Chapter 494: The Truth Behind Panshui
“Watch your words,” Ai Ping, panting, gave him a smack from behind. “Young Master Lu, did you see anyone else?”
Lu Weiyi shook his head and handed them each a gun. “Take care of the mutant birds following us.”
“Yes, sir!” the two replied happily, without even questioning where this new aircraft came from—it was as if they had brought spares with them from the start. That made Lu Weiyi feel relieved as well.
As the aircraft circled again, a vine as thick as an arm stretched above the treetops, reaching toward them. Han Fei, sharp-eyed, emptied a magazine into it and instantly shredded the vine. “You damn thing, still trying to ambush us?”
“Young Master Lu, let’s head north. I remember the captain seemed to land over there,” Ai Ping said.
“North?” Lu Weiyi glanced in that direction. “Are you sure?”
“Definitely. He went down with the damaged cockpit door—fell at an incredible speed.”
Lu Weiyi didn’t follow his suggestion but instead asked, “What about the others?”
“West. I think Li Ze landed that way. I saw a parachute stuck in the treetops—I’m pretty sure that’s where he landed,” Han Fei said.
Lu Weiyi turned the plane westward. His deliberate avoidance of the golden eagle’s direction made the other two uneasy—they exchanged a glance. Ai Ping was the first to ask, “Did something happen to our captain…?”
Lu Weiyi didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure whether or not to tell the truth at this point.
Han Fei didn’t move from his aiming position, nor did he look back. His voice carried a smile: “Young Master Lu, just say it. Guys like us have long accepted we might die any day. It’s nothing.”
But even as he spoke, Lu Weiyi’s psychic senses detected the slight tremble in Han Fei’s hand—and Ai Ping’s eyes turning red.
“I’m not sure,” Lu Weiyi finally said. “That area is home to the SS-ranked mutant plant.” He paused, then added, “Did you guys hear an explosion earlier?”
“…Yes.”
“That was the sound of a crystal core self-detonating. I’m not sure if it was one of ours… or someone else here.”
“Oh… haha… Maybe… maybe it was someone else?”
“Our captain’s power is super strong—metal-type. No way he’d go down that easily! He’s never lost even in cross-rank fights…”
They rambled on, trying to convince themselves. After circling again, another vine stretched toward the aircraft. The two simultaneously aimed their guns.
“Goddamn it! Is this never-ending?” Han Fei cursed, blasting the vine into oblivion. He even wanted to keep shooting into the forest below.
After a few more rounds with no other signals detected, Lu Weiyi was about to change course when the same vine from earlier reappeared—this time, clearly wrapped around something. It was bundled tightly into a cocoon, with two legs sticking out and struggling violently.
“Looks like… a teammate.”
Lu Weiyi moved in closer. Han Fei quickly summoned a plant to pull the human-shaped cocoon into the aircraft. As it was yanked out, another person on the other end of the vine came up too.
The Bird-class aircraft could only carry four people. With the cocoon hauled aboard, the person below had to be dragged behind. Lu Weiyi turned the plane back toward the clearing where they had lifted off.
Han Fei continued gunning down the occasional flying mutant birds, while Ai Ping untied the cocoon—revealing a tear- and snot-covered Song Xiao, along with the sight of Li Ze hanging below.
“This guy’s a dumbass. Using vines to reach us? That’s like flagging for an ambush,” Han Fei scolded.
“And didn’t you just want to use a plant to lure attention? I had to stop you,” Ai Ping shot him a glare.
Within minutes, the two seemed to have digested the earlier emotional blow, showing little sign of distress—something Lu Weiyi genuinely admired.
“They’re both wood-type users. Not like they had other options,” he said as the aircraft descended. Li Ze, who had landed first, immediately took cover from the turbulence. Han Fei shouted, “Don’t you dare tell him I fired that shot—he’ll definitely curse me out.”
“Oh, so I should say I did it? You think he’ll go easy on me?”
“Then say Young Master Lu did it. He won’t dare say a thing,” Han Fei replied shamelessly.
Ai Ping gave him a thumbs-up.
As the plane came to a stop, Li Ze ran over against the wind, completely ignoring the others. He went straight to Lu Weiyi. “Young Master Lu—we were set up.”
He yanked forward the curled-up Song Xiao. “The Panshui Base deliberately lured us into the mutant plant’s territory. That bastard admitted it himself.”
The three men’s expressions changed instantly. Han Fei suddenly kicked Song Xiao hard, sending him flying five or six meters. Song Xiao clutched his stomach and groaned in pain.
Han Fei, full of murderous rage, looked ready for another attack, but Li Ze grabbed him. “Cool it, damn it!”
“Our people are dead, and you want me to calm down?!” Han Fei shouted.
The air went quiet. Li Ze’s lips trembled. “Who… who died?”
Han Fei shook his head. Ai Ping answered, “Young Master Lu sensed a crystal core self-detonation.”
Li Ze immediately looked at Lu Weiyi. Lu nodded slightly.
Li Ze wiped his face and stepped forward with purpose, clearly intent on taking action, but Lu Weiyi’s green vines extended from his body, blocking him.
“Ask questions first. Let’s find the rest of the team.”
It likely wasn’t someone close to him. Though Lu Weiyi felt uneasy, he remained calm. The three others took the cue, and Li Ze forced the full story out of Song Xiao.
“Goddamn sons of bitches,” Han Fei exploded, pacing angrily. “We came to help them and they still plotted against us? If they all die, they damn well deserve it!”
“Didn’t you notice that the forest animals here aren’t reproducing nearly as aggressively?” Li Ze asked.
Lu Weiyi nodded. Although he had been using his powers to scout the way and avoid high-level mutated flora and fauna, he had experienced firsthand how animals outside were swarming and blocking every path. In contrast, here the plants and animals were merely mutated.
They were stronger and fiercer, but the ecosystem didn’t seem overly disrupted. In fact, their hostility hadn’t even been fully triggered. Many would still avoid humans—something almost impossible to see in the outside world.
“Let’s use the remaining daylight to try and find the others first,” Lu Weiyi said as he climbed into the co-pilot seat. He pulled out a notebook from his storage space and began writing, transmitting the latest intel to Lu Xiao as soon as possible.
Han Fei took the pilot seat voluntarily, Ai Ping sat in the back, and said to Li Ze, “Wait here—we’ll return shortly.”
“Alright. There’s another mountain to the south. A large area there was damaged by lightning. There was a glowing lightning orb in the sky all night—I suspect that’s where Xu Sa landed. I couldn’t get close before, but you guys can check it out,” Li Ze said, watching the helicopter rise again. He added, “Don’t approach that mutated plant just yet—we’ll need a proper plan.”
Han Fei nodded, and the aircraft ascended once again.
The three of them scouted the surrounding area but didn’t receive any new signals from their teammates. However, the lightning-damaged zone Li Ze mentioned was easy to locate.
Lu Weiyi personally landed to investigate. He found signs that Xu Sa had been there, along with clues about his direction of movement.
“I’ll follow the direction and go look—”
“We’re all going. We can’t split up at a time like this,” Ai Ping interrupted firmly.
When the three returned, Li Ze had already hunted and cleaned three sizable mutated rabbits and was roasting them. In the corner, Song Xiao didn’t even dare breathe too hard, shrinking into himself to reduce his presence.
Lu Weiyi handed him some seasoning, and also relayed his latest findings to Lu Xiao. Meanwhile, the captives in Lu Xiao’s base were starting to talk.
The people from Panshui Base were bloodied all over. Qian Min had lost his previous sharpness and lay on the ground, barely breathing, looking like he could die at any moment.
Lu Xiao had someone feed him some nutrients to keep him from dying, then began interrogating him personally.
Realizing there was no way out, Qian Min stopped playing tough.
Panshui Base had been a paradise of flora and fauna even before the apocalypse, attracting tourists from everywhere. After the end times began and mutant lifeforms appeared, the locals fought hard battles to establish a safe base.
But as surrounding bases were hit by zombies, the more capable individuals in Panshui began migrating to safer places. Those who remained were mostly comfortable ability users and regular civilians who couldn’t leave.
As outside resources dwindled and mutant animals increased, instead of clearing them out, the base locked itself down—retreating step by step. Eventually, humans moved underground.
With limited resources, powerless civilians became the lowest tier. They were stationed on the front line to protect the deeper-dwelling ability users who lived in luxury.
The ability users refused to take responsibility, so the powerless civilians had to go out and fight for survival. Around this time, a mutated plant appeared in the Laoshan region.
The first person to encounter it was a teenager who had followed a hunting party, desperate to survive. He got lost and stumbled upon a small group living near Laoshan. They gave him food and water and told him to bring more people there.
“He just went and told them?” Lu Xiao glanced at the person recording nearby.
Qian Min shook his head. “He was just a young ordinary kid. He didn’t know many ability users. He only told more civilians.”
“Those civilians returned with more food and supplies. They started telling some smaller ability-user teams that the people there didn’t have powers, just a good location and timing, which stirred up greed.”
“A few mid-sized teams banded together to quietly take over the area. After a long time, some ability users came back and convinced more powered people to go there.”
