Apocalypse Star House Hoarding

Chapter 220

By midday the next day, there were a total of 184 survivors in the building, including Shen Qiu, Zhuo Yun, and their group.

Zhuo Yun’s team proved to be highly reliable. Yu Xi only needed to determine the vine connection routes based on the drone footage of survivor locations, cultivate vine ladders between buildings, and then cross the newly formed ladders to reach the next site to repeat the process.

The rest—stationing personnel in each building to receive survivors, explaining the crossing process, ensuring smooth passage over the ladders, and assigning rooms to new arrivals—was all handled by Zhuo Yun, Shen Qiu, and their group.

By that morning, Lu Yichen’s team had also joined the effort.

Lu Yichen was quick to assess situations. The previous day, he had noticed Zhuo Yun and her group working closely with the masked woman, even following her across the vine bridges to assist with rescues and housing arrangements.

His first instinct wasn’t relief that she hadn’t called on him to help, but rather curiosity—Zhuo Yun’s team wouldn’t be doing this for free.

After some observation, he realized the work wasn’t particularly difficult. That night, he paid closer attention and noticed that Zhuo Yun’s group had acquired new supplies.

So, he approached Zhuo Yun, hoping to get in touch with that mysterious powerhouse. He offered to join in on the rescue efforts and asked if they could work together.

After listening to Zhuo Yun’s description of Lu Yichen and his team, Yu Xi agreed. Having people who were sharp, reasonable, and socially adept on board was a good thing.

She had a pretty good guess about what had motivated them. She had expected Zhuo Yun to request food or drinking water, but instead, she asked for weapons— even rusty ones, as long as they were intact and functional.

It wasn’t surprising. Yu Xi’s own equipment was simply too tempting—a Tang Dao and a military dagger. According to some of the new arrivals, when they were retrieving supplies from the shopping center, someone had been caught by plant roots, and it was this woman who had slashed through them with a single stroke of her blade.

That memory left a deep impression on them, so when they saw that she was the first to cross the vine bridge, they instinctively chose to trust her.

Hearing their accounts, Zhuo Yun couldn’t stop thinking about the weapons.

At first, she had considered asking for water and food, but after discussing with her team, they decided that weapons were the real priority.

They didn’t have high expectations—nothing like a Tang Dao or military dagger. They weren’t even particular about numbers. Just two or three decent weapons would be enough to improve their combat ability.

However, when Zhuo Yun returned to the room clutching a soft cloth-wrapped bundle, she felt like she was floating.

“Sanzi, got a cigarette?” she asked as she sat on the couch, still holding the bundle tightly.

“Got some, Senior,” replied a younger teammate, rummaging through his bag to pull out a crumpled pack before lighting one for her.

Zhuo Yun took a deep drag—and immediately started coughing violently.

She passed the cigarette to someone else, and the rest of the group, equally excited, shared it among themselves. Even Shen Qiu joined in, though she, like Zhuo Yun, ended up in a fit of coughing.

After finally calming down, Zhuo Yun unwrapped the bundle in her lap. Inside were six brand-new weapons: a long dagger, a multifunctional steel shovel, a baton blade, a short Tang Dao, a metal retractable baton, and a lightweight axe.

The team stared in disbelief.

They had expected rusted second-hand machetes, but instead, they had been given pristine, high-quality self-defense weapons.

Zhuo Yun picked up the short Tang Dao and unsheathed it slightly. A faint ringing sound came from the blade—a soft metallic hum, the hallmark of a finely crafted weapon. It was intoxicating.

“This is incredible,” she murmured, smiling at the blade like a girl in love before pressing a gentle kiss to its cold surface.

A moment later, she snapped back to reality, lifting her head with renewed determination. A fire burned in her eyes.

“Listen up. That masked woman is now my leader. Whatever she asks of us, we will give one hundred and twenty percent. We’re getting out of this damned city together.”

“Yes!” the group echoed.

While one room was filled with excitement, energy, and hope, another was shrouded in gloom.

Yan Ya and his group had been surviving on biscuits for over two days. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they had enough to eat, but the problem was that they had to ration even those. Worse still, by noon, they had run out of food entirely.

On the same night that Yan Ya had started sharing biscuits with the team, Mu Keli had taken her backpack full of supplies and slipped away.

At first, Yan Ya and the others assumed she had simply gone off to eat in secret, as she had done that morning and afternoon. They expected her to return after she was done.

But by midnight, she still hadn’t come back.

None of the others wanted to go look for her. The next morning, Yan Ya was about to search for her when the vine bridge was discovered. The entire building was soon abuzz with talk of the mysterious woman who had created the bridge, followed by the arrival of new survivors, leading to a chaotic and eventful day.

By noon, when the food was completely gone, three of Yan Ya’s teammates announced that they were leaving to join other groups. They packed their belongings and left immediately.

Yan Ya wanted to stop them, but he had no reason to.

He couldn’t provide food. Zhuo Yun and Lu Yichen had no intention of helping him.

Those teammates had previously suggested that he swallow his pride and ask for help, but he refused, insisting that he needed to think of something to trade.

But what did they even have left to trade?

At this point, food and water were the only things that mattered. They had lost their last remaining protective gear at the shopping center, and some of them were injured. Though the wounds were minor, without medicine or disinfectant, even small injuries could turn fatal.

With all these problems piling up, someone finally reached their breaking point.

Since Yan Ya was too proud to beg for help, they would do it themselves. They would ask for food, water, and medicine. Whoever was willing to take them in, they would join. The building was now full of survivors, and with more people came more opportunities.

After those three left, Yan Ya stood up and declared that he was going to find Mu Keli. This time, whether she liked it or not, he would force her to share the supplies.

However, when he returned, even more people had left.

The only ones remaining in the room were a few younger members of the group, who had no sense of direction and sat there in a daze, staring at one another in silence.

By the afternoon, the last group of survivors who had sent distress signals the previous night had successfully crossed the vine bridge and entered the building.

After settling everyone into designated floors, Zhuo Yun led a few people to the rooftop to set up an SOS signal. The kitchen walls on the top floor were still intact, the roof was stable, and there was enough space. They planned to use wood and red paint to spell out “SOS” and include the total number of survivors in the building.

This was Yu Xi’s idea. She had previously seen several fighter jets pass over the ruined city. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, if the military spotted the rooftop distress signal, it could be a lifeline.

At the tenth-floor window, Yu Xi removed the last vine bridge and, under the watchful eyes of the survivors, leaped back inside and headed straight for the rooftop.

Behind her, from somewhere in the city, came the familiar sound of a collapsing building, unable to withstand the unchecked growth of the plants.

This was only the beginning. Soon, the high-rise they were in would be the last remaining island in a sea of destruction.

All the survivors who could be relocated had already been moved. It wasn’t impossible that some people were still alive in other buildings—perhaps they hadn’t heard the drone messages, or maybe they were too cautious to risk lighting a signal fire.

Either way, this was as far as the evacuation plan could go.

She couldn’t force people to seek help. Even though she was rescuing people, she never considered herself some kind of savior.

Now, the next step was figuring out how to get these survivors out of the city.

With the ground completely inaccessible, the only option was through the air.

She had thought about using vines to form a path leading out of the city, but there weren’t enough high-rises to support that. Their building was in the city center, far from the outskirts.

Even if they reached the outskirts, what then? She had already used binoculars to survey the area—whether in the city or the outskirts, everything was covered in wildly overgrown plants.

All living creatures on the ground had been consumed as nutrients. The official evacuation zone Zhuo Yun had mentioned was also completely overrun. There was no need to guess its fate.

That meant the only way out was for her to leave, travel further, find a functioning refuge, and mark its location so that rescue could come for them.

Given the state of the world, every nation—perhaps the entire planet—was facing a crisis.

In countless cities, towns, and ruined shelters, there had to be many people still waiting for rescue. Even if she found a large-scale refuge and explained the situation, it would likely take days before help could arrive.

In the meantime, maintaining the balance in this high-rise was crucial. The plants here required her constant effort to suppress and communicate with, ensuring they remained stable. She couldn’t afford to leave just yet.

Her thoughts drifted back to the massive spaceship she had seen during the Starhouse upgrade. That vessel—perhaps it could hold all of humanity.

She sighed. If only they had a large airborne transport, they could evacuate all two hundred survivors at once.

[If that were the case, you would also be noticed.]

Yu Xi knew that. She was only lamenting the situation. But the thought led her back to a question she had been meaning to ask. The spaceship she had seen in the vision—was it real?

[Yes.]

Yu Xi hesitated before asking, If I’m not mistaken, you once told me that Starhouse does not exist within this planet or this world but rather in overlapping space. So… is Starhouse part of that spaceship? Have I actually bonded with the ship itself? And are the upgrades simply unlocking new sections of it?

[You’re very perceptive. While our ways of understanding the world differ, you’re not entirely wrong.]

Yu Xi’s mind spun. Then the protection my family and I have been receiving—it’s from your ship? That’s where you are?

[Yes.]

Then why haven’t I seen anyone? No… why haven’t I seen any signs of life at all?

[Because there is no life there.]

There was a long silence before Xing Min spoke again.

[Yu Xi, my world also suffered an apocalypse. I am the last survivor of my species.]

That night, long after dinner, Yu Xi was still thinking about those words.

Fan Qi knew she had been busy and didn’t disturb her. Instead, after dinner, she handed Yu Xi a cup of matcha latte and left, giving her space on the rooftop.

Yu Xi leaned back in a lounge chair, gazing out through the glass at the night sky.

She couldn’t imagine it—an entire species wiped out, leaving only one survivor drifting through the endless void of space.

If it were her, if everything she loved—this world, this planet, and all the people on it—ceased to exist, she had no idea how she would go on living.

“Xing Min…” she murmured.

[I’m here.]

Yu Xi didn’t continue. She didn’t know what to say. There was no way to comfort something like that. And maybe Xing Min didn’t need empty words of sympathy.

She just wanted him to know that he wasn’t alone.

Even if they existed in separate dimensions, even if she could never fully understand the world he came from, thanks to Starhouse, at least they could hear each other’s voices.

[…Yes. I can hear you.]

Yu Xi smiled faintly, reached for the retractable screen beside her, and selected a soft, soothing song.

She lay back in the chair, letting the gentle melody lull her into sleep.

Half-asleep, she heard a familiar voice calling from outside Starhouse.

Yu Xi’s eyes snapped open.

“Starhouse… please, I need help…”

It was Shen Qiu.