PSW – Chapter 26

The fire consumed everything. After the bodies were incinerated, Yu Yinan extinguished the last of the flames. She looked back, about to ask the old woman what kind of transportation she used and offer her a ride, when she saw the woman wheel out a gleaming black motorcycle from a corner. Its streamlined design and large-displacement, modified exhaust pipe left Yu Yinan momentarily stunned.

It wasn’t until the old woman stylishly swung a leg over the motorcycle, put on a matching black helmet, and looked at them that she spoke. “Just follow me. You’ll have to go through a series of checks to get into the shelter. But since you’re ability users, it should be more convenient.”

An old woman who rides a motorcycle?!

Yu Yinan started the car. To the distinctive roar of the motorcycle, the old woman sped away. Yu Yinan had no choice but to slam on the accelerator to catch up.

“Jiejie, you look really cool when you ride a motorcycle, too,” Zheng Yi said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Yu Yinan. “Once my ability is a little more refined, I’ll put this car in my storage space, and we can ride a motorcycle!”

“Going for a ride like that would be so thrilling,” Zheng Yi added, putting on a look of longing at just the right moment.

“Okay,” Yu Yinan agreed softly. In fact, she would agree to most of Zheng Yi’s suggestions these days.

“Jiejie, when we’re old, we have to be just like that, riding motorcycles everywhere, free and unrestrained,” Zheng Yi said, her voice soft. Her smiling black eyes gazed earnestly at Yu Yinan.

Yu Yinan couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. When we’re old? Who knew what the world would be like by then? Would motorcycles even be usable? But when she caught a glimpse of Zheng Yi in her peripheral vision, the distant fantasy suddenly seemed to take on a concrete form. She didn’t know why her throat tightened, but she quickly averted her gaze, avoiding even a peripheral glance at Zheng Yi. “We’ll see when the time comes,” she said softly.

Who knew if they would even live to be old? What if an accident happened along the way? What if Zheng Yi left her? There were too many unknowns.

Still, if such a day ever came… she allowed herself to imagine it for a moment, and the picture was a beautiful one.

“Jiejie, do you think I’m a Saint?” Zheng Yi asked suddenly, checking the time. Her face was full of anticipation. “The kind, helpful, selflessly dedicated kind of Saint.”

Yu Yinan didn’t know why Zheng Yi had suddenly asked such a question, but she was used to her occasional leaps in logic. She didn’t really want to answer, but the look in Zheng Yi’s eyes was just too eager. “Yes, of course you’re a Saint.”

It was just that Yu Yinan didn’t actually want Zheng Yi to be so helpful and self-sacrificing.

[Ding! Detected someone who believes from the bottom of their heart that the Host is a Saint! Assessing emotional intensity…]

[Assessment complete. Reward: 7 Saint Points!]

How efficient. Zheng Yi smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Jiejie. But I’ll keep working hard.”

No… there’s no need to work hard in that direction… Yu Yinan thought, but she obviously couldn’t say that out loud. She could only sigh inwardly. Still, with our current strength, we shouldn’t run into much danger.

‘We’re about to arrive at the shelter, and we’ll be meeting a lot of people. So, what if someone I’ve never met gets a really bad first impression of me and decides I’m not a Saint? How would the system rule on that?’

[You can rest assured on that point. The Saint Growth System is completely Host-centric! As long as you haven’t done anything in front of them that violates the Saint persona, it won’t pass our assessment, no matter what they might imagine or conclude.] Although Zero One answered Zheng Yi’s question reassuringly, for some reason, its mind kept conjuring countless images of its boss weeping and wailing, “Zheng Yi is a Saint!” while Zheng Yi continuously reaped “1-5” Saint Points from these forcibly twisted thoughts.

[That said, we still hope you can try to fit the persona a little, and do some genuinely positive, uplifting, and helpful things.]

Zheng Yi got the answer she wanted and completely ignored Zero One’s last sentence. She rubbed her hands together. The specific plan would have to wait until after they arrived at the shelter. Its size, its strength, its current state of construction, and the number of ability users it housed—all of this information was crucial.

The motorcycle up ahead executed a stylish drift around a curve, leaving Yu Yinan, who was driving behind, completely stunned. She had never imagined that an elderly person in the apocalypse could live with such flair, and be so… capable.

It seemed that in this chaotic, life-or-death crisis, many people had been forced into the shadows. When ability users appeared, ordinary people faded into the background. And among them, the elderly, children, and the disabled—those who couldn’t protect themselves or even survive on their own—became even more invisible.

In comparison, children were still seen as the hope for humanity’s future, the continuation of life, and thus received more care. But for the elderly and the disabled who struggled to care for themselves, people seemed to show less favor. When it came to trade-offs and resource allocation, it was easy to find excuses for self-consolation: They won’t live much longer anyway. It would be a waste.

Just as she was thinking this, the motorcycle up ahead suddenly pulled over. The old woman pushed up her goggles. “The shelter is just ahead. They don’t force you to hand over supplies, but everything inside requires contribution points. No matter who you are, if you want to survive here, you have to create value for the shelter.”

She leaned against her motorcycle, pulled a pack of slender women’s cigarettes from her pocket, and took one out. She skillfully lit it with a lighter, took a deep drag, and a light wisp of smoke curled in front of her.

She wore a dark red coat, the fine lines on her face a testament to her years. She narrowed her eyes slightly, deepening the wrinkles at their corners, and gently blew out a puff of smoke. The grayish-white ring mirrored her grayish-white hair. “This old woman goes out on field missions,” she said. “I’m not part of a squad. If you’re planning to stay for a while, or if you’re here to stock up on weapons and supplies and want to earn contribution points on missions, you can take these old bones along.”

“Okay! If we go on any missions, we’ll definitely look for you,” Zheng Yi agreed with a beaming smile. She glanced at Yu Yinan, as if seeking her opinion, before pulling a few small bags of sliced bread, a pack of compressed biscuits, and a bottle of water from her bag. She got out of the car and handed them over. “Thank you for leading the way, Grandma. You’re so elegant and beautiful. I hope I can have your kind of class when I’m old.”

“I’ve already got one foot in the grave…” She didn’t immediately take the food, instead taking another drag from her cigarette. “When you’ve got no ties and no worries, life is naturally pleasant.”

The old woman’s eyes were still bright, not the least bit cloudy. She finished the last of her cigarette, stubbed it out in the snow, and crushed it under her foot. Then she patted down her coat as if to brush away the smell of smoke. Only after all that did she accept the food from Zheng Yi. “You two… you’re good kids.”

“I’ll try to be a good kid,” Zheng Yi said with a grin. “But I’d much rather be a Saint.”

“Now that’s a grand ambition,” the old woman remarked with a sigh. “Go on. Just register at the gate. Once they know you’re ability users, you won’t need to be quarantined for observation.”

“Okay! See you next time, Grandma!” Zheng Yi waved goodbye, watching as the old woman adjusted her goggles, straightened her helmet, swung onto the motorcycle, and started it up, roaring away in a flash.

“She must be doing pretty well for herself here.” Once Zheng Yi was back in the car, Yu Yinan started it and drove slowly toward the shelter the old woman had indicated. A motorcycle might be standard equipment for an ability user on field missions, but cigarettes certainly weren’t. Any kind of cigarette, let alone women’s cigarettes, had to be a rarity in the apocalypse. At the very least, people still struggling for basic survival wouldn’t have the luxury to enjoy them.

“Powerful ability users can live well anywhere,” Zheng Yi replied with a smile. “Just like Jiejie.”

“That’s not true…”

The shelter was surrounded by a man-made barbed-wire fence. Coils of spiked metal rings sat on top to prevent zombies from climbing over, and some weaker sections were reinforced with iron plates. The main gate looked rather crude, but it was manned by two guards. Just inside were two earthen watchtowers that looked hastily constructed. Two more people stood atop each tower, presumably as lookouts for reconnaissance and to respond to any sudden incidents.

Several tents were set up outside the main gate, likely for quarantining ordinary people who wished to enter.

The moment they reached the gate, their car was stopped. Two people approached, one on each side. After a quick look at the vehicle and its occupants, one of them asked directly, “Ability users?”

“Yes,” Yu Yinan replied. “Both of us are.”

“Park the car here for now while we do a quick disinfection and inspection. We won’t touch any of your things.” He pointed to a table in front of a small hut to the right. “Please go over there to register your abilities. Our person in charge will verify them. Once you’re cleared, you can drive inside.”

“Once you’ve finished registering, a guide will be assigned to introduce you to our Humanity’s Light Shelter.”

“Okay, thank you.” Not feeling particularly guarded, Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan got out of the car. Zheng Yi gave the young guard a grateful wave, then linked arms with Yu Yinan and walked toward the table in front of the hut.

Sitting at the table was a refined-looking young woman with a ponytail and glasses. The nameplate on her chest read “Chu Yi,” and she appeared to be in her early twenties. She looked up at them, pulled out a form, placed a pen on top, and pushed it across the table. “Just fill this out. Ability users have only recently acquired their powers, so we don’t have a clear system for classifying strength yet. We don’t do rank assessments; we just record the ability.”

“The shelter doesn’t force anyone to join, nor do we take a cut of any supplies you scavenge. But if you want to enjoy the shelter’s amenities—food, clothing, housing, and so on—everything costs contribution points.”

“I see you have a car, so you won’t need to rent or buy one from us. If you aren’t going on a mission, we recommend parking it in the underground garage, since space inside the shelter is tight. Oh, and we don’t charge ability users for underground parking, but parking above ground costs contribution points.”

The form was simple enough, asking only for their names, genders, ages, and abilities. Zheng Yi quickly filled it out and handed it back.

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