The Buffalo and Horses of Versailles

Lin Chen looked around at the faces that were either tired, relieved, or still unease, his gaze calm and firm.

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the remaining noise in the cafeteria and reached everyone's ears:

Yes, there is. There must be.

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was like iron, like nails firmly driven into people's hearts, suppressing the unseen yet ubiquitous anxiety.

He paused, his tone becoming even more resolute: "As long as we don't stop thinking, as long as we don't give up that little bit of hope in our hearts, humanity will never truly become extinct. As long as people exist, the flame of civilization will never be extinguished."

Lin Chen glanced at the increasingly fierce, knife-like snowstorm outside the window and stood up: "I'm going out for a bit. Make sure the doors and windows are closed and keep warm."

He worried that in this bone-chilling cold, some people might not be able to endure it and would use the fragile papers in the library as their last fuel.

Before any response could be received, a faint light swirled around him, and the moment his spatial abilities were activated, his figure vanished from the hall.

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The wind and snow howled, and the snowflakes lashed at our faces like sand.

Lin Chen strode through the snow, activating his spatial teleportation continuously. In just a few breaths, he was already standing in front of the steps of the National Sun Yat-sen University Library.

At the entrance, a group of student survivors were attacking several wandering zombies.

Blades flashed and faint supernatural light shone in the wind and snow, and the battle cries were short and resolute.

Those who are alive are doing their utmost to become stronger, seizing any possible glimmer of light.

Lin Chen didn't linger and slipped into the library.

The library was in a mess, with tables and chairs overturned and many bookshelves leaning to the ground. Fortunately, most of the books were still standing intact on the shelves.

He quickly cleared away the few remaining zombies and then opened up the space.

With a wave of his arm, rows of bookshelves, along with their densely packed books, were wiped away as if by an invisible hand, all being absorbed into his vast storage space.

"Uncle Liang mentioned that there is a dedicated server here that stores nearly ten years' worth of research data, scanned copies of ancient books, and backups of some national archives..."

He searched based on his memory and finally found the black server rack at the deepest part of the basement server room.

After starting the self-test program and confirming that all hard drive data was intact, he did not hesitate to take the machine containing invaluable knowledge into it as well.

Without pausing, he turned and rushed toward the nearby Polytechnic University and Normal University.

The wind and snow provided him with cover, and the space served as his baggage. In just over three hours, he had emptied the collections of all the major university libraries in the entire university town area.

When Lin Chen reappeared at the shelter, it was already dark.

Apart from the vigilant gazes from the watchtowers and the rhythmic footsteps of the patrols, the entire camp was asleep.

The villa area has been equipped with additional heating equipment, making the interior warm and cozy, a stark contrast to the frozen and desolate world outside.

He quietly pushed open his door, but paused slightly in his steps.

There's someone in bed.

A hint of surprise flashed through Lin Chen's mind. He assumed it was Li Ya and did not investigate immediately.

He first went into the bathroom, letting the scalding hot water wash away the chill that had seeped into his bones.

The moment he dried his hair and lay down, the warm, soft touch from his fingertips made him stiffen.

That's not a person's body temperature.

The soft warmth of the girl's skin seeped through the thin fabric, and a sweet and delicate fragrance lingered around his nose. What startled him even more was that the warmth clearly came from two different sources.

This is absolutely not either Li Ya or Su Yun.

Lin Chen sat up abruptly and turned on the bedside lamp.

Bathed in warm yellow light, the two sisters' stunning beauty came into view.

The twin sisters, Jiang Yingxue and Jiang Yingyue, stood ramrod straight, their cheeks flushed, and their long eyelashes trembled like the wings of startled butterflies.

They had clearly been awake for a while, but kept their eyes tightly closed, pretending to be fast asleep.

"What are you doing here?" Lin Chen asked in a low voice, his tone filled with helplessness and a hint of headache at the situation.

"It was...it was Sister Ya who sent us." Jiang Yingxue's voice was barely audible, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corner of the blanket, even her fair earlobes were flushed.

"Brother Lin, we did it voluntarily!" Jiang Yingyue mustered her courage and opened her eyes, her gaze shining with determination. "It wasn't Sister Ya who forced us. We... we also wanted to do something for you and for this place."

Lin Chen remained silent for a moment.

How could he not understand? In this apocalyptic world where morality and order have collapsed, the most primal bonds often become the ultimate way to maintain loyalty and belonging.

Li Ya's arrangement was both a complete entrustment of trust to him and a silent contract—to more closely intertwine the fate of the core members with his.

If they were to get up and leave now, it would not only hurt the dignity of the two sisters, but could also create a rift in the hearts of those who had just come together.

He sighed softly, lay back down, and pulled the two slightly trembling, warm bodies into his arms, his voice gentle: "Sleep, we have things to do tomorrow."

Two hours later, hearing their even and steady breathing and feeling the gentle, peaceful smiles on the sisters' lips as they slept soundly, Lin Chen quietly got up, tucked them in, put on his coat, and silently left the room.

He walked toward Li Ya's residence.

The door was ajar.

He pushed open the door and saw Li Ya leaning against the headboard, holding a document in her hand; she had clearly been waiting for him.

When she saw him come in, she looked up at him, her expression calm, but a gentle and joyful expression welled up deep in her eyes.

"Are they asleep?"

"Hmm." Lin Chen walked over, lifted the blanket and lay down, naturally pulling her into his arms. "Why aren't you resting yet?"

Li Ya handed the document to him, leaned into his firm chest, and said softly, "We just finalized the grouping list for the exploration team."

I set a one-month evaluation period for each team leader. If they fail, they will be replaced in the second month, which also gives newcomers a chance.

The assessment mainly focuses on the number of crystal cores obtained, but if a team member is lost, they will be replaced immediately.

The team leader's pay is twice that of a regular team member. I tried to include control, defense, and healing ability users in each team; thankfully, we had enough manpower to barely assemble ten teams.

Lin Chen glanced at the list and saw that outstanding performers such as Liu Feifei and Zhou Xiaomin had been promoted to the position of captain, while those who had followed him the earliest had at least become vice captains.

He gently ruffled Li Ya's hair, his tone indifferent: "You know these people better than I do. Arrange things however you like; I trust your judgment." Then he added, "It's getting late, go to sleep."

As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head and kissed Li Ya's slightly cool lips.

An hour later, Li Ya fell into a deep sleep in his arms, her face peaceful.

Lin Chen covered her with the blanket, then gently got up and walked towards Su Yun's room.

He pushed open the door, startling Su Yun, who was already a light sleeper. Under the warm light, they shared another tender moment together. Only after Su Yun had fallen back asleep did he return to his own room, feeling refreshed.

Lin Chen mentally conjured up a Versailles-like image: "What a life of toil!"

The wind and snow continued outside the window, but the warmth inside remained.

Lin Chen lay back on the bed and gently closed his eyes.