CH 44

Wen Qingling picked up all the paper bags and swiftly disappeared into the mall, carrying the bound little zombie girl, before returning to the Air Force training base.

Wen Qingling threw the little girl on the ground, along with the paper bag. She untied the zombie girl and took the headless doll out of her mouth, warning her, “If you dare to make a sound again, I’ll sew your mouth shut.”

The little zombie girl was extremely agitated and kept howling.

Wen Qingling said, “Let’s make a deal. I’ll restore your appearance, and you’ll help me guard Rong City. How about that?”

The little zombie girl threw a worn-out shoe at Wen Qingling to express her refusal.

Wen Qingling: “…”

Wen Qingling took out a small blood anemone and threw it to the little zombie girl. As soon as she smelled the scent of fresh flesh and blood, she immediately grabbed it and started gnawing on it, regardless of what it was.

After finishing the plant, her appearance was restored, her flesh regenerated, and she finally turned back into a normal human child.

Wen Qingling said, “Go change into some new clothes.”

The girl, now able to speak again, replied, “No, I won’t. The clothes you chose are all ugly.”

Wen Qingling felt challenged. “Look for yourself. These dresses I picked out, aren’t they exactly the same as the one you’re wearing?”

The girl looked down on him. “You’re blind. Do any of the dresses you chose have lace? Are they fluffy skirts? None of them are. What kind of princess dresses are these?”

Wen Qingling was confused. “What are you talking about?”

The girl said condescendingly, “You won’t understand even if I explain.”

Wen Qingling: “…”

Wen Qingling said, “Okay, fine. If they’re not, they’re not. Then our deal is considered complete.”

The girl stood with her hands on her hips in a huff. “It’s not complete. I haven’t agreed yet. Why should I guard the city for you?”

Wen Qingling replied, “You ate my blood anemone, so you’ll have to help me guard the city.”

The girl retorted, “You gave it to me yourself. I didn’t ask for it.”

Wen Qingling: “…”

Wen Qingling became angry. “I won’t talk to you anymore. I’ll go find your parents. Where are your mom and dad?”

No one has dared to owe him crystal nuclei and not return them to this day.

The little girl’s eyes rolled around, “I don’t have a dad. My dad sacrificed himself a long time ago. If you can save my mom and uncle too, I’ll agree to guard Rong City for you.”

Wen Qingling: “…”

Wen Qingling: “Then you have to give me 300 ordinary crystal nuclei.”

The girl patted her chest, “No problem. My uncle is a pilot here, he’s especially amazing.”

Wen Qingling asked, “Where is your uncle?”

The little girl deflated, “He’s among these zombies. Maybe you can help me find him.”

Wen Qingling replied, “I really appreciate it, but I don’t know what your uncle looks like. How can I help you find him?”

The little girl tilted her head, “Aren’t you very capable?”

Wen Qingling: “…”

Fine, in order to live up to that praise, he would help look for him.

Wen Qingling reached out and placed his hand on the little girl’s head to probe the past.

Wen Qingling saw two scenes. The first one was of a young woman driving into the Air Force training base with a little girl during the chaotic early days of the apocalypse. The woman was comforting the crying little girl, and as long as they found the uncle, they would be safe. When they arrived at the training base, they realized that the entire base had fallen, and they rushed into the midst of the zombies. Their car window was smashed by zombies, and the young woman was dragged out of the car by zombies. The little girl pounced and grabbed her mother, and they were both pulled out of the car together. They were bitten by the zombies, and the young woman, in order to protect her daughter, stabbed a zombie’s eye with a dagger and took shelter with her daughter in a dormitory…

The scene disappeared, and there was no doubt that both of them eventually turned into zombies. However, the young woman might have already left to wander outside.

The second scene showed a young woman holding the 5 or 6-year-old little girl’s hand, standing in front of a memorial and crying. The man in the memorial was young, dressed in military uniform. Another young man, also in military uniform, was consoling the weeping woman. The young man and the woman bore some resemblance in their features, so he was likely the little girl’s uncle.

Wen Qingling released his psychic power to search for the girl’s mother and uncle. In the midst of a decaying mass of zombies where even their facial features couldn’t be clearly seen, Wen Qingling painstakingly searched for the target zombies. He had to work hard because not doing so meant his 100 nuclei treatment fees would go down the drain, and he would lose a potential business of 200 nuclei treatment fees.

After careful comparison, Wen Qingling finally found the two target zombies within the mass of millions of zombies. He used his psychic power to guide the two zombies towards him, constantly stimulating their minds, and trying to restore their consciousness as soon as possible.

By the time they walked to the designated location, they had regained a hint of consciousness. When the little girl saw them, she cried out with a “wow,” but there were no tears. She wailed and rushed over to embrace the decayed face of the unrecognizable female zombie.

Wen Qingling had searched based on the woman’s last attire, hoping to find her based on her appearance, but that was too difficult for him. He had to admit his helplessness. Unexpectedly, he found the right one. This zombie was indeed the little girl’s mother.

Compared to the mother, the little girl’s uncle was harder to find. They were all dressed in identical training uniforms, and without clear facial features, it was indeed difficult to locate the target. The uncle had a nose that had rotted into a cavity, and his mouth had decayed to the point where the jawbone was visible. The only intact feature was a pair of eyes. Wen Qingling found the target zombie based on its eye shape, and fortunately, he didn’t make a mistake. It was indeed the little girl’s uncle.

Wen Qingling communicated with the two zombies, who had just a trace of consciousness, and they both expressed a strong desire to join the civilized zombie community, just like their beloved daughter/niece.

Given their voluntary willingness, Wen Qingling had no reason to refuse. He took out two small blood anemones and handed them to the two zombies respectively.

Wen Qingling watched as they finished eating, as they transformed back into their human-like appearance, as they became civilized zombies.

As soon as the woman regained consciousness, she tightly embraced her daughter. She wanted to cry but found that she had no tears. Still, she was overjoyed to be reunited with her daughter in this form.

The little girl’s uncle regained his appearance and turned out to be a young and handsome guy. He expressed his gratitude to Wen Qingling.

Wen Qingling repeated the deal to the little girl, and her uncle, Song Youyuan, pondered for a moment. “300 common crystal cores, we will definitely repay it, but it will take some time. How long do you need to stay here?”

Wen Qingling replied, “I will leave soon. I have other things to do in Ling City.”

Song Youyuan said, “Once the crystal cores are gathered, I will deliver them to you. As for helping to guard Rong City, we will definitely do it.”

Wen Qingling nodded and said, “You can find me in the southern part of Ling City. My main objective is not Rong City but this place. Make sure no one touches the planes here.”

Song Youyuan assured him, “You can trust me. I will make sure it’s well-guarded.”

Wen Qingling added, “Especially humans.”

Song Youyuan seemed puzzled, and Wen Qingling continued, “You are no longer humans. Remember that. You are not pure zombies either. You don’t need to eat humans; you can eat cooked food. You can live like humans, but in the end, you are not humans. Don’t let human weapons target your own kind.”

Song Youyuan lowered his head and said, “I understand.”

Wen Qingling had no doubt about the loyalty of civilized zombies. He asked, “I need to find a weapons operator. Do you have any candidates?”

Song Youyuan asked, “Do you need to use an armed helicopter?”

Wen Qingling confirmed, “Yes, there is an eighth-level evolved creature called the ‘General’ appearing in Ling City, and I need to eliminate it.”

Song Youyuan responded, “I used to be a weapons operator. I can serve you.”

Wen Qingling was somewhat surprised by his luck.

Little girl Mo Yuruo was being held by the woman and praised her uncle. She exclaimed, “My uncle is amazing! He can fly big planes!” Song Youyuan forced a stiff smile and said, “Yuruo is the most amazing. If it weren’t for Yuruo, both your uncle and mother would still be unconscious zombies. It was Yuruo who saved them.”

Mo Yuruo giggled happily, feeling very delighted.

Song Youyuan asked, “Have you found a pilot?”

Wen Qingling nodded and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to meet him.”

Before leaving, Wen Qingling instructed Mo Yuruo to take good care of Rong City, and that he would visit her when he had the chance.

Mo Yuruo’s face fell, and she said in a low voice to her mother, “Mom, you don’t know. His taste is terrible. He picked out an ugly dress for me and insisted it was a princess dress. He even bullies kids…”

Wen Qingling remained silent.

It seemed that he and the children didn’t get along well.

Wen Qingling took Song Youyuan to meet Xiao Hen and Ji Rong. Song Youyuan knew what to say and what not to say.

Xiao Hen and Ji Rong had been waiting for a long time, and they finally saw Wen Qingling return with a young person in a training uniform.

Wen Qingling introduced them, and both sides greeted each other.

Xiao Hen seemed thoughtful.

Ji Rong, on the other hand, had question marks all over his head, unable to understand why there was a living person in the direction of the training base.

The group of four headed to the helicopter pad. Some helicopters there were crashed or damaged. There were only a few helicopters in good condition. These should have been caused by the chaos during the initial outbreak of the apocalypse when survivors tried to escape in helicopters but crashed or were destroyed due to being surrounded by zombies.

Among the dense mass of zombies, the four of them struggled to salvage two intact helicopters. Unfortunately, both helicopters were out of fuel. One had no weapons, while the other only had machine gun ammunition and bombs. There were no cannons, rockets, or missiles.

Most likely, these weapons had already been depleted at the beginning of the apocalypse. At that time, the world was in chaos, and the national machinery struggled to maintain order. A significant amount of ammunition was wasted, but it couldn’t eliminate the ubiquitous zombies. Humans only destroyed their own homeland until everything collapsed completely.

Wen Qingling, being an outsider, could only watch them with a sigh as they tried their best to salvage the helicopter with weapons. Since there was no fuel, they had to siphon it from the damaged helicopters that still had fuel but hadn’t exploded.

The three of them worked tirelessly, gathering all the usable fuel and weapons into one helicopter. They worked from daytime until nighttime. Wen Qingling had already been away from the southern city for a whole day, and he was a bit worried about the situation in Lingcheng. After Xiao Hen and Song Youyuan confirmed that the helicopter was ready to take off, Wen Qingling didn’t delay and avoided the group led by Yin Cheng, who was still persistently searching for people. He hurried back to Ling City overnight.

Ji Rong drove the car, speeding all the way, while Xiao Hen and Song Youyuan took the helicopter to Ling City. They landed a hundred miles away from Ling City and waited for Wen Qingling’s command.

Even from a hundred miles away, Wen Qingling could sense the emotions of the zombies in Ling City. It was clear that something had happened in Ling City. Since the “General” possessed intelligence, how could it not know about their secret plan when the four of them sneaked out? He had already developed enmity with the “General.” It was abnormal for the “General” not to attack the civilized base when Wen Qingling had been away from South City for so long.