Chapter 291: The Guard Squad
They were well aware that the bigger threat was the mutated zombies, animals, and plants outside — that was humanity’s true enemy.
It was only because the current situation wasn’t urgent enough that people still had the energy to fight over power. Lu Weiyi remembered that in his previous life, the existence of wood-type ability users initially made people feel that resources weren’t so scarce, so most bases focused on internal conflicts.
But after a year or two, once seeds could no longer sprout due to overuse by wood-type users, food became extremely scarce. Combined with evolving zombies and powerful mutated lifeforms, everyone’s goal shifted to survival, leaving no room for power struggles.
Many factions even began to streamline their manpower — fewer people meant fewer resources consumed.
Lu Weiyi considered luring the zombies they had diverted back to the Zheng family.
But he remembered that Capital wasn’t just home to ability users — it had many ordinary people as well.
A base where ability users and ordinary people coexisted wasn’t common in this apocalyptic world. Lu Weiyi didn’t want to destroy it with his own hands.
“Fine, then you handle Zhao Qiang. What’s left is the Zheng family,” Zhuang Mingxu chewed over the name, mentally calculating the current situation of their teams.
“We can’t expose the mutated rats just yet. We’ll need to coordinate with Zheng Yi. He’s very capable across the board. With him around, it won’t be a problem to stabilize the situation temporarily — it won’t cause too much disruption.”
In fact, it wouldn’t even buy them much breathing room.
“Then kill him,” Lu Weiyi said bluntly. The room fell silent.
Zhuang Mingxu and Lu Xiao looked over in shock. Even Li Zhuang nearby stared in surprise, as if he couldn’t believe those words came from Lu Weiyi.
They were once comrades, even if they belonged to different factions.
Talk of killing? That seemed too extreme.
Zhuang Mingxu glanced at Lu Xiao.
“Can we detain him for a while? Let the Zheng family fall into chaos. Meanwhile, we can gain a foothold,” Lu Xiao asked.
Li Zhuang, who had remained silent until now, shook his head. “No difference. Chaos always leads to innocent casualties. Who’s to say they won’t be close to Zheng Yi? If he retaliates later, better to cut the problem at its root.”
Lu Weiyi agreed. After five years in the apocalypse, even the most naïve wouldn’t hesitate when it mattered. Yet Zhuang Mingxu and Lu Xiao still held onto some of their pre-apocalypse military principles.
Neither responded to that suggestion. After a moment, Zhuang Mingxu said, “Then we give him an injection and release him once the Zheng family is in disarray. We find a proper way to do it so he doesn’t suspect us.”
Lu Xiao nodded in agreement.
After discussing more details, Lu Xiao left to check on the wounded. The rest were all members of the Only Team.
Then Li Zhuang suddenly spoke. “You’re all being too softhearted.”
“Killing the leader when you have the power to is the best solution,” he said to Zhuang Mingxu.
Antonio nodded in agreement.
“They’re not our enemies,” Zhuang Mingxu explained.
“But he wants our supplies — probably our lives too,” Li Zhuang replied.
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t respond. He wasn’t on the front lines anymore and lacked a full grasp of the harshness of the current world.
“We were once comrades,” Ning Yuan broke the silence. “Honestly, I can’t do it. Besides, I believe that in this world, exceptional ability users shouldn’t die at each other’s hands. They should die fighting zombies — gloriously.”
He looked around. Half the dozen or so people were former military — that still meant something.
Xu Sa had suffered too much to care. As for Gu Qingyue, he always held onto a thread of kindness. Unless absolutely necessary, he couldn’t bring himself to kill proactively.
After all, the man wasn’t a bad person. He once fought for this country and tried to protect people — they were just on opposing sides now.
Among the team, only Li Zhuang and Antonio shared the same opinion. In the end, they looked at Lu Weiyi.
“We’ll carry out the plan as discussed. If things become irreversible, then we make the kill,” Lu Weiyi decided.
No one objected. The team dispersed and, with help from ability users, returned to their rooms.
Li Zhuang and Antonio stayed behind. Lu Weiyi, knowing what they wanted to say, spoke first: “I don’t think he should die here either.”
In his past life, before his death, Capital endured multiple zombie attacks and mutated creature assaults. Under Zheng Yi’s leadership, the Zheng family defended half of Capital.
Li Zhuang nodded, then murmured, “I think everyone’s too soft.”
In this world, kind people didn’t always survive.
“How many people who crossed us have come to a good end?” Lu Weiyi asked.
The two said nothing.
“They just can’t bring themselves to kill someone who’s a soldier,” Lu Weiyi explained. “Soldiers still hold a special place in people’s hearts.”
“If you have time, you should look into that,” he added, standing to return to his room. At the door, he reassured them, “If he really tries to kill us, we won’t show mercy.”
Because, in the end, everyone’s own life matters most.
*
The next day, Lu Xiao set off early with members of the Hunter’s Guild to visit various teams.
Lu Weiyi also prepared to meet Zhao Qiang. As he stepped out the door, Zhuang Mingxu immediately followed. “I’ll handle the negotiation.”
Lu Weiyi wasn’t good with words — he’d already planned to use his ability to force Zhao Qiang’s submission if needed, but that was clearly a last resort.
“Okay,” Lu Weiyi glanced at Qi Lin, who was about to head out with him. “You stay.”
“Why not ask Major General Lu for a few people to go with you?” Qi Lin suggested.
“No need,” Lu Weiyi replied. “We’re not going to fight.” More people wouldn’t help him—they’d only be a burden.
A question mark practically appeared above Qi Lin’s head.
Weren’t they going to stir up trouble? He had his doubts.
But whatever the team leader said, went.
Cong Qing sent a message saying Zhao Qiang hadn’t left his place all morning. Between going to his door directly or to the operations office, Lu Weiyi chose the latter.
Zhao Qiang’s team, at its core, inherited the Zhao family’s influence in the police force, so people often referred to them as the police.
But after the apocalypse, they’d formed their own squad name: the Guard Team.
They had taken on the duties of the police from the pre-apocalypse era.
The Guard Team’s office was located in an inconspicuous multi-story building.
Zhuang Mingxu drove straight up to the building. As soon as they got out of the car, they could feel eyes on them.
Lu Weiyi scanned the area with his mental power without showing any sign. Everything around them formed a clear image in his mind—he noticed at least seven or eight people in the crowd had recognized them and were subtly watching.
Zhuang Mingxu also noticed the unusual stares. “Looks like we’re kind of famous.”
The two walked toward the entrance. The first floor bustled with people coming and going.
Most of them were team members checking out the missions being posted—resource locations around the Capital Base had all been pre-surveyed. After completing missions, areas were allocated to different factions. The teams under each faction would then scour those areas for supplies, which largely avoided internal conflict within the base.
The entire area surrounding Capital Base had basically been divided up, and everyone assumed that all the resources in the surrounding cities belonged to the Capital. This was one of the reasons for occasional friction with neighboring bases.
Directly opposite the lobby was an electronic screen displaying ongoing missions. Representatives from several teams stood nearby, reading the tasks, discussing, coordinating, and then lining up to submit their applications and receive materials.
The appearance of Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu didn’t cause much of a stir. Most people were too focused on their tasks to pay attention to anything else.
Just as Lu Weiyi considered pulling over one of those who had recognized them to notify Zhao Qiang, someone in the crowd—who had been talking with a companion—noticed them, looked surprised, and stepped forward.
“Do you two need something?” he asked.
Lu Weiyi looked at him calmly.
“I’m Meng Guang, captain of Guard Team Three. We met before in Qiqiao Town.” After introducing himself, Meng Guang gestured toward a room marked “Rest Area.” “Please, this way.”
He had seen the strength of their team firsthand. Even though Lu Weiyi hadn’t fought personally, Meng Guang didn’t believe someone with no ability could lead a group of elites in this kind of world.
While he wasn’t afraid of them starting trouble, he saw no need to provoke anything.
Lu Weiyi followed him inside and got straight to the point. “I want to see Captain Zhao… within an hour.”
He said this with confidence. Meng Guang couldn’t tell if he was fearless due to strength or just ignorant.
“This concerns Captain Zhao’s life. It’d be best if he came,” added Zhuang Mingxu from the side.
That was a heavy statement. Meng Guang hesitated, then said, “Please wait a moment, I’ll go get the Chief.”
He closed the door and left. A moment later, someone knocked and brought refreshments. Though they clearly sized them up, they remained respectful and courteous.
“Why did he call him ‘Chief’?” Lu Weiyi asked. In most factions, the leaders were just called ‘captain,’ or occasionally something dramatic like ‘commander.’ This was the first time he’d heard someone called ‘Chief.’
Zhuang Mingxu picked up a cup, sniffed the water but didn’t drink. “I heard a rumor that Zhao Qiang always dreamed of being a police officer. But because of his physical condition, he never managed to do it.”
A lifelong dream, huh…
Lu Weiyi thought the guy was a bit childish.
An hour passed with nothing happening. Aside from someone standing guard at the door, the office remained quiet.
Lu Weiyi sat with his eyes closed, monitoring the state of his spatial power. He only stopped when he began to feel a slight headache.
