At the moment the vibe came out, not only did the high-leveled zombies in All Beings Base sense it, some others had sensed it too vaguely.
At the bottom of the lake, Lin Qiao's body was filled with interweaving energies inside the sphere of energy. The dark marks on her skin absorbed those energies, and the energy from the lake had been purifying them, before being sent into her brain.
Before dawn, Wu Chengyue looked at the time: it was only a few minutes to six. He got up and tidied the bedroom, then turned and walked into the kitchen to prepare food for the kids.
By the door, Duan Juan was standing there in a military suit. Beside her were Shen Yujen in a suit, Six, and Nine. Six stood by the wall expressionlessly, merging into the background, while Nine was staring straight at Duan Juan. He moved a foot slightly forward, then backward, then forward again.
Duan Juan gave him a cold glance, but didn't say anything.
A short while later, Duan Juan looked at her watch: it was already six. However, nothing was heard from the apartment yet. Normally, Lin Qiao would prepare herself and leave home slightly earlier than the time she set for leaving.
Duan Juan made eye-contact with Shen Yujen, then raised a hand and prepared to knock on the door. But, footsteps were heard abruptly from the apartment, coming near the door. So, she paused briefly and then dropped her hand.
Soon, the door was opened. However, the one who opened the door wasn't her boss, but was her boss's… man?
"Come in and have a seat. She might be in some kind of situation right now," Wu Chengyue opened the door and said to Duan Juan, then turned and headed back to the kitchen, leaving the four at the door feeling confused.
'Situation? No way… She was a zombie. Even her zombie body couldn't take it?'
Knowing that Wu Chengyue was in Lin Qiao's place last night, Duan Juan immediately pictured an indescribable scene in her head. She thought that was the reason why Lin Qiao couldn't get up in the morning.
Shen Yujen and Six had sensed the scents of Wu Chengyue and Wu Yueling long ago. So, they weren't surprised to see the man. They didn't sense their Chief's scent from Wu Chengyue's body, so they weren't thinking what Duan Juan was thinking about. They were only wondering what the situation Wu Chengyue mentioned was.
Their Chief's vibe didn't exist in the room.
"Chief is in the space," Six abruptly said a few words. After that, he walked into the apartment.
Hearing him, Duan Juan glanced at him and then followed him in. Chief was in her space. So, the situation wasn't caused by sleeping together with Chief Wu. What was it, then?
Whatever it was, they had to wait.
Nine was the last one to come in. He first looked at the kitchen, then at the guest room. He recognized Wu Chengyue's vibe that was coming from the kitchen. His vibe was too strong. Apart from his vibe, Nine had also sensed a tempting scent from the guest room. Could he eat the source of that scent?
At that moment, the marks on Lin Qiao's body had been growing larger and thicker while her nucleus inside her brain had been growing larger and larger as well. At the same time, its color had also started to change.
When she absorbed her original black nucleus, her nucleus didn't turn black; instead, it was gray. It was lusterless, as if it had absorbed all the lights and grown a shell.
The nuclei of the other level-seven zombies would normally change colors according to their powers and glow brightly. Unlike those nuclei, her nucleus seemed to be wrapped in something.
But now, as she had entered the level of zombie emperors, her nucleus finally became dark and dazzling, with a bright light shining out of it.
The marks on her skin grew thicker and thicker until her skin turned entirely black. At that very moment, the energy contained in her nucleus suddenly erupted and then immediately shrank back into her brain through the spot between her eyebrows.
At the same time, the darkness on her skin quickly vanished, turning her skin white and flawless again.
Lin Qiao opened her eyes which were purely dark. The darkness was flowing in her eyes, seeming about to spill out of her eye sockets. Because of the nature of her power, her pupils were dark, merging with the darkness of her eyes. Those eyes of her were weirdly black like a pair of blackholes.
She blinked her eyes, after which, the darkness in her eyes quickly faded, showing the white parts.
She raised her head and looked around. The green energy around her quickly spread to every corner of the lake.
She slightly moved her legs and showed up at the water surface a second later. Gently, she stepped on the water surface and walked toward the lakeside step by step, her body wrapped in the dark fire.
She didn't notice that all kinds of plants sprouted from the soil at the bottom of the lake after she came up to the surface.
By the lakeside, she got dressed and then looked at the time: it was already half-past six. She was half an hour late.
She glanced at the zombies who were standing before her house in a straight line, and Mo Yan and his zombie girl, who were on the balcony. She slightly nodded at them to greet to them.
In the next second, she turned and disappeared from the space.
Looking at where she disappeared from, Mo Yan curved his lips in a wicked smile, then turned and walked back into his room.
Lin Qiao showed up in the living room, then found a field training suit from her space and put it on, tying her super long hair at the back of her head. After that, she picked up the file folder from the couch and walked out.
"Congratulations. I think it went well!" Wu Chengyue was serving the breakfast. Seeing Lin Qiao, he was finally relieved and the smile on his face grew bigger.
"Chief, congratulations for the successful upgrade!" Duan Juan, Shen Yujen, and Six stood up from the couch together and congratulated Lin Qiao in one voice.
Duan Juan was a little excited. After all, Lin Qiao was the first level-eight leader of the base. She was a zombie emperor, and she was strong.
Lin Qiao was Duan Juan's boss and army friend, so the latter was sincerely happy for her.
Shen Yujen was also happy to know that Lin Qiao had broken into level-eight. The pressure that she could sense from the latter had grown stronger than before, but she also felt safe standing near the powerful being.
Six wasn't very close to Lin Qiao. However, he had been under her command for a whole year. Lin Qiao made him feel safe; therefore, he was also congratulating her sincerely as well.
Unlike the others, Nine was looking at Lin Qiao unhappily. He silently moved away from her and hid in a corner, trying to make himself invisible.
"Thank you! We are half an hour late because of me. I am very sorry. Let's go now!" Lin Qiao smiled at Duan Juan and Six, then glanced at Wu Chengyue. She didn't say anything to him, but turned and walked into the room of Teng and Wu Yueling.
Teng and Wu Yueling were lying on the bed side by side. Lin Qiao walked to the bedside and first rubbed Wu Yueling's hair, then bent over and kissed Teng on the head. After that, she left the room, nodding at Duan Juan and Six.
"Let's go!" While speaking, she handed the file folder to Shen Yujen, then walked out of her apartment. But before leaving, she turned and gave Wu Chengyue another glance.