Chapter 293: Trouble at the Zheng Family
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t know much about this.
Seeing his faintly discouraged expression, Lu Weiyi tugged at the hem of his shirt, confused. “Are you worried it won’t work?”
Zhuang Mingxu wasn’t someone without curiosity or a spirit of exploration—if this had been about himself, he wouldn’t be concerned. But because it involved Lu Weiyi, he just wanted him to safely benefit from others’ experience and live a peaceful life.
He hoped Lu Weiyi could live in a glass conservatory, stretch lazily in the sunlight, and never suffer wind, sun, or hardship.
Lu Weiyi nodded. “I’ve got this.”
He hadn’t done it in his past life, but Zhuang Mingxu had—and had even described the procedure to him.
It should…be possible.
*
Word of Lu Weiyi’s condition quickly reached Lu Xiao. Afterward, he and Zhuang Mingxu agreed that Lu Weiyi would no longer be involved in the coming events.
That very afternoon, Zhao Qiang sent word that he would stand with Lu Xiao.
By that evening, it was widely known throughout the base that Zhao Qiang was openly working with Lu Xiao’s people.
Before Zheng Yi even had time to react, that same night, a large-scale mutant rat attack broke out within the Zheng family’s territory.
It happened at night while everyone was resting, and the lowered defenses led to many injuries in a short time.
Zheng Yi personally led the response team. Lu Xiao, Zhao Qiang, and others nearby all mobilized.
During the battle, many people were bitten by the mutant rats. By sunrise, the rat king was finally killed by Zheng Yi and several ability users, and the unexpected disaster came to an end.
But Zheng Yi and others sustained inexplicable injuries—they experienced symptoms like the loss of their abilities and extreme weakness.
As the morning light fully emerged, Lu Xiao, exhausted, returned to the villa.
Zhuang Mingxu had stayed up all night, sitting silently on the villa steps. Cigarette butts littered the ground, evidence of a sleepless night and constant worry.
When he saw Lu Xiao return, he looked up silently.
Lu Xiao nodded.
Only then did Zhuang Mingxu let out the slightest breath of relief.
“Were there heavy casualties?” he asked.
“We haven’t tallied them yet. Could you have your team’s healing ability users assist with treating the injured?” Lu Xiao asked.
“Of course,” Zhuang Mingxu replied readily. Although the rest of the team didn’t know what had happened, the smell of smoke lingering all night and someone’s heavy breathing had already clued them in.
After giving a few instructions to Xu Yi and Dean, the two of them followed Lu Xiao to help.
The area surrounding the World Trade Center was no longer bustling like a few days ago. Everywhere showed damage caused by ability users and wounded civilians.
People leaned on one another in lines in front of the doctors who had come to help. The front few were covered in bite wounds, groaning in pain.
Aside from the two healing ability users brought by Lu Xiao, he had also spent resources to recruit others from the Hunters’ Guild.
When Xu Yi and Dean arrived, the others had not yet shown up.
Lu Xiao scanned the surroundings, then turned to his subordinates and asked loudly, “Where are the Zheng family’s healing ability users? Why would they only send doctors at a time like this?”
The doctor sent by the Zheng family remained silent.
“They said all the team captains were injured, so they called all the healing-type ability users over,” someone suddenly explained.
“Ours were taken away too,” Meng Guang suddenly added.
“Even if the captains are injured, they can’t take all the healers. Are their lives more valuable than ours?” someone cried out with a choked voice.
“Exactly! So many people are injured here, and now there’s a shortage of medicine and doctors. Are we supposed to just die while you hoard the supplies?”
The murmuring grew louder. Once someone raised questions, others stopped suppressing their voices.
“Our captains have always been fighting on the frontlines. Without them shielding you with their abilities, do you think you’d have survived the mutated rat attacks?”
Someone from the Zheng family’s team heard the crowd and shouted back in anger.
“This is the Zheng family’s territory. We pay tribute to live here—you promised to protect us!”
“Right! Every month when you collect our resources, you talk about how safe your zone is and how many healers you have. Now there’s an incident, and you take all the healers away? What kind of logic is that?”
“Yeah, give us our resources back!”
“Didn’t we protect you? Didn’t our ability users fight off the rats last night?”
“It wasn’t just your people! The security forces came too. Major General Lu was there as well.”
“The Bawanghua team showed up too.”
“The Fierce Wolf squad was also present.”
“Every well-known team in the base was there. No one else took away their healers.”
“Yeah! Are your captains somehow more important than everyone else?”
The noisy crowd overwhelmed the Zheng family’s remaining personnel, leaving them angry but speechless.
“The mutated rat king was killed by Captain Zheng’s team. Everyone, please calm down. Maybe the injuries were just severe—it’s not that they don’t care about civilians,” Lu Xiao stepped in to mediate.
“Well, those rats came from their own warehouse.”
That statement, spoken by someone who seemed to know the truth, caused another uproar. In a few short moments, rumor spread that the Zheng family had deliberately raised the mutated rats.
Lu Xiao sighed, unable to help but lament how terrifying public opinion could be.
“Major General Lu, where did you find these healing-type ability users?” someone redirected the conversation amid the commotion.
“Our captain used supplies to hire healers from the Hunters’ Guild. If you need treatment, come this way.”
As he spoke, six healing-type ability users arrived, surrounded by guards to ensure their safety.
Lu Xiao ordered people to bring chairs and tables to a flat area, forming makeshift treatment stations with one table and two chairs per healer.
“This is a group of healing-type ability users. If you need help, please come in an orderly fashion. Seriously injured individuals go first—everyone will get treated, so don’t push,” someone under Lu Xiao began maintaining order.
Not far from the healing stations, people were setting up a large pot to cook food. Anyone injured could receive a bowl of stew and a few steamed buns for the day.
Behind them hung a large red banner with bold black characters: “Blazing Flame Squad”.
It clearly identified who was organizing all of this.
“Blazing Flame Squad? Never heard of them. Are you new?” someone asked. Apart from Zheng family members, there were also unaffiliated civilians affected by the rat attack who were curious about the unfamiliar name.
“No, we used to be from the Zhuang family’s military. The higher-ups feared our captain’s abilities, so they experimented on his son. After rescuing him, our captain formed the Blazing Flame Squad.”
“You mean the one people have been talking about these past few days? Poor guy.”
“Yeah, that’s why if you’re choosing a captain, pick someone who looks after their own. If anyone’s looking for a reliable squad—come join Blazing Flame! We welcome both ability users and ordinary people.”
They promoted themselves while also distancing from the Zhuang family. With their team of healers, free food, and bold presence, the newly formed Blazing Flame Squad quickly won public support.
*
Meanwhile, in the Zheng family residence.
Zheng Yi and several of his men lay stiff on beds, like rigid puppets, unable to even turn their heads.
The spacious room was packed with medical equipment. Doctors in lab coats busied themselves with the machines, while healing-type ability users stood nearby, ready to assist.
Their abilities were mostly gone, and their bodies so weak they couldn’t feel their limbs.
They had undergone multiple rounds of examination and treatment, but no cause could be found.
“Still no results?” Zheng Yi asked firmly, eyes fixed on the ceiling, his expression unreadable.
A nearby doctor shook his head.
“Could it be the plague? I heard people can catch it from rat bites,” one subordinate near the door asked.
“The symptoms of the plague…” the doctor started, then paused to think. “They don’t match exactly. But since the rats are mutated, it’s not impossible that unusual symptoms could appear.”
“What about the others who were bitten? Have they recovered?” another man beside Zheng Yi asked.
“They’ve all been treated and show no unusual symptoms,” the reporter replied—only to freeze as Zheng Yi’s gaze fixed on him. Since Zheng Yi couldn’t move his head, it looked like he was glaring sideways.
“Where did those healing-type ability users come from?”
“It was Lu Xiao. He formed something called the Blazing Flame Squad. Not only did he take the two healing-type users from the Only Squad, but he also hired the ones hidden away by the Hunters’ Guild. It’s said he spent a lot of resources.”
The man spoke angrily, “They were handing out food for free to the injured—those people were practically worshipping them in gratitude.”
It felt like they were the ones who had fought on the front lines, yet someone else was taking all the credit.
“Major,” someone called out from the corner, “do you think it’s possible that Lu Xiao did something?”
“After all, even if someone got bitten, it shouldn’t just be us few who were bitten by the Mutated Rat King.”
“Right, I don’t think I was bitten either.”
Zheng Yi had a metal-type ability—normally, it was difficult for anything to break through his defenses. He himself didn’t feel like he had been bitten by the mutated rat, maybe just scratched a bit—could that really lead to this serious a condition?
As for whether this was Lu Xiao’s scheme…
“Weren’t the people from the Only Squad seen lurking around the World Trade area a few days ago? I don’t believe he was just there to buy a snack,” someone else chimed in to support the theory.
“We don’t have any evidence that Lu Xiao did this,” Zheng Yi finally spoke.
“Then we…”
The man didn’t finish his sentence. All of the ability users who had followed Zheng Yi out this time had been affected.
