Chapter 441: Eavesdropping
“Ha.” Zhuang Mingxu’s hand paused as he reviewed the base’s accounts, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “To what extent do they mean ‘cooperate’? Demanding a dissection the first time they met him, and when that failed, they collected every specimen they could from his body—and still weren’t satisfied? After all this time, they’ve come up with nothing, and now they dare to make more requests?”
Zhuang Mingxu practically had the word useless written across his face. “Reject it. Tell them to stop entertaining that idea. During the last zombie riot in the residential area, if it weren’t for Cheng Chuan’s help in controlling the situation, who knows how many more would’ve died. Burning bridges after crossing them—there’s a limit to that kind of behavior.”
“Understood. I’ll contact them.” Yin Jin took note and then asked again, “Major General Lu from the Capital Base sent a message asking about your progress here. Have you considered the proposal he mentioned earlier?”
Before Zhuang Mingxu could react, a drowsy voice came from the sofa where Lu Weiyi was sleeping, “Tell him we agree. Ask if he has any recommendations for talent.”
“You’re awake? Want something to eat?” Lu Weiyi had just lugged half a mountain’s worth of supplies back from outside and didn’t want to listen to Zhuang Aiyi recite textbooks at home, so he ran off to nap in Zhuang Mingxu’s office.
Lu Weiyi shook his head and brought up Lu Xiao’s suggestion with Zhuang Mingxu. “I think it’s worth considering. The Capital Base is only a little over 1,000 kilometers from ours by land. But with current conditions, driving would take around fifteen days—assuming smooth roads and no attacks.”
He took the cup of water handed to him and took a sip. “With the current situation involving mutated animals out there, the travel time will only increase—and there’s no guarantee we’ll even make it. Planes aren’t any better, what with their fuel consumption and the threat of mutated birds…”
Lu Weiyi let out a sigh. “The plane we flew on this last trip got attacked and crashed.”
Zhuang Mingxu snapped his head around sharply.
“It’s fine,” Lu Weiyi explained. “I stored it in my space before the plane fully crashed. The propeller’s broken, though. If we want to maintain communication with other bases, we have to find a new connection route.”
“Underground passages aren’t that easy to build,” Zhuang Mingxu said, pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly frustrated. “We have to consider the route, weight-bearing conditions, and so on.” He sighed. “Nothing’s gone smoothly since spring began. I’ll think it over and have someone draft a plan.”
After a month of hard work, the coastal construction at Beidao was finally completed. During that time, several mutated animals—each over ten meters long—appeared around the island. If not for the high number of powerful ability users who were able to kill them on sight, the consequences would’ve been unimaginable. After that, no one dared spread discontent or rumors about the base.
Ning Yuan’s missing kidney had been successfully reconstructed by two healing-type users. As for how effective it was, no one could tell from the outside. Since the incident, his family hadn’t let him do a single chore, and he’d barely used his ability at all.
After discussing with Xu Sa and Liu Rui, the whole team checked the calendar and picked a date everyone agreed was lucky—for Dean’s upgrade.
That morning, Dean got up early and, somehow having picked up a full set of old superstitions, went through a “ritual” involving bathing and burning incense.
There was no sandalwood in the villa, so he substituted with perfume, claiming it was just “keeping up with the times.”
Xu Sa and Liu Rui still hadn’t purged the toxins from their bodies. They remained paralyzed, and even the most optimistic of them had become quiet and somber.
Dean had become the team’s only hope, bearing a heavy responsibility. But he didn’t seem to realize that at all. One minute he was telling Xu Sa and Liu Rui to sit closer so they could “bathe in more holy light,” and the next he was reassuring Ning Yuan not to feel shy.
By the end, he had everyone gritting their teeth.
“Shorty, have you been hanging out with Xu Yi too much? You’ve picked up all his annoying habits,” Xu Sa finally snapped.
“You’re the annoying one,” Xu Yi chimed in, crossing his arms, clearly just there for the show.
“How can you go around giving people nicknames? That’s rude,” Dean scolded.
“Wasn’t me—it was Lu Weiyi,” Xu Yi replied.
A giant metaphorical frying pan fell from the sky. Lu Weiyi, calmly eating his breakfast, thought for a moment and realized—yeah, he had called Dean that a few times.
His calm gaze shifted toward Dean.
Dean looked at him for a moment, then quickly turned back to point at Xu Sa again. “You really are rude.”
“Let’s give it up for Dean, everybody. Live performance of bullying the weak and fearing the strong,” Xu Sa clapped sarcastically.
Everyone around burst into laughter, lightening the tense mood.
“All right, let’s get started,” Lu Weiyi said, standing up seriously.
Dean nodded and sat in the middle of the open living room. Antonio, Xu Sa, Liu Rui, and Ning Yuan surrounded him in a circle, leaving no space for Lu Weiyi.
Antonio scooted slightly to the side. “Want to squeeze in?”
“No need.” Lu Weiyi stepped forward and removed the forehead protector Dean had been wearing for days. The skin underneath hadn’t had time to recover, and the pinholes left by injections were still visible between his brows.
He handed the crystal core to Dean and gave him one final instruction. “Nothing bad will happen. Just stay conscious and keep holding on.”
Dean nodded solemnly, turned his head to give Antonio a quick kiss, then began absorbing the crystal core.
Just as Lu Weiyi had said, everything had been meticulously prepared for Dean’s upgrade over the past month. Compared to Xu Yi’s agonizing ordeal, Dean was only mildly uncomfortable.
Before long, the upgrade was complete.
No one crowded him or fussed. Instead, they all turned in sync to look at Xu Sa and Liu Rui, eyes full of hope.
Gu Qingyue, who was closest, gently nudged them and asked, “Can you feel anything?”
Liu Rui didn’t answer, and everyone held their breath, suddenly uneasy. No one dared say anything.
Then, at what felt like the final moment, Xu Sa broke the silence—not with worry, but with his usual brashness. “Come on, I’ll slap you, you slap me. We’ll test it ourselves.”
With that, he slapped Liu Rui’s arm—smack.
“…It hurts… It hurts!” Liu Rui exclaimed, shocked and elated. He twisted his body—one that had refused to respond for weeks—and it actually moved. “I can feel it… It’s stiff… sore… and weak…”
“That’s from not moving for a long time,” Gu Qingyue explained, turning to look at Xu Sa.
Xu Sa chuckled. “Looks like I’m good too.” He looked down at his toes. Several of them were wiggling in his slippers. Despite his usually androgynous face, a goofy smile broke out.
As for Ning Yuan, no one knew whether the upgrade had affected him. He quickly returned to his usual self. At first, Xi Shi worried that his new kidney might not handle the strain and kept reminding him to take it easy—until he watched Ning Yuan single-handedly push aside two meters of seawater for land reclamation. After that, he had nothing more to say.
Zhuang Mingxu and Wu Yue, however, had more… direct concerns. One afternoon, Wu Yue suddenly told Ning Yuan he’d set him up on a blind date.
“She’s just turned eighteen, just became an adult. Grew up with her parents—good folks, decent background. She’s a nice girl, even-tempered. Kind of the neighborhood flower. You should go meet her,” Wu Yue said, trying not to sound too deliberate.
The youngest bachelor in the group, Bai Miao, and the oldest, Li Dongsheng, were both stunned when they heard this. They turned in unison to look at Ning Yuan, who was totally baffled. Then Zhuang Mingxu added:
“I’ve heard of her too. She’s quite pretty. You should go see if you’re compatible.”
With that, everyone turned to stare. Zhuang Mingxu added with a perfectly straight face:
“It’s already the fourth year of the apocalypse. The Capital Base has started researching human reproduction. If you want a girlfriend, now’s the time. Once they have results, I’ll help you all get connected right away.”
The dining table went silent for a moment—then Ning Yuan gave Wu Yue a bewildered look. “You’re still single yourself—why are you trying to get me married?”
“This is the goddamn apocalypse and I’m getting pressured to get married?” His face was full of disbelief. “You’re terrifying.”
“I just saw how stressed you were from the missions, so… I was trying to look out for you a bit.”
“I’m not the only one going on missions,” Ning Yuan replied, pointing to Antonio beside him, then turned to Li Zhuang, and after looking around the group, he realized—he was actually the only single guy in the squad. He lowered his hand. “So I don’t need that kind of help.”
Wu Yue and Zhuang Mingxu exchanged a glance, silently communicating something with their eyes.
“Alright then,” Zhuang Mingxu said calmly. “In a few days, there’s a crystal core exchange mission at Pingjin Base. You and Wu Yue can lead the team over there.”
The topic had shifted so abruptly that no one had time to react to what just happened. But Li Zhuang glanced between the three of them a couple of times, then looked down and smiled knowingly.
Lu Weiyi hadn’t thought much of it at first, but the moment he saw Li Zhuang’s expression, he knew something was up. Yet when he asked around, everyone dodged his questions.
It wasn’t until Wu Yue and Ning Yuan returned from Pingjin Base, quietly slipped into Zhuang Mingxu’s office, and locked the door behind them, that Lu Weiyi sent his spiritual sense in to eavesdrop.
Zhuang Mingxu scanned their odd, uncomfortable expressions and quickly guessed what had happened. Before Ning Yuan could ask, he spoke up, “We were just worried you hadn’t fully recovered and didn’t know how to bring it up.”
Ning Yuan looked both embarrassed and exasperated. “That doesn’t mean you had to eavesdrop on me! I was fine, and now I’m traumatized!”
Zhuang Mingxu turned to Wu Yue, clearly stunned.
“I just… wanted firsthand information…” Wu Yue admitted, red-faced.
They’d gone to Pingjin Base and then, that very day, taken the team to Tang Bai’s brothel—Yingge Yanw?. Tang Bai had been very cooperative, arranging clean girls for them. But Wu Yue had too much on his mind and immediately sent the girl away.
Once he thought things were going smoothly for Ning Yuan, he crept up to the door to listen in, hoping to gauge the situation without having to awkwardly ask about it later.
Already sketchy behavior, Wu Yue had tried to be discreet. But instead, he ended up looking like a creepy stalker. And because that whole floor was reserved for high-status clients, the commotion not only drew Tang Bai’s attention, but Ning Yuan came out and caught him in the act.
At that moment, the weird look Tang Bai gave him nearly made Wu Yue want to die from shame.
Especially when they were leaving—and Tang Bai said warmly, “Couples fight sometimes. It’s normal. If there’s a problem, just talk it out. But next time, don’t drag outsiders into it—it really hurts the relationship.”
Wu Yue couldn’t exactly say he was worried about Ning Yuan’s sexual health, and there was no way to explain his actions clearly. He nearly choked from holding it all in.
