Chapter 449: Incitement
“It’s not that I want to push him forward to be the one rallying others…”
“I understand. Xiao Yi’s ability level is the highest, and our base has the strongest overall power among ability users. Having us take the lead would be ideal.” Zhuang Mingxu could understand the logic. If it were him, he might’ve stepped up—but not Lu Weiyi. He couldn’t let that happen.
“But, Old Zheng, without a national institution to enforce anything now, what grounds do you plan to use to ask ability users to serve? For free? Or with the potions you mentioned today?” Zhuang Mingxu said bluntly, “With all due respect, for high-level ability users, those potions are optional at best.”
“Take our base as an example—we could dispatch high-level ability users specifically to deal with the increasing number of mutant animals. Or we could simply stay within the base and never go out again. As far as I know, most mutant animals are territorial. Once their numbers reach a certain point, different species will fight over territory. Humans might not even need to intervene.”
“Under these circumstances, no matter what benefits you offer us, at best, it’s just a cherry on top. It’s not really tempting.” Seeing that the two had no rebuttal, Zhuang Mingxu continued, “As for the other bases—some responsible ability users might help with clean-up, but selfish ones won’t care at all.”
“Anyone who can reach a high level isn’t an average person. In today’s world, nothing speaks louder than self-interest. So…” Zhuang Mingxu looked directly at them. “What are you offering that would be worth risking their lives for?”
The Capital Base had no real advantages. If purified crystal cores were being produced there, maybe they’d still stand a chance. But currently, even their continued safe evolution depended on trading with the Half Moon Bay Base. As for crystal core weapons—compared to the cost of manufacturing them, mass deployment wasn’t even feasible.
“In that case, let me be more direct.” Zhuang Mingxu looked like he saw right through them. “You’re planning to make Half Moon Bay the leader, aren’t you?” With that, they could use Lu Weiyi, the strongest ability user, and Half Moon Bay’s abundant resources to front the operation.
Having their intentions laid bare, Zheng Yi gave a wry smile. “Old Zhuang, even though we used to be rivals in the military, we were comrades too. Let me be honest with you…”
He glanced at the silent Zhao Qiang. “We’re out of options.”
Two grown men sounding pitiful might move others, but Zhuang Mingxu had been a hardened troublemaker in the army—he wasn’t buying it for a second. “If you can’t beat them, run. You need someone else to teach you that?”
“You already know something, don’t you?” Zhao Qiang suddenly asked.
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t deny it. “I’ve got a hunch.”
*
Meanwhile, at Lu Xiao’s villa, Lu Weiyi was discussing the very same matter.
“Don’t agree to it,” Lu Xiao said as soon as he heard the two had tried to rally Lu Weiyi. Meeting the youth’s questioning gaze, Lu Xiao rubbed his brow. “All the projected zombie movements… they all converge on Capital in the end.”
“All of them?” Even though Zhuang Mingxu had already given him a heads-up, Lu Weiyi still found it hard to believe. “Weren’t they changing direction all the time? How can you be sure?”
Lu Xiao gave a bitter smile. “One sudden return might be a coincidence. But seven or eight times?”
“…” Lu Weiyi fell silent. “No wonder Zheng Yi and Zhao Qiang were so eager to strike a deal at the ability user conference.”
“They’d mentioned it to me before—wanted me to convince you. But…” Lu Xiao looked at the young face before him, somewhere between boyhood and manhood. “If it were me, maybe. But you’re still just a kid. You shouldn’t have to carry this.”
Honestly, Lu Weiyi didn’t want to go. Running a base was already trouble enough, and now he’d have to coordinate all ability users? On top of that, this was a suicide mission. The moment he stood up, he’d become responsible for the lives of everyone who followed him.
The two fell silent for a long while before Lu Weiyi suddenly said, “Why don’t you take your team and leave? I’ll give you an island.”
Lu Xiao was briefly stunned, then ruffled Lu Weiyi’s hair with a proud smile. “Our little Yi is all grown up.”
“I mean it, Uncle. Capital has a huge population—it’s a natural zombie magnet. Whether in terms of weapons or abilities, there’s a gap. In a fight we can’t win, why even try?”
“I—”
“Don’t give me that ‘greater good’ stuff. It’s the apocalypse now. If something happens to you, what about Lu Xi? He just became an adult. You’re already barely around. But as long as you’re alive, he knows he still has someone to rely on when things go wrong.” Lu Weiyi looked him in the eye. “But if you’re gone, he’ll have nothing.”
“Don’t you count? I know you’ll take care of Lu Xi.”
“It’s not the same.”
Lu Weiyi could tell from Lu Xiao’s silence exactly what he was thinking.
People like them had a sense of duty etched into their bones—a deep-rooted responsibility to their country and people. When it mattered most, they were always on the front lines. Even now, with no nation left, the values passed down to them never changed.
That was why, even though he knew Zheng Yi had tried to manipulate them, he never truly considered taking him out—they might sacrifice others for their goals, but they were also willing to die for a cause.
From a beneficiary’s perspective, people like that were admirable. But from a family member’s perspective, it was far from comforting.
Lu Weiyi knew he couldn’t talk him out of it. He muttered dejectedly, “I should’ve brought Xiao Xi with me.”
Lu Xiao didn’t respond. He only looked at him with warm, quietly enduring eyes.
Lu Weiyi leaned back on the sofa, lost in memories of his past life.
He rarely thought about his past life anymore. Too many things had turned out differently in this life, and even his memories had started to shift.
In his previous life, when he was still alive, he had never encountered such a massive outbreak of mutated animals, nor had he seen such strange zombies.
Of course, it could also be because Zhuang Mingxu had died early in that life. After all, if things followed the same path, they were supposed to die next year.
He wondered whether they’d be able to avoid it in this life.
Back then, Lu Xiao had still been alive and well. Maybe it was because of Lu Xi’s unfortunate experiences that he felt guilty. At that time, Lu Xiao had become completely devoted to his son, focusing all his energy on Lu Xi.
The thing he said most often was that he didn’t dare die—he was afraid Lu Xi would be bullied if he wasn’t around.
Now that someone else was standing in front, was he able to sacrifice himself without hesitation?
For a brief moment, Lu Weiyi felt he understood the meaning of reincarnation.
“Little Daddy, can we sleep at Great Uncle’s place tonight?” Zhuang Aiyi came running over, her eyes filled with hope.
“Why do you want to stay here?”
“Great Uncle said we can bake little cakes in the kitchen tomorrow morning—the kind with sweet, creamy frosting.” Zhuang Aiyi hugged Lu Weiyi’s arm. “Aiyi hasn’t had them in a long time.”
Taotao had never had them before and looked completely clueless.
On the island, it was always Xi who managed the food. They were never short on supplies for the kids, and sometimes she’d make snacks for them. But fancy treats like cupcakes and cookies were beyond her reach.
At the Half Moon Bay Base, while food was plentiful, luxuries were not. Things like that weren’t even for sale, so even if Zhuang Aiyi wanted to buy them, there was nowhere to go.
Lu Weiyi glanced at Lu Xiao for approval.
“Sure, you can stay with Great Uncle. Tomorrow, I’ll have someone make you both some treats.” Lu Xiao picked up Taotao and lifted him into the air, making the chubby child laugh loudly through the villa.
After settling the kids, Lu Weiyi was about to leave when Lu Xiao reminded him of a few more things. When he returned, he found Zheng Yi and Zhao Qiang still hadn’t left.
“What about the kids?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“They’re at my uncle’s. They said they want to stay with him tonight and won’t be coming back,” Lu Weiyi replied.
Zhuang Mingxu nodded and gestured for him to sit nearby.
“We’ve just discussed a feasible idea,” Zhuang Mingxu said, pushing aside the dishes and drinks on the table and spreading out a map. “These are the surrounding bases. We can try to persuade them all to build underground tunnels.”
When Lu Weiyi heard this, he glanced at Zhuang Mingxu. Currently, all earth-type ability users capable of large-scale work were already gathered in their base’s engineering team—this was practically an open strategy to benefit their own base.
“With direct tunnels, travel time between bases will be greatly reduced. Easier movement also means faster support in emergencies. Take Half Moon Bay to Capital as an example—on foot, with detours and attacks from mutated animals, a round trip takes at least a month and a half, not even counting potential casualties.”
“Given the current distribution of bases, if a zombie siege occurs, nearby bases could arrive within six to seven hours. It’ll be much easier to defend any one base.”
Lu Weiyi looked at the map now filled with dense marks, then at the three men, each with their own agendas. “Have you considered that not every base is under unified control? The people attending this meeting may not represent their entire base.”
That meant even if all agreements were made now, there was still a chance some would back out. Not to mention, building underground tunnels was a massive undertaking and would require an enormous number of purified crystal cores.
Just the tunnel from Half Moon Bay to Capital alone would cost over a million crystal cores. That was the shared price between two bases—other bases might not be willing to pay.
“Then we make it clear,” Zheng Yi said decisively. “Any base that doesn’t participate won’t get support in the future. Each base must organize its own support team and coordinate with others. I don’t care how they choose their people—I just want the outcome.”
“And if they don’t come? If they make excuses about delays on the road? If…” Lu Weiyi spread his hands, listing the possibilities. “What then?”
“Then, Brother Lu, you’ll have to cut off their supply of purified crystal cores,” Zheng Yi said, looking at him.
Lu Weiyi didn’t make a decision on his own. Zhuang Mingxu gave him a nod, indicating agreement.
The four of them carefully outlined the structure and implementation of a multi-base powered army. Only then did they finally see off Zheng Yi and Zhao Qiang.
