(Xyrean Province- The Mermaid's Lake)
(Forested Outskirts- The Edge Of The Lake)
Qin Lan took in a deep breath and gently exhaled. Bright rays of sunlight brushed against her face as she tilted her head upwards.
There was a cool breeze blowing through the forest and one could hear the melodic chirps of songbirds in the treetops.
It was a beautiful day.
Eve sat down next to her favourite human and rested her head against her shoulder. The zombie empress stretched out her hand and played with Qin Lan's fingers.
She had missed this. There was not a second that had gone by when she was separated from Qin Lan when she did not think about her favourite human.
"Eve… do you have any goals or desires?" Qin Lan curiously asked.
"Stay with you," Eve immediately replied.
"No… I mean… is there anything that you want?" Qin Lan softly whispered, and her breath fell on Eve's cheeks.
Eve shook her head because she was perfectly happy.
Truthfully unlike Subject 001, Eve had no grand ambitions of leading an army of 'new humans' to conqueror the world and declare herself as the leader of this apocalyptic era.
Nor did she wish to end humanity or destroy all life on Earth.
Honestly if it weren't for meeting Qin Lan, Eve was sure that she would have probably travelled to a rural province and spent the rest of her life in solitude.
She had already accomplished her goal of killing all the scientists, soldiers, and researchers who were responsible for her years of torture so there was nothing else that she wanted to do.
Well except for one thing…
Eve smiled warmly as she turned her head and kissed Qin Lan's lips lovingly. The sweet taste of her favourite human's lips was incredibly addicting.
Qin Lan's eyes widened in surprise but then she kissed Eve back with fiery passion.
Honestly Qin Lan could not believe that such a gorgeous woman was in love with her, and it made her feel quite giddy.
Finally, she broke off the kiss and looked into Eve's eyes that were filled with love and affection that made Qin Lan's heart skip a beat.
"Don't look… don't look at me like that," Qin Lan said with uncharacteristic shyness.
Eve grinned before leaning forward to capture her favourite human's lips a second time.
Time seemed to slow down as all Qin Lan could feel was Eve's soft body as it leaned further against her chest.
They kissed for what seemed like hours even though it was probably a few minutes before Eve finally drew back.
A fierce red blush was present on Qin Lan's face, and she quickly walked to the edge of the lake to prevent Eve from seeing just how embarrassed she was.
The gentle sound of waves crashing against the shore helped to clear Qin Lan's mind. She picked up a small stone that was near her foot and flung it at the water.
Plop!
Unfortunately, it did not skip like she planned but instead sank to the lake's floor with a dull splash.
Qin Lan grabbed another smooth pebble and tried again. This time all she did was create a loud splash that flung droplets of water against her face.
Alright… clearly, she did not know how to skip stones.
Eve leaned against a nearby tree and was just content to watch her favourite human as she turned around and walked towards the backpack on the ground.
Inside the backpack was the collection of purplish-black crystals that Eve had accumulated after killing numerous zombies on the way to Xyrean Province.
"Wait… Eve don't you need to absorb crystals to get stronger?" Qin Lan asked curiously as she picked up the backpack.
"No… my body naturally seems to get more powerful by the day. I'm actually not sure what is the reason," Eve truthfully admitted.
Qin Lan furrowed her brows and mused thoughtfully.
Maybe there would be information inside the secret military base about the experiments that had been done to Eve.
Perhaps there would even be something that they could use to put an end to the apocalypse although Qin Lan did not feel very hopeful.
She walked over to the edge of the lake and slowly unzipped the backpack. She reached inside and took out one of the crystals that was caked in dried blood and chunks of flesh.
It looked very disgusting, but Qin Lan had grown immune to revolting sights after experiencing multiple zombie encounters.
She lowered her palms into the water and then used the liquid to clean the crystal carefully. It took a few minutes but finally the crystal was spotless.
Qin Lan placed the cleaned crystal on the grass and then reached inside the backpack for another one.
The process repeated for a few hours until the sun was now hanging in the middle of the sky and beads of sweat ran down her brow.
Eve was next to her and would occasionally brush the sweat away using the clean white handkerchief in her palm.
"Sister Lan?" a voice quietly called out.
Qin Lan turned around and saw Gong Li and Liu Yifei standing at the edge of the forest with hesitant looks on their faces.
"Come over… I have some crystals for you to absorb," Qin Lan shouted as she raised up her hand and gave a small wave.
Her relaxed attitude helped to calm down both girls who were still feeling a bit nervous as they stared at Eve.
Liu Yifei walked over with Gong Li following close behind. Qin Lan smiled as she saw the sweet interaction between the pair.
Hopefully in the near future, Gong Li would work up the courage to respond to her feelings and confess to her friend.
"Did you get a good night's sleep?" Qin Lan asked gently as she took out another crystal and began to clean it.
"Yeah… I'm sorry that we oversleep," Gong Li apologised sincerely.
"No, it's okay. You were both up pretty late last night so that's why I didn't want to wake you all up this morning," Qin Lan explained calmly.
"Here you go Liu Yifei…"
Qin Lan handed over one of the cleaned crystals to the beautiful teenage girl who took it from her palm.
"Thank you, sister Lan," Liu Yifei said gratefully but she looked at the crystal with a conflicted look on her face.
Absorbing the crystals was such a painful process that honestly there was a part of her that wished that she didn't have to.
Liu Yifei hesitate for a moment and then a determined expression flashed across her face. She opened her mouth and quickly tossed the crystal inside before snapping her fingers.
An opened bottle of water appeared out of thin air, and she quickly took two large mouthfuls of water.
The crystal entered her body and immediately the fierce pain made Liu Yifei collapse on the ground with a dull groan.
Fuck… this was painful…
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m