Chapter 220: Weapon Test
The morning air was biting cold, and the moment they stepped outside, a chill cut straight through. Even inside the sealed hall, people still shivered.
Lu Weiyi pulled Zhuang Mingxu’s coat tightly around him before pushing open the door.
“Brr, it’s freezing!” Dian followed behind, nose covered, only his eyes showing. “Is it really this cold outside?”
With temperatures down to around -20°C, the ordinary folks had long stopped venturing out. The basement facilities were complete, and even bathroom trips were managed inside. They hadn’t truly experienced the bitter winter until now.
Snow as high as their thighs was frozen solid and untouched.
Lu Weiyi went up first, then helped lift Zhuang Mingxu’s wheelchair up.
The wheels left no tracks on the snow; walking felt like stepping on sheer ice.
Once outside the station, the surroundings were deserted. Lu Xi hugged his proud invention tightly, trying to find a zombie to demonstrate it on—but after a long walk, not a single one appeared.
“There are no zombies nearby,” Lu Weiyi exposed his intentions.
They had learned by now that if the zombies weren’t thoroughly cleared out, it wasn’t safe to send so many people outside.
Lu Xi was visibly disappointed.
“I’ll operate it,” said Antonio, who was most familiar with the process. He took the gun from Lu Xi, scanned the surroundings, and fired it at a stone column on the opposite side of the street.
A white bullet-like projectile flashed across and exploded with a loud bang upon impact. An invisible wave of energy burst forth, instantly covering a 100-meter radius in thick frost. Even from that distance, everyone felt a brief wave of bone-chilling cold.
For a moment, no one spoke.
“Well? How was it?” Lu Xi ran up excitedly to ask Antonio how it felt.
“Not bad,” Antonio replied, shaking the gun. He noticed that the crystal embedded in it had dimmed slightly, likely indicating some energy had been consumed. But…
He looked over at the ice-sculpted remains of the column, then tossed a throwing knife at it. With a couple of clinks, the knife left only light scratches—it was clearly sturdy.
“Are you planning to freeze the zombies directly?” asked Li Zhuang.
“…That’s just the initial effect. I haven’t figured out how to refine it further,” Lu Xi grumbled, trying to snatch the gun back—only for Li Zhuang to snatch it first.
“The energy released probably depends on the type of crystal core, right? If you used a fire-element core, would it shoot fire energy instead?”
“In theory, yes. But since fire has high destructive power, I’ve only been using other types for testing. I’m not sure if the gun can withstand fire energy,” Lu Xi explained.
“Let’s try it,” said Antonio, eager to see what would happen with fire.
“…” Lu Xi was reluctant—this was his first prototype—but without testing, there’d be no progress. “If you break it, you’re fixing it.”
“No problem.” Antonio turned to Lu Weiyi and held out his hand.
Lu Weiyi rummaged through his spatial storage and handed him a B-grade fire-type crystal core.
Antonio adjusted the fittings and inserted the core, then fired again toward the stone column. As the flames burst forth, he immediately flung the gun away. A hissing sound rose from the snow at his feet.
The frozen sculpture had been swallowed by flames. As the outer frost melted, the stone inside shattered into rubble, scattering across the ground. A large section of snow also melted, leaving a jarringly bare patch in the middle of the frozen world.
A gun-shaped outline began to emerge on the melted snow beneath their feet…
“Not bad,” Li Zhuang said, rubbing his fingers, clearly interested in the new weapon.
“The temperature’s too high—it really couldn’t handle it,” Antonio picked the gun out of the snow, inspecting it. The barrel was already slightly deformed from the heat. He handed it to Lu Xi, who took a deep breath and said, “Still needs improvement.”
“The overall concept is solid,” Li Zhuang commented.
“Not bad, little Lu Xi. If you pull this off, even people without abilities could use crystal cores to produce power like an ability user,” Ning Yuan said enthusiastically, throwing an arm around Lu Xi’s shoulders and eyeing the weapon.
“Agreed, keep up the good work,” Lu Weiyi added with a smile, genuinely pleased at Lu Xi’s progress. After all, the kid had invested a lot of time and effort.
This invention could significantly boost the team’s overall strength.
“This is based on Zhang Qian’s theoretical research. My real goal is to develop a converter that can transform any crystal core’s energy into a desired attribute. For example, a fire-element converter could turn any core—even a non-elemental one—into fire energy. That would be much more practical.”
After all, the most common type of core was non-elemental, and attacks using wood or earth attributes hadn’t yielded the results Lu Xi was hoping for.
“Let’s produce a few units of this first,” Zhuang Mingxu said as he looked at the shattered stone pillar in the distance, addressing the group still gathered and discussing nearby. “It’ll be useful in a pinch.”
As the sounds of Lu Xi’s repeated testing rang out—bang, bang, bang—the temperature gradually began to rise.
By the time May officially arrived, the snow started to melt, turning the landscape into a muddy mess crisscrossed with rivulets. With each step, it was either sinking into snow pits or getting stuck in ankle-deep mud. Eventually, they decided to cut down on travel.
Once daytime temperatures reached about 10°C, the group agreed not to delay any further and prepared to leave.
“We’re in a pretty advantageous location. If we head directly east, we’ll reach Half-Moon Bay. Northeast from here is the Capital. Which way do we go first?” Lu Weiyi gathered everyone for a meeting the day before departure.
On the map, both locations were clearly marked—there was no overlap in routes.
Zhuang Mingxu wasn’t in a condition to speak much, so no one answered at first.
Then, from the far edge of the group, leaning casually against the wall, Li Zhuang finally spoke up. “We don’t know yet whether Half-Moon Bay is livable. Let’s check it out first. If it isn’t suitable, then we’ll set our sights on settling down in the Capital.”
Lu Weiyi agreed. Seeing that no one objected, he added, “There are now A-level zombies out there. Once we set off, we’re not making any stops. Head straight for Half-Moon Bay.”
“Are we passing through the Pingjin suburbs here?” Wu Yue pointed to the red route on the map.
“Yes. The Pingjin weapons research facility is located there. We’ll check it out to see if there’s anything useful,” Lu Weiyi said. As soon as he finished, Lu Xi’s eyes lit up with excitement.
Wu Yue looked at Lu Weiyi again and asked, “If Half-Moon Bay turns out to be suitable, are we planning to split up?”
“We’ll decide after we’ve seen it,” Lu Weiyi replied, then pulled out a pre-arranged team plan. “Let’s assign roles. Two deputy leaders: Li Zhuang and Ning Yuan. External relations will be handled by Xu Sa. Zhuang Mingxu will oversee logistics and supplies for the whole team. Speak now if you have objections.”
“Deputy leaders, take care of us,” Antonio joked, cupping his hands toward Li Zhuang and Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan already knew about the arrangement. He returned the gesture and laughed, “Everyone, let’s work together.”
Li Zhuang raised an eyebrow and asked Lu Weiyi, “What’s my job?”
Lu Weiyi gave a rare grin—his eyes curved into crescents, clearly pleased and just a little bashful. Mischievously and proudly, he said, “Everything I don’t want to do… is yours.”
*
The next morning, the group left the place they had stayed for over a month and headed east.
The warming weather felt like a silent signal—spring was returning, and things that had been dormant through the winter were beginning to emerge.
They traveled day and night, facing wave after wave of zombie attacks. The advantages of having high-level team members really shone during this period.
Soon after turning onto the city road, a massive horde of zombies came rushing at them like hyenas drawn to blood—wave after wave without pause.
Ordinary zombies were now rare. Most were B-level, with occasional A-level ones mixed in. Whenever they faced a coordinated zombie assault, injuries were hard to avoid, and even their truck had been scorched by abilities multiple times.
“This is like the fifth time already, right? Why do I feel like there are more and more of them each time?” Ning Yuan, Gu Qingji, and Li Zhuang guarded the rear. Seeing the horde behind them had doubled in size, he grew irritable.
“More A-levels too,” Li Zhuang added.
“They’re in front as well,” said Lin Yimu from the driver’s seat, stopping anyone from heading back to help.
“We’re surrounded. This is coordinated,” Xu Sa said, looking at the shadows sprinting from the sides.
“Zombies know how to surround a target now?” Wu Yue was incredulous. If zombies had started using tactics, that meant the future battles would be much harder.
As they spoke, the zombies from all directions launched their assault. Abilities were flung recklessly at them, piling on with sheer numbers. Even without favorable elemental matchups, the sheer volume made it overwhelming. The group had no choice but to fight back with everything they had.
Lu Weiyi wasn’t sure if the zombies had really gained intelligence, but the first time they were attacked, it felt like a simple chase. The numbers were manageable. But each subsequent wave grew larger and more organized, culminating in this ambush…
His eyes swept the area. They were currently on a mountain road leading to Pingjin City. The last village they passed was a few kilometers back. The entrance to the suburbs lay ahead. There shouldn’t have been so many zombies here unless…
They came from somewhere else, specifically chasing them.
“They must be under control,” Lu Weiyi said. It was the only explanation for why the zombies could track them so precisely without getting lost.
“Control? You mean… a mental-type zombie?” Gu Qingji immediately thought of the one that had buried everyone alive last time.
“It’s possible,” Lu Weiyi replied, clearly reluctant to encounter another mental-type. A low-level one might be manageable, but if it were high-level—even he could fall victim. Scanning the area and checking the map again, he said decisively, “Break through the front line—get out of here!”
Lu Weiyi was the first to reach the front of the vehicle. For the first time, he used his mental power on a large scale, controlling more than half of the zombies rushing at them, causing them to stop in their tracks and no longer unleash their powers.
“Attack!”
He could have directly commanded the zombies to attack each other, but that would have required continuous control and would consume more energy. Given the situation, conserving his powers was the smarter move.
Xu Sa’s lightning ability flared in a circular wave, accompanied by a loud crackling. A pile of scorched corpses collapsed to the ground. Antonio’s metal ability supported from behind, wiping out most of the more distant zombies. They could finally see the road ahead—barely.
“Go!” Lu Weiyi shouted. The team worked together to take down the last few zombies blocking the path, and the truck charged forward at full speed.
