Chapter 473: Aftermath
“Yeah, pure luck. And they brought back a whole lamb too. Should be almost done roasting now. Tonight, let’s drink properly.”
“Hahaha… sounds good!” Zhao Qiang laughed heartily. “But you said it—no one leaves until they’re drunk!”
“Absolutely, of course.”
They chatted over tea for a bit before dinner was served.
A big group gathered around a bonfire in the courtyard, roasting meat and drinking freely.
After a few rounds, Zhao Qiang finally brought up the matter of the deceased healer. “Look, it’s not that I’m biased—but everyone in the Morning Light Squad says it was your people who did it. And there was history between them, too. Brother, you’re putting me in a tough spot.”
“Brother Zhao, we can’t just take their word for it, right?” Lu Weiyi, who’d had a few drinks himself, still remembered his task. He grabbed Zhao’s hand and patted it. “They’re all on the same team—they’ll definitely stick together.”
Zhao Qiang glanced down at the S-class Earth-type Purification Core in his palm and couldn’t help but gulp. He always knew high-level ability users had quality cores, but hadn’t expected someone to just hand one over like that.
Especially not an Earth-type—so perfectly suited for his needs.
Zhao Qiang caressed it longingly, then very slowly pushed it back into Lu Weiyi’s hand. Zhuang Mingxu, watching this, frowned subtly.
Even an S-class core isn’t enough? Then his appetite must be enormous…
Besides, Zhuang Mingxu trusted Xu Sa’s sense of judgment. If there had been any incriminating evidence, Xu Sa would’ve told them immediately and worked out a solution. But all they needed now was to clear a false accusation—and Lu Weiyi was already being very generous.
“We’re all brothers here. I know you’re the kind of guy who knows how to keep his people in line,” Zhao Qiang started with some flattery, then abruptly shifted his gaze to Xu Yi sitting nearby. “Take Xu the healer, for example—he spent years in the capital with no improvement. But after joining you, suddenly he’s a cut above all other healers.”
Lu Weiyi hadn’t yet realized what Zhao meant, but Zhuang Mingxu instantly caught on. He remembered that Zhao Qiang’s own team had a healer who was nearing a bottleneck in leveling up. Now it was clear what he wanted.
These days, Purification Cores were more widely available, and special detectors for zombie energy made ability upgrades safer—but not for healers. Their upgrades were inherently more difficult, and Purification Cores alone weren’t always enough.
Zhao was clearly trying to leverage this incident to get their help for his own team’s healer.
“Of course, of course. Brother Zhao, like you said, we’re all family. We can’t afford to sponsor a healer’s full upgrade, but taking a look? No problem at all,” Zhuang Mingxu replied for Lu Weiyi.
Now that it was spelled out, Lu Weiyi also caught on and immediately agreed.
With that assurance, Zhao Qiang’s smile became much more genuine. “Even if our detection tech isn’t what it used to be, it doesn’t mean we don’t have any. The Morning Light team just assumed too much.”
“And since they’re refusing to accept the verdict, I’ll have no choice but to order a full autopsy to determine cause of death. You can’t just accuse an S-class ability user without proof. Didn’t the Solar Squad’s lawsuit teach them anything? Some people will do anything for extortion.”
“Brother Zhao, we’ve fought zombies together. We’ve got history. You’ve got to clear my people’s names,” Lu Weiyi knew the situation was secure and poured another drink.
Zhao Qiang clinked glasses and sipped half a cup. “Don’t worry. I’ll have them investigate thoroughly and I won’t delay your departure.”
“Much appreciated, Brother Zhao.” Lu Weiyi refilled his glass again. Zhao didn’t hesitate to make a call on the spot, ordering his team to perform the autopsy and determine the exact cause of death.
The voice on the other end responded respectfully. Zhao then slung an arm over Lu Weiyi’s shoulder. “What do you think? Pretty reasonable of me, huh?”
“More than reasonable. You’re practically family,” Lu Weiyi said, raising his glass once more.
Zhuang Mingxu handed him a few freshly cut slices of roast lamb. “Here, eat while it’s hot. Cold lamb gets too gamey.”
With the situation handled, Zhuang Mingxu smoothly took over the conversation, shifting it to the latest developments in weapon technology and drawing Zhao Qiang’s attention.
Zhao, now quite tipsy, soon began slurring his speech and hanging onto Zhuang Mingxu’s shoulder like a blood brother.
Lu Weiyi, who rarely drank this much, couldn’t leave early and had to keep him company. At some point, Xu Sa—having realized what was going on—sneakily passed him a bowl of hangover soup.
Zhao Qiang finally passed out close to midnight. Not trusting anyone else, Zhuang Mingxu instructed Ye Jia and Yu Mengchu to personally escort him back to the security squad.
“He drank too much?” Once Zhuang took over hosting duties, Lu Weiyi had stopped drinking. Now, with the hangover soup kicking in and his mind clear, he supported Zhuang Mingxu as they walked back and asked quietly.
“It’s a bit blurry,” Zhuang Mingxu said, struggling to stay coherent. “I need to prepare… what you’ll need.”
“A gun. Bring a gun…”
“I’ll pack later myself,” Lu Weiyi said as he carried Zhuang Mingxu to the bedroom. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a sneaky, dog-like figure creeping over.
“Hehe, Little Lu, I had someone prepare some hangover soup. Let Brother Mingxu drink a bowl, and you too if you want,” Xu Sa said, already aware that Zhao Qiang’s visit was because of him. He still didn’t know exactly what Lu Weiyi had promised, but the fact that Zhao Qiang left peacefully meant he got what he came for.
At the time, Xu Sa had been overwhelmed and relied on Liu Rui to step forward. In the rush to hide, he forgot that Liu Rui lacked experience in handling aftermaths.
In hindsight, they had basically handed their opponents a reason to flip the narrative.
Lu Weiyi kept his face expressionless, didn’t say a word, and laid Zhuang Mingxu down on the bed. Then he fed him the hangover soup that Xu Sa had brought in.
Zhuang Aiyi had already gone to bed with Tao Tao. The two little ones were sprawled all over the big bed, sleeping in all directions.
Not daring to provoke Lu Weiyi at a time like this, Xu Sa placed the soup down, picked up the kids like a loyal sidekick, and said, “I’ll take them to sleep. Just focus on taking care of Brother Mingxu.”
Lu Weiyi nodded and reminded him, “Leave them here. Assembly is at 6 a.m. Get back and catch a nap. Don’t be late.”
Seeing how tired Lu Weiyi looked, Xu Sa felt guilty. This childhood friend of his used to be pampered like a little prince—carefree, relaxed. Now he was managing everything at the base and still cleaning up his messes.
“Go to sleep,” Lu Weiyi said, seeing the look on his face and guessing what he was thinking. He pushed Xu Sa out of the bedroom and shut the door.
Even though he’d drunk quite a bit, Zhuang Mingxu woke up on time after just a few hours of sleep, concerned about Lu Weiyi’s upcoming departure. He got up and started organizing everything they might need for the trip.
Worried about their meals while away, the kitchen staff worked through the night preparing food.
Aside from the cooks and the night shift guards Ye Jia and Yu Mengchu, the only other person up early was Lin Mo, who was used to early morning runs as a soldier. Returning from his jog, drenched in sweat, he radiated rugged masculinity.
“You don’t have a girlfriend?” Zhuang Mingxu asked as he watched Lin Mo towel the sweat off his cropped hair and noted the curve of muscle on his arm. He subconsciously touched his own.
“Nope. Want to introduce me to someone, Base Leader? I’m not picky—just a woman around my age or younger,” Lin Mo replied without thinking, the words flowing right out.
“Didn’t the base organize a few mixers?” Zhuang Mingxu casually tugged at his sleeve as he felt his own arm was a bit flabby.
Lin Mo gave a pained look. “All the girls focus on one squad like hawks. Even that kid Bai Miao, who still hasn’t grown into his features, has women chasing after him. No one wants a real man like me.”
“You won’t believe this—someone even tried to flirt with Brother Xiong, saying just because she’s a woman, she could give him a baby,” Lin Mo said, utterly speechless. “Brother Xiong and his partner have lasted that long. That says everything about their bond, doesn’t it? And she still tried to butt in.”
“She probably thought having a baby was just that easy,” Lin Mo sighed. “After that, I stopped going to mixers.”
“Everyone in Squad One holds a position in the base, with good salaries and benefits. The women probably aren’t even looking for love—just a better life,” Zhuang Mingxu said, understanding.
Capable women could take care of themselves—some even kept several men around, like Ling Shengge. But for those without powers or skills, life was tough. They had to rely on others or risk hardship.
Given the same end, why not pick someone with connections?
As for morality—when people are barely surviving, who cares about that?
“I get it. But I still want to find someone to settle down with,” Lin Mo said, fanning himself with his shirt. “If I can’t, maybe I’ll just date someone from our squad like you guys do.”
He touched his face, looked at the mirror in the living room, and said proudly, “Not bad-looking, right?”
“That depends—do you want to be on top or on the bottom?” Ye Jia, who had just entered for the night shift, teased as he sized him up.
“What’s the difference?”
Ye Jia stroked his chin, thinking. “Hmm… actually, not much.”
He circled Lin Mo twice, then sighed, “Forget it, Mao. No matter top or bottom, just seeing your face would kill the mood.”
“F**k!” Lin Mo swore and ran after him. “Come here! I’ll show you what real talent looks like!”
Ye Jia sprinted around the room, dodging until Zhuang Mingxu came out of the kitchen carrying a tray full of food. Ye Jia quickly raised his hands in surrender but couldn’t resist getting in one last jab: “At least compare yourself to our two base leaders’ looks, would you?”
Before Lin Mo could reply, Zhuang Mingxu cut in coldly, “If you fantasize about Lu Weiyi, I’ll slap you.”
