Chapter 253: Zhao Qiang Returns
Seeing the four come back, Ning Yuan greeted them and reported, “He helped inquire about Li Ji. He’s not in the base lately. A few days ago, he took a team to search for supplies in a nearby small county. It’ll probably be several days before he returns. We might not run into him anytime soon.”
“Keep a low profile. This time, just watch so they don’t cause trouble for us,” Lu Weiyi prioritized the big picture.
Ning Yuan made an OK gesture.
“Tomorrow, Zhou Nan, continue to lead the search for family members’ news. We only have one day. Whether you find anything or not, we’ll have to leave. If you can’t find anyone, give the list to Cong Qing so my uncle’s people can help look for them gradually.”
“Yes,” Zhou Nan replied.
“Xu Sa, continue helping those three sell seafood. Sell as much as you can.”
“Got it,” Xu Sa said comfortably, leaning back on the sofa and enjoying the snacks Liu Rui thoughtfully brought him from their loot.
“You…” Lu Weiyi looked toward Zhuang Mingxu.
“I’m just going to exercise at home,” Zhuang Mingxu volunteered.
Lu Weiyi nodded. “Antonio will watch over Dean. Lu Xi, you be careful and try not to go out. This time, no one is allowed to act on their own wherever they go. If there’s nothing urgent, it’s better not to leave.”
With Li Ji around and them having taken coveted supplies, Lu Weiyi was extremely cautious.
“Understood,” the team members responded and dispersed.
Zhuang Mingxu also returned to his room. After Lu Weiyi made a round and went back to his room, Mingxu, having already showered, sat on the bed massaging his calves.
“Feeling uncomfortable? Should I call Xu Yi over?” Lu Weiyi said, starting to leave.
“Stay,” Zhuang Mingxu smiled lightly, not looking like he had any real problem.
Lu Weiyi studied him.
“I haven’t walked much for a long time, so my muscles have atrophied a bit. Even with a healer-type ability user, full recovery isn’t possible that fast. After a day of walking, I feel sore and tired.” Zhuang Mingxu had been a soldier and knew how to relax and massage muscles well. After finishing the last massage, his calves—pale and thin from lack of sunlight—had turned red.
A healthy color.
Zhuang Mingxu couldn’t help but smile again.
Seeing that the family matters didn’t seem to bother him too much, Lu Weiyi also relaxed somewhat.
He remembered that last lifetime, when Mingxu came back and saw the openly acknowledged mistress and illegitimate child in the family, he was stunned and disbelieving. When Xia Mingzhi first tried to provoke him, Mingxu gave him a harsh beating.
At that time, the Zhuang family had no healer-type ability users. Mingxu and Dean declared that anyone who brought a healer to treat him would not be allowed to step inside the Zhuang family’s door again. Xia Mingzhi ended up bedridden for three months using pre-apocalypse medical methods before recovering. Later, he would avoid Mingxu entirely, and Xia Xiaorong and her daughter were directly sent out of the family to live elsewhere.
“Today Ning Yuan told me that Cong Qing said the radio station seems to be continuously working now. Not sure if the soldiers at our base know how to tune it properly.”
“I asked Ning Yuan to check the local market tomorrow for professional radios or accessories. We’ll build one ourselves. Maybe then we can contact the base anytime,” Zhuang Mingxu talked to himself, pulling Lu Weiyi close to sit in his lap, then grabbing a hand-drawn map from the bedside table.
“This time, when we get back to the base, we have to accelerate development. Any ideas?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
Lu Weiyi shook his head, then thought a moment. “Collect more supplies?”
“…We definitely need that, but what we lack more is people.” Mingxu smiled, in a good mood. “With your space, we have an advantage in collecting supplies, but… no manpower to work.”
“Based on last year’s seasons, it’ll get hot again soon. Once the temperature passes 40°C, ordinary people at the base won’t be able to handle it. Crops will reduce yield or die. Output goes down, but consumption stays the same. Add the cold winter…”
“We really only have a few months a year when we can work at full strength. Just relying on the people at our base… it’s really not enough.”
“Too many people cause chaos,” Lu Weiyi thought of the Capital. Such a huge place, with zombies and mutant plants lurking outside the base. Instead of uniting against them, everyone fights for a small patch of land. The thought was exhausting.
“Too few people means everything falls on you,” Mingxu knew him well and carefully guided him. “We don’t need too many people. Just enough professionals for the base to operate normally in each sector. Then everyone can survive on their own, without having to go out to find supplies, self-sufficient. That would be close to how life was before the apocalypse.”
Returning to the pre-apocalypse lifestyle…
That idea really attracted Lu Weiyi.
Mingxu had been seriously thinking about the base’s future but seeing Lu Weiyi’s bright eyes, he suddenly got a little distracted. He wrapped his arms around Lu Weiyi and lay back on the bed.
“We have to take it step by step, but…”
He shifted his body over Lu Weiyi, whispering, “My leg is healed.”
Lu Weiyi nodded, a faint smile on his handsome face, gentle and captivating.
“Thank you, Xiao Yi.” Zhuang Mingxu kissed the corner of his mouth, then without waiting for a response, pressed his lips on Lu Weiyi’s, continuing, “We can revisit our old positions.”
Lu Weiyi reacted, and Mingxu was already on top of him.
*
Night fell. The entire capital base gradually quieted. In a few houses with couples, rustling sounds could be heard occasionally. The night watchman sitting on the villa roof sighed helplessly about being single and silently shifted his attention away from the villa.
In the dark, unnoticed by anyone, a black shadow moved like the wind around the villa, pausing briefly in several places before disappearing quickly. The speed was so fast it drew no attention.
Just before dawn, several dust-covered vehicles appeared at the heavy city gates. Their bodies were stained with blood and slime from zombie collisions. The stench lingered long in the rising summer heat.
One vehicle’s windshield was shattered like a spiderweb, and its front was heavily dented. The passengers all looked exhausted, with dark circles under their eyes as if they had stayed awake for days.
The heavy city gate opened a small door about two fists wide, and a beam of light shone through. Before the bald driver poked his head out, a trademark wolf-tooth club appeared first in view.
“It’s me, Meng Lang. Su Wei, open up.”
The city guards on duty called people over to register, while the searchlights slowly scanned over several vehicles. On the front passenger seat of the car in the rear, a pair of sharp, calculating eyes looked over. The man’s face was marked with a scar running across half of it—it was the old enemy Li Ji, the very one the team had been discussing just a few hours earlier.
*
The squad that had gone out returned not long ago, and the whole base seemed to come alive. In the darkness, the rustling movement of people resembled hurried little ants scurrying past, waking up more and more people.
Before dawn, too many were destined not to get a good night’s sleep.
As the first rays of morning sunlight rose, Liu Ma arrived on time to make breakfast. The well-trained soldiers were already out in the courtyard doing morning exercises.
When someone knocked on the door, Lin Mo stepped forward and looked at the visitor behind him—Zhuang Mingwu.
Though Lu Xi hadn’t mentioned it in front of Zhuang Mingxu, the kid couldn’t help but complain behind his back about what happened at the Zhuang family yesterday—especially about the person standing in front of them. Naturally, they all recognized him.
The plant-type crystal core in the team was Lu Weiyi’s personal property. Whether or not it was shared, no one else had the right to get involved. Everyone just laughed it off and thought Zhuang Mingxu was a bit unlucky, but didn’t comment further.
Seeing him appear, Lin Mo naturally assumed he was here to plead again for the plant-type crystal core.
“Hello, I’m looking for Zhuang Mingxu. I’m his brother. I came by yesterday,” Zhuang Mingwu introduced himself after Liu Ma was allowed inside but he was stopped.
“They’re still asleep. It might not be convenient for you to come in,” Lin Mo replied, not giving him a chance to enter or see anyone. Nobody knew about Xu Yi yet, and it was too dangerous to have too many people inside.
“…Please tell them that the family agreed to exchange jade stones for the plant-type crystal core. I’ll bring it over at eight o’clock,” Zhuang Mingwu said, knowing he was anxious, but being told early in the morning that they agreed to exchange jade stones for the life-saving crystal core naturally made him excited.
“All right, I’ll pass it on,” Lin Mo said and sent him away.
Before Zhuang Mingxu arrived, Zhao Qiang led a team and knocked on the villa door first.
Lin Mo’s face showed a flash of shock when he saw him—they returned much earlier than expected. He didn’t know if that meant they already knew the supplies had been taken.
“Hello, I want to see your team leader,” Zhao Qiang said, dusty from travel. As soon as he learned the Only Squad had arrived in the Capital, he inquired overnight about their activities and learned they were selling plant-type crystal cores. Immediately, he arranged jade stones to bring over.
“Our team leader… hasn’t woken up yet. Would you like to wait?” Lin Mo said.
“That’s fine. Please tell him I have jade stones in my space. I want to exchange them for a plant-type crystal core,” Zhao Qiang said politely, not even asking to enter, instead waiting with his team at the gate.
Once inside the villa, Lin Mo immediately called the team. Lu Weiyi came out looking dazed, with clear hickeys on the back of his neck, openly showing that something had happened.
“Buddy, single dogs need to be self-aware,” Antonio’s saying was very apt. Without looking at his face, you wouldn’t guess he was a foreigner.
“Wake up, Zhao Qiang is back,” Lin Mo said urgently.
