Chapter 414: The Underground World
“They still do—and it’s even more dangerous,” Ning Yuan replied. “Our base has high-level users backing us up, so you haven’t had to face elite zombies. But if you go out there and run into an S- or SS-class zombie, do you think hiding will save you?”
No one responded.
Ning Yuan continued, “High-level fighters face high-level threats. We’ve encountered SS-level zombies twice, and both times were brutal. The last time nearly ruined his crystal core. And this time…”
“You saw it yourselves.”
“In this world now, there’s no such thing as ‘just dangerous’—only ‘even more dangerous.’ Who knows when an SSS-class zombie will appear? All we can do is train harder to increase our chances of survival.”
After his emotional speech, before anyone could catch their breath, he added seriously, “So the next few days will be intense. Antonio will give you a training plan tonight. Eat while you can.”
The four of them looked utterly crushed.
“Feels like I’m back in boot camp.”
“Even when I joined the special forces, it wasn’t this bad.”
“Oh please. The base has tons of ex-special forces guys. That training was a month straight with no rest.”
“Haha, I was just saying…”
They laughed and encouraged each other as they ate.
That night, they chose to rest in a nearby town. Compared to the tiny mutant animals that came out at night, zombies were actually safer.
Lu Weiyi used his mental power to scan the town, confirming there were no high-level threats. He left the place in Antonio’s hands and had Ning Yuan stand watch while he took the other three to rest.
But the night wasn’t exactly peaceful. Rustling noises came constantly. Dean, carefree as ever, was the only one who slept like a log—and even snored a little.
Lu Weiyi, tossing and turning, wanted to slap him in the face. Beside him, Li Zhuang let out a soft chuckle at the noise.
“Can’t sleep?” Li Zhuang asked.
“How come you’re not sleeping either?” Lu Weiyi turned over. In the moonlight, he could see Li Zhuang lying on his back, head propped on his arm, legs crossed, a blade of grass in his mouth—looking totally unserious.
“Someone at the base mentioned they’re thinking about building a signal tower and setting up a local network. Is that true?”
“Seems like it. I’m not sure how complex it is—Zhuang Mingxu’s handling it,” Lu Weiyi replied. Then he turned to Li Zhuang with a thought. “Should we try to find a stash of electronic equipment? These things are consumables and can’t be easily reproduced anytime soon.”
“No need to rush,” Li Zhuang replied. “At the rate zombies are evolving, in 8 to 10 years, survival will still be everyone’s top goal.”
“Then let’s change our route tomorrow and check out that military base we talked about. My uncle said they had a lot of military-grade equipment there—Zhi-8s, Zhi-9s, Zhi-10s, and even Little Birds, which are great for combat,” Lu Weiyi said seriously, sitting up.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll have Ning Yuan and Antonio use the helicopters to map the area from above. We’ll redraw the maps. Once we secure oil supplies, we can travel between the major bases faster and stock up on electronic gear and other irreplaceable resources.”
Li Zhuang raised an eyebrow and gave him an OK gesture. “Go to sleep. We’re getting up early tomorrow.”
The next day, Li Zhuang took over training the four others, while Lu Weiyi drove toward the military base they had previously discussed.
The surrounding situation was even worse than what Lu Xiao had described. Compared to collapses and compression in other areas, this place had suffered a massive sinkhole. Several kilometers of land had become a cliff-like drop.
Lu Weiyi extended his mental power downward—only after nearly a kilometer did he hit the bottom. Dense vegetation covered the area, making it impossible to tell what was inside.
Li Zhuang examined the map and nodded at Lu Weiyi. “This is it. This sinkhole stretches over ten kilometers. We don’t know what’s down there.”
He walked close to the cliff’s edge, but before stepping forward, soil started to crumble. “The soil is loose. Everyone stay back.”
“Since we don’t know what’s down there, what’s the plan?” Everyone looked to Lu Weiyi.
Thinking about the potential weapons that might be found below, Lu Weiyi said, “I’ll go take a look. You all stay up here and follow the training plan.”
“Let’s go together,” Li Zhuang suggested. “No one can guarantee what we’ll find down there. Who knows what kind of power might be useful.” He looked to the four slightly lower-level ability users for their input.
Li Qing was the first to give an OK gesture, and the others didn’t object.
Since going down into the pit required an earth-type ability user, Li Zhuang took the lead. He walked around the area a few times, stomped the ground, then nodded to Lu Weiyi and stepped forward.
“Li Zhuang and I will take the lead. Zheng Jun and Ning Yuan will bring up the rear, and erase the tunnel behind us,” Lu Weiyi said. Considering the difference in their powers, he added, “Erase at least the last hundred meters.”
“Yes, sir,” Zheng Jun replied.
“Antonio, keep an eye on Dean. Everyone else stay alert for animal attacks.”
With that, Lu Weiyi followed Li Zhuang’s path down the cliff.
The descent was steep, and everyone moved with extreme caution. As they entered the cliff walls, strong mountain winds howled past them, tugging at their clothes.
At first, birds living on the cliff attacked them as they passed a few hundred meters down. But the further they went, the less life they saw. If Lu Weiyi hadn’t sensed the forest below with his mental power, they might have thought they’d entered a dead zone.
“Is everyone okay?” Antonio’s voice came from behind, followed by, “Lu, can we rest a bit? Dean can’t go any further.”
Lu Weiyi turned to look—Dean was panting heavily, his face red from the sun, forehead drenched in sweat. Compared to the others, he looked rather miserable.
“Fifteen-minute break?” Lu Weiyi asked Li Zhuang for his opinion.
“Sure,” Li Zhuang said, reinforcing the steps underfoot. He then asked Lu Weiyi for a telescope and began scanning the area.
“Dean hasn’t been on any missions this year, has he?” Lu Weiyi asked while probing ahead with his mental power.
“Th-this is his first,” Dean replied, handing the water Ning Yuan had just conjured to the others.
Lu Weiyi suddenly recalled that even Xu Yi had gone out on missions a few times this year. Dean, protected by Antonio, had always been stationed in the base hospital. Now it seemed the two ability users really were treated quite differently.
Was that why Xu Yi had stayed silent about it?
“From now on, healing-type ability users will get an extra allowance when going out on missions,” Lu Weiyi said. He caught Li Zhuang raising an amused eyebrow at him.
“And starting tomorrow, you’ll run with the unit around the base every day. Your stamina’s worse than mine—if something happens, you won’t even be able to escape.”
Dean pouted, clearly annoyed but not daring to speak up. He tugged at Antonio’s sleeve for help.
Antonio was just about to plead on his behalf when Lu Weiyi added, “If you can’t improve your speed, you’ll have to learn close combat. That way, you can fight off zombies. Don’t you think that makes sense?”
He looked past the others directly at Antonio. The firmness in his eyes silenced whatever Antonio was about to say. Both men then turned to Dean.
“I think running is great,” Dean said loudly and seriously. “I love running.”
The others held back their laughter. Lu Weiyi nodded with satisfaction and shamelessly put Antonio in charge of supervising Dean.
After another half hour of walking, trees finally appeared in view—along with… a village.
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me?” Ning Yuan, who was at the rear, asked.
“There are people. Everyone, stay alert,” Lu Weiyi replied. Li Zhuang quickened his pace and landed first.
The trees around them looked no different from before the apocalypse. Wild rabbits darted past them, sparrows the size of a child’s fist chirped in the trees, and wild doves flapped noisily overhead—none showing any aggression. Bees the size of fingernails buzzed through the forest, and long-legged crickets occasionally hopped across their boots.
The biodiversity was shockingly normal.
“Don’t you guys think this is strange?” Li Qing asked in a low voice.
“The animals here are the same size as before the apocalypse. Also…” Ning Yuan frowned.
“There are no mutant plants or animals here,” Lu Weiyi concluded.
“No wonder something felt off. I forgot bees were supposed to be that small,” Li Yan said.
“Let’s go in and have a look.” This time, Lu Weiyi took the lead.
He kept scanning the surroundings with his mental power. When he discovered neatly arranged farmland several kilometers ahead, he immediately changed course and headed that way.
The trees didn’t attack as they passed. The birds and animals simply fled at the sight of people. It was a scene from the old world—so normal, it felt surreal, and made them even more cautious.
The whole team grew visibly more tense, staying silent and alert until they finally saw the neatly tended farmland—rows of green wheat.
“Hey, which village are you from? I’ve never seen you before!” a sudden voice shouted.
Several of them immediately raised their guns in response.
A man in patched-up clothes stood nearby, holding a little girl with one hand and a hen with the other. Seeing their guns, he raised both hands.
“Comrades of the Liberation Army, I’m Liu Laoliu, a villager from Liujiabao.”
Li Zhuang gave Ning Yuan a look, and Ning Yuan immediately stepped forward with his gun, “Stop right there. We’ve got questions.”
The man did stop, but he clearly became more alert. “Which squad are you from? I’ve never seen you before.”
Ning Yuan ignored the question and instead pointed his gun at the little girl, starting to ask about what had happened here since the apocalypse.
This area was located in the heart of Jin Province, essentially the center of the entire country. There was a patch of primeval forest nearby, and a military unit was once stationed close to it. The surrounding area had very few residents—just a handful of villages.
After the apocalyptic earthquake, this area was the first to experience tectonic overlapping followed by a massive sinkhole. Several kilometers of land sank underground. Surviving soldiers from the nearby unit helped the remaining villagers rebuild their homes.
“You’re… not from the military here, are you?” Liu Laoliu asked tentatively, holding the child’s shoulder.
