Chapter 370: Surgery
“We only use them if it’s the only way to survive.”
Lu Weiyi looked at Li Zhuang as he spoke.
It was both a warning and a statement of principle.
Li Zhuang met his gaze and nodded in understanding. “We hadn’t been gone from the base long before Qi Jun’s squad started tailing us. They’d been watching us in secret, looking for a chance to strike. The conflict with the Fierce Tiger Squad gave them an opening. These last few days, they’ve been making excuses to convince the Fierce Tiger Squad to help.”
“There were two plans originally. Tonight, the idea was to have the Fierce Tiger Squad test the waters. Qi Jun didn’t plan to appear. If it worked, he could sit back and reap the benefits. If not, he’d pretend to be injured with his squad and seek shelter with us the next day, waiting for a chance to betray us from the inside.”
“But our lights came on too suddenly. He didn’t have time to retreat, so he exposed himself.” Even more coincidentally, he ran into Xu Sa, who had seen him before. Li Zhuang couldn’t help but marvel at the bad luck.
“Menghu Squad only sent around thirty people?”
“Of course not. There were over a hundred and twenty. Meng Hu came intending to wipe us out completely. He sent quite a few elites from his team. These thirty or so were just the vanguard. The rest are stationed at a school about two kilometers southwest of the team’s current location, including the remaining four members of the Junlin Squad.”
“I suggest we take a team and eliminate them outright—whether to intimidate or to warn them, we can’t let any of them return alive. The Pingjin Base is too close to ours. Whether it’s the residents or resources, there’s too much overlap. It’s easy for people to get greedy.”
“Besides, they believe in the supremacy of the ‘elite.’ A conflict is inevitable. Better to strike now and take out part of their combat strength while we can,” Li Zhuang said calmly, as if he wasn’t talking about the lives of over a hundred people.
Lu Weiyi thought for a moment, then pulled a device from his space, “You lead the team.”
“Infrared thermal imaging?” Li Zhuang took it and tested it. “This is military gear, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. A batch of equipment was just repaired on the other side, all kinds. Do you have enough weapons?” They had all stored standard sets of weapons and supplies in shared spatial spaces. Lu Weiyi wasn’t sure if Li Zhuang had enough on hand.
Li Zhuang checked and replied, “I’ll activate the ability disruptor and be back within an hour. You move the rest of the people to a new location. The smell of blood here is too strong.”
The two finished planning quickly. As soon as they exited the room, they saw Xu Sa waiting nearby. “Got a smoke? I’m out.”
Lu Weiyi didn’t ask what he needed it for. He pulled out a box from his space and handed it to him.
“Get ready. We’re heading out immediately,” Li Zhuang said.
“Alright,” Xu Sa responded, entering the previous room. Inside was the woman from earlier—others had already been dealt with after questioning. From the looks of it, Xu Sa hadn’t done anything yet.
Lu Weiyi peeked inside. The woman wasn’t tied up. She sat cross-legged on a stool missing a leg, took the cigarette Xu Sa offered, and teased, “What’s with that face? You can’t bear to let me go? If you don’t want me dead, just release me.”
Xu Sa took a drag, now completely devoid of the fake attitude he had earlier.
The woman held the cigarette with two fingers, took a deep drag, then coughed violently. Tears streamed down her face, which she wiped away with a swipe. “I’ve killed a lot of people. I’ve imagined dying countless times too. I’ve never hesitated.”
“I’ve killed so many I’ve lost count. What’s that look for—think I’m weak?” She flicked the cigarette butt right onto Xu Sa’s chest.
“If you begged like earlier, I might’ve been quicker about it,” Xu Sa shrugged. “But now that you’re so calm, it’s actually harder to do it.”
“Then let me go,” the woman bantered with a smile, showing no fear of death at all. It was as if she really had accepted it.
“You’re so composed… it’d be a shame for you to die,” Xu Sa said, then turned to Lu Weiyi at the door. “Don’t we have that thing…”
He pointed to his chest. “Let’s install one in her. It’ll be like planting a spy in Pingjin Base. What do you think?”
He was referring to a new controller designed by Shen Xiuyin—an upgraded device that attached directly to the heart. Unlike earlier bombs that only tracked and controlled, this one had a life-sign monitoring feature. The moment the host’s vital signs stopped, it would detonate.
However, the device was still in the experimental phase, untested and not guaranteed safe.
But now was the perfect chance to try it.
“It hasn’t been tested,” Lu Weiyi reminded him.
The woman understood what they were discussing. Though she had accepted the idea of dying, no one truly wanted to die. She immediately agreed, “I’ll leave the rest to fate.”
Once everything was settled, Xu Sa and Li Zhuang took a team to eliminate the rest of the enemies. Lu Weiyi stayed behind with Gu Qingyue to assist with the procedure. Both teams quickly evacuated the blood-soaked building and relocated.
Once the new shelter was secured, with Zheng Jun’s team sweeping the perimeter, Lu Weiyi took people to the second floor.
He pulled a clean bed from his space as a makeshift operating table and handed a more refined, spider-like controller to Gu Qingyue. “Same place as before. No problem, right?”
Compared to the crude iron version, this one was made of alloy. The control point at the top was much smaller and more refined.
Gu Qingyue gave it a squeeze—its claws snapped shut. The woman flinched slightly at the sight, suddenly unsure if she had made the right decision.
“This is homemade anesthetic. It’ll put you to sleep, but I can’t guarantee it’ll block all pain,” Gu Qingyue said, pulling out a pouch of white powder that looked like drugs—it was an extract from plants made by Gu Qingji using his ability.
The woman fell asleep soon after taking it, and Gu Qingyue started the operation with swift, practiced hands.
With Xu Yi’s help, the surgery was done in about ten minutes. Looking at the woman now seemingly no different from before, Xu Yi found it hard to believe there was now a device inside her that could decide her life or death at any moment.
“All done?” Outside, Lu Weiyi stood by the window watching. Several streets away, their previous location had been overrun by zombies. In the distance, gunfire flashed silently—that was the suppressors at work.
“Mm,” Gu Qingyue nodded as he used his water ability to wash the blood off his hands and sterilize the surgical tools.
Aside from those stationed on watch, the rest of Zheng Jun’s team were grabbing rest while they could.
The night grew quieter, suggesting the battle was over.
“You’re awake?” Gu Qingyue’s voice rang out.
He turned to see the woman already conscious. Her torn clothes had barely covered her body to begin with. Now she casually pulled them off, exposing her bare chest without a care.
Several men in the hall were immediately stunned by the sight, only to be pushed by those beside them and forced to avert their eyes.
“I’m… okay?” The woman looked at her chest, which bore no scars, with a confused expression.
No one answered her. Instead, the response came from the tightening sensation at her heart, as if her whole heart had been clenched by an invisible hand. Her mouth opened as if to groan, but no sound came out. Her entire body went limp as she collapsed to the ground, involuntarily twitching.
“What… happened?”
“…No idea.”
Low murmurs came from the group that had been resting, and their gazes ultimately landed on the small controller in Lu Weiyi’s hand.
About ten minutes later, the woman finally recovered. Her tear-streaked face was now dirtied with soil. During her struggle, her old wounds had opened again and were bleeding. After rolling around on the ground, she looked even more wretched. Holding her chest, she knelt on the floor. When she saw the device in Lu Weiyi’s hand, she involuntarily trembled.
“What do you want me to do?”
Lu Weiyi shook his head. He was never good at deploying or manipulating people. “Write down your information. Someone will contact you later.”
The woman took the pen and paper he handed over and started writing while introducing herself. “My name is Lin Ya. I’m an A-grade water-type ability user and the deputy leader of Team Six of the Menghu Squad. I’ll probably still be with Menghu Squad in the future.”
“They’re all dead. Won’t you be suspected if you go back?” Gu Qingyue suddenly asked.
“I’ll come up with an excuse.” For a woman to hold that position, she had to have her own capabilities. If worst came to worst, she could just play the victim. Compared to death, everything else was tolerable.
Lu Weiyi glanced over the information she had written and stored it in his spatial device. “What’s implanted in your heart is a micro-bomb. It will track your location and monitor your vital signs. If you try to remove it, it will explode. If I press this controller, it will also explode. At other times, it won’t affect your body.”
“However, this thing is still in the experimental stage. We don’t know yet if it has other side effects.” After stating the uncertainties, Lu Weiyi waved his hand to indicate she could leave. “When we need you, someone will contact you.”
“Alright.” Lin Ya didn’t say much more. Once she confirmed she was free to leave, she quickly descended the stairs and disappeared into the darkness.
Only after she had completely vanished did Zheng Jun speak up. “How did the base end up researching something like this?”
“It wasn’t developed by the base,” Lu Weiyi replied, storing the controller away. He extended his mental sense out the window, searching for Li Zhuang and his team. “When we were on our way to Cangnan, we were ambushed and had this thing implanted. We took it with us when we left.”
“Now that zombies are this rampant, and capable researchers still choose to develop things to control people instead of dealing with the undead?” Zheng Jun sounded frustrated, though not entirely surprised.
“There’s worse. Some people are making white phosphorus bombs and developing drugs to suppress abilities,” Gu Qingyue said with a bitter smile. Seeing the disbelief on the others’ faces, he added, “Since the apocalypse, we’ve passed through more than a dozen bases and met all kinds of people. In this world, those without a ruthless heart died out a long time ago.”
“You’ll definitely be going out on missions alone in the future. Don’t be soft-hearted with anyone, not even the most innocent-looking child. They could still deal you a fatal blow,” Gu Qingyue warned them, then went on to share several personal experiences as cautionary tales.
