Chapter 224: Parasitic Plant
“The base was built by the military. After the flood, we were the ones saving people. During every major disaster, it’s always the soldiers on the front line. And yet, this is the reputation we end up with… Ha… Haha…”
“We were abandoned by the very people we protected.” Li Qing leaned weakly against Lin Yimu, his face hollow with disillusionment.
Lin Yimu rubbed his back in comfort. His thin frame swayed, barely able to stand.
“They kicked us out of the base. Maybe they were afraid we’d retaliate. Afterward, someone ambushed us. When that failed, they sent out messages to other bases claiming we were all infected. No base would take us in. If we came near, they drove us away.”
At first, they had supplies, and the bases had excuses to seize them. Naturally, no one wanted to let that go. The pursuit was relentless.
When they finally realized there was nowhere to go and decided to build a base of their own, winter had arrived. They had no resources, no people. They could no longer survive independently—especially with so many ordinary civilians. One high-level zombie could have wiped them all out.
“We had nowhere to go. The captain said… you were building a base…” Lei Jun trailed off, casting a hopeful glance toward the group, then finally to Lu Weiyi. “We don’t have any infected left. It’s been over a month since the last case…”
Tears filled his eyes, but he forced a hopeful smile. “Young Master Lu, please give them a place to stay. They’re all ordinary people. We lost more than half on the way here… it wasn’t easy to make it.”
Lu Weiyi didn’t respond immediately. He looked at his teammates and asked, “What do you all think?”
There was silence. Everyone had concerns. It was one thing to risk only yourself—but once you had something to protect, you wanted absolute safety.
“…Do you know what that thing is? Do you have a way to test for it?” Ning Yuan asked.
The group shook their heads. Then Lu Weiyi suddenly said, “It’s a parasitic plant.”
“Can you tell if any of them still have it?” Ning Yuan asked—he wanted to help, as a fellow soldier.
“Wood-type ability users can sense it,” Lu Weiyi said, turning to Gu Qingji. Gu Qingji was momentarily stunned but then said to Lei Jun, “I can only accelerate growth. If any of it’s still inside, I might trigger it directly. Think carefully.”
Once growth is triggered, death is inevitable.
Lei Jun looked around at the survivors. They were all thin, ragged, sustained only by sheer will. He didn’t want to see another one die.
“We’ll do it,” Li Qing said, rising unsteadily. He looked around, holding back tears. “If anyone’s still infected, I’ll personally see them off.”
Out of more than 700 people, three still harbored the parasitic plants. Once Gu Qingji activated his power, the symptoms became immediately apparent.
One of them was a minor. Among the poorly dressed crowd, he was one of the more bundled up, his big eyes protruding from his gaunt face.
A small horn-like sprout emerged from his bare forehead. He smiled at Gu Qingji and said, “Big brother, I think I just awakened an ability. It’s itchy.”
His smile was bright and pure. When he saw the stunned and pained expressions around him, he instinctively reached up to touch his forehead.
Li Qing and Lei Jun approached, both devastated.
“Brother…” the boy tried to pretend he was fine, but he was too young—his hands trembled.
Li Qing stepped forward and hugged him tightly, crying silently.
“He’s the commissar’s son. The commissar held back an A-grade zombie so we could escape… they both died,” Zhang Peng said, squatting to the ground, face in his hands, shoulders shaking violently as he sobbed, “In this world, why do good people never get good endings?”
All around them were sounds of crying. Zhuang Ai Yi curled up in Zhuang Mingxu’s arms, sneaking glances around, timidly tightening her grip around his neck.
Beside them, Lu Weiyi looked at the confused little Zhuang Ai Yi and felt a sudden softness in his heart.
Zhuang Mingxu moved closer to him. Lu Weiyi raised a mental barrier, and heard him ask, “Your ability can destroy the crystal nuclei in people’s brains. Can it also remove foreign objects from the body?”
“…No,” Lu Weiyi began to reject the idea but paused, “Maybe it can.” He could directly cover and store it in his space.
“I’ve never tried,” Lu Weiyi added.
“You can give it a try,” Zhuang Mingxu looked at him with certainty.
The thought of silently removing internal organs or objects from someone’s body… actually sounded quite promising.
Lu Weiyi nodded.
Zhuang Mingxu had someone bring Li Qing over and briefly explained, “It hasn’t been tested. There’s no guarantee of success.”
“As long as there’s hope, it’s enough! Mengxi, bow to your big brother, thank him—come on, thank him!” Li Qing, overwhelmed with excitement, grabbed the child and forcefully pressed him to the ground, making him kowtow several times to Lu Weiyi, looking utterly unhinged.
Lin Yimu frowned, stepped forward, and with a single chop to the neck, knocked Li Qing out.
*
Compared to ordinary people, mutant plants preferred ability users.
With Dean’s powers, though many in Li Qing’s group were injured, none had died.
Over 700 people were brought by Lu Weiyi to a dilapidated village for temporary rest.
After washing up and changing into clean clothes, Shi Xi and his team had already prepared hot food. A big bowl of mixed soup warmed everyone from the inside out.
Li Qing woke up after a short nap and, after cleaning up, seemed much calmer.
“Sorry,” he said to Lu Weiyi.
“It’s fine. Eat first.” When Li Zhuang was injured back then, Li Qing had helped a lot. Their relationship was decent, so Lu Weiyi didn’t take his earlier emotional manipulation to heart.
Li Yan handed Li Qing a bowl of food and smiled. “To be honest, we haven’t had a hot meal since leaving the base.”
“We haven’t asked—where are your supplies? We didn’t even see any vehicles,” Ning Yuan asked. Like before, everyone sat in a circle eating and chatting.
“They didn’t want us to take anything. We barely managed to grab a few things in the chaos. When we reached Hope Base, Su Yan sent a batch. We used that up quickly, and we were robbed a few times. After driving day and night, we finally ran out of gas a few days ago,” Lei Jun slurped loudly, catching Zhuang Ai Yi’s curious gaze. The older man immediately looked embarrassed.
“We were all ready to die together,” Zhang Bin said with a bitter smile.
No wonder none of them tried to escape.
“Don’t talk about dying,” Lei Jun kicked him lightly, optimistically saying, “Surviving a great disaster means fortune lies ahead.”
“That person you entrusted to me…” Li Qing looked up from his bowl at Lu Weiyi, “Yun Lu and her mother are in the base hospital and doing well. Shen Xing died from the parasite. Chen Zhong’s family disguised themselves as wanderers and reached Hope Base. Su Yan said he’d take care of them.”
In this chaotic world, some people part ways never to meet again.
No one spoke for a while.
*
The daily consumption of over 700 people was a massive number—equivalent to what a small team would use in several months.
After weighing the situation, Zhuang Mingxu had Li Qing’s group sign IOUs, to be repaid within three years.
Even so, Lu Weiyi still felt shocked at the number on the paper.
Each extra day meant extra supplies used. That night, they decided to hit the road immediately.
Ten trucks of various sizes carried everyone. Only Team led the way; Li Qing’s team guarded the rear.
“We need to first scout the destination to see if it’s suitable for building a base, then make further plans—so we’re traveling overnight,” Ning Yuan informed Li Qing’s group. “There’s enough room on the trucks. Those seriously injured should rest.”
“This route doesn’t go directly to Half-Moon Bay, does it?” Lei Jun noticed the direction the lead vehicle was heading.
“…We’re making a stop at Pingjin City’s Weapons Research Center,” Ning Yuan admitted.
“You’re too late. There’s nothing left there,” said Li Qing, feverish after ensuring his group was taken care of. He was resting with Antonio in Only Team’s truck and responded weakly after hearing the radio chatter.
Before anyone could ask more, Li Yan’s voice came through the radio, “We’re low on weapons too, so we checked it out. The place has been completely stripped.”
Lu Xi looked disappointed, and then Lu Weiyi said, “Let’s go take a look anyway.”
“Roger,” answered driver Xu Sa.
They drove all night and arrived in Pingjin City the next day. They began encountering small groups of survivors. Most avoided the convoy altogether. Ning Yuan tried to ask around but couldn’t get any information.
By noon, they reached the Weapons Research Center.
Lu Weiyi, asleep, was shaken awake by the excited Lu Xi. “Bro, bro, let me come with you!”
He had been on night watch, and barely slept in the morning. The truck was full of people moving around, so even if everyone kept quiet, there was still noise. Lu Weiyi had been dozing at best.
He sat up to wake himself, nodded, then looked at the two injured nearby. “Feeling better?”
With no way to give a transfusion, Antonio had to keep taking iron supplements. He leaned against the wall while Dean curled up in his arms. Despite looking pale, Dean seemed quite content.
“Toilet… dizzy,” Dean answered worriedly for him.
“Xiao Qing still has a fever. Qingyue said it’s due to exhaustion,” Lin Yimu replied quietly.
Lu Weiyi nodded, took the water passed from the lower bunk by Zhuang Mingxu, took a few big gulps, fully waking himself, then headed toward the exit with Lu Xi.
The Pingjin City Weapons Research Center was one of the larger military-industrial facilities in the country. It sat on the outskirts of Pingjin and covered a vast area, including residential zones.
“Back then, ordinary people couldn’t even get close to this place,” Lu Xi said from the truck roof, watching them pass by checkpoint after checkpoint, all now abandoned. He sounded a bit nostalgic.
“You’ve been here before?” Ning Yuan asked as he observed the surroundings through binoculars.
“Yeah,” Lu Xi nodded. “This place primarily handled the research and development of military vehicles and artillery. My teacher once brought me here for a tour.” He pointed at a few shorter buildings behind the tall ones. “Those back there are all basements, several levels deep — it was the core of the research center.”
“Brother, let’s go check it out.”
“Okay,” Lu Weiyi responded.
“It’s clear someone has been here already. Over there are traces left from a battle with powered individuals. The path continues in that direction, and up top is a helipad. It’s very likely national rescue forces evacuated the experts from here,” Wu Yue pointed out various visible clues for Lu Weiyi.
