Chapter 241: Setting Off for the Capital
The day before departure, the group held a meeting to arrange matters on the island.
Lin Yimu asked, “How long will you be gone?”
“Half a month.” After that, the surgery would happen, a few days’ recovery, then immediate departure—this was Lu Weiyi’s ideal scenario. If something unexpected happened, “At most one month.”
“Considering travel time back and forth, at most two months,” Lin Yimu considered the current weather, glanced warily at Zhuang Mingxu, and finally warned, “The Capital’s factions are complicated. You’d better not get involved with any side. You need to be responsible for each other.”
He said this to Lu Weiyi, but it was also a warning to Zhuang Mingxu.
Of all of them, the most likely to be dragged into the Capital’s faction struggles was the eldest grandson of the Zhuang family, Zhuang Mingxu. He had responsibilities to the whole Zhuang family, but Lu Weiyi shouldn’t let the entire squad bear the burden of the Zhuang family’s affairs.
Previously, Lin Yimu thought Lu Weiyi didn’t care about Zhuang Mingxu; over the past year, that clearly wasn’t true. He was now worried Lu Weiyi might be too sentimental and end up discouraging his subordinates.
“Mm, we’ll come back after the treatment,” Lu Weiyi answered briskly, unsure if he fully understood. Then he looked at the others, “If you have family in the Capital, bring them back with you. But don’t get involved with troublemakers. Deal with those who stir up trouble on their own.”
“Yes,” several powered individuals replied.
Li Qing brought over a paper, “This lists the military personnel’s families, though their survival is uncertain. We’re sending five powered representatives with you to the Capital.”
Lu Weiyi looked at the five names—one powered individual for each of the five elements, all B-rank. “Add Qi Lin to the list,” a speed-type powered, useful in key moments.
Li Qing added Qi Lin’s name.
“No others for now,” Lu Weiyi checked his notes to make sure he covered everything, then summarized, “We kept some weapons. If anyone tries to force land and blows something up, we have backup boats. Be careful when going out—don’t get kidnapped. Safety first. Those staying on the island, watch the new residents closely.”
“Don’t worry, squad leader. We won’t let our only squad down,” Lei Jun volunteered. “Safe travels. We’ll wait for your safe return.”
After a few words, everyone went back to their rooms early to rest.
*
The next day at dawn, Xi Shi got up early and made a lot of breakfast. After eating, the group set off immediately.
The 9-meter big truck that had followed them all along appeared again. The two-level chicken coop on top had been removed. Lu Weiyi leaned back on the top, watching his surroundings. Nearby was Lu Xi’s makeshift lab, where Antonio was hiding with him, making powered pistols.
Gu Qingyue and Gu Qingji brothers took the driver and co-driver seats.
Inside the cabin—
Xu Sa was lying on a bed playing a single-player game, Liu Rui attended to him with care, occasionally praising, “Impressive.”
Li Zhuang sat alone in a corner, polishing his three-edged knife he had since the early apocalypse, now reinforced by Antonio’s powers and more durable.
Dean looked serious staring at a featherless live chicken, tried to reach and cut it, but got startled by the chicken’s clucks. Eventually, Ning Yuan, who couldn’t stand it, used an ice blade to snap off one wing. Dean mumbled prayers while slowly using powers to reattach it.
Deep inside, Zhuang Mingxu held Zhuang Ai Yi and read a nursery rhyme:
“A grandpa named Gu went shopping for vinegar and cloth, bought cloth, bought vinegar, then saw an eagle catching a rabbit. Put down the cloth, set aside the vinegar, and went after the eagle and rabbit. The eagle flew away, the rabbit ran off, vinegar spilled, soaking the cloth.”
Zhuang Ai Yi’s tongue got tangled, then he leaned back in Zhuang Mingxu’s arms laughing loudly.
Six newly arrived powered individuals sat on the bed by the cabin door, watching this bunch of slackers and sinking into deep self-doubt.
Are these the respected seniors the captain kept telling us to learn from?
*
Shortly after entering the city, Lu Weiyi’s voice came over the walkie-talkie shouting “Get to work!”
The people inside, except Dean, Zhuang Mingxu, and the kids, immediately put down what they were doing and filed out to the truck’s roof, calling out, “Let’s go, brothers! Work’s here!”
“Are we here to carry sandbags? Or to commit arson and murder?”
Several of the soldiers were convinced this group had to be seriously unwell.
But the moment they stepped out of the truck, they were surrounded by zombies from all directions.
They had literally driven straight into a zombie den…
*
After days of stop-and-go travel, punctuated with endless fighting, the five new arrivals began to seriously question their life choices, switching constantly between moments of peace and brushes with death.
Without Xi Shi cooking, the group had reverted to eating dry rations. Thankfully, Xi Shi had felt sorry for these “babies” and prepared some food in advance.
“Squad leader, is this how you all got here over the past few months?” Qi Lin, the speed-type ability user, was now basically in a daily marathon against zombies. By day’s end, he was so exhausted he could barely move.
“No,” Lu Weiyi replied lightly, chewing on a meat-filled flatbread while examining the map. “We usually traveled day and night without stopping.”
During the day, two groups of elemental users stood on either side of the truck, continuously fending off attacking zombies. They even encountered several A-class zombies. The B-class members struggled to deal with them, while Lu Weiyi could reduce them to ash with a flick of his fingers.
Despite their exhaustion, no one ever asked to rest. After hearing Lu Weiyi’s words, they quietly ate their flatbreads, trying to minimize their presence.
“Can you drive?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“Of course. No one in the military doesn’t know how to drive,” Qi Lin said with a grin.
“Then after you finish eating, go replace Qingji up front. We need to have a meeting,” Lu Weiyi instructed.
Qi Lin gave an OK gesture, climbed onto the roof, and after a brief exchange with Gu Qingji, the two smoothly swapped places through the window without the moving vehicle slowing down.
Once everyone had gathered, Lu Weiyi pointed at a marked spot on the map and said, “We’re currently at the border between Pingjin City and the Capital. In the northeastern part of the Capital, there’s a town called Qiqiao. There’s a national emergency supply storage facility there. I’d like to check it out before we head into the Capital. Any thoughts?”
“Are you sure?” These types of emergency storage sites were highly classified. Ning Yuan didn’t think Lu Weiyi could possibly know about it and glanced at Zhuang Mingxu.
Zhuang Mingxu’s expression remained unreadable, revealing nothing.
“I’m sure,” Lu Weiyi affirmed. In his previous life, they had only reached the Capital after a year into the apocalypse and happened to see the convoy transporting supplies—dozens of trucks. That scene was still vivid in his mind.
“So that means we’ll be changing direction and heading due north,” Xu Sa confirmed, pointing at the map.
“Right,” Lu Weiyi said. “We don’t know what unexpected events might come up, so stay on high alert.” They were still in suburban areas, where zombies were numerous but far less dense and dangerous than in the city. Also, this was a previously traveled path, so the chance of encountering high-level mutated zombies or animals was relatively low.
Taking a new route meant they could run into any kind of danger at any moment, so total vigilance was necessary.
“Got it!” Antonio responded cheerfully.
Li Zhuang gave an OK sign and returned to his corner.
After a careful review, Ning Yuan asked, “Do you know what supplies are there? Is it worth the risk?”
“Absolutely worth it.” Lu Weiyi thought for a moment and couldn’t help smiling.
That sly grin—like a fox spotting chickens—made Ning Yuan drop the subject and begin charting the new route immediately.
*
In the early days of the apocalypse, everyone had rushed to remote villages thinking fewer people meant fewer zombies and better chances of survival.
Now, most people were fleeing the outskirts again—mutated animals and plants were everywhere, and danger could strike at any time.
Since Lu Weiyi’s group had taken the new route, they’d encountered an endless stream of mutated creatures—from tiny ones like mosquitoes, bees, and moths to larger ones like cows and sheep.
If they ran into smaller swarms, Lu Weiyi used his mental abilities to shield the vehicle and quietly slip away. Bigger solitary beasts? They became fresh additions to the group’s stockpile.
Aside from the zoo-like experience, the best part was the fruit in the village orchards—nectarines, peaches, plums, apples—just looking at them made their mouths water. With one greedy little “baby” in the group, Lu Weiyi would often preemptively collect the fruit, sometimes even taking the whole tree.
In abandoned farmyards, overgrown vegetable gardens were a mix of weeds and vegetables. A quick foray always turned up something useful.
Cucumbers, tomatoes, a variety of greens—enough for a decent meal.
Unfortunately, the entire group was made up of “kitchen killers”—not one competent cook among them. So everything was just stored away again.
On the twentieth day of travel, they stopped at a secluded mountain village to rest. They laid out some fresh vegetables—cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and green peppers—washed and eaten whole. Whoever wanted something just grabbed it.
Each person wrapped the raw veggies in a flatbread, took a huge bite with a loud “CHOMP,” and Lu Weiyi thought they were all cavemen.
“At our current pace, we should arrive tomorrow. If the trip goes well, I’ll treat everyone to a feast,” Lu Weiyi said to boost morale.
“I don’t care about the rest, Squad Leader. I just wanna know—can we roast that mutated sheep?” Lin Tian, a water-type user who’d been traveling with Ning Yuan and getting wrecked the whole way, was surviving purely on shamelessness. “I’ve always heard roast lamb is amazing. Never had it.”
“Sure.” Lu Weiyi had been thinking of rewarding them with something elaborate, but this simple request made him agree instantly.
“To roast lamb and a successful mission!” Lin Tian raised his cup of water dramatically.
The others found him pathetic and didn’t bother to respond, but Lu Weiyi clinked cups and said, “To success.”
The core team members who knew the real stakes looked over immediately. Lu Weiyi sipped his water, smiling with relaxed eyes.
“Can I just ask—what exactly is in this supply depot? Your vibe is off,” Xu Sa said, pretending his fist was a microphone, holding it to Lu Weiyi’s mouth.
“Get lost,” Lu Weiyi swatted him away. Seeing everyone’s curiosity, he chuckled and added, “Just some basic equipment and emergency supplies.”
