Chapter 5: A frank confession

Ada's POV

The kitchen and Leo vanished together.

All at once a soft green lawn unfurled from beneath my feet, white fog churning on every side, and within the range I could move, a silver-white warehouse with a peaked roof sat quietly less than thirty feet away.

A string of familiar mechanical prompts rang out：

"Detected the current administrator entering the folded space for the first time. Static storage unit confirmed.

External biological cultivation zone activated. Only inanimate objects may be placed inside the warehouse.

Administrator, please collect the corresponding number of source cores to unlock additional areas. Currently available source cores: zero."

I knew perfectly well what a source core was.

After the infected fully turned into zombies, a stone-like substance would automatically form in their brains; survivors in my previous life had called it a source core. It was the source core that supplied the basic energy these monsters needed to stay alive, and only by completely destroying their brains could you truly kill them.

"This space is now bound to the current administrator. No other human may enter, or an emergency spatial lockdown will be triggered."

When the last system notification ended, the whole space sank into a dead stillness.

So it seemed Ray and Leo couldn't come in. I couldn't help feeling a little regret. Supplies could be stored here, but we couldn't hide in this space to ride out the apocalypse—if we wanted to live, we'd still have to make our preparations in the real world.

I walked once around the edge of the lawn and tried to touch the area wrapped in white fog. An inexplicable resistance blocked my probing. I withdrew my hand and headed straight for the warehouse ahead.

From the outside the warehouse didn't look large. I pushed the door open, and inside was a vast white expanse that seemed to have no end. There was clearly no light source, yet everything was bright and clean.

I'd been worrying about where to put all the supplies I'd bought, but this warehouse would solve the problem for me.

After closing the warehouse door, I remembered the system's notification: the area outside the warehouse seemed usable for cultivating living things. If I could bring in some fruit and vegetable seeds and some poultry and livestock, we'd never have to worry about food again.

Having explored the whole space, I silently recited the command to leave. A flash of white light, and Leo was in front of me again.

He was still standing where he'd been, staring at me in shock, as if he'd just seen an alien.

"You… you just suddenly disappeared!" he shouted in disbelief.

"That pendant Mom left me is a nano folded space. I discovered it by accident today." I raised my wrist to show him the cord around it. "I was inside for about ten minutes. How long was it in real time?"

"Less than half a minute." He strode over and gripped my wrist, turning it over and over to examine it. "How do you get in?"

"The space's system is bound to my biometrics. Only I can enter."

"All right," his voice trembled slightly; he still hadn't quite come to terms with what had just happened. "After seeing something this strange, I'm starting to believe you about the zombies."

Seeing him wavering, I pressed my advantage.

"On the 28th of next month, red dust will fall over the whole city. People who come into contact with it will randomly turn into zombies or gain special abilities. The day after, the zombie virus will break out in full force. We need this one month to get ready.

"How do you know what's going to happen a month from now?" Leo looked up, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

A pang of bitterness rose in my heart. I clenched my fist and spoke slowly. "The reason I know so much is that I lived through it. After November 28th, I only lived about a year. I don't know why, but when I woke up again I was back before the outbreak."

"In my last life, Ray was out on the mission when he ran into a horde, and you died protecting me from the zombies too…" I kept my head down, not daring to look Leo in the face. "In the end I was the only one left. Frank took my house, and he even sold me out to a gang of demons in exchange for supplies.

"I found a way to escape, and then I spent a whole year hunting them down one by one for revenge. In the end I killed them all. My strength gave out and I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I was back here."

Leo listened quietly. His hands trembled slightly, and his gaze gradually turned angry—then, when he looked at me, it softened into a deep, aching tenderness.

"You idiot, why didn't you tell me sooner?" After a long moment, I heard him choke out an apology. "I'm sorry. We didn't protect you."

My eyes instantly welled up. "It's not your fault."

Even though I'd summed it up in just a few words, he still felt the pain I'd been through as if it were his own. I even regretted telling him so much all at once. But the virus was about to break out, and I had to keep him on the same side as me.

The room was quiet for a while. Leo got his feelings under control and came over to give me a gentle hug.

"I promise, from now on I will never let you face anything alone again. Ray and I will both listen to you. Since there's still a month, as long as we prepare properly, we'll definitely make it through safely."

I wiped the damp corners of my eyes and nodded firmly against his chest.

Protecting my family—that's the most important goal of this life of mine.

This time, no one is going to hurt me or my brothers. I just want to live quietly with them, and never be separated by life and death again.

"Have you talked to Ray about any of this?" Leo asked me.

I shook my head. Some things were better explained in person.

"When he gets back tonight, we'll discuss the plan together. He happens to have connections to get weapons. With weapons, we can stand up to Frank and his people."

Leo's thinking coincided with mine. To defend against those with bad intentions in the apocalypse, weapons were a necessary guarantee of survival. We wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose, but we had to be able to defend ourselves.

Tonight's frank confession to Leo lifted the burden that had been pressing on me ever since I woke up, and gave me a bit more courage for the crisis ahead.

I checked the time: four hours until Ray's flight landed. I was just about to discuss the supply stockpile with Leo when I suddenly heard three muffled knocks at the door.

Leo stood up alertly from his chair. At my signal he stayed silent, grabbed the fruit knife from the table, and watched the door warily.

I had already moved slowly to the door. Through the peephole I saw a man standing in the dim hallway. He was very tall and leaning forward slightly, as if listening for movement inside.

The instant I recognized that face, I felt all the blood in my body rush to my head, while my whole body went cold as if immersed in ice water.