Chapter 390: Sowing Discord
With these four people, Lu Weiyi felt that inside help combined with external action wouldn’t be a problem. More importantly, the fact that they dared to secretly keep their family members meant they likely disagreed with the current ideology of the Pingjin base to some degree. After this, maybe the Pingjin base could even see a turning point.
That very night after parting ways, someone began verifying the information Lin Ya had provided. It checked out, though there were a few discrepancies.
Of the three individuals, Tang Bai was the only one completely devoted to his wife and child—the others kept relatives outside more as an afterthought while enjoying a flashy lifestyle inside the base.
After multiple discussions, the team decided to only proceed with Tang Bai for now. Lu Weiyi would stay behind to oversee the situation, while Liu Rui led a group back to retrieve more supplies.
After confirming the identities of Tang Bai’s family, Lu Weiyi brought them into his space.
In the base, Tang Bai appeared to be a carefree playboy in his late twenties. He seemed disinterested in most matters of the base and his team—Jiang Ning considered him one of the most trustworthy.
He managed a brothel named Yingge Yanwu—the largest such establishment in the Pingjin base—and was often seen indulging there. He kept six or seven men and women under his care.
But he never touched any of them. Rumors even spread through the base that he was impotent. It was said he kept those people around just to maintain appearances and indulge certain eccentric hobbies.
In reality, all those people helped cover for him. They, too, had loved ones held secretly by Tang Bai to ensure their loyalty.
Lu Weiyi only uncovered this extremely secretive information by using his spiritual powers to control one of them.
It was said that over half of the crystal nuclei revenue in Jiang Ning’s team came from this brothel. Tang Bai essentially controlled the team’s crystal nuclei supply. He could decide who advanced in power with a single word.
His wife and daughter had been secretly placed outside the base. He and his wife were childhood sweethearts; their daughter had just been born before the apocalypse. They now lived outside the base under the alias of his friend’s wife and child, while he secretly helped his friend gain a foothold.
It wasn’t unusual for ability users in the Pingjin base to support ordinary people outside in forming small groups. But what made Tang Bai clever was that he didn’t let his friend use his name. Instead, he introduced the friend directly to Jiang Ning and paid a monthly crystal nucleus fee as “protection.”
As for where those nuclei came from…
Over 90% were quietly funneled from Yingge Yanwu by Tang Bai.
He had mastered the art of deception.
If Lin Ya hadn’t mentioned it, no one would’ve imagined the hidden relationship between them.
When he got the message that his wife and daughter had been captured, Tang Bai didn’t panic. He kept a calm demeanor and contacted his friend to confirm the news. Once confirmed, he went alone to the meeting place Lu Weiyi provided, without hesitation.
Tang Bai had a water-type ability and was known to wield ice very skillfully. Though he was two levels below Lu Weiyi, the latter wasn’t arrogant—abilities came in all forms, and one never knew who might strike silently.
So he sat waiting with little Tang Tingting in his arms.
The two-year-old girl had big, lively eyes, fair cheeks, a red bow in her curly hair, and a fluffy dress that made her look like a pretty doll.
Perhaps it was due to the rarity of newborns in the post-apocalyptic world, but Lu Weiyi suddenly found himself liking children.
He took out some milk tablets that Tao Tao usually ate. Little Tang Tingting eagerly grabbed them with both hands and giggled at Lu Weiyi.
“You… Governor Lu?” Tang Bai’s voice was sharp, very different from the usual laid-back persona. Dressed in black, with eyes as keen as a drawn blade, he stared intently at the child in Lu Weiyi’s arms.
“Pa… Papa!” Tang Tingting recognized him and waved excitedly.
Tang Bai remained stiff, unmoving. The moment he recognized Lu Weiyi, he understood the purpose. “You want me to be your mole?”
Talking to smart people was easy. Lu Weiyi nodded. “Are you willing?”
“I can, if you return my wife and daughter to me. Where’s my wife?” The fact that these two had been captured so precisely meant there was no point hiding the relationship anymore.
Lu Weiyi just looked at him with a smile, saying nothing.
“Papa!” Tang Tingting called again.
In the silent standoff, only the little girl twisted in Lu Weiyi’s arms, trying to reach her father. But Lu Weiyi held her in place so she couldn’t move.
“Hug… hug!” she called again. When Tang Bai didn’t respond, her small mouth began to quiver. Her big eyes quickly filled with tears, and they were about to spill.
“What do you want me to do?” Tang Bai gave in.
Lu Weiyi took out an octopus-shaped control device and explained its function.
“You want to put that thing on me?” Tang Bai gritted his teeth.
Lu Weiyi shook his head. “It could be on you, or maybe on her, or her mother.” He nodded toward Tang Tingting.
Tang Bai’s face darkened further. “They say Moonbay Base accepts ordinary people, and that its people revere their base leader. Do they know their so-called leader is scum who doesn’t even spare children?”
Lu Weiyi thought—was this man an idiot?
Why would he think that, in times like these, Lu would show mercy to a potential enemy?
Maybe it was the way he looked at him like he was a fool that made Tang Bo calm down, or maybe it was because his precious little crybaby really started crying. Tang Bo reached out to take the child and compromised, “Put it on me.”
Lu Weiyi handed the child back to him. Tang Bo, practiced and natural, held her up on his shoulder. The little girl wrapped her soft arms around his head, wiped her tears on his cheek, then turned and smiled through teary eyes. She even tried to shove the milk tablet she was holding into his mouth and mumbled, “Eat eat.”
“Daddy won’t eat, baby eats,” Tang Bo gently wiped the moisture from under her eyes. “Where’s my wife?”
“She’s in a safe place,” Lu Weiyi said, bringing the controller closer. Just as Tang Bo tensed up to resist, Lu spoke, “I don’t want to hurt anyone—although that may sound a bit disgusting—but as long as we cooperate, everything stays peaceful. However…”
He raised his eyes and looked straight at the man in front of him. “If you resist, I promise the first thing you’ll see is your wife and child’s corpse.”
Lu Weiyi glanced down at the child nestled in Tang Bo’s arms. “I have two sons, not much older than her, so I actually quite like kids. Don’t force me to do something I’ll regret.”
Tang Bo didn’t say anything, but he also didn’t resist. He let Lu Weiyi press the octopus-like controller to his chest, and watched as the device vanished, leaving a strange sensation where it had embedded itself.
“Want to test it?” Lu Weiyi took out a remote-like button and looked at Tang Bo.
“No need, I believe you,” Tang Bo said.
Lu Weiyi reached out a hand to him and said meaningfully, “Your wife and daughter will live safely in our base.”
“I don’t believe you,” Tang Bo replied flatly, knowing he had no room to negotiate. “But I want my friend to live with them.”
“Fine.”
“Also, are you planning to bring down the entire Pingjin Base?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Of course it does. I need to understand this base’s future so I can plan my own path.”
Lu Weiyi thought for a moment. “Probably not. I think humanity’s real enemies are still the zombies and increasingly powerful mutant plants and animals, not each other. If I hadn’t learned how rotten the Pingjin Base was, I wouldn’t have any interest in it.”
Hearing this, Tang Bo realized they had discovered Pingjin Base’s plans to attack Yuebanwan. He studied Lu Weiyi for a long moment and saw no signs of deceit. Finally, Tang Bo said, “Understood.”
He looked at the daughter in his arms, but his mind was spinning rapidly. In a flash, he made a decision. “Since you’re not planning to destroy Pingjin Base, why not support me to take over?”
Lu Weiyi hadn’t expected a kidnapping and coercion situation to take this kind of turn. He paused, momentarily speechless. Then Tang Bo continued, “I can guarantee that future Pingjin Base won’t have such severe conflict between ordinary people and powered individuals.”
“The two bases could even help each other. Given the current speed of zombie evolution, no one can guarantee there won’t be a time when a city needs backup.”
“Also, I can provide a certain amount of crystal cores for you. Your base doesn’t seem to have many powered people, so you probably can’t kill that many zombies, right? Otherwise, with your method of leveling up, your base should already have more high-level powered individuals.”
Lu Weiyi gave him a strange look, unsure what method they thought his base was using to level up.
“We’ll discuss it when we return,” Lu said without a clear answer. Outside, Qi Lin was signaling for urgency. He reached out to Tang Bo again.
“Let me send a letter to my wife,” Tang Bo said. Producing pen and paper from his space jade, he noted Lu Weiyi wasn’t surprised at all—clearly, he had known about the spatial artifact from the start.
He carefully wrote the letter and handed it over. Lu Weiyi stored it away. Tang Bo kissed his daughter on the forehead and gently handed her back, enunciating each word with cold clarity: “If anything happens to my wife or daughter, I will kill you all no matter the cost.”
Lu Weiyi ignored the threat and silently left with the child.
Back at the courtyard, he immediately entered the space with the child.
Inside, a frail woman was frantically searching. She was mute, face covered in tears, mouth open in silent screams.
When she saw him, she rushed forward, snatched the child, and backed into the farthest corner, staring at him with guarded eyes.
Lu Weiyi placed Tang Bo’s letter on a nearby table. “You’ll stay here for now. The supplies in your space should be enough for you and your daughter to live on. The kitchen has everything you need. Wait for Tang Bo to come pick you up.”
The woman read the letter. It didn’t mention the kidnapping—only said that the base was currently unsafe, and that she and the child needed to hide somewhere else. After a while, Xu Wen would come to find them—Xu Wen being the “brother” Tang Bo mentioned.
