Chapter Thirty-Four: My Time Is Precious

At this moment, Los Angeles Base City No. 3 was enveloped in a profound silence. The reason was straightforward: with the coming of night, the city’s nightlife—often described with decadent words in the old world—had been abolished. In this apocalypse, how could such indulgence be permitted? A single decree enforced a strict curfew: once darkness descended, no one was allowed outside.

There were no scenes like those from the movies where, under the tyranny of robots, Americans took to the streets in crowds, protesting with tables, chairs, and baseball bats, demanding, “By what right do you impose a curfew on us?” In reality, these people didn’t even utter a word of protest. Not a single whisper of defiance escaped them.

In truth, perhaps this was for the best—their self-awareness at least kept them safe.

At this very hour, Qi Xi was flying high above the city, gripping Watermelon in his hand as he surveyed the world below. The effects of his advanced, special abilities were extraordinary—not just attraction or repulsion, but a delicate mastery that allowed him to soar just as he was now.

“Heh… It should be easy to find, right?” Watermelon said, his scalp prickling as he gazed down at the darkness below. The moon hung high overhead. If someone happened to step outside to relieve themselves and looked up out of boredom, they’d immediately spot two supermen hovering in the sky. Then, instead of a startled wife calling for her husband to come witness a miracle, Qi Xi and Watermelon would find themselves facing the full might of the city's defenses.

In such a case, neither of them would escape unscathed.

They needed to exercise caution.

Ignoring Watermelon’s comment, Qi Xi carefully descended onto the roof of a high-rise building, signaling Watermelon to keep quiet. He gestured in sign language: “I’ll handle finding out which Rockefeller lives here.” Without further ado, he flew to a particular upper floor of the base city.

Two soldiers standing guard suddenly felt their vision blur. They exchanged glances, each seeing confusion in the other's eyes. “Did you see that, too?” they whispered in unison, a chill running down their spines. Before they could act, they lost consciousness—not dead, merely knocked out.

This wasn’t mercy from Qi Xi. Blood would have betrayed that something had gone terribly wrong. Killing to silence witnesses in such circumstances would have been sheer folly.

After straightening his clothes, Qi Xi offered a slight smile to the surveillance camera by the door, then calmly opened it.

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, one of the five on-duty personnel, munching on bread, caught sight of this bizarre event—a casually dressed Chinese man appeared before the camera, smiled tauntingly, and then forced his way into Major Miller’s room.

“Oh! Is this a hallucination?”

“How could it be…”

“What are you babbling about, Lox?”

“Look, Ferren, just look!” Lox rewound the footage ten seconds, and Qi Xi’s face reappeared on the screen, his smile clear as he ‘opened’ Major Miller’s door.

“That yellow-skinned pig has lost his mind!” Ferren gasped in horror at the scene, then snapped back to reality. “Hey! Now’s not the time to freeze up. Sound the alarm! Major Miller is in danger!”

Qi Xi opened the door with ease—barely a sound escaped as his palm touched the electronic lock. A pulse of electromagnetic energy rendered it useless, and he slipped in without resistance.

Such was an ability he’d acquired while moving through the base city.

It was not late—about eight in the evening. Qi Xi paused outside the bedroom door. A faint light glowed within, punctuated by breathless gasps and the creaking of a violently shaking bed, the sounds growing louder and more urgent. A middle-aged, balding man was vigorously thrusting into a beautiful young woman.

“Faster, my darling Miller!”

“Baby!”

“What a sight…” Qi Xi shook his head and pushed the door open. The couple, engrossed in their feverish passion, failed to notice the intruder.

Qi Xi had no interest in watching any further. With a snap of his fingers, electromagnetic energy crackled from his hand, raced up to the ceiling, and then down onto the bed, felling the woman instantly. She was an ordinary person—unable to resist in the slightest. Her eyes rolled back, her body convulsed, and she collapsed, unconscious.

“H! My God!” Major Miller screamed, his lower body recoiling abruptly. Turning to face the unexpected guest, he shouted in fury, “Damn you! Who are you?”

“My time is valuable, Major Miller,” Qi Xi said coolly.

Major Miller, who had reached for his gun, paused as he recalled the woman being instantly subdued. Looking at Qi Xi’s expression, Miller realized he was entirely outmatched.

Not every high-ranking officer was a formidable gene soldier. The gene serum was manufactured exclusively for the Rockefeller family’s DNA. The bloodlines, body types, and genes of others simply weren’t compatible. Most of these officers, formerly part of the military, were now just evolved humans—a bit stronger than ordinary people, but no match for a true gene-enhanced individual, even if armed with guns or rocket launchers.

“What do you want?” The officer, regaining his composure, stared directly at the young man.

“I need information. Where does the Rockefeller in question reside? Tell me now.”

“What are you doing?” Miller shouted.

This was not the question, “What do you want to do?” but rather, “What are you doing?” revealing that Miller valued his own life far more than anything else.

Flames began to dance from Qi Xi’s fingertips, quickly sealing the room’s doors, windows, and every possible exit. Miller, seeing this, panicked and demanded an explanation.

“You haven’t answered my question. No matter—I’ll answer yours first. I’m taking some precautions,” Qi Xi replied, flicking another ball of flame into place, his tone unhurried. “You see, these flames are special—one of my abilities. Perhaps you’ve heard of them, but this is a new kind. I can control them. I’m setting them here so that, if anyone tries to come in, they’ll be stopped, and if you waste my time or lie to me, I won’t have to come back to kill you. I’ll just clench my fist—and boom! You’ll be roasted like a suckling pig.”

Miller’s heart pounded with terror. Nearly screaming, he protested, “I haven’t even refused to answer you! Why are you doing this?”

“I told you, my time is precious. If you lie to me, I don’t want to waste another trip to kill you. Do you understand?” Qi Xi’s smile made Major Miller’s blood run cold.

“Now, you can speak.”

Though filled with resentment, Miller had no choice. Brow furrowed, he began, “In…”

Before he could finish, Qi Xi suddenly roared, “Hurry up! Quickly! Do you hear me? Do you really want to be roasted?”

“Yes! Yes!” Miller was so startled he almost jumped, and began to speak rapidly.

The oxygen in the room was steadily decreasing—the flames devoured it, making each breath harder. Qi Xi, noting Miller’s condition, commented, “You’re an evolved human. Hold your breath, you’ll last. As for this woman…” Grabbing her, he tossed her roughly outside, breaking a few of her ribs but ultimately saving her life.

“Well then, goodbye!” Qi Xi waved before leaving.

By now, security personnel had arrived, but Qi Xi’s escape route was through the window—on the third floor—so no one could stop him.

“Let’s go!” Qi Xi quickly rejoined Watermelon, seized his hand, and together they flew toward Rockefeller’s residence.