The apocalypse has ended, and a new era has begun.

Those who survived were one in ten thousand. After five years of living hell, they finally began to sprout new shoots with great difficulty on the ravaged land.

Official institutions have resumed operations, but their power is limited, and they rely more on spontaneous grassroots organizations.

There are also groups like Huo Zhanting who have accumulated prestige and power in the apocalypse.

No matter how much the outside world changed, Mo Chenchen continued her life as usual, living a secluded life and having no interest in power.

Whoever is home resting, she will have them cook something delicious for her.

Her secrets—braised pork, stewed green beans, dried chicken, and stewed goose in an iron pot—were probably all guessed by several people, but no one dared to expose them.

It's an unspoken understanding, so they spoil her. Whenever someone is home, they'll cook a whole table of dishes for Mo Chenchen, and if she can't finish them, they'll leave it to her to handle.

On this day, Mo Chenchen summoned Huo Zhanting, Baili Mo, Xiao Yan, Su Nanqi, and Han Yue to her study.

Dozens of huge boxes had appeared in the study at some point.

Mo Chenchen casually opened one of the books, which was neatly stacked and perfectly preserved.

It contains all sorts of things: agriculture, water conservancy, construction, medicine, machinery, metallurgy, chemical industry, and even some basic scientific theories and historical documents.

In the early days of the apocalypse, Mo Chenchen collected several libraries, picked out all the duplicates, and kept the ones that weren't duplicates for herself.

You could say they have a conscience, but not much.

She doesn't know how many worlds she will experience in the future, and these books will definitely be very useful, so she can't just give them away selflessly.

Repeating it is useless anyway. She still remembers that there is a thing called merit points in the Reincarnation Absolute.

Compared to this contribution, it's enough to earn a lot of merit points.

The five men were speechless with shock when they saw what Mo Chenchen had taken out.

In the revival of the new era, the knowledge gap is more terrifying than material scarcity.

In the apocalypse, all the books were burned for warmth; survival was the only issue, so who cared about knowledge?

These books are the sparks that ignite the rebuilding of civilization!

"These things are just gathering dust here anyway, so I hope you can make good use of them." The meaning is clear: I've given you the chips, and whether you can take power depends on your abilities.

Their abilities are undoubtedly outstanding. Not to mention in this era of dwindling population, even in peacetime, any one of them would be an invaluable talent.

In just a few days, Mo Chenchen became the ruler of the new era, known as the Empress.

Huo Zhanting is an imperial general who commands most of the army and is referred to as Commander-in-Chief Huo.

Baili Mo became the de facto ruler in charge of rebuilding the city, and Xiao Yan took over the important task of economic recovery.

Su Nanqi took office as Minister of Finance, while Han Yue became... the Director of Women's Affairs? Primarily in charge of the birth rate and women's protection.

Mo Chenchen's name is a transcendent existence in the New Era, recorded in history, making him the founder of the New Era.

Mo Chenchen began to live the life of a true new-era empress every day. Others would take care of things and carry them out, and she only needed to focus on enjoying herself.

Everyone knows that several of Mo Chenchen's top generals are also part of her harem.

That year, Mo Chenchen was 45 years old. Huo Zhanting tried to subtly inquire whether she still wanted something new.

Mo Chenchen made it clear to the four that at her age, she wanted to learn some knowledge to enrich herself and didn't want to waste it on other things.

Huo Zhanting, Baili Mo, and the other three all breathed a sigh of relief.

Time flies, the years are like a shuttle.

The new era has progressed for decades, albeit with some stumbles and setbacks.

Social order was gradually restored, thanks to the experience of those who came before, and the city had already been rebuilt.

It is even more prosperous than before the apocalypse, and signs of civilization are slowly advancing to higher dimensions.

The six of them, Mo Chenchen, have also inevitably grown old.

Mo Chenchen's appearance seemed to have been exceptionally kind to him by the years, but upon closer inspection, traces were inevitably left at the corners of his eyes and lips. However, his eyes still carried a calm and insightful quality.

She is no longer young, but her unique demeanor and charm have only become more refined with the passage of time.

Although Huo Zhanting's temples were now streaked with gray and his posture was not as upright as when he was young, the essence of his face was still there, and he was still a handsome old man.

His years of leadership experience had instilled in him an imposing presence, and only when facing Mo Chenchen could he reveal a hint of gentleness.

Baili Mo has long lost the vigor he had in his youth. As he gets older, he becomes more refined and elegant, and his silver hair is always meticulously groomed.

Because he was always in charge of diplomatic work, his image was always the best among the five.

Xiao Yan spoke less and less, but the wrinkles on his face deepened, though his eyes remained as cold and sharp as ever.

Su Qinan became a shrewd old man, still wearing glasses on his nose. He always managed to take good care of Mo Chenchen, keeping her life in perfect order. He was Mo Chenchen's favorite person later on.

As for Han Yue, people say that old people are like children, and that probably describes him perfectly.

As she gets older, she seems to revert to her youthful nature, becoming the most active of the five. The lines around her eyes are deeper than the others because she laughs so much.

The five of them have long become an indispensable part of each other's lives; their years of mutual support and companionship are truly remarkable.

When they were young, they would try to outdo each other in front of Mo Chenchen, vying for her favor and competing with each other in private.

But that bond has become increasingly difficult to sever year by year.

In their entire lives, they only had one woman, Mo Chenchen, and they devoted their entire lives to her, supporting each other through the rest of their lives.

They were together; they fought, played chess, drank alcohol, enjoyed tea, and even sabotaged each other.

In the spring of the year Mo Chenchen turned seventy-two, her physical functions began to decline rapidly.

She knew then that her time was up.

I have lived in this world for fifty years, and this body's lifespan is about to end.

She felt no fear, but rather a sense of relief at the impending liberation.

She summoned the five men who had been with her throughout her life to her side.

The sun was shining brightly outside, and the big tree in the palace was covered with tiny white flowers. The fragrance of the flowers was that of jasmine, Mo Chenchen's favorite scent.

The men already had a bad feeling, and one by one they forced smiles as they gathered around Mo Chenchen's bedside.

Mo Chenchen didn't give them a chance to escape, and went straight to the point: "My time is up, I have to go."

With just one sentence, the guard was broken and the composure they had been maintaining vanished instantly.

"Sinking..." She could only utter those two words before she could no longer continue.

This man, who had always been tough and resolute, also had tears welling up in his eyes.

Baili Mo forced a smile and smoothed the woman's hair: "Don't talk nonsense. You're just not feeling well these past few days, you'll be fine in a few days."

Su Qinan turned his back immediately, not daring to take a step forward, for fear that he would not be able to control himself.

Xiao Yan also turned to the side, clenching his fists.

Only Han Yue directly grabbed Mo Chenchen's hand and held it in his palm: "Don't scare us. Did we do something wrong again recently, and that's why you did it on purpose?"

Mo Chenchen smiled, a rare smile devoid of any emotion: "This life... with you all by my side, it's quite lively. I really like it."

She paused, her breath growing weaker: "You all must...you must take good care of yourselves."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stopped breathing, his face looking as if he were asleep, but his chest stopped breathing.

The room fell into a deathly silence.

A soft, muffled sob escaped someone's lips.

Huo Zhanting suddenly knelt down on both knees in front of the bed, his hands trembling as he cupped the woman's face in his hands, softly calling, "Chenchen, Chenchen, wake up, how could you just leave like that? Chen..."

The words that followed stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter another sound.

He thought that after so many years, he had long been mentally prepared for a separation.

But when it actually happened, he realized he couldn't bear it at all; his heart was in excruciating pain, so much so that he wanted to dig it out.

It was only then that he realized that his feelings for Mo Chenchen were not just a habit, but an inseparable, deeply ingrained love.

Tears streamed down Baili Mo's face, and his refined demeanor vanished completely.

He schemed his whole life, but in the end, he gave his whole heart to this heartless woman, and no matter how hard he tried to take it back, he couldn't.

Xiao Yan turned around abruptly, looked up at the roof, trying to stop his tears from falling, but found it was all in vain.

He silently protected her his whole life, but in the end, he couldn't withstand the passage of time.

Su Qinan sat there in the chair, leaning back with his head up, tears streaming down his face.

Han Yue didn't cry. He just pressed the woman's hand against his face, feeling that she was still alive and hadn't died.

They all thought they were just used to living by her side, used to her presence.

It wasn't until she was truly gone that the immense emptiness and despair that swept over them in that instant made them realize with horror.

That's not a habit, that's love.

It is a profound and silent love that has taken root and grown quietly over the long years, and has long been intertwined with their lives.

Mo Chenchen's soul floated away from her aging body, and she glanced back at the five sorrowful old men in the bedroom.

A faint ripple swept through her heart, one that she herself was unaware of.

She didn't linger; with a thought, her soul returned to the space.

Within the space, her soul returned to its youthful form.

Upon reaching the second floor, the gate to reincarnation was already there.

She hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and went inside.

After Mo Chenchen "passed away," Huo Zhanting and his four friends gave her a grand burial in the largest independent cemetery in Nanshan.

This was a place they had been working on for a long time, their final resting place.

The whole country mourned, flags were flown at half-mast, and the throne was passed to the successor jointly groomed by the five men.

The entire villa area, once a lush and dark place, has been transformed into an intangible cultural heritage site and has been completely renovated, becoming a major tourist attraction in the capital.

Especially Mo Chenchen's renovated villa, which holds the story of her legend.

Baili Mo hung up her paintings inside, and the entire villa depicted the life of Mo Chenchen during the apocalypse.

The spirit of the five old people seemed to have been drained away with Mo Chenchen's departure.

Three months after Mo Chenchen's death, Huo Zhanting passed away peacefully in his sleep one morning.

When his men found him, he was still tightly clutching a bracelet that Mo Chenchen had given him before his death. He passed away peacefully.

With his spirits up, Baili Mo handed over all the affairs properly, and on a drizzly autumn afternoon, he sat in the chair that Mo Chenchen often sat in in the study and closed his eyes forever.

On the table are photos of Mo Chenchen taken before his death and after he took over.

After Huo Zhanting left, Xiao Yan became even more silent. In the winter of the following year, he accidentally fell and never got up again. He was already old and frail.

On his deathbed, his cloudy eyes gazed toward the bedroom, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only sighed silently.

Su Nanqi was the penultimate one to pass away, dying of heart failure six months after Xiao Yan's death.

Han Yue was the longest-lived, but he only lasted two more years.

He became very quiet, stopped joking, and often sat alone in the yard, staring blankly at the fruit tree.

He left on a warm spring day, with a smile on his face, as if he could see Mo Chenchen waving to him, murmuring:

"Chenchen... I'm here to keep you company... This time, I'll definitely make you even happier..."

They all thought their feelings for Mo Chenchen were more of a habit and dependence, until they lost her and realized that their love had been etched into their very bones.

Mo Chenchen's departure took away the last bit of spirit from their lives.

In the adult world, relationships can't withstand constant changes, and fate can't be worn down. Cherish what's worthwhile, and let go of what's not.

In the end, any relationship is nothing more than a acquaintance. Those who are attached to it will inevitably suffer, while those who are not attached to it will be indifferent.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like