Chapter 55: Xiao Hei’s Abnormality
The group returned smoothly to the gymnasium with the supplies they had found at the farmers’ market. Battalion Commander Zhang was delighted when he saw the abundant haul they had brought back.
“Zhan Yun, don’t worry. You’ll have a share of these supplies too. It’s just that your vehicle is too small, so it would be hard for you to take them with you, and it would also draw too much attention. We’ll store them with the unit for now. Once we get back to the base, I’ll return everything to you without missing a single item. If you’re still uneasy, I can write you a receipt right now as proof.” Battalion Commander Zhang knew that the success of this operation had been inseparable from Zhan Yun’s group’s help, so he proactively offered to give them a portion of the collected supplies.
“That won’t be necessary. We trust you, Commander Zhang.”
A bit later, the search-and-rescue teams also returned, bringing back more than a hundred people. They didn’t know why there were so few survivors in City A, and could only speculate that most people had fled the city, or were hiding somewhere else.
With that, the three-day rescue operation in City A came to an end. To leave some clues for survivors who were in hiding or unable to hear the radio broadcasts, they sprayed the direction of the Southern Survivors’ Base in red paint on the walls of many buildings, along with the words “radio.” As long as survivors could turn on a radio, they would be able to learn the latest information.
The daytime heat was still unbearable, so everyone rested in the gymnasium for the entire day. Commander Zhang contacted Regiment Commander Jiang via radio, and after returning to the service area that evening to rendezvous with the main force, they would head directly to the base.
However, when they returned to the service area that night, they discovered several soldiers carrying corpses out of the facility.
“What happened?” Commander Zhang hurriedly got out of the vehicle to ask.
It turned out that a minor incident had occurred in the service area. Several survivors, too lazy to line up to receive drinking water, had secretly drunk water from the taps, resulting in accidental infection and mutation. The sudden appearance of zombies caused widespread panic among the civilians and nearly led to serious consequences. Fortunately, the soldiers intervened in time and brought the situation under control, preventing major casualties—but more than a dozen people still died.
Everyone shook their heads with heavy sighs before getting out of the vehicles and entering the service area.
At last, Su Ruizhe and Zhan Yun’s group were able to drive their comfortable off-road vehicle again. As for the siblings Cheng Qi and Cheng Jiao, they could only squeeze into the trunk together with Zheng Jiahe. Although Su Ruizhe still had many off-road vehicles stored in his space, having another brand-new, high-end off-road vehicle identical to theirs would have been far too conspicuous. They had no choice but to let the siblings endure it for now. Once they were back on the road, they could look for an abandoned vehicle along the way and just pick one to drive.
Zhan Yun and the others went to find Zhao Bing, intending to bring Yu Dongdong and the kitten back with them, but instead they witnessed a rather dramatic scene.
No one knew how the Xiao Hei cat had climbed up a utility pole, but it stubbornly refused to come down. Little Dongdong stood below, craning his neck, worried and anxious, so aggrieved that he was on the verge of tears. Zhao Bing and the other big guys were scratching their heads, trying to think of a way to get Xiao Hei down…
“What’s going on?”
“Big brother!” As soon as Dongdong saw Su Ruizhe, his eyes lit up. Pointing at the Xiao Hei furry ball on the utility pole, he said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with Xiao Hei. It slept for a really, really long time, and when it finally woke up earlier, it ran outside and wouldn’t let me hold it anymore… Does it not like me anymore…? Wuwu…”
The child was utterly distressed. His little companion was ignoring him, which was simply heartbreaking.
“Dongdong, be good, don’t cry. You’re so cute—how could Xiao Hei not like you? It’ll come down soon.” Su Ruizhe comforted the child while giving Zhan Yun a meaningful look.
Zhan Yun’s mouth twitched. He hated climbing…
So Zhan Yun turned and gave Zheng Jiahe a look instead. Zheng Jiahe blankly pointed at himself. After Zhan Yun nodded impatiently, he finally understood and stepped forward.
Zheng Jiahe was strong, which came in handy when climbing the utility pole. He climbed quickly and steadily, soon grabbing Xiao Hei by the tail. “Hahaha, I’ve got you—”
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Hei exploded in fury and leapt onto his head, screeching as it clawed at him. Finally, it sank its teeth into Zheng Jiahe’s ear.
In the next instant, Zheng Jiahe’s eyes went unfocused. He seemed to lose his soul entirely and toppled headfirst downward.
“Zheng Jiahe!” Zhan Yun acted immediately, using his ability to control Zheng Jiahe’s gravity so that he drifted down slowly, like a feather.
As soon as Zheng Jiahe landed, he quickly opened his eyes.
“Meow?” Zheng Jiahe landed on all fours, curling his body up like a cat, tilting his head as he let out a meow.
Zhao Bing and the others, along with Zhan Yun’s group: …
“Meow meow meow?!” Meanwhile, Xiao Hei suddenly jumped three feet into the air, crying out in panic with rapid meows.
What was going on?
Everyone was completely dumbfounded.
“Xiao Hei?” Dongdong blinked and reached out his hand toward the black kitten on the ground.
“Meow!” Instead, Zheng Jiahe lunged toward Dongdong with an excited expression, looking as if he were about to jump right onto him.
Zheng Jiahe might be thin, but he was tall. If he landed on little Yu Dongdong—such a tiny kid—he’d definitely crush him to death!
Su Ruizhe hurriedly stepped in front of Yu Dongdong, reaching out to stop him. But Zheng Jiahe’s strength was far too great. Pushing against him felt like pushing a wall—not only did Su Ruizhe fail to stop him, he was knocked to the ground himself.
Zhan Yun quickly grabbed Su Ruizhe, while Zhang Shuoliang used earth to trap Zheng Jiahe’s feet in the ground, finally stopping his forward charge.
“Meow!” Zheng Jiahe looked utterly aggrieved, meowing nonstop…
“Meow meow meow!!!! Meow meow meow meow meow!” Meanwhile, Xiao Hei leapt about frantically nearby. Its originally soft, kittenish cries had turned sharp, and its claws—razor-sharp—scratched several deep grooves straight into the ground.
“I think I know what’s going on…” Song Chengshu suddenly spoke up.
The others had more or less realized it as well, but they were a bit afraid to believe it.
Song Chengshu walked over, picked up the Xiao Hei cat with both hands, looked into its round eyes, and asked, “Zheng Jiahe?”
The Xiao Hei cat immediately nodded furiously.
Everyone then turned to look at Zheng Jiahe lying on the ground. He was still moving like a cat, staring at his immobilized hands and feet with a blank, confused expression.
It seemed that Xiao Hei and Zheng Jiahe had indeed swapped bodies. Su Ruizhe figured that Xiao Hei must have evolved. He had heard before that in the apocalypse, some animals could undergo evolution and, like humans, gain certain extraordinary abilities. Such cases were extremely rare, though—he never would have imagined that Xiao Hei, a kitten barely two months old, could also evolve.
“So what do we do now? They’re not going to stay like this forever, are they…?”
“No idea. Let’s get them into the vehicles first. We can’t delay the convoy’s departure.”
Following Zhan Yun’s orders, everyone immediately put both Xiao Hei and Zheng Jiahe into a vehicle and set off with the rest of the convoy.
Fortunately, about three hours later, Xiao Hei and Zheng Jiahe switched back.
“Oh my god, that was terrifying! I thought I was going to be a cat forever!” Zheng Jiahe clutched his head, still shaken.
“And whose fault was it for grabbing Xiao Hei’s tail? Serves you right for getting bitten,” Song Chengshu shot him an annoyed look.
Based on their discussion, they concluded that Xiao Hei’s ability was likely the power to swap bodies with others and copy their abilities. When Zheng Jiahe was in Xiao Hei’s body, his claws were razor-sharp and his strength immense. Likewise, when Xiao Hei was in Zheng Jiahe’s body, it possessed the same strength.
As for whether Xiao Hei’s ability had other functions, they had no way of knowing for now and could only figure it out gradually in the future. After all, Xiao Hei was just a cat, not a human—they couldn’t exactly discuss it with him.
The journey to the base went relatively smoothly. They rested during the day and traveled at night, and after about four days, they finally arrived at the survivor base established by the Southern Military District in the early hours of the fifth day.
The Southern Base had been converted from a small town. Its city walls stood a full five meters high—though not yet fully completed, the framework already looked imposing and majestic. Through the gates, they could see many people bustling about inside.
The convoy stopped. Before entering the base, everyone had to register—name, age, and so on—and be informed of the base’s rules and regulations. They were then issued a white cardstock card bearing their basic personal information. This served as their temporary residence card. After one week, they could exchange it for an official ID card.
All survivors could enter the base for free and would be assigned accommodation, but the base only provided free food and lodging for three days. After that, they would need to earn work points to pay for rent and meals.
This news caused some dissatisfaction among the survivors, but times had changed. Supplies were extremely scarce now, and it was no longer possible to live idly and rely on the state to provide for everything.
Zhan Yun and the others learned about the work-point system. For example, men who contributed manual labor to help with base construction could earn five points per day. Women could help with cooking and cleaning, earning three points per day. Completing a full month of work also came with additional bonuses. One work point could be exchanged for two white-flour steamed buns (each two liang in weight) or dumplings, plus a bowl of soup. Lodging cost only one point. In other words, as long as you were willing to work, you would always have food and a place to stay. Although accommodation was in large communal dormitories and meals were cooked in big communal pots, it was far better than living in constant fear outside.
If survivors brought supplies with them, they could exchange those items for work points. With work points, they could obtain better housing, better food, or other daily necessities.
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