kind of people from all kinds of culture and nation were united. They would be a close-knit community that would not allow anything from the outside, let it be the living or dead, separate them with internal or external conflicts. A cold light flashed through my eyes as I thought of what to do if outsiders were to find out and want this place. I'd immediately crush them unless they were specially brought in.

There were some entertainers and singers who occupied the stage and made the audience laugh and clap with joy. This ought to be it. Happiness in the apocalypse. It made me strangely giddy and I smiled more brightly than I had ever smiled.

After the brief entertainment was over, my siblings and I drew lots to whom would give their presents first. Xiao Bing was first, Xiao Lai second, me third, and Ge last.

Xiao Bing's gift to us was a giant rock. Well, it was transformed into a huge statue of a snake biting its tail.

She also gave a little speech, "An Ouroboros, from a long time ago, have represented rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing. The Ouroboros is a symbol of eternity and continual renewal of life. I dedicate this four-knot snake to all of us, not just my siblings, but the people of this small but prosperous base, for the sake of our happiness even in this perilous situation!" This short speech riled some of the hot-blooded people and they clapped and whooted very loudly.

Xiao Lai's gift was also a gift given to all of the people.

"I've worked very hard with the hackers on base. At first, I disliked them; I was jealous of their high skills. But I began to admire how humble they were. They didn't boast skills and only worked hard for the base. They were satisfied with the pay and home. The conditions would be very favorable, yes, but if they were like some hackers out there who would rob banks and topple businesses, they could have had a more satisfactory life. I was very ashamed. These people who were so content with this kind of lifestyle, how could I bring myself to be jealous of them? I could only humble myself and change my attitude and outlook towards the world. I present, you, what we have been secretly working on for several months behind our dear Chief's back, the core device!"

Everyone was curious and looked towards the small watch-like thing they were handed.

"With these days' new technology, virtual reality has become possible, and even creating holograms are possible with just a few tweaks. You will be briefed about the new rules and positions later, but there will be people who will undoubtedly have to guard outside. All of you will eventually have to go outside and see how the world has changed."

He paused for a while to let the information seep in, "You may think that it isn't much, but I have seen the condition outside with the flying camcorders. The rest of the hackers were also traumatized and don't even want to go outside of their rooms for fear of the new world. Even if you have a normal job, and think you're normal, it is not so."

The crowd began to murmur in worry and it took a while for them to quiet down and listen, but Xiao Lai patiently waited before continuing once more.

"Those people outside, only 10% of them are power users, and at most, they have 2 or 3 powers, unlike us who passed through the zombie trial reagent and gained 5 powers and a random ability at once. The outside world is harsh. The new rule is for everyone here, even the children to go outside at least once per year. Although nothing can currently beat us, there will be mutants, zombies, and even plants that evolve. This will help by recording the outside conditions and letting us gain wisdom from the outings. It will also keep everyone updated about the outside world and prepare for the harsh future even if we are safe and cozy in this base."

Xiao Lai's eyes glistened with determination as he finished off, "I sincerely hope everyone will carry at least one of these with you. The chief hasn't mentioned it yet, but there will soon be laws and a point system. These devices will keep track of points and even be a device with all sorts of abilities. Calling for help, calling, recording, taking pictures, taking notes, browsing through the internet, playing games. These can all be done. However, this device is very important and must be with you at all times. After we got the news from our chief today, the hackers who gained new powers from the red phase yesterday, and regular hackers all collaborated to add features that would help you whenever you're in danger. I hope this can become a gift to all of you here that will potentially save your life."

The people took this in without a bit of panic. They rumbled about how there would be taxes, but none grumbled or made a peep about going outside once a year. It was necessary to teach these people repeatedly of the horrors outside. Or else, some of the officials predicted that they would get unruly and arrogant. But they also said that the people would need some fear to be under control. Even if I was the most powerful person here, with my siblings and trusted allies, the people, when incurred with a rash sense of boldness would be troublesome. It was really lucky of me to have people like this in the base, smart and sure about the hopeful future, not angry at all about the new rules to be implemented. It was almost unreal of how much luck I had in this life.

Anyways, it was my turn.

"Ok, that was a little too depressing. This song I'm about to play may also be a little sad, but it will be invigorating. This is my response to the current situation outside. As most of you know, I have reincarnated. If you don't know, it's true. Or else, how would I be able to make all this without knowledge and experience? I have to tell you, the living is more terrifying than the dead. The dead are actually all unified and only have one goal, to wipe out the humans. But we humans, have emotions, and a strong belief that we should not be the one to die. I died in my past life, served as bait to a hoard of zombies. It was a painful way to die, but not as painful as the fact that I had been betrayed. My only wish for this base is that we all trust in each other, hide no secrets, can voice out as equals, and have no discrimination. Here's my gift."

The stage had various instruments brought from the instrument room next to my own room.

The violin, viola, and piano. People looked around to find the people who would be playing together with me, but I was the only one who went up on stage.

Slightly excited, I faced the crowd and bowed. Little Blue had a huge smile on his face. He had once come in when I was practicing and was asked to keep this as a secret between only me and him. Huh, smiling so proudly, he must feel like a parent watching their own kid perform.

I opened the piano's cover and sat down. A light minor harmony came from the keys but there was also the melody of the high pitched violin.

The crowd looked up in surprise, there were two of me.

And when the viola's dark and moody tone came up, there were three of me.

It wasn't cloning, they knew that. Some sharp-eyed people exclaimed in fascination.

"Such fast speed! I knew that Shui Yu was the fastest but it was never recorded down properly! He's moving between instruments so fluently! How much effort would this have taken!"

Then, a mellow and soft voice sounded. The lyrics to this song were in the language of mutant water creatures of a sort. They were really like sirens, with their beautiful faces and body that were pale and translucent. Their bottom halves were underwater and everyone knew it was a pair of strong and long fish tails, but they still couldn't help it as they went closer, intoxicated by the voice and beauty.

They were quite a friendly bunch really, they ate plants, fish and humans, but preferred plants and algae rather than meat. Communicating with them and learning the language properly was a favorite past time of mine. When another group killed the harmless creatures, I was enraged and drowned them to death.

Although my voice wasn't like Ge's, it was good at going up to the highest pitches and singing realistic falsettos.

After the song was over, I lightly panted. Moving at this speed, trying to make the music flow gently, and singing at the same time really did take a toll on me.

Receiving claps and cheers. I kind of understood why idols smiled so widely even if it kind of ruined their image at the end of a concert. Ha, my side dream was to become a model, but this kind of stage wasn't too bad either.

"Ah, my little brother took my spotlight away! But I'm very happy that my little brother who hasn't had many friends and was always introverted created such a friendly community. Even the stars and famous people fit themselves in so nicely in a matter of days. It's really nice that everyone can be their true selves here. Mine is similar to Xiao Yu's, but it is more of a sing and dance. I hope that you enjoy it!" Ge fully released his charms, letting his true star self show.

The light was bright, but Ge was brighter and hard to look away from.

Spreading his pure white wings, his hair turned into a dazzling silver shade that sparkled with the bright lights.

He was already wearing a long white outfit, and these past months, his hair had been growing too. It really made me think back to how he was called an Angel. He really deserved the title.

Ge flew up and floated by gently flapping his large wings. Feathers that fell were quickly collected and stowed away.

He must've practiced hard for this too.

Right now, it looked like Ge was walking and dancing on air. The sound effects and background music even had clip-clops of shoes added to make it look like it. And the ballroom had darkened and light only showed through those lasers that quickly swept through, creating wall-like figures. And those wall-like figures were right under Ge's feet, really accenting the dance.

I saw Ge's husband smiling proudly. I guess he trained Ge. Sis-in-law, good job.

The present giving of me and my siblings were over. And although I had told them not to bring anything but themselves, some brought small gifts. It was really touching.

I and some of the officials I hired all explained about the rules and points. The words were recorded by the core device which automatically made them into a detailed document. How useful.

The day ended nicely and I almost forgot that the apocalypse had begun.

Tomorrow, all the 68 people including me who had gone through the red trial would go out. I had to go rescue Yun and experience the "New World" after all.