Chapter 203: Cooperation
“Yes. Zheng Guohui’s ability. Probably internal strife. Liu Dong used him to leak info to me,” Lu Weiyi thought about what he just heard. “Liu Dali has a batch of ability users, over fifty, thirteen B-level, covering all five elements, and he himself is metal type.”
“Thirteen?” Wu Yue frowned.
Lu Weiyi nodded and recounted the research center incident from last night to the group. Then he said, “Liu Dali will definitely try to kill us. This time, we’ll probably have to go all out. Tonight I’ll scout inside the base. Li Zhuang, Wu Yue, and Lin Yimu, you three search nearby for a relatively safe place no one knows about. We’ll send our group there, and we’ll feel more secure.” He pointed at the ordinary members in the team.
“Brother, can I come with you? I want to see their research center,” Lu Xi said. Hearing about those weapons, he was interested. Those things weren’t unfamiliar to weapons developers, but secretly developing them was something he never imagined. His background meant some actions were off-limits.
Lu Weiyi had no intention of going to their research center to do anything—just scouting the place ahead of time. Acting first might alert the enemy. “No, you go with them to protect them.”
Lu Xi pressed his lips, reluctant but didn’t argue. “Okay.”
Li Zhuang, Wu Yue, and Lin Yimu were all trained scouts. In one day, the three found several places to hide people. After filtering, they picked a basement neither too far nor too close to the base.
At 5 PM that night, Ning Yuan and his three companions returned with more jade supplies than what had been acquired from the previous two bases. This showed everyone Liu Dali was determined to get this.
“As for abilities, we can fight them. But I’m worried about what weapons they’ll use. After all, those things they research… are a bit inhumane,” Xu Sa said after seeing off the delivery people, taking a sip of water.
“No matter what they bring, they’re now watching us like hawks,” Ning Yuan took a paper out from his inner clothes and handed it to Lu Weiyi. “This is a map showing some base layouts.”
“I found two supply storage spots,” Antonio took the paper, pointing to two places, “about eighty percent sure.”
Even with their lives at risk, Antonio was still worried about supplies. The group was quite impressed.
Ning Yuan gave him a thumbs-up, then continued explaining to Lu Weiyi, “Here’s where Liu Dali lives. Around him are four buildings where his ability users stay, fully protecting him inside. Here is the main area for the second squad, then the third and fourth squads.” He pointed them out one by one.
“Where did you get this? So detailed?” They were only four people inside. Quietly digging up such info wasn’t easy.
“Oh, I asked He Kai. Since Liu Dong is showing goodwill, I just asked for some favors,” Ning Yuan said carelessly.
“So what do we do next?” everyone looked to Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi just finished putting all the jade into space. Watching the uneven ground inside recover and the area expand again, feeling very comfortable, he saw everyone’s eyes turn toward him. Pointing at the map, he said, “We…”
“Do you know if there’s any grudge between Liu Dong and Liu Dali?” Lu Weiyi asked, still unsure himself.
“I actually looked into it,” Wu Yue replied immediately. “Liu Dong’s mother was Liu Dali’s original wife. They built everything together. But Liu Dali was a womanizer, and when Liu Dong’s mother was pregnant with her second child and had just given birth, his mistress showed up and caused a scene, driving her to death during her confinement period.”
“Liu Dong had that mistress dealt with, and Liu Dali didn’t say much. Their relationship was basically kept in balance. But after the apocalypse, Liu Dong’s wife—He Kai’s sister—is an ordinary person. Liu Dali is someone who believes in evolutionary ideology, thinking the apocalypse came to select the strong and eliminate ordinary people with weak genes.”
“At first, there were no ordinary people inside the Daixi base, including his own children. Any ordinary person was expelled. Liu Dong and his wife were in a free romantic relationship and got along well, but because of a series of Liu Dali’s strong-handed actions, He Mei, who was pregnant, miscarried. Furious, Liu Dong led a rebellion against Liu Dali’s orders.”
“Since ability users inevitably have family members who are ordinary people, Liu Dali had to compromise. The base now allows ability users’ families to stay temporarily, but their status remains very low. Also, I think this is a way to appease the ability users. Like his son Liu Bei, although protected by ability users, I heard those assigned to protect him are the lowest-level ones—more for show.”
“Killing mother and son—how does Liu Dong still work for him?” Xu Sa was surprised.
“Not exactly. The ability users Liu Dali controls are too strong; Liu Dong can’t fight him. It seems the wealthy squad is managed by Liu Dali’s children, but he’s the behind-the-scenes mastermind. Just look at how he silently controls over a dozen B-level ability users and secretly sends people to research weapons—that shows ambition. How could he tolerate anyone standing above him?” Wu Yue explained.
“I heard his own ability isn’t even B-level. How does he control so many B-level ability users?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“He gave each of them a space jade stone,” Ning Yuan responded. When he heard this, he was surprised and thought, no wonder he’s in the jewelry business—he spends money lavishly.”
“That must be over a dozen pieces, right? Weren’t there about twenty in total?” Wu Yue was astonished.
“Probably… not counting those people,” Ning Yuan shrugged.
“So Liu Dong wants to team up with us but fears our strength might be insufficient. He wants us to lead the charge. If we succeed, he benefits; if we fail, it’s none of his business,” Lu Weiyi laid bare Liu Dong’s thoughts.
“Heh, quite bold,” Lu Weiyi laughed sarcastically. “If that’s the case…”
“Tonight, I’ll go around the base and take care of their research facility. As for the others…” Lu Weiyi had initially planned to quietly deal with Liu Dali and let Liu Dong and his siblings, plus those ability users, fight it out. But after hearing from Ning Yuan that his people all have space stones, if he could get those stones, Lu Weiyi scanned his own space mentally… maybe his space could be repaired.
There are no jade mines to the north. They can only move base by base to exchange supplies, slowing them down a lot. It’s rare to have such a generous place; Lu Weiyi wasn’t keen to let it go.
“I’ll go with you,” Li Zhuang said. He had the highest ability in the team after Lu Weiyi.
“Me too,” Antonio said.
Lu Weiyi thought for a moment, nodded, and looked at Zhuang Mingxu. “I’ll send you away overnight. You hide in that basement place we passed before. Wu Yue said he saw the basement. Wait for us there. When we return to the Capital, we won’t go that way, so no one will suspect you’re hiding there.”
They couldn’t afford to be held back by this opponent. Zhuang Mingxu held Lu Weiyi’s hand, rubbed it briefly, and nodded. “Be careful.”
“Lu Xi and Brother Xiong will go with you. I’ll leave enough weapons for you,” Lu Weiyi said. Lu Xi’s mental shield could be an emergency backup, and Xiong Jie’s earth ability could reinforce their surroundings. There were no more people to spare. He glanced at the time. “Let’s go now. It won’t delay your return.”
Among the eighteen people, five were ordinary. Adding Lu Xi and Xiong Jie, with Li Zhuang joining, Lu Weiyi pulled a van out of space.
“I’m coming too,” Antonio said, holding Dean in his arms.
Lu Weiyi glanced at the van’s seats. Nine fit just barely, ten would be too many.
“Dean can sit on my lap,” Antonio said.
Since it was already said, Lu Weiyi said nothing more, nodded, and signaled everyone to get in. With Lu Weiyi’s mental shield, they quietly left the base.
*
Li Zhuang drove, Lu Weiyi sat in the passenger seat. After nearly an hour, they reached the place Wu Yue mentioned.
This was a town they passed before entering Daixi county. They had stopped to deal with some physical needs. Wu Yue habitually scouted the environment and saw a basement under a building. He was curious then about a developer building basements for sale, and now it came in handy.
A six-floor low-rise, not cleared out, with some rooms still hearing zombie groans and hallway wandering noises.
“Need to clear it out?” Xiong Jie asked.
“No, more zombies means less suspicion,” Lu Weiyi said. He led the way downstairs, scanned with mental power, and chose a room with fewer miscellaneous items and opened the door.
A closed room of over thirty square meters, no windows. Inside were some old sofas and furniture piled up. Six months of dust covered everything thickly. As soon as they entered, a cloud of dust rose, making Zhuang Ai Yi cough immediately. Li Zhuang quickly covered his nose with his sleeve.
Each person took turns cleaning, and within minutes the basement was clean. Lu Weiyi stocked up on all daily necessities before leaving.
“Aren’t we leaving a vehicle for them?” Li Zhuang asked just before leaving.
Sensing his unspoken meaning, Zhuang Mingxu instantly tightened his grip on Lu Weiyi’s hand. Lu Weiyi comfortingly patted his hand, leaned down, and kissed Zhuang Ai Yi lightly. “No need, I will come back.” He turned and hugged Zhuang Mingxu, speaking calmly, “Just wait for me.”
“I’ll wait for you,” Zhuang Mingxu said seriously, looking into his eyes.
Antonio held Dean tightly, silently telling him he would definitely return.
“After we leave, reinforce all the surrounding walls, including the doors. I want to place some fresh blood upstairs to attract zombies, so no one will come here,” Lu Weiyi instructed Xiong Jie as he handed over some crystal cores. “The rest of the work is up to you.”
“I will protect them well. You all be safe,” Xiong Jie accepted the crystal cores.
Lu Weiyi glanced at the others again, then turned and quickly left with Li Zhuang and Antonio.
