Chapter 445: Reunion with Su Yan
Li Zhuang stifled a laugh but said nothing. Xu Yi, on the other hand, grabbed the list and looked it over carefully. Not seeing what he was hoping for, he fell silent and handed it to the person next to him.
“Their base was flooded after the big flood and had to be relocated…” Li Zhuang pointed at a name on the list. Xu Yi’s eyes lit up immediately, a spark of fighting spirit returning as he asked Cong Qing how much longer until they reached the guest housing.
Li Zhuang was amused, ruffling Xu Yi’s hair. “We’re not staying there anyway.”
“Then where are we staying?”
“Where are you going to stay?” Xu Yi and Tang Bai asked at the same time.
“The major general has had a place set aside for you all this whole time. It’s been cleaned and is ready for you to move in anytime,” Cong Qing explained proactively.
“The same place we stayed last time?” Xu Yi asked. But before getting a reply, he turned to Lu Weiyi. “Can I stay at the guest housing instead?”
“Not a chance,” Li Zhuang rejected flatly. Xu Yi tried to argue, but Li Zhuang fixed him with a stare, the corners of his mouth curling into a smirk that was both dangerous and teasing. Xu Yi immediately swallowed his words.
Seeing his disappointment, Li Zhuang slung an arm around his shoulders and patted him. “More bases means more chaos. Don’t run off. Wherever you go, I’m coming with you.”
“Don’t think our base is so impressive. Back in the first year of the apocalypse, some base had already developed a drug that could suppress ability users’ powers. At that time, we didn’t even have a base—we were still running for our lives.”
Li Zhuang was serious, allowing no rebuttal. Xu Yi pouted in protest but still nodded in agreement.
Soon after, the car pulled up to the shared guest lodging.
Located in the center of Capital Base, this place had convenient transportation and bustling markets. A five-story circular hotel, it had clearly marked areas for each base, and the coming and going of people made it lively.
“We’ll go settle in for now. Are you free tomorrow? I’ve got something to talk to you about,” Tang Bai asked as he directed his people off the vehicle.
“Should be free,” Zhuang Mingxu said, and gave him their residential address.
Cong Qing then led their group toward the villa.
At the villa, Lu Xiao was already waiting for them with dinner ready, standing at the door.
As soon as Zhuang Aiyi got out of the car, he ran over, calling, “Grand-uncle, Aiyi missed you so much!”
“Taotao missed you too!”
“Aww, Grand-uncle missed both of you too,” Lu Xiao said, scooping up both kids, kissing them on the cheek, and playfully rubbing them with his stubbled chin, making them giggle nonstop. “You’ve grown taller! You must’ve been eating well, right?”
“Yup! Aiyi eats a big—bowl every day!” Zhuang Aiyi stretched his arms wide to demonstrate, making Lu Xiao laugh heartily. He kissed them again, then asked someone to take the kids to wash up before turning to greet the rest.
Zhuang Mingxu introduced the team members, then told them to wash up and come eat.
“Was the trip smooth? The underground tunnel connecting Capital to Half Moon Bay has been completed. Why didn’t you take it and came the long way instead?” Lu Xiao asked once everyone was settled. Even though he knew they were strong ability users, he couldn’t help worrying—especially since they had two kids with them.
“We were low on crystal cores at the base. We figured we’d clear some zombies along the way and get in some training too,” Zhuang Mingxu replied casually.
Lu Xiao’s gaze shifted to Lu Weiyi, sizing him up. “You…”
“Not yet,” he just let out a sigh of relief before Lu Weiyi cut in, “Almost.”
“….” Lu Xiao was left speechless. Once someone successfully leveled up, lower-grade crystal cores became virtually useless—even purified ones didn’t have much effect. But high-level zombies were hard to come by and risky to provoke. His own abilities weren’t even at the intermediate stage yet.
Meanwhile, someone already a level above him was about to level up again.
He leaned in closer to Lu Weiyi and asked in a low voice, “Do you have any tricks?”
“All the S-level and above crystal cores from the base go to me first,” Lu Weiyi answered, subtly showing off again and stabbing another metaphorical arrow into Lu Xiao’s chest.
Even though Lu Xiao was genuinely happy for his nephew, he couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed and chose to change the subject, turning to ask Zhuang Mingxu about their journey.
After dinner, Lu Weiyi handed out the information Lu Xiao had gathered about the other base representatives and the current situation in the Capital to the team members who had come with him.
“This is just a general overview—some of it might not be entirely accurate, so just keep it in mind. If anyone wants to go out, register your departure and return time, as well as your destination, with the guard at the villa gate. The local network here is always connected, so make sure your phones are reachable at all times.”
“Also, with all kinds of powers and factions mixed together at this gathering, I hope each of you keeps a clear head when dealing with others. Know what should and shouldn’t be done, and what can and cannot be said.”
They were no longer children—there was no need to spell everything out. Lu Weiyi glanced around the group and finally added, “Try not to go out alone. I want to bring all of you back safely.”
“Understood.”
“Got it, Base Leader.”
With that, everyone dispersed freely.
Zhuang Aiyi and Taotao, however, were held back.
“They’ll be staying with us for now,” Zhuang Mingxu said.
Lu Weiyi looked at him, surprised. He knew that when Zhuang Aiyi was still on milk, he’d only ever stayed in the room adjoining the master bedroom—not in the same space.
Zhuang Aiyi was clearly caught off guard too, but quickly grew excited. He looked at Lu Weiyi with anticipation, silently waiting for a sign. Taotao, on the other hand, didn’t react much—she glanced around and continued playing on her own.
“There are too many unfamiliar people around lately. We might be able to dig up information on them, but they can also dig up things on us. If anyone harbors ill intentions, the children will always be our greatest weakness,” Zhuang Mingxu explained.
Lu Weiyi brought the two kids into the bedroom and pointed at the two-meter-wide bed. “You sure we’ll all fit?”
Even with air conditioning, daytime temperatures reached up to 50°C (~122°F), and nights weren’t particularly cool. Squeezing together in bed wasn’t going to work.
“Just take out one of the small beds from your space and add it next to this one—I’ll sleep there.”
Hearing that, Lu Weiyi knew Zhuang Mingxu had made up his mind. He didn’t push back and let him take the kids to wash up while he went to set up the beds.
That night, Zhuang Mingxu slept on the small bed, while Lu Weiyi spent the whole night breathing in the unfamiliar, milky scent of the kids. He even got kicked a few times by their restless sleep and woke up in the morning completely exhausted.
Yawning as he stepped out of the room, Xu Sa saw him and immediately peeked inside, then waggled his eyebrows. “With the kids around, you two still… tsk tsk…”
“Get lost.” Lu Weiyi kicked at him, but Xu Sa dodged nimbly.
After breakfast, someone from another base came to visit. Zhuang Mingxu thought it would be Tang Bai, but the person who came through the gate was Su Yan.
“Long time no see,” Su Yan called out, arms wide open before he even arrived.
Zhuang Mingxu stepped forward to give him a hug. “Long time no see.”
“Your leg really healed—I knew someone with your determination could overcome anything.” Su Yan clapped his shoulder as he took in the sight of him standing.
“It’s all thanks to my teammates.”
“Brother Lu, the rest of us are just aging day by day, but you—you’re looking younger and younger!”
“Oh, not at all, Brother Su—you haven’t changed a bit.”
They sat down, and Su Yan introduced the two ability users with him. One was Zhou Cong, his wife’s younger brother, whom they had met before. The other was Chang Feng, a metal-type user.
“Where’s Brother Wang? Didn’t he come with you?” Lu Weiyi still remembered Wang Ming, the polite man with a thick accent who had hosted them before.
Su Yan fell silent. Zhou Cong answered for him, “Brother Wang… was attacked by zombies two years ago… he didn’t make it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright—life and death are just part of this world now.” As Su Yan spoke, his eyes drifted upstairs—and his face changed as if he’d seen a ghost.
Following his line of sight, they saw Xu Yi coming down the stairs in elegant silk pajamas, yawning lazily. Bathed in the morning light, he looked like a spoiled young master from a wealthy household—completely carefree.
“Xu… Xu Yi?” Su Yan was stunned.
Xu Yi glanced at him. “Yo, Officer Su. Morning.”
“Morning,” Su Yan replied instinctively, then turned to Lu Weiyi, pointing at Xu Yi but unable to speak.
“He’s with me now,” Lu Weiyi said simply.
Su Yan let out a long breath, then chuckled speechlessly, “You’re really something else.”
Seeing Su Yan, Xu Yi didn’t bother going back upstairs. He grabbed breakfast and sat beside him, casually asking who else had come along this time.
“You really just want to know about the Xu family, right?” Su Yan called him out directly.
Xu Yi didn’t deny it.
“The Xu family came too. Xu Sen, the eldest son, is here, along with a few collateral-line ability users,” Su Yan explained as he gave a rundown of what had been happening at Hope Base these past few years.
Back when they left, Hope Base was still in the early stages of rebuilding. They had helped Su Yan out at the time, and once he leveled up, his voice carried much more weight in the base. Meanwhile, the other major squad, the Night Kings, had most of its members disappear without a trace, shifting the power balance into a three-way stalemate.
As the base focused on rebuilding—scavenging supplies, fighting zombies, and dealing with mutated creatures—there was no time for internal strife. By the time things stabilized, the factions had more or less solidified.
“Now Xu Sen has completely taken over the Xu family. He’s a metal-type ability user who became very powerful after leveling up. And since the Xu family was already a major family before the apocalypse, they’ve risen quickly after merging with their extended relatives. These days… they’re pretty much neck-and-neck with the police force,” Su Yan commented objectively.
“His whole family’s still alive?” Xu Yi clearly distanced himself from the Xu family.
“They are. His mother is still an ordinary person, but he’s protected her well. She still lives like a wealthy lady, just like before,” Su Yan replied, noticing the subtle clench of Xu Yi’s jaw. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu, unsure what their stance was on all this.
Xu Yi was about to ask more when Lu Weiyi tapped the table and met his gaze. “The base representatives are having a serious discussion.”
Xu Yi clicked his tongue in annoyance, casually sauntered back upstairs, and not long after came back down properly dressed—with Li Zhuang in tow—saying they were going out shopping.
