Shen Xuan: "So, daughter, we have something we want to ask you. I hope you answer honestly."
They had already adapted to the situation, even if their daughter had delusions because of RPG.
None of it sounded poorly written, and the situation felt very real.
Including Ye Chen…
Thinking about Ye Chen, Shen Xuan vaguely felt killing intent.
But it was well hidden.
Then he asked the question again with a smile.
Shen Xuan: "First of all, what were you planning to do if there hadn't been an apocalypse?"
Shen Bing: "I would live my life trying to increase this world's entertainment limit. At the beginning, I planned to plagiarize famous works."
"From my previous world to increase the family's income, but I found out there was no reason for that."
"And I remembered I don't have photographic memory, so I didn't want to ruin masterpieces."
"At most, I would try to create concepts using theirs to inspire authors so that someone might end up creating them on their own."
Shen Bing and Xiao Yu: "Yeah, nothing changed." (x2)
They looked at each other and laughed together.
Shen Bing was already used to her parents' synchronization, so she didn't even mind anymore.
Shen Xuan: "Second question. You were betrayed, right? Do you know the reason?"
Shen Bing: "No, and I don't understand why I was betrayed. However, I didn't have any emotional bond with them."
"So I didn't care when I killed all the beings of the Xia Empire."
"At most, someone must have set me up and offered them huge benefits."
"Because aside from Ye Chen, even though we didn't have a good relationship, I never had any conflicts with the others."
Shen Xuan: "I see, I see."
He was a little surprised by his daughter's coldness, but not that much. Ten years in the apocalypse change many people.
Shen Bing looked normal on the outside, but he knew it was only because they were family. That included the servants.
Xiao Yu: "Daughter, the third question comes from mommy now."
"About the shop owner or golden god you mentioned… is he a man?"
Shen Bing: "Yes, I think so. Even wearing a mask, he didn't change his voice."
Xiao Yu: "Alright. And your relationship with him?"
Shen Bing: "It should be considered good. It seems we have the same hobbies, though I'm not sure about RPG."
"But we have the same issues regarding fanfic combat power levels."
"So at least in that aspect, we confirmed we share the same hobbies."
Xiao Yu: "Alright, last question. Does he show any dislike or displeasure toward you?"
Shen Bing: "No. He doesn't treat me with indifference, but he doesn't seem very excited either."
(Vicente is kind of apathetic.)
Xiao Yu: "Alright, that was the last question."
Shen Xuan: "Okay, daughter, we understand. But can you show us the 'system'?"
Shen Bing: "I don't think so… ah, there is this function, actually."
"There's a function to show others and another to hide it."
With that, Shen Bing clicked the function and set it to display to the outside world.
A beam of light came out of Shen Bing's eye and formed a holographic projection of the system.
Visible to anyone she chose, it floated in front of the Shen parents.
They looked at everything, from the item list, talents, stat increases, and so on.
And they were dazzled.
But the points didn't help them. The zero was enormous.
Shen Xuan: "Daughter, how do we gain points?"
Xiao Yu also wanted to know.
Shen Bing: "It seems that according to the information I have, it's about changing the future, whether of the world or of people."
"Unfortunately, we can't change the fate of the apocalypse because it was a decision made by the world."
"We can only change people's fates."
With that, she gave a chilling smile.
She was someone who held grudges.
And the reason for explaining all this was because she needed help from her parents' intelligence network.
With them, it was easy to find whoever she wanted.
Unfortunately, aside from Ye Chen and five other SSS-level talents, she didn't know where the others were.
It seemed they all hid their identities or simply didn't want to be associated with their past.
Like the poisoner. If she found him, she swore she would go after him.
After all, that was one of the main reasons she failed.
"So, father, mother, I need your help. I don't know about the others, but these six I can identify using descriptions and photos."
"If you find them, kidnap them cleanly and please leave them alive. They still have use."
"I can grow stronger through my innate talent by killing them."
Shen Xuan: "Alright. If the descriptions are correct, I'll have photos taken. You can identify them among the people, and then we'll bring them."
Xiao Yu: "They just need to be alive, right?"
Shen Bing: "Yes. As long as they're alive."
She felt a bit strange about that question but didn't think too much.
Her parents were very calm people, and unlike the rich rulers in online stories, they were very "human."
But she forgot that even a poor father could go crazy for someone who tried to hurt his daughter.
Let alone a family just below the Emperor.
Shen Bing: "Alright, parents. This one is the easiest to find."
"And also the last one for now."
"She was an orphan who grew up in an orphanage. When the apocalypse happened, she gained an SSS-level defense talent."
"She was my first and most loyal subordinate. I treated her like a sister, but she…"
(Betrayal again?) the two thought at the same time.
"She sacrificed herself to block a fatal attack for me…"
"We lived together for two years. She treated herself like a subordinate, but I treated her like a sister."
"When we met, it was one week after the beginning of the apocalypse."
"She was abandoned by the orphanage survivors."
"To be used as a distraction for the zombies."
"They ran away while she was being devoured."
"But she didn't expect the zombies wouldn't be able to damage her skin."
"So the zombies gave up and ran after the orphanage survivors."
"They couldn't run faster than the zombies, so they were devoured."
"She had to watch everything. She was only eight years old, mom."
"A child had to watch people she knew being eaten."
"Even if she didn't like them, it wasn't something a child should have to see."
"When we met, she was starving. I didn't know why, but…"
"When I saw her, I had an impulsive urge to adopt her as my sister."
"I saved her by feeding her. Since then, she called me 'master.'"
"Even later, when she called me big sister, I knew she still saw me as her master."
"I even asked why she called me that, and she said she saw it in an old book."
"So I gave up trying to force the idea that she wasn't my subordinate, and she continued calling me big sister."
Her parents listened silently to their daughter's story because they realized this person was very important to her.
"We spent good times together. I discovered her past and that she lived in an abusive orphanage."
"They mistreated the children. Not only her, others suffered too."
"Hunger, lack of education, lack of safety and hygiene."
"As long as they didn't die, that was already considered good."
Xiao Yu: "Wait… there are still orphanages that actually think like that?"
She had to interrupt her daughter for a moment to clear her doubts.
Shen Bing: "Yes. According to her story."
Shen Xuan: "Then do you remember the name?"
Shen Bing: "Yes. The name was Monte Claro Orphanage."
Shen Xuan: "There really are people who ignore the imperial law and commit such atrocities…"
"Alright, daughter, continue the story."
Shen Bing: "So we spent good times together, some dangerous and some happy."
"We killed monsters, leveled up, and I had a great meat shield on the team."
"She defended, I attacked with ice, and we were amazing until…"
"That damned day…"
She spoke in a heavy tone. Clearly, it wasn't a good memory.
"It was just another normal hunting day, but we didn't expect to encounter a mutant."
"It was a wolf mutation that looked like a Cerberus."
"It had fire all over its body, it was pitch black, and it had three heads."
"I wasn't a match for it. It was the strongest zombie I had encountered in years."
(The first one was my parents.)
Obviously, she wouldn't say that out loud.
"I used every method and only managed to make it lose its breath."
"The difference in strength later could be measured as several levels apart."
"But when it was about to kill me, suddenly she jumped in front of me, and after years of only defending, she severely injured the beast."
"As a result, her body wasn't fine, since Cerberus counterattacked, and surprisingly…"
"For the first time in her life, she got injured."
"Even though I managed to kill Cerberus because of her help, I couldn't feel happy at all."
"I remember the situation clearly…"
She spoke in a deep tone, as if she had returned to that scene.
(Memories)
Shen Bing: "No!!!!"
She didn't care about the Cerberus's corpse or its core and quickly ran to the girl.
She held her in her arms, but more and more blood kept falling.
There was a long scratch running from her neck down to her legs.
A lot of blood was flowing. Shen Bing tried to freeze it, but it was useless.
The bleeding carried strong fire attributes. She couldn't neutralize the fire or stop the wound with ice.
"Don't do this to me… please don't…"
Shen Bing spoke in an urgent, pleading tone.
"I can't lose you. I've already lost everything, my parents and my relatives."
"Xuer, please don't die. Look at me, look into my eyes."
"You'll be fine. I can definitely bring you back."
She kept forcing the wound to freeze, but the attribute of her talent wasn't strong enough.
As she spoke, tears began to fall from her eyes.
The child named Xuer reached out and touched Shen Bing's face.
With tears on her face, she spoke.
"Sorry… big sister…"
"It seems… I can't fulfill… my promise…"
She spoke with difficulty, but the closer she got to death,
the smoother her words became, along with a sense of relief.
She wasn't afraid of dying. She only felt sad that she couldn't stay with her big sister anymore.
"But… I feel happy, big sister…"
"You know… the two years I spent with you were the best years of my life."
"When you fed me and saved me from starving to death…"
"I swore I would repay you someday, sister…"
Shen Bing: "Stop, Xuer, stop talking…"
"Sister, I don't regret blocking that attack for you. If I could go back…"
"I would still make the same choice without hesitation."
"Sacrificing my life to save yours is worth it."
"If you can stay safe, I would gladly die. If there's something I regret…"
"It's that you'll be alone without me…"
"Sorry again for not being able to stay with you…"
"Don't be sad for me because, sister…"
"Sister, I love you."
With that, her hand fell to the ground, and the light in her eyes disappeared forever…
"No… no… no… why, Xuer!!!"
She screamed at the sky and let out a heart-breaking cry.
"Noooo!!!"
Returning to reality, Shen Bing's eyes could no longer hold back the tears.
"Xuer was just about to turn ten."
"Her birthday was next week. She was only ten years old, mom. You know, she was so adorable and sensible."
"But because of my incompetence…"
She couldn't hold herself back anymore and started crying right there.
Tears streamed down her face and her eyes turned red.
Remembering this situation wasn't pleasant at all, especially because she had already been holding back her tears.
Her mother quickly stood up and hugged her.
Comforting her daughter, she said:
Xiao Yu: "It's okay, daughter, it's okay. It's already over."
"She wouldn't blame you, so why would you blame yourself?"
"And remember, she's alive now, and we can go find her and take care of her."
Shen Bing: "I know, mom, but I can't stop crying. I couldn't save anyone I wanted to save."
"You, my uncles who raised me, and even my adoptive sister."
"I couldn't save anyone… I'm really a useless person…"
With that, she continued crying loudly.
Xiao Yu just hugged her silently and let her cry.
Until Shen Bing fell asleep in her mother's arms from crying so much.
Just like in her childhood, when she used to fall asleep in her mother's arms after going out.
(End of chapter)