TFRLTOP Chapter 73 Part 1

Chapter 73 — The Commander’s Little Widow 

◎ Ming Ming: My poor, dead husband… ◎

Ming Ming was yanked up like a helpless chick. The people around lowered their guns. A red-haired man went straight to the jeep and checked it. “Commander, the tank’s almost full.”

The commander glanced at Ming Ming in surprise. “You’re alone?”

Ming Ming gave a small nod, clutching the hem of his jacket.

The group exchanged strange, uncertain looks at her behavior.

“So?” Ming Ming asked nervously. “Does this mean I’ve finally found someone powerful to rely on?”

“I only said your character wants to cling to someone powerful like a helpless little white lotus. I didn’t mean for you to literally throw yourself at one!”

“Why are you so picky?” she muttered under her breath. “If I don’t follow the plot, you complain. If I do follow the plot, you still complain.”

The system sighed internally. That’s not the same thing! If you actually latch onto him, the whole worldline will collapse again…

The male lead hadn’t even said anything yet, and she’d already gone and literally hugged his leg. He probably thought she was out of her mind by now.

Then again, from what the system had seen in the void, most of these world collapses had a lot to do with that same man’s interference. Whether Ming Ming followed the script or not, things always seemed to end up the same.

Who even is this guy? Damn it, he’s a walking bug. Without him meddling, she might’ve scored top marks. But no—he just had to show up and ruin my performance review. And to make it worse, he’s flirting with my little idiot host. Unforgivable.

The commander wanted to question her more, but Ming Ming looked so terrified—wide-eyed and trembling—that he figured he wouldn’t get anything useful out of her anyway.

“Bring that car back, too,” he ordered.

Ming Ming was tossed into their modified vehicle. A short-haired woman, who had arrived on a motorcycle, tossed her keys to a teammate and joined them. She handed Ming Ming a blanket.

“Thanks,” Ming Ming murmured.

“Must’ve scared you,” the woman said gently. “You’re safe now. Once we get back, we’ll need to run a few checks—please understand, no one can afford to be careless these days. I’m An Yue.” Her tone was polite, but her eyes were sharp. “You know our commander?”

Ming Ming shook her head.

“Then just now…?” An Yue trailed off. She’d seen Ming Ming bawling and clutching the commander’s leg like a long-lost daughter finally reunited with her father. Wait… could she actually be his illegitimate child?

The commander climbed into the vehicle then, and An Yue dropped the subject, though her suspicious gaze flicked back and forth between the two.

The commander caught her look. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly.

Ming Ming whispered to the system, “Is she the female lead?”

“No,” said the system. “That’s the female lead’s sister. This group is the WK Ability Squad—a team of over a hundred ability users. The male lead is the commander, Guan Yi. The female lead’s name is An Ning. Yours is Bai He.”

Ming Ming wrinkled her nose. “That’s a random name.”

“Random? I think it’s fine. Anyway, the point is—everyone in this base ships the commander and An Ning.”

Indeed, Guan Yi and An Ning had been comrades long before the apocalypse. After the world fell apart, they became a perfect match—one with brains, one with brawn. Everyone in the base adored their chemistry, even though the two always denied any romantic involvement. That didn’t stop their teammates from enthusiastically fanning their CP, which they nicknamed ‘GuanNing Business.’

A little entertainment in the end of the world.

“Well, that’s normal,” Ming Ming said matter-of-factly. “Who else would they ship if not the main couple?”

Who’s the one always wrecking the main couple in every world again? the system thought wearily.

Ming Ming sat wrapped in the blanket. An Yue and a man flanked her on either side—casual on the surface, but clearly alert. If she showed even a hint of infection, they’d end her in a heartbeat.

Ming Ming didn’t notice. Feeling a bit calmer, she peered out the window.

The city was dead. Some buildings had collapsed into ruins. Corpses littered the streets. A few scattered zombies shuffled aimlessly about.

Now and then, her eyes drifted to the front seat—toward Guan Yi.

“So now that they’re taking me back,” she whispered to herself, “does that mean I’ve officially latched onto a big shot? No more running from zombies, right—ah!”

She gasped, covering her mouth.

Through the window, she saw a massive moth-like creature soaring across the sky several kilometers away—nearly the size of a helicopter. Her understanding of this world was being shattered by the minute.

“Wh-what was that?” she blurted.

Guan Yi glanced back at her, eyebrows raised.

“That’s a mutant species,” An Yue said. “You’ve never seen one?”

Ming Ming blinked, realizing she’d spoken out loud. She quickly ducked her head, pretending to be frightened and ignorant.

The system hissed in her mind. “Keep your mouth shut! The world’s been in ruin for almost three years—if you act too clueless, they’ll know something’s up.”

“Then hurry and fill me in!” she muttered mentally. “What’s a mutant species anyway?”

“Simple,” said the system. “Mutants are animals that have changed. Zombies are humans that changed.”

“Wow. So basically everything mutates here.”

“Pretty much. When the apocalypse began, some humans awakened powers and became ability users. Most people didn’t. That’s why the zombie spread was so fast.”

“Then why do they still use blades and guns instead of their powers?”

“Because using powers to kill ordinary zombies is overkill. Mutants are tougher—those are the ones worth using abilities on.”

“Oh, I get it now.”

Guan Yi kept his eyes on her through the rearview mirror. She looked utterly lost, glancing around curiously like a rabbit tossed into a foreign world—terrified, timid, clutching his sleeve.

How did she even survive this long? he wondered. If I’d arrived just a few minutes later, she’d have been eaten alive.

Back at the base, word spread quickly: they’d brought back a woman. Everyone came to see.

An Yue took Ming Ming for testing. The results came back—no infection, no abilities.

People exchanged wary glances. How could someone that delicate, with no powers at all, survive more than two years in the apocalypse?

“Wait,” Ming Ming asked, “what about my ability? Don’t I have a space one?”

The system sighed. “That’s your cheat, not an actual ability. Of course, it won’t show up on their scanners.”

“Oh.” She didn’t seem bothered.

Curiosity turned into gossip. A fragile, powerless woman who had thrown herself at the commander and said weird, clingy things? Within hours, rumors spread: she was either a manipulative schemer—or his illegitimate daughter.

And because everyone adored the “GuanNing” couple, they were not pleased. Ming Ming instantly became public enemy number one. They shoved her into a makeshift room—basically a storage closet with a bed.

“You revealed your white-lotus act way too early,” the system muttered. “Look at this. Real white lotuses charm their way into everyone’s hearts first. You? You’ve managed to make the entire base hate you.”

Then it paused, suddenly thoughtful. She’d been unusually forward this time.

Could she have noticed something… about the male leads?

No way. She wasn’t that sharp… right?

Trying to sound casual, it asked, “So, what do you think of this male lead?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you… like him?”

“Ew, what? No!” Ming Ming made a face. “I just needed a safe base to stay in. Hugging a thigh is a strategy, not romance.”

Well, well. The system smirked to itself.

She was learning to use people now.