Chapter 490: Lu Xiao Flips Out
Lu Weiyi picked a steep mountain as the new rendezvous point and began climbing it with difficulty.
Compared to the muddy paths before, the mountain trail was full of hidden holes. A single misstep could send someone falling into a bottomless pit. Lu Weiyi had to use green vines to tie himself to trees, advancing slowly.
*
The people from Panshui Base were forcibly brought back to the base early the next morning. Among their dozen vehicles, three tried to leave by force and were blown up by gunships—turned into fireballs in front of everyone. The passengers died on the spot.
This shocking show of force filled the others with rage, but they had no choice but to return to the Capital base.
When Lu Xiao arrived, several leaders from their team were already arguing with armed soldiers. Their shouting was loud enough to be heard from outside the villa.
“Major General Lu, since when did Capital become your Flame Division’s personal kingdom? You decide whether a faction leader lives or dies with one word?” a red-faced middle-aged man pointed at him and shouted.
“That’s right—we cooperated with the Capital Base to attend the ability user summit. And you dared to deploy aircraft to intercept us—and even killed one of our ability users?”
“With actions like these, how dare you say your base is leading the alliance against zombies? Looks like you’re just eliminating your own kind first.”
“You must give us an explanation for the death of our ability user!”
“Yeah! Give us an explanation!”
…
The crowd was furious and shouting. Lu Xiao’s gaze remained cold as he looked past them toward the fat man hiding at the back.
“Captain Qian, what’s your opinion?”
Qian Min was the deputy leader of Fenghe Squad, the biggest force from Panshui Base, and the highest-ranking person there. He had been the one leading negotiations with the Flame Division on behalf of Panshui Base’s squads. All the people yelling now had also agreed to the travel plans—none had voiced objections at the time.
Lu Xiao had assumed that no faction in Capital would knowingly hide something so dangerous. He had underestimated how much they stood to benefit, which led to the current situation.
Qian Min’s pudgy face squeezed into a Buddha-like smile. “Well… Captain Lu, your men killed people. The evidence is clear. You should give everyone here an explanation.”
“An explanation?” Lu Xiao chuckled, then suddenly his face turned cold. “Men, separate and interrogate them all. I want every hidden detail about Panshui Base. If anyone holds out… help them take their final step.”
“Yes, sir!” came the thunderous reply, and over a hundred armed ability users appeared, surrounding the dozens of detainees.
“Major General Lu, let’s talk this out,” Qian Min’s face turned ashen. He tried to intervene but found that their powers had been suppressed—they were now just normal people with decent physique, no match for armed, powered soldiers.
“No need to talk. They’ll help you remember if you’ve forgotten to tell me anything,” Lu Xiao said coldly. Qian Min had no doubt he would execute them on the spot.
Just as the ability users stepped forward to restrain the captives, a guard rushed in.
“Report, Major General! Members of the Zheng family military wish to see you—along with squads from Menglang, Kuangren, and representatives from Cangnan and Yongping Bases…”
Qian Min silently let out a breath of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Lu Xiao watched the scene unfold, the fire in his chest growing harder to control.
He had always believed that Panshui Base alone wouldn’t dare to scheme against them so brazenly. Now it seemed likely that several other bases and people had also had a hand in it.
“Tell them I’m not seeing anyone.”
“Brother Lu, what’s this about? Why so angry?” Zheng Yi walked in with his hands behind his back. A guard tried to stop him, but one of his men subtly blocked the move, allowing him and his group to step inside.
Following him were members from several second- and third-rate squads of the Capital Base, along with some from other bases. Lu Xiao looked around but didn’t see any members of the Guard Division.
That surprised him—he had expected all the squads to stir restlessly after the news of Lu Weiyi’s team getting into trouble.
Who knew what kind of moves they were planning in the background.
“Panshui Base gave us false intel, which led to my team being unaccounted for. I brought them here to ask for answers. Captain Zheng, you’d best stay out of this,” Lu Xiao stated with righteous authority.
“Could this be a misunderstanding? Why don’t we sit down and…” Zheng Yi smiled, trying to smooth things over, but Lu Xiao suddenly laughed coldly before he could finish.
Everyone was confused by his laugh—then Lu Xiao’s expression turned deadly serious:
“Flame Squad, prepare for wartime conditions. Aim all weapons at the centers of every other squad. If any team makes a move—”
“Open fire immediately!”
Zheng Yi’s eyebrow twitched. Immediately after, a flood of “Received” messages came from the phones of the men around him.
A low hum began to rise from all directions in the base. Zheng Yi couldn’t see anything at first, but moments later, several phones around him began ringing urgently.
The ominous ring tone filled him with dread.
He answered under Lu Xiao’s cold stare. A panicked voice came through: “Captain, our squad’s entire supply depots and residential quarters are being aimed at by rocket launchers!”
The same message echoed from others’ phones: all their bases were locked in the crosshairs of rocket artillery.
“Divine Hawk 400 and 2D rocket launchers are positioned throughout the Capital Base, covering every corner of the base. Captain…”
In that instant, Zheng Yi’s mind went blank—then raced with images and knowledge.
The Divine Hawk 400 Rocket Launcher ranked third globally. It used eight vertical thermal launchers, with a range of 300–600 km. A single missile could obliterate an area of 2,500 square kilometers. Even without GPS functionality in the post-apocalyptic world, its destructive power remained undiminished.
The 2D rocket launcher, ranked second worldwide, had six 425 mm rocket tubes, a range of 480 km, and pre-apocalypse was unmatched in caliber and range. Its power was unquestionable.
Since the apocalypse, all major bases had scrambled to salvage weapons from military and storage sites across the country—Capital Base included.
Zheng Yi, a former soldier from a military family, had long accessed hidden weapons ahead of others. Even so, he had never taken Flame Squad seriously—despite their access to cutting-edge tech from Half Moon Bay Base.
Lu Xiao, as Flame Squad leader, had always kept a low profile. He didn’t interfere in disputes between the Zheng family army and the Guard Division. Out of respect for Half Moon Bay, the base hadn’t crossed Flame Squad, and Lu Xiao had never appeared difficult to deal with.
Their office wasn’t even centralized—scattered modestly around the base, surrounded by family shops of their teammates, giving the image of a down-to-earth leader.
This lulled Zheng Yi into a false sense of security. Now, with just one move, Lu Xiao revealed how every one of those seemingly insignificant positions had been strategically calculated to cover the entire Capital Base with attack range—leaving no blind spots.
These weapons might not be ideal for S-class zombies or mutant plants, but for wiping out humans indiscriminately? No problem at all.
If a single missile was fired and the base destroyed, it would attract a horde of zombies that could completely annihilate the entire place.
Lu Xiao was making a statement: “If you dare act rashly, be prepared to die with us all.”
“Captain Lu, this is too much…” someone in the group tried to interject.
“Hah, rocket launchers? Captain Lu, you think this is still pre-apocalypse? That back then, one gun made you top dog? These days—”
“Shut up, idiot. Do you even know what the Divine Hawk 400 and 2D launchers are?” Someone beside him, more informed, quickly cut him off to prevent further stupidity.
Lu Xiao just watched them in silence, lips curled in mockery, eyes landing squarely on Zheng Yi.
“Little Zheng.”
Zheng Yi’s throat tightened. No one had called him that since the apocalypse. Hearing it now felt utterly foreign.
“You really can’t keep your cool, huh?” Lu Xiao lit a cigarette, took a drag, then gave Zheng Yi a lazy, sideways glance full of menace.
“When you enlisted, I was already the youngest Major in the military district. While you were climbing the ranks with family backing, I became the youngest Major General—on my own.”
He slowly walked forward, one hand in his pocket. The people around Zheng Yi tensed up, but all Lu Xiao did was use his cigarette-holding hand to casually straighten Zheng Yi’s collar and dust off an imaginary speck from his shoulder.
“You think my general’s rank is self-declared… like yours?”
Not only Zheng Yi, but all the men who came with him turned pale. They wanted to speak but were too afraid—faces turning red with held-back words.
“Are you planning to use the lives of hundreds of thousands in Capital Base as your bargaining chip?” Zheng Yi asked, knowing in his heart that he had lost this round—but showing nothing on his face.
“Can you really live with that, in uniform?”
“Heh. Kid, I was thrown into the army at eighteen. I’ve given this country thirty years—my youth, my family, my loved ones, even myself. If I’ve failed anyone, it’s them. But this country? I don’t owe it a thing.”
“I’m already at retirement age. Normally I don’t bother with your little tricks. But…” —his voice suddenly rose— “I’ve only got a few family members left. If anyone dares to touch them, then the whole damn lot of you can die with them!”
“Don’t talk to me about hundreds of thousands—millions, tens of millions—try me and see if I won’t do it!”
Silence fell all around. Lu Xiao’s gaze locked coldly onto Zheng Yi as he spoke evenly:
“Take them away.”
“Beat them half to death before you ask questions.”
