Chapter 501 | Chapter 502 | Chapter 503 | Chapter 504 | Chapter 505
Chapter 501: Hunt
Lu Weiyi hesitated for a moment and didn’t immediately hand the mutated plant over to Taotao to handle.
“Once the fighter jet attacks, everyone else must stay alert for any possible human presence. If any are spotted, gather intelligence first. If that’s too difficult, eliminate them immediately — your own safety is the top priority.”
“Also, we need to gather the S-rank ability users from both teams. When it comes time to deal with the ability users stalling us here, I’ll join them. But if the energy mass following him appears, I’ll focus on eliminating it. The others should coordinate with me using either their abilities or weapons as appropriate.”
“Yes.”
After sending the others off, Lu Weiyi kept Ning Yuan behind.
There was a long, silent pause. Just as Ning Yuan was about to speak, Lu Weiyi said first,
“I might be leveling up here.”
“You’ve reached peak SS-rank?” Ning Yuan looked delighted, but upon seeing the frown on Lu Weiyi’s face, he sensed something was wrong. “What’s the matter?”
Lu Weiyi shook his head, unsure how to explain. “I’ve got a bad feeling. If something unexpected happens…”
Ning Yuan’s expression turned serious. “You’re just leveling up. What kind of unexpected thing could happen?”
“I’m just saying if something does. I’m not certain anything will. But before I succeed, tell the rest of the team not to rush into leveling up. Focus on raising overall strength first.”
“Don’t scare me like that. Should I contact Mingxu and have him come over?”
“No need. Maybe I’m just overthinking it.” Lu Weiyi waved him off, signaling him to leave.
The next morning,
The wildfire that had burned all night finally died out. But the expected charred and barren scene did not appear. The ring of trees surrounding the mutated plant showed no signs of having burned.
Even though they looked no different from pre-apocalypse trees, they were strangely resistant to flame.
“Only fire compressed by S-rank ability users can ignite a small part of them — and even then, it burns extremely slowly. Anything below that level is useless,” Yu Mengchu, who had just conducted a test that morning, reported. “I think those trees might have been reinforced.”
“Then let’s start with them — you take the fire-type ability users to support, and be ready to burn everything down,” Lu Weiyi said, his gaze falling on the fighter jets already prepped and ready. He nodded toward Chief Commander Ning Yuan.
With a wave of Ning Yuan’s hand, several fighter jets soared into the sky. Meanwhile, the psychic-type ability users expanded their mental powers around the area, ready to erect protective barriers at a moment’s notice.
“Boom boom boom—”
The roar of explosions echoed through the mountains, violently shaking the nearby peaks.
Just as the second wave of bombing ended, leaving the mountaintop pitted with craters and shredded tree fragments flying, a massive snake-shaped tree — nearly a hundred meters tall — emerged at the center of the blast zone.
This time, no one needed to point it out — the immense energy radiating from the figure made his presence impossible to ignore. On top of the snake tree stood a refined-looking man, appearing to float effortlessly in mid-air.
His body was entwined by a mutated plant shaped into a serpentine tree. Vines of green slithered around him like living creatures.
“Activate the barrier—” Ning Yuan shouted.
A protective shield, woven from various mental energies, appeared mid-air, cutting off any contact between the fighter jets and the man.
Lu Weiyi looked at the man atop the snake tree through his binoculars. With just one glance, he recognized him.
A wood-type ability user — Gu Sheng.
He wore a black vintage-style shirt on top, paired with a shimmering brocade-style skirt on the bottom. His high ponytail was tied with a red ribbon that loosely draped through his hair. At a glance, he could easily pass for a teenage boy of seventeen or eighteen, but in reality, the man was over thirty.
In his past life, Lu Weiyi had seen Gu Sheng build a base — the only one led by a wood-type ability user — precisely where Half Moon Bay now stood.
What he’d heard most often about Gu Sheng was that he was a formidably powerful wood-type user. While most wood-users were relegated to support and logistics, Gu Sheng shocked the world as a rare offensive wood-type. At that year’s National Ability User Summit in the capital, he rose to fame and became an idol to countless fellow wood-types.
Alongside his abilities was also his legendary love life. Before the apocalypse, rumors had it he was a rich second-generation heir with many lovers. The one who stayed longest by his side was his wife — Nan Qi, a well-known cosplay enthusiast with a modest online following.
They were first loves. Nan Qi had stayed with him for years, but as Gu Sheng sank into indulgence and chaos, he refused to let her go even as he strayed. After a series of melodramatic events involving threats, coercion, career sabotage, and even captivity, Nan Qi escaped with their son — only for the apocalypse to hit.
Nan Qi, with their only child, survived countless hardships before reuniting with Gu Sheng. He won her back and spoiled her endlessly. His current outfit, according to rumor, was styled to match her tastes.
In a drama straight out of a soap opera, Lu Weiyi had once eaten sunflower seeds while hearing some merchant’s family tell this story like a tabloid scandal — the takeaway being: cherish Zhuang Mingxu.
He never expected that in this life, he would occupy Gu Sheng’s old territory… and now…
Was this what they called “seizing the mountain and declaring kingship”?
Lu Weiyi rubbed his nose awkwardly, feeling a little guilty for stealing someone else’s turf.
But the battle had already begun — there was no turning back.
Ning Yuan tilted the energy monitoring device toward Lu Weiyi. A huge energy mass, dozens of meters wide, was clearly visible on the screen.
“That thing’s appeared? It looks way bigger than yesterday.”
“Yeah, the energy’s weaker,” Lu Weiyi replied. “On my count, three — tell them to drop the psychic barrier and commence the third wave of fighter jet attacks.”
“Got it.” Ning Yuan responded quickly and began directing the airborne pilots.
At the same time, a powerful rocket launcher appeared on Lu Weiyi’s shoulder. As he fired, the recoil knocked him backward a few steps before he finally steadied himself.
The fighter jets fired in unison — but the outcome was dramatically different.
Much of the vegetation on the ground was destroyed again, but Gu Sheng in mid-air didn’t even flinch. The rocket launched at him suddenly curved mid-flight and shot into the sky, exploding moments later in a massive firework.
“There was a brief energy fluctuation just now,” Ning Yuan suddenly said.
Lu Weiyi nodded. Just before the rocket hit, the energy from the snake tree dipped for a second before recovering.
“We’ll wear down his powers first,” Lu Weiyi ordered decisively. “Tell the psychic users to stay alert and avoid friendly fire from the projectiles.”
No one knew which way Gu Sheng would redirect the attacks — Lu Weiyi could only make sure their own people were covered.
Now that this vulnerability was exposed, everyone around raised their rocket launchers and fired at Gu Sheng in a steady stream. At first, he easily deflected the missiles, but once he realized it was a tactic to drain his powers, he started reflecting the projectiles back.
Fortunately, with all the psychic users staying vigilant — and with Lu Weiyi assisting — no one was injured.
“Be careful — something’s approaching underground,” Li Zhuang’s voice crackled through the radio.
At the front line, he had already flipped the earth around them, revealing actively moving mutated plants underground. Green leaves, with blossoms also tinged green, gave off a strange, eerie feeling.
“Commander, I spotted human figures — at the mountain peak behind the mutated plant. Same place where the flare landed yesterday,” came a report from a fighter jet serving as their eyes in the sky.
“Son of a b*tch! They walked right into our base?” Ning Yuan cursed. “I’ll send someone to capture them.”
“Send Qi Lin with them. Look for a kid about eleven or twelve — that’s his son.” Qi Lin’s only son was famously spoiled — perfect as a hostage.
“Copy that.” Ning Yuan issued the new command swiftly. Lu Weiyi turned to Taotao and quietly asked where the mutated plant’s crystal core was located.
“There,” Taotao pointed toward Gu Sheng.
It seemed what had emerged was only the outermost branch.
“Increase the firepower on the mutated plant.”
As the barrage of projectiles continued, Gu Sheng finally rose from the snake tree. The high-altitude winds whipped through his robes, making him look like a wandering swordsman.
He suddenly raised his head and let out a long howl toward the sky, and a massive surge of energy condensed into a thick air mass rushed toward the fighter jets.
“Fall back—!” Ning Yuan shouted at the top of his lungs.
Lu Weiyi’s spiritual power, which he had yet to use, suddenly gathered mid-air into a giant hand that slammed down hard on the energy mass. As the two forces collided, Lu Weiyi was surprised to find that his spiritual power was vaguely overpowering the opponent’s, continuing to press down around him.
Had SSS-level ability users become this weak?
Watching the massive spiritual hand swat down like a mosquito, even Lu Weiyi found it unbelievable.
Gu Sheng also seemed caught off guard and didn’t immediately resist. He just watched as the giant energy hand came at him—only dispersing it with a wave of his hand at the moment of contact.
When he turned his gaze back, Lu Weiyi could sense the shift in his aura. If earlier he had seemed casual and careless, now his entire demeanor had transformed.
He leaned forward slightly, then suddenly charged toward Lu Weiyi.
The man in the air didn’t fall despite having no visible support beneath him. Even the snake tree below hadn’t moved. But with each step he took, the mutated plant beneath him immediately grew vines to support his feet. These were so fine they were nearly invisible from a distance, creating the illusion that he was sprinting through the air. The sight alone was intimidating.
As he approached, the snake tree shifted in the direction of other ability users. Its main root, planted in the ground, split apart like octopus tentacles, slithering and moving at astonishing speed.
“Show-off,” Lu Weiyi muttered under his breath, breaking away from the crowd and walking toward Gu Sheng, carrying in his arms the curled-up ball that was Taotao — who clutched his stubby legs tightly.
“Lu Xi, take your team to attack the energy mass — just stall it.” He wasn’t expecting them to destroy it. The earlier encounter had shown him that the energy mass depended on Gu Sheng’s power. Once Gu Sheng’s energy weakened, the mass wouldn’t last.
Chapter 502: Gu Fei
“Hahaha, kid, you’re the highest-level ability user I’ve come across so far,” Gu Sheng said, landing about a hundred meters from Lu Weiyi. The mutated plants around him clustered tightly, making him look like he was blooming in the center of some grotesque mutated flower. If the flowers had been bright and colorful, the scene might’ve been beautiful — but since both the petals and the leaves were the same green, the forced blooming made it painfully awkward to look at.
Gu Sheng stared intently at Lu Weiyi, eyes burning with curiosity and possessiveness — the same kind of gaze Lu Weiyi had seen on those sleazy second-generation rich boys back when he used to follow Zhuang Mingxu around.
The difference was: they at least tried to hide it. Gu Sheng didn’t bother.
Lu Weiyi didn’t waste a single word. He stuffed the spatial jade Zhuang Mingxu had given him into Taotao’s hand and whispered, “If you can’t win, just get inside.”
Taotao nodded excitedly, eyes fixed on Gu Sheng, then was immediately tossed by Lu Weiyi toward the location of the mutated plant’s crystal core.
Gu Sheng clearly hadn’t expected Lu Weiyi to throw a child at him — he froze for a moment.
And in that instant, a small green tendril hidden underground lashed out and wrapped around the mutated plant beside Gu Sheng, yanking it forcefully away. At the same time, a spiritual barrier was erected, completely separating Gu Sheng from the plant.
Knowing Taotao could defend himself, Lu Weiyi closed in immediately, a rocket launcher materializing in his hands as he fired at close range.
“You’re dead—!” Gu Sheng was struck by the blast and thrown back several dozen meters before regaining his footing.
Patting the flames off his clothes and seeing the burn holes, his expression instantly darkened.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the snake tree entangled with Lu Xi’s group of dozens, and noticed its energy had indeed weakened — and wasn’t regenerating.
Lu Weiyi launched another round at Gu Sheng without hesitation.
He hoped to use weapons instead of abilities to suppress the enemy and conserve energy — especially since he was on the verge of leveling up.
But Gu Sheng wasn’t that easy to deal with. Realizing Lu Weiyi’s strategy, he immediately switched tactics, using his surrounding energy to divert the rocket’s trajectory mid-flight.
Unlike Gu Sheng, who didn’t care where the redirected rockets went, Lu Weiyi had to worry about friendly fire. As a result, the energy drain on his side ended up being greater.
“Hey, how about saying your last words?” Gu Sheng said loftily, reaching out and swatting away incoming attacks, even catching a small green vine mid-air and yanking it off.
At the exact moment it was torn apart, Lu Weiyi heard a soft, childlike cry from Taotao.
His attention immediately shifted — he retracted the vine and launched a wave of psychic attacks, all while glancing toward Taotao’s direction.
He saw Taotao, who had already stomped the mutated plant beneath his feet, now rolling on the ground like he was hurt.
“Taotao, come back!” Lu Weiyi shouted.
But Taotao made no move to return to the spatial jade. Lu Weiyi tried to retrieve him with his vine again, only to be blocked by Gu Sheng.
A powerful burst of wood-type energy surged toward the vine. The scorched land around them instantly erupted in a wave of greenery.
“Your opponent is me,” Gu Sheng said with a smile — then his expression twisted, “Are you looking down on me? How dare you keep looking at someone else?”
“I’ll kill you and slice your meat into pieces!”
A soft, feminine voice chimed in, “Ooooh, slice it up for hot pot — smells so good!”
If Gu Sheng hadn’t clapped his hands and skipped around like a girlish schoolgirl, Lu Weiyi wouldn’t have believed that voice had come from him.
Psychic power clashed endlessly with wood-type energy. Lu Weiyi was forced to stay in place, unable to advance even half a step, while Gu Sheng seemed completely unfazed, prancing closer with tiny tiptoeing steps.
“I don’t like hot pot,” said a deep, masculine voice. “Too hot.”
“I-it’s a bit spicy…” a timid male voice said, sounding shy.
“You coward, can’t even handle spicy food. You might as well be dead!” a fierce female voice snapped.
“So what if I don’t eat spicy food? I, your auntie, don’t eat it either! What’s it got to do with you?” a bold, northeastern-accented female voice declared loudly.
“You’re all disgusting,” Gu Sheng said, daintily covering his nose. “I’m different. I only eat crystal cores.”
“The crystal core is mine—!”
Several voices shouted at once.
Lu Weiyi truly couldn’t understand how one mouth could make so many different male and female voices simultaneously. If the situation weren’t so dire, he would’ve loved to study it.
“Don’t… don’t go any further.” Gu Sheng’s steps halted like something was pulling him back, and for a split second, his powers disappeared.
Lu Weiyi seized the chance—he fired a crystal core missile at him, while also condensing his psychic power into a fist and slammed it downward, punching Gu Sheng deep into the ground.
With the combined power of the crystal core blast and half of an SS-level psychic strike, Gu Sheng was buried into the earth, a cloud of black dust rising and obscuring vision.
“Run… run now…” a woman’s voice was the first to be heard, followed by Gu Sheng’s own menacing shout: “Get lost—”
All the voices vanished instantly. Lu Weiyi took the opportunity to punch again, but Gu Sheng dodged agilely.
Breaking through the cloud of black ash, Gu Sheng no longer looked dashing and elegant like before—half his hair was scorched, and his clothes were full of holes.
“You’re going to die!” he said in a low, judgmental tone, like passing a sentence.
He reached up and yanked the long hair from his head—
And pulled off a wig.
Extending both hands toward Lu Weiyi, Lu suddenly felt an invisible force pinning him in place. He couldn’t move an inch. The energy around them churned, and something began to break through the ground beneath him, live vines wrapping around his legs, drilling into his flesh and searching deeper.
“Brother, be careful—”
Before Lu Xi could even warn him, Lu Weiyi had already “seen” the snake tree—previously entangled by Lu Xi and the others—suddenly reappear beside him, enveloping him at the center of its energy core.
The energy itself was invisible, but the suffocating pressure came from all directions.
It felt like countless fine tendrils were wriggling toward him, crawling into his body through every pore.
His mental barrier kept forming and shattering, again and again. With every attack, the energy protecting him weakened due to his diminishing power.
Just as Lu Weiyi was about to consider escaping into his spatial dimension for a moment of relief, Gu Sheng suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, as if struck by a heavy blow. The snake tree’s attack also halted instantly, frozen in place.
Following Gu Sheng’s gaze, Lu Weiyi saw the previously aggressive mutated plant—locked in a battle with Taotao—now collapsed limply on the ground.
Taotao had already reappeared in the spatial dimension. The little one was completely charred, more pitiful than ever before, his eyes red from crying. He had clearly shrunk in size, and his body even looked a bit translucent. Yet, in his tiny hand, he held a crystal core pulsing with massive energy, and in his soft voice, he said:
“Father, for you.”
“Absorb the jade stone,” Lu Weiyi told him.
Taotao’s eyes lit up instantly. Like a cat who had just stolen something delicious, he took out the space jade stone Lu Weiyi had given him earlier and began absorbing it contentedly, his eyes narrowing into happy slits.
“Interesting,” Gu Sheng said, wiping the blood from his mouth.
“Kill him already, you useless waste!” the coarse male voice returned.
“Kill, kill!” Gu Sheng clapped his hands again. If he were dressed in a lolita skirt, he could’ve twirled and spun around like a doll.
“Taotao, exit the space!” Lu Weiyi ordered.
Though confused, Taotao obeyed and reappeared among the pile of fallen mutated plants.
Lu Weiyi instantly entered the space himself, dodging the crushing force of the snake tree’s energy group. Through the link with Taotao, he teleported to his side and threw the boy back into the spatial dimension.
“Spatial powers?” Gu Sheng’s eyes burned with interest.
“Dual abilities?” As his focus shifted, the snake tree instantly lunged toward Lu Weiyi.
Before the snake tree could attack, Lu Weiyi launched his powers at Gu Sheng first. At the same time, Lu Xi and the others regrouped and began battling the snake tree again, relieving some of the pressure on Lu Weiyi.
Even so, fighting an opponent at a higher level wasn’t something that could be easily overcome—especially with that cheat-like snake tree by Gu Sheng’s side.
SSS-level ability users really did seem to exist in an entirely different realm. Both in attack and defense, Lu Weiyi simply couldn’t compete. And that was even assuming Gu Sheng’s level had been artificially inflated.
The crystal core weapons were ineffective against the snake tree, and couldn’t do enough damage to Gu Sheng, turning them into a liability.
They had clearly underestimated the situation.
Just as Lu Weiyi was trying to figure out how to lead his team out of this mess, a child’s voice suddenly echoed—
“Daddy, help me—”
—
Both Gu Sheng and the snake tree froze mid-attack, looking up in the direction of the voice. Their eyes widened as if they had seen something terrifying. In that split-second of distraction, Lu Weiyi’s psychic power slithered like a snake into Gu Sheng’s brain.
“Xiaofei…” Gu Sheng’s gaze slowly dulled.
Beside him, the snake tree disintegrated into motes of energy, vanishing into the air as if cut off from its energy supply.
The world around them faded away.
Gu Sheng turned back to see a familiar scene—a simple, worn cave dwelling, musty and filled with the scent of decay. The kang (heated bed) he sat on had bedding that clearly hadn’t been used in years. In the dimly lit corner, spiderwebs stretched down the walls.
Through the cracked glass window, snow could be seen falling outside, blanketing the world in white.
This was a plain, rural home—nothing more.
Gu Sheng looked dazed. He remembered…
Where had he come from again?
While he was still lost in thought, a young woman’s voice called from just a few steps away at the stove—
“Gu Sheng, time to eat.”
The long-lost voice made Gu Sheng’s whole body stiffen. He looked up toward the source of the sound. The woman wore a thick down jacket, her lips dry and chapped from dehydration.
Chapter 503: Gu Fei’s Cooperation
The woman was bundled in a thick down jacket. Her long hair, now cropped short like a buzz cut due to lack of water and hygiene, framed her cracked lips—splits caused by chronic dehydration. She deftly extinguished the stove’s fire and carried a plate of food toward the back of the cave-dwelling.
“Brother Jing, dinner’s ready.”
Her voice now held an unconscious gentleness—completely different from the calm tone she used to call Gu Sheng earlier.
Gu Sheng clenched his teeth. The current situation played out in his mind.
His family needed someone to marry for alliance purposes, and as a beneficiary of the family’s power, he had accepted the duty. But this triggered a strong reaction from Nan Qi, the woman he had been with for seven years. She fled with their child, Gu Fei. Although he managed to capture her later, she had hidden the child.
Then, the apocalypse arrived without warning.
Nan Qi used the chaos to escape. Gu Sheng spent considerable effort to find her, only to discover she had a childhood friend by her side—a fire-type ability user far more aggressive than his own wood-type ability—who insisted on accompanying her to her hometown to search for Gu Fei.
Gu Sheng was furious, but in the end-times, the former status of powerful families meant nothing. He couldn’t force Nan Qi, especially with the fire-type man protecting her. So he used the excuse of looking for his son to join their journey.
Nan Qi didn’t oppose having another ability user with them, but her attitude toward him was clearly colder than before. The stark contrast in how she treated the two men ignited a growing resentment and jealousy in Gu Sheng.
Then came an encounter with a mid-sized zombie horde. Liu Jing, the fire ability user, was injured while saving Nan Qi. They took refuge here to recover and wait out the sudden winter.
Gu Sheng watched as Nan Qi, cold and distant, set his food aside and instead personally fed Liu Jing. His fingers traced the smooth, translucent crystal core he’d once found in the brain of a dead ability user. Absorbing it had drastically increased his power with almost no pain—clearly a rare find.
Originally, Gu Sheng had considered letting Nan Qi use it too. But her attitude made him bitter, and he kept it to himself. Now…
He looked deeper into the cave at the half-reclined man and a dangerous thought took root.
Winter was long and harsh. Gu Sheng changed completely—no longer hostile toward Liu Jing. In fact, he ventured into the snow daily to hunt zombies, sharing the crystal cores he gathered to help Liu Jing strengthen his abilities.
“With so little medicine, higher-level powers will help him recover faster,” Gu Sheng said as he handed over a core to a conflicted-looking Nan Qi. “Don’t overthink it. It’s all for our son. One more fighter means a better chance of survival.”
“I’ll make sure Brother Jing repays you someday,” Nan Qi said firmly.
Gu Sheng gave a bitter smile. “There’s no need to be so polite between us.”
Nan Qi didn’t reply, but the look on her face told Gu Sheng clearly—she wanted no more entanglements with him.
His eyes darkened. He said nothing.
He spent the whole winter not only hunting zombies, but ambushing lone ability users too, returning with injuries and crystal cores—enough for three people to level up.
Liu Jing gradually recovered. Nan Qi’s attitude toward him softened. Things began to look up—Liu Jing’s ability even advanced a tier.
Spring came, and the three of them set off again for Nan Qi’s home in Changshou Village at the foot of Lao Mountain. They faced countless dangers, but overcame them together. Their earlier hostility gave way to a fragile bond. Gu Sheng’s powers became the strongest among them, and he began to imagine a life with Nan Qi and her child—giving up on his resentment toward Liu Jing.
But the reunion wasn’t what he expected.
Gu Fei didn’t acknowledge him as his father. Instead, he called Liu Jing “Dad” and actively tried to pair Liu Jing and Nan Qi together. To Gu Sheng, he was a ghost.
Watching the tight-knit trio—more like a family than he’d ever been—Gu Sheng’s gaze gradually fixated on the crystal core in Liu Jing’s body.
But before he could act, Liu Jing discovered the truth—that Gu Sheng had been killing ability users for cores to power up.
Staring into Liu Jing’s stunned eyes, Gu Sheng muttered, “It’s not what you think,” while silently commanding a mutated plant to attack Liu Jing from behind—its sharp vines aimed straight at his chest.
No—!
Stop!
A voice screamed in Gu Sheng’s head. He tried to stop the man he had become.
But what had happened could not be undone.
Faced with someone one tier lower and blindsided by a mutated plant’s ambush, Liu Jing died with eyes wide open.
Gu Sheng stepped forward to close Liu Jing’s eyes, placing his hand on the man’s forehead. This A-tier ability user—someone he had nurtured with crystal cores all the way through—became his stepping stone.
The high-grade core caused violent fluctuations in his power, with all the energy reacting chaotically. Gu Sheng forced it down… unaware that a consciousness within him had surfaced and told Nan Qi the truth.
While he played the role of mourning with Nan Qi over Liu Jing’s death, she struck him with a fatal blow.
Lu Xi led the team in pouring all their mental energy into attacks. When they saw the man whose face shifted from joy to hatred in seconds, they froze for a moment—unsure what was happening.
His abilities were spent. The only thing keeping him upright was a crystal core secretly given to him by Lu Xiao, which he was quietly absorbing in one hand, not wanting to affect team morale.
Next to him, Eric’s reaction was swift. He glanced at Lu Weiyi, whose unfocused eyes were locked on the dazed Gu Sheng in the distance. Eric’s thoughtful gaze flicked between the two of them.
Sensing his expression, Xing Zhou subtly nudged Lu Xi and motioned toward Lu Weiyi. “Our captain seems… off?”
Lu Xi immediately sensed something wrong and was about to call for guards around Lu Weiyi—
When Gu Sheng suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream:
“Nan Qi—!”
Across from them, Lu Weiyi let out a cry of pain, clutching his head and collapsing to the ground.
Gu Sheng, now fully conscious again, summoned a watermelon knife — the most ordinary kind, the kind that cost a few bucks in pre-apocalypse supermarkets.
“You’re really asking to die.” Gu Sheng stepped toward Lu Weiyi, no longer bothering to use his abilities — as if determined to kill him with the most primitive method.
“Dad, help me…” a boy’s voice cried out again.
Gu Sheng’s steps faltered. His gaze turned toward the direction of the voice.
Lu Xi turned to look — standing in front of Qi Lin was a boy about thirteen or fourteen years old, a dagger pressed to the boy’s neck.
Beside them, Ning Yuan had conjured a flurry of sharp ice shards, circling the child and ready to skewer him at any moment.
“Back off, or I’ll kill him,” Qi Lin said coldly.
“That’s not real. It’s just an illusion, like when you thought he died earlier,” came a calm, scholarly voice. Gu Sheng instinctively adjusted imaginary glasses on his face.
“But Xiao Fei’s not dead…” came a timid voice.
“Xiao Fei is hidden in a very safe place — no way he was caught,” said a bored female voice, stretching out her fingers as if admiring a fresh manicure.
“What if? What if it is Xiao Fei?”
“There’s no such thing as so many what-ifs.”
“If he dies, he dies. Family only holds you back. They slow down our path to power.”
“Let him die, then. Hee hee…”
“Just like that woman… ha ha ha…”
…
Gu Sheng muttered to himself, occasionally mimicking gestures, with mannerisms clearly switching between male and female. It was creepy to watch.
Taking advantage of his argument with himself, Lu Xi silently crept closer, hoping to drag the collapsed Lu Weiyi to safety.
“Enough!” a sharp male voice cut through, silencing all the others instantly.
Gu Sheng’s sharp gaze fixed on the boy, as if trying to determine whether he was real or not.
“Dad, it hurts! Help me!” the boy screamed and flinched — the movement caused his neck to press into Qi Lin’s blade, instantly slicing a thin line of blood.
“Xiao Fei, don’t move!” Gu Sheng shouted, trying to calm him. He turned to the others, his voice filled with menace. “You’d better release my son, or else—”
“—or else you’ll die a little more slowly,” Ning Yuan finished his sentence. He locked eyes with Gu Sheng, not a trace of fear, and moved the deadly ice spikes even closer to the boy. “Try and see — will we die first, or will he stop breathing first?”
“Back off!” Ning Yuan shouted. “Or I’ll kill him first…”
Gu Sheng took two steps back. “You don’t want your teammates anymore?”
Ning Yuan’s confident expression flickered as he looked toward Qi Lin. Qi Lin shook his head — he hadn’t seen any of their team members among Gu Sheng’s people.
“They’re being held elsewhere. Don’t believe me? Ask my son — kids don’t lie,” Gu Sheng said.
Ning Yuan glanced at Xiao Fei. The boy hesitated, then gave a slight nod.
Taking advantage of Ning Yuan’s momentary hesitation, Gu Sheng stepped forward quickly, aiming to grab Lu Weiyi, who was still curled on the ground, suffering from psychic backlash. Just as he moved, he felt a sudden impact aimed at his face. He dodged instinctively, only to realize it wasn’t dangerous. Looking again, Lu Weiyi had already been whisked away by another speed-type ability user and was now back beside Ning Yuan.
Dean rushed over and began injecting energy into Lu Weiyi’s body. Although the psychic backlash couldn’t be healed, the pain was greatly alleviated.
Driven by the will to get his teammates out, Lu Weiyi forced his disoriented mind back into clarity.
“Captain, are you okay?”
Lu Weiyi shook his head and quickly pulled out the SS-grade plant crystal core Taotao had recently dug up, absorbing it without hesitation.
“Give me back my son, or else…” Gu Sheng’s voice grew colder as powerful energy began to radiate from him.
Lu Weiyi prepared to shield them with psychic energy when the boy beside him suddenly cried out in pain, “Dad, stop! I can’t bear this pressure…”
The words stunned Ning Yuan — and even Lu Weiyi looked surprised.
Chapter 504: Gu Sheng Loses Control
They were standing close. Lu Weiyi’s psychic shield was only meant to block Gu Sheng’s ability from affecting the others — it wasn’t supposed to have any effect on people standing nearby.
But those words alone made the enraged Gu Sheng instantly withdraw his energy. “I’ll stop. Just don’t hurt the boy.”
Ning Yuan’s eyes flashed coldly. “Bring our teammates over first. We’ll make a trade.”
“Do you mean it?” Gu Sheng asked — only to be interrupted by a voice in his head:
“He’s lying! Kill them all — don’t back down!”
“Don’t trust them. Xiao Fei will understand.”
“You’ll have more kids. Everything can be replaced…”
Amid the chaos of voices, a calm female voice cut through. “Gu Sheng!”
Gu Sheng shuddered as if electrocuted, and whispered in disbelief, “Nan Qi?”
“Save Xiao Fei,” the woman said.
“Nan Qi, how did you die? Who killed you? Nan Qi?! Nan Qi?!” Gu Sheng shouted in anguish.
While the main forces on both sides clashed, the rest of the team, covered by psychic users, had already regrouped with the main squad. It wasn’t far — and everyone could see Gu Sheng, now acting completely insane, talking to himself, crying and laughing by turns.
“What’s wrong with him? Schizophrenia?” Ning Yuan whispered.
“He absorbed too many ability users’ crystal cores and is suffering psychic backlash,” Lu Weiyi replied, his gaze drifting almost involuntarily toward Erik.
Erik narrowed his eyes, and when he heard this, his gaze snapped over to meet Lu Weiyi’s.
“He killed my mother… but couldn’t accept it. He forgot it ever happened,” said the boy they had captured, looking at the deranged Gu Sheng with an eerie calm — and just the faintest flicker of hatred in his eyes.
“You know?” Lu Weiyi had originally planned to just tell him the truth and use him to restrain Gu Sheng, but after seeing in Gu Sheng’s memories how deeply Nan Qi had loved this child, he hesitated — imagining himself in her place.
“I saw it with my own eyes,” Gu Fei gritted his teeth, then turned to Lu Weiyi. “Can you kill him?”
Lu Weiyi shook his head. “He’s very strong.”
“Is there a way I can kill him?” Gu Fei asked, locking eyes with Lu Weiyi. “I saw him kill my mom and absorb her crystal core with my own eyes.”
“He abused my mom for years. She endured it all for me, but he never let us go. I want revenge. My mom died with regret in her eyes. She told me to run…”
Tears streamed down Gu Fei’s face. For the first time, he had found people strong enough to challenge Gu Sheng — and he didn’t want to miss this chance.
“Please, I’m begging you.”
His words caused Lu Weiyi to freeze for a moment. He recalled something from many years ago — when he was about the same age. That gentle woman was pushed off a building, and in her last words she said: “Don’t say anything!”
“He followed me willingly. He had powerful mutated plants guarding him, and he removed their crystal cores himself,” Qi Lin suddenly interjected.
“I do want to kill him,” Gu Fei insisted, sensing they still didn’t believe him. He tried to sweeten the deal:
“Are your teammates two people wearing camouflage? One of them is a really powerful metal ability user…”
“Yes! Kid, you’ve seen them?” Han Fei pushed forward, hope lighting up his face.
“Yeah. My dad’s keeping them alive so that once he becomes S-rank, he can absorb them and evolve his ability even further. Every day, he cuts pieces of flesh off the other guy to provoke the metal user and force him to keep upgrading…”
“Cuts flesh?!” Han Fei couldn’t yet tell who the second person was, but just hearing this made his teeth grind with rage. He turned to Lu Weiyi, pleading:
“Young Master Lu…”
Lu Weiyi glanced toward Gu Sheng. With Nan Qi’s voice no longer appearing, Gu Sheng was beginning to calm down.
Lu Weiyi swiftly pulled a cold, glowing syringe from a case he had stored in his space — faint blue, still frosted. He handed it quietly to Gu Fei.
“You only have one chance. Inject this into him.”
Gu Fei took it without hesitation, hiding it in his sleeve. Then, turning back toward Gu Sheng, he put on the face of a frightened child again.
“Dad, I’m so scared. Please save me.”
“Mom told you to take care of me. Daddy, save me, please…”
Gu Fei’s sobs snapped Gu Sheng out of it. “Daddy’s coming to save you right now.”
He waved toward a distant, barren mountaintop. The ground heaved, and soon a prison woven from plant vines emerged. Inside were two bloodied figures.
The cage moved like a living creature, slithering along the ground until it reached Gu Sheng’s side.
“Captain…” Li Ze whispered.
Han Fei tried to step forward, but Ai Ping held him back. “Don’t make things worse.”
“Exchange,” Gu Sheng said coldly, eyes fixed on Lu Weiyi like he was already a corpse.
Lu Weiyi glanced at Qi Lin, signaling him to follow. Others tried to come too, but he stopped them with a sharp look. He stepped forward slowly, Qi Lin following with Gu Fei in tow.
When they were only ten meters apart, Lu Weiyi stopped. “Remove the plants. I want to make sure they’re alive.”
“If they’re dead, their crystal cores would be too. Can’t you sense that?” Gu Sheng asked.
Lu Weiyi ignored him, staring him down without blinking. His psychic power had already formed a tight protective field around the two beside him. If Gu Sheng made a move now, Gu Fei would be the first to die.
Gu Sheng didn’t dare take that gamble. He waved, and the plant cage vanished. The Jin Diao held Meng Huan tightly on his lap. As the cage disappeared, he opened his eyes with great effort and slowly turned his head. When he saw Lu Weiyi and the group behind him, his gaze became dazed.
A soldier trained to the extreme had been mentally broken in such a short time.
And the Meng Huan in his arms hadn’t even stirred.
Lu Weiyi could sense that they were still alive — but just barely.
He signaled to Qi Lin to go get them and warned Gu Sheng,
“They can’t move well. Step back.”
“You better not—”
“Daddy…” Gu Fei whined tearfully.
Gu Sheng’s words caught in his throat. He exhaled hard and slowly stepped back, while Qi Lin guided Gu Fei forward.
Energy surged around Gu Sheng and Lu Weiyi, colliding in silence, a tug-of-war in the air. As Qi Lin reached the Jin Diao, tension skyrocketed.
Behind Lu Weiyi, dozens of psychic ability users were channeling power into him nonstop. Ning Yuan and the others all had weapons trained on Gu Sheng. One man — Gu Sheng — against hundreds.
Lu Weiyi quietly began absorbing all the high-level crystal cores stored in his space. If things went wrong, he’d need the surge of strength from leveling up to fight Gu Sheng.
The Jin Diao, barely standing, lifted Meng Huan onto his back. One hand gripped Qi Lin. Qi Lin let go of Gu Fei — and in the split second the knife left Gu Fei’s throat, he grabbed the eagle and Meng Huan and vanished from sight.
Gu Sheng immediately activated his ability. From beneath the ground, new plant growth erupted in dense green waves — seemingly fresh sprouts, but full of energy. Lu Weiyi sensed the immense power in each glowing strand.
He countered with a burst of psychic force, forming a shield and launching it at Gu Sheng’s energy. When the two forces collided, Gu Fei — caught in the middle — was thrown violently through the air. Gu Sheng caught him with lightning reflexes.
Even then, Lu Weiyi sensed a faint, non-lethal wave of energy drifting toward the direction where Qi Lin had escaped — not hostile, not dangerous… strangely, it even seemed to carry a trace of life.
This was a feeling unique to Wood-type ability users when they stimulated growth.
Lu Weiyi’s eyes sharpened. Before he could react, the energy surrounding Gu Sheng suddenly froze—and then rapidly dissipated.
“Xiao Fei…” Gu Sheng’s voice rang out in disbelief.
Behind him, Gu Fei stood holding a syringe, the bluish-purple liquid already injected into Gu Sheng’s body.
That was a syringe from the early days of the apocalypse—when Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu passed by the Anping Base and saved the mayor’s daughter. As thanks, they had been given that syringe, said to temporarily nullify an ability user’s powers.
Lu Weiyi had kept it ever since, and this was the first time he used it—on a high-level ability user.
“I saw you kill my mother. You destroyed my home,” Gu Fei said calmly, nothing like a child barely in his teens.
“It wasn’t me… Your mother…”
“It was you. You coward. You killed her and didn’t dare admit it. You ran away and pretended to forget,” Gu Fei said, pulling out the syringe and stabbing it into Gu Sheng again with force.
The fine needle didn’t do much physical harm—but the psychological blow was far greater.
The energy around Gu Sheng began to lose control. Lu Weiyi sensed it was on the verge of a complete breakdown. “Gu Fei, run!”
The surging energy around Gu Sheng distorted Gu Fei’s skin, but he still held tightly to Gu Sheng’s clothes and shouted, “Kill me! Just like you killed my mom! Use your power—kill me!”
“Xiao Fei—” Gu Sheng’s energy twisted into a chaotic mix of multiple ability types. He tried to suppress it, but under the effect of the serum, his original power began to weaken. The restless energies began to clamor louder.
He could no longer fully control the abilities in his body. Energy visibly flowed under his skin, warping his facial features and even changing his voice—like countless people were fighting for dominance inside him.
“Run!” Lu Weiyi shouted at the alert team behind him. He could feel it—if this continued, Gu Sheng’s core might explode.
An SSS-level ability user, no matter how they’d reached that level, had an energy core that was never weak. If it exploded, it wouldn’t just destroy the mountain—they could expect devastation for dozens of kilometers around.
Chapter 505: Captive
“Hurry! Now! Evacuate immediately!” Ning Yuan shouted, rallying everyone toward the planes.
The speed-type ability users rushed to the aircraft first, while Earth-type users created a runway. The rest poured in, sprinting toward the cabin doors at lightning speed.
By now, Gu Sheng’s energy had turned into a chaotic, turbulent current—ready to explode at any moment.
Gu Fei, being pulled back and forth, couldn’t move forward or back. He had stopped resisting entirely.
Lu Weiyi watched the cabin door anxiously, muttering under his breath, “Hurry, hurry, hurry…”
Gu Sheng had lost consciousness, and countless voices seemed to argue from within his body. Then, a calm, steady male voice appeared and instantly seized control. The chaotic energy was forcibly suppressed by a dominant fire-type power.
He glanced at Gu Fei and, with a wave, sent the boy flying toward the main group using an invisible force. His voice was gentle: “Xiao Fei, live well.”
“Xiao Fei, Mommy loves you,” came a cold female voice, tinged with emotion.
In that instant, a face torn between male and female looked toward Lu Weiyi and gave a final command: “Kill him.”
Lu Weiyi’s spiritual power instantly converged and reached for Gu Sheng’s forehead. The moment he sensed something different from all other energy cores, he didn’t hesitate—he quickly stored it in his spatial ring.
The man and woman disappeared without a trace, and with the fire-type suppression gone, the leftover energy surged out in a violent blast, tearing through the surroundings with overwhelming force.
Lu Weiyi expanded his spiritual power outward, forming a fan-shaped shield behind him to block the devastation.
Elsewhere, trees and mountaintops were sliced clean through, as if by an invisible blade, unleashing destruction across the land.
Everyone already on board the planes stared in stunned silence.
Sensing the worst wave of energy had passed, Ning Yuan ran toward the collapsed Lu Weiyi. Xu Sa and Lu Xi followed closely behind.
They saw Lu Weiyi in the distance shake his head slightly, then silently mouth the words: “Run!”
Xu Sa hesitated, but Ning Yuan quickly turned around and shouted to the others, “Go now!”
The passenger jet took off first, followed by fighter planes and helicopters. Only Ning Yuan’s helicopter remained on standby. As he and the others boarded, a faint but irresistible energy surged into each of their minds.
*
About half an hour after takeoff, they realized one helicopter was missing.
Li Zhuang led a team back to Lao Mountain. From the sky, they saw a helicopter resting amid scorched terrain, spinning rotors kicking up ash and dust—but showing no sign of taking off.
“No one land,” Li Zhuang ordered all pilots and pulled out binoculars to scan the scene.
Through the dust, they could see people still seated inside. In the pilot’s seat, Antonio sat motionless. By the open cabin door, Ning Yuan stood casually, completely relaxed. Lu Xi had one hand on her seatbelt. Xu Sa was leaning forward, looking toward Lu Weiyi. Deeper inside, the others were obscured.
A short distance away, Lu Weiyi lay slumped on the ground. About ten meters farther, Gu Sheng lay on his back, blood on his face—his fate unknown.
“Captain Li, should we send people down?” Some pilots hovering above had also seen the scene below. It looked eerie but not immediately dangerous, so they asked for instructions.
“Better not,” said a voice not belonging to the pilots—its distinct accent made Li Zhuang immediately recognize it as Eric.
“What’s your take?” Li Zhuang asked.
“I can sense psychic energy thick in the area. The closer you get to the ground, the denser it becomes.”
Li Zhuang turned his gaze to Xing Zhou, who was also a psychic-type ability user. Xing Zhou closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then nodded at Li Zhuang.
After some deliberation, Li Zhuang decided to find a temporary landing site.
Due to their rushed departure, they hadn’t regrouped by original squads. Going too far from here risked attacks by mutated birds. Li Zhuang ultimately chose a location still close to the primeval forest, though closer to its edge.
After an earth-type user reconstructed a landing runway, the large group reassembled, awaiting further orders.
“Brother Zhuang, where’s David?” As soon as Li Zhuang landed, Dean rushed at him like a little cannonball, eyes scanning the cabin behind him. When he didn’t see David, his eyes instantly reddened like a wronged puppy. Liu Rui, following behind, also looked at him anxiously.
The two younger men looked as if they were turning to a parent for help. As a veteran who’d fought alone for over a decade, Li Zhuang suddenly felt the illusion of needing to care for children.
“He’s not injured. Hold on a moment.” Li Zhuang strode toward the cluster of people and warned, “Don’t do anything rash.”
Knowing now wasn’t the time to act recklessly, the two quickly followed.
“Send reports to base and to Major General Lu, updating them on what’s happened here. Ask if they have any strategies we can use,” Li Zhuang said as he walked toward the passenger plane. “Is Gu Fei awake yet? How many of the captured are still alive?”
“He’s not awake. Seventeen…” The soldier glanced inside and hesitated, “But those still alive might…”
Li Zhuang frowned and strode inside. There, he saw the Jin Diao, already treated by a healer—still pale, but free to move. He was gripping the team’s standard-issue curved blade and squatting in front of a tied-up man, hand over his mouth, slicing off pieces of flesh.
The blade, strengthened by high-level metal-type abilities, was incredibly sharp. Each slice came off thin as a cicada’s wing. The man thrashed and let out muffled screams, his face wet with tears and mucus, but he was pinned down tight by the eagle.
Nearby, several men and women with greasy, slick skin were all injured in various ways. They stared in terror at the Jin Diao, wanting to cry for help but too afraid to speak. Not far off, there was a pile of corpses—all stripped to the bone except for their heads. The flesh was piled to one side, and the whole cabin reeked of blood, enough to make one nauseous when approaching.
“He won’t let anyone near,” a soldier whispered to Li Zhuang.
Several people from the Blazing Flame squad stood off to the side, all furious. Li Ze, worried that Li Zhuang would misunderstand, walked over with a hoarse voice. “Meng Huan… they cut flesh off him every day… and ate it…”
Even though he’d mentally prepared himself, Li Zhuang still couldn’t suppress the ache in his heart. Who would’ve expected such a remote place to house such a powerful ability user? “How is he now?”
“The healer treated him, but he lost too much blood. It’ll take a long time to recover,” Li Ze said softly, glancing at the unconscious Meng Huan being protected by his teammates.
“Take care of him. Let me know right away if you need anything.” Li Zhuang walked over to the Jin Diao.
Noticing someone approach, the Jin Diao turned sharply. Blood spattered his face, and with his vicious eyes and tense body, he looked especially terrifying.
Li Zhuang showed no fear. He even patted the man’s shoulder. “I need to interrogate them. Your major general is worried about you—go report to him.”
The Jin Diao stared at him for a while, then suddenly swung his knife with a motion that looked like he was going to finish Li Zhuang off. But Li Zhuang grabbed the blade, blood instantly dripping from his strengthened hand. The two men locked eyes in silence.
Li Zhuang was the first to speak. “Our captain mobilized over half the high-level ability users from Half Moon Bay to save you. He’s still trapped down there.”
The Jin Diao’s bloodshot eyes and fraying mental state showed he was on the verge of collapse. His grip tightened, but after hearing those words, he paused. Han Fei and Li Ze rushed over and held him down.
“Captain, calm down.”
“They…” the Jin Diao growled through clenched teeth, his eyes even showing hostility toward his own comrades. “They died right in front of me.”
Li Ze and Han Fei quickly realized his mental state was unstable. They followed his lead and said, “Gu Sheng is still down there. We need to extract more information and take him out ourselves to avenge them.”
“They ate his flesh,” the Jin Diao said through gritted teeth, still reluctant to let go of the captives in front of him.
Li Ze shot a cold glare at the captives on the floor and turned to Li Zhuang. “When it’s over, can we handle them ourselves?”
“Yes.”
“Captain, let him interrogate them. We…”
“Let’s go check on Meng Huan. He’s not stable—his condition’s not good,” Li Ze took the opportunity to lead the Jin Diao away.
Seeing them leave, Dean quickly came up to heal Li Zhuang’s wounded hand.
The captured people were all villagers from Longevity Village—ordinary people. After Gu Sheng, Nan Qi, and the others returned, the ability users in their village began dying off in various “accidents.” Over the years, only Gu Sheng remained.
Gu Sheng could use his powers to grow plants, so they didn’t lack food. But meat was hard to come by—especially after the animals in the Lao Mountain area mutated and grew stronger. Hunting became extremely difficult. Eventually, in order to lure more ability users to the village, Gu Sheng brainwashed the villagers, claiming that ability users contained energy in their bodies. Eating them could strengthen and heal people.
“You believed that?” Xing Zhou, who came with Li Zhuang and was monitoring them with psychic power, asked, wary of lies.
“We didn’t at first. But later… some people who ate it really did get stronger. They had more strength and didn’t get sick as easily.”
“Sick people got better after eating the flesh of high-level ability users.”
“We didn’t want to believe it either, but… the people around us who ate it… all got better.”
The few people—other than the “food” brought to their gathering place—rarely encountered so many ability users. Knowing these were all high-level ability users made them visibly uneasy.
Chapter 508: Warning
“The base has treated me and the common folks well. This is me declaring my loyalty in advance — I hope the base will look out for us,” Gao Yang said with a smile, putting his glasses back on.
“Absolutely,” Li Zhuang said, shaking his hand.
As for whether Gao Yang was being sincere — that would be revealed with time.
“Wearing glasses is inconvenient these days. If you need, go to the base hospital. The healing-type ability users there can fix your eyesight.”
Gao Yang paused mid-step, turned back and looked at him.
“I’m not nearsighted.”
After saying that, he casually brushed his bangs aside and laughed to himself.
Li Zhuang gave a small chuckle and gestured for him to proceed.
That night, Li Zhuang finalized the deployment of who would leave and who would stay.
With seven injured people — all core members of the base — Li Zhuang had to ensure their safety. He left all the potentially problematic individuals behind and had Liu Rui, from the recovered first squad, escort the wounded back.
“I’ve confirmed with Commander Zhuang. Commander Lu had left instructions beforehand: if something like this happens, it means he’s undergoing an advancement. No one knows what may occur during an SSS-level ability user’s breakthrough. Commander Zhuang’s orders are to build a temporary base here and remain until Commander Lu succeeds.”
Everyone had expected this, so no one objected. Li Zhuang turned toward the members of the Flame Squad.
“The Major General gave us orders to stay and assist with your operations,” Li Ze said proactively.
They were all trusted close-combat personnel of the Jin Diao. Lu Weiyi could’ve easily abandoned them, but instead risked his life against an SSS-level ability user for their captain. Now, when Half Moon Bay was short-handed, they had even less reason to leave.
“Much appreciated,” Li Zhuang said politely, though his eyes paused as he glanced toward a nearby tent.
In recent days, aside from communicating with Lu Xiao, Jin Diao spent all his time either caring for Meng Huan or dealing with the captured survivors. The area was filled with frequent screams of agony.
The tent always reeked of blood. Several survivors, already wounded during previous bombings, didn’t last long under his torment.
“The Major General ordered the Captain to return. He’ll take Meng Huan and depart with your main group,” Ai Ping said quietly.
Jin Diao had fully recovered physically, but his personality had changed significantly. He never spoke of what happened during his captivity. Now, all they could do was hope Meng Huan would wake up soon — maybe he could offer clues and help guide treatment.
Li Zhuang nodded, then assigned people to keep night watch and urged everyone to rest early in preparation for tomorrow’s departure.
After the main group dispersed, just as Li Zhuang was about to check the comms station, he spotted Liu Rui standing alone in the shadows, motionless, staring in the direction of the tent.
Li Zhuang walked over and patted his shoulder. Thanks to Dean’s earlier healing, Liu Rui’s physical wounds were fully recovered, and his abilities had also stabilized.
“The base is sending more people. You can take the wounded back and rejoin us afterward.”
“O-okay,” Liu Rui said, patting his chest. He understood how serious things were at the base.
“Th-this… the animals… they’re… strong…”
He pointed in the direction of Xu Sa.
“A-attack…”
“They won’t,” Li Zhuang said, understanding his concern. “I observed from the aircraft — any creature entering that area falls under mental influence and becomes trapped in an illusion.”
As he spoke, a flicker passed through his eyes, and he smiled.
“Once you’re back, maybe you can suggest to Zhuang Mingxu that they research some kind of device to block psychic-type abilities. If we can lure high-level mutated animals close and they fall into hallucinations, we could kill them and harvest their crystal cores.”
When Lu Weiyi and the others had their incident and decided to stop here, Li Zhuang had already sent people to scout the surrounding area. They found that although there weren’t signs of wild animal overpopulation, there were indeed quite a few high-level ones.
If they could be hunted, it would definitely be a significant boost for S-rank ability users trying to level up.
Liu Rui shook his head in disapproval and grabbed Li Zhuang’s arm.
“No… not okay… they… they’re dangerous…”
“I know. We won’t try it unless it’s safe.” Li Zhuang reassured him. “Also, tell Zhuang Mingxu that I had someone try using a power disruptor. It had some effect on the area covered by psychic energy, but not much. He might be able to develop something stronger based on that.”
Their first-generation disruptors only worked on low-level ability users or mutated creatures. After they shared the design with other bases, their own base developed second and third generations, but the effects on S-rank were minimal — let alone SSS-rank like Lu Weiyi.
If it hadn’t been for dozens of psychic-type users probing with mental powers, they wouldn’t have detected anything at all.
Li Zhuang looked off into the distance in Lu Weiyi’s direction. He hadn’t expected that their base’s greatest weapon — their top blade — would turn around and cut down their own team first.
Liu Rui nodded and promised to relay the message to Zhuang Mingxu. Noticing how tired Li Zhuang looked, he motioned for him to get some rest and offered to take the night watch.
Li Zhuang knew this might be the last good sleep he’d get before the next team arrived. He didn’t argue, and after a few steps, he said quietly,
“On the way back, keep a close eye on the ones who are unconscious. Don’t let anyone suspicious near them. Once you’re back, hand them directly over to Zhuang Mingxu.”
Afraid Liu Rui didn’t understand, he explained more bluntly:
“Not every team is as trustworthy as ours. Someone might try to harm them, or there could be spies from other bases looking to take them out and weaken our forces.”
“At this stage, we need to protect those people.”
“I’ve already explained everything to the teammates coming with them. Chen Xing will assist you on the road. If anyone tries anything stupid, just detain them. We can’t tolerate instability right now.”
Liu Rui nodded firmly, assuring him he understood. Only then did Li Zhuang feel at ease and walk toward the tent.
At the entrance, he was stopped by Eric, who had been waiting.
Knowing what Eric was here for, Li Zhuang made a welcoming gesture and invited him into the tent. He went to the thick ice wall that kept the place cool, knocked it twice, and revealed two bottles of beer hidden inside.
Eric’s eyes lit up. He grabbed a bottle, bit off the cap, and took a big swig. With a satisfied sigh, he said,
“Krombacher, huh? You still have stuff like this?”
He couldn’t help but glance toward the ice wall, though Li Zhuang’s body blocked the view.
“Just two bottles. I stole them from the captain’s storage.” Li Zhuang opened one for himself and took a cool sip. Then he got straight to the point.
“I don’t trust you. I can’t let you go back with them.”
Ever since Lu Weiyi had gotten trapped below with his team, Li Zhuang had made his guard against Eric clear. Still, Eric and Qin Yu weren’t included in the return group.
Eric raised a brow, half-smiling.
“And keeping me here makes you feel better?”
“Antonio is staying here,” Li Zhuang replied casually, not answering directly. “He noticed something odd about your ability and volunteered to join your team.”
That was both a gesture of trust and a guarantee on Li Zhuang’s part — openly admitting his concerns.
Eric curled one side of his lip and said nothing.
“He really likes this team and the life we’ve built here.”
That was basically an admission that they knew Eric had been using ability user crystal cores to upgrade — and that they’d long known it was a faster way to grow stronger.
Eric gave Li Zhuang a curious look.
“You never… did that yourself?”
Li Zhuang shook his head.
“I like this life, too.” He thought of Xu Yi’s cold face during his farewell, and smiled at the memory.
Then his expression turned almost pitying.
“Besides, we’ve been using purified crystal cores for a while now.” That was the real reason they could level up so safely and quickly. After Lu Weiyi had quietly warned against using ability user cores, no one in the team touched them again.
Back then, Li Zhuang thought Lu Weiyi just had a moral issue with it. Now it seemed like he’d had foresight.
No one had expected that without any warning, Lu Weiyi would suddenly level up to SSS and go completely out of control.
Thinking of Gu Sheng’s condition, Li Zhuang looked at Eric with growing sympathy.
“And lastly — don’t touch anyone from our base. Zhuang Mingxu is the vengeful type and can be absolutely ruthless.”
Lu Weiyi wasn’t fully on Zhuang Mingxu’s side either, but 90% of the time, he’d go along — especially with things he considered unimportant.
“I’m just curious about Gu Sheng. As for your people…” Eric shrugged, looking innocent, “I have no bad intentions. We’re great partners.”
Li Zhuang didn’t respond, only warned:
“These are sensitive times. Any overstepping will be treated as hostile.”
“If you really want to know more, wait until our squad leader wakes up. There’ll be a full investigation. You can ask then.” If there was no conflict, and for Antonio’s sake, Half Moon Bay would grant Eric that favor.
With that, Li Zhuang gave a clear signal for him to leave.
Eric slowly walked toward the tent entrance. A few steps out, a wave of powerful psychic energy suddenly surged from his body. Without any real aggression, it gently pushed Li Zhuang aside.
Before he could react, the remaining beer bottles hidden in the ice wall flew toward the exit, caught up in Eric’s mental power. As Eric’s laughter rang out, he vanished — and the bottles disappeared neatly into his pockets.
Li Zhuang looked at the emptied ice compartment and the last half-bottle in his hand, then couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
