Chapter 255: Actors, Please Take Your Places
It wasn’t really his fault for not catching the cue—Zhuang Mingxu had never acted like such a drama king in front of him before, so he didn’t know what play this was.
Fortunately, among those who came out to watch, someone reacted quickly. Xu Sa strode over to Lu Weiyi and pulled him away from Zhuang Mingxu, indignantly scolding, “Brother Mingxu, I really misjudged you! That plant-type crystal core that Weiyi saved is for his own upgrade. How can you ask to take it from him now?”
“But… he’s my brother,” Zhuang Mingxu responded very naturally.
“And what about him? Don’t you always say you love him?” Xu Sa looked incredulous. “You don’t want to see your own brother die, but are you willing to watch Weiyi die instead?”
“Weiyi… still has a long time before his upgrade. We can find one slowly. But Mingwu… can’t wait.”
“How can you say something like that?”
“Then what do you suggest?” Zhuang Mingxu shouted and looked at Lu Weiyi, “Xiaoyi, all these years, I’ve never asked you for anything. Help me this once.”
Xu Sa firmly squeezed Lu Weiyi’s arm, almost forcing him to cooperate.
Lu Weiyi opened his mouth but couldn’t find a way to refuse. He reached into his pocket, took out a plant-type crystal core from his space, and handed it toward Zhuang Mingxu.
Before Zhuang Mingxu could take it, Xu Sa grabbed it abruptly. “You can’t just give it away! Sell it and get some jade stone space, right?”
Seeing the core nearly snatched away at the last second, Zhuang Mingwu’s heart raced anxiously, but he snapped back fiercely, “None of your business.”
“This is the only crystal core our entire squad has gathered. If we give it away, we must get a price everyone is satisfied with,” Xu Sa said disdainfully. “If you can come up with jade stone space, you get it. If not, we’ll sell it to Officer Zhao—he said he could take several anyway.”
“You…” Zhuang Mingwu’s eyes turned red with fury but he had no retort. He turned to look at Zhuang Mingxu.
Zhuang Mingxu wore a helpless expression.
“The price I gave you before was a secret. Now that everyone knows, it’s definitely impossible,” Zhuang Mingxu said helplessly, patting Zhuang Mingwu on the shoulder. “Blame big brother for no longer having the ability to protect you.”
Xu Sa snorted and immediately intended to call Zhao Qiang’s people over, but Zhuang Mingwu stopped him, “I’ll pay—jade stone space, my family will pay.”
At this, Zhuang Mingxu’s eyes narrowed instantly. He quietly sized up Zhuang Mingwu and asked, “Our family is willing?”
“They will. I begged grandpa this morning, and he said he definitely will,” Zhuang Mingwu said fiercely, teeth clenched. But he didn’t dare offend Zhuang Mingxu further.
He had to say the right things to keep the plant-type crystal core and hurriedly went back to get the jade stone space.
Watching him leave, Zhuang Mingxu hid his expression and stared thoughtfully into the distance.
Lu Weiyi, on the other hand, gained jade stone space for free and looked very pleased, as did the others in the squad.
Before long, Zhuang Mingwu really did bring back some jade stone space—though only about seventy square meters—plus some additional high-grade jade stones. Zhuang Mingxu readily handed over the plant-type crystal core to him.
After sending him off, Zhuang Mingxu’s expression grew heavy. “Xiaoyi, we need to speed up our travel plans again.”
“What’s wrong?” They had planned to leave tomorrow, and going any faster seemed unlikely.
“Mingwu isn’t worth using jade stone space to trade for, and the Zhuang family isn’t the kind to be sentimental,” Zhuang Mingxu’s judgment was cold but fair.
“You mean…?” After a year of experience, Lu Weiyi understood.
“It’s not certain,” Zhuang Mingxu said, lacking details about the family’s resources, “We prepare for the worst.”
Lu Weiyi nodded seriously and thought for a moment before looking at Qi Lin. “Cong Qing will definitely ask about my uncle. You go meet him, then quietly leave the base to find my uncle. Ask him to come back quickly—it’s our insurance.”
He handed Qi Lin a pouch of crystal cores. “Safety first.”
“Understood,” Qi Lin took it seriously.
“Antonio, you and Lu Xi go and quickly make some weapons,” Zhuang Mingxu took out the smallest jade stone space Zhao Qiang left and placed it on the table. “One weapon each is yours.”
Lu Weiyi knew Antonio had long wanted to get a space for Dean to store stuff in—this was the perfect carrot to get him working.
“Deal,” Antonio said without hesitation.
“The others will follow yesterday’s plan—try to act as if nothing’s wrong and gather as much information as possible.”
“Got it!”
After receiving their respective tasks, the group dispersed.
After breakfast, Lu Weiyi discussed the plan for the next few days again with Zhuang Mingxu to ensure everything was foolproof, then prepared to go out and start mapping parts of the Capital.
Just before leaving, Zhuang Ai Yi stood beside Zhuang Mingxu, looking at him with a hesitant expression, wanting to go but not daring to say it.
“Want to come?” Lu Weiyi asked.
Zhuang Ai Yi thought for a moment and shook his head slightly.
He could feel the atmosphere at home had grown tense. Compared to yesterday’s relaxed mood, everyone seemed busier than usual.
“Let’s go,” Lu Weiyi reached out his hand to him.
“I’ll stay home with him. You take him…” Zhuang Mingxu was uneasy about him going out alone; he trusted his powers but bringing a child along would be a burden and a complication if they needed to escape quickly.
“No problem,” Lu Weiyi had just said this when someone swiftly climbed down from the villa’s roof and appeared between the three of them. “I’ll go with you.”
Before Lu Weiyi could refuse casually, Li Zhuang added, “Don’t you need a driver?”
Need…
Lu Weiyi didn’t argue. He looked up at the villa, and Li Zhuang said, “Xu Sa’s side doesn’t need too many people; Qingyue and Qingji are staying home.”
He glanced toward the room and, without raising his voice but loud enough for all to hear, said, “Don’t worry, our Xu is well-behaved.”
Lu Weiyi mainly worried about Xu Yi causing trouble now, so hearing that reassured him.
“Uncle will take you out. Ai Yi, do you want to go?” Li Zhuang asked Zhuang Ai Yi.
“Yes,” Zhuang Ai Yi answered clearly, then looked at Zhuang Mingxu. “Uncle, is that okay?”
Zhuang Mingxu glanced at Li Zhuang calmly, then handed Zhuang Ai Yi, who was holding his hand, over. “Thanks for the trouble.”
“No trouble at all for family,” Li Zhuang picked up Zhuang Ai Yi with one hand, tossed him lightly into the air, and caught him as he laughed out loud, shouting, “Uncle, again!”
Zhuang Mingxu watched as Li Zhuang carried Ai Yi outside with casual tosses and catches. Lu Weiyi followed behind them, suddenly feeling left behind.
Shaking off the feeling, he started slowly exercising in the courtyard.
Everyone at the villa was busy. In an unnoticed spot directly opposite the main gate, a tiny camera diligently worked.
In the monitoring room, Zhuang Mo Bai looked at the quiet villa and slowly revealed a twisted smile. His tone light and lively, he said to those beside him, “The plan…”
“Begins!”
*
At 10 a.m., the entire Capital base was bustling. Teams hunting zombies and searching for supplies queued at the gate waiting to go out. The trading halls on the main street opened early to welcome visitors. Passersby looked just as polished as before the apocalypse.
Compared to other bases filled with ragged, starving people, it seemed as if the apocalypse never happened here—everything looked just like before.
Most vehicles on the road were electric, from before the apocalypse. Gas-powered vehicles belonged either to the top leaders or to teams heading out. Gasoline was precious and rarely wasted now.
Lu Weiyi and his companions were no exception. They drove a small two-seater electric car, looking like a pre-apocalypse mini commuter vehicle.
It was given by the Zhuang family that morning. Their attitude had shifted overnight, making Lu Weiyi more convinced by Zhuang Mingxu’s ideas.
Lu Weiyi began to emit his mental energy to scan and draw the surrounding map. Holding a child was inconvenient, so little Zhuang Ai Yi sat on Li Zhuang’s lap. Li Zhuang’s solid frame looked cramped in the small car, and with the child, the driver’s seat was fully occupied.
The weather had warmed up quickly. Soon, sweat appeared on Zhuang Ai Yi’s forehead, but he still wouldn’t let Li Zhuang close the windows. The curious child looked around as they passed many bases.
“Well-informed” Zhuang Ai Yi commented, “Uncle, this base looks really nice.”
“Which do you like better, this base or ours?” Li Zhuang teased.
“Our base! We have the sea and can sail little boats,” Zhuang Ai Yi was still at the playful age. Having been confined to the villa for days, he naturally missed the freedom of the island.
“Then when we get back, Uncle will take you fishing,” Li Zhuang coaxed him. Seeing an ice cream freezer outside a trading hall, he asked, “Ai Yi, do you want ice cream? Uncle can buy some for you.”
“Really?” Zhuang Ai Yi turned to Lu Weiyi and whispered, “Uncle, can I have just a little?”
“You can only have a little,” Lu Weiyi said without looking up, his brush moving steadily. The scenery appeared on the paper as he painted. Some places invisible to the naked eye were marked—some as warehouses, some as food stores, and some long secret tunnels.
“Yay!” Zhuang Ai Yi looked at Li Zhuang excitedly. Li Zhuang smiled, pulled the car up near the shop, and called out twice to the owner, asking for some ice cream boxes to be packed.
