Chapter 425: A Show of Power
“Alright,” Dong Hongyuan replied, still as silent and stoic as ever. Over the past year of going out to fish with the base, he’d tanned significantly, and his frame had become even more muscular. He took Dong Baobao from Lu Weiyi, and the child squirmed like a toy in his arms. Dong effortlessly held him down with one hand.
Lu Weiyi had just lifted his foot to leave when Dong Hongyuan asked, “There aren’t any baby clothes in the base. Could you give me a few of Aiyi’s old ones?”
Lu Weiyi’s eyes flickered. Dong Baobao and Qin Nian were the only two children conceived after the apocalypse in the base, and they had always received special care—formula was uniformly provided until they turned one, and clothes were never in short supply.
Especially with Li Zhuang looking after both father and son, even acknowledging Dong Baobao as his honorary goddaughter, they were never lacking in anything.
Moreover, Dong Hongyuan was not the kind of man to ask him—a mere acquaintance—for help, especially when he could’ve just gone to Li Zhuang.
“There’s some in my space. Go pick a few over there.” Lu Weiyi pointed to the government building’s lobby.
“Thanks.” Dong Hongyuan carried the child over, keeping away from the crowd, and finally opened up: “A few days ago, someone claiming to be from the Institute of Biological Research came by. They wanted to take Baobao for a check-up. I refused. They tried to force it, so I beat them up and they ran off. Brother Zhuang wasn’t in the base, and I couldn’t reach him.”
“The intranet signal doesn’t reach the Petroleum Island,” Lu Weiyi muttered. Their base had recently repaired a signal tower, so phones could now be used—though with the temperature dropping further, they’d soon start shutting off automatically from the cold.
He considered what Dong had said, then asked, “Does Yin Jin know about this?” Yin Jin now oversaw the children’s center, not far from where Dong Hongyuan lived.
“I didn’t tell him. I tried to probe—he didn’t know.” Dong was extremely cautious and didn’t give his trust easily.
Qin Nian was left on Central Island playing with the two other kids, occasionally venturing out accompanied by three wolves nearly as tall as an adult. Though the island appeared undefended, it was surrounded by ability disruptors, and everyone wore signal blockers—any approaching ability user would be at a severe disadvantage. No one dared make a move on that place.
“I understand. I’ll have someone investigate quietly.” Lu Weiyi responded, retrieving some winter clothes for children from his space.
Dong Hongyuan carefully selected a few, even holding them up to Baobao for comparison. “Last Monday, I fell asleep on a yacht. Someone had rented it to go out to sea. I overheard them plotting to steal the base’s purified crystal cores and the ability disruptors, planning to cause chaos.”
Li Qing paused what he was doing. “Do you know which team they were from?”
“No. They had abilities. I didn’t dare reveal myself.”
“Alright. I’ll stay alert.” Wu Yue had already mentioned tensions among the base’s ability users. And with other bases probing more aggressively over the past year, Lu Weiyi wasn’t surprised.
“Protect the child,” he reminded, then led Li Qing and Li Yan into the government building.
Dong Hongyuan slowly carried the clothes back to his team. When someone tried to take advantage and asked about the freebies, he replied indifferently, “My daughter is still very young—needs extra care.”
The base’s child benefits were age-restricted. One look at the child in his arms, and no one pressed the issue further.
Inside the government building, Li Qing gave Lu Weiyi a subtle look. “What do you think?”
“Nothing unusual.” After all, in a big forest, there are all kinds of birds. They’d even caught spies sent from other bases this past year. With such a treasure trove in hand, and refusing to share it with other factions, it would be strange if no one stirred trouble.
“They’ve got too much free time. Zombies are already attacking bases across the country, and they’re still scheming against each other.” Li Yan gritted his teeth.
Exactly. That’s why when humanity nears extinction, some of it is well-deserved.
But the failings of those in power were always paid for by the lives of those below.
Lu Weiyi didn’t dwell on it. Li Qing asked worriedly, “Do you think anyone inside the base is involved?”
“Could be anyone.”
“One of those teams?” Li Qing was referring to the squads that had grown powerful thanks to newly acquired S-class users and had become pillars of the base.
“A 300% profit can make people ignore everything,” Lu Weiyi replied coolly. He maintained his own principles, but had no illusions about human nature.
They reached the conference room and stopped their discussion.
Inside, all the teams were already seated. Even Zhuang Mingxu was already at the podium. Only Lu Weiyi had yet to arrive.
“Apologies for the delay,” Lu Weiyi said courteously as he sat next to Zhuang Mingxu.
Li Qing and Li Yan found Ning Yuan and sat beside him.
“Today’s meeting has two main points,” Lu Weiyi began, reciting the pre-agreed winter plans like reading from a script. Just as he was about to introduce the second topic—
Someone suddenly interrupted from the crowd: “Base Commander Lu, I believe the winter lockdown plan for the base might not be appropriate?”
The base had always separated administration from military: just as Zhuang Mingxu had once stated. He tightly controlled all administrative matters while training a capable police force to assist with internal affairs.
Lu Weiyi, meanwhile, commanded the military. Outside of the elite units directly under him, most regular soldiers were managed by Lin Yimu and handled all aspects of base security.
The base’s internal ability users were also required to follow the orders of the Ability User Guild when needed. This setup ensured that control of the entire base remained in their hands.
Unified base decisions always came from the top down. This was the first time someone had openly challenged that system.
Lu Weiyi glanced over and saw an unfamiliar face—clearly someone who had only joined the base this year.
“Which team are you from?”
“Sparks Squad.”
Zhuang Mingxu, realizing Lu Weiyi didn’t recognize the name, flipped open the binder with each ability user team’s profile and passed it over.
Five hundred members. One hundred and thirty-one ability users. The captain was this man—Zhang Hang, an A-rank fire ability user. He’d been at the base for four months. Aside from minor contributions, he hadn’t made any significant impact.
“Are you speaking on behalf of yourself or your entire squad?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“…On behalf of my squad,” Zhang Hang replied, realizing something was off and trying to add weight by citing numbers.
“Does anyone else share his opinion?” Lu Weiyi swept his gaze across the room and noticed there were indeed many unfamiliar faces.
Over the past year, he’d spent most of his time either leading teams outside to enhance abilities or collecting supplies in distant areas. His total time at the base barely added up to a month, and even then, he was mostly resting. He only got brief reports and hadn’t personally connected with everyone in detail.
In the conference room, people glanced at one another, but no one else spoke up.
“Good.” Lu Weiyi turned to Lin Yimu. “Commander Lin. Xu Chu.”
“Base Commander,” the two stood up and looked over.
“Go and record all members of the Sparks Squad—people and materials included. Convert their contribution points into crystal cores and return everything to them. Expel them from the base before 6 PM. Any team that pleads for them will be handled the same way.”
Gasps echoed throughout the room.
Lu Weiyi’s face remained expressionless. “Have the communications officers send a notice to all bases. Also, post large-character announcements around our base stating: ‘Sparks Squad disobeyed base management, attempted to undermine the leadership and relationship between the base and ability-user squads. All materials and crystal cores returned. Transaction cleared. Expelled from the base.’”
“Yes!” Lin Yimu responded first.
“Yes,” Xu Chu echoed.
Everyone was stunned speechless. The righteous Zhang Hang from a moment ago saw ability users approaching him and blurted out, “Wait—Lu… Base Commander Lu, I was just…”
“No ‘buts.’ This is not the pre-apocalypse era where democracy, fairness, and justice mattered. If two years of the apocalypse hasn’t taught you when to speak and what to say—then let Half Moon Bay Base give you your first lesson.” Lu Weiyi suppressed him with his ability, and had him escorted out of the room.
“That goes for everyone present as well. When you entered this base, you signed the base’s management agreement. At the bottom, it clearly states that all of you are merely tenants here. When necessary, you must fully comply with the base leadership’s arrangements—including, but not limited to, coordinated operations and joint efforts to resist zombie threats.”
“Half Moon Bay Base ranks first nationwide in terms of welfare and cost-effectiveness. The leadership here ensures a safe rear base for you to return to after missions. Your job is to cooperate and assist in eliminating anything that endangers base survival. While you enjoy the benefits, I hope you also understand what you should not do.”
Lu Weiyi’s cold gaze swept across the room. “And what you should not even think about.”
“Don’t naively believe that your actions won’t affect your team. Half Moon Bay Base has always applied collective punishment—one person’s mistake, the entire team shares the consequences. I suggest you think carefully before doing anything.”
“I have no problem spending the base’s resources and manpower to hunt down anyone across the nation.” The base’s stockpile of crystal cores and weapons gave him the confidence to say so. “Any more questions?”
“…No…”
“No.”
“None!”
Lu Weiyi continued with the second point. “Secondly, from our communications with other bases, it’s been confirmed that starting in September, zombies have begun launching large-scale coordinated attacks on bases.”
“The first to be attacked was South Zuo Base, the southernmost base in the country. It has already fallen, and there’s been no further communication.”
“In October, Xinghai Base came under siege. In one and a half months, it suffered five attacks. The first involved roughly 50,000 zombies, increasing to 300,000 two weeks ago. Xinghai Base barely survived with help from nearby bases, but lost over half its population.”
“A week ago, Pingchuan Base was attacked—an estimated 100,000 zombies. Thanks to early preparations and two days of round-the-clock fighting by ability users, the zombies finally retreated five days ago.”
With this news, no one in the room was thinking about what had just happened.
