I transformed into a cute girl and lived a carefree life in the apocalypse.

"plz follow me."

The other party led the way, winding through several secret locations before a very thick protective door came into view.

Yan Ziming estimated that the door must be at least five meters thick, the kind that could withstand the impact of a nuclear bomb.

Along the way, Yan Ziming realized that the security forces here were very strong. There were heavily armed soldiers everywhere, as well as many squads composed of superhumans. There was more than one high-level superhuman. In the corridor that Yan Ziming had just passed, there were two seventh-level superhumans leading troops on guard duty.

Given the country's "patrol" policy, the defensive forces here have certainly been reduced; in their prime, they would have been even stronger.

However, the top commanders here are probably only at the eighth level, otherwise they wouldn't be so polite to me.

After the person in the white coat performed some operations at the authentication point at the entrance, the door slowly opened to both sides.

However, when Yan Ziming saw the scene inside, he was so angry that he almost exploded!

Contrary to her expectations of a spacious laboratory filled with various sci-fi gadgets, behind the door was just a space of about twenty square meters, with white walls on all sides. Inside, there was a bed, a chair, a desk, and a few books on the desk.

Apart from that, there is nothing else.

Oh no, there's another person.

"Master Mo!"

Tian Tian looked at the newcomer with surprise, seemingly not expecting Yan Ziming to arrive so quickly, with a hint of delight.

Yan Ziming ignored her for the moment and instead questioned the people who brought her there: "What do you mean by this?"

"Is there anything I did that you're unhappy about?"

"Don't you understand? This is the place I'm talking about! Are you imprisoning my friend like a criminal?"

Seeing that the person was pretending to be stupid, Yan Ziming frowned and raised his voice, which contained a hint of anger.

"Uh, you misunderstood. Most of the staff in our organization don't even have dorm rooms as nice as this one. You see..."

Yan Ziming interrupted him with a cold laugh before he could finish speaking:

"A dormitory for people to live in... does it need such a thick blast door? Does it need such a large security force? I just walked along and I saw at least two superhuman squads! Each was led by a seventh-level superhuman, and the average strength of the members was around the sixth level... Tell me, what are two such elite squads guarding such a narrow area for?"

"no--"

"Don't deny it." Yan Ziming circled around the person with a scrutinizing gaze: "We're all sensible people, so you don't need to treat me like a fool."

"......"

The man broke out in a cold sweat and was speechless for a moment.

boom--

Suddenly, the wall next to them slid open like a door. In fact, it was a door, and a man in a military overcoat came out. He looked like a general and was probably the ultimate person in charge of security for this organization.

Just as Yan Ziming had initially thought, this person was at the eighth level.

"This is all to ensure her safety."

He started by saying that, and Yan Ziming laughed dismissively. The man didn't seem to mind and continued:

“You made it too conspicuous. With so many people around at the time, it’s not hard to guarantee that the information wasn’t leaked. We need to make sure she isn’t taken away or killed by outside forces.”

"Who would dare to snatch someone in Bei'an City, especially a seventh-level ability user? That underground organization is a cautionary tale! Moreover, with the national defenses already tightened, if someone succeeds twice in a row, I think all the ability users in Bei'an City might as well just commit suicide here!"

"..."

The man hadn't expected Yan Ziming to speak so bluntly. He had thought she would give him, a general, some face, but it seemed he had been delusional.

He frowned: "Comrade Yan Ziming, what you received is just a pass, not an appointment notice. Strictly speaking, you are an outsider, and it is none of your business here."

Yan Zimo scoffed.

“I’m her friend and her teacher, how can I be an outsider? I have an obligation to protect all her rights! If my words don’t count, then I’ll find someone with influence to reason with you.”

".......you!"

The man's eyes were wide open in anger, and a faint but terrifying aura emanated from him. Yan Ziming remained unmoved and simply watched him quietly.

"Hmph! This is the only time. Considering what you said before, if you make any further demands, it won't matter who you bring up!"

In the end, he left with a resentful wave of his sleeve, and the person who brought Yan Ziming in followed him out.

"As long as you don't do anything to cross my bottom line, I won't bother with you. Goodbye, and don't bother seeing me out—"

Yan Ziming shouted, which made him walk even faster. He disappeared at the end of the corridor a dozen seconds later.

"Master Mo, these are just some everyday issues, you don't need to be like this..."

Tian Tian's expression showed a hint of shame. Seeing this, Yan Ziming earnestly instructed her:

"Every day, a kind person is bullied, and a good horse is ridden! You know a little about the wickedness of people's hearts. In this regard, you must have your own bottom line. You can tolerate small things, but you cannot back down even a step on big things!"

"Hmm... I understand."

"Okay, tell me about your experiences since you came here..."

..............

Major General Wei rubbed his temples, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes to rest. At his desk stood the man who had just taken Yan Ziming to find Tiantian, loudly questioning him:

"Major General Wei! Why did we agree to her request! When did it become the place for an outsider to command us here?"

"And then there's that... we're not allowed to conduct overly radical research on our targets. I understand those humanitarian guidelines, and we've tried our best to adhere to those ethical bottom lines before. But special times call for special measures. At the normal pace, when will we get results? And the funding will be several times higher than before! That woman—"

"That's enough." Major General Wei waved his hand weakly: "Professor He, watch your words."

"But!"

"You've been staying in the research institute for a long time, and you've been keeping up with the news lately. Do you know who she is?" Major General Wei glanced at him and, seeing his blank expression, explained:

"You just need to know that her fists are so hard that even we can't withstand them, and we can't withstand the mountains that she has behind her either."

"This..." Professor He was speechless.

"However, the other party's level of interference has almost reached its limit. They won't make any more excessive demands. Just do what you need to do."

"Yes!"

"Oh, right, wait a minute." Major General Wei added a point:

"Remember, proceed according to the normal procedures as before, without any underhanded tactics. I want to see if, after a while, we still haven't produced any results, will her powerful backers maintain their current attitude?"

Chapter 57 Public Opinion Situation

The next morning, Yan Ziming's phone was flooded with news headlines.

Because of yesterday's commotion, Yan Ziming decided to catch up on her sleep today. She had only been asleep until a little after eight in the morning when she was woken up by a phone call from Xiao Qi.

The moment the call connected, Xiaoqi said urgently:

"Sister Zimo, Sister Zimo, did you watch the Ministry of National Defense press conference this morning?"

"Ah... um? It's Xiao Qi, haha~~~" Yan Ziming yawned deeply: "Press conference... oh, there was such a thing."

Mu Mu had already told her about the impromptu press conference held by the Ministry of National Defense. She said that the government would announce the fact that people with superpowers could become mutated at this press conference.

Yan Ziming certainly hadn't forgotten such an important matter, but...

I had already guessed the outcome, so I wasn't that concerned.

Rather, it's more like they don't want to know.

One can imagine how the general public, especially those who have suffered greatly from mutated species, will view them afterward.

Even a hero could be vilified as a coward, right?

It just so happens that it's Yan Ziming and her team's turn to rest today, so they don't have to do city patrol work. Therefore, they decided to borrow someone else to observe the public's reaction.

If it's really that bad, then Yan Ziming really needs to consider whether he should take Ye Qianxue out to suffer this filth.

The first step to understanding public attitudes is to start online.

So Yan Ziming opened her phone to see what kind of content was on the forum.

First, the comments section under the Ministry of National Defense's statement was filled with questions and criticisms.

Some are asking whether the country deliberately concealed the truth until it could no longer hide it before making it public, while others are asking whether the country and the world have been secretly controlled by people with superpowers.

Some went even further, directly questioning: "Did mutated species originate from people with superpowers? Did the apocalypse originate from people with superpowers?"

This comment received the most likes and comments, went viral, and drew everyone's attention to it.

To be honest, that's possible.

If that's the case, then it explains why such powerful beings as those at the Sequence level appeared at the very beginning of the apocalypse.

Because as long as a ninth-tier superhuman undergoes mutation, a sequence-level being can be formed!

This statement not only gained the approval of the general public, but also caused many people with supernatural abilities to doubt the truth, and even raised questions among many people in high positions.

Is that really the reason?

Only a few people know the truth, such as Yan Shan and a few other veteran ninth-level powerhouses.

Only they knew that this was impossible, because there were only a handful of ninth-tier powerhouses in the world at that time. It was impossible for eight ninth-tier powerhouses to suddenly transform into sequence-level powerhouses; it was pure fantasy.

However, no one would believe these things if they were said now, since most people believe they already know the "truth".

Little did they know that what they knew was merely the tip of the iceberg, a scrap of the truth, or even rubbish. Yet they believed it wholeheartedly, using it as a pretext to attack others, only trusting the "truth" solidified in their minds and rejecting all real information. This is the most ridiculous thing of all.