Apocalypse: The Primordial Pearl Recognizes Its Master, Starting with Infinite Space

After everyone calmed down, Lin Chen activated the Creation Pearl to settle the group on Vermilion Bird Island, and then returned to the Mountain and Water Garden alone.

When Duan Rong, Tian Tian, ​​Hu Shanshan and others witnessed the fairyland-like scene inside the Creation Pearl, they were deeply shocked.

It was only at this moment that they truly realized that the man before them had the ability to lead everyone out of the apocalypse.

At least, he can keep everyone away from the apocalypse.

"You can settle here for now. I will pick you up when we reach the shelter."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Lin!"

"Mr. Lin, please go ahead with your work. Don't worry about us."

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Inside a high-rise residential building in Guangzhou, which is an official shelter.

The biting cold outside seemed to seep through the reinforced concrete walls, stealing away the last bit of warmth.

In the living room, a dozen people huddled together around a small fire that was barely kept burning with old furniture and books.

The flames were weak, crackling and constantly emitting black smoke, which had already turned the walls and ceiling into a filthy mess.

Everyone was wrapped in layers of clothing and blankets, yet they were still shivering from the cold, their faces were pale, and their hair was greasy and tangled, a far cry from their former appearance.

The air conditioner has long been a decoration; no matter how you press the buttons, only cold air comes out of the vents.

"Dad," a middle-aged man with sunken eyes spoke in a hoarse voice. He was Li Yan, Li Zhenbang's eldest son, "We can't go on like this anymore... Please contact my younger sister. Have her send someone to pick us up. The Lin Chen she's with now, even Chang Chengye gives him a wide berth. As long as my younger sister speaks up, the Chang family won't dare to stop us! Besides, the Chang family has no right to occupy our villa—why shouldn't they release us?"

"Yes, Dad," a woman wrapped in a down comforter, her face haggard but still showing signs of her former beauty, chimed in. She was the eldest daughter, Li Jia, her voice filled with anxiety. "I heard my younger sister lives in 'Mountain and Water Garden,' and it's as warm as spring inside!"

"And don't forget, the villa she lives in now was secretly transferred to her through her mother when she was eighteen... After all, she has the blood of the Li family flowing in her veins, we can't just stand by and watch her die, can we?"

The elderly man surrounded in the middle was none other than Li Zhenbang, the former richest man in Guangzhou.

He sat wrapped in a thick blanket on the only intact sofa, his back still trying to straighten, but every wrinkle on his face was etched with exhaustion. He listened silently, his gaze fixed on the flickering flames, offering no response for a long time.

"Li Yan, Li Jia, stop talking."

After a long silence, Li Zhenbang finally spoke in a hoarse voice: "I won't go to Xiaoya. I don't have the face for that."

"Chang Hao deliberately leaked this information to you; he has no good intentions."

"So what exactly is Chang Hao after?" Li Yan asked urgently.

"I still don't understand," Li Zhenbang shook his head, "but I absolutely cannot harm Xiaoya. I will not contact her."

"Why?!" Li Yan couldn't help but raise his voice, coughing agitatedly. "Are you worried about saving face? Or do you feel guilty towards her deceased mother? Dad! What kind of world is this?! Survival is more important than anything else!"

Li Zhenbang raised his eyelids to look at his eldest son, his gaze revealing disappointment, but also a deep sharpness:

"Face? I, Li Zhenbang, have long since torn myself apart and trampled on my own face. As for feeling sorry for her mother..."

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice became even lower:

"Yes, the people I feel most sorry for in my life are that mother and daughter. Xiaoya has never stepped foot in the Li family's house since she was born. After she became sensible, everything I gave her—the house, the car, the jewelry—was delivered indirectly through her mother or her secretary."

"She probably has no idea that some of those things were given to her by me. Her mother died without ever receiving a promise from me, without ever seeing her daughter come home rightfully... How can I, in my current state, have the face to beg her to take in a neglectful father like me, and all of you... 'family' who have never given her a shred of warmth?"

His words were like ice thorns, pricking Li Yan and Li Jia, making their faces turn red and white in turns.

"Old Li!" Qin Anhui, the first wife, sitting next to Li Zhenbang and also bundled up tightly, interrupted sharply, "What's the use of bringing up these old grievances now? I didn't let that wild girl into the house! So what? What time is it now?"

"It's minus sixty or seventy degrees outside! I heard this awful weather is going to last all year! Staying here without food or fuel, my whole family will starve and freeze to death sooner or later! Now that your precious daughter has some ability, isn't it only natural that she should lend a hand to her father and siblings!"

"Dad! Are you really going to just watch the Li family line die out?" Li Yan roared, his eyes bloodshot. "Chang Chengye seized our villa and kicked us out! I swallowed that insult, but now we're about to lose our lives!"

As the eldest son in name, Li Yan has always resented his father's philandering and the constant emergence of "younger brothers and sisters".

He glanced at the half-siblings in the corner, a barely perceptible sneer creeping onto his lips.

He had never cared about Li Ya, his youngest sister, and even secretly resented her. But now... he wanted me to bow down and beg her?

A sense of humiliation welled up in his throat, but he clenched his trembling hands hidden in his sleeves—the will to survive ultimately overwhelmed everything.

Seeing that Li Yan had stopped trying to persuade him.

Li Jia, who was beside him, quietly tugged at his sleeve and whispered urgently, "Keep trying to persuade them! Besides Dad, who else in this family can speak up? Should we go to Li Ya? We'll probably get beaten to death!"

There were more than just the four of them in the living room.

There were three men and three women cowering nearby, ranging in age from their early twenties to their early thirties.

A younger man, hugging his knees, suddenly whispered to the woman beside him:

"See? All this arguing... The legitimate daughter is so pampered, she still can't let go of her pride. And what about us? At least we were given food and some shares back then, but Li Ya got nothing!"

His sister tugged at her scarf, her tone numb: "Say less... What's the difference? We're all just waiting to die."

On the other side, three middle-aged beauties, still charming but equally disheveled, sat together—they were the biological mothers of the three men and three women, and also Li Zhenbang's lovers.

The youngest one smoothed his hair and lowered his voice:

"How tightly did Qin Anhui block us from entering the family back then? And what happened? She used shares to get our children to 'recognize their ancestral roots,' and now we're all in the same boat, aren't we?"

Another sneered, "She was too cruel to Li Ya and her daughter... They never even stepped foot in the Li family's door until their deaths. Now look what happened, karma has come back to bite them, and they don't even have the face to ask for favors anymore."

The third sighed and looked at the flickering flames: "What's the use of saying all this... These thirteen people are the last remaining bloodline of the Li family to come together. Whether they survive or not depends on fate."

Li Zhenbang, a man who once wielded considerable influence in both the political and business circles of Guangzhou, is now 62 years old. The end times and harsh winters have accelerated his aging.

Li Ya was born to him on his fortieth birthday, along with a gentle yet strong-willed dance teacher. It was a daughter he had late in life, and he loved her deeply.

However, this favoritism, coupled with the domineering and jealous nature of the first wife Qin Anhui, led to her refusal to accept Li Ya's daughter on the grounds of "impure birth," ultimately resulting in tragedy. Li Ya's mother was never able to set foot in the Li family in her entire life, and her only wish until her death was for her daughter to be recognized by her ancestors. She died in sorrow.

The children born to his other mistresses, though they also experienced ups and downs, were eventually accepted by Qin Anhui through a deal of mutual benefit, thus gaining recognition and material security within the Li family.

Qin Anhui showed the most stubborn rejection towards Li Ya and her daughter.

This stark contrast, like a poisonous thorn, is deeply embedded in Li Zhenbang's heart, and becomes his deepest debt to Li Ya.

"The Li family line has ended?" Li Zhenbang repeated his son's words, then suddenly let out a short, desolate laugh. "What difference is there between the Li family now and one that has ended? To cling to life by begging for a daughter we've broken our hearts? I, Li Zhenbang... am not that shameless!"

"You...you're really senile!" Qin Anhui trembled with anger. "Then what do you suggest we do? Just wait here to die?!"

"Dad! Don't be so stubborn!" Li Jia cried out, "My little sister is still your own daughter! Blood is thicker than water!"

"Blood is thicker than water?" Li Zhenbang's eyes were empty. "How dare you say that? What kind of 'blood' warmth have I given her? Have I given her a title? Or protected her and her mother? What kind of sisterly or brotherly affection have you given her?"

His gaze slowly swept over Qin Anhui, Li Yan, Li Jia, and the silent or shifty-eyed illegitimate children in the corner.

It seems they are about to make some major decision.