Chapter 70: W City Base
Many survivors cried and screamed as they ran toward the members of the Thunder Ability Team, hoping to seek their protection. However, the gunfire only attracted even more zombies; from afar, one could already see dark figures swaying as they drew closer.
In their panic, some people locked their car doors and crawled under the seats, trying to hide from the zombies.
The zombies that had already reached the vicinity of the convoy let out hungry growls from deep in their throats. They sniffed the scent of food in the air—some excitedly slapped at the car windows, while others chased after humans.
“Ahhh—!” A car window was smashed by a zombie, and the people inside screamed as they were dragged out and viciously bitten, their flesh torn apart.
Some were knocked to the ground by zombies, bitten straight through the neck, blood spraying everywhere. The heavy stench of blood quickly spread through the air.
With too many vehicles and too many people running around and screaming, it was extremely difficult for Su Ruizhe’s group to aim properly. Using a machine gun risked hitting survivors, so they had no choice but to charge in and fight at close range.
Meanwhile, the members of the Thunder Ability Team were already moving quickly—jumping into their vehicles, continuing to fire at the approaching zombies while starting their engines. They were actually preparing to flee just like that?!
Weren’t they supposed to be an ability team? How could they fire a few random shots and then run? Why weren’t they using their abilities?
What they didn’t know was that although the Thunder Ability Team was called an “ability team,” in reality only the captain and vice-captain actually had abilities. Jobs like collecting entry fees at the base gates were lucrative but carried certain risks, so those sent out were usually just ordinary members. With guns in hand, scattered zombies could be dealt with; if things went wrong, they could always just run.
Now that these ordinary members felt they couldn’t handle the situation, they decisively chose to retreat first, planning to bring reinforcements back later to clear out the zombies. As for the survivors… what did that have to do with them?
Those who were quick-witted immediately handed over their supplies and were allowed onto the vehicles. Those without supplies desperately chased after the vehicles, running toward W City Base.
At this moment, Su Ruizhe’s group had already taken action. Zhan Yun directly unleashed his gravity ability, slamming each zombie to the ground under tenfold pressure. He then increased the force, brutally crushing several zombies’ heads until they exploded.
Now a level-two ability user, his power was on a completely different level compared to when he was at level one.
Zheng Jiahe was also immensely strong. Finding the vehicles in the way, he kicked a path open with brute force. In his left hand he held the nut shield kindly provided by Su Ruizhe, while in his right he wielded his favorite golf club, smashing zombie skulls one after another.
Seeing they couldn’t really help here, the siblings Cheng Qi and Cheng Jiao ran to the perimeter to intercept the zombies drawn by the gunfire. In an instant, fierce winds howled and arcs of electricity flew everywhere—it felt like a scene straight out of a sci-fi blockbuster.
With the strength of just four people, they resolved a crisis that could have caused massive casualties.
Guan Hong already knew how formidable this team was, so the shock to him was manageable. But Dr. Yang and his two assistants were utterly stunned.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, Dr. Yang, as a scientific researcher, had been among the first rescued by the military from the Academy of Sciences and had since been tightly protected inside the base. This was the first time he had ever witnessed such a brutal scene, and his face had gone pale with fear.
He never imagined that Zhan Yun’s team would have such overwhelming combat power!
He only knew that someone in their team had a rather special ability—something about turning plants into weapons. But the research center’s newly developed bullets weren’t bad either, so he hadn’t thought this team was particularly special.
He had even wondered why they needed to bring the entire team along when just that plant-ability user should have been enough. Seeing that they hadn’t lifted a finger along the way, he had increasingly felt that this team was useless.
Now, he was completely shaken…
By the time W City Base’s reinforcements arrived outside the city, all the zombies had already been thoroughly dealt with.
“You all have extraordinary skills. May I ask which base you’re from?” The man leading the group smiled broadly once he saw Guan Hong and the others wearing military uniforms. “I’m Wang Xurong, captain of the Thunder Ability Team.”
“We’re from the Southern Base,” Guan Hong replied. “We were invited to your base to learn new techniques. I’m Guan Hong, the captain in charge of this mission.”
“So it’s Captain Guan—my apologies for not recognizing you earlier,” Wang Xurong said with a smile. “W City Base welcomes you.”
By this time, Zheng Jiahe had already moved the vehicles blocking the way, clearing a path. Everyone returned to their vehicles and followed Wang Xurong’s convoy across Yingtianmen Bridge, arriving at the gates of W City Base.
However, just as they were about to handle the entry procedures, Wang Xurong suddenly spoke up. “You should know that our base charges an entry fee…”
“We’re only here to study. Do we have to pay as well?” Guan Hong frowned slightly. There were quite a few people in their group this time—if it were three jin of grain per person, they simply couldn’t afford it.
“Then one jin of grain per person,” Wang Xurong said. “After all, you’re guests.”
Guan Hong didn’t want to fall out with W City Base—if it affected this mission, it would be troublesome. This time, the higher-ups at the base had taken into account that so many people would be going to W City Base to study and live there for a period of time, so they had prepared some supplies for them. If they took everything out, it would just barely be enough to cover the entry fees.
He just didn’t know whether there would be any additional expenses afterward. After all, they still had the food and lodging for so many people to worry about…
Seeing Guan Hong’s difficulty, Zhan Yun suddenly spoke up. “Besides grain, what else do you accept?”
“We accept anything, as long as it’s useful,” Wang Xurong replied with a smile.
Zhan Yun thought for a moment and asked, “Do you take water?”
“Water?” Wang Xurong raised an eyebrow slightly. “Ordinary drinking water isn’t necessary—we have plenty of water-type ability users at our base. Alcohol and soft drinks, though, are fine.”
Zhan Yun nodded slightly. “What about fruits and vegetables?”
Even if they had mastered soilless cultivation technology, it wouldn’t be possible to harvest anything so quickly, right?
At that, Wang Xurong’s eyes lit up. “Of course.”
Just as Zhan Yun had guessed, although W City Base had developed soilless cultivation technology, they were still only at the seedling stage. Actual harvests would take another two or three months. The base did have wood-type ability users who could stimulate the growth of some fruits and vegetables, but the quantities were limited. With such a large population, very few people actually got to eat them.
“If they’re ability users, then they don’t need to pay, right?”
“That’s correct.”
Zhan Yun shot Guan Hong a look, and Guan Hong immediately said to the two wood-type ability users in the team, “Old Yuan, Xiao Jiang, we’ll have to trouble you.”
“No trouble at all, no trouble at all.” The two of them stepped aside, took out a few precious seeds they had been saving, buried them in the ground, watered them, and then began to stimulate their growth with their abilities.
Under the continuous urging of their wood-type abilities, Old Yuan grew several large watermelons, while Xiao Jiang produced a small tomato plant. Everyone knew that fruits grown with abilities were especially sweet and juicy. These two kinds of produce, grown on the spot, immediately made it hard for Wang Xurong to look away.
“Is this enough?”
Although the watermelons Old Yuan produced were only about five to ten jin each, and Xiao Jiang’s tomato plant didn’t weigh much in total, they were rare and valuable. They could be worth quite a bit of grain, and combined with the rule that ability users didn’t need to pay entry fees, it turned out to be just enough.
“You have so many ability users?” After hearing the number Guan Hong reported, Wang Xurong raised an eyebrow again. “You’re not joking with me, are you? Abilities have to be verified during registration.”
He saw that Guan Hong’s group had fewer than a hundred people—how could there be more than twenty ability users?
“Of course we’re not joking. You’ll see when we register.”
Those who paid supplies completed a simple registration at the desk and were allowed to enter the base directly. The rest were taken to a small room next to the registration area for ability verification.
Guan Hong wasn’t joking at all. His own unit already had several ability users, and when combined with Zhan Yun’s entire team—who were all ability users—the total really did come to over twenty.
After registration, the staff issued each of them a red, circular badge to pin to their chest. Ability users enjoyed very good treatment at W City Base; simply wearing this badge granted them many conveniences.
However, their vehicles weren’t allowed inside. Everyone had to park outside in the lot beyond the base and enter W City Base on foot, carrying their backpacks.
W City Base looked larger than the Southern Base and had an even greater population, but without solar generators, many areas still relied on candles and torches for lighting.
They hadn’t gone far inside when a number of raggedly dressed people gathered around them, asking whether they needed guides. There were men and women, young and old alike, all staring intently at the backpacks on their backs.
“Sir, sir, I know this place inside out—just one pack of biscuits!” a short man shouted.
“Sir, sir, I know it well too! Half a pack of biscuits will do!” a thin woman hurried forward.
“Sir… I just want a bite of food… just one bite…” a filthy child said, lifting a grimy little face.
Unlike the Southern Base, W City Base wasn’t strictly disciplined, and there was no one assigned to guide newcomers. That was why these people had sprung up, specializing in leading first-time arrivals around.
Newcomers needed to find somewhere to settle down quickly. Following them could indeed save a lot of trouble, and their fees were cheap, so business was fairly decent.
Su Ruizhe was always soft-hearted toward children. Seeing the filthy little girl being shoved around by the crowd, he felt a surge of compassion. “We’ll take you.”
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