Although Mingyue and Ji Shiyou lived through three lives and three worlds,
accumulating nearly eighty years of time,
only three months had passed on Planet Tianlong.
Ren Jian and the others didn't even know that Mingyue and Ji Shiyou had died.
But in these short three months, much had changed, and the world was unrecognizable.
The entire world had experienced a second apocalypse, even more terrifying than the last.
The previous time, there were only zombies and mutated plants and animals.
But humanity had evolved supernatural abilities and the capacity to fight back.
They could eke out an existence and survive, barely.
This time, facing such a brutal survival environment,
humanity had lost its supernatural abilities and was completely unable to resist.
Survival was impossible, and extinction was only a matter of time.
This world, apart from the Chaos Beasts,
would not harbor any life. The destruction of the world was inevitable.
Knowing that all her team members had perished, Mingyue's heart ached.
But not hearing any news of Bajiu, she couldn't help but ask.
Although Bajiu was a zombie, he shared the bloodline of the Wu clan with her.
In Mingyue's heart, Bajiu was like her own younger brother.
Now that everyone else was dead and Bajiu was nowhere to be seen, Mingyue naturally cared about his fate.
"Alas! Without Bajiu, everyone would have frozen to death long ago.
But he, it's no different from being dead!
He's right there, protecting everyone even in death."
Ren Jian sighed deeply and got up.
He pointed to a corner of the cave, showing Mingyue and Ji Shiyou.
Most of the people in the cave were gathered there.
Mingyue walked over, and as she approached the corner, she felt a growing warmth.
It was as if an air conditioner was running there, radiating heat.
Seeing her approach, everyone made way.
Mingyue reached the corner and felt the warmth intensify, reaching above freezing.
A round stone block, about half a person's height, was emitting heat.
"This is, Bajiu!"
As soon as she neared the crimson stone emitting warmth,
Mingyue felt her Wu clan bloodline stir.
This was Bajiu's aura. She immediately sent her divine sense deep into the stone.
She saw that the stone was hollow, like an egg.
Bajiu was curled up inside, his eyes closed, devoid of breath.
"What exactly happened? Why has Bajiu become like this?"
Bajiu was originally a zombie king, with no signs of life.
But after multiple evolutions, he had developed human emotions.
And before Mingyue's self-detonation, he had a heartbeat and breath, these human characteristics.
He had become infinitely close to a human child, but now, all these life signs had vanished.
Seeing Bajiu, who resembled a corpse, Mingyue anxiously sought the reason.
"Although we have this shelter, which can ward off the external cold,
the temperature is dropping day by day. Before everyone's supernatural abilities disappeared,
we could barely hold on and avoid freezing to death.
But since the Elemental Storm, everyone lost their abilities.
Inside the cave, it's minus thirty degrees Celsius. We simply cannot survive.
That child Bajiu didn't want everyone to freeze to death.
His fire element ability is gone, but somehow he found a way.
He turned himself into this stone that emits heat.
He's like an air conditioner in the cave, and that's how we've managed to hold on.
But recently, the heat released is decreasing, and it won't last for many more days."
Ren Jian walked over and said with grief.
He was completely different from the carefree and flippant person he used to be.
The second apocalypse had changed him greatly.
He had become serious. Not just him,
but all the survivors who had lived through both apocalypses had changed.
They learned to share and be grateful, they learned unity.
Even when food was scarce, no one hoarded.
Instead, they pooled their last bits of food together,
distributing it fairly, one bite at a time, prioritizing the injured, the elderly, and the children.
Just like earlier, when Mingyue produced food,
if it had been at the beginning of the apocalypse, there would have been a scramble.
Perhaps there would have been fights and even killings over the food.
But though everyone rushed towards the food earlier, it was orderly.
Though they ate ravenously, they clearly stopped before they were full.
Then they pooled the food together, and not a single person hoarded.
Ren Jian glanced at them as they returned to their original positions and sat down quietly after eating.
Conserving their energy, everyone felt a pang of sadness.
So many people had died, was extinction still the ultimate fate?
Then they thought of Mingyue. Mingyue always surprised them, perhaps there was a turning point.
Hope rekindled in their eyes as they looked at Mingyue again.
"It's the Flame Sun Pearl. Although his supernatural abilities can't be used,
the Flame Sun Pearl itself contains strong fire elements.
Bajiu has merged himself into the Flame Sun Pearl, transforming into a human-shaped air conditioner.
This way, he can control the Flame Sun Pearl to release heat and alleviate the extreme cold.
But the fire element in the Flame Sun Pearl is finite.
Therefore, the temperature is dropping. Once the fire element is depleted,
the Flame Sun Pearl will be destroyed, and Bajiu will naturally perish.
We must stop Bajiu, otherwise, in the end, he will disappear with the Flame Sun Pearl."
Ji Shiyou, the Son of the Moon, with his ten thousand years of reincarnation memory,
had seen much and was knowledgeable. After observing, he warned them.
"Bajiu, can you hear your sister?
Sister is back. Stop releasing heat.
Leave the rest to your sister."
Mingyue immediately used her divine sense to call out to Bajiu, asking him to stop.
Bajiu in the stone egg showed no reaction.
He didn't respond to Mingyue, but the heat stopped being released.
He must have heard what Mingyue said, but was too weak to reply.
As the heat stopped radiating, the temperature in the cave plummeted.
The unfinished mineral water on the ground immediately froze solid.
But no one complained. They simply wrapped themselves tighter in their clothes and blankets.
Bajiu had already done enough for them. Without him, they would have frozen to death long ago.
Having experienced two apocalypses, they had already come to terms with life and death.
Their state of mind had changed. Death was not frightening.
"Mingyue!"
Ren Jian was also shivering from the cold. Seeing everyone's state, he felt a pang of sympathy.
But after calling out her name, he had nothing more to say.
What could he say? Bajiu had already done enough.
Moreover, the temperature had been dropping for the past two days, and freezing to death was inevitable.
Mingyue asking Bajiu to stop now would only hasten their freezing by a few days.
"We can't stay here anymore. Let's go out, to a warm place."
Seeing everyone's reaction, Mingyue's heart stirred, and she suddenly said.
With Ji Shiyou carrying Bajiu and the stone block that was the Flame Sun Pearl, they were the first to leave the cave.
Ren Jian didn't know where Mingyue was referring to as a warm place.
But he trusted Mingyue and followed without asking.
Behind him was He Si, who also trusted his daughter.
The survivors of Mingyue's base naturally trusted her too. Wrapping their clothes tighter, they also left the cave.
The remaining people thought that whether inside or outside the cave, they would freeze to death anyway.
It would be more pleasant outside, so they followed as well.
However, as soon as they exited the cave entrance, they were stunned by the scene before them.
Mingyue had not lied to them; it was indeed a warm place.