Sleeping Anywhere, Anytime

【Important Notice】Name Changes:

"Mech Pilot Naweiya" has been changed to "Mech Pilot Natata"

"Red Gloves Organization" has been changed to "Ares Organization"

For details, see the author's note. Enjoy the story, and there will be a double update tonight! (There's been a change to the apocalypse timeline: Law Enforcer Xu Lingqu's initial appointment has been changed from Year 19 of the apocalypse to Year 6.)

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Year 9 of the apocalypse

Xu Lingqu came to know a secret organization exclusively for evolved humans. Most of its members were law enforcers who had defected from other bases.

The organization's leader said something meaningful the first time he met Xu Lingqu.

"We are evolved humans, not humans."

"You must understand me, just as we both share the same physical changes. A million years ago, when humans learned to use tools, they ceased being the same species as apes." The leader, clad in a white robe, wore a calm smile on his face. "And we are the same with those ordinary humans—we've long ceased to be the same kind as them... Right now, they're the fish on the chopping block, and we are the knife. Yet the human high-ups keep brainwashing us, making us sacrifice ourselves to protect them..."

"Law Enforcer Xu, Evolved Human Xu, we're going to stage a massacre at Lake Arden. We need you."

That night, Xu Lingqu also learned about the evolved human cultivation plan—the truth behind the fire she had experienced.

In the end, she agreed. Her letter of allegiance was the movement trajectory of some of the high-ranking humans in the Central Tower.

Evolved humans could contend with Mutant Beasts, and at certain moments, they could kill ordinary humans faster than Mutant Beasts could.

The high-ranking humans who had once made the decision to actively kill humans in exchange for the creation of evolved humans were bloodily purged that night. The evolved human organization was consumed by bloodlust, and as the leader reveled in the thrill of being above ordinary life, an old-fashioned revolver was pressed against his head.

After using the knife to kill, Xu Lingqu destroyed the knife with her own hands.

"Do you think those ordinary humans will like you for this? Who will truly be grateful to you? You betrayed your true kin in this world to protect those ordinary humans who constantly call you a murderer and a dictator." The leader's last words were especially verbose. Seeing his painstakingly built organization destroyed by her alone, he laughed somewhat maniacally. "Xu Lingqu, in this world, you belong neither to ordinary humans nor to evolved humans. You led us to kill the human high-ups, so you don't really identify with your role as a law enforcer either, do you? Do you have a place in this world? A masochistic freak who asks for trouble—how pitiful."

The gunshot rang out, and blood splattered.

She left the bloody scene in the night, the soles of her feet sticky with blood—whether from the ordinary human high-ups or the evolved humans, she couldn't tell.

Xu Lingqu inexplicably thought of the day He Buyan died. Although evolved humans had gained the power to contend with Mutant Beasts, their brains had always been a weak point. He Buyan was simply unlucky: the person who shot him was actually handling a gun for the first time, yet by sheer chance, the bullet passed through the back of his skull.

The moonlight that night weighed especially heavy on people.

Turned out she wasn't incapable of feeling—she had just become numb.

"Commander! Commander!! Commander!!!"

A voice "peeled" her out of the heavy, moonlit weight.

Xu Lingqu initially thought it was Jin, since he was the only one who liked calling her that. But listening more closely, it was the voices of many people—the students from Moye's trial period, all together.

Jin could understand. Over the past ten days, Xu Lingqu had been putting herself through all kinds of extra training. Although the infirmary served as her respawn point—one blink and she'd pass out, another blink and she'd be refreshed, going back and forth between those two states—

But falling asleep in the middle of eating? That was just absurd.

Xu Xiqin's immediate reaction was: "My sister sleeps wherever she wants."

Tang Muwen carefully moved half a piece of food away from Xu Lingqu's mouth, worried. "There's still something in her mouth. What if she chokes in her sleep?"

"Are you really going to dig it out of her mouth?" Jin casually mocked, but when he turned to look, he saw Shen Shouli, who should have been disgusted by such talk, wearing a faint smile on his face. Jin felt like the sky was falling. "Can you not do that? It makes me, who got beaten up by you since childhood because of your cleanliness obsession, look like a complete idiot."

"Quiet down." Shen Shouli looked at Xu Lingqu's sleeping form seriously. "It's rare to see her this relaxed. Don't disturb her."

She was like the boss stray cat at the alley entrance—usually biting and snarling at everyone, or ignoring humans entirely to do her own thing. But one day, she unexpectedly and voluntarily fell asleep in front of familiar humans.

The four tablemates watched the sleeping Xu Lingqu with great care.

When people passing by in the cafeteria saw who was sleeping, they too became light-footed, afraid that any sound would wake the commander who needed her rest.

Liu Zheng and Lin Xiao at the next table noticed as well, a bit surprised. Natata, who was eating with them, was confused, but Liu Zheng simply made a shushing gesture at her.

Everyone tacitly guarded Xu Lingqu, who seemed to be having a pleasant dream. Unfortunately, she was having a real nightmare.

Amid the repeated calls of "Commander," Xu Lingqu opened her eyes. Feeling softness pressing against her arm, she turned to see Xu Xiqin lying close beside her. Sensing Xu Lingqu's movement, Xu Xiqin straightened up too.

She had wanted to take an afternoon nap with her sister, but hadn't expected her sister to wake up so soon.

"Commander, you're finally awake. I was deprived of my right to breathe and nearly suffocated." Jin's voice dripped with grievance, while the culprit, Shen Shouli, sat nearby looking completely oblivious.

"Xu... Lingqu, lately you've been doing too much extra training. You must be exhausted." Tang Muwen also spoke up with concern.

Only then did Xu Lingqu realize she had fallen asleep mid-meal. A rare surge of embarrassment welled up inside her, though her face betrayed nothing.

"I'm fine." She glanced around. The cafeteria was empty; those who took afternoon naps had gone back to their dorms, and those who didn't weren't lingering in the cafeteria. At this hour, only their small group remained seated, along with the meal-serving robot at the counter whose smiley face was drawn adorably.

Xu Lingqu rubbed her eyes. "But I do need to stop the extra training for a while."

The trial period was only about half over. These past days, Kai Ang had been unusually well-behaved, gradually rebuilding his image among the students.

But whether it was her instinctive sense of danger or the warning from her SS-level mental power, Xu Lingqu felt that something important was about to happen—and within the next few days.

At that moment, in the instructors' office, Kai Ang was pacing back and forth in agitation, nearly dizzying the seated Instructor Chen.

"Sit down already."

"How can I sit?! Tell me—it was agreed from the start that the trial period would be a month and a half. Does Su Li think she can just cut the time whenever she wants? Who does she think she is?!"

"She's the vice principal—the youngest among the six military academies." Instructor Chen couldn't take it anymore. "I'll count to three. If you're not sitting by then, get the hell out."

Kai Ang calmed down slightly. "You don't think she's deliberately making things hard for us?"

"It's your fault for letting the underground labyrinth's modified terrain be discovered." Seeing him sit down, Instructor Chen stood up and pushed the smart device on the desk toward Kai Ang.

It was a holographic call request from Su Li.

"Damn it. You're leaving and I have to deal with her alone?" Kai Ang, watching Instructor Chen about to leave, nearly lunged forward to grab his leg and beg him not to go.

"I've got afternoon training—fixed-point shooting. I need to head to the training ground." Instructor Chen flashed a mocking smile. "You're on your own."