Survival in Sequences: Eighteen Years Old, Slaying Monsters Like Horses

The new era began in 1.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, but the palace atop the World Tree canopy was already tinged with a pale gold by the first rays of sunlight.

When Xu Si opened his eyes, Jiao Jiao was no longer beside him.

On the stone steps outside the palace lay half a crispy, browned multigrain pancake, with a note next to it, the handwriting crooked and messy—"I've gone to the South City Medical Center, I'll be back at noon."

Xu Si picked up a multigrain pancake, took a bite, and walked to the edge of the palace while chewing.

The Earth unfolded beneath his feet, its landscape pristine and its vegetation lush.

The outline of the city of torches was faintly visible in the morning mist, and carriages and horses were already coming and going on the official road, raising fine dust.

Further away, several newly built settlements are scattered across the plain like seeds, with smoke rising from each one.

Everything is starting anew.

But Xu Si knew that this peace was hard-won.

He finished the pancake in a few bites, then raised his hand and made a sweeping motion in the air.

His newly constructed magic circle glowed with golden patterns, covering the entire Earth and maintaining the spatial order that had just been stabilized.

"Yi-yi, is anything unusual today?"

Xu Si originally wanted to forcibly elevate Yi Yi to the world consciousness of the Middle World, but Yi Yi ultimately refused.

Because of the symbiotic relationship, she has gained the most benefits, and she wants to use her own abilities to advance to a higher level.

Furthermore, advancing to the Middle World too quickly would be somewhat inappropriate for Yi Yi.

Yi Yi's voice echoed in his mind, carrying a hint of morning languor: "No. Everything is normal. Except..."

"Besides what?"

"Apart from your little girlfriend, something seems off."

Xu Si frowned.

What's wrong with Jiao Jiao?

It seemed only natural that they got together.

Since that day, Jiao Jiao has spent almost all her time at the Chengnan Medical Center.

This is normal.

Xu Si scanned the South City Medical Center with his senses.

Jiao Jiao was squatting in front of several medicinal herbs, holding half a withered yellow leaf in her hand, her expression focused.

Stripped of the plague laws, her sequence has become completely stable.

There was no unusual activity, no outbreak, and no sign of advancement.

Xu Si only felt relieved after confirming several times that there were no problems.

And everything seemed perfectly normal.

However, Xu Si's chaotic perception detected a very subtle fluctuation.

"That is?"

"Jiao Jiao." In the next instant, Xu Si appeared behind Jiao Jiao.

"You know?" Her tone was somewhat flustered.

When did you get pregnant?

Jiao Jiao turned around, looked up at him, her ears turning red, but her expression was unusually serious: "I'm not quite sure... I just felt something was off yesterday."

Sure enough, Yi-Yi is more sensitive to the perception of life.

"My intuition is never wrong," Xu Si said.

"There are two." He paused, then added.

Jiao Jiao froze, her eyes widening suddenly: "Two?"

"Yes, but it's just an embryo."

Jiao Jiao instinctively covered her lower abdomen with her hand, as if she were frozen in place.

During this period, Earth's birth rate has seen an unprecedented increase, which is currently the top priority of the medical institute's work.

It's understandable that Jiao Jiao would get pregnant.

Outside the Chengnan Medical Clinic, news of Jiao Jiao's pregnancy spread like wildfire.

Su Su and the rest of the team were the first to find out.

Others knew, and within half a day, the whole city knew.

Standing in the palace atop the World Tree canopy, Xu Si sensed the jubilation spreading like ripples throughout the entire City of Fire, and his lips twitched involuntarily.

—These people aren't even this dedicated to farming.

"Brother, where's sister-in-law?" Xu Miaomiao peeked out from behind a pillar, her long gray hair tied into a loose braid, with a few tender leaves stuck to the ends.

"I'm with Su Su! Let's whisper something!"

"Why don't you just take both Sister Su Su and Sister Jiang Li as your girlfriends? I think that Japanese girl is quite interested in you too! Why don't you consider it?"

"Besides, there are no laws to restrict you now, so you can marry as many as you want, right? Why don't you hurry up?" Xu Miaomiao said with a smile. She had seen quite a bit of things these days.

"Making fun of your brother?" Xu Si was speechless at his younger sister.

……

Spring of the second year of the new era

The first utility pole has been re-erected in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles.

It was called a utility pole, but it was actually the trunk of an old locust tree that had been struck by lightning. Several old electricians who had crawled out of underground bunkers tied it up with vines, and an old transformer that they had salvaged from the ruins was placed on top of it. On the day the electricity was restored, all the survivors on the street came out to see it.

"It's on! It's on!" A boy, shirtless, stood in the middle of the street, staring up at the dim streetlight, his voice hoarse from shouting.

"What's all the fuss about? It's not like we've never seen an electric light before." A middle-aged man squatted on the doorstep, a half-smoked cigarette butt that he'd somehow found dangling from somewhere. The cigarette was so damp it wouldn't light, but he just kept it there.

"How can that be the same? This is the light coming on right in front of our own house!"

The old man didn't say anything, he just shifted the corner of his cigarette butt and continued to hold it in his mouth.

"I heard this is the Chief Elder's residence, and I knew choosing this place was the right decision. Look, the lights are all on!"

"Yes, the treatment in this second city is definitely better, and with the chief's spatial array, you can visit whenever you want. That's so convenient!"

"Sigh, it's convenient, but why haven't we awakened our sequences yet? If we had awakened sequences, I would join the city guard and never have to farm again."

"You're complaining about farming? Have you forgotten what it feels like to go hungry? The days when you can farm are the best days, what do you know?"

The middle-aged man slapped one of the younger boys as a lesson.

……

Inside the long-collapsed milk tea shop on the street corner, a pregnant girl and a silver-haired girl were busy setting up the stalls.

"Miaomiao, don't you look a bit like you did when you were little?"

After being forbidden from working by Xu Si, Jiao Jiao suddenly had a brilliant idea and returned to the place to start her own business as a stay-at-home mom.

Besides Xu Miaomiao, Su Su, that girl, was also dragged into this mess by her.

Xu Miaomiao squatted on the ground, stacking the last broken brick into the base of the counter. When she heard this, she looked up, a streak of dust on the tip of her nose, which made her already thin face look even more childlike.

"Really? I don't quite remember."

"Your brother said that you always take a detour after school just to buy a cup of milk tea." Jiao Jiao leaned against the newly painted bar counter, her belly already showing, the hem of her shirt loosely tied, looking like a lazy cat basking in the sun.

"He even told you this?" Xu Miaomiao was somewhat surprised.

"Yes. He also said that once you were in line and realized you didn't have enough money, and you were too embarrassed to go home to ask for more, so you stood at the store entrance hesitating for a full half hour."

"It seems there really is one, but I've long forgotten about it." Xu Miaomiao was taken aback, then chuckled softly.

"Your brother is keeping track of it for you."

Xu Miaomiao fell silent, as if carefully unlocking old memories sealed away.

The sound of children chasing each other came from the street. Two teenagers ran past the door, followed by a yellow mongrel dog whose tail was wagging like a windmill.

The newly planted locust trees on both sides of the official road have sprouted light green buds, and the morning light filters through the branches and leaves, casting dappled light on people.

"Sister Jiao Jiao," Xu Miaomiao suddenly spoke up.

"Um?"

"Can you tell me what my brother did after that?" She then realized that she knew nothing about Xu Si's experiences.

Jiao Jiao was stunned for a moment, then turned her head to look at her, a smile in her eyes.

"Didn't you give Xu Si the system? Don't you know that?"

Xu Miaomiao shook her head.

"I have so much to say!"

Just as Jiao Jiao was lost in her memories, Xu Si pinched her mouth shut.

Xu Si stood there, backlit, his gray-black chaotic energy completely concealed, making him look like an ordinary young man.

"Brother." Xu Miaomiao's eyes lit up.

"You came to pick me up?" Jiao Jiao slapped his hand away and tilted her head to look at him.

"Just passing by," Xu Si said.

Jiao Jiao rolled her eyes but didn't expose him.

The three walked back along the official road.

The reconstruction of Los Angeles is progressing faster than expected.

Under Xu Si's magic array, the climate is stable and the land is fertile. With the participation of a large number of sequencers in the construction, in just half a year, this place has already taken on the appearance of a small town before the apocalypse.

On both sides of the bluestone path, some people set up stalls to sell baked cakes, some sat in their doorways to bask in the sun, and a few teenagers chased after a wooden wheel, sweating profusely.

"Greetings, Commander!"

"Commander!"

"Brother Dao!"

We greeted each other as we walked.

Xu Si nodded in agreement, occasionally pausing to say a few words, asking about the harvest and the situation at home.

Xu Miaomiao and Jiao Jiao followed on either side, like two little tails.

"Xu Si," Jiao Jiao suddenly called him softly.

"Um?"

"Have you noticed that people's attitudes towards you seem to have changed lately?"

Has it changed?

"Before, I was afraid of you, but now... how should I describe it, I respect you even more. Like I respect a god."

Xu Si did not deny it.

This is actually not a good thing.

He could sense that, as time went on, more and more people began to habitually rely on him.

Whether it's a natural disaster, a man-made calamity, a neighborhood dispute, or even a quarrel between a couple, they all have to swear an oath by pointing to the chief.

It seems Xu Si can manage everything.

Xu Si couldn't possibly be perfect in every aspect, but he did manage to do it for him in every way.

Therefore, he was rumored to be more and more like a god.

"By the way, how's your little shop going? You're really planning to open it?"

"Of course, it's a unique business for us. We've already thought of a name for it: New Era's First Milk Tea Shop! And Auntie has already gone to work with Sister Zhou Wan on the flavor!" Jiao Jiao said proudly.

"Are you serious?" No one else could come up with such a name.

"Of course!"

"Sister Zhou Wan has cultivated many kinds of plants for us. She also said that she can use berries to make three colors and use nectar instead of sugar, which is guaranteed to be delicious." Jiao Jiao counted on her fingers, getting more and more excited as she spoke.

"You have to come and support me then; the first drink is on me!"

"Fine!" Xu Si was defeated.

As a well-informed deliveryman, he could definitely tell the quality of a food by tasting it himself.

"That's more like it."

As they were talking, Xu Si suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Jiao Jiao was the first to notice his unusual behavior.

Xu Si did not answer; his gaze had already pierced through layers of space and landed in the void far away.

"It's nothing," he said, frowning.

Ever since he last truly came into contact with what was behind the Gate of Return to Nothingness, he had always felt something unusual, as if something behind the gate was calling to him.

However, he didn't take it to heart.

……

Jiao Jiao's milk tea shop remained open as usual, and Xu Si indeed got to drink his first cup of milk tea, which was the kind of milk tea with only tea and no milk.

Actually, Earth already has cows; Xu Si captured them from other small worlds.

They also captured other strange and unusual plants and animals to supplement Earth's biodiversity.

This is also something that can be used for each level of advancement.

"Hey, don't just stand there! Come in and help! Can't you see we're all too busy?" Jiao Jiao was a little jealous of Xu Si, who was only focused on taking photos with everyone, because those people were clearly taking advantage of Xu Si.

"Weren't these customers attracted by me? Aren't you going to thank me?"

Who would have thought that the three milk tea girls shaking milk tea here are a deity, a divine messenger, and even Su Su is now at Sequence 7?

He used all his martial arts skills to make milk tea.

However, the joy they experienced seemed to be something only the three of them could truly understand.

Business was incredibly good in just three days after opening.

The line of people stretched from the store entrance to the end of the street. There were city guards who had just finished work, farmers returning from the fields, and survivors who had come from other settlements specifically to "make a pilgrimage".

Each person is limited to one cup. The cups are made of clay, and you have to keep the cups for your next visit after you finish the drink.

"I want the purple one! Yes, the one with the purple berries!"

"Give me a hot cup, with lots of honey!"

"I heard the Commander-in-Chief had a drink with us yesterday, is that true?"

"Of course it's true! I saw it with my own eyes. The Chief of Staff was sitting in that seat, talking to the proprietress for a long time."

"The Chief of Staff and his wife have such a good relationship!"

A chorus of suppressed gasps immediately rose from the ranks.

Xu Miaomiao stood behind the counter, a thin layer of sweat on her face, deftly scooping, mixing, and sealing the ingredients.

Su Su is responsible for collecting points and maintaining order, and occasionally she also has to explain to new customers "what flavors of milk tea are available".

The shop now offers more than just tea.

After Xu Si tried it last time, he actually found a milk-flavored berry drink, so their milk tea shop is now truly deserving of its name.

Therefore, the three of them are now full of resentment towards Xu Si.

"Why are you here so early today?" Xu Si usually comes after closing time, but he changed his routine after Jiao Jiao told him to come many times.

"Fate told me that today is the two little ones' birthday, so I came early!"

Su Su and Xu Miaomiao, who were shaking milk tea, both looked at Jiao Jiao.

"How come I don't know? I didn't feel anything!" Jiao Jiao said blankly.

Because of her Sequencer constitution, it is relatively easy for her to get pregnant and give birth. Otherwise, Xu Si would not feel comfortable letting her work at the milk tea shop.

Jiao Jiao indeed didn't feel anything.

She was awakened late that night by a very subtle sensation, like two small fish turning over in her belly.

She opened her eyes and found that Xu Si had been watching over her the whole time.

The moonlight outside the window was bright, and the glow of the World Tree mixed with the moonlight seeped in through the window, spreading a watery halo on the ground, as if welcoming the arrival of two little lives.

With Xu Si's help, Jiao Jiao's delivery went very smoothly, and there was absolutely no way anything could go wrong.

The sound of crying came from the palace.

First word.

Then came the second and third sounds, each one more urgent and shrill than the last.

"Let's name them Xu Wujiu and Xu Wuyou!"