Chapter 128: Trapped in the Basement

The man in the suit walked up to the double iron doors. First, he used three keys to unlock the three outer locks, then entered a password and verified his fingerprint. Only after all these steps were completed did the doors slowly creak open.

"Young Master, per the Boss's instructions, I can only take you this far. You must go in alone from here on out. In the future, your three daily meals and any other necessities will be delivered through a dedicated channel. As for these iron doors, following the Boss's orders, they will not be opened again without his command."

The man in the suit turned to Huang Yu, who stood behind him. "Finally, the Boss asked me to give you one last chance to confirm your decision. Young Master, you can still choose not to go in."

Huang Yu shook his head and walked straight inside. As soon as he stepped in, the double iron doors slowly closed behind him, and the series of locks clicked shut.

The interior was more spacious and brighter than he had imagined; it did not feel like a basement at all. Right at the entrance was a large fitness area equipped with all kinds of exercise machines. Not far away, a staircase led downward, indicating the facility had more than one level. In the distance, four separate doors stood in different directions.

"What exactly was this place built for?" he wondered to himself.

As Huang Yu was lost in thought, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs nearby. A moment later, a figure appeared at the landing. It was none other than Peng Min, whom he had not seen for many days. His expression turned to one of great joy, and he hurried toward her. Peng Min had heard the sound of the iron doors opening above and had come to investigate, but she had not expected to see Huang Yu. She was equally overjoyed and rushed to meet him. The two soon embraced.

Half an hour later, the two were huddled together on a sofa in a room resembling a living room. In that half hour, Huang Yu had gained a basic understanding of the layout, which was far larger than he had envisioned. They were currently on the second floor, the entertainment area.

The facility had four levels in total. The top level was primarily a fitness area, featuring various exercise equipment and rooms dedicated to dance, music, and the like. The level below was the entertainment area, containing a small cinema, a gaming section, computers, and VR devices. The next level down was the study area, filled with a vast collection of books and documents—a small library in its own right. The lowest level was the rest area, consisting of four bedrooms of varying sizes and a bathroom.

These four levels had almost everything, and each was quite large. The only thing missing was a dining area; there was no space for eating or storing raw ingredients. It was clear that the designer had not simply forgotten this, but had never intended for one to exist—or perhaps the dining area was simply in the villa above, inaccessible due to the iron doors. As for meals, when it was time to eat, one would go to the top level, collect the food from a delivery window, and write down the menu for the next meal on a slip of paper to be prepared for the next delivery. Of course, one didn't have to wait for specific meal times; if hungry, one could order at any time without restrictions. The person above would receive the request and deliver the prepared food as soon as possible, leaving one to simply wait patiently.

Peng Min had tried many different dishes and drinks, and all could be provided. The only thing she couldn't adapt to was the intense loneliness of being here alone, even though she could watch television, which was stocked with more anime, dramas, and movies than she could watch in a lifetime.

The computer in the gaming area also contained an endless number of single-player games. Furthermore, she was provided with daily medication to help her overcome her drug addiction, with instructions to take it on time. Apart from the doctor who came periodically to check her health, she spent nearly all her time here alone.

After listening to Peng Min’s experiences over the past few days, Huang Yu shared everything that had happened to him, bit by bit. When Peng Min realized the series of things Huang Yu had done for her sake, she was not only happy but deeply moved. She held him tightly, as if that were the only way to express her feelings.

Huang Yu settled in. Days turned into weeks. In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed. Having grown accustomed to life in the basement, Huang Yu and Peng Min no longer found the days difficult, living a very structured life. Their affection for each other grew deeper, to the point of becoming inseparable.

Peng Min’s belly began to swell with each passing day, a sight that filled Huang Yu with joy and anticipation. He hadn't thought of Li Jia in a long time; it was as if she had slowly faded from his memory.

One day at noon, the two were sitting on the sofa after a meal, watching an anime together as they often did. At first, Huang Yu had thought anime was only for children, but after watching countless series with Peng Min, he had changed his mind; some anime were clearly not meant for children. Or perhaps, one should say, anime was not just for children.

Over the past month, he and Peng Min had watched a great deal of anime together, and his personality had changed significantly. Sometimes, he would even say things that were quite "chuunibyou," leaving Peng Min unable to decide whether to laugh or cry. Occasionally, Huang Yu’s surprising remarks would make Peng Min marvel as if she had discovered a new world. In truth, she had sensed subtle changes in him from the very first day he arrived—as if he had come to terms with many things and had become much more free-spirited and natural. Or perhaps, over these two-plus months, they had been changing each other.

She also knew that Huang Yu and his father were not on the same path, at least not anymore. In a sense, they were the same type of person: helpless against many things, lacking the power to change them.

Huang Yu held Peng Min, watching the anime on the screen in silence. Perhaps because he had just eaten, his eyelids grew heavy, and he eventually drifted off to sleep.

As Peng Min gently reached for a blanket to cover him, a bizarre scene unfolded: she vanished into thin air, leaving only the blanket to fall to the floor. On the coffee table, the snacks and fruit remained, and the anime continued to play on the TV, as if nothing had changed—except that Peng Min was gone.

Huang Yu’s eyelids fluttered, and he shifted into a more comfortable position, continuing to sleep soundly on the sofa.

An hour later, Huang Yu turned over and slowly woke up. The anime was still playing, and everything seemed exactly as it had been before he fell asleep, save for the fact that Peng Min was not there. He stood up, picked up the blanket, walked over to the TV, and turned it off. He went to the bathroom to wash his face, which helped him fully wake up. During this time, he had called out Peng Min’s name loudly, but strangely, he received no response.

After a quick wash, he checked the places Peng Min frequented, but found no trace of her. It was then that he began to realize something was wrong. In the past, whenever he woke up, Peng Min would be there beside him. But this time she wasn't, and he had shouted quite loudly—enough for his voice to be heard throughout all four levels of the basement.

The four levels were vast, though only relative to the space of a villa above ground. Huang Yu searched from the lowest level up to the furthest corner of the top level, his expression shifting from calm to increasingly panicked, and finally to anxious dread. He had to accept the truth: Peng Min was no longer there.

"Was Peng Min taken away by my father? But why didn't I notice anything? And why take her without leaving me a message?" Huang Yu felt the whole situation was highly unusual, but he could only conclude that she must have been taken by his father’s men.

He went to the designated spot for communicating with the outside world, wrote a note requesting to see Huang Tianhua, and sent it up. In the past, whenever he sent a message, he would receive a response in under five minutes; usually, it was instantaneous. But this time, he waited for over half an hour with no reply.

Huang Yu sent several more notes, but still, there was no response. It was then that he truly realized the situation had turned dire. He pounded on the double iron doors, creating a deafening sound, but no one came down to speak with him. It was as if the people above were giving him the silent treatment—or perhaps, more accurately, there was no one left above at all.

Huang Yu did not know what had happened, but he soon realized that if the people above were truly ignoring him, he was trapped here to die.

Time ticked by. An hour had passed since the time for dinner, and no food had been delivered. Only then did Huang Yu feel true terror. He ran through countless possibilities in his mind, but he could not find a reason why his father would treat him this way.

Trapped in the basement, Huang Yu never considered the possibility that only ten thousand humans remained in the entire world, and that everyone else had been erased by a god. He remained convinced that his father had orchestrated all of this, for reasons unknown.

Huang Yu returned to the entertainment area, eating snacks and continuing to watch anime to pass the time; trapped as he was, there was nothing else to do. Every so often, he would check to see if a message or food had been delivered. If no food came, he calculated that with his current supply of snacks and fruit, and provided he had water, he might survive for about a week.