From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 146 - 137: Meeting as Strangers

What Qi Xiang said last night gave Gu Xi an idea.

The next morning, she went out openly, making no effort to hide as she headed for Li Ming’s residence.

Li Ming was on a video call with someone. Gu Xi subconsciously stopped in her tracks, but just as she was about to turn away, Li Ming gestured for the person on the other end to wait. He then looked up at her, frowning in disapproval. "Xiaoxi, what are you doing here?"

He had spent so long setting things up just to maintain the current situation. If Gu Xi kept coming over, he was afraid those people would start getting suspicious again.

Li Ming calmly closed the Light Screen. He noticed that since her return, Gu Xi seemed more stubborn and even more difficult to read than before.

Gu Xi hummed noncommittally. Her eyes casually swept over the device; it was in privacy mode.

"Xiaoxi." Li Ming sighed. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Xi said, "Ming, I’m planning to go to the Abnormal Ability Research Institute again."

Li Ming’s brow furrowed slightly. He hit the nail on the head. "But Ye Xin might not be willing to see you."

Gu Xi pushed his wheelchair over to the window and pulled open the black curtains. Sunlight poured in, warming their skin and bringing a bit of heat to the cold room.

Gu Xi turned back to Li Ming. "I know, but I still want to try."

This was her third day back at the Central Base.

Over the past two days, the people behind the scenes seemed to be making constant small moves. But deep down, Gu Xi knew they hadn’t truly made their play yet.

In fact, they had only sent some small fry to test her attitude. Or perhaps... her bottom line?

So, Gu Xi decided to take the initiative.

Li Ming watched her in silence for a long moment before sighing. "Fine. Go if you want." ’Just don’t be too soft-hearted.’

Gu Xi looked back at him. "Ming, since Xiao Yu still won’t see me, could you give him a message for me?"

Li Ming looked up. The sunlight cast mottled patches of light across his unusually old face.

It looked a little strange.

But perhaps Gu Xi’s distant behavior over the past few days had worked. Some color was gradually returning to Li Ming’s face. He no longer looked like he was at death’s door. Although he was still gaunt and withered, his spirits were clearly much better.

His hand, resting on his leg, curled almost imperceptibly. "Xiaoxi, you..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Gu Xi lowered her eyes and said slowly, "I never blamed him for what happened back then. Even without him, the best possible outcome between Yun Ye and me would have been... to become strangers in the end."

After Gu Xi left, Li Ming reopened the Light Screen and spoke to the person on the other end of the personal terminal. "Did you hear all that?"

It turned out the call had never been disconnected.

A long moment later, a faint sigh could be heard.

"I heard..." Xiao Yu’s voice was slightly hoarse. "I’m the one who let Xiaoxi down."

All these years, Xiao Yu had been convinced that Yun Ye was responsible for Gu Xi’s disappearance.

He even obsessively believed that the source of it all was that fight they had back then.

It was him. On an impulse, he hadn’t been able to control his temper. The night before the great battle, he’d had a complete falling out with Yun Ye. He believed that was what made that madman so eager to make a move the very night Xiaoxi returned to the base, leaving them no time to react.

Xiao Yu had been blaming himself all these years.

’If he hadn’t been so impulsive that day, maybe Yun Ye wouldn’t have acted so rashly. If they had just had a little more time, maybe nothing would have happened to Xiaoxi!’

Because of this, the once carefree and unrestrained man who hated rules more than anything ended up joining the strictly disciplined military.

Even now that Gu Xi was back, Xiao Yu still didn’t dare to face her.

Li Ming didn’t know what to say either.

Over the years, he had said everything that needed to be said and yelled everything that needed to be yelled. But when it came to certain things, Xiao Yu was just stubbornly single-minded.

He sighed.

"Suit yourself." Li Ming looked out the window.

After a moment, he drew the curtains and pushed his wheelchair back into the shadows. "But let me give you a warning, Xiao Yu. Xiaoxi probably won’t be staying at the Central Base for long this time."

"Think about it yourself."

...

After leaving the shopping center, Gu Xi went to Zone 1.

But the Abnormal Ability Research Institute wasn’t a place just anyone could enter.

Especially not the core research area.

On the way, Gu Xi sent a message to Zhou Jinyu.

’Since we’re partners now, he shouldn’t mind helping me out with a little problem, right?’

With Zhou Jinyu leading the way, getting into the core research area shouldn’t be a problem.

But it wasn’t until she got out of the car that Zhou Jinyu finally replied.

It was just two short words: [Don’t come.]

’His attitude is a bit off.’ Gu Xi frowned slightly when she saw his message, then replied: [?]

Perhaps thinking that typing was too slow and he wouldn’t be able to stop Gu Xi in time, Zhou Jinyu sent a video call instead.

Gu Xi accepted.

"Miss Gu, it’s really not a good time right now." Zhou Jinyu said with a grave expression, a hint of helplessness and exhaustion in his brow. "Things are very chaotic at the institute. Even I can’t just bring someone in..."

Gu Xi expressed her confusion. "What happened at the Abnormal Ability Research Institute? Can’t you make an exception with your status as Mr. Zhou? From what I can see, it looks pretty calm."

As she spoke, she turned her camera toward the institute’s main gate, just in time to see a researcher hurry out and lead a middle-aged woman inside.

"..." Zhou Jinyu’s expression faltered for a second, but he quickly recovered and said helplessly, "Miss Gu, to be honest with you, there was an incident at the institute last night. It’s now under complete lockdown."

’What a coincidence.’

She had just been ambushed in the wild yesterday afternoon, and now something had happened at the Abnormal Ability Research Institute last night?

Gu Xi thought for a moment and asked, "Is it convenient to disclose what happened?"

Zhou Jinyu hesitated.

"Not convenient?" Gu Xi raised an eyebrow.

"It’s not that." Zhou Jinyu sighed and skirted the issue. "Someone broke into the data center last night... After taking inventory, we found that some files from the early days of the apocalypse were stolen."

"It wouldn’t have been a huge deal, but Mr. Chen seems furious and has ordered a strict investigation. Right now, the entire institute is in a state where people can enter but not leave..."

As Zhou Jinyu spoke, he carefully observed Gu Xi’s expression.

But there wasn’t the slightest flicker of emotion in Gu Xi’s eyes, as if she hadn’t caught the probing nature of his words at all.

Zhou Jinyu sighed. "Miss Gu, to be perfectly honest, the person who broke into the data center last night was wearing a Blood-colored Asura mask..."

’Blood-colored Asura?’

’It seems some people have really gone to a lot of trouble.’

An appropriate amount of surprise appeared on Gu Xi’s face. She blurted out, "Impossible..."

She seemed to think of something and quickly swallowed the rest of her words, a rare look of confusion on her face.

Zhou Jinyu took it all in without a change in his expression.

He sighed and said, "Miss Gu, regardless of whether that person last night was your mother, I’m definitely not the only one who’s suspicious of your identity now. Think about it. The Blood-colored Asura broke into the institute just last night, and Mr. Chen’s reaction is so strong..."

His words were earnest, his attitude sincere, as if he was completely looking out for Gu Xi’s best interests.

He was also implying that for her, the Abnormal Ability Research Institute was now a lion’s den. Getting in would be easy, but getting out again would likely be difficult.

But Gu Xi knew perfectly well that Zhou Jinyu was testing her.

What he said might not be the truth, but the part about the Blood-colored Asura... was worth pondering.

Gu Xi suddenly thought of yesterday’s assassination attempt.

’If even Dr. Qi knew something, there’s no way Zhou Jinyu doesn’t.’

’So, for Zhou Jinyu to suddenly bring up the Blood-colored Asura to me at a time like this... could he be hinting at something?’

Gu Xi lowered her gaze.

"Miss Gu, you see..." On the other end, Zhou Jinyu was still looking at her with a troubled expression.

"It’s fine. I’ll come visit another day. Mr. Zhou, I have something else to attend to, so let’s leave it at that for today." Gu Xi hastily ended the call, looking like she was barely holding back her agitation while forcing herself to appear calm.

After ending the call, she took a deep breath. In front of the guards at the main gate, she glanced up in the direction of the Abnormal Ability Research Institute one more time before turning and striding away.

Once she was far away from the surveillance cameras, Gu Xi ducked into a small alley and quickly vanished.

It was time to go back to No. 9 Villa and take a look.

’I wonder if the things I left in the villa back then are still there?’