Chapter 226: The Seaside Villa
“It’s like a web of capillaries.” Lu Weiyi withdrew his spiritual power and said to the others, “If I go too small, there might be residue. Too large… will skull damage be an issue?”
“…He just needs to be careful in daily life,” Gu Qingyue answered, then looked to Dean.
“There’s internal bleeding. It’s on you.”
“OK.” The short man put on a comically serious face.
Lu Weiyi looked to temporary guardian Li Qing.
Li Qing, recovering from a fever and looking haggard, gently stroked the sleeping Meng Xi’s face.
“Life and death are up to fate. Just do your best.”
Lu Weiyi nodded and extended his spiritual power again.
Even with the enlarged removal range, residual plant matter still grew back three more times before it was completely eliminated. Meng Xi’s forehead looked as though a layer had been scraped off, leaving only a thin bit of skull—one hit and it could crack.
“Surviving is good enough,” Li Qing said, gripping his hand. “At least I didn’t fail his father’s trust. Thank you, all of you.”
“Don’t be so polite,” Gu Qingji patted him on the shoulder and left the space to the two of them.
“Healing-type abilities can’t regenerate bone?” Zhuang Mingxu asked thoughtfully after hearing about the treatment.
“They can,” Lu Weiyi replied with certainty.
“No, they can’t!” Dean said in a panic, quickly waving his hands and looking at the others. “They really can’t.”
“He’s low-level, he can’t do it,” Lu Weiyi explained.
“I—I tried my best.” Dean let out a breath of relief. If everyone thought it was possible but he didn’t manage it, it would seem like he hadn’t done his best.
“That’s why—” Lu Weiyi looked at Dean with a friendly smile and handed him a bag of crystal cores along with a dead chicken. “Starting today, you’ll train your ability.”
“No way!” Dean took the crystal cores but stared in horror at the plucked chicken.
Lu Weiyi pulled out a dagger from his space with a professional, smiley expression. “I’ll either continuously give Antonio wounds to heal or…” He glanced meaningfully at the chicken. “Pick one.”
Dean gritted his teeth, grabbed the chicken by the neck, and, as if making a heroic sacrifice, declared loudly, “I—LOVE—CHICKEN!”
Lu Weiyi put away the dagger and returned to his usual cold demeanor. He handed a few books to Gu Qingyue. “Teach him the basics of medical knowledge.”
Gu Qingyue accepted them—it was a set of professional medical textbooks, including Human Anatomy, Anatomical Atlas, Surgical Vessels, and Neurology. The texts were a mix of diagrams and written explanations. The sections on the kneecap were particularly well-used.
This was clearly preparation for a future surgery on Zhuang Mingxu.
Gu Qingyue nodded and looked amusedly at Dean, who had the look of someone resigned to fate.
Day and night passed. After five days, the group finally reached the seaside.
“Is that it… is that it? I see the island!” Bai Miao shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down as she pointed to the misty island in the distance.
“That’s right,” Lu Weiyi stood behind Zhuang Mingxu’s wheelchair, holding Zhuang Ai Yi with one arm. There was unconcealed joy in his eyes.
“We made it, haha…” Ning Yuan looked excitedly at his companions. After more than five months, they had once thought they might die on the road. Now, they had finally reached the destination.
“It’s at least two or three kilometers away, even at the closest point. We’ll need a boat to land?” Li Qing measured with his hands.
“Let’s scout it out first, then decide.”
Ten trucks stopped by the sea. The waves roared as everyone looked toward the distance—the direction of their new beginning.
“But how do we get up there?” Meng Xi, now recovering, had brought renewed energy to Li Qing. He was moving around energetically, as if the past hardships had never happened.
“We have… Doraemon!” Dean shouted, looking at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi casually threw out a few motorboats, leaving the soldiers around them stunned.
“I’ll lead a team to scout the situation. The rest will set up camp nearby,” Lu Weiyi instructed. Aside from his core team with A-level powers—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—he picked a few other water-type ability users. “There may be mutant fish in the water, stay alert.”
“Be careful,” Zhuang Mingxu took over holding Zhuang Ai Yi and reminded him.
“Little Daddy, Ai Yi will wait for you!” Zhuang Ai Yi made a heart shape with two fingers and smiled.
Lu Weiyi bent down and kissed the boy’s soft cheek. “I’ll bring you some fish when I come back.”
“Long live Little Daddy!” Zhuang Ai Yi shouted with arms raised, his clear laughter echoing along the shore.
Ten ability users split into two motorboats and headed toward the other side. Within minutes, they neared the island.
Up close, they realized it wasn’t a single island in the strictest sense but five small islands. The northernmost one, closest to the shore, was the largest—it looked like a piece of mainland that had cracked off and drifted here. Remnants of buildings and broken roads were still visible, along with roaming zombies.
The five islands were separated by a few hundred meters each. Four of them formed a rough compass pattern, encircling a small, crescent-shaped island in the center.
The islands were made of solid earth, meaning there was no need to worry about displacement from wind and waves or attacks from mutant fish. They were perfectly livable.
After scouting around and confirming no major dangers, everyone came ashore to take a look before deciding.
Compared to the uncertain condition of the other islands, everyone tacitly agreed to set up camp on the central island.
It had a large swimming pool, walkways, a suspended pavilion, and even a helipad with two helicopters still on it.
The previously well-maintained landscaping had now grown wild. The golf course was overgrown with weeds.
“Mingxu, can you still fly this helicopter? Has it been maintained?” Ning Yuan asked eagerly, hoping to open up a new mode of transport.
“The housekeeper was in charge—I’m not sure. The caretaker didn’t stay here full-time, just came periodically to tidy up,” Zhuang Mingxu replied.
“So this is what a private island looks like… what an eye-opener,” Li Qing looked around.
“Come on, Xi Shi,” Xiong Jie slung an arm over Xi Shi’s shoulder and laughed. “I might not be able to buy you an island, but we can enjoy this one thanks to our squad leader.”
Xi Shi gave him a light punch and looked around curiously.
“Luxury—beyond humanity,” Xu Sa sighed in amazement.
“Xiao Yi doesn’t like anything too fancy, so the design is simple, not too stylized,” Zhuang Mingxu said, pulling Lu Weiyi’s hand. Now that they were in familiar territory, he felt a sense of peace and stability. “Everyone, make yourselves at home—just stay safe.”
“Big Daddy, is this our home?” Zhuang Ai Yi asked curiously, peeking around. “Are we going to live here from now on?”
“Do you like it here?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“As long as I’m with Big Daddy and Little Daddy, anywhere is fine,” Zhuang Ai Yi said seriously, holding both their hands.
Zhuang Mingxu beamed up at Lu Weiyi, showing all his teeth in a bright smile. Lu Weiyi tapped Zhuang Ai Yi on the head. “We’ll take you wherever we go.”
The villa was built with high-quality materials and had withstood the weather without a trace of damage. Unfortunately, Zhuang Mingxu stood at the door for quite a while, unable to remember where the key was hidden.
“Back then, we’d inform the housekeeper ahead of time,” Zhuang Mingxu said helplessly, unable to recall where the spare key was. In the end, he decided to let Antonio handle it.
“You make it seem like you’re visiting someone else’s house,” Lei Jun joked as he touched the glass door. “Tsk… bulletproof material.”
After touring the house, the group gathered on the beach to grill the various fish they had caught—there was a wide variety and abundant types.
Zhuang Ai Yi ran around energetically, managing to sneak bites wherever he went.
The private villa wasn’t large—just enough rooms to accommodate the core team. Li Qing and his group stayed in the trucks.
That night, before deciding the fate of the main group, the core team held a small meeting.
“This place is isolated. The chance of encountering zombies is low, but we may face various ocean-related disasters in the future. We’ll need to be self-sufficient. Our team is specialized, but limited in skills. Any necessary facilities will have to be sourced externally. Everyone should be mentally prepared before making a decision,” Zhuang Mingxu laid out the potential risks.
The group exchanged glances—none seemed overly concerned.
Having survived the apocalypse and witnessed all kinds of scheming, everyone just wanted to live a peaceful life now.
Lu Weiyi’s spatial storage was stocked with an overwhelming amount of supplies—enough for all of them to live comfortably for a lifetime. Unlike Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu, who had to consider Ai Yi’s future, the others were relatively carefree.
“I’m staying with you. If you stay, I stay. If you leave, I leave,” Xu Sa said first.
Following his lead, the rest had no objections. After consulting Zhuang Mingxu, Lu Weiyi made the final call, “Then we’ll temporarily stay here. Once things are stable, if anyone wants to move elsewhere, we can search for another permanent base.”
“So when are we going to the Capital?” Ning Yuan looked at Lu Weiyi. Ever since Dean’s healing ability emerged, Zhuang Mingxu’s mood had noticeably improved. Ning Yuan was eager for the surgery—he wanted to see Zhuang Mingxu stand again.
“That depends on Li Qing’s team,” Lu Weiyi had privately discussed it with Zhuang Mingxu. “If they stay, we’ll leave part of the team here to build the base, and after everything is settled, the rest of us will go. If they don’t stay, we’ll all leave together and come back as one group.”
“You’ve already figured out the personnel split?” The others hadn’t been informed yet and looked at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi looked at Gu Qingyue and Xiong Jie first. “Are you two close to leveling up?”
“In the next few days.”
Lu Weiyi nodded. “Does anyone have personal reasons for wanting to go? Think about your own wishes first.”
The group looked at each other. No one spoke—until Lu Xi hesitantly raised her hand. “I want to see my dad.”
Lu Xi had a close relationship with his father and missed him dearly, not knowing whether he was alive or dead.
Lu Weiyi nodded and looked around. “Then here’s my plan. The Capital’s situation is unclear. I need capable people with me. Aside from the three of us, I’ll take Li Zhuang, Antonio, Dean, Xu Sa, Liu Rui, and Ning Yuan.”
Finally, he looked at Gu Qingji.
Gu Qingji held Gu Qingyue’s hand and said first, “We’re staying together.”
“Then you’ll both come,” Lu Weiyi turned to the others. “Can the rest of you stay? Before we leave, you’ll all be promoted to A-rank, and we’ll leave behind a portion of weapons and supplies.”
Four A-rank ability users plus two ordinary people—that gave them an 80% safety margin. If worst came to worst, they could still escape.
And since Li Qing’s group weren’t the villainous type, and considering their connection to Lin Yimu, there was little risk of serious conflict.
“No problem,” Wu Yue nodded first. Lin Yimu also agreed.
The others expressed their agreement too.
