Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 21: Find the archive(1)

Qingran stared at the mission notification, her mind racing.

Investigate the anomaly?

What exactly was she supposed to be looking for? She had already seen the footage—an unidentifiable shifting figure, flickering in and out of existence inside Lab 37. It wasn’t the virus. It wasn’t something she had ever encountered before.

And yet, it was here, in this timeline.

Something had changed.

And that meant she had to change with it.

Qingran closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Fine. If this was the new reality, then she would adapt. Just like she always had.

She refocused on the system. "Lingquan, give me everything you can on this anomaly. Anything in the records, any theories—anything."

Silence.

Then—

[No available data.]

Qingran’s brows furrowed. "What do you mean no data? You just told me this wasn’t in the original timeline."

[Correct.]

"Then analyze it."

[Insufficient information.]

A humorless laugh escaped her lips. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

The system had calculated every step of this life down to her finances and stockpiling progress. And now, suddenly, it had no data?

Qingran gritted her teeth, forcing down her frustration. "Then tell me this—if it wasn’t here in my first life, and it’s suddenly here now... does that mean I caused it?"

A long pause. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Then—

[Unknown.]

Qingran’s blood went cold.

Unknown.

Not no.

Not negative.

Just unknown.

Fucking perfect.

She pressed her hands against the steering wheel, gripping it tightly.

No. That didn’t make sense. Everything was still the same. Her virus had been created just like before. The apocalypse was going to happen just like before. The only difference was...

Her.

She had returned and she was aware of all these things.

And if her return had caused this...

Her stomach twisted. She couldn’t afford to think about that now.

"Fine," she muttered. "Then I’ll find out myself."

She checked her phone. If she wanted to get to Xi’an and investigate the archive, she needed to move quickly. The city would be gone in twenty-three days. She had seventy-two hours before the system shut down on her.

Qingran exhaled, shoving her keys into the ignition.

She wasn’t going to wait for answers to fall into her lap.

If something had changed in this timeline, then she was going to find out why.

Qingran pulled out her phone and typed a quick message to her boss.

[Dr. Baizhou, I’m taking three days of sick leave. Being in the containment lab affected me more than I expected.]

She hesitated for a second before adding—

[I’ll be back once I recover.]

It was vague enough to avoid suspicion. They had no reason to deny her request. If anything, they probably expected her to need time off after what had happened.

The reply came almost instantly.

[Understood. Get some rest.]

No further questions. And it was good, she wasn’t in the mood to explain herself.

She tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and focused on the road.

The drive back to her apartment was uneventful, but the moment she stepped inside, she locked the door behind her and exhaled.

She had seventy-two hours before the system shut down on her.

That meant she needed to be in Xi’an by tomorrow.

Qingran moved quickly, pulling out a duffel bag and tossing in the essentials—clothes, cash, a burner phone. She checked her stockpile, no weapons, no medical supplies.

Perhaps she could get them at Xi’an without suspicion.

A sudden thought struck her.

If she was leaving the city, she needed to make sure no one would touch her warehouse.

She grabbed her second phone and sent a message to one of her contacts—a man who had no idea who she really was but owed her a favor.

[I need you to keep an eye on something for me. Usual rate. Three days.]

A minute later, the response came.

[Got it.]

That was one less thing to worry about. Besides, it wasn’t like there was a lot of things in the warehouse, but she didn’t want someone stealing them as well.

She exhaled, rolling her shoulders.

Tomorrow, she would head to Xi’an.

And she would find out exactly what the hell was waiting for her in that archive.

Qingran double-checked her bag, making sure she had everything she needed. Clothes, cash, burner phone, fake ID—she ran through the list in her head as she zipped it shut.

Her gaze flickered to the clock. 11:42 PM.

She could still get a few hours of sleep before leaving.

But she knew she wouldn’t.

Her mind was running too fast, replaying every detail of the past few hours.

She sat on the edge of the bed, pressing her fingers against her temples.

Xi’an.

In her past life, the city had fallen almost immediately. Within days, it had turned into a wasteland, crawling with the infected. But now, before the outbreak even began, she had to go there to uncover something the system deemed critical.

Something that shouldn’t have existed.

Her fingers curled into a fist.

She didn’t like this.

For the past 7 days, everything had followed a pattern—one she had accounted for, one she had prepared for. But this anomaly, this thing inside the lab, had never been part of that pattern.

Which meant something had changed.

And she didn’t know who or what had caused it.

She let out a slow breath. Dwelling on it wouldn’t help.

Right now, she needed to focus on the mission.

She grabbed her laptop and pulled up a map of Xi’an, scanning the layout. If this past lab archive was still intact, it had to be in one of three places:

*The Xi’an Institute of Biotechnology – One of the city’s top research facilities, heavily government-funded.

*The Underground Storage Facilities – Used for classified projects, usually hidden beneath official sites.

*The Old Military Research Base – Abandoned years ago, but still off-limits to the public.

She tapped her fingers against the desk.

If the system didn’t even have coordinates, then this archive was well-hidden. That meant the first two options were unlikely.

Her gut told her it was in the third location.

The Old Military Research Base.

Qingran closed the laptop and exhaled. That was where she would start.

She zipped her bag shut and set it by the door.

Tomorrow, she would leave at dawn.

And by the time the sun set...

She would either have answers.

Or she would be walking straight into something even worse.

The next morning Qingran woke up to an unsettling stillness.

That something was off.

She pushed off the covers, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, before she heard it—a presence outside her door.

Her muscles tensed as she became alarmed.

Slowly, she walked over and peered through the peephole.

Feng Yizhou?!! The actual f**k!