The women downstairs pricked up their ears, listening intently to the floor above, but after a long while, they still hadn't heard a peep from Taozi.
Puzzled looks appeared on everyone's faces.
He Yushi said in complete confusion, "What's going on? Logically speaking, the main event should have started by now, yet there isn't a single sound?"
Su Xiao shook her head as well. "Could it be that powerful ability users are truly that amazing? Under Liu Yang's intense onslaught, she can actually refrain from making any noise at all?"
Zhang Jingyu said, "Then I want to awaken quickly too! If I awaken as an ability user, does that mean I could still go into Liu Yang's room even if I'm pregnant?"
White Fox smirked. "Dream on! Unless you have a powerful physique like mine and a healing ability to back it up, you can forget about trying to enter his room while pregnant!"
Zhou Keke asked, "Then Sister White Fox, tell us-why is there still no movement upstairs?"
White Fox tilted her head, thought for a moment, and ultimately shook her head. "How should I know? I'm an ability user too, but back then, I certainly wasn't as quiet as this Taozi!"
Seeing how bewildered everyone was, Zhao Lina chimed in, "Alright, alright, let me clear this up for you. There probably won't be any action tonight, so let me explain what's going on.
Besides, what's so fun about listening in anyway? You people have really gotten addicted to eavesdropping!"
Hearing Zhao Lina's words, Wang Siqi scoffed, "Oh, you're one to talk! Every single time, you're the one who gets the most excited!"
Zhao Lina's pretty face flushed red, and she hurriedly denied it. "Don't talk nonsense, I've never been excited! Besides, look at our villa complex. There are so many girls and only one guy, Liu Yang. Do you know what idiom describes this situation?"
"An idiom to describe it?"
The women exchanged confused looks, tilting their heads in thought.
After a moment, He Yushi's eyes lit up. "Could it be 'the yin prospers while the yang declines'?"
Zhao Lina shook her head.
Zhou Keke said with a blushing face, "Is it 'too many monks and too little gruel'?"
Zhao Lina shook her head again.
Su Xiao offered, "'Supply cannot meet demand'?"
Zhao Lina kept shaking her head.
Chen Dan guessed, "'Too many wolves and too little meat'?"
Zhao Lina still shook her head.
"Then what is it? Just tell us!"
"Exactly, stop keeping us in suspense! Everything we said feels completely accurate, yet you say it's wrong! I don't believe you can come up with anything better. Spill it!"
Under everyone's expectant gazes, Zhao Lina grinned slyly. "Hehe, it's 'breasts aplenty, fortune scarce'!"
Everyone froze. "'Breasts aplenty, fortune scarce'? What on earth? How does that describe our situation?"
Zhao Lina nodded firmly. "Of course it does, and it's extremely accurate!"
The women tilted their heads and pondered the wordplay for a second, and then every single one of their faces flushed red.
He Yushi even reached out and pinched Zhao Lina's soft arm. "Ah! Lina, you're so dirty! How crude!"
"Yeah, yeah, you're way too dirty!"
"You really are a little vixen!"
Laughing and shouting, the group playfully tumbled into a chaotic brawl.
......
Upstairs in Liu Yang's room, Taozi was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Liu Yang sat beside her. The two were not doing anything explicit; instead, they were calmly talking.
Liu Yang asked Taozi, "Tell me everything about the Little Japan Empire's intelligence. Give me every detail you know."
Taozi nodded submissively. "Yes, Master!"
She then began revealing all the secrets she possessed.
"The outbreak of the apocalypse was no accident. Half a year ago, the despicable Little Japan Empire developed a genetic drug designed to enhance human capabilities.
During testing, the drug leaked when test subjects escaped from the lab, sparking the zombie outbreak. That was the prototype of the zombie virus."
"Initially, the virus could only spread through blood, so it was still controllable and confined to a small area in the Little Japan Empire. That city was quickly sealed off.
The Little Japan Empire government thought the crisis was under control, but they didn't anticipate that the virus would mutate and evolve to become airborne, rapidly sweeping across the entire empire.
When they realized the virus was out of control, they intentionally began dispersing it across the globe. After all, if their country was going down, they wanted everyone else to die with them.
In truth, small-scale outbreaks had already started worldwide several months ago.
However, when those small-scale outbreaks occurred, various governments secretly agreed to suppress all news of the virus to prevent global panic.
By the time the full-blown global apocalypse hit, the virus had actually been spreading behind closed doors for months."
Having been thoroughly conquered by Liu Yang, Taozi was now completely devoted as his loyal servant.
Every thought in her mind prioritized Liu Yang's interests, which was why she now openly referred to her former homeland as the 'despicable Little Japan Empire.'
Listening to her narrative, Liu Yang's face filled with shock.
"The Little Japan Empire intentionally spread the virus? Small-scale outbreaks were already happening globally months ago, and the truth was simply covered up?"
Taozi nodded. "Yes. Furthermore, ability users had already begun appearing when the virus first emerged.
For instance, Hiyama Yamada-whom Master trampled underfoot-became an ability user several months ago. He has now reached Level 3.
Research indicates that this virus alters human genetics. A large portion of people have their genes corrupted and turn into mindless zombies. A small portion are immune, experiencing no changes at all. An even smaller fraction have their genes enhanced, awakening as ability users."
"Accompanying the emergence of ability users were those mysterious stone steles. Several months ago, a stone stele appeared out of thin air inside the Little Japan Empire's research facility, shocking everyone.
Researchers tried to study it, but they couldn't uncover a single secret. Nothing on Earth could damage the stele-they couldn't even scrape off a speck of dust.
As time passed, more steles began appearing across the country.
Eventually, researchers concluded that steles manifest alongside ability users. When the density of ability users in a given area reaches a certain threshold, a stone stele spontaneously appears..."
"Because of this, the total number of steles around the world is still continuously growing..."
Liu Yang was profoundly astonished. "So even the stone steles appeared long before the apocalypse fully broke out?"
In that moment, Liu Yang truly understood how terrifying the information cocoon surrounding ordinary people really was.
Everything the general public saw and heard was strictly filtered through layer upon layer of censorship.
Ordinary people had zero access to the truth.
Whatever the ruling elite wished to hide, the masses would never know.
That was the tragedy of living at the bottom of the food chain.
They had no idea the zombie virus had been raging for months, and in the end, they died without ever knowing why.