Chapter 516 | Chapter 517 | Chapter 518 | Chapter 519 | Chapter 520
Chapter 516: Troublemaking Civilians
Lu Xiao, unaware of the full context, assumed Zhuang Mingxu simply wanted to distance himself from the Zheng family. After hesitating a moment, he said, [I know what Zheng Yi did was wrong, but isn’t it a bit early to target them directly?]
At least wait until the other team members wake up, or until Lu Weiyi returns to the base. That would be safer.
[No. Zhao Qiang owes us, so he’s easier to deal with,] Zhuang Mingxu replied while switching communication over to the Guard Squad to ask when they planned to send the healing ability users.
Zhao Qiang was surprised when he received the report. He had been paying close attention to what was happening in Half Moon Bay—it was the top-ranked base, after all.
He hadn’t expected them to ask about his side before he’d even sorted out his own issues.
“Captain, could they be using this as leverage?” one of his subordinates asked. “Trying to warn us not to make any rash moves by using the healers as bargaining chips?”
Zhao Qiang rubbed his chin and didn’t answer. It wasn’t impossible.
But…
Trying to intimidate a major team with just one healer? That’s a bit far-fetched.
Before he could guess their true intentions, another message from Zhuang Mingxu came through:
[We’d like to borrow the wood-type ability user with a mutated plant from your team for a while.]
“Go get Xiao Dong,” Zhao Qiang ordered. He was beginning to suspect that the mutated plant might have a function he didn’t know about.
Xiao Dong, whose full name was Dong Xiaoxiao, was a 17-year-old girl. Her mutated plant was a daffodil that had been rare and precious even before the apocalypse. Now it was wrapped around her body like a living garland, its beautiful blooms nestled in her hair, making the girl look even more radiant and lovely.
“Sheriff, you wanted to see me?” Dong Xiaoxiao asked politely.
“Yes,” Zhao Qiang replied, eyeing the daffodil entwined around her. He didn’t speak immediately, staring at her until she started to feel nervous.
Finally, he asked, “Does your mutated plant have any hidden abilities?”
Dong Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, looking disappointed. “Little Shui doesn’t have any offensive abilities. Its vines can grow longer, the flowers bloom longer, and the scent is more fragrant… that’s it.”
Compared to the vicious mutated plants outside, this one really wasn’t impressive at all. It couldn’t even compare to other mutated plants she knew about. But back in the early days of the apocalypse, it had helped her scare off quite a few people with ill intentions. So Dong Xiaoxiao had kept it with her ever since, even spending crystal cores to help it upgrade.
Zhao Qiang didn’t suspect the young girl was lying to him. He thought it was possible the plant had some ability even she wasn’t aware of. After all, expecting a young girl to dig out the hidden potential of a mutated plant was no easy task.
Before he could think more, Zhuang Mingxu sent a third message:
[I’ve sent a helicopter to pick someone up. If it’s possible, send the healing-type over. I’ll help him upgrade as soon as I can. If not, I’ll check with Zheng Yi.]
After learning that Lu Weiyi had upgraded, Zheng Yi had already started considering how to mend relations. If Zhuang Mingxu took the initiative now, it would be the perfect opportunity.
As one of the top three major squads in the capital, Zhao Qiang definitely didn’t want Half Moon Bay (Half Moon Bay) getting closer to Zheng Yi.
Moreover…
“How much longer can Fang Ke keep using his power?”
“He asked Luo Feifei. She said he could upgrade at any time. He’s already refusing to absorb crystal cores and won’t heal anyone anymore.”
“What about Jiang Xi?”
“Soon too. All the injured have been handed over to him, and he’s been urging us for the past two days to hurry up and find a solution.”
After hearing this, Zhao Qiang let out a deep breath. On this matter alone, Half Moon Bay had him completely pinned. Even if they managed to take over Half Moon Bay by force, they wouldn’t be able to do anything unless the higher-ups gave their approval.
He thought of Zhuang Mingxu’s unyielding nature. If things escalated to that point, that man would rather die than let anyone walk away unharmed.
“Xiao Dong, I’m sending you on a trip,” Zhao Qiang said to Dong Xiaoxiao.
The dispatched helicopter returned to the Capital Base in less than half an hour. Besides Dong Xiaoxiao, Zhao Qiang also sent a bodyguard along. Officially it was to protect her, but also to gather intel on the other side.
Zhuang Mingxu had no objection to this arrangement.
While several helicopters were rushing to Lao Mountain, Li Zhuang was dealing with a bizarre and frustrating incident on his end.
A group of ordinary people from the Panshui Base had actually banded together to “punish” them — claiming they wanted revenge for their revered “Mountain God.”
Tens of thousands came in a massive procession, some even dragging their families along. All of them were emaciated, clearly the bottom rung of society, but they looked like they had been brainwashed. Full of fervor, they pointed their sticks and weapons at the soldiers of the temporary base.
Some children even picked up stones and threw them, their faces full of hatred — as if these soldiers had killed their parents.
Faced with clearly unarmed civilians, the patrolling soldiers didn’t know how to respond. If they truly used lethal force, it would be a massacre of tens of thousands.
When Li Zhuang arrived and saw the sea of people completely surrounding their base, even he was shocked. There were countless mutated beasts along the route here, and since the plane carrying the capital’s dispersal drugs had crashed, the agents hadn’t been sprayed in this area. Even the ability users didn’t dare build bases out in the open, so they had barely settled on the edge of a forest.
And yet, this crowd of ordinary people had made it here with such a show of force?
Seeing the injuries on many of them, Li Zhuang didn’t even know what to say.
“Give us back our Mountain God!”
“Get out of our land!”
“Kill them! Protect our Mountain God!”
…
Looking at these ragged people, Li Zhuang felt like he’d been transported back in time to a peasant uprising. It was hard to believe that in a modern era ruled by science, people could still fall for this nonsense.
“Captain Li, what should we do?” someone asked. The crowd was getting increasingly agitated, some even pushing forward against the ability users, completely unafraid of death.
Besides the return group, only a few hundred soldiers were stationed here. Even with abilities, they could still get injured when faced with tens of thousands of people—especially when…
These team members still had some moral bottom line and didn’t want to use violence.
Li Zhuang scanned the crowd, then calmly raised his gun and shot the two loudest agitators in the head — bang, bang.
Blood sprayed. For a moment, the crowd fell silent—then suddenly seemed to be enraged. A man shouted loudly,
“Fight to the end for the Mountain God!”
That shout immediately stirred up the others. The sheer force of the chant could have ignited passion if it came from a united team.
“Are you all insane?” a guard yelled angrily. “You worship a man-eating demon as a god—how absurd!”
“What do you know? All ability users should die!”
“You’re the real demons!”
“What’s wrong with eating demon flesh?”
“You devils! Give us back our Mountain God!”
The furious yelling overwhelmed any attempt at logic. Li Zhuang saw someone swinging a wooden stick at a soldier with vicious force, aiming to kill.
He grabbed a megaphone and shouted:
“All units, listen up — shoot down all rioters on sight!”
Those who had been ready to resist hesitated at his words.
They had seen too many mutated plants, animals, and even endless zombies. The human population had plummeted. Influenced by Lu Weiyi’s ideals, most people now believed humanity should unite and face the threats together.
Especially since—
There were children among them.
Children.
They were the hope for humanity’s survival.
At Half Moon Bay, the nursery had the best resources and welfare because they wanted to preserve humanity’s legacy. They hoped that until the issue of human reproduction was resolved, some spark of humanity could remain.
But sporadic gunfire only further ignited the crowd’s resistance. Li Zhuang didn’t try to stop it, nor did he help. He stood with arms crossed on a high perch, watching his soft-hearted soldiers get mercilessly beaten by these so-called weak civilians.
Fists, wooden clubs, hammers, even stones—anything within reach was turned into a weapon, all aimed at the most vulnerable spots on the soldiers’ bodies.
“He’s a liar! Calm down, everyone!”
“Awakened ones are the same as regular people—we’re all compatriots…”
“Think about the children around you…”
“We… ah—!”
Every voice trying to stop the chaos ended the same way—with someone injured. In the end, the bloodshed pushed those who had hesitated to act into raising their guns and firing indiscriminately at the crowd in front of them.
The first wave of people fell, staining the ground red and shocking those behind them into stillness.
“Kill them all!” a man shouted with his fist raised.
But this time, no one echoed him.
“Shuanzi!”
“My son…”
“Dad…”
“Old man…”
Cries rang out all around. Only now did people seem to realize that death could come at any moment.
Li Zhuang turned to the people beside him and pointed at several individuals. “Arrest those few over there.”
They had been inciting chaos from within the crowd the entire time.
After the earlier bloodshed, no one dared object to the arrests. People turned their attention to their dead loved ones, their eyes filled with hatred—yet more with fear.
Li Zhuang felt that, from this moment on, a clear line had been drawn between Awakened ones and ordinary people.
“Take the bodies away. Half Moon Bay will take over this place. If anyone else approaches—shoot to kill,” Li Zhuang said calmly, then ordered someone to interrogate the captured individuals.
He didn’t believe that such large-scale incitement was spontaneous.
Crystal core guns were originally designed to kill zombies. Even at their weakest setting, they were tailored for zombie durability—so when used on humans, their power was more than deadly.
Though each person only fired a few shots, the number of casualties was staggering. For dozens of meters, the ground was densely littered with corpses. Further back, wounded people groaned in pain.
The survivors looked at one another, too afraid to claim the bodies. Some were pulled away by companions, fleeing quickly—gone was the earlier zeal.
Chapter 517: Wood Element Healer
“Captain Li, this…”
The surroundings were completely destroyed by the chaos. The air reeked of blood and flesh.
“Have the Awakened move the bodies farther away. If no one collects them by tomorrow morning, burn them all.” This spot had been carefully chosen by Li Zhuang—it wasn’t worth giving up over such an incident. Plus, the returning squad would need to find them again, which would be troublesome. “Clean up, and have people keep an eye on those who left. Our reinforcements are on their way—make sure we’re not caught off guard.”
“Yes, sir.”
Everyone busied themselves. Li Zhuang walked toward a fighter jet that had just returned and asked the pilot who disembarked, “Any developments over there?”
As soon as the riot began, Li Zhuang had ordered surveillance on Lu Weiyi’s side. Even though he suspected any confrontations would end badly, he sent a jet just in case.
“Just as you guessed, hundreds of people went toward the Base Leader’s side, but…” The pilot grinned, “They stopped a few hundred meters away from him.”
“When the gunfire broke out here, did they react over there?”
The pilot hesitated, then said uncertainly, “I think I saw Lu Xi’s body twitch slightly, but I’m not sure if it was my imagination. He didn’t actually move from his original posture.”
Soon after, the results of the interrogation came back—some people had indeed been deliberately stirring up the crowd.
“They managed to incite that many people?” The ones who had left didn’t return to the base. Perhaps their courage had run out along the way. They stopped around a kilometer north of the camp.
Even with their numbers reduced, over ten thousand people was no small group. Li Zhuang worried they might still cause trouble, so he deployed a team to monitor them closely.
Erik, in charge of the interrogation, wore a somewhat casual expression. “Some of them had eaten Awakened flesh—and gained benefits.” Of course they’d become greedy for more.
Besides, ordinary people couldn’t eat high-level mutated creatures. After going so long without meat, just a taste of it was unforgettable.
Thinking of that scenario made Li Zhuang shudder.
“Is there a ringleader?”
“Of course.” Erik named a few individuals. “They used to follow Gu Sheng. The earlier artillery barrage didn’t kill them all.”
They’d expected this. The underground cave system was vast and winding—artillery couldn’t reach everyone inside. Some lucky ones had clearly escaped.
But later, so many emergencies had cropped up that they hadn’t had time to confirm it.
No one had expected the enemy to exploit the situation so thoroughly.
“Two of them went toward Lu’s direction. The other seven are at the Panshui Base. Should we go? I can lead a team—”
“You seem awfully interested in Gu Sheng,” Li Zhuang said, eyeing Erik.
Erik shrugged, spreading his hands. “You know why.”
Gu Sheng’s condition had clearly made Erik feel threatened. But Li Zhuang wasn’t about to hand over team members to a mercenary who gambled with lives.
“The base is short on people. If you’re interested, take your own team. But—” Li Zhuang’s expression turned serious, “Don’t make Half Moon Bay your target. I don’t want to be your enemy.”
Before Lu Weiyi’s incident, the team had already been placed in his care. He was responsible for everyone—especially when sacrifice wasn’t necessary.
Erik raised an eyebrow but didn’t say whether he’d go or not. He just waved and walked off. Qin Yu followed behind him, her seductive figure swaying gracefully.
Liu Rui and his team returned the following night. With the increase in personnel and weapons support, the tension in Li Zhuang’s chest finally eased. When he spotted Xu Yi among the group, he was especially surprised.
“Why are you here? To see me?” Li Zhuang bypassed the others who had disembarked earlier and walked straight over to Xu Yi, a tired but contented smile on his face.
“On assignment,” Xu Yi rolled his eyes at him, glancing around as he handed over the backpack from his shoulders. “Brother Xi brought you some snacks.”
Li Zhuang opened it to take a look—sweet and sour dried fruits.
He had gone out on countless missions before, and Xi Shi had never specially brought snacks for anyone. Besides, Li Zhuang was always cautious and had never made his food preferences obvious. Xi Shi probably didn’t even know he liked these.
“Then I’ll have to thank Brother Xi properly when I get back.” Li Zhuang stuffed the bag back into Xu Yi’s arms and pointed toward a cluster of tents near the center. “Mind putting this in there for me, Doctor Xu?”
Xu Yi walked off with his head high and a businesslike attitude toward the tent Li Zhuang had pointed out.
That serious look made Li Zhuang subconsciously press his tongue to his cheek and chuckle softly.
“Snap out of it,” Wu Yue nudged Li Zhuang’s shoulder. “Tough day, huh?”
“I thought it was a lower-tier team coming. How’s the base doing?” Li Zhuang asked suggestively.
“With the Base Commander upgrading, everyone’s keeping their heads down,” Zhou He, who had come along, scoffed and instructed the accompanying personnel to start unloading supplies. He pointed to a man and a woman who had just stepped off the helicopter and said to Deputy Captain Zhao Li, “Zhao Li, find a tent for Comrade Xiao Dong and Mr. Zhao so they can rest.”
“Thanks a lot,” the man said from a distance, supporting the pale and weak-looking woman beside him.
“These are two comrades from the Guard Unit who came to help—Dong Xiaoxiao, a wood-type ability user, and Zhao Yu, a fire-type,” Wu Yue introduced them to Li Zhuang.
Li Zhuang didn’t ask further. He just greeted them and sent someone to help Deputy Captain Zhao Li arrange a tent.
Once things were settled, Wu Yue finally glanced around. “No idea how long the Base Commander will need, but we can’t just keep living like this. There are earth-type ability users in the team this time—let’s build a perimeter wall?”
“I was thinking the same. We didn’t have enough people before. Now that you’re here, it’s perfect timing.” Using the excuse of inspecting the terrain, Li Zhuang, Wu Yue, and Zhou He walked farther out. Once they confirmed no one nearby could sense their abilities, they relaxed and started talking.
“What’s the situation?” Li Zhuang asked while smoking, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Liu Rui had already headed toward Xu Sa’s location as soon as he got off the chopper.
To better observe that area, Li Zhuang had a wood-type ability user grow an especially tall tree and built a lookout hut on top. From there, they could monitor everything.
Wu Yue shared the latest intel from their journey. “Ming Xu’s plan is to first extract the others from their current condition, get them out of this zone, and let them recover on their own until we find a solution.”
Li Zhuang clicked his tongue and looked toward the frail figure of Dong Xiaoxiao.
“The chopper shook a lot while dodging mutant plants, so she got airsick.” She had vomited terribly, but they were in a rush and couldn’t afford delays, so she had to endure it.
“Once she recovers—by tomorrow at the latest—we’ll go test it out,” Wu Yue said, then added, “Zhao Yu is Zhao Qiang’s cousin. Officially, he’s here to protect Xiao Dong, but clearly, he’s also here to gather intel.”
Li Zhuang nodded, understanding the subtext.
“Get some paper from Team Zhou and have him sketch the layout. I’ll handle things on this side. Take me around and show me the place,” Wu Yue instructed.
Li Zhuang raised a brow at him, took some paper and pens from his storage space, and muttered, “You’re as stingy as ever.”
Zhou He didn’t mind their bickering and quickly grabbed the supplies. To get more, he even badmouthed his own drawing skills.
Li Zhuang couldn’t stand watching him act so stingy and gave him another stack. Zhou He immediately beamed as he accepted it. “Been waiting for you. Everyone on your team has a spatial storage now, right?”
“It’s not that exaggerated. Only a few who regularly go on missions have one.”
“Must be nice following your captain—you guys even get to eat meat porridge to your heart’s content.” Zhou He grumbled while drawing and scanning the area.
Li Zhuang scratched his nose, too embarrassed to admit that only a few space stones were given by Lu Weiyi. The rest they “liberated” from Pingjin Base during a sneaky operation.
He silently mourned for the poor souls who lost their spatial stones without realizing it.
At least he had a conscience and left the supplies inside untouched—unlike Antonio…
“Besides housing, we could clear some land nearby for farming. The Base Commander sent a few wood-type users too…”
“Did Zhuang Mingxu give a timeline?” Li Zhuang asked, noticing they were planning for a long-term stay.
Zhou He looked up. “Even after Commander Lu recovers, Zhuang Mingxu’s plan is to turn this place into our training base.”
“Let Zhou handle the layout. Should we check out the back?” Wu Yue cut him off before he could ask further.
They walked quite a distance before Li Zhuang turned serious and asked what had happened at the base.
Internally, it was already assumed Wu Yue was a logistics officer. But now that he had suddenly appeared and even taken over Li Zhuang’s position, it was hard not to suspect something was wrong back at base.
“The base is still under control,” Wu Yue said, handing over a few energy-dense crystal cores. “But you and Liu Rui need to level up fast.”
No explanation was needed—Li Zhuang immediately understood and took the crystals without hesitation, tossing them lightly in his hand.
“Word is that Zheng Yi is buying up high-level crystal cores at all costs and even sending his trump cards into advanced zombie zones. The goal is obvious.” If any faction outside the base managed to upgrade before them, their base would be in real danger.
“Zhuang Mingxu says you have at most three months. These are all the S-class crystal cores the base has. Use them wisely based on your level. A-class cores will be provided without count.”
“Wow, do I have to return them later?”
“Hmm…” Wu Yue thought for a moment, then asked back, “Even if I told you now that you don’t need to repay it, do you think you could weasel out of it if Lu Weiyi changed his mind later?”
Chapter 518: Mental Power Attack
“…” Li Zhuang recalled how even when borrowing crystal nuclei, high interest had to be paid, and his mood suddenly soured.
Wu Yue patted her shoulder sympathetically. “Be content. At least he prepared something for you in advance.”
If someone like Zheng Yi wanted to upgrade now, he’d probably have to drain the entire Zheng family army. That also meant, once the upgrade succeeded, they’d stop at nothing to secure benefits for their faction.
“Then I’ll leave the local arrangements to you.” Li Zhuang cracked his knuckles eagerly. “I heard the mutated beasts around here are of a very high level. I’ve been itching to test myself.”
“Take Liu Rui with you, and use the opportunity to train his combat instincts. I heard he ran straight toward Xu Sa’s direction the moment he landed…” Wu Yue didn’t even know whether to call it foolish or just gutsy.
Li Zhuang laughed out loud. “Got it.”
After the two finished discussing their respective situations, Li Zhuang emphasized the dangers posed by ordinary people to Wu Yue, worried the straight-laced soldier might get soft-hearted and cause problems.
“Relax. It’s already been five years since the apocalypse,” Wu Yue said. “If I were still blindly idealistic, I’d have died a dozen times by now.”
Satisfied he understood, Li Zhuang finally had time for some small talk. “I thought he’d come in person this time.”
“Mingxu decided to lift the lockdown after we left. All the factions need to be balanced. With Lu Weiyi backing him, just standing there makes others cautious.”
Now that word had gotten out that Lu Weiyi was upgrading, continuing to act tense would only make others suspicious. The best tactic was to behave normally.
If Lu Weiyi was the stabilizing force of Half Moon Bay, then Zhuang Mingxu was the one standing on top of that stabilizer. As long as he stayed still, even if Lu Weiyi remained unresponsive, others would only dare to test the waters—not make actual moves.
That was also why Zhuang Mingxu, though deeply concerned, chose not to come in person.
“This time it’s Zhou He’s team. Next should be Zheng’s team. We’ll rotate like this, hoping to quickly raise the strength of those about to upgrade in the base’s military.” That way, if Lu Weiyi didn’t wake up and other bases became restless, they’d have enough manpower to respond.
Thinking of their ultimate goal, Wu Yue felt a renewed sense of urgency. “Let’s get the base set up today. Tomorrow, you and Zhou He head out. Leave the rest to me.”
The soldiers worked quickly. Not long after Zhou He sketched out a layout, earth-type ability users joined forces to build a more than 30-meter-high wall—based on estimates of the size of local mutated beasts.
Watchtowers were placed at the four corners, observation decks built under the wall, and aside from the main gate, underground tunnels were constructed for quiet evacuation in emergencies.
Inside the walls, areas were designated for living, office use, and agriculture. The buildings followed typical rigid military aesthetics—nothing fancy. Within a few hours, the temporary base had taken shape. Fire-type ability users dried the walls, so they didn’t even need ventilation. That same night, everyone moved in from their tents.
*
Next morning.
Li Zhuang finally enjoyed a lazy morning and woke up to the faint scent of blood outside.
Wu Yue had already taken over management and was cheerfully calling out to Zhou He, who had just returned from training, telling him to wash up and eat. When he saw Li Zhuang, he said first, “Last night, a group of ordinary people came asking us for help.”
Li Zhuang had been exhausted and slept deeply the night before, but not so soundly that he wouldn’t wake if there were real trouble. Thinking about the emotionally-charged people from the day before, he frowned.
“Liu Rui didn’t sleep. He had them driven off,” Zhou He said, glossing over the details. In reality, when he got up to lead morning exercises, he found a pile of bodies outside the wall—at least a few hundred people. Blood was everywhere. He had ordered cleanup after returning.
Thinking back on the scene, Zhou He rubbed his nose. “That kid of yours is pretty ruthless.” According to those on night watch, Liu Rui said only one word: “Leave.” When they didn’t move, he acted on his own without calling for backup. The sheer force of his initial strike scared them so much they’d rather face mutated beasts than take another step closer.
Li Zhuang looked over at Liu Rui, who was calmly and methodically eating breakfast by himself, and let out a chuckle. That kid had once upgraded alongside Antonio—if he could be that harsh to himself, what would he spare for others?
“What was up with those people?”
“They were attacked by some flying-type creatures last night. Small birds, they said—lots of them. Their supplies were stolen, too.” Wu Yue laughed at this part. “And they think we stole their stuff during the chaos.”
“So while asking for help, they also wanted justice.”
“Do you think they’re brain-damaged?” Zhou He had never met such bizarre ordinary people in the apocalypse before. He couldn’t imagine what kind of environment their base must have to produce such thought patterns.
Li Zhuang snorted and glanced toward the direction where that group had set up camp. Judging by their location, he wondered whether the bird attacks were a coincidence or something had changed.
“It might’ve been monkeys. There are a lot of monkey species in this area. Some smaller ones have been caught stealing before.” They had experience with mutated monkeys sneaking in at night back in Cangnan City and had always been extra cautious with nighttime defenses—luckily, avoiding a major incident this time.
With nothing urgent at hand, Li Zhuang asked Zhou He about today’s plans.
“I had someone use an energy detector and found a few mutated animals with decent energy signatures to the northwest. Today, I’ll take the team to scout. After we mark the area, we’ll split up and do hands-on training. You coming?”
He already knew Li Zhuang and Liu Rui planned to hunt high-level mutated beasts.
“No, Liu Rui and I are heading farther out. You just need to identify strong mutated creatures nearby—don’t kill them. Keep them around for repeated challenge battles and practical training.”
The depths of the forest were too dangerous. Just barging in like this—poisonous insects alone could be fatal. There was no need to sacrifice people in such places.
“Alright, I got it.”
After dinner, Li Zhuang and Zhou He each led their teams and departed.
Only then did Wu Yue gather his selected team members and prepare to let Dong Xiaoxiao test her mutated plant.
The helicopter left on the ground had stopped in place due to fuel depletion. The surroundings were dead silent. From a distance, it looked like a frozen pocket of space and time.
“Is that…an elephant?” Li Ze, one of the team members, pointed toward the depths of the primeval forest.
There, a mutated animal was bouncing around like a drunk. Aside from the loud thud-thud sounds it made with each leap, it actually gave off the illusion of dancing and singing.
“Seems like it,” Sun Kai replied, his mouth twitching.
“There are a lot of mutated animals here,” Qin Yu scanned the area and noticed that compared to their last visit, the mutated creatures now seemed to have gathered like they were having a conference. They all bounced and frolicked together in unison.
They completely defied the principles of the natural food chain: leopards and antelopes leaped and played together, foxes chased rabbits, giant eagles had snakes coiled around their necks without realizing it, and birds soared through the sky carrying mongooses.
The bizarre scene left everyone momentarily silent.
Zhao Yu looked around from the helicopter window. Beside him, Dong Xiaoxiao held a mutated plant with a delicate flower bud. As she examined it with curiosity, the tip of the plant swayed on its own—moving without any wind.
Wu Yue scanned the surroundings, then discreetly used an energy detector to check the levels of both the girl and the plant. Seeing their comparatively small energy signatures, he sighed inwardly.
If Gu Qingji were here, there’d be no need to rely on external help for something like this.
“They’re currently in a deep sleep and can’t help. You’ll have to control your mutated plant to go in and drag them out,” Wu Yue instructed, telling the pilot to circle a few times overhead. He repeated the operating procedure several times to make sure it was clear.
To ensure success, he brought Erik along. From the moment they appeared above, Erik had been maintaining a psychic barrier to prevent Lu Weiyi’s mental power from interfering during their descent.
“I understand,” Dong Xiaoxiao replied, though she still wasn’t used to flying. Not long after takeoff, her complexion had turned pale again.
“Make it quick,” Wu Yue said, glancing at Erik. After getting a confirming nod from him, Wu Yue opened the helicopter door.
Dong Xiaoxiao promptly threw her mutated plant down from her wrist. At first, they could still see its tip through the binoculars, but after landing, it blended into the freshly grown grass and vanished without a trace.
Everyone on the helicopter kept switching their gazes between the door and Dong Xiaoxiao’s face. In the tense moment of waiting, even their breathing grew quieter.
At first, Dong Xiaoxiao appeared calm and relaxed, but soon her brows furrowed, and the others began to break into a cold sweat.
Her wrist shook as if she were forcibly trying to redirect the plant’s path. She frequently looked down toward the grounded helicopter using the binoculars. Determination flickered across her expression.
“It’s wrong—” Dong Xiaoxiao suddenly shouted. Her body jerked forward violently, as if something was pulling her with great force toward the open cabin door. Li Zhuang reacted quickly and grabbed her, slamming the door shut except for a narrow gap.
“What’s going on?” Wu Yue asked, alarmed.
Dong Xiaoxiao, now supported upright, was aimlessly waving the mutated plant in her hand. It didn’t look like she was exerting much effort, but the expression on her face made it clear she was struggling against something.
“Ning…”
“Go—!” Dong Xiaoxiao suddenly commanded, cutting off Li Ze before he could finish his sentence.
“Retreat,” Wu Yue ordered. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Li Ze pointing outside with an astonished expression. Following his gaze, Wu Yue saw Ning Yuan being dragged away from the grounded helicopter, moving in the same direction as they were retreating.
The young woman beside him looked like she was desperately suppressing something. It wasn’t until they flew beyond Lu Weiyi’s psychic range that she suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and slumped over.
“Xiaodong!”
Zhao Yu, seated behind her, was just about to step forward when he suddenly felt a formless, hostile energy rushing at his face.
Chapter 519: Full Evacuation
Zhao Yu quickly leaned back to dodge, heart pounding as he instinctively raised his guard. A faint ring of flame flared up around him like a protective shield.
With a sharp snap, the cabin door was suddenly yanked open by something with great force. A flash of green shot past.
The spike in temperature caused by Zhao Yu’s ability was immediately countered. On the opposite side, Zhao Li, another fire-type ability user, casually waved a hand, and the flames extinguished as if they had never been there.
Qin Yu waved her hand gracefully, and the temperature instantly dropped again—like the breeze of an air conditioner passing through.
“Calm down,” Wu Yue snapped, giving him a glance. He was cradling the weakened Dong Xiaoxiao in his arms and explained, “Xiaodong’s mutated plant just attacked someone.”
“I’m sorry, Brother Zhao… I couldn’t suppress Little Shui,” Dong Xiaoxiao said weakly.
Zhao Yu immediately understood what had happened and apologized, “Sorry.”
Among a group of S-class ability users, his powers were hardly threatening. Erik simply waved a hand to show he didn’t mind.
“Your plant…?” Now that things had settled down, Wu Yue asked Dong Xiaoxiao.
“It was resisting me… It said something elsewhere was attracting it,” Dong Xiaoxiao replied as she tried to prop herself up and looked outside. With her bond to the mutated plant, she could roughly sense its position.
Wu Yue took a more direct approach, scanning with the energy detector and confirming its location.
The good news was that it hadn’t moved toward Lu Weiyi’s psychic field. The bad news was that the plant had clearly grown excited. Its once-unremarkable branches were now writhing on the ground as if dancing. The flower bud had bloomed into a series of vivid, colorful blossoms.
Ning Yuan, who had been dragged out by it, was in an even worse state. He was like its toy, being thrown from one branch to another, flung several meters in the air like a ragdoll. The people inside the cabin watched anxiously, afraid that if the plant missed a catch, Ning Yuan would fall and become disabled.
“What is it doing now?” Unfamiliar with the nature of mutant plants, no one dared to act rashly. Since it was no longer under Dong Xiaoxiao’s control, they feared it might become an enemy—something not worth the risk, especially considering they might still need its help to rescue others later.
“It’s… playing…” Dong Xiaoxiao’s pale face, still stained with blood from coughing earlier, turned a bit red in embarrassment. “It’s a little too excited.”
“Can we go rescue him? If this goes on any longer, we might lose our man,” Sun Kai asked bluntly.
“Okay,” Dong Xiaoxiao saw some people in the cabin ready to jump out and help. She hesitated, then said, “I’ll go down with you and try to make it switch to a different toy.”
“Xiaoxiao, your condition…” Zhao Yu voiced his disapproval.
Since they still needed Dong Xiaoxiao later, Wu Yue, noticing her drained state, asked, “Would it work if we just let it burn off its energy?”
Dong Xiaoxiao was taken aback, then hesitantly nodded. In theory, it should work—just like with humans, once exhausted, it wouldn’t be excited anymore.
“Zhao Li, go pull Ning Yuan out. Li Ze, Qin Yu, Sun Kai—you three distract the mutant plant and drain its energy. Try not to hurt it.”
“Copy that!”
“Understood!”
The team swiftly executed the order, sliding down the ropes extending from the cabin and quickly approaching the mutant plant. Dong Xiaoxiao nervously watched from the window, afraid both for their safety and for her little Shui getting hurt.
As soon as Li Ze got close, he used his power to grow plants from the ground and entangle little Shui’s branches. Qin Yu and Sun Kai quickly joined in, and Zhao Li decisively rescued Ning Yuan, using the distraction to carry him on his back and run toward the helicopter.
Ning Yuan looked thinner than before. His body was covered in wounds from being dragged by the plant, thorns still embedded in his skin. Yet he wore a faint smile, and the curve of his lips gave everyone goosebumps.
“I’ll take him back and come get you in an hour,” Li Zhuang shouted to Liu Rui on the ground. “Watch over them.”
Seeing someone had been rescued, Zhao Li flashed him an OK sign and watched as the helicopter flew toward the temporary base before turning to join the others.
Dong Xiaoxiao had only suffered a brief backlash from her mutant plant. It wasn’t serious, and after some simple treatment by Xu Yi, she had recovered.
The difficult case was Ning Yuan—he had clearly fallen into a deep sleep and was completely unresponsive to external stimuli.
Wu Yue originally thought of hitting him to see if physical pain would wake him up, but after seeing how badly injured he was from being dragged around without any reaction, he knew that idea was pointless.
The military doctor carefully removed the thorny wooden spikes from his body and cleaned the wounds before Xu Yi began healing him.
“Your ability can’t detect what’s wrong either?” Wu Yue asked Xu Yi.
Xu Yi shook his head. He had been the first to examine the people they brought back. Seeing no outsiders nearby, he said, “Zhuang Mingxu brought in a psychologist. They said it’s like he was hypnotized. He’ll either have to wake up on his own, or be awakened by the hypnotist who did it.”
“There are spiritual-type ability users at the base analyzing their brains. They found residual mental energy and are trying to clear it out,” Xu Yi added for reassurance.
Wu Yue nodded and ordered someone to feed Ning Yuan, then headed to the communication room.
Back at the base, Zhuang Mingxu was also waiting for news. As soon as the message was sent, a reply came back immediately:
[Ning Yuan has been brought out, in deep coma.]
Zhuang Mingxu had just let out a breath of relief when a second message followed:
[Mental power appears to affect mutant flora and fauna too, causing excitement and loss of control.]
Wu Yue briefly explained the situation with Dong Xiaoxiao’s backlash.
Combining that with what they already knew about the other mutant creatures, it wasn’t hard to guess that Dong Xiaoxiao’s mutant plant was affected for similar reasons. But since this seemed to be one of Lu Weiyi’s abilities—and since Dong Xiaoxiao and Zhao Yu weren’t exactly on their side—Wu Yue kept that insight to himself.
Whether Zhao Yu could figure it out on his own was their business.
Meanwhile, Li Zhuang was growing increasingly anxious as more mutant animals began gathering in the area.
Compared to humans, animals were obviously more active. Watching them leap and dash around, there was no telling when they might charge into their location. If someone hadn’t been rescued yet and got trampled to death…
After all that work to level up, dying like that would be tragic.
Wu Yue felt they’d come back as ghosts just to haunt him at night.
[Get everyone out first. They should gradually wake up after leaving the environment. Du Ping is awake now, and Ye Jia is showing reactions to external stimuli.]
This had just happened today. After analysis, the team concluded that higher-level individuals seemed to have stronger resistance to mental influence and therefore recovered faster.
[What about Lu Weiyi?]
That was Wu Yue’s first thought after seeing Ning Yuan dragged out.
Everyone else could be pulled away from that environment, but Lu Weiyi—the source of the issue—was a problem.
Short-term exposure wouldn’t harm ability users much, but over time, without water or food, no one could be sure how long the body could hold on.
Receiving no reply for a long while, Wu Yue felt like he might have been pressing too hard. He sent over details about Ning Yuan’s physical condition and examination results, hoping Zhuang Mingxu could assess how long an ability user might survive.
[I’ll find a way.]
Zhuang Mingxu finally replied after a while.
With experience from rescuing Ning Yuan, Wu Yue began organizing further rescues. Through repeated trials, Dong Xiaoxiao gradually learned how to avoid backlash from her mutant plant, improving her communication and connection with it.
Since arriving with his team, Zhou He had been fighting mutant animals in the forest. The crystal cores were being rapidly consumed, injuries on everyone continued to increase, but their abilities were also becoming more refined and consolidated.
Li Zhuang took Liu Rui deeper into the forest. The two of them returned once after half a month to summon a helicopter.
They came back covered in wounds. After receiving treatment and resting for a day, they handed over a few S-grade crystal cores and immediately set off again the next day.
At first, some ordinary people living nearby had been incited to cause trouble for them. But after suffering two rounds of indiscriminate slaughter, they began to realize the truth.
Surrounded by powerful mutated creatures and flocks of aggressive mutant birds, the area was never a place suitable for regular humans to survive. After enduring numerous attacks, the remaining people finally lowered their heads and pleaded for help.
When Wu Yue firmly refused, they clung on for a few days. But after discovering an underground cave system, they gradually disappeared from sight.
Time passed in relative peace. The first seven team members who had returned to the base began to wake up one after another, and their individual illusionary experiences were revealed in front of the others.
Zhuang Mingxu finally understood the method Lu Weiyi had used to keep people trapped in the illusion — by immersing them in beautiful dreams.
These dreams might be rooted in their deepest regrets or things they had lost.
Strong enough to make them willingly sink into the illusion, not even wanting to wake up.
Realizing this, Zhuang Mingxu couldn’t help but admire the young man’s cleverness — but at the same time, he also wondered: what was Lu Weiyi’s regret?
What was it that made him trap himself in the illusion?
Zhuang Mingxu’s mind wandered through all the events they had shared over the years, but he couldn’t arrive at a clear answer. In the end, he could only urge Zhuang Mobai and Shen Xiuyin to work faster on developing a device that could block mental intrusion.
—
After a month of effort, and with the help of Dong Xiaoxiao’s mutated plants, they finally managed to drag all the team members out of Lu Weiyi’s psychic range.
When Antonio, the last one, was pulled out, his cheeks were sunken, and his formerly fitted uniform now hung loosely on his frame.
The cockpit he had been in was never opened; it took countless trials before Xiao Shui was able to extract him.
Dean, who had already returned to duty for over half a month, immediately grabbed a rope and slid down as soon as the helicopter landed.
“Damn,” Wu Yue muttered as he watched the pampered young man descend without any technique, ignoring his hands completely and leaving a long, bloody trail on the rope.
Chapter 520: David Wakes Up
Wu Yue quickly urged Han Fei, “Hurry and follow, our little medic has no combat strength!”
It was already late autumn. Mutated animals in the jungle were in a frenzy, hunting aggressively to store up for the winter. It was the most dangerous time to be out.
Even their temporary base had been attacked several times — solo missions were even riskier.
Han Fei and Sun Kai immediately followed Dean and rushed ahead.
When Dean saw Antonio’s condition, he collapsed to the ground and wept uncontrollably as he held him.
In the illusion, he had seen his father — someone he hadn’t dared to think about since the apocalypse. Their family had lived a peaceful, happy life, and he was still the carefree young master.
But waking up, he was all alone. Even his only support now had an uncertain fate.
The brutal contrast had shaken Dean to the core. Yet he knew Antonio needed him, so he forced himself to come.
But seeing the once powerful man in such a state, Dean felt as if the illusion might never come true.
“…This…”
Dean’s sobs were loud and unrestrained, alarming the nearby wildlife. Han Fei could sense animals moving toward their location and hesitated, wondering whether he should urge them to leave quickly.
Dean had always been friendly and had a great relationship with the Blazing Flame Squad members. After being assigned field training by Li Zhuang, they would return every day covered in wounds — and Dean was always the one to patch them up.
Sun Kai could see Dean was emotionally overwhelmed and felt it would be heartless to rush him now. He clenched his teeth and said, “Let’s hold out for a bit longer.”
Han Fei didn’t object, but the people still on the helicopter were growing impatient.
Recently, the helicopters had been deployed too frequently. All fuel from the base was prioritized for this team. With the sea around Oil Island now teeming with mutated sea creatures, supplies had become limited, and every flight had to count.
“Baby…”
Just as Wu Yue was about to urge them again, a weak voice crackled through the radio. He froze for a second before realizing — it sounded like Antonio?
In disbelief, he turned to Zhao Li, who looked just as shocked.
They didn’t waste another second. Handing Dong Xiaoxiao over to Zhao Yu, they swiftly rappelled down the rope.
Running over, they saw Antonio lying weakly on the ground with Dean crying into his chest. Antonio’s arm gently circled Dean’s waist, his eyes filled with tenderness.
“God damn…” Wu Yue let out a deep breath, then covered his mouth and laughed.
“The power of love!” Han Fei laughed heartily as he used jungle plants to swat away a raccoon creeping too close.
Sun Kai’s flying knives zipped through the foliage, keeping other small animals at bay, a smile also on his face.
For over a month, they had endured the relentless noise of the jungle — animal cries day and night. Yet now, those sounds suddenly felt almost pleasant.
Back at the base, the starving Antonio was immediately injected with several nutrient shots, followed by a bland and watery diet.
Dean never left his side. His eyes were swollen from crying, and he clumsily tried to feed Antonio — only to have tears falling freely into the bowl moments later.
“Baby, don’t cry,” Antonio said gently. He already knew everything that had happened while he was trapped in the illusion. Learning that Dean had nearly fallen into the illusion trying to save him filled him with guilt and heartache.
They had survived countless dangerous moments after the apocalypse. Though Dean appeared pampered, every time Antonio was in danger, Dean would pull himself together and carry both of their burdens — his inner strength always surprising everyone.
“David, I miss Daddy…” The person Dean had buried deep within his heart, the one he only dared to think of secretly in the quiet of the night, was suddenly mentioned. Dean could no longer hold back his emotions and broke down crying on Antonio’s chest. “Tell me… do you think he’s still alive?”
“Will we never see him again?”
That heartless and ruthless man, who had placed all his tenderness on Dean alone, was the same person Dean had once run off with.
Antonio’s hand trembled as he reached to hold Dean’s. What he feared most was Dean regretting things. But deep down, wasn’t he also full of regret? If things had unfolded like in the illusion, if he had taken just one step back… would the two of them have had completely different lives?
Maybe their lives wouldn’t be better than now, but… at least neither of them would be left with regrets.
Antonio didn’t say anything. He simply raised his arms and hugged Dean, gently patting his back, letting him release his emotions.
After being tormented by dreams and reality since waking up, Dean, once he had vented all his emotions, recovered quickly. With swift movements, he brought Antonio another bowl of millet porridge—reportedly nutritious and easy to digest.
Antonio wanted to comfort him or make a promise that they’d visit home someday, but he knew that was all empty talk. Their homeland lay across a vast ocean, and with mutated sea creatures now rampant, crossing the sea was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
In the end, all he could do was softly stroke Dean’s soft curls, keeping all his regrets buried deep in his heart.
*
Meanwhile
“It seems they’ll wake up soon,” Ai Ping whispered from the hallway after hearing the crying inside.
They had been stationed here for about a month. After countless clashes with a mutated black bear near the area, following Zhou He’s team, they had successfully leveled up to S-rank.
The wood-type ability user Han Fei had also reached S-rank alongside him, while the metal-type ability user Sun Kai had lagged slightly due to a lack of suitable crystals but had still advanced to late A-rank.
Most of the accompanying ability users had achieved at least a minor rank-up, so no one had any objections to staying here. In fact, they were all highly motivated.
“Mhm,” Wu Yue let out a breath of relief. “Thanks for your hard work during this time. A week ago, there were signs of large-scale zombie activity near Zhongdu Base, not far from the Capital Base. I’ve spoken with Major General Lu—tomorrow, you’ll take the Blazing Flame Squad and return with Zhou He.”
“What about Young Master Lu?”
“There are other plans for him at the base.”
Since he said so, Ai Ping didn’t press the issue, though he hesitated and glanced at Han Fei beside him.
Straightforward as always, Han Fei clapped his big hand on Wu Yue’s shoulder and asked directly, “Captain Wu, are you planning to station here permanently?”
Zhou He, following Li Zhuang’s suggestion, had not ventured deep into the jungle. The nearest S-class mutated beasts included a black bear, a leopard cat, a wild boar, and a red deer.
Their goal from the start was very clear—level up through combat.
After surveying the surrounding S-rank creatures with a drone and confirming their territories, Zhou He immediately divided the team and shamelessly began a full-on training operation.
Every day, the four nearby mutated beasts were endlessly harassed. What began as a dangerous struggle gradually turned into a productive cycle. Zhou He’s team made rapid progress, which inevitably made Han Fei envious.
“That’s the plan…” Wu Yue, after cross-checking Zhou He’s list of departing personnel and noting some needed supplies, looked up at the hesitant man with a silent question.
“Uh… I just wanted to ask, can our team come back here again later…?” Given the Blazing Flame Squad’s limited fuel reserves, it was obvious they were freeloading off the other side’s aircraft—taking advantage, really. Han Fei, normally shameless, felt a bit awkward. But the speed of leveling up was simply too tempting.
“Sure. Just discuss it with your Major General and have Zhuang Mingxu handle the arrangements.” The Blazing Flame Squad had, in many ways, singlehandedly suppressed the emerging factions at the Capital Base. Wu Yue had also heard of Lu Xiao’s generous contributions—doing them a favor in return wasn’t a big deal.
“Thanks a lot,” Ai Ping said immediately, then turned to help arrange the Blazing Flame Squad’s departure.
That night, once things were settled, Wu Yue walked toward the place where the unconscious people were staying. As he approached, he heard the couple inside being sickeningly sweet, completely ignoring the still-unconscious others.
He stood at the door with his arms crossed, listening for a while without them noticing. Eventually, he had to cough deliberately to get their attention.
“Brother Yue,” Dean had returned to his usual cheerful self. Even though his eyes were still swollen, he radiated energy and brightness. As he got up to move a stool for Li Zhuang, his golden curls bounced energetically in the breeze.
Wu Yue reached out and ruffled his hair, finally feeling reassured. Most people experienced lingering effects after waking from those illusions. When Dean had first arrived, he had been tense like a tightly strung bow, worried about Antonio’s condition and barely holding it together. Thankfully, it looked like he had pulled through.
“How are you?” Wu Yue asked, sitting by the bed and looking at the still-weak Antonio.
“Heh…” Antonio gave a bitter smile and shook his head. But when his eyes landed on Dean, they softened. No matter how wonderful the illusion had been, what mattered most was that Dean was still by his side now. That alone made everything bearable.
That was also why he had been able to recover from the illusion so quickly.
Wu Yue shared a brief overview of the base’s current situation and added, “The zombie hordes that had been quiet for a while are starting to reappear. Every base is worried they might be the next target and are stockpiling weapons. Several bases have already turned their sights on HalfHalf Moon Bay.”
After all, Lu Weiyi had leveled up but hadn’t returned for a whole month—that was bound to raise questions. And the advanced weapons in HalfHalf Moon Bay had long been coveted by other bases. If things continued like this, a confrontation would be inevitable.
It was just a matter of how and when the other side would act.
“As for Lu…”
“Zhuang Mingxu says they’ve seen some initial success with their countermeasures,” Wu Yue said. With all the secret maneuverings from the various bases, communication with HalfHalf Moon Bay had become more discreet. All he knew was that Zhuang Mingxu was working on it—details remained unclear.
“Moreover, the psychic ability users at our base can now eliminate the mental effects. You’ll return with them tomorrow.”
After all the arrangements were made, the main force at the temporary camp assembled early the next morning, preparing to depart.
