Chapter 427: Treason
The same afternoon the registration deadline closed, all ability users were grouped according to their assigned squads, and briefing meetings were held to assign each team their respective regions.
By 8 a.m. the next morning, the square was filled with ten thousand ability users. Then, appearing in everyone’s field of view were the weapons vehicles that had not been seen since the zombie war last year.
There were eight tanks, plus fully armed combat vehicles, armored trucks, and even modified missile trucks that had never been revealed before.
Even from the outside, the vehicles looked heavily sealed. Some mental-type ability users tried probing with their powers, only to have their spiritual force instantly disappear upon contact with the vehicles—clearly shielded. No one knew how many people or what kind of equipment was inside.
Combat vehicles were positioned at the front and rear, with hundreds of military transport trucks sandwiched between, lined up perfectly along the roadside. Drivers in uniform stood beside them, rifles slung over their shoulders. The atmosphere alone was enough to stir excitement.
“Reporting to Base Commander: expected headcount 10,000, actual headcount 10,000. Report complete. Please advise.” Wu Yue, who was responsible for organizing and checking attendance, had arrived early to oversee everything.
Lu Weiyi took the attendance sheet and looked out at the plaza, where everyone was standing by squad. “I am the general commander for this mission. During the operation, any problems or difficulties you encounter, you can come to me directly. I hope, like last winter, we work together seamlessly. I am with you—and you are with the base.”
“Now, everyone board your assigned trucks. Move out.”
“Move out!” Wu Yue’s voice echoed across the square. Everyone sprinted toward their pre-assigned vehicles, and soon, the convoy began moving out of the base.
*
In the swirling wind and snow, Lu Weiyi stood on the roof of a truck and looked back. He could just barely make out a figure standing guard at the watchtower above the base entrance—looked like Zhuang Mingxu. Snowflakes in the howling wind obscured his vision, but the silhouette stood still for a long time, giving Lu Weiyi a bad feeling.
“The squad groupings—no issues, right?” Lu Weiyi asked Wu Yue.
“None. Mingxu, Ning Yuan, and I discussed it carefully. All close-knit teams have been split between the two groups to prevent them from forming factions. Why?”
Lu Weiyi shook his head. There was no turning back now. Saying he had a bad feeling would only spread anxiety. “What about base communications?”
“Still up. Don’t worry, we left enough personnel behind—it’ll be fine,” Wu Yue reassured him.
Lu Weiyi took a deep breath and refocused.
*
The trucks traveled day and night for three days and finally reached a central district in Pingjin City, well outside the base’s usual patrol range. Zombies began trailing the convoy, but before any ability users acted, accompanying soldiers took them out with weapons.
Soon, the convoy drove into a compound surrounded by tall walls. At some point, earth-type ability users had built walls several dozen meters high, forming an airtight perimeter. After entry, the earth-users sealed the entrance behind them.
As the ability users disembarked, they saw that many soldiers were already stationed there. The place was well organized, with ten five-story buildings serving as temporary lodging. As people got off the trucks, personnel guided each group to their assigned quarters.
That night, Wu Yue assigned tasks to ten newly formed squad leaders. The first thing distributed was 10,000 signal-blocking devices.
The Frost Society and Zhongliang Group were already familiar with them and quickly applied them to their bodies. Other teams curiously examined and discussed the unfamiliar items.
“Captain Wu, I noticed that the surrounding buildings were all cleared out when we arrived. Are we turning this place into the main battleground?” asked Yu Mengchu, vice-captain of the Frost Society, clearly concerned about the coming battles—it was a matter of life and death, after all.
“Yes. Same tactic as before—we let the zombies come to us,” Wu Yue replied, spreading out a map on the desk and motioning for everyone to gather around. “Our scouts have already surveyed zombie distribution. Most of them are concentrated in the western part of the city center.”
“We’re dividing responsibility with Pingjin Base using Jianshe North Road as the boundary. North is their zone. South is ours.”
“What if some zombies cross the boundary?” a middle-aged man suddenly asked.
Lu Weiyi glanced over, and the person sitting next to the man—Ye Jia—quickly whispered, “That’s a new squad called Miracle Team. Their captain He Song used to be a village head. Their squad is made up of residents from the same town—tight-knit and decently strong.”
“Why do you, also being a squad leader, know so much?” Lu Weiyi looked him over.
“Because I just run a small team—not like you, who has to manage an entire base. Now that outside resources are dwindling, our Frost Society is planning to shift toward doing business, so I have to understand more about what’s happening in the base,” Ye Jia replied, laughing and flattering him.
On the other side, Wu Yue was already answering the earlier question. “Earth-type ability users have built a high wall along Jianshe North Road to act as a barrier.”
“Of course, we can’t guarantee nothing will break through. But even if something does, it won’t be much of a loss for us,” Wu Yue said, glancing at everyone. “The purpose of this joint zombie hunt by multiple bases is a large-scale purge. It’s also a great opportunity for each team to collect a large number of crystal cores.”
“That’s true,” Ye Jia chuckled. “Once the number of zombies decreases, we might have to compete just to get our hands on a few.”
Laughter echoed through the meeting room as Wu Yue went on to assign each squad their positions around the walled area. Frontline support was thoroughly arranged—even the supply and healer points were clearly designated.
*
That night, all teams waited on standby within the walls. In less than an hour, the sound of vehicles came from all directions—along with the howling of zombies.
In the third year of the apocalypse, zombies had evolved to increasingly higher levels. Running into S-level zombies during an outing had become routine.
While this was troublesome for other bases, it wasn’t much of an issue for Half Moon Bay squads. Thanks to the support of ability disruptors, many teams regularly brought back high-level crystal cores—making newly arrived teams envious.
This disparity in treatment was one reason why some teams felt restless. Lu Weiyi knew it well—but those few teams had aligned themselves with the base from the start. If there were no difference in treatment, that would be even more disheartening.
Occasionally, when SS-level zombies appeared, they didn’t back down. Lu Weiyi would personally lead weapon squads in direct combat. His own power had been growing steadily, though relying solely on abilities still wasn’t enough.
Fortunately, Academician Zhao Changming was a genius. For the sake of securing better conditions for his daughter, he had pushed his limits again, enhancing the power of crystal-core-based artillery. Now, these weapons were playing a key role on the battlefield.
Day and night, the fight continued. Metal-type ability users had reinforced armored vehicles that roamed the center, constantly luring zombies in. The ground soon became littered with corpses—then burned to ash by fire-type users—leaving behind glittering piles of crystal cores.
The gleaming crystal cores lifted everyone’s spirits. Knowing that they could be converted into purified crystal cores to help them level up, the ability-user squads were more motivated than ever.
Some even volunteered to rest only four hours per day, claiming their stamina and powers were enough to keep fighting.
That suggestion passed with unanimous support—Lu Weiyi was struck for the first time by how effective self-interest could be.
*
Whether it was thanks to Lu Weiyi’s earlier warning or not, nothing went wrong during the base’s zombie-clearing operation—not among the deployed ability-user teams, nor among those left behind.
As winter temperatures dropped below freezing, the surrounding sea area froze over again. Back at the base, Zhuang Mingxu and his water-type ability users rebuilt the ice walls.
The final zombie sweep of the winter was originally scheduled to be led by Ning Yuan’s group. But Zhuang Mingxu suddenly proposed increasing manpower and duration—a full-scale cleanup to ensure safer conditions for spring expeditions. Having just returned, Lu Weiyi was once again made the leader.
On the day of departure, Zhuang Mingxu was especially clingy, pestering Lu Weiyi early in the morning. By the time he finally let go and sent him off with a packed breakfast, they were already late.
Everyone else had gathered, seemingly waiting for Lu Weiyi alone—for the first time, he felt awkward.
Zhuang Mingxu, however, was completely unfazed. Holding a loudspeaker, he made an official announcement:
“For the safety of all springtime expeditions, Commander Lu and I have decided to commit all of the base’s heavy weaponry to this final zombie-clearing operation. The goal is to wipe out the zombies in the half of the city closest to us. We hope this brings richer rewards and fewer casualties for all squads when spring comes.”
As he finished, a convoy of combat vehicles appeared from South Island—over ten vehicles, of various models, drove toward them.
Lu Weiyi hadn’t been informed of this in advance. Just as he was about to ask, Zhuang Mingxu pushed him onto a truck amid everyone’s cheering.
*
Halfway into the journey, Lu Weiyi called for a meeting—only to realize that there had been changes to the team lineup.
The Peace Squad had been removed, and unregistered members from Frost Society and Zhongliang Squad had taken their place.
“What happened to the Peace Squad?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“You didn’t know?” Ye Jia looked surprised, sucking on a popsicle in the freezing weather. His breath fogged up in white clouds as he glanced over.
Seeing Lu Weiyi genuinely confused, not pretending, he hesitated before explaining:
“Apparently, a few days ago, the captain’s son from Peace Squad got drunk and ran into Commander Zhuang… insulted him, saying stuff like he was just mooching off someone rich, selling himself to get his position. The stuff he said was pretty nasty. And it happened in front of a crowd—lots of people heard it. Commander Zhuang blew up on the spot and said he’d make him pay for it. Then…”
Ye Jia carefully watched Lu Weiyi’s face darken. “Last night, our team received a new personnel list.”
“We also got the new list yesterday,” added Chen Xing from Zhongliang Squad.
