CH 71

TL: Moonlit

The three of them discussed and decided to wait for one more night. If He Lin and Lin Sheng hadn’t returned by tomorrow morning, they would take the helicopter back. The helicopter was still parked at the usual spot.

That night, He Lin and Lin Sheng returned and brought news from Central Mega City.

He Lin said, “No one from Yin Cheng’s team has returned. It has been four days, and there has been no communication. Yin Jiang is getting restless and may send someone to investigate.”

Before Yin Cheng set off, he must have informed Yin Jiang, so it was only a matter of time before someone was sent to investigate.

He Lin paused for a moment and continued, “Also, Xiao Jiang wants you to return.”

Xiao Hen nodded. “I understand.”

He Lin added, “There’s one more thing. The research on energy-based weapons in Central Mega City has been successful.”

The expressions of Xiao Hen and the others turned serious.

Wen Qingling asked, “Energy-based weapons?”

Xiao Hen explained, “The research institute has been working on weapons in this field, but they haven’t succeeded until now.”

Wen Qingling asked, “They succeeded now?”

Xiao Hen looked at Wen Qingling and explained, “I didn’t intentionally keep it from you. The research has been unsuccessful all this time…”

“It’s normal for you to keep it from me. We are from different factions, and it’s normal to hide things from each other, just like how I kept the secret of civilized zombies from you.”

Wen Qingling changed their tone, “But it’s different now. Your identity as a zombie is more significant than your human identity. You must consider the problem from the perspective of a zombie. Be honest and don’t hide anything.”

Xiao Hen hesitated and then said, “The research institute discovered long ago that the zombie crystal nucleus contains energy. Supernaturals can absorb the energy within the crystal nucleus to enhance their own strength. However, supernaturals are rare, while zombies are frighteningly abundant. The research institute proposed using zombie crystal nuclei as an energy source to develop energy-based weapons. It’s the same as what you mentioned, a gun that can shoot without bullets, and the attacks of the Level 7 evolved ‘Turrets’ are definitely related to their crystal nucleus energy.”

Wen Qingling raised an eyebrow. “So, as long as zombies exist, human weapons will never run out of energy?”

“Yes.” Xiao Hen trembled with fear, afraid that Wen Qingling would order them to steal people from the weapons research institute.

Fortunately, Wen Qingling hadn’t gone mad to that extent. They just said, “A zombie only has one crystal nucleus. It seems like it may not be enough for human consumption.”

After that, the topic wasn’t brought up again. It seemed like Wen Qingling had no interest in energy-based weapons developed by humans. He allowed Xiao Hen and the others to leave early and return early, giving them three days. One day to handle personal matters, one day to steal… ahem, one day to borrow research equipment, and the last day to come back. The timing was just right for Wen Qingling.

It was just right for Wen Qingling, but not so much for Xiao Hen and the others.

Xiao Hen spoke frankly, “Three days may not be enough.”

Wen Qingling said, “At most four days. If you don’t come back after four days, I’ll personally go to Central Mega City.”

As for what he would do there, everyone was smart enough to understand without it being explicitly stated.

Xiao Hen had no choice but to agree. Four days it was, they would try to compress the time and return within the designated timeframe. Otherwise, Xiao Hen couldn’t guarantee what Wen Qingling would do.

The next morning, Xiao Hen and his group left Ling City in a car, carrying “Mom’s Brand Love Snacks,” and headed to the helicopter parking area to return to Central Mega City.

Since Xiao Hen arrived in Ling City, it had been several months since he last returned to Central Mega City. On the other hand, He Lin and Shi Chong frequently went back and forth, while Xiao Hen and Ji Rong stayed in Ling City.

Central Mega City was a complex faction with over 100 million people. Although Xiao Hen was not the pillar of the Xiao faction, he was the future of the Xiao faction. Xiao Jiang’s position would definitely be passed on to his only son, Xiao Hen. It wasn’t easy for Xiao Hen to completely break free from Central Mega City.

Staying in Ling City without returning wasn’t a wise move either. Xiao Hen was truly afraid that his ruthless father would directly lead people to attack Ling City, which would escalate the situation. All his efforts would be in vain.

The helicopter landed in the designated location, and the four of them disembarked, gazing at the towering city in front of them, filled with mixed emotions.

They had initially thought that Central Mega City was the last safe haven for humanity. But after going out and coming back, their perspectives and state of mind had completely changed. The hundred-meter-high city walls before their eyes were not a sanctuary for humans, but rather a prison. Humans could only seek refuge within the confines of the prison, as long as they could stay away from zombies, mutants, and plants. That’s when they would feel safe.

Humans had lost the courage to venture into the outside world. The people in power were constantly scheming and using all means to strengthen their own factions. Their vision was limited to the small territory within Central Mega City, without considering the outside world at all.

Central Mega City was their world, and they were willing to engage in deadly conflicts to compete for “worldly” resources.

Ji Rong murmured, “I suddenly feel that it’s no longer a world for humans. The zombie world is rising.”

Xiao Hen took a step forward. “Since the day the apocalypse broke out, the world has ceased to be a human world.”

In order to secure a place for themselves, humans constantly hunted and killed zombies. The higher the level of the zombie, the more they couldn’t let it live. The ultimate goal was to prevent zombies from evolving into kings and truly turning the post-apocalyptic world into a zombie world. At that time, would humans have a place to stand?

If it were in the past, Xiao Hen’s answer would definitely be “no.”

Different species have different interests. This was a saying left by their ancestors. With so many comrades and brothers dying at the hands of zombies, how could his attitude toward them change?

Zombies fed on humans, treating them as food. If zombies were to rule this world, the ultimate fate of humanity would be no different from pigs, dogs, cows, and sheep. There would be no second choice apart from being consumed. Zombies wouldn’t care about human thoughts, just as humans didn’t ask for the opinions of pigs, dogs, cows, and sheep when consuming them.

But now, Xiao Hen has a different answer. The existence of Wen Qingling is not only the hope of the zombies but also the hope of humanity.

Ji Rong had never laughed so easily before. He said, “Boss, after we finish things here, I want to go home and find my parents who turned into zombies. I hope they are still in our hometown and haven’t wandered off with the horde.”

After the apocalypse, they all took the time to go back and confirm the life and death of their loved ones. If they were alive and could be found, they could be brought to the Central Mega City. If they had died or turned into zombies, it would provide closure.

Among the four of them, Shi Chong had relatively good luck. After his father died in the line of duty, his mother remarried. Shi Chong grew up with his uncle and encountered him during a rescue mission, bringing him back to Central Mega City. Since then, his uncle had remained in the Central Mega City without leaving.

Ji Rong’s parents had both turned into zombies. He had gone home to confirm, finding his parents and several elderly neighbors wandering around their residential area as zombies. Ji Rong was chased by his zombified parents and neighbors for several blocks, almost crying in the process. Eventually, he escaped, allowing his zombified parents to wander off freely.

Ji Rong was now alone, with no relatives left beside his brothers.

The most unfortunate were He Lin and Xiao Hen. He Lin had his parents and younger sister in his family of four. After the apocalypse, when he returned home, there was no one there. His parents and sister were all missing. During the first year of the apocalypse, whenever he had the time, he would visit his hometown and search for them, whether among the zombies or survivors. Unfortunately, he gained nothing, and to this day, he still didn’t know if his parents and sister were alive or dead.

Xiao Hen’s situation was even worse. He had no lingering attachments. Even if Wen Qingling could turn decayed zombies into civilized ones, it couldn’t bring back Xiao Hen’s mother.

This had become a lifelong pain for Xiao Hen. No matter when, he couldn’t forget his father’s resolute decision to burn the warehouse. How could he not suffer from such a memory? He wanted to hate, but that person was his father. Not hating him was acknowledging that his father killed his mother. Xiao Hen could only blame himself for being useless. If he had awakened his spatial ability at that time, the outcome would have been different.

Upon learning that Wen Qingling could transform zombies into civilized beings, Xiao Hen couldn’t express his emotions. If his mother were still a zombie and not dead, he would certainly be willing to let her become a civilized zombie. Even if there were many downsides to civilized zombies, he would be willing to accompany his mother and Wen Qingling to overcome them together.

But now, he no longer had a mother.

For over two years, Xiao Hen and Xiao Jiang had hardly met each other. The few times they did, it was only for work-related matters. They had to appear before Xiao Jiang, and even then, they only discussed work without any personal conversation.

Their father-son relationship was worse than that of strangers.

Xiao Hen brought his team members back and went directly to see his superior, Xue Feng.

Xue Feng was a former subordinate of Xiao Jiang, so he was well aware of the relationship between Xiao Hen and Xiao Jiang, as well as the root of their conflict. But since the person was already dead and couldn’t come back, the conflict between the father and son had become an unsolvable knot.

Seeing Xiao Hen finally return, Xue Feng was delighted. “You brat, you finally decided to come back. It’s been several months since you left. If it weren’t for He Lin and Shi Chong coming back frequently, we would have thought you died in Ling City. Xiao Jiang has been calling me every day, urging me to personally go to Ling City and bring you back.”

The Central Mega City is rich in resources, with a daily supply of electricity. Therefore, landline telephones are very popular within Central Mega City.

Four individuals in camouflage uniforms stood in a straight line.

Xiao Hen took a step forward, holding a sniper rifle in his hand. He gently placed it on Xue Feng’s desk. Then, he took out all the rifles and ammunition stored in the space, neatly arranging them on the desk.

Xue Feng looked puzzled and asked, “What’s this? Are you trying to show me how many rifles your squad has?”

Xiao Hen replied, “These are public property, and I’m returning them.”

Xue Feng exclaimed, “?” Xue Feng stared at Xiao Hen’s most cherished sniper rifle, with question marks swirling in his mind.

Xiao Hen took out a pre-prepared retirement application and placed it neatly on the desk.

Ji Rong, He Lin, and Shi Chong followed suit, taking out their own retirement applications and placing them on the desk.

Xue Feng, filled with confusion, picked up one of the applications and glanced at it. His expression changed as he successively picked up the other three applications. They were all retirement applications. Xue Feng stared at the four of them with wide eyes and asked, “What’s going on?”

Xiao Hen said with a serious expression, “It’s the end of the world now, and I know that going through this process may not be necessary. But even if it’s just a formality, I still want to go through the whole process. Once we handle things here, we’ll leave. We may still be soldiers in the future, but we won’t be soldiers of the Central Mega City anymore.”

Xue Feng slammed his hand on the desk, his eyes filled with anger. “Are you trying to rebel? You say you retire, and you retire. You say you leave, and you leave. Who gave you permission?”

Xiao Hen’s expression remained stern. “We were seeking your approval!”

Xue Feng angrily retorted, “I don’t agree!”

Xiao Hen replied, “But our minds are made up, and we won’t change.”

After speaking, Xiao Hen turned and walked away, with Ji Rong and the others following suit, resolute in their actions.

“Xiao Hen! Get your ass back here!” Xue Feng yelled furiously in his office, startling the staff outside who stopped their work and watched as Xiao Hen and the others left as if they were nobody.

Xue Feng was infuriated in his office and even flipped the table. It took him a while to remember to have the guards at the entrance stop those four brats, but unfortunately, it was too late. Xiao Hen had already anticipated that Xue Feng would go crazy and try to force them, so when was a better time to run?

By the time the guards received the call, Xiao Hen and the others had already rushed out, and when the guards pursued, they couldn’t find a trace of them amidst the large population of Central Mega City.

Trying to find them sincerely wasn’t easy.

Ji Rong rubbed his shoulder and said, “Did my shoulders grow a few centimeters taller?”

Honest Shi Chong took a glance and replied, “No, they’re at a normal height.”

Ji Rong was surprised, “How come? After unburdening ourselves from being soldiers of the Central Mega City, I feel much lighter on my shoulders. How is it possible that there’s no change?”

Shi Chong remained silent, indicating that he didn’t want to talk to him.

Xiao Hen said, “Don’t be naive. The real burden is still ahead of us. Now, we need to think about how to move the research equipment from the lab.”

Ji Rong exclaimed, “Are you serious, boss?!”

Xiao Hen glanced at him and said, “Why not?”

He Lin added, “Shouldn’t we find a set outside and bring it back?”

Xiao Hen replied, “Do you think we can hide it from Wen Qingling if we go outside?”

Unless they erased this memory segment, Wen Qingling would definitely know the truth.

Ji Rong stuttered, “H-How can we steal it then?”

Xiao Hen also felt a headache. He had never engaged in any thievery in his life!

Suddenly, Xiao Hen stopped in his tracks and said, “Doesn’t the Central Mega City have medical equipment repair technicians?”

He Lin responded, “Yes, they do.”

Xiao Hen continued, “Since the technicians can’t take the equipment with them, let’s give them something to do.”