No Time

Chapter 72: Xia Jiayi's Life Story

Sigh, my plan has had several changes now.

Shui Jing got married and had a blood marriage contract done.

And Shui Lai seems so childish.

And the younger sister, Shui Bing is a martial arts tutor. I don't want to be with someone stronger than me. Also, she's taller than me!

My only option, the best one in the first place, is Shui Yu. He's gentle, intelligent, and indulging, he's the best choice and my only choice.

Hehe, I didn't come here for some random reason in the first place.

I came to exact my revenge!

For the back story, hmm...

First off, I must tell my life story.

My "future life", that is.

I was born.

Abandoned as a toddler, I grew up in a large orphanage.

Then, because I was a smart child, I got picked up by a scientist after solving problems and a puzzle he gave me.

When we got to our destination, I met other scientists and kids. They were from all over the world and were very smart.

Compared to them, I was just a normal kid(since being a genius was the norm), just one of many, who got picked up to be an assistant.

The scientist I was picked up by was an elderly man. He was a strange guy, obsessed with genetics. He wasn't like a father, but more like an uncle.

He and others worked to make many projects come true.

Several months after I turned 14, the apocalypse struck.

Many people in our labs were turned into zombies, but nobody besides them was affected.

We had taken cautionary measures and had them contained when strange particles were found on their skin. Also, we wore gloves regularly so nobody touched a potentially zombified person.

Of course, for the red phase, the people who had fallen sick from it were contained too.

After it was found out that the people who woke up and were ok had powers, almost everyone began to start new research while continuing their old ones about this new phenomenon.

We also grieved very much for the scientists and staff who had become zombies and were later disposed of.

Just like how paper can't be turned back into wood, zombies can't turn back into a human being. There were some hard feelings as the zombies were disposed of, but we knew that they weren't the people we once knew.

For some, we cremated them and cleared out a room to place urns -well, substituted by sealed plastic tubs- in. Others, we dissected for research.

There were supplies and food left, plenty of it, enough to last us about 10 years, but it was determined that somebody should go search for more.

More like they wanted a clear situation of the outside.

Obviously, if they were lacking supplies, they could just get out old supplies that just needed to be cleaned a little. And for food, there were plenty of labs that were growing food and animals. Cloned meat was also tastier these days, so it would be ok!

The internet, although cut off, was successfully rebooted somehow and everything was going well.

But the connection to the outside world had been cut. There were cctvs that could be controlled from the base, but they wanted evidence and material. Besides, the renewable energy used to maintain the cctvs and other monitors, wind/sun/water energy, also needed to have maintenance done.

And my "uncle", being the genetic scientist freak he was, opted me for the job.

Thanks a lot.

Anyways, I was sent out to the world, which I hadn't been in contact with since I was... 6? 7? Now that I think about it, that geezer made an elementary schooler work for him! Child labor laws exist for a reason! And I was still 14!

...Ehem, so I received training from the guards for several months. Then some guards with abilities and I began our journey.

We went to a lot of countries and never stayed in a place for more than 3 days.

I kept the scientists at base informed and the whole journey wasn't too bad.

Zombie avoidance powder(made later), mini hydroplane, and more gadgets were helpful.

Since I had been an assistant/helper to practically everyone in the lab, I was able to answer questions to their preferences.

I also came back for at least an hour per week and brought specimens and other things back.

The whole gig was easy now and I had gotten used to life being like this.

One day, like some days, my group came into contact with some people.

But this particular group really wasn't friendly.

To better explain, they wanted to kill me.

Apparently, rumor had gotten around that I was the person behind the apocalypse. I mean, it does look strange for me to go through crowds of zombies easily and do other heroic feats, but this was just framing me blatantly!

After that, whenever I encountered a group of people, we ran away as fast as we could. Since I didn't have powers, the guards carried me and ran away often.

We were never chased actively, but the one time we were chased was our last.

You see, there were nicknames for every powerful ability user.

And one of them was "Angel", Shui Yu's older brother, Shui Jing.

He used to help out others and was a powerful ability user who could fly. There were rumors about him being very filial but later chasing away his parents. It was found out that the rest of his younger siblings had died when he was away on a mission.

He chased away his parents and then went on rampages, hellbent on destroying zombies and mutant creatures all alike.

"Angel" heard that I was the one who had made the apocalypse happen.

Thus, the chase began.

Although he was said to be a straightforward person, he used all kinds of tactics on me.

He used various abilities to set zombies and mutant beasts after me. Zombies I could avoid, using the zombie avoidance powder, but for mutant beasts, it wasn't possible.

Even majority of the guards died.

For me, Shui Jing came to kill me personally.

He didn't say anything but straight up held me up in the air with one hand and choked me. He really was a straightforward man this time.

And while choking me, he started off with his speech.

I was still trying to breathe in air, so I couldn't focus on his words, but I did hear one thing.

"Because of you! Shui Lai was torn into pieces! Shui Bing was sold away! Shui Yu was schemed against! They're all dead now because of you!"

He kept on repeating that and I could only helplessly gurgle while struggling against the terrifying man whose eyes held such powerful grievance and anger.

I was only 26.

I had never roamed the outside world properly, being stuck inside all the time.

When I was sent out, I only saw the shambles of what it once was.

I had never had a proper family.

I had never felt love.

I had never felt joy.

I had only one thing.

Ever-occurring thoughts of what my life was meant for.

Philosophers who I knew always said, "There's a purpose in life, whether it is to make a difference in the world or just exist."

Maybe mine was to just exist and be a helpful assistant in the base.

But I realized that there was also something I didn't have compared to most people.

A goal.

A wish.

A dream.

What did I want? What did I want to become?

They were always decided by others. And I just followed and accepted.

While I was being choked, while I was dying, I could only think to myself, "I want to change. I want to live."

That may have been one of my wishes, but it was the strongest one.

I guess I really wanted to exist.

In the end, surprisingly, after such a long time of revenge(several weeks of being chased), Shui Jing let me go.

I don't know why.

I wonder what he was thinking.

Maybe he actually knew that I didn't start the apocalypse in the first place? But then why would he have chased my group? Anger? Revenge?

I don't know, the human mind is a strange thing.

Well, I had escaped death.

My guards and I quickly returned to the base.

I had been sent out for missions since 14, had spent 12 years outside doing biddings of the geniuses at the base.

When I came back, nobody wanted my job. Even the guards didn't want to go outside. Their payment had been food and supplies, but they quit, saying, "We'd rather starve to death than be associated as the start of the apocalypse. We'll do our jobs, but not outside of the base."

From then on, nobody went outside of the base.

I had no use anymore, so I was supposed to become an assistant again.

But I decided to do something else.

Do my own research!

Now, I had been a fantastic assistant and knew everything the researchers here knew. I had enough experience too.

Everyone said they changed their opinion of me as I began to work around the base everywhere.

Not a normal kid(remember, geniuses are normal). A rather special kid.

With knowledge and experience, I set out to do my own thing.

Building a time machine!

There had been a scientist who had turned into a zombie and was eliminated. He had been working on this project for many years.

He was renowned for providing ideas for a hyperplane and was also working on a teleporter as well.

The teleporter and time machine were both his life goals.

Since I had been his assistant, I already knew the parts that were done and the parts that needed progress.

After making and solving theories, proving them right, with the help of engineers, we built a time machine.

The time machine could only return to the past, and it couldn't take your body physically, only your mind.

So, there really couldn't be any test subjects, because if one did go, the future would change and it might result in no time machine at all.

I set the date to the day I met this "uncle" of mine and entered the machine.

Next thing I knew, I woke up with a terrible headache.

The result was somewhat unexpected.

The time I had spent in my "past life" were all remembered, but my mentality was of my 6-year-old self.

So, it's kind of like, a 6-year-old gets this dream of his future self, and acknowledges that things in the dream are going to happen, but he's still a kid so he doesn't know what to feel?

Terrible description, but that was basically it.

The 6-year-old me couldn't hope to comprehend the stress and emotions of my 26-year-old mind.

Right now, I am a 15-year-old, and I feel like a 15-year-old. I just happen to have another self's memories and feelings in my head. That doesn't mean I'm the same.

For the rest of my back story, since I had gone back to the day where I met my "uncle", I stupified him with my extensive knowledge I got from my other-self.

I got adopted and spent 9 glorious years of being the base's boss. They all had to beg me to get some of my knowledge. I was revered, adored, and showered with care. I had bodyguards because nobody would allow any harm to me. I was kept in the base and wasn't allowed outside just because they found me so precious.

The me in my "other life" knew how to do things, and I had memories of doing things like cleaning up, cooking, and other stuff, but this time I didn't have the experience. Of course, having the memories served useful, but it was like watching videos but not being able to do it.

When the apocalypse started, the quarantine and everything else went the same as before. And they started to discuss of sending a person outside.

This time, I volunteered myself.

There were outcries.

They wanted to send anybody else but me.

I threatened them with blowing the whole place up.

Teehee, I had installed bombs everywhere. And besides that, as a precautionary measure, I had viruses coded onto every device that would destroy all the data from researches.

And I could activate both of them at any time.

So, they reluctantly sent me with a lot of bodyguards.

They asked me why I wanted to go out.

I replied honestly, "For revenge!"

It was fun seeing them so confused.

I was a different me, but I did have the other me's memories.

In other words, I wanted revenge for my other self!

This Shui Jing would definitely have to be punished! Muahahaha!

And I had the best revenge method in my mind!

There was an assistant I knew when I first came to the base.

I asked for the best revenge method.

He was a young man and was in a state of mourning as his girlfriend had broken up with him.

He told me, "You know, love hurts the most. I mean! Why'd she have to break up with me?! I gave her the most expensive clothes! Jewelry and shoes she wanted all became hers! Am I not handsome enough? Don't I care for her a lot? What's with her?"

He then went on about all the stuff he did for his ex-girlfriend and began to cry his eyes out.

I was disgusted by him sobbing with snot flying.

I took a long look at his disheveled figure and his dirty room.

I declared one thing in my mind.

I will never become like this man.

Love makes people stupid. It hurts, so why do people go so far for it?

I left the young man left to his own sobfest and kept the lesson I learned in my heart.

Even after 9 years, I had kept it in my heart. Especially after the young man left the base as his work progress became nonexistent.

This Shui Jing, I would exact revenge on him in the most painful way possible!

My bodyguards and I flew to China on an improved mini-hyperplane and landed near a city.

My bodyguards were pretty strong as they were all ability users and I had taught them methods to strengthen their abilities and techniques for each ability.

We came into a base and I ditched my bodyguards.

Well, ditch isn't the right word.

They knew where I was going and I could make them come find me any time.

I had a tracking device installed on my back. I couldn't even feel it.

I found a group of people who were planning to escape the base and went with them.

They were apparently escaping because they were being forced to work.

I wanted to laugh but held it inside.

It was the apocalypse, who cared if they were forced to work? As long as they lived with good accommodations, weren't people happy?

Sure, maybe these pharmaceutical scientists thought they were bigshots and couldn't die. They were nothing compared to the people at my base!

They even brought along some people who were normal humans out with them, as if they took pity!

I, Xia Jiayi, being the great person I am, acted perfectly.

I acted sympathetically and "ditched" my bodyguards and led the group to the mountains, the nearest shortcut to another base.

We traveled quickly during the day and stayed hidden during the night to avoid zombies and other creatures.

The mountain though was burning hot during the day, so we traveled in the night.

And then we got found out by Shui Yu.

I was only traveling to gain some news of Shui Jing, but who knew I'd find news of him so suddenly!

I really am awesome, heh.

But even if I did find out where he was, my plan wouldn't work.

The dude got himself married!

Ugh!

My Love-kills plan was something I had been strategizing for more than 9 years! I couldn't let it go!

So I decided to set my targets to his family members.

Shui Yu was a great person, an intellectual. His first impression was that of a striking beauty who was cold-blooded and aiming only for benefits. But as I entered his office, he saw me as a young child and put down his barriers. He was a good and kind person. I could see that he just wanted to make his base better.

Shui Lai, after taking one look at him, it wasn't good. He was so childish! And he was supposed to be older than me!

And for Shui Bing, I found out that she was taller than the current me! I don't want a girlfriend like that!

Hm, sure, I'd grow up to be tall, taller than Shui Yu, but still!

And Shui Bing was stronger than me! Even in my other life, surviving in the apocalypse and receiving training from guards, I was a normal human!

My type isn't a rash, stupid brute!

Even if I wanted to exact my revenge plan, I wouldn't torture myself with such an unruly person!

In the end, my best and only option was Shui Yu.

Sigh, it felt bad to ruin a man who was such a nice person, but for my revenge, I'd do anything!