Chapter 85: Kicking a Steel Plate
Lu Weiyi was secretly annoyed. Sleeping with Zhuang Mingxu always made him feel like Zhuang Mingxu would notice everything, and his own vigilance had decreased.
Zhuang Ai Yi was resting in the same room as Lu Xi tonight, occupying the previous room of the Gu Qingyue brothers, which was next door. As for the last bedroom on the first floor, it was given to Lin Yimu and Ning Yuan.
Lu Weiyi paid attention to his surroundings again. Lin Yimu and Ning Yuan had already gotten up and were alert. Upstairs, Li Zhuang and Antonio were each hiding by the windows, observing downstairs.
Lu Weiyi told Zhuang Mingxu what he had discovered and asked what to do.
“Let’s capture them alive first,” Zhuang Mingxu said. Lu Weiyi nodded. When the eight people had each assigned themselves a floor and room and approached the villa, ready to act, something that appeared out of nowhere directly strangled seven of them by the neck and strung them together. The other one, seeing that something was wrong, turned around to run, but was directly hit on the head by something thrown down from upstairs and fell to the ground.
Lu Weiyi turned on the palm-sized flashlight by the bed, got up, settled Zhuang Mingxu in his wheelchair, and pushed him out of the bedroom. Li Zhuang, Antonio, Lin Yimu, and Ning Yuan were already out in the living room, each standing in a corner immersed in the darkness, without making a sound. It would have been difficult to notice anyone around if Lu Weiyi’s mental power hadn’t been able to scan them.
Lin Yimu intended to turn on a light but was stopped by Zhuang Mingxu. He squinted in the darkness and said, “I’ve thought of a way. Bring them in first, quietly.”
Lin Yimu went to open the door, and Lu Weiyi manipulated the small green branches to drag in seven people. The other unconscious one was carried in by Lin Yimu.
“Leave one, knock out the rest,” Zhuang Mingxu said.
After Lin Yimu’s swift and clean knife hand strikes, only one person was left, his neck being held, making hoarse and muffled whimpers.
“Be quiet and don’t shout, or I’ll strangle you directly,” Lu Weiyi said, slightly tightening the small green branches. The person in front of him instantly rolled his eyes back. After he loosened it a little, the person immediately nodded in fear.
“Speak, who sent you? What’s the purpose?” Ning Yuan walked up to the man and asked, yawning.
The small green branches wrapped around the man’s neck were loosened and tightened by Lu Weiyi, like living things. The man was so scared that his face turned pale. As soon as Ning Yuan finished speaking, he immediately confessed. According to him, they were from Military Shield, ordered by their boss to kidnap a child. As for what the child was to be used for, he was just a small fry and didn’t know.
Among the base’s three major forces, Longteng and the police station knew Zhuang Mingxu’s background and had some scruples. But the Military Shield was different. Before the apocalypse, the boss of Military Shield was the owner of a security company. His clients were mostly local businessmen and didn’t reach Zhuang Mingxu’s level, let alone knowing Zhuang Mingxu’s intentionally or unintentionally concealed identity in Qingyuan.
Liu Qiang had heard his subordinates talk about the abilities of Lu Weiyi’s group before, and seeing that they didn’t seem to get along well with Lin Jun, he thought that since they were leaving and didn’t have many supplies, it wasn’t worth his effort to make a move. Who knew that in just one afternoon, most of the supplies in the trading market had been swept away, and they also had the crucial water in their hands.
Drinking water was scarce now, food was important, but water was even more valuable. Especially after his subordinates reported, he knew that Lu Weiyi’s group definitely had a space ability user. One space ability user in Longteng was enough to attract covetous eyes. If that person hadn’t been Lin Jun’s son, Liu Qiang would have tried to win him over at all costs. Now that another one suddenly appeared, Liu Qiang would never let him go.
Originally, their plan was to kidnap Zhuang Ai Yi to threaten this group, first to control the person, and then to defeat them one by one. Knowing they were not easy to deal with, Liu Qiang had even specially dispatched a few skilled men, but they ran into a brick wall right from the start.
Ning Yuan woke up each of the men in turn, asked a series of questions, and then knocked them all unconscious again, looking at Zhuang Mingxu.
“Judging from the current situation, Liu Qiang of Military Shield is unscrupulously planning to attack us directly, while Zhang Xun of the police station is thinking of first currying favor and then making a move behind our backs. As for Lin Jun…” Zhuang Mingxu paused.
“Isn’t he a good person? Probably not, right?” Lu Weiyi asked.
A good person? None of those who reached high positions were good people. The so-called business world is like a battlefield, and it doesn’t just refer to the deceit and trickery of the market, but also to the hidden dangers and the fact that even if you don’t directly harm someone, they might die because of you.
But Zhuang Mingxu didn’t want to explain these things to Lu Weiyi. His little boy didn’t need to know such disgusting things. He smiled, ruffled Lu Weiyi’s hair, didn’t answer, and continued, “For safety’s sake, let’s include him in our calculations as well.”
“Now that we’ve caught people from Military Shield, and they’re not just small fry, we might as well stir up the waters. If Military Shield wants to threaten us, then we’ll turn around and control them, making them block the others.”
“Military Shield against two major forces? Isn’t that impossible?” If it were possible, he would have become the boss long ago, Lin Yimu looked at Zhuang Mingxu.
“I didn’t say to make him fight against them, just to delay them for a while,” Zhuang Mingxu smiled like an old fox, then his expression turned cold. “As for Longteng… find a way to take Lin Fei away. It’s best if Lin Jun doesn’t cause trouble. If he does, use his son’s life to stop him.”
“But for now, it’s best to hide these people. If anyone comes looking for them tomorrow, we can directly say we haven’t seen them and wait for Liu Qiang to come negotiate. Hide them…” Zhuang Mingxu tapped the armrest of his wheelchair, his mind quickly thinking of a place, and suddenly remembered Lu Weiyi’s mental cover. He had a plan in mind.
“I’ll hide them,” Zhuang Mingxu didn’t say how he would do it or where he would put them, only continuing, “Then have Qingyue inject them with some anesthetic. Little Yi, do you have any anesthetic?”
Lu Weiyi paused and shook his head. “I don’t know.” He didn’t know what various medicines were for.
“Have someone sort out your medicines another day,” Zhuang Mingxu obviously knew his situation and arranged for Ning Yuan to guard these people, letting the others go to sleep.
When it dawned, the few drunk and sleeping people woke up and ate breakfast, only to find a few more people in the living room. Upon asking, they learned that someone had actually broken into their house.
“Thanks to you guys, otherwise we probably would have died in our sleep,” Xu Sa scratched his messy hair, looking unclear-headed after a hangover.
Xiong Jie also felt a bit guilty at this time. He had actually relaxed and drunk too much. Xi Shi knew what he was thinking, patted his hand, and reminded him of what he wanted to say, “Oh, Xi Shi told me about last night. The two of us will go with you.”
After all, if this group left, the people in Yongping Base would likely turn hostile. Those who came with them and stayed behind would probably be targeted. Going to another base alone, with their abilities, the chances of reaching safely weren’t high. It was better to follow them. With Zhuang Mingxu’s status, they would definitely receive more care if they went to Qingyuan.
“What’s going on?” Xu Sa felt excluded. He glanced at Liu Rui, who also looked confused, then turned to Lu Weiyi. Lu Weiyi didn’t even give him a look. In the end, Xi Shi told him what happened.
“Why didn’t you ask for my opinion? Is my opinion so unimportant? Let me tell you, Little Lu, you made such a rash decision for me, you’ll have to take responsibility for me in the future…”
“Then stay,” Lu Weiyi interrupted him before he could continue rambling.
Xu Sa choked for a moment, then continued, “That won’t do. You’ve already made the decision for me. Rounding up, I’m your person from now on. Don’t worry, I’m still very useful, I can eat with you, drink with you, chat with you, and…” Xu Sa met Zhuang Mingxu’s faint smile in the morning light and swallowed the word “sleep,” saying, “chat with you.”
Gu Qingyue and the others were amused by his sudden change and laughed heartily. They had a pleasant breakfast and began to arrange the tasks for the day.
Although Zhuang Mingxu made the plan, unfortunately, he only had the brains; his body was a hindrance. Such things as giving orders still had to be done by Lu Weiyi. According to what the two had discussed, Lu Weiyi took out the map and assigned tasks, “We need four people to go out to scout. Brother Li, Antonio, Brother Xiong, and Brother Mu. The two bridges we talked about yesterday, find out clearly, plan the routes, and also walk these three streets at best.”
Lu Weiyi pointed to three places, looking at the four people who had gathered in front of him, and said, “These three places have several large jade shops. Bring back all the jade inside, especially the good quality ones.”
“No searching for supplies?” Xiong Jie raised his eyebrows, puzzled.
“If you want supplies, I can give you some,” Lu Weiyi thought Xiong Jie felt the supplies were too few.
“That’s not what I meant. I just thought that since we’re going out, shouldn’t we pick up some supplies along the way? And if we want to go to Qinyuan County or Ningping County, we have to pass through Yongping City. Since we’re already going in, shouldn’t we bring some out…” Xiong Jie looked at Lu Weiyi.
“No need,” Lu Weiyi said, without explaining.
Of course, this was Zhuang Mingxu’s idea. Now the people in the base already suspected they had a space, but they weren’t sure who had it. Since they went out but didn’t bring back any supplies, it would only make them think that the space was with these few people who went out, reducing some of the attention on Lu Weiyi.
Lin Yimu was originally following Lu Weiyi, so naturally, he wouldn’t ask the reason. Antonio now felt that Lu Weiyi did everything with a purpose, so he just needed to work hard. Li Zhuang wouldn’t ask more questions either. Xiong Jie saw that the other three had no objections, so he didn’t say anything more at the moment.
“Let’s add two more people. Passing through the city, there are too many zombies now. Four people might not be safe,” Zhuang Mingxu zoomed in on a map, looked at the route, and said to Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi looked around at the remaining people, “Liu Rui and Ning Yuan go together.”
“Let me go instead of Liu Rui,” Gu Qingji said. He had practiced martial arts since he was a child, and his skills were much better than Liu Rui’s.
“No need.” Although Gu Qingji’s skills were better, Liu Rui was an ability user, and even if he got bitten, nothing would happen. Lu Weiyi decisively refused. Xu Sa opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he just glanced at Liu Rui and didn’t say anything.
In his memory, Lu Weiyi had always been indifferent, with very few emotional fluctuations, and he had never assigned tasks so cleanly and efficiently before. He had a bit of a young elite feel to him.
Zhuang Mingxu watched him by his side, feeling both surprised and admiring.
Thank you for the new chapter