Chapter 551 | Chapter 552 | Chapter 553 | Chapter 554 | Chapter 555
Chapter 551: Affected
By the time he entered the lounge, Wu Yue had already carved out a piece of flesh from his chest. A small jade was embedded within. His face pale, he forced a smile as he handed it over. “Don’t get all awkward—just wash it. I’ll bandage up.”
“Thanks, brother,” Zhuang Mingxu said no more. He went outside to call a military doctor and returned to his room with the jade.
Taotao, who had been hidden in his coat all along, was finally let out. He looked around curiously, only for Zhuang Mingxu to immediately stuff a piece of jade into his hands.
The child’s eyes lit up instantly. Within moments, the milky, smooth jade showed cracks and then crumbled into powder. Taotao’s body visibly returned to its normal size.
“Big Daddy?” Taotao looked at Zhuang Mingxu in confusion.
“It’s okay.” Zhuang Mingxu wiped the dust from his hands, found clean clothes to change him into, and felt a weight lift seeing the child restored to normal.
“Do you remember what happened before?” Zhuang Mingxu handed the previous lollipops back to Taotao and asked.
Taotao tilted his head, thinking for a long time. “I took Little Flower’s energy and gave it to Father. A bad guy was really strong. After I got hurt, Father hid me in the space.”
Taotao’s recounting was disjointed, but Zhuang Mingxu had already reconstructed the battle from multiple sources. He quickly understood what he meant: after extracting the crystal core from the SS-grade mutant plant, Taotao had been injured by the energy burst from Gu Sheng and was then taken back into space by Lu Weiyi.
“I got hurt and went back into the big tree to sleep for a long time. Then I heard Big Daddy calling me, and I woke up.” Taotao sucked his lollipop with innocent naivety, but Zhuang Mingxu, who understood the truth, felt deep heartache. He couldn’t imagine how serious the injury had to be for Taotao to fall into such a long slumber.
“Big Daddy, I think I saw you,” Taotao said, face filled with confusion. He reached out and touched Zhuang Mingxu’s cheek. “I saw two fathers. I called you, but you didn’t answer.”
“?” Zhuang Mingxu. “Where did you see us?”
Taotao thought hard and shook his head.
“Can you describe what the place looked like?”
“I saw…” Taotao’s little eyebrows furrowed deeply. “Saw Daddy throwing flying knives to kill zombies. One father didn’t talk. You helped him get dressed. The other father kept talking…”
“Saying ‘give up on him,’ ‘don’t care about him’…”
Zhuang Mingxu tried to interpret what he meant and gently prompted, “Flying knives? What kind?”
“Like Uncle Blue-Eyes’ flying knives,” Taotao said, gesturing in the air with two fingers.
The “Uncle Blue-Eyes” he mentioned was Antonio. Since his name was too long, the kids couldn’t remember it. Zhuang Aiyi had nicknamed him based on his bright blue eyes, and Taotao had followed suit.
“Where did you see them? Was it at our house?”
Taotao shook his head. “It was… somewhere I didn’t recognize. I didn’t see Brother.”
His information was too vague. Zhuang Mingxu pondered for a long time but still couldn’t figure out exactly what he meant. “When did you see this?”
“Just… when I woke up, I could see it.”
Woke up…
Considering the place where he had woken was within the range of Lu Weiyi’s psychic power, a bold thought emerged in Zhuang Mingxu’s mind.
If Taotao was affected by the psychic power—those scenes were far too complex for a child’s imagination.
Then could it be possible…
That he was seeing Lu Weiyi’s illusion?
In his illusion… he had powers?
Zhuang Mingxu suddenly felt a wave of bitterness in his chest. In the five years since the apocalypse began, he had quietly taken on the role of captain, leading everyone to build the base and becoming the backbone of the entire team. But in the stillness of midnight, was there perhaps a part of him that longed for someone stronger to shoulder the burden for him?
Maybe that was why he remained trapped in this illusion, unwilling to wake up.
“Big Daddy?” Taotao noticed Zhuang Mingxu wasn’t speaking and shook his arm. “Where’s Brother? I want to see my brother.”
“Brother is at home. Father is sick right now. Stay with Daddy and help take care of Father. When he wakes up, we’ll go home to see Brother, okay?”
“Okay!” Taotao agreed readily. After finishing his lollipop, he immediately began looking around curiously.
Hearing a sound outside, he leaned toward the window, pressing his face flat against the glass. Wu Yue, who had just walked by after getting his wound bandaged, was startled by the sudden sight of a squashed face on the window and instinctively stepped back in fright.
Taotao, however, was entirely unaware, his big eyes wide as he waved excitedly at Wu Yue.
“Uncle, it’s Taotao!” he called out, patting the window in excitement.
Wu Yue quickly entered the room. Seeing Taotao, he immediately scooped him up like a small cannonball and lifted him high, making Taotao giggle with joy.
“Taotao, come down. Uncle Yue is injured,” Zhuang Mingxu said.
“It’s nothing, just a scratch,” Wu Yue said, rubbing his cheek against Taotao’s soft little face. Though full of questions about Taotao’s sudden reappearance, he chose not to ask and simply said, “Tonight we’re making bone broth. Taotao, you eat more, okay?”
“Okay! Taotao wants marrow. Uncle, you crack the bones.”
“Sure, I’ll get you the biggest marrow bones.”
After playing with the little one for a while, Wu Yue took him outside to eat.
The presence of a small child among the group of grown men immediately brought life and laughter. Taotao, with his sweet talk, quickly won everyone over, making the entire group smile and laugh.
Even if some were curious about where he had come from, no one asked outright.
As temperatures continued to drop, a light layer of frost covered the courtyard the next morning. Wrapped up like a round little ball, Taotao jogged behind the morning training group, praising how fast everyone was running in his clear, crisp voice.
Soon after, falling behind, he scampered off to the kitchen and clung to the stove, watching steaming buns come out of the steamer. With some sweet words, by the time breakfast started, his little belly was already round and full.
After the meal, Zhuang Mingxu grabbed the thermal container to feed Lu Weiyi and called from a distance, “Taotao, let’s go see your father.”
“Coming!” the little one waved goodbye to the uncles he’d just met and clambered onto the electric cart. Wu Yue picked him up by the back of his coat like a little turtle and placed him on the vehicle.
Zhuang Mingxu put on a mental shielding device, prompting Wu Yue to remember—there wasn’t one suitable for Taotao. “Maybe don’t bring him? I can watch him.”
Zhuang Mingxu looked at Taotao, pausing slightly on his innocent little face. “It’s fine. Let’s go.”
“You wait for us here,” he added.
Wu Yue looked up at him. Their eyes met, and he understood Zhuang Mingxu’s intention.
He set Taotao down on the cart and said, “Hold onto your dad. If you feel uncomfortable, tell him right away.”
“Okay!”
As Zhuang Mingxu drove off, Taotao turned around and happily waved at Wu Yue.
The moment they entered the range of Lu Weiyi’s psychic field, Zhuang Mingxu began observing Taotao closely, chatting with him along the way. By the time they reached the small cabin, he was certain—Taotao was completely unaffected by Lu Weiyi’s psychic power.
Which meant…
The scenes he’d described definitely came from Lu Weiyi’s illusion.
Zhuang Mingxu recalled something Lu Weiyi once said when teaching Gu Qingji how to tame a mutant plant at the start of the apocalypse: “You can feel the contract; a mark appears in your consciousness.”
Back then, they thought he was referring to the plant. But now, it seemed more likely that it was Taotao, or that they were one and the same. Could that be why Taotao was able to enter Lu Weiyi’s illusion?
Zhuang Mingxu quickly fed the food into the nasal feeding tube, massaging Lu Weiyi’s body efficiently while asking Taotao if he could somehow go back to see Lu Weiyi again.
“Isn’t Father right here?” Taotao asked, puzzled.
“I mean… the other Father. The two fathers and the one who throws knives.”
Taotao sat cross-legged like a little grown-up, thought for a moment, and then disappeared from Zhuang Mingxu’s sight. Time ticked by, and as the limit approached, Taotao still hadn’t returned. Zhuang Mingxu tried calling him through the little green plant on Lu Weiyi’s wrist, but the plant remained unresponsive, as if its consciousness had faded entirely.
After some hesitation, Zhuang Mingxu decided to leave on his own.
As he rode away, he felt a familiar light-headedness begin to set in.
This sensation had occurred many times before when testing the time limit. He knew clearly—he was being affected by Lu Weiyi’s psychic power.
Luckily… there was only one path ahead.
Zhuang Mingxu accelerated the vehicle to its highest speed and sped toward the end of the road.
The scene ahead began to blur. The wild, overgrown landscape transformed into a concrete jungle filled with towering buildings.
City women in high heels rushed past carrying folders, and suited young men radiated elite energy.
Everything in sight was part of the business empire he had built with his own two hands.
Zhuang Mingxu kept reminding himself not to get lost—this is an illusion. But the scene before him was too real.
A secretary spoke softly beside him: “President Zhuang, Young Master Lu’s psychiatrist called. He says the patient’s condition has improved significantly and he can now communicate normally. As long as he’s guided to speak, no further psychiatric intervention is necessary.”
“Is… is that so?” Zhuang Mingxu’s mind briefly faltered. It was as if something flashed past too quickly for him to catch. He frowned and tried to recall it, but came up with nothing. The secretary’s next words fully drew his attention away.
“Yes. Congratulations, President Zhuang. The doctor said Young Master Lu has already been sent back and should be arriving shortly…”
“Zhuang Mingxu,” the secretary had just finished when the office door opened. A handsome young man stepped inside. His voice was cool and calm, like a spring in a silent valley, piercing straight through the heart.
“I’m home.”
Zhuang Mingxu subconsciously felt something was wrong, but it didn’t stop him from getting up and walking toward the person at the door. He reached out to take the offered hand, a smile just beginning to spread across his face. “Alright, we— Bang!…”
The world went dark, and the scene before his eyes dissolved bit by bit like the fading colors of an oil painting. Pain surged through his body, and the vision changed once more.
“Big Daddy!”
Taotao’s voice echoed in his mind. He looked around but couldn’t see the child. However—
He saw Lu Weiyi.
More accurately, he saw the two “fathers” and the “big daddy with flying knives” Taotao had mentioned.
Chapter 552: Entering the Illusion
Torrential rain poured down, and floodwaters raged across the land.
“Zhuang Mingxu” stood halfway up a tall building, looking out through a broken window. Waves battered the structure, crashing into it with explosive force, sending the entire building drifting with the current.
The roar of the flood was accompanied by the desperate cries of people begging for help. Murky water carried all manner of debris, and those caught in the flood struggled for a moment before vanishing into the depths.
“Help…”
“Please, help me…”
“Zombies! There are zombies in the water!”
“Don’t come near! Let go of me! Don’t bite me!”
The shrill screams pierced through the curtain of rain. “Zhuang Mingxu” saw a woman clinging to a piece of driftwood, being dragged by the current. A zombie had latched onto her thigh. The makeshift raft wobbled, on the verge of flipping.
He calmly waved his hand. A small knife zipped through the air, striking the zombie directly in the forehead. Unfortunately, the woman, though freed, was thrown against an exposed steel rod in the water and died instantly.
“Boss, we—”
As the life faded from her body, someone beside him started to speak but fell silent again.
“There’s nothing we can do,” another person said. “Let’s focus on how to recover our supplies once the flood recedes.”
Zhuang Mingxu turned toward the speaker. The face, familiar yet distant, belonged to Qin Jin.
After years of posting missing person notices and offering huge bounties at every base, the person they couldn’t find had appeared here.
Before he could even react, he heard “Zhuang Mingxu” say, “You don’t seem to feel anything at all.”
He was speaking to the man beside him.
Zhuang Mingxu followed his gaze and saw Lu Weiyi standing silently nearby.
He instantly recognized this was not the sheltered young master from the early days of the apocalypse, but the hardened version of Lu Weiyi, his expression firm after five grueling years.
“Xiao Yi! Xiao Yi!” Zhuang Mingxu shouted, trying to get closer—only to realize he had no physical form. He was like a wisp of consciousness, shapeless, intangible.
Lu Weiyi didn’t seem to hear him at all and paid no attention to “Zhuang Mingxu.”
Snippets of conversation drifted in from those around them.
“This flood is insane—so many buildings washed away.”
“The buildings are the least of it. I saw whole supply depots from elite teams disappear.”
“Hopefully the Li family is gone too. They’ve always been a pain.”
“The base is nearly destroyed, and you’re still worrying about rivalries? Short-sighted!”
“Well, if you’re so farsighted, tell me how we’re going to rebuild this place!”
“In this state? Might as well relocate entirely…”
The speaker fell silent as soon as he spotted “Zhuang Mingxu” nearby, shrinking back into the crowd.
“Mingxu?” Qin Jin turned back, worry etched on his face as he looked over the ruined base.
“When the flood recedes, we’re leaving.”
“Zhuang Mingxu” spoke with a calm certainty, as though this had been decided long ago. Those nearby were shocked, immediately bombarding him with questions about where the team was going.
“I plan to return to the capital. You all can decide whether to stay or go.”
Hearing this, the real Zhuang Mingxu finally began paying attention to his surroundings. The scene triggered his memory—this was Qingyuan Base, specifically the period after the apocalypse when the great flood struck.
He was still trying to make sense of what was happening when a voice called urgently from the crowd.
“Boss, Young Master Lu has a fever! Do you want to check on him?”
“Zhuang Mingxu” turned and strode upstairs, warning, “Don’t act rashly. There are zombies in the water. Stay alert.”
“Got it!”
Lu Weiyi followed behind “Zhuang Mingxu,” yet no one else seemed to notice him—only greeting “Zhuang Mingxu.”
“Give up,” Lu Weiyi said suddenly.
The man ahead didn’t respond.
They ascended several flights of stairs and arrived at a two-person room.
As the door opened, they saw Antonio holding a trembling Dean tightly. He kicked a man across the room, sending him crashing into the wall. Amid a woman’s scream, he growled viciously, “Come near him again, and I’ll kill you.”
His face was dark with long-harbored rage, but his hand gently soothed Dean’s back.
Zhuang Mingxu saw the usually radiant Dean looking vacant and trembling violently. His grip on Antonio’s arm was so tight it looked painful—like a frightened, traumatized animal.
“Brother Mingxu, please save my brother! They’re going to kill him!” A shrill voice broke Zhuang Mingxu’s focus. He looked up and saw Ji Lin, while the man crumpled on the ground was Ji Jin.
Still unsure what was going on, Zhuang Mingxu was startled as the normally calm Lu Weiyi suddenly exploded with fury.
“Kill them! Kill them! Can’t you understand?!”
“How many times have I told you—kill them!”
He shouted at “Zhuang Mingxu,” flinging his hand toward Ji Lin and Ji Jin. Invisible force rippled through the air. For the first time, Zhuang Mingxu felt the destructive power of psychic energy—but Ji Lin and Ji Jin remained unharmed.
“Zhuang Mingxu” ignored the outburst, brushed Ji Lin aside with a wave, and pushed open the bedroom door.
“You’d better stay quiet. If you disturb Xiao Yi’s rest, I’ll feed you to the zombies.”
Lu Weiyi was extremely emotional, furiously punching and kicking Ji Jin on the ground, though it didn’t cause any real harm.
“Xiao Yi, wake up!”
Zhuang Mingxu approached, calling out loudly, his eyes scanning the bedroom until they landed on a young, innocent face—one that had clearly been well protected. It was the untouched, sheltered Lu Weiyi.
He lay on the bed, cheeks flushed with fever, brows slightly furrowed, exuding a cold fragility that tugged at the heart of anyone who saw him.
“Zhuang Mingxu” stepped forward quickly. As he lifted the person in the bed, the man let out a soft, uncomfortable whimper, prompting him to be even gentler with his movements.
For the first time, Zhuang Mingxu stood in the position of an observer watching how the two interacted. He suddenly realized how obvious his feelings had been in his youth.
When someone is held so dearly in your heart, every movement becomes cautious and tender—how could that not be noticed?
“Let him die!”
“Let him die already!”
Lu Weiyi stormed into the bedroom after venting in the living room. When he saw “Zhuang Mingxu” treating the person in his arms so tenderly, it was like adding fuel to a fire. He seemed like a frantic little lion with nowhere to vent, shouting irritably as he lunged and tried to slap the person “Zhuang Mingxu” was holding.
The movement was violent and chaotic, completely unlike the cold and aloof Lu Weiyi in Zhuang Mingxu’s memory.
A terrible feeling rose in Zhuang Mingxu’s heart—like everything happening here was deliberately pushing Lu Weiyi to his breaking point.
Zhuang Mingxu began to suspect his understanding of the situation was wrong. This didn’t seem like how a typical illusion should work. Everything happening here didn’t appear to be under Lu Weiyi’s control.
He had studied other people affected by psychic abilities. Their symptoms were nothing like this.
Lu Weiyi hadn’t merged with the illusion at all. If he was just an observer, then how could the “Zhuang Mingxu” within the illusion see him? But if he were a participant, why was he unable to change anything?
Even though he couldn’t be touched, “Zhuang Mingxu” still shielded the person in his arms from Lu Weiyi’s attacks.
“Stop it,” “Zhuang Mingxu” said unusually gently.
Based on what he knew of himself, Zhuang Mingxu was sure that this version of himself must know who Lu Weiyi was—otherwise, he would never allow anyone to raise a hand against the person in his arms.
Everything here was so strange, he couldn’t make sense of it.
“Give up on him.”
“Just give him up already!”
Lu Weiyi was still screaming, his voice filled with despair and hopelessness, each word dripping with sorrow.
Was he really telling “Zhuang Mingxu” to give up on himself?
Before Zhuang Mingxu could make sense of it, it felt like something invaded his mind. Everything in front of him started to blur.
“Xiao Yi!”
“Xiao Yi——!”
“Lu Weiyi! We’re leaving!”
Zhuang Mingxu shouted with the last of his consciousness as everything went pitch black.
When he opened his eyes again, a wave of dizziness hit him like a tidal wave.
“Mingxu? Are you okay?” Wu Yue’s worried voice came.
Zhuang Mingxu suddenly turned to the side and began to vomit violently.
Wu Yue hurried over to pat his back. “It’s okay, that’s a normal reaction to psychic influence. Luckily Tao Tao was crying loudly—I got to you just in time and pulled you out.”
“You’re usually careful about time. Why were you late today?”
Zhuang Mingxu gently comforted Tao Tao, whose eyes were swollen from crying. His voice was hoarse as he said, “I think I entered Xiao Yi’s illusion.”
“You… You can enter someone else’s illusion?” Wu Yue was shocked.
Zhuang Mingxu shook his head, and another wave of dizziness swept over him.
“I had a psychic-type ability user clear your mind of the intrusion…” Wu Yue wasn’t sure if he’d helped or made things worse, but he was more concerned about Lu Weiyi’s state. “Did you see Lu Weiyi? Were you able to wake him up?”
Zhuang Mingxu shook his head again, his expression growing even more grim.
Wu Yue didn’t press further and simply said, “You get some rest. Today we’re going to clean out the mutated animals affected by psychic power in there. I need to oversee the team.”
“Tao Tao, can you take care of Daddy?”
“I can. Tao Tao will watch over Daddy.” Tao Tao’s voice was hoarse from crying for so long.
Once Wu Yue left, Zhuang Mingxu asked where Tao Tao had been during that time.
“I went into the space to find Father,” Tao Tao said seriously. “Then I felt Daddy, so I brought Daddy with me to find Father.”
“You took me into your father’s illusion?” Zhuang Mingxu asked, incredulous.
Tao Tao didn’t understand what “illusion” meant and didn’t know how to answer. She just bit her finger and looked confused.
“You know, the place your father was in—was it you who brought me in?”
“Yes. I heard you calling Father, and I called him too, but he didn’t respond to us,” Tao Tao said with a hurt look. “Big Daddy, does Father not like Tao Tao anymore?”
“No, Father just didn’t see us,” Zhuang Mingxu replied, lifting the blanket for her to crawl under. As he gently stroked her back to comfort her, the scenes he had witnessed replayed in his mind again.
Chapter 553: Supporting the Base
Capital Base.
After the coordinated zombie attack, the tide of battle began to turn in their favor. The abilities users were stretched thin, and casualties continued to mount.
With the complete wipeout of a small squad, morale—which had once been steady—began to waver.
Sensing the shift in momentum, several smaller teams began to consider retreat.
Old Master Zheng still adhered to his philosophy of “those who retreat die,” attempting to force them to stay. But this time, both Lu Xiao and Zhao Qiang intervened.
“Every abilities user fights tooth and nail to upgrade. They shouldn’t die at the hands of fellow humans,” Zhao Qiang said. As someone obsessed with leveling up, he knew the razor-thin line between life and death that each upgrade required.
Ever since the zombies began using tactics, he had fought on the front lines for two full days and nights. Now, he leaned against a wall of earth to support himself, his voice dry and raspy like he’d swallowed sand.
“Old Master, just give us a firm ETA on the reinforcements. If they don’t arrive by then, I’ll lead the withdrawal myself.”
“I can’t let the brothers under my command die in a battle with no future.”
“The Anti-Zombie Alliance…”
“Only the living can form an alliance. Just look at the endless stream of zombies outside. Are you planning to have every single ability user in the Capital die here?” Zhao Qiang had heard countless stories about Old Master Zheng’s heroic feats in battle—that was why he agreed to follow his command this time. But he hadn’t expected the old man to be so stubborn, willing to sacrifice ability users’ lives just to defend this city.
If Zheng Yi weren’t also leading a team defending another front, Zhao Qiang might have suspected that this ‘fight to the death’ mindset was a way for the Zheng family to pave the road for their future.
“Captain—”
“Old Six—!”
A few anguished cries came from nearby. Zhao Qiang turned toward the sound and saw the captain of Team Six impaled through the chest by a vine as thick as an arm.
The vine had stretched up from below the wall and now hoisted the man’s body into the air, swinging him like a rag doll. His eyes were wide open, blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, and the crystal-core gun in one hand was still firing down below. Frost formed around him, but very slowly, as though his power was nearly exhausted.
Everyone who saw the scene clenched their teeth in fury. Several fire dragons were unleashed indiscriminately upon the zombie horde below the wall, which only seemed to enrage the undead even more.
“Cut the vine! Wood-ability users, pull him up!” Zhao Qiang ordered. At the same time, the section of wall beneath his feet was abruptly shaved down by some unseen force. In midair, a massive shield made of bricks and earth formed and appeared in front of the nearby ability users, blocking the attacks from below.
The constant bombardment of powers caused the wood-type zombie controlling the vines to swing them around in a panic. Old Six was violently slammed against the wall. Even though a wood-type ability user immediately tried to rescue him, it was already too late—he was gone.
“Where’s the healer? Fang Ke? Jiang Xi!” a young man, his face streaked with blood, shouted toward the stairwell behind him.
“Gangzi, calm down!”
“Old Six, he…”
“Sixth Bro will be fine—he’s really strong!” Gangzi’s eyes were wide with anger. He glared at the speaker as though he’d punch him if he said one more word.
Zhao Qiang moved a few steps closer and looked down at Old Six’s body laid out on the ground. Blood poured from the hole in his chest. His bones appeared crushed, his body flattened like a pancake. Even the most powerful healing ability couldn’t save someone in that condition.
“Gangzi…” Zhao Qiang started to speak but then saw the youngest ability user in Team Six, eyes red and brimming with tears, looking at him with a mixture of grief and hope.
“Captain, didn’t you say we had reinforcements? Why haven’t they arrived after three days?”
“The strike aircraft from Half Moon Bay Base should only take two hours to get here.”
The people nearby all turned to look at Zhao Qiang, their expressions silently asking the same question.
The shield protecting them collapsed with a thunderous crash, its shattered pieces tumbling to the ground. Then, midair, the debris reformed into massive fists that slammed down at the zombie horde below.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The pounding sounded like someone venting their rage.
Similar scenes were playing out elsewhere—Lu Xiao, too, watched his people die; Zheng Yi was equally powerless.
As the three strongest ability users in the Capital Base, they had always been admired and followed by others. But now, the zombies were teaching them a brutal lesson—showing them how weak they truly were.
All three silently began to wonder if staying behind had been the wrong decision.
“If reinforcements don’t arrive within five hours, the security squads will retreat immediately.”
Zhao Qiang’s voice came through the communicator.
It sounded like a promise to his comrades—and a message for Old Master Zheng on the other end of the line.
Before the old man could reply, a weary voice from another communicator chimed in. It was Lu Xiao.
“Lie Yan will retreat too.”
Zheng Yi said nothing. But at this point, silence was tacit agreement.
With the top two elite teams pulling out, it would mean the Capital Base was finished.
Old Master Zheng was silent for a long time before he finally said, “They’re already on the way.”
*
The old man hadn’t lied—reinforcements were on the way. But they weren’t from the Half Moon Bay Base as everyone had assumed.
They were from Anjiang Base in the central region and Jin Province Base in the southwest.
After the Ability Users’ Conference ended, bases across the region had begun constructing underground transit tunnels. Now, those tunnels were proving invaluable—travel time was drastically reduced, just as planned.
While Half Moon Bay Base received the request to support the Capital, the other nearby bases—already prepared—immediately mobilized. As Ning Yuan had predicted, none of them wanted to be late and miss out on a share of the “glory.”
Ironically, Ning Yuan’s forces—though expected—arrived last. The others reached the battlefield first.
At this point, the Capital Base had already exhausted its heavy weaponry and was relying entirely on its ability users. The arrival of over 30,000 new ability users from the two bases provided much-needed relief and stabilized the situation to an extent.
However, the lack of high-level ability users meant they couldn’t completely turn the tide.
As the battle went on, the zombies’ coordination improved drastically. They even began using Five Elements synergy to suppress ability powers, as though a central brain were commanding them. Their reactions and teamwork were shockingly precise.
This was clearly different from previous zombie encounters and quickly caught everyone’s attention. Even after Zhongdu Base and Cangnan Base sent reinforcements, they couldn’t establish dominance. In fact, the chaotic, unexpected nature of the battle led some squads to disobey orders.
Tension in the command center was thick.
Representatives from several bases had gathered, demanding answers from Old Master Zheng.
“It was your Capital side that said Half Moon Bay Base was already en route. That’s the only reason our mayor agreed to cooperate. And now? Half Moon Bay hasn’t shown up at all, and you’ve been hiding the true situation with the zombies. You’ve made us fight this battle for nothing. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation, Old Master Zheng?” Chen Guozhong, former mayor of Anjiang City and now the trusted right hand of Anjiang Base’s leader Lin Minghong, voiced what everyone else was thinking.
As the second unified authority after Half Moon Bay, his stance naturally couldn’t be compared with the hastily assembled support troops. His powerful and forceful questioning left no room for saving face for the old man.
“How can you talk like that?” the old man’s bodyguard asked angrily.
“Things have gotten to this point, and you’re still afraid of being criticized?” Pang Xinghuo from the Jin Province Base looked young and had a rather frivolous expression. With his hands in his pockets, he glanced around casually as he responded.
Compared to Chen Guozhong’s righteous fury, he didn’t show any agitation at all—in fact, he even had the leisure to study the battle deployment.
“Old Master, the Capital Base is already at its breaking point. There’s no need to continue this fight. If there’s no further support from high-level ability users or powerful thermal weapons, we’ve decided to withdraw early, at least to preserve the lives of our own team members.” The speaker was Luo Ming, the calm and composed 50-year-old captain of the Fengming Battle Team from the Cangnan Base. Unlike the younger ones, he still showed some respect to the old man.
Before anyone beside the old man could respond, Luo Ming continued, “I trust your character, so I brought the core members of our base. But I can’t allow them to waste away in a hopeless battle. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed—the zombies from the city center are still surging endlessly toward the base.”
“Can you give us a clear answer? Is Half Moon Bay participating in this battle or not?” asked Hai Qin, the representative from the Zhongdu Base.
“They are indeed on their way,” the old man replied. “This is the message Half Moon Bay sent half an hour ago.”
The old man handed over the message from the communications officer, which clearly listed the weapons Half Moon Bay was bringing.
Just the inventory of crystals and weapons alone gave everyone a sense of relief. Chen Guozhong was both shocked at Half Moon Bay’s stockpile and calculating the chances of victory in his mind.
“However, the underground passage from Half Moon Bay to the Capital Base was mostly destroyed by a sinkhole. The sudden proliferation of mutated animals left no time to repair it. Now it’s going to take more time.”
“Can’t they deploy their strike aircraft ahead of time?” someone asked. “Air support would at least relieve some pressure on the frontline ability users.”
“Mutated bird species are rampant in the coastal areas. The strike aircraft lack sufficient self-defense capabilities—if they’re attacked by the birds, it could lead to unnecessary losses,” the old man replied.
“If they can’t even defend themselves, how can we be sure that the crystal-core weapons they’re bringing can deliver widespread damage to the zombies?”
“Exactly! No one has even seen those weapons in action. Are we sure they’ll have a decisive effect on this battle?”
“Didn’t they say two years ago they used crystal-core rocket launchers to wipe out hundreds of thousands of zombies, even killing an S-class zombie?”
“That was just a rumor. No one actually witnessed it. Who can say for sure if it’s true? Besides, they only succeeded in killing that S-class zombie because Lu—”
Chapter 554: Leading Zombie
The speaker suddenly stopped, as if remembering something, and glanced around quickly. Seeing no one from the Blazing Flame Squad was present, he continued, “—because that person was there. If another high-level zombie shows up now, who knows what’ll happen.”
“Yeah, what’s the deal with that person anyway? Weren’t they supposed to be upgrading? But there’s been no news—did they fail?”
“Shh! Don’t say that. Reliable sources say they’re still alive. But mental-type abilities are inherently intangible—during upgrades, they often cause psychic disturbances.”
“I’ve asked a few mental-type users, and it’s apparently true. They say it’s like the ‘inner demons’ you read about in cultivation novels during breakthroughs.”
“That fantastical? Then doesn’t that mean if they can’t overcome it…”
Cough. “Why are there even ordinary people in this mission? Didn’t you all say the team had to consist entirely of high-level ability users? Are they just here to make up the numbers?”
Someone, seeing the conversation veering off track, quickly redirected it.
“There are more than 3,000 ordinary people. They only brought about 20 S-class ability users. It’s obvious not all their high-level ability users are here. Were we too hasty to pin our hopes on them?”
“Can you even guarantee that their arrival will bring us victory?”
Questions came one after another, increasingly mythologizing Half Moon Bay’s support forces—as if their arrival would solve everything.
Even Chen Guozhong felt speechless listening to all this, not to mention everyone else in the command room. He cut through the noise and asked bluntly, “How long until they arrive?”
“Very soon.”
*
The advantage of having many factions is that the pressure gets spread out.
The disadvantage is poor obedience and weak execution.
Because Half Moon Bay’s reinforcements hadn’t arrived, many bases were dissatisfied. While they hadn’t withdrawn, they also refused to go to areas with heavy zombie activity.
As a regular person commanding a group of ability users, Old Master Zheng was already under immense pressure. The lack of cooperation from certain battle teams directly resulted in greater casualties.
When the zombies suddenly began withdrawing en masse toward the southeast, Old Master Zheng decisively ordered the entire Jin Province team to support that area. However, the Jin Province team was slow to act. By the time they arrived, over 100,000 zombies had already used the bodies of both zombies and ability users to physically tear open a breach in the southeastern wall.
To prevent zombies from entering the city, Zheng had to reassign the troops stationed in the northwest to reinforce the southeast. Fortunately, most zombies in the northwest had been drawn away, leaving only weaker ones behind.
What no one expected was that the moment the stationed team withdrew, the seemingly powerless zombies suddenly grew formidable—every one of them displayed S-class abilities.
“They’re all A-class and above, mostly S-class zombies—requesting support!”
“Requesting support—!!”
On the other end of the communicator came the heart-wrenching screams of the remaining ability users.
“Didn’t you report they had no abilities?!” Old Master Zheng’s bloodshot eyes, worn from days without sleep, widened in fury as he clutched his chest and broke into a violent cough.
Every frontline team was equipped with an ability detector, which could roughly assess the level of zombies. Although when facing tens of thousands of zombies the screen would just display a large, indistinct mass—making it seem useless—when zoomed in, it could still serve as an early warning system.
This was also why Old Master Zheng had believed their report that “they’re all ordinary zombies” and decided to redeploy personnel accordingly.
“……” No one answered this question.
They couldn’t exactly admit they’d thought the device was useless and had stopped checking it altogether, could they?
“Commander, earth-type zombies have breached the city wall. We can’t hold them off. More than half of our brothers are dead… Water-type ability user, stop that fire-type zombie’s attack!”
“Ahhh—! Fire-type! Is there a fire-type user? Burn these plants, quick—!”
“Damn it, they’re too high-level! My fire powers can’t burn them!”
“Support! Commander! Ahhh—!”
Screams from the soldiers kept coming through the communicator. Old Master Zheng clutched his chest as he scanned the remaining squads, “Feihong and Menghu elite teams, deploy immediately…”
“Commander! A large horde of zombies has suddenly appeared in the due north direction—estimated at over 100,000. Requesting reinforcements!”
“The southeast zombies have withdrawn!”
“They’re all gathering toward the north—!”
In that split second, a realization seemed to strike Old Master Zheng like lightning. His face turned pale, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Previously, Lu Xiao had mentioned that some zombies were commanding the others. Old Master Zheng had taken that to heart and had been tracking suspicious zombies. But the deep-rooted belief that zombies were mindless monsters made them complacent—just being able to think was already considered extraordinary.
No one had expected that the zombies would actually employ military strategy.
From concentrating their forces for a feint in the southeast, to drawing away the northwest ability users, and then rapidly massing for a full-scale assault in the north—
They had used real battlefield tactics, layer by layer ensnaring the ability-user teams in their trap.
They had even gone as far as disguising high-level zombies as the lowest-grade ordinary ones for cover.
“Commander! The northern wall has fallen!”
In the end, they paid the price for underestimating their enemy.
Old Master Zheng trembled all over, and his body slumped sideways uncontrollably.
“Sir!” His adjutant moved quickly to catch him, preventing him from falling. “Sir, you haven’t rested in three days!”
But even so, he couldn’t bring himself to suggest that Old Master Zheng take a break.
Other base representatives were present in the command room, all watching the commander closely, afraid their own squads might be at a disadvantage.
“Grandpa! What’s wrong?” Zheng Yi’s anxious voice came through the communicator.
“Captain…”
Old Master Zheng raised a hand to stop his aide from speaking. Bracing himself against the table, he stood up steadily, still resolute despite his pale face. “I’m fine.”
“All directions, report your situation!”
“Commander, high-level zombies in the northwest have breached the city and are advancing inward—about a hundred of them, most are S-rank ability zombies. All kinds of invisible powers have been observed.”
“Remaining ability users are fewer than 300. We can’t hold them…”
“In the north, a horde of hundreds of thousands is gathering. Both ordinary and ability zombies are present. Their levels aren’t high, but their numbers are overwhelming. The city wall has been breached. Zheng’s Army and the Blazing Flame Squad are leading reinforcements. They’ve temporarily contained the spread.”
“Southwest, zombie count estimated under 10,000. Not very strong. We can redeploy 20,000 ability users.”
“Northeast has few ability users. We can redeploy 30,000.”
“Southeast, we can redeploy 70,000 ability users.”
“Command acknowledged,” Old Master Zheng said as he listened to all directions reporting in. His gaze swept over the inner city map of the Capital Base as he issued his orders: “All A-rank and S-rank ability users from every squad are to reinforce the northwest. Redeploy all remaining personnel from the northeast and southeast to the north.”
“Also, issue a mandatory evacuation order for all city residents to move to the shelters. All six shelters will close in half an hour. Anyone who disobeys will be responsible for their own survival.”
“Yes, sir!”
With Old Master Zheng’s orders, the entire city sprang into action. Announcements blared across the base, and those following the situation closely immediately rushed toward the underground shelters that had been built in advance.
The underground shelters in the Capital Base were old subway tunnels, reinforced and repaired. They were capable of accommodating the base’s entire population, though the ventilation wasn’t as good and the lighting was dim.
Residents across the base ran toward the nearest entrance. The once-quiet city suddenly returned to life with noise and movement.
“What’s going on? Didn’t a rescue squad already arrive? Why are we still heading to shelters?”
“I heard we’re losing. The zombies from the city center are all coming this way.”
“Then why aren’t they evacuating us instead? What’s the point of shelters?”
“The entire base is surrounded now. Where could we evacuate to?”
“Everyone, move quickly. Don’t bring luggage. Safety is the priority! Move, move, move!” The security patrol—ordinary people who maintained daily order—were now in their element.
“Auntie, leave that jar of pickles! Get inside first.”
“Hey, I’m talking to you—drop the bedding and hold onto your child!”
“Don’t push—go in one at a time—”
The megaphones kept broadcasting instructions, but with only a limited number of entrances, everyone feared being left outside. Cries, curses, and screams filled the air amid the chaos.
Far-off artillery booms and zombie roars only heightened the panic etched on every face. Everyone desperately hoped for some word of safety, but no one could give any guarantee.
The once-bustling city, now under the bleak autumn wind, faded like a withered flower—leaving behind only scattered trash, doors left open, and toppled furniture that hinted at lives abruptly interrupted.
Within the half-hour window, the zombies had already broken through the two damaged entrances. Zombies from other directions began pulling back, all charging toward these breach points.
With the loss of the city wall’s advantage, the ability users were finding it harder and harder to hold the line.
Fortunately, Old Master Zheng had brought news that all the city’s residents had been evacuated to the shelters, which gave everyone a huge sense of relief. A group of people with weak combat abilities might not be able to help much, but if they fell into the hands of the zombies, they would only become new enemies.
“Commander, we… should retreat…”
“Commander, I think I’ve found that unusual zombie.”
Cong Qing’s voice interrupted the earlier discussion.
“Where?” Lu Xiao was the first to ask.
At this moment, Lu Xiao, Zheng Yi, and Zhao Qiang, along with the S-Class ability users from various bases, had gathered at one location, facing the high-level zombies from the north.
Meanwhile, Cong Qing, with the remaining members of the Lieyan team and several reinforcements, was fighting in the northwest area, where a large number of zombies had gathered.
“In the middle of the zombie horde—wearing tattered camouflage, clothes stained with blood,” Cong Qing’s eyes locked on a seemingly inconspicuous zombie. Unlike the others, which were ferocious and aggressive, this one was unnaturally quiet. Even more strangely, there seemed to be a protective circle of zombies around him, separating him from the lower-tier zombies that only followed instinct and sought flesh.
Chapter 555: The Fighter Jets Arrive
“I sent drones over to investigate,” said Old Master Zheng.
“Good. He hasn’t shown any aggression. He’s the quietest one in the zombie group. I just saw his eyes moving around—he seemed to be scanning directions, he…”
Cong Qing’s voice abruptly stopped.
That zombie—despite being separated by tens of thousands of others—had somehow sensed his surveillance.
Its eyes were already zombified—black pupils shrunk to the size of rice grains, with whites taking up most of the eyeballs. In the instant their eyes met, it felt like being stared down by a massive predator. Despite his battlefield experience, Cong Qing broke into a cold sweat as if an invisible force gripped his throat. He couldn’t utter another word.
“Move the drone closer. Cong Qing, report exact coordinates,” said Old Master Zheng.
The drone buzzed forward amid the zombie howls, drawing no attention. But before Cong Qing could even spot its location, that zombie suddenly turned its head in the direction of the drone. Immediately, the surrounding zombies also turned their heads in perfect unison. Upon closer inspection, even the angles of their movements matched eerily.
A cold sweat rose on Cong Qing’s back. He looked in that direction and saw several drones flying above the zombie horde.
“The drones have been spotted, quick—”
BOOM!
BOOM!
A series of explosions erupted. The drones burst into flames and crashed to the ground.
“…Retreat,” Cong Qing completed his earlier sentence. “Its alertness is extremely high.”
He estimated that the drone footage likely wouldn’t have captured anything clearly.
“I’ll go support them,” Lu Xiao said at once. Zhuang Mingxu had previously warned him of that zombie’s danger, and now knowing it was hiding among the lower-tier zombies, a bad feeling gripped his chest.
Upon learning that the drones were shot down, he spoke up immediately.
“But—”
“He’s disappeared,” Cong Qing answered for Old Master Zheng.
After the drone was shot down, that zombie glanced in a direction and, in just a few swift moves, vanished into the zombie horde, using surrounding zombies for cover.
“Where did it go?”
“Unclear. The nearby zombies helped conceal him. But…” Cong Qing hesitated, “I think he glanced toward the villa area. I’m not sure.”
Old Master Zheng no longer dared to underestimate the threat. He immediately ordered the surveillance footage to be magnified and cross-referenced with the villa area’s residents to try to confirm the identity of the zombie.
With the disappearance of that special zombie, the tide of zombies seemed to pause momentarily—then, as if provoked or following new orders, they suddenly became more aggressive, launching a suicide-like assault toward the base.
Just the sheer weight of hundreds of thousands of tireless zombie bodies pushing forward created a literal wall of flesh that ability users simply couldn’t withstand. Soon, the ground was littered with mounds of corpses.
Even armless and legless zombies continued to squirm forward. Trampled underfoot, they still moved, and even a severed head, if its core crystal was intact, could still bite at an ability user.
At this point, large-scale thermal weapons would’ve been the ideal countermeasure, but after three days of fighting, even their hidden caches had been exhausted.
Their crystal-powered weapons had also largely failed due to a lack of replacement energy cores.
With no way to determine whether a zombie was truly dead, the ability users could only fall back again and again. The front line kept being pushed closer to the base, and to prevent the zombies from scattering, they had to defend an even wider perimeter. Defeat was now inevitable.
Inside the command center, the leaders from several bases were already discussing whether it was worth continuing the fight—when suddenly, streaks of light shot across the sky toward Capital Base.
*
“What… what is that?”
“Look up—look at the sky!”
“It’s airplanes—fighter jets!”
“Those are enemy-slaying jets! The strongest in our military!”
“Reinforcements! We’ve got reinforcements! Haha—!”
“We’re not going to die! My son won’t be an orphan!”
“I thought I’d die here… what would my wife and parents do?”
“Haha! We’re not dying—!”
“We’re going to win—!”
The exhausted crowd was instantly revitalized, as if injected with pure adrenaline. People shouted, cried, and released all the stress and fear they’d bottled up during the brutal days of battle. Before they even realized it, their faces were wet with tears.
Dozens of enemy-slaying jets roared into the skies above Capital Base, and a communication link was established with the command center.
“This is the Moonbay Air Force Combat Unit. I am Captain Xin Cong of Team Three. Per orders from Colonel Li Yan, head of the support forces, we have arrived ahead of schedule. Ten jets currently in formation—serial numbers 021 to 030—carrying twenty crystal-core payloads. Each can supply energy for three missiles.”
“Additionally, under the orders of our base corps commander Ning Yuan, we’ve brought ten thousand energy converters. These can replace the damaged ones used in the crystal-core weapons produced by Half Moon Bay. Please have General Zheng sign for them and issue the next instructions.”
The named commander — the one officially acknowledged by Half Moon Bay — meant that no one else in the command room dared voice further opinions.
Although Old General Zheng was quite displeased at Half Moon Bay’s delayed arrival, this was a moment of life and death. Now that reinforcements had come, he chose not to dwell on the issue. He immediately ordered the energy converters be distributed to the squads whose crystal-core weapons had been rendered useless due to lack of converters.
“Captain Xin Cong, how long until the main force from Half Moon Bay arrives?”
“Estimated within two hours. Half Moon Bay’s reinforcements will arrive together with the Pingjin Base support troops.”
Old General Zheng repeated “Good” three times in a row, his fighting spirit rekindled. He then began assigning operational areas to the ten enemy-fighter aircraft.
These fighter jets were equipped with crystal-core missiles. He had only seen them once before near Lu Xiao, and Half Moon Bay had since gone silent, so the effectiveness of these weapons was uncertain. Zheng dispatched five of the jets to attack different concentrations of zombies, holding the remaining five in reserve to observe the outcome.
As the confirmations came in over the comms, the five jets turned and launched their attacks. Several loud “bang bang” sounds rang out as visible balls of energy fired toward their targets. Simultaneously, the jets recoiled sharply from the shockwaves, the pilots executing 360-degree aerial rolls to absorb the force before swiftly stabilizing.
At the same time, the missiles hit the zombie hordes. The energy balls exploded within the mass, releasing concentric waves of flame and shock that instantly engulfed a radius of a kilometer. Zombies were ignited by the intense heat. Those at the center didn’t even get a chance to struggle — they were reduced to ashes in seconds.
Everyone in the command room stared, dumbfounded, at the real-time footage transmitted by drones. Their jaws dropped in shock.
“This is… the power of the crystal-core missile?”
“This is insane… ha ha ha…”
“How many did he say they brought? Could we actually win just with these missiles?”
“As if it were that easy. The older missiles left over from before the apocalypse were much more powerful. It’s clear that this so-called new energy missile technology still isn’t mature…”
“Oh, give me a break. Even if it’s not mature, you’re just jealous you don’t have one.”
“But we’ll only know how effective they really are if they can hurt high-level zombies. Everyone knows traditional weapons can harm low-level ones, but S-class zombies barely flinch from even the best missiles. Now we’ll see what these can really do.”
People across the battlefield were discussing the power of the crystal-core weapons. The massive blasts brought a wave of relief and significantly boosted morale.
Old General Zheng shouted praises in the command room, immediately reorganizing the remaining combat teams. With Captain Xin Cong setting the tone, no base dared object. Some even began worrying whether their earlier hesitation would be held against them after victory. Now, they acted with extra enthusiasm.
With the new energy converters, long-range defenses were re-established. The northern section — previously breached by the zombies — was reclaimed under precise fighter strikes. The battlefront pushed forward again, and the ability users regained the upper hand.
Meanwhile, in an overlooked section of the outer wall, a loose formation of several thousand people held off scattered zombies at the base of the wall.
Watching the distant battlefield light up with artillery fire and hearing reports of success coming in over their comms, a young boy spoke with a trace of envy:
“Captain, have you ever seen a crystal-core missile?”
“No,” replied a man not far away. He had half his face marred by burn scars, rough and disfigured, making him appear quite intimidating. But his eyes were clear, without the slightest hint of gloom.
“I really want to see what a crystal-core missile looks like. Just thinking about piloting one of those jets is so cool,” the boy said, eyes filled with hope.
The scarred man turned to look at him. Seeing the boy’s youthful face brimming with dreams and the naive confidence only the young could have, he was reminded of his own younger self. After watching him for a moment, he reached out and ruffled his hair, his voice carrying the weight of experience:
“Staying alive peacefully — that’s what matters most.”
“Exactly, Xiaosheng, just getting through each day is what life’s all about. Don’t waste time dreaming about things that aren’t realistic,” someone else chimed in.
“Yeah, becoming a pilot? That’s the Half Moon Bay elite air force — the only one of its kind that even Capital Base hasn’t managed to build since the apocalypse. No way it’s that easy to get in.”
“It’s called a dream, okay? You guys even know what that means?”
“Haha… aren’t dreams just there to be crushed by reality?”
Amid the lively chatter, the scarred man’s expression relaxed slightly. He raised a long flame whip toward the zombies below the wall, lighting up a section and revealing the enemies within — no place left to hide.
Unfortunately, the nearby ability users were lackluster in their response. No one seized the opportunity to eliminate the exposed zombies, making the scarred man’s effort seem wasted.
“Captain, conserve your powers. Our team doesn’t have many crystal cores left, and we don’t know how long we’ll have to hold out. These zombies don’t even seem that strong. Don’t waste your energy now.”
“Yeah, Captain, you should keep some power in reserve to protect yourself.”
“Don’t relax. Stay alert,” the scarred man said. He took out a device and scanned the area below. Only after confirming that no large energy signatures were detected did he breathe a sigh of relief.
