Chapter 225: Lu the Skinner
“Who cares. Let’s just take whatever we see.” After the previous day’s heavy use of supplies, Ning Yuan now felt a sense of urgency.
Lu Weiyi nodded, and immediately began organizing the team to hunt zombies.
“We’ll take the office building,” Lei Jun’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.
Ning Yuan glanced at the ten-plus-story building and, estimating their combat strength, said, “Alright. Call for help if needed.”
“Ordinary people stay put and watch the wounded,” Ning Yuan ordered after dividing the areas. He then led a team out of the vehicles toward their assigned locations.
Lu Weiyi pulled Lu Xi with him and leapt from the vehicle, heading straight for the research center mentioned earlier.
After over six months of apocalypse, the outside world had fallen into ruin, but the inside remained untouched.
The research institute’s bulletproof doors were undamaged. Only some claw marks from zombies marred the transparent glass.
The once heavily-guarded entrance now stood wide open, welcoming everyone.
The approaching zombies didn’t even get close before Lu Weiyi took them out with mental blades.
After they cleared the two above-ground levels and eliminated dozens of zombies, Lu Xi began investigating how to access the underground levels.
“The power’s out. The elevator scanner isn’t responding,” Lu Xi said in frustration as he stared at the inactive access panel.
“What kind of recognition system did it use?” Lu Weiyi asked. Next to the elevator was a card scanner and, above it, a protrusion resembling an eyeball. He reached out to touch it — it felt like a camera.
“That’s an iris scanner,” Lu Xi explained. “Everyone has a unique iris. You need both a card and iris scan to get in. The security level here was really high.”
Lu Weiyi tried probing underground with his green sprout ability, but the surrounding metal made it impossible to penetrate.
“Do you know how many levels are down there?” Lu Weiyi asked.
Lu Xi shook his head. “But I think all the research centers were built the same way — the area underground is huge and divided into various labs, each managed by different engineers. They used the most advanced materials, so external damage is highly unlikely. Some of the testing areas can even handle live weapons without damage.”
He sighed. “If only we could build a place like this…”
Lu Weiyi paused, then looked up at Lu Xi.
“I was just saying,” Lu Xi scratched his head and waved his hand, “I didn’t mean our current setup isn’t good.”
The lab inside their truck had been pieced together by Antonio using his powers, securing the equipment to the vehicle’s frame to avoid any damage during movement. Unless the truck was torn apart, the equipment wouldn’t fall.
Lu Xi was the youngest in the team, and everyone looked out for him — he was well aware of it.
“You’re right,” Lu Weiyi said seriously, giving Lu Xi a firm pat on the shoulder and smiling.
“Huh?”
“If we could relocate this entire basement, we wouldn’t just use it for experiments. It could also store supplies. With these kinds of facilities,” Lu Weiyi expanded his mental sense downward and felt the one-meter-thick metal walls, “even if we had a metal-powered ability user, they wouldn’t be able to break in quickly.”
Since encountering Li Qing’s group, Lu Weiyi had been considering their next steps. If they left people behind, those people would need to store supplies. Leaving them in the open would tempt others and pose a danger to the team. The storage needed to be absolutely secure — not just to deter theft but to ensure the team’s safety.
If they could have a place like this…
“Stay alert,” Lu Weiyi said as he sat on the ground, spreading his mental power along the underground walls.
Lu Xi pulled out his one-of-a-kind crystal-core handgun and stood up to lock the lab’s bulletproof door, scanning the surroundings carefully.
As Lu Weiyi’s mental power traced the structure, he began to visualize the layout of the underground facility.
It wasn’t one complete basement, but rather several independent rooms connected by corridors. There were four underground floors covering over 2,000 square meters. Besides labs, there were also temporary dorms and offices for researchers. On both ends were large test areas.
One test zone looked like a coliseum, with spectator seating around it and a transparent, glass-like enclosure forming a two-story high space — the actual testing chamber lay within.
After surveying the entire facility, Lu Weiyi knew moving it all at once was impossible.
He withdrew his power and rubbed his temples, then pulled out a crystal core and began absorbing it.
“Brother, how is it?” Lu Xi asked, trying to stay calm, though his eyes couldn’t hide his excitement.
“Let me calculate,” Lu Weiyi said, absorbing the crystal core while visualizing measurements in his mind. Based on the space’s height, he decided to transfer the materials from his internal storage to the underground facility and take just three floors with him.
This would require a massive amount of mental energy. Even after leveling up, it was going to be tough.
“Is everyone done?” Lu Weiyi asked through the walkie-talkie.
“Captain, there’s thousands of zombies here! If you’re done, come help us!” came Ning Yuan’s panting voice.
“No need to keep fighting. Head over here as soon as you can,” Lu Weiyi said, needing backup once the job was done.
“Copy that,” Ning Yuan replied without asking further. Everyone swiftly began relocating.
“Who’s driving?” Lu Weiyi switched channels.
“It’s me,” Lin Yimu’s voice came through.
“Big Mu, notify the drivers to be ready to leave at any time,” Lu Weiyi instructed.
“Roger.”
“Brother, are we really going to take the entire basement with us?” Lu Xi asked in disbelief.
“Let’s try,” Lu Weiyi replied, continuously absorbing crystal cores to replenish his energy while transferring the items from his space into the underground lab.
After twenty minutes, Ning Yuan arrived breathlessly with a few teammates. Lu Weiyi tossed them a bag of crystal cores.
“Stand ten meters away. When I say ‘go,’ take me away immediately.”
A group of zombies followed behind them, with the rear guard still fending them off.
The original plan was to eliminate all the zombies here and then safely search for equipment. But since Lu Weiyi planned to return later, they couldn’t clear all the zombies—if someone else came afterward, they’d be benefiting from their hard work.
After speaking, Lu Weiyi spread out his spiritual power instantly to cover the entire basement.
Even though it was only a brief moment, those nearby felt an ocean-like, overwhelming force. Just imagining being struck by such energy was terrifying—resistance would be impossible.
The leap from A-rank to S-rank was a qualitative transformation.
The others looked on with envy and aspiration, pushing their powers harder.
The entire basement was enveloped. As Lu Weiyi withdrew his power, the facility appeared in his storage space. A cracking sound followed, and before he could react, searing pain engulfed him. He clutched his head and collapsed to the side, screaming,
“Go!”
Immediately, the ground began to sink.
“Brother—!” Lu Xi cried out in shock.
Gu Qingji’s mutant ivy lashed out and caught Lu Weiyi, yanking him to safety.
The second floor of the building caved in. Ning Yuan didn’t have time to process what happened. As soon as Lu Weiyi was pulled up, he pushed him onto Li Zhuang’s back and grabbed the walkie-talkie.
“Prepare to evacuate!”
Fighting and fleeing, they joined up with Lei Jun’s group and retreated before the zombie horde arrived.
Inside the vehicle, Lu Weiyi clutched his head and groaned. Zhuang Mingxu held him tightly against his chest and shouted for Dean.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Ning Yuan was still stunned. He thought it was an earthquake at first, but once they got out, they saw the ground had only collapsed in the area they’d been.
“Brother Mingxu, do you have any crystal cores?” Lu Xi, teary-eyed, grabbed a few from his own space and frantically stuffed them into Lu Weiyi’s hand. He absorbed them quickly.
Zhuang Mingxu added some high-grade cores from his own storage and called Dean to use his healing ability. After a while, Lu Weiyi’s body finally relaxed.
He was soaked in cold sweat.
Completely drained, he curled up in Zhuang Mingxu’s arms like he’d found safe harbor, unwilling to move.
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t ask questions. He waved Ning Yuan and the others outside to keep watch and gently soothed Lu Weiyi’s back. Not long after, Lu Weiyi fell asleep.
Lu Xi peeked over carefully. Lu Weiyi was breathing steadily, mouth slightly open, hand still clutching a piece of Zhuang Mingxu’s clothing. Asleep, his usually expressionless and aloof face looked soft and peaceful, like a little prince needing protection.
“What happened?” Zhuang Mingxu asked softly while still rubbing Lu Weiyi’s back, watching Lu Xi wipe his tears.
“My brother took… the whole basement,” Lu Xi whispered as he leaned close, “He said we could use it to store supplies.” It was such a huge space he’d never even heard of one like it. He didn’t want anyone else to find out.
“…A whole building?” Zhuang Mingxu looked complicated and speechless.
“It’s my fault. I mentioned the materials were advanced…” Lu Xi had just made a passing comment—he never expected Lu Weiyi would actually take the building. When the ground caved in, he had completely frozen.
Zhuang Mingxu laughed in spite of himself and gave the sleeping man a gentle poke in midair, then waved Lu Xi away.
*
After Lu Weiyi recovered, treatment for the parasitic plants began.
With Gu Qingji’s acceleration ability and the warming weather, the parasitic plants had started to grow. At first, they just itched—now they caused sharp, stabbing pain.
Before treatment, Gu Qingji administered anesthesia.
There were no instruments to detect the parasites. They relied entirely on Gu Qingji’s familiarity with plants. Once the plants emerged, he removed them manually, triggered new growth, and cut them again—repeating the process until nothing remained. Then Dean would use his healing powers.
There were three infected individuals: Meng Xi had one on his forehead, another person on the shoulder, and the third on the calf.
Meng Xi’s was the most dangerous, as the parasite had started to grow into the skull.
This could only be handled by Lu Weiyi, who had to sense it carefully and use his mental power to remove it.
It didn’t require much energy, but demanded extremely precise control. The people around the bed didn’t dare make a sound, even breathing lightly for fear of disturbing him.
“I can feel it. Very faint.” Lu Weiyi closed his eyes. This was his first time doing something like this. What he sensed with his spiritual power projected directly into his brain: bones, nerves, blood vessels—and the gray-black veins of the parasitic plant tangled between them.
