Chapter 54 - The Glow Of Humanity (2/2)

Shen Chen raised his eyebrows when he saw everyone do as they were told. Even Pan Di and the usually discerning Zhao Zhen showed no signs of impatience or annoyance.

Shen Chen looked at Zhang Hongtao in mild surprise. Within two days, Zhang Hongtao had done what Zhao Ze wished to achieve but failed to do—command everyone. Perhaps there was more to this guy than what he seemed.

Shen Chen smiled. As long as Zhang Hongtao wasn’t an idiot, he would know better than to follow in Zhao Ze’s footsteps, and he would know better than to incite trouble like Zhao Ze had.

At the dinner table, Guo Yuan and Ye Xiaoyu vividly described what happened in the past two days, wowing everyone at the table. They were careful, however, to skip the parts about Shen Chen’s injuries and recovery process.

Upon hearing their stories about Ye Tianlong, everyone was at a loss for words. Zhang Hongtao said with a frown on his face, “It’s barely been two weeks since the start of the apocalypse, and a scumbag like him has already appeared? I can’t imagine what this world would look like if zf failed to carry out rescue operations in time. What’s wrong with society?”

Shen Chen responded flatly, “Depend on yourselves. I would suggest that you not harbor any hopes with regard to zf.”

In Shen Chen’s previous life, zf was indeed a powerful organization in the early days of the apocalypse. But even during peaceful times, let alone an apocalypse, it was difficult to transmit information. All the temporary shelters, with the exception of a few, were attacked by swarms of zombies. In the end, the country became divided, and cities started fending for themselves. When that happened, not only did they have to resist zombies, but they also had to fight against one another for territory and power. It was truly a chaotic time where no law and order existed.

Only after seven to eight years did human technology and government administration vastly improve. Dozens of high-ranking neo-humans united to set things right again, but this eventually resulted in a small group of elites wielding a lot of power and influence.

But they didn’t need to know about that now.

Zhang Hongtao let out a sigh. Although the three-year-old Duoduo had no idea what was happening, he could sense that everyone was feeling down. Pouting his little mouth, he asked, “Daddy, why isn’t Mommy back yet? When can we go home?”

Everyone froze, and no one said anything. There was a heavy silence. They didn’t know what to say… so they could only stare blankly at Duoduo.

They suddenly realized that they were unable to explain to a three-year-old kid as to why they couldn’t go back home and why Mommy had disappeared, or why he couldn’t attend preschool anymore…

Cognizant of how everyone was staring at him with sad expressions, he seemed to have sensed that something was wrong. “Wah! I want my mommy! I want to go home,” Duoduo wailed.

Zhang Hongtao grew anxious and looked at everyone apologetically. He then said sternly to the kid, “Duoduo, you’re not to cry anymore. Didn’t Daddy tell you that Mommy’s gone on a trip? Mommy won’t come back if you don’t stop crying!”

After spending the past few days together, everyone had taken a liking to this sensible and well-behaved boy with big eyes, who had even helped the adults with washing the vegetables!

Looking at Zhang Hongtao’s glum expression, Zhang Xiaoya promptly stopped him from saying more. She crouched down to Duoduo’s height and ruffled his hair. “Duoduo, your mom is somewhere very far away, but she still cares a lot for you. She wants to know whether you’ve been a good boy, and whether you’ve grown taller! So you have to be a good boy, okay?” Zhang Xiaoya said gently.

Duoduo wiped away his tears and asked innocently, “Really?”

Ye Xiaoyu also walked over to him. Her eyes were red. She produced a remote control toy car from behind her back and handed it over to him, saying “Look, Duoduo. Your mom got this for you. Do you like it?”

“Oh!” Duoduo smiled through his tears. He picked up the toy and started happily playing with Ye Xiaoyu and Zhang Xiaoya.

A smile formed on Shen Chen’s face. The short-haired girl had taken a remote control toy car from Ye Tianlong’s minimart and hid it in her car. During an apocalypse, people often showed their true colors, but for every heartless person, there was someone who was kind and generous, like a beacon of light in the dark!

Zhang Hongtao watched with mixed feelings as the two girls tried to pacify his son, and let out a long, deep sigh.

Shen Chen tapped him on the shoulder and said to him, “Let’s go out for a walk.”