Chapter 252: Schemes
Finally, after the meal, Old Master Zhuang chose to talk with Zhuang Mingxu in the study rather than in the main room—since Zhuang Mingxu currently had no abilities, and based on reports from Liu Ma (the housekeeper), it was obvious the only one in charge of the small squad was Lu Weiyi.
Old Master Zhuang suspected Lu Weiyi had some ability but was somehow evading the base’s detection.
Lu Weiyi ignored them and wasn’t about to initiate conversation himself, so he took the chance to share his thoughts while talking to Zhuang Mingxu.
“When the apocalypse first came, I sent messages through Qingyuan looking for you, but no one replied. Now that I see you’re back, this old bone of mine can finally rest easy,” Old Master Zhuang kept pulling the heartstrings.
After the apocalypse, the magnetic field had changed; all previous communication methods once stopped working, causing chaos nationwide. That was why each base had its own power holders, each ruling their territory.
Old Master Zhuang’s words were hard to verify, so Zhuang Mingxu just listened.
He lowered his head, holding a cup of tea, as the old man rambled on, “Since you’re back, don’t leave again. Even without abilities, though our family isn’t the strongest, we have enough resources to protect you.”
“Of course, if you can’t leave your teammates behind, you can have them join our family’s squad too. With your connection, they won’t be mistreated.”
At this, Lu Weiyi couldn’t help but snort with laughter. Catching Old Master Zhuang’s gaze, he showed no intention to explain.
The atmosphere got a bit awkward. Zhuang Mingwu, who’d been sitting in a corner waiting for Old Master Zhuang to speak, anxiously scanned the room but was silenced by the sharp look from his father, Zhuang Chengye.
Lu Weiyi was never one to save face for others, so since Old Master Zhuang didn’t confront him with a displeased “Why are you laughing?”, it was clear he wasn’t about to explain.
Zhuang Mo Bai stepped in smoothly, asking Lu Weiyi bluntly, “Weiyi, did you come to the capital just to treat Mingxu’s leg?”
Lu Weiyi nodded.
“And what are your plans next? The world outside is full of dangers. Compared to other bases, the capital is still more tolerant to ordinary people.”
Lu Weiyi looked at Zhuang Mingxu, as if asking him to decide.
They had discussed this before coming. They knew this was just to save face for themselves. Mingxu was moved and obediently replied, “We have our own base and some brothers there. We’ll be going back in a few days.”
Hearing this, Old Master Zhuang and the others fell silent. Zhuang Mo Bai had no reaction but nodded seriously, “If that’s the case, asking you to stay would be forcing it. But once you part, who knows when you’ll meet again.”
Lu Weiyi gave him a second glance. From his understanding, the Zhuang family wouldn’t hesitate to use any means to get what they wanted. If they openly said this, there had to be a serious reason behind it.
His mental focus casually swept the surroundings and caught the disapproving look in Zhuang Chengye’s eyes and the subtle glance from Old Master Zhuang.
So, this was just Zhuang Mo Bai’s personal opinion.
Zhuang Mo Bai, seemingly unaware, continued, “Then you can stay in the capital a few more days. Your family really misses you. Your grandfather is old now. Every farewell means one less meeting.”
Zhuang Mingxu’s gaze shifted to Old Master Zhuang, then casually swept the corner where Xia Mingzhi sat. “No, Grandpa has more than one grandson. I guess he doesn’t need me.”
This was clearly said with some emotion toward the mother and son who suddenly appeared openly in the Zhuang family. Old Master Zhuang glared at his son, Zhuang Chengli, wanting to explain but feeling it would lose face to explain to his grandson, so he ended up saying nothing.
Seeing they wouldn’t get to the point, Zhuang Mingxu no longer wanted to stay. “If Grandpa has no other matters, we’ll leave first. It’s almost time for the child to rest.”
“There are rooms in the house. You can stay here directly,” said Zhuang Chengli. In this day and age, children who survived were rare, and ones as delicate as Zhuang Ai Yi were even rarer. Zhuang Chengli quite liked this grandson.
“Really?” Zhuang Mingxu retorted mercilessly.
The villa’s layout was standard, with the same number of rooms. With so many people, if there really was a guest room, some would have to share. Given Zhuang Mingxu’s understanding of his family, he thought that was unlikely. So Zhuang Chengli’s words were obviously just polite.
Sure enough, after his retort, Zhuang Chengli hesitated and said no more.
Zhuang Mingxu gave a sarcastic smile, about to stand, when Old Master Zhuang finally got to the point, “Mingwu told me you still have a plant-type crystal core, is that true?”
“That’s true,” Zhuang Mingxu didn’t deny it. “The team plans to sell it to Zhao Qiang at the police station,” that notorious upgrade fanatic was indeed the best choice to exchange crystal cores with.
“Brother, didn’t you say it was for me?” Zhuang Mingwu couldn’t help but ask.
“I said I’d make an exception and give you 3500kg of jade,” Zhuang Mingxu bluntly broke down his ambiguous words, leaving no room for the others in the Zhuang family to save face. “You don’t really think that just because I have no abilities and am a burden to everyone, I can just give it to you for free, do you?”
Zhuang Mingwu looked embarrassed, his eyes darting repeatedly toward the Old Master. Seeing no one spoke, he mumbled, “Then why don’t you just join our family’s squad?”
Such shameless words surprised even Lu Xi, who rarely spoke.
He stared at Zhuang Mingwu in disbelief. “How do you have the nerve to say such shameless things?”
“So you want to wolf it all without any effort, get a free squad, and then expect the squad members to hand over their stuff to you?”
“What are you thinking? This is your own cousin. You saw him come back to the capital relying on the squad, unable to move on his own. You don’t feel grateful but instead repay kindness with ingratitude? Is this how your family thinks?” Lu Xi’s words completely shut down any response from the Zhuang family.
“Why is our family’s business any of your concern?” Zhuang Mingwu got angry being insulted by a kid like that.
“My dad is Lu Xiao. A third of the Zhuang family’s supplies were won under his leadership. Do you think that has nothing to do with me? I’m the only member of the squad. If you’re embezzling from us, does that not concern me?” Lu Xi said confidently. “If you had the ability, go fight mutant plants and get your own crystal cores. If you don’t, then keep your tail tucked. Big mouth, no ability.”
Zhuang Mingxu felt ashamed that Lu Xi could say such things and gave Zhuang Mingwu a disappointed glance. He then stood and told the others, “It’s getting late. We’ll leave now. If the family wants the plant-type crystal core, come by before tomorrow morning to trade. After that… I won’t be able to hold it.”
With Lu Xi speaking so plainly, if the Zhuang family said anything further, they’d really look like they were repaying kindness with ingratitude. So after some polite words, they escorted the group out.
*
After everyone left, Old Master Zhuang turned and entered the study.
Neither Zhuang Chengye nor Zhuang Chengli followed, fearing bad luck. But Zhuang Mo Bai didn’t mind and followed closely.
“Big brother, look at this,” Zhuang Mo Bai showed the old man a thin sheet of paper — the inspection report of the only squad entering the capital base.
Old Master Zhuang glanced at it and set it down. Zhuang Mo Bai continued, “I asked the doctor who operated on Mingxu. His injury couldn’t have healed so fast just from the healer they brought out. Among them is an even stronger healer.”
“The space they detected combined is less than a hundred square meters, but the seafood they sold in the market today probably takes up more than half. I heard…” Zhuang Mo Bai looked at Old Master Zhuang, “they’re going again tomorrow?”
“What do you mean?” Old Master Zhuang looked again carefully at the report.
“I think they might be hiding a larger space, and their abilities are probably stronger than what they show.” Zhuang Mo Bai took some paper and a pen from the desk and casually started sketching.
“All their supplies are seafood. Since the crust shifted, the nearest coastline is several hundred kilometers from the capital in a straight line. Driving would be even farther. Not to mention B-rank ability users, even A-rank ones wouldn’t dare travel so openly and recklessly.” He paused, then looked at Old Master Zhuang. “They came, and… with no personnel casualties. Do you believe they don’t have a trump card?”
“Besides, plant-type crystal cores have skyrocketed in value at the base. They gave away two, which only shows they’re not short of them, or they’d keep them for themselves.”
Old Master Zhuang, wanting them to join the family, naturally considered this point. Having enough plant-type cores meant easier upgrades. Even if they didn’t stand out now, they would survive for sure.
Hearing this, Zhuang Mingwu’s whining and sulking quieted. “Then shouldn’t we try harder to get them into the family?”
“Lu Weiyi is the leader,” Zhuang Mo Bai asked bluntly. “Do you think he’ll stay in the Zhuang family? Not attacking the Zhuang family must be mercy, right?”
Zhuang Mo Bai knew well the methods Old Master Zhuang had used before.
Old Master Zhuang said nothing but looked at Zhuang Mo Bai. “What are you planning?”
Zhuang Mo Bai adjusted his glasses and smiled, eyes gleaming with unusual excitement. His long, pale fingers pressed on the inspection report on the desk. “Of course, I want them to contribute to our family.”
“If we can’t keep the people, we can at least keep something else.”
*
Back at the villa, all squad members had regrouped. Having eaten dinner, small groups sat around the living room digesting their food.
Seeing the four return, they greeted them. Ning Yuan first spoke about his outing today, “I went to find Cong Qing. He saw Lieutenant Lu’s armband and didn’t suspect a thing. He wanted to come meet you and Lu Xi, but I stopped him to avoid attracting too much attention.”
