Did I time travel?
Year 200 in the apocalypse calendar, 20 years after the end of the world. Alexandria was leading a small team on a mission. Despite the bitter cold wind, the team lay in ambush, completely still. Today's mission was to steal an item that had taken the entire world by storm, the Wishing Stone.
It was said the stone could make any wish come true. All you had to do was channel your power into the stone and fill it with energy. How much energy it needed depended on how big your wish was.
If your wish was difficult to achieve, you'd need an enormous amount of power to make it happen. If the wish was small, the stone might not respond at all.
Once the stone appeared, countless groups fought over it. Now, it had ended up in the hands of someone unknown and was heavily guarded.
Alexandria, ranked first on the Red List of the Silver Fox Assassin Organization, normally wouldn't have taken on a mission like this. She didn't believe in stupid rumors. Who knew what kind of idiot had started the story about the stone? And yet, some people actually believed it.
If she had a choice, she'd wish for the days before the apocalypse. A life without zombies, full of good food and comfort. She had seen so many documentaries showing how people used to live. Those days looked so warm and peaceful.
If the apocalypse had never happened, how amazing would life be?
Still, the buyer had offered too much money. Lately, Alexandria had grown tired of living on the edge, constantly dancing with death. She just wanted to complete this job and retire. Live like a normal person for once.
Everyone in the Silver Fox group was an expert. To survive the apocalypse and become part of this assassin team meant you were elite. This time, Alexandria had brought the very best members of her team, determined to get it done in one shot.
They crossed a territory crawling with zombies and arrived at the mysterious person's residence. From the outside, the place looked gloomy and terrifying. But for a team that had spent years killing zombies, fear meant nothing.
At Alexandria's signal, the team split into two groups, surrounding the house from both sides. Before reaching their target, they were ambushed several times. Luckily, they were well-trained, though the cost was heavy.
After dealing with the ambushers, the Silver Fox squad broke through the final defense. When they opened the door, they found no guards inside. The Wishing Stone was lying silently at the center of the room. It looked completely ordinary, just a plain rock. No one could understand why people were so obsessed with it.
Even at this stage, the team didn't lower their guard. Caution had saved them many times. They watched every corner as Alexandria reached out and picked up the Wishing Stone.
Suddenly, a large number of enemies burst out, charging directly at them.
It was the White Tiger Assassin Organization, their long-time enemies.
So, the mysterious owner had hired elite fighters. Or maybe, this was a trap meant just for them.
The Silver Fox group had already lost some members earlier. Now, under attack from White Tiger, they were being slaughtered. Soon, only Alexandria was left. The White Tiger leader laughed and spoke in a twisted voice.
"Alexandria, if you come with me, I'll let you live. How about it?"
Alexandria was known as the most beautiful woman in the apocalypse. If she hadn't been a deadly fighter, with that face, she wouldn't have survived even a day.
She sneered. "Screw you."
Then she struck, killing the White Tiger leader on the spot.
Even if she died today, she would avenge her fallen team. She used her most powerful fire attack. But the enemy outnumbered her, and she was soon overwhelmed.
As the White Tiger leader attacked again, Alexandria didn't flinch. She chose to self-destruct, taking the entire White Tiger squad with her in a blaze of fire.
The leader never expected she had such a move. Self-destruction was the worst kind of death. In an instant, the whole building went up in flames. No one survived.
Just before dying, Alexandria gripped the Wishing Stone tightly. Could it really grant wishes?
If I get a next life, I want a world without zombies. A peaceful life. Is that too much?
Suddenly, the Wishing Stone in her hand glowed brightly. The light was so strong that she had to shut her eyes.
She lost all consciousness.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw a half-collapsed wooden beam hanging above her. She was lying flat on the floor. Her head throbbed with pain. She reached back and felt blood all over the back of her head.
She wanted to get up and see where she was. Could it be that she wasn't dead?
She had clearly self-destructed! But now she felt no strength in her body. Struggling with all her might, she managed to crawl up from the ground. As soon as she got up, memories rushed into her mind, and the experiences of the original person played in her mind like a slideshow.
It turned out that the original person had escaped a disaster. Her parents had starved to death, and she couldn't survive on her own. She followed the refugees who had fled the disaster. The original person's mother-in-law was cruel and wanted to marry her off to her son, a soldier, without paying a bride price.
She gave her two meals, and Alexandria stayed with her family. When Christian returned from his military leave, they got married under his mother's arrangement. But right after the wedding, before they even had their wedding night, Christian was called back to the army for an urgent mission, leaving Alexandria alone to endure her mother-in-law's cruelty.
At first, Madam Xu was not too harsh. Although the food Alexandria got was just some sweet potatoes and coarse grain that could barely fill her stomach, Christian would send his military allowance every month. Although Madam Xu always took it, at least Alexandria was able to eat something.
But as Christian's time in the army grew longer, Madam Xu became more and more cruel to Alexandria. She made her do all the household chores and wash all the clothes. She would often scold and beat Alexandria, who was timid and weak but very hardworking, enduring it all just to survive.
Recently, news came from the military that Christian had been missing for two months and was likely to have died on the battlefield. Alexandria's position in the family became even worse. Madam Xu only gave her one meal a day, and it was food so bad that even pigs wouldn't eat.
Alexandria silently endured the daily insults from the Shao family: "A daughter-in-law who brings bad luck to her husband!" "A cursed woman who brings misfortune to her parents and husband!" "A lowly woman!"
She endured it all.
The last straw that broke Alexandria's back was when Jay, the youngest son of the Shao family and her brother-in-law, tried to force himself on her when the rest of the family went to work.
He knew that his elder brother, who had passed away, never slept with his "cheap" sister-in-law, so she must still be a virgin.
At first, Jay didn't dare, as he was afraid of his older brother, even though he wasn't favored by their mother. But now that his older brother was dead, he felt he could take advantage of the situation.
What he didn't expect was that although Alexandria appeared fragile and never resisted at home, she had an intense reaction when it came to men. When Jay tried to force himself on her, she slammed into a pillar, practically trying to end her life.
Jay, scared out of his wits, fled immediately.
Alexandria lay there, helpless, and no one came to her rescue. Eventually, she died.
In truth, the commotion they caused was so loud that anyone in the yard could have heard it!
Later, when Madam Xu entered the room to make Alexandria work, Alexandria begged for help, but Madam Xu heartlessly ignored her. After all, now that her second son was dead, it didn't matter how she treated Alexandria. It was just one more mouth to feed.
The most important thing was that Alexandria was severely injured. If they took her to a doctor, it would cost a lot of money. Such a lowly woman wasn't worth spending that much on.
And then, Alexandria, the powerful killer from the apocalypse, took over the body!
After accepting all this information, Alexandria vowed to take revenge on those who had wronged her and let the original Alexandria rest in peace.
As for the Shao family, they would certainly be dealt with!