(Borean Province- New Lornto City)
(Inner District- K's Supermart)
"Please… leave us alone…" a woman pleaded desperately as she stretched out her arms and tried to hide the shivering children behind her.
In front of the supermarket were ten men each holding plain steel pipes or home-made knives whose edges gleamed under the sunlight.
The leader of the group had a savage grin on his face as his eyes lustfully roamed up and down the woman's body.
"Boys… I get first taste today…" the man licked his lips as he spoke. He held out his right palm and a beam of energy erupted from his fingertips.
The glass door that blocked the entrance to the supermarket instantly shattered and shards of glass flew in the air.
The children screamed and woman felt a cold sinking feeling in her chest. She knew what was about to happen next.
There was nothing that she could do except close her eyes and pray that the ability user would kill her after he was finished instead of the alternative.
What would they do to the children?
Qu Ying did not even want to imagine because she knew that some thugs actually had a preference for the young.
She closed her eyes as the man walked inside the supermarket and headed for her location.
One minute passed in complete silence and she could hear nothing except the scared whimpering of the children behind her body.
Two minutes passed and... nothing happened.
Qu Ying hesitantly opened her eyes and saw every single member of the gang standing completely motionless with a glazed look in their eyes.
They seemed lifeless… almost like puppets… wait…
"Puppet master?!" Qu Ying called out excitedly as she had heard stories about an ability user with a certain gift.
She was a mysterious figure who protected the weak and killed those who used their abilities to harm the innocent.
Some considered her a legend but too many stories and verified reports by numerous witnesses meant that there was some truth to the tales.
Qu Ying continued shouting but the mysterious puppet master never showed up. She eventually bowed her head in a random direction and yelled out thanks in a grateful voice.
In the distance a woman smiled gently as she leaned against her partner and gazed at the setting sun.
The woman was not particularly attractive and yet there was an aura of power and authority surrounding her body that was hard to ignore.
The pair were sitting down in an armoured car that was outfitted with a gun turret on its hood as well as blades attached to its side.
Qin Lan focused on the black threads connected to her mind and implanted a series of orders in the heads of the men who attempted to attack the innocent woman and her children.
Now they would become the woman and her children's loyal guardian knights…
After ten years of living in the apocalypse, Qin Lan's mastery of her ability was quite impressive, and she no longer needed to break the minds of those she used it on.
She glanced at the warm body pressed against hers and saw Eve smiling at her with a loving glint in her eyes.
Eve's appearance had remained unchanged by the passing of time. While Qin Lan had a few grey hairs and wrinkles, Eve was still as lovely as ever.
"What are you looking at?" Eve said teasingly as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against her lover's.
"No… I'm just worried that when I grow old, you'll find someone younger than me," Qin Lan pouted as she teased her girlfriend.
"Never," Eve replied solemnly as she played with Qin Lan's fingertips.
The zombie empress never told her favourite human that she did not plan to live forever even though her body was most likely immortal.
On the day of Qin Lan's death, she planned to shatter her own crystal core so that she would pass away with the love of her life.
"Come we still have one more base to raid for the day and then we can call it a night," Qin Lan grinned cheerfully as she placed her hand on the steering wheel.
She didn't expect to become a vigilante hero, but it was honestly a good way to live.
Travelling around the country with her lover and killing the pieces of shit who tarnished the name of humanity.
Puppet master, Gifted Killer, Huntress, Angel of Death…
There were many nicknames that Qin Lan had acquired and her bounty in several major cities had gone up to two thousand crystals.
She was a thorn in the side of many powerful figures who believed that their gifts gave them the right to control the masses.
"Let's not leave just yet…" Eve whispered softly. Qin Lan pressed the brakes and the car shuddered to a stop.
The zombie empress opened the car door and walked around the car to Qin Lan's side. She held out her hand and Qin Lan gladly took it.
The cool feeling of her girlfriend's palm brought a strange sense of comfort and familiarity to her heart.
She never did find the villainess of this plane, but things seemed to be moving in a far more stable direction than the one in the original Qin Lan's life.
Perhaps due to the butterfly effect, the villainess who destroyed this world had not been created or born.
Eve led her girlfriend to a still standing building neatly tucked away behind a large tree whose leaves casted long shadows on the ground.
After ten years, nature had reclaimed large areas inside major cities, and it was strange to see forests growing where was once busy highways and roads.
It would take many generations for humanity to reach the level of societal and technological progress that they possessed before the end times had begun.
Qin Lan tossed those dark thoughts to the back of her mind as Eve entered the building and walked up a flight of stairs.
"Where are you taking me?" Qin Lan laughed as she played with Eve's fingers.
"It's a surprise…" the zombie empress replied with a smirk on her face.
The pair eventually arrived at a plain wooden door which Eve opened with a simple twist of her left hand.
The door opened to reveal a mostly empty room with a table and two chairs in the center.
The table was covered with an expensive cloth and a candle, and two roses were present on top of the fabric.
"What is this?" Qin Lan exclaimed in shock as she turned to her girlfriend and saw Eve get down on one knee.
Tears welled up in Qin Lan's eyes as she could tell what was about to happen next.
"Qin Lan… will you marry…" Eve's voice was interrupted by a loud shriek that left her girlfriend's mouth.
"YES!" Qin Lan cried out as she sobbed tears of joy. She wrapped her arms tightly around Eve's body and kissed her firmly on the lips.
"Wait you didn't let me fini…mphhh!" Eve could not continue the rest of her speech as her lover's lips kept pressing against hers.
Many years later Eve would look back at the moment when she had first met Qin Lan and would thank the gods that this human had entered her life.
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(Many years in the future…)
(Heurn Province- St. Joseph High School)
"No one knows how the apocalypse begun nor how it ended…" a middle-aged teacher explained to a class of interested students.
"It is said that the humans of that era developed supernatural powers and were capable of performing feats of strength that would seem impossible."
"But then why does no one have an ability today?" a curious student asked.
"No one knows… it is said that eighty years after the apocalypse begun there was an enormous wave of energy and the enhanced humans lost their powers," the teacher replied calmly.
"One unreliable witness claims that he saw a zombie destroy its own core while holding the corpse of an elderly woman."
"Of course, we may never know the real truth…"
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