Chapter 499: Wolf Cubs Searching for People
After regaining some strength, Lu Weiyi continued, “So far, we haven’t seen signs of animal overpopulation here. Whether hunting or exploring, don’t go too far.”
He turned to Li Zhuang. “Organize a team to scout the surrounding area—safety first. Especially over there. Tomorrow, we…”
“Master Lu, we can go over now,” said Han Fei, newly healed by a support ability user. He strode over, fully equipped again, clearly anxious.
Lu Weiyi looked from his face to the few people behind him. After days of nonstop marching, everyone looked utterly exhausted.
“The situation there is unclear. We need to conserve our strength.” Han Fei opened his mouth to argue, but Lu Weiyi raised a hand to stop him. “My uncle gave me command over your unit. Follow orders.”
“But our teammates are missing! How can we just—”
Li Ze quickly grabbed Han Fei, cutting him off. “Sorry, he’s just worried.”
“Go rest. We’ll move at dawn,” Lu Weiyi instructed, then turned back to Li Zhuang. “Set up ability-interference devices around the area. Search for any sign of the enemy. Clear out the forest in the northeast—by tomorrow morning, I don’t want to see a single tree blocking our view.”
“If we encounter high-level mutated beasts, drive them off for now. Don’t waste energy unless we’ve located the rest of the team.”
Lu Weiyi glanced in the direction of the mutated plants, trying to apply the strategic suggestions Zhuang Mingxu had sent him and choose the most practical course of action.
“Watch the underground. This area has lots of caves—have earth-type ability users scan the terrain,” Xu Sa suddenly interjected. He had just finished reading the intel from Zhuang Mingxu and set down the documents. “If the enemy isn’t just one person, we would’ve noticed them outside. They must be hiding. I think underground caves are the most likely.”
“Y-yeah… the cave… is really…” Liu Rui spread his arms wide, “…long.”
“Brother, my dad asked me to bring crystal core detectors and infrared imaging devices. They might help with the search,” said Lu Xi. He looked toward the Flame Squad members who came with him.
Someone immediately stepped forward with four or five compact machines and explained, “These are newly developed by the Capital Research Institute for locating mutated creatures. They detect based on crystal core energy. They’re still in development and can’t identify levels precisely, but they’re good for early warnings.”
“When we left, Major General Lu borrowed a few units from the institute in advance—hoping they’d be of use.” The middle-aged soldier also handed over the infrared imaging devices. “This one was repaired by our Flame Squad—General Lu had us bring it too.”
Infrared imaging still worked by detecting heat, like in the pre-apocalyptic era. But now, even a large enough insect emitted a heat signature—meaning once you turned it on, it showed living creatures everywhere, which was a little eerie.
Ning Yuan, checking for practicality, tested it and stored it away, continuing to use the crystal core detectors. In a zone filled with ability users, the detectors showed blobs of energy directly—the larger the blob, the higher the level.
In that sense, it was a useful danger warning system.
“Good for support,” Ning Yuan said as he handed one to Lu Weiyi.
“Alright. Distribute them. You’ll split into teams and search the area—take the three little ones to help. See if you can find traces of human activity.” Lu Weiyi glanced toward the three massive mutated wolves under Taotao’s supervision. “Also, keep earth-type users scanning the underground.”
“Got it.”
With the command issued, the hundreds of ability users sprang into action. Fire burned paths into the mountain, and the once-silent forest suddenly burst to life—noisy as a marketplace.
Lu Weiyi called Li Zhuang and Ning Yuan over. After hearing their reports, his eyes were so heavy with exhaustion he could barely keep them open.
“Go sleep. I’ll take care of the rest,” said Ning Yuan, forming a ring of ice around Lu Weiyi’s tent to cool the heat and calm the air.
Lu Weiyi nodded, drank a bowl of cold porridge, and suddenly asked, “Who invited Eric here?”
“He contacted Mingxu to ask about your situation. Mingxu thought his ability might be useful and had him come to help,” Ning Yuan replied, quickly recalling what he knew about the man. Not sensing anything wrong, he asked, “Why, is something up with him?”
“What ability level did he report?”
“Peak A-rank.”
Lu Weiyi shook his head. “He’s S-rank.”
Ning Yuan was stunned. When Eric and his group were first brought out from Petroleum Island, they were only C-rank ability users—far behind the others. For Eric to advance to S-rank this quickly… it couldn’t just be luck.
Li Zhuang was the first to react. “You think he’s been absorbing ability user crystal cores?”
“He must be. Qin Yu’s not acting right either. Keep an eye on them—especially since we have so many psychic ability users this time. Don’t let anything happen to our people.” Once someone experiences the unearned power of absorbing others’ cores, it’s hard not to fall for it again.
Ning Yuan inhaled sharply. “Got it. I’ll keep an eye on them.”
“What about Antonio… should we warn him?”
“Let him figure it out himself.” Though Antonio seemed carefree, he was actually sharp. After a few interactions, he’d likely notice something was off. What action to take after that was between them as brothers. Lu Weiyi’s job was to ensure his team’s safety.
**
Even though Lu Weiyi said not to warn Antonio, Ning Yuan decided to subtly hint at it anyway. He reassigned Antonio—who had been stationed at the temporary base—to Eric’s scouting group.
“I’m going with Dean,” Antonio protested, clearly unenthusiastic about the change.
“You can go babysit next to Lu Weiyi’s tent,” Ning Yuan said, pointing to Taotao playing with Lu Xi nearby. When he noticed Dean clutching Antonio’s hand, not letting go, he lowered his voice and added, “Those two have some good stuff with them. Major General Lu—”
Dean, obsessed with domestic delicacies, immediately thought of Lu Xi’s status. With a bright smile, he waved to Lu Xi like an old friend, leaving Antonio dumbfounded and speechless.
Ning Yuan shrugged and leaned in to whisper to him, “Would Eric hurt you for personal gain?”
Antonio’s gaze toward Dean instantly sharpened. He silently looked at Ning Yuan, his eyes full of insight and alertness. He didn’t ask any further questions—just casually glanced at Eric, who was laughing and smoking among a group of people, and ambled over with a lazy air. “I’ll team up with him.”
“Take your little MasterCard with you and look for signs of human activity. Tell your team’s earth-type users to stay alert underground.”
After Ning Yuan finished speaking, Antonio whistled toward the massive mutated wolves panting in the shade like dogs. The three immediately got up and ran toward him.
“No, no,” Antonio said, rejecting them, but the wolves pounced and knocked him to the ground anyway. This time, it was Li Zhuang who laughed uproariously at the sight.
Fire-type users cleared the way, burning down all the forest surrounding the mutated plant. The animals either fled or were chased down—those that remained burned along with the forest.
Watching the intense wildfire and towering trees, Ning Yuan felt a bit regretful. He gathered a few fire users to discuss turning the burnt wood into charcoal to bring back as fuel.
“Didn’t expect you to be so frugal, Captain Ning,” Yu Mengchu teased boldly as she sized him up.
“That’s just because you don’t know me well enough,” Ning Yuan replied. Even in the apocalypse, when conditions allowed, he liked to show a bit of flair. While everyone else wore standard military camo for practicality, he’d painted camo stripes on his face for that extra wild-soldier look.
“Then I’ll have to get to know you better sometime.”
“Oh ho, is Miss Yu descending from the heavens?”
“What, you think I belong in the sky?”
Jokes and banter flew back and forth. Amid the lively chatter, Ning Yuan swiftly divided the teams. “If you can do it, do it. If not, don’t force it. The end goal is to completely clear this area.”
Since the enemy might be a wood-type user, they decided to eliminate all surrounding vegetation—rendering his abilities useless.
The mountain-burning operation proceeded quickly. Water-type users controlled the blaze, and earth-type users scouted underground, filling hidden cavities and shaping paths with their powers.
By midnight, some of the temporary base members who had been living in the forest for days were still sleeping. The wildfire lit up half the sky. The psychics on night watch formed a protective circle, whispering among themselves as their spiritual threads divided the area into layered observation zones with airtight surveillance.
But while everyone was distracted, a thin, pale-green snake—about the width of a pinky—slithered silently into the base. It occasionally reared up and hissed at the backs of ability users, then headed for the central tent.
Lu Weiyi, completely exhausted, hadn’t set up any psychic alerts. Lu Xi sat at the tent’s entrance, while Dean lay on the ground beside him, fast asleep with Taotao cradled in his arms.
Lu Xi occasionally used his psychic energy to swat away incoming mosquitoes and kept a mental perimeter around the tent, ensuring nothing was missed.
The little snake slithered so close it could’ve touched Lu Xi’s face, but he didn’t flinch—his gaze calmly scanning the surroundings. Just as the snake tried to enter the tent, it brushed against Lu Xi’s psychic barrier. His expression instantly sharpened.
“Alert!” Lu Xi yanked Dean and Taotao behind him, shielding the tent with a psychic shield. Dean jolted awake and instinctively grabbed Taotao, darting over to Lu Weiyi’s side.
Everyone snapped to alert the moment they heard the shout, raising their weapons. No one saw anything unusual, so someone asked, “Lu Xi, what’s going on?”
