Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 17: The end of everything(1)

The moment she stepped out of the building, a cold wind hit her face, clearing some of the static buzzing in her mind. She exhaled sharply.

Her timeline was tight.

Feng Yizhou wasn't someone she could afford to be careless with. Missing the event wasn't an option. Even if she wanted to, the system would drag her into it one way or another, and she didn't want to test its limits just yet.

She glanced at the time. Four hours. She could shorten the meeting as much as possible and still make it to Lab 37 by 3 PM.

Her footsteps were quick as she made her way toward the transport bay.

As she walked, she pulled out her phone, dialing a secure number.

The line clicked after the first ring.

"Dr. Gu?"

"Prepare a full biohazard suit for me at 3 PM," she ordered. "And have the lab systems pull all environmental data from the past 72 hours. I want every anomaly flagged."

A brief silence, then a hesitant reply. "Understood. But... are we dealing with a potential—?"

"We don't know yet," she cut in. "That's why I need the data before I get there."

"Yes, Dr. Gu. I'll have everything ready."

She hung up without another word.

One problem set in motion.

Now, onto the other.

She entered the transport bay and swiped her clearance card. The security checkpoint scanned her quickly before allowing her access to a private vehicle. She got in, set the destination, and leaned back as the vehicle smoothly pulled out of the facility.

Her mind was already shifting gears.

Feng Yizhou.

The man was a walking enigma, his motives never fully clear, his presence always lingering like a shadow. He had resources, power, and a mind sharp enough to carve through steel. He didn't do anything without a reason.

And the fact that she was meeting him today, on the same day the virus suddenly woke up, felt too coincidental for her liking.

Her fingers tapped against her thigh as she stared out the window.

Qingran stepped out of the car, the door shutting behind her with a dull thud.

A gust of wind swept through the empty streets, carrying the scent of dust and decay. The sky overhead was overcast, casting a muted gray light over the crumbling ruins before her.

Her fingers twitched at her sides.

She hadn't been here in a long time.

And she hadn't wanted to come back.

This place...

Her eyes swept over the shattered buildings, the overgrown roads, the rusted remains of vehicles left abandoned in the streets. Time had not been kind to this place, but even beneath the decay, she still recognized it.

She exhaled slowly, steadying herself.

This had been a battlefield. Her battlefield.

And now, she was standing in it again.

A figure stood a short distance ahead, facing away from her. Tall, dressed in black, hands tucked into his pockets.

She took a step forward. The sound of her heels against the cracked pavement was the only noise in the stillness.

"Why did you call me here?" Her voice was calm, but direct. She had no patience for games.

Feng Yizhou didn't turn right away. He stood there for a moment longer, looking out at the ruins, before finally glancing back at her.

His expression was unreadable.

"Do you recognize this place?"

Qingran's brows furrowed slightly. "What are you getting at?"

Feng Yizhou turned fully now, his gaze locked onto hers. "Tell me. What do you remember most about this place?"

Her fingers curled slightly.

What kind of question was that?

She knew this place. She knew it far too well.

This was where she had fought her last battle.

The end of everything.

Her body still remembered—the exhaustion, the pain, the way she had swung her weapon over and over, cutting through endless waves of enemies until there was no one left to fight. Until there was no one left at all.

But he shouldn't know that.

Feng Yizhou hadn't been there.

Had he?

Qingran didn't let the thought linger. She met his gaze head-on. "Why does it matter?"

Feng Yizhou held her stare for a long moment.

Then, softly, he said, "Because this is where I died."

Her breath caught.

A cold sensation prickled at the back of her neck.

What?

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Her fingers curled into fists.

Before she could speak, he took another step closer, his voice steady.

"I remember it all, Qingran." His tone was calm, but it carried an undeniable weight. "Because I was Red Mask."

Her pulse pounded in her ears.

Red Mask?!.

The name sent a jolt through her, a name spoken in war, in blood, in whispers of fear and fury.

It wasn't possible.

It shouldn't be possible.

Yet the way he looked at her—the certainty in his eyes—made her stomach twist.

Qingran stood frozen, her mind racing, her heart hammering against her ribs.

And for the first time in a long time, she felt something dangerously close to fear.

Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.

Qingran's mind rebelled against his words, against the sheer impossibility of them.

He was lying. He had to be.

She had never known Feng Yizhou in her past life. Never fought against him. Never seen his face.

Red Mask was a name carved into the apocalypse—a ghost, a nightmare that haunted the battlefield. He was a figure cloaked in blood and shadow, someone who had led an army of the desperate, the ruthless and the dying.

He was someone she had fought against, not with.

And yet, Feng Yizhou stood before her now, claiming he was him.

Her heart pounded. "You're lying."

His lips quirked slightly, but there was no amusement in his eyes. "Am I?"

"Red Mask...how, he didn't die," she stated, her voice sharper now, as if saying it aloud would make it fact.

"I died that day," he corrected. "Earlier than you did "

Qingran felt her pulse in her throat. "You expect me to believe this?"

"I expect you to listen." His voice was steady. "Because whether you believe it or not, the truth doesn't change."

She wanted to refute him, to tear his claim apart with logic, with proof.

But the way he stood there—the way he spoke her name with such familiarity, with certainty—sent cracks through her carefully constructed reality.

Her throat felt tight.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "This doesn't make sense. If you were Red Mask, if you were there, then why didn't I—?"

Why didn't I know you at first glance?

Why didn't I remember you? The voice..

The words caught in her throat before she could finish them.

Feng Yizhou exhaled softly, as if he had already anticipated her reaction. "You and I were enemies before we could even get the chance to become allies, Qingran. It was already too late."

Her hands clenched at her sides.

No.

This wasn't real. This wasn't possible.

And yet—

Flashes of the past surged in her mind. The final days of the apocalypse. The last desperate battles. The faceless figures that bled into history, lost in the chaos.

She had never seen Red Mask's face. She had never needed to.

But now piecing this man together with the ruthless Red mask.

Made her back tingle.

Feng Yizhou watched her, reading the turmoil in her expression. He didn't press, didn't rush.

Then, quietly, he said, "You were the last person I saw before I died. And the first person I remembered when I woke up. Qingran, I love you, I know it sounds crazy, but all my life no woman, no one, had dared to disobey or disregard me. I'm used to getting everything I wanted, but you...you're so stubborn, you made my nerve crack and I ended up enjoying riling you up instead .."