Apocalypse: Transmigrated with an Overlord System
Chapter 158: Hope in the Darkness

Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Hope in the Darkness

The night was deep and the forest was silent. The moonlight was obscured by thick clouds, leaving only the firelight dancing in the breeze. Beside the campfire, a group of survivors sat together, their tired figures huddled close together, trying to find a little warmth from the flames.

Most people were exhausted, their soles were already worn out after walking all day. They finally found a safe open space and stopped the Hummer not far away.

Chen Wei, Liang Zihan, Zhou Yinuo, Zhao Ren, Ji Ming, Shen Haoran and all were sitting by the campfire, cooking a simple pot of porridge with the few ingredients they had, and then sharing it with the equally exhausted survivors around them. There was no extra expression on their faces, only the tiredness of enduring the day and a hint of comfort in their eyes.

Xu Kai and Yang Ming also sat by the fire, drinking porridge in silence, not talking, only occasionally looking up into the distance.

Just then, a familiar figure walked through the woods.

"...Is it Liora?!"

Liang Zihan was the first to shout, and everyone turned around.

The figure was Liora, who had left in the morning. There was still some dust and dirt on her body, but her breathing was steady and she looked fine.

Liora looked at them, her eyes scanning the familiar faces one by one. Even though she felt a little tired, she still smiled and nodded: "I’m sorry for making you worry."

Yun Zhou quickly handed over the bowl of hot porridge in her hand: "You must be hungry, sit down and eat something first."

She did not refuse. She took the bowl of porridge and sat down next to the fire. The porridge was mixed with some dried vegetables and dry food crumbs. The taste was very light, but at this moment it made people feel extremely precious.

Everyone gathered around, with excitement and curiosity in their eyes. Shen Haoran asked, "Where have you been today? We did not ask you in the morning because you seemed busy."

Liora drank a mouthful of hot porridge and slowly said, "I... went to see someone."

She paused and lowered her voice, as if speaking to the campfire, or to someone in her heart: "A white-haired man named Atlas."

"Atlas?" Zhou Yinuo asked in surprise, "Is that the man who saved all of us?"

"Yes, it’s him." Liora nodded calmly, "He... built a base."

There was an uproar among the crowd.

"Base? Near here?"

"That’s impossible. Wouldn’t it take hundreds of people to build something like that? How did he do it alone?"

Liora lowered her eyelashes and said calmly, "It was just built, and there is no one inside yet. The place is very clean, with water, electricity, and houses."

"What?!"

"How could there be such a place?"

Liora continued, "Atlas is very strong. He has some... special skills that are hard to explain, but you have seen him and should know his strength. He said that the place will be open to the public in the future. As long as we can pay the crystal core, we can live there."

She didn’t tell the truth. This base was built by her.

But she could not explain the power from the system, the countless materials and equipment, nor could she let people know her extraordinary way of evolution.

She could only blame everything on him. After all, who told him to look this mysterious?

Everyone would believe this lie.

Because that day, everyone who saw Atlas understood one thing the moment he appeared - this man did not belong to this world. He is too powerful, too mysterious, and too incredible.

As expected, Shen Haoran spoke first: "Then what are we waiting for? With such a backing, we can definitely go there and rebuild our lives."

"Yes!" Liang Zihan also said excitedly, "We are already too tired. If we continue to wander like this, we will die on the road sooner or later. Even if the base is not fully built, as long as Atlas is there, I am willing to believe it."

"He doesn’t look like an ordinary person," Zhou Yinuo agreed. "Let alone anything else, just his aura made me almost dare not breathe."

The atmosphere around the campfire suddenly became lively, and everyone began to talk about moving to the new base, as if they had rekindled hope for the future.

However, in this excitement, two pairs of eyes were always on Liora.

One is Xu Kai and the other is Eli.

There was an indescribable light flashing in Xu Kai’s eyes. He looked at Liora’s face, his expression neither angry nor happy, but as if he saw through everything.

Liora didn’t understand why he looked at her like that, but she didn’t want to explain and was too lazy to say more, so she simply lowered her head and continued to drink her porridge.

And Eli... his expression was even more complicated.

He frowned slightly, but there was a smile on his lips.

When Liora met his gaze, her heart trembled slightly.

She knew. Eli knew the truth.

He knew Atlas better than anyone, and he knew better than anyone that the man would never build a base for others without a reason. He also understood the falsehood in Liora’s words.

She could only lower her head and smile at him, feeling a little guilty and apologetic.

Eli did not expose it. He just smiled at her, a faint and knowing smile that held fondness.

Even though Aunt doesn’t remember the past, her behavior is still the same. he thought to himself.

That cautious cleverness, the way she twisted the truth when she had to, the instinct to protect herself by putting the blame elsewhere—all of it was unmistakably familiar. Some part of her, deep within, hadn’t changed. No matter how much time passed or how many memories were lost, that part remained untouched. Eli couldn’t decide if it was admirable or sad.

People really never change, he sighed again inwardly, his gaze lingering on her face, lit faintly by the flickering firelight.

Still, his thoughts drifted to his father.

When Daddy finds out, he thought, what will he do?

The corners of his lips curled into a mischievous smile, he was looking forward to it.

"People really believe he’d do all that just for them?" Eli said in a low voice, almost like a whisper to himself.

Liora was stunned, then continued to drink the porridge in the bowl slowly as if she had heard nothing.

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