Chapter 431: Misjudgment
Still holding the child, Zhuang Mingxu blocked with one arm but took a heavy blow and fell to the ground.
“Daddy!” Taotao cried out, trying to retaliate, but Zhuang Mingxu held him back firmly.
More people wanted to act, but Du Ping stopped them.
“Enough, Yu Le. We need him alive—his life is leverage. Kill him, and what can we gain?”
“Fine, then—tell me, where is the device for the Purification Cores?”
The man called Yu Le looked very old. His hair was tangled and hadn’t been washed in who knew how long—he looked no different from a beggar on the street.
Zhuang Mingxu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and completely ignored him.
Yu Le raised his foot to kick him, but was stopped again by Du Ping, who this time directly used his ability to suppress him. Even though their power levels were different, Yu Le still struggled fiercely, even trying to strike back at Du Ping.
“Alright, alright. Let’s take full control of the base first—after that, we’ll have anything we want. Won’t the Purification Cores be at our disposal anyway?”
Li Feng patted Yu Le on the shoulder to calm him, then quickly led people toward North Island.
*
The ice covering the sea had completely melted, and the bridge connecting West Island to the other islands had been cut off. As they passed by, they could see many base troops on the opposite shore trying to restore the connection, but with most ability users deployed elsewhere, the ordinary people were physically limited and making slow progress.
Someone on the opposite shore noticed them, and gunfire immediately rang out. One person near the coast was shot through the head and fell dead on the spot.
There was a moment of panic among the group of a dozen, but they quickly shoved Zhuang Mingxu forward, holding a knife to his neck.
“Mingxu—!” Lin Yimu’s voice rang out sharply through the night. Despite being a hundred meters away, it was loud and clear.
“Don’t worry about me. Just take care of the children,” Zhuang Mingxu said, then was kicked forward and shoved with the rest of the group onto North Island.
*
As soon as they arrived, a loudspeaker announcement began:
“This is Li Dongsheng of the Only Team, head of the Cultivation Garden. The base is currently facing a betrayal. Ordinary citizens must remain in their residences or be treated as accomplices.”
“This is Li Dongsheng of the Only Team…”
The message kept repeating like a stuck recording.
*
“Captain Li…” Someone looked anxiously at Li Feng.
“What are you afraid of? It’s aimed at ordinary people. Without them, our movements are actually more efficient.”
Li Feng spat on the ground.
“Ordinary people can only do basic labor anyway. They don’t care who’s in charge—they just want to survive. The ability users are the key.”
*
When they arrived at the government building, the plaza was already filled with many people.
The base’s ability users—over 10,000 of them had gone with Lu Weiyi, and some had been reassigned by Xu Chu to suppress zombie outbreaks in the civilian zone. The rest were assembled here by their squad leaders. Most didn’t know what was going on and were whispering among themselves.
It wasn’t until Zhuang Mingxu was dragged to the front of the platform that someone asked:
“Who are you? What are you doing to the Base Commander?”
“We’re here to help you,” Yu Le shouted, slinging a rifle over his shoulder.
“Don’t you want an endless supply of Purification Cores?”
“Don’t you want to upgrade whenever you feel like it?”
“Out of all of you here, how many are stuck at your current level because you don’t have enough cores?”
“How many of you have been forced into menial labor just to survive, because of your low rank?”
“Aren’t you tired of being suppressed like this?”
Yu Le raised his arms dramatically like he was giving a rallying speech—but no one responded.
*
“But we have too much zombie energy in our bodies. We’d die if we tried to upgrade now!”
“Yeah, we’re just waiting for the energy to metabolize.”
“Once we’re safe, the base helps us upgrade.”
“Everyone already knows that, don’t they?”
*
Yu Le snapped, “That so-called safety threshold—who can prove it’s even real? Other bases upgrade people all the time without any problems. That ‘threshold’ is just a lie the base uses to control you! And you actually believe it?”
“Why do you think the military here has so many high-level ability users?!”
Gunshots echoed from the distance. Some people in the group grew impatient, and someone urged them to get to the point.
Li Feng stepped forward with a loudspeaker:
“We’re not here to fight you. But the current base leadership is dominated by the Only Team. Their members manage every part of this base.”
“Any dissent is silenced. Remember the Spark Squad from a month ago? Just because they questioned things during a meeting, they were expelled.”
“It was the middle of winter, temperatures below zero. Where were they supposed to live after being kicked out? How were they supposed to survive?”
“They even notified other bases to blacklist them—that’s practically a death sentence.”
“Just a few days ago, a child from the Peace Squad had a minor argument with the Base Commander while drunk. In response, the entire Peace Squad was pulled from all missions.”
“If even one of the top three squads gets treated like that, what do you think will happen to your teams?”
“We’re not just fighting for rights—we’re fighting for a voice. To prevent injustice before it comes.”
“So, is anyone here willing to stand with us?”
*
The plaza fell silent. Everyone looked at each other—no one spoke.
Suddenly, Zhuang Mingxu spoke:
“You’d better think carefully before you pick a side. Once you start, there’s no turning back.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he was kicked to his knees, then violently dragged upright again. Someone raised a hand to hit him—but a shout came from the crowd:
“You claim you’re fighting for rights, but you’re beating people up? Can’t you see the Base Commander is still holding a child?”
“Yeah! If you dare to hit him now, who’s to say anything you say is true?”
“Aren’t you just fighting for your own benefit?”
“Ha! Pretending to be noble—don’t you even try to act the part?”
“Exactly. While Commander Lu is out risking his life to fight zombies, you’re here stirring up the base. And you still try to act all righteous. Have you no shame?”
“This is shameless. Absolutely shameless. If you had even a shred of dignity, you wouldn’t be doing this.”
“Quiet, everyone quiet down. We just…”
Li Feng glanced sharply at a few of his collaborators, then continued,
“…just don’t want to influence your judgment. But we truly are working for everyone’s benefit. We hope you’ll consider what’s best for yourselves.”
“We simply want the Purification Cores to be made available across the entire base, benefiting every single ability user.”
After speaking, his eyes quickly scanned the crowd.
“I’ll stand with you.”
A sudden voice rang out. People nearby turned to look, and the man explained,
“I’m close to leveling up and need a large amount of Purification Cores.”
“If our captain’s in, then we’re in too.”
With a rustle, hundreds of people stepped out to stand beside him.
“Which squad are they from?”
“The Wanxiang Squad. They arrived this year. Quite a few ability users, and their ranks aren’t low either.”
“Looks like this was prearranged… hmm…”
The murmurs in the crowd didn’t seem to concern the opposing side. That group marched confidently to the other side.
With them taking the lead, more ability users began to move over, making excuses like “I need to upgrade” or “I’m afraid of being treated unfairly in the future.”
In no time, more than 3,000 people were standing on that side—a number that shocked many.
*
“Anyone else willing to join us?” Li Feng asked again.
“Captain Du, are you siding with them?” someone asked Du Ping, who was standing silently in the corner of the platform.
“I…”
“I’m leaving the base,” Du Ping suddenly interrupted before Li Feng could answer.
“I’m not siding with them. And don’t look to me to make decisions for you.”
“But Du-ge, we’ve got two S-rank ability users in our squad. Things have always been good at the base. Why…”
“Then maybe you should ask the other S-rank ability user.”
Du Ping turned to look at Feng Chengjun, the other S-rank in the Peace Squad.
“Those of you who want to leave with me, now’s the time to choose. If you want to stay neutral, they won’t make it hard on you.”
*
“Vice Captain Feng?” Someone looked to Feng Chengjun.
Feng finally stepped out of the crowd.
“Captain Du, I’m doing this for the good of our squad. The number of cores the base allocates is too small. At this rate, some of them won’t level up for years.”
Then he started walking toward the rebel side, followed by several Peace Squad sub-captains and their members.
Some glanced awkwardly at Du Ping, some avoided his eyes altogether, and others acted righteous, as if following Du had been holding them back.
Seeing the numbers were sufficient, Li Feng stopped trying to persuade the rest and offered a way out:
“For those choosing to remain neutral, we still welcome you in the base. If you want to leave, no one will stop you.”
At that moment, attention returned to Zhuang Mingxu on the platform.
“Base Commander Zhuang, now comes the real test of your squad’s loyalty. Let’s see whether they think your life or the base is more important.”
*
Scene Change – City Center
Before Li Zhuang could speak, Lu Weiyi directly asked:
“Was this all part of Zhuang Mingxu’s plan? Did he want to use this as a chance to clean out the base?”
Li Zhuang paused, then nodded—and shook his head.
“He miscalculated.”
“Zhuang Mingxu deliberately created the illusion of a base lacking in manpower and weapons, hoping to lure the enemy into action. But he underestimated how many people they had.”
“What do you mean? How many people are involved?”
“Just from my interrogation, I found several forces from Pingjin Base involved—plus some rogue ability user groups.”
Seeing Lu Weiyi confused, Li Zhuang explained, “Rogue ability users are groups that don’t belong to any base. They wander and operate on their own—kind of like Erik and Qin Yu.”
