Chapter 192: Ability User’s Ambush
“Cough…” Su Yan felt a bit embarrassed and stopped pretending. He grabbed some seeds from Lin Yimu and said, “I’m telling the truth. Otherwise, how could I let my wife, a wood-type ability user, go look for supplies? I’m really broke now.”
“Just say it, what do you want?” Wu Yue spat a seed shell and handed a cup to Ning Yuan to fill with water, asking.
Su Yan coughed twice and looked toward Zhuang Mingxu, asking, “The info is real, right?”
Zhuang Mingxu nodded.
“We bought the info together with the Xu family, but… about that one test subject, can you give it to me? We’re all on the same side. A discount, please—I really can’t afford five thousand crystal cores,” Su Yan said, “I…”
“Shh.” Lu Xi suddenly came over and gave a glance to Zhuang Mingxu and Lin Yimu. Wu Yue and Ning Yuan immediately noticed.
Confused, Su Yan looked at them, just in time to see Lu Xi quickly approach, raising a slight mental power shield and whispering, “Someone is using an ability to eavesdrop on your conversation.”
Su Yan was surprised; he had never heard of such an ability. “What kind of ability?”
“Mental-type ability. Stop talking, or everything you say or do can be seen by them,” Lu Xi said, then advised, “Try to sense the energy fluctuations around you. You might feel them slightly.”
Su Yan nodded and quickly changed the subject, talking about past military experiences.
Until Su Yan left, Lin Qingya’s mental energy continued to circle among the group.
Lu Xi was about the same and dared not probe their positions. But Lu Weiyi immediately detected where she was hiding and recognized her as the girl who had been with Gao Tianpeng earlier that day.
After telling Zhuang Mingxu, he thought for a moment and said, “Gao Tianpeng is probably trying to eavesdrop directly through her. If we can’t get the info here, we can steal it from others. That way, we minimize the cost. Meng Da clearly wants to get it by force. As for Su Yan and Xu Sen… who do you want to give it to?”
“You want to give it to Su Yan?” If there was no intention, the one paying would have done so already. Zhuang Mingxu wouldn’t have asked.
“Not necessarily him, but we’re comrades. Plus, selling him a discount is just a favor, and we still get the cores, so it’s not a loss,” Zhuang Mingxu said.
Lu Weiyi nodded, “How much do you think is appropriate?”
“Four thousand, privately,” Zhuang Mingxu said. A discount of one thousand is pretty good. “Also, let someone tell Xu Sen and Su Yan about the girl near Gao Tianpeng. There’s no free lunch.”
Lu Weiyi nodded, called Lu Xi over, told him, and then asked, “How’s your research going?” They now had two trucks, one loaded with Lu Xi’s experimental equipment. Whenever possible, Lu Xi stayed inside.
“I’ve detected energy bodies in the snow water. I’m trying to simulate it now. I’ll let you know when there’s progress,” Lu Xi said excitedly.
“Okay, let me know if you need anything,” Lu Weiyi said. Once the research was done, they wouldn’t have to worry about running out of snow water, and that would be the real income source. With funding and Lu Xi’s expertise in weapons, at least they had the capital to build the base. “Find someone to go with you. Don’t go alone.”
“Okay,” Lu Xi said, looking around and finally focusing on Xu Sa and Liu Rui.
Lu Weiyi didn’t ask how Lu Xi told them, but after the three returned, they gave him two hundred crystal cores, claiming it was for training fees.
Later, Xu Sa told the squad, and Lu Weiyi learned these three not only revealed who had mental-type abilities and some basic powers but also asked if they wanted to experience the energy fluctuations felt during mental ability detection, in case they got spied on again in the future.
Experience fee: two hundred crystal cores per hour.
Lu Weiyi found this amusing; their squad was clearly turning into a money-driven operation.
Shortly after, Lin Qingya’s probing vanished.
Near evening, Xu Sen, Su Yan, and Gao Tianpeng came outside together, saying they wanted to witness the authenticity of the information. Of course, the test subject was from the Xu family.
After the five thousand crystal cores were counted, Lu Weiyi didn’t beat around the bush and let them into the tent to begin absorbing the cores. Half an hour later, a new B level ability user was born.
Although the painful screams during the upgrade could still be heard, the person survived—and successfully upgrading was the key point.
“I bought the information,” Xu Sen said after confirming with the ability user that there was no problem, then told Lu Weiyi.
“I’ll pay part of it,” Su Yan said, and both he and Xu Sen looked toward Gao Tianpeng.
The girl previously following Gao Tianpeng was no longer there. Though he showed no expression, his constantly rubbing fingers betrayed his anxiety. Only when the other two grew impatient and tried to brush him off did he reluctantly say, “Together.”
The five thousand crystal cores were split among the three parties according to their shares. Lu Weiyi was straightforward and didn’t hide anything, directly telling them.
“Mutated plant crystal cores?” Su Yan immediately recalled what Li Qing had said about the mutated plant Lu Weiyi had dealt with earlier. “Is it that mutated spring vine?”
That excuse was pretty good. Lu Weiyi nodded, “There were a few together there at the time.”
“That mutated spring vine has been there for a long time, occupying several hills. No one dared to deal with it until now. Didn’t expect it to have this kind of benefit,” Su Yan couldn’t help but sigh in appreciation—good things happen to good people.
“That’s all the info. But mutated plants are hard to hunt. Be careful if you encounter them,” Lu Weiyi said, then signaled that the meeting was over.
Gao Tianpeng didn’t bother to chat and left directly. Xu Sen and Su Yan returned to the base but soon sneaked out again.
“Brothers, do you have any extras? Sell me one cheap,” Su Yan said to Lu Weiyi as soon as he came in. “My family and the Xu family were originally evenly matched, but now, after restarting, both sides have the same number of B-level ability users. They’ve got one extra now, so it’s going to affect me. Besides, mutated plants aren’t easy to find, and if they show up, I’ll have to fight to the death with others for them. If you have extras, sell one to me.”
Maybe knowing this request was a bit unreasonable, Su Yan compromised, “I can pay just over four thousand crystal cores. If you have anything else you’re interested in, I’ll offer it freely, no tricks.”
“I want meat, ordinary meat like before the apocalypse—animals without mutations. Chicken, duck, fish, cattle, sheep, anything,” Lu Weiyi said directly.
Zhuang Mingxu, listening to the request, felt sweeter than if he’d eaten honey.
“Meat? I have mutated meat. Recently ran into some mutated sheep and still have some left. Should I send it to you?” Su Yan said. As an ability user himself, he naturally thought mutated meat was more nutritious.
“I want non-mutated,” Lu Weiyi emphasized.
Su Yan pondered for a moment, realizing that was probably for ordinary people. “Okay, I’ll look around and make sure to get it to you by tomorrow morning.”
“Fine,” Lu Weiyi agreed.
“I’ll go prepare then. Also, be a bit careful with Meng Da over there. That fool is a fire-type ability user, B-level. If they don’t join in, it means they want to forcibly take it from you behind your back. Maybe tonight or soon after, so be alert,” Su Yan warned.
“Got it,” Lu Weiyi replied, then thought a moment and asked, “What about the girl near Gao Tianpeng…?”
“No idea, Xu Sen handled it,” Su Yan said with disgust. “If you don’t mention it, we wouldn’t know. Before, several times, information leaked and was preempted by Gao Tianpeng’s people. We suspected inside men among us. Who would have thought there was such an ability? It’s ridiculous…”
Without power, having special abilities and exposing yourself only means you’ll be dealt with.
Lu Weiyi had faced similar situations in his previous life, so he didn’t ask further.
*
That night, just after midnight, the always-on radio crackled with the voice of night watch Antonio: “Someone’s coming. A lot of them.”
Not planning to stay long, the group set up one tent. The rest were two trucks: one configured as Lu Xi’s temporary lab, the other outfitted like a camper. The truck’s metal body was shaped by Antonio’s ability. It had two double-decker beds integrated with the truck, windproof and rainproof, and comfortable for rest during the day.
Zhuang Mingxu’s legs weren’t good, so to avoid delays if emergencies occurred, he stayed in the truck to rest, accompanied by Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Ai Yi.
Hearing the voice, Lu Weiyi jumped from bed. Zhuang Mingxu held the still-sleeping Zhuang Ai Yi and pulled out a gun from under the bed.
Dean on the lower bunk jumped up, mirroring Zhuang Mingxu’s actions. On the upper bunks, Xiong Jie leapt down and immediately took Xi Shi to the side of Zhuang Mingxu’s bed. Across, Bai Miao and Li Dongsheng also quickly jumped down.
“I’m going out. You three protect here,” Lu Weiyi whispered to the three ability users and quietly opened the truck door, jumping down.
Worried about mutated animal attacks at night, they had kept campfires burning, but the fires had now died out. In the dark, a group surrounded the two trucks parked side-by-side. Their abilities lit up the area, clearly revealing the approaching group of over a hundred people.
They were truly determined.
As the group approached, Lu Weiyi whispered orders: “One person handles five in front of them. Quick fight, no survivors.”
With that, Lu Weiyi leapt onto the truck roof. His A-level mental power covered over 800 meters, preventing the base’s night watch from being alerted.
At the same time, those trapped in the encirclement launched attacks first. Shouts and screams instantly came from all directions. Lu Weiyi watched closely; anyone trying to escape was dragged back and strangled to death. Even those farther away, observing and waiting to report, didn’t escape.
