Chapter 55

Although there was the incident with Ling Yu, there was no time to waste moping about it.

On the base's tarmac, a helicopter was slowly starting up its propellers and getting ready to go. He Jin and Gong Yuanhang briefly talked for a while as they walked slowly towards Gong Lixin.

He Jin leaned over and hugged the child's slightly thin shoulders. He looked into the child's clear eyes and didn't speak for a long time. Gong Lixin stared back at He Jin seriously; his eyes holding unresolved emotions.

The scene created by the two staring at each other with 'deep affection' stung Song Haoran's eyes. He stepped up and yelled. "Time is almost up, you need to go."

He Jin heard him, but ignored his words as he memorized the child's every feature. Every wrinkle, dips and curves were carefully carved into his mind, until the face was imprinted in his heart, never to be forgotten. He sighed deeply. He held the child's cheeks and stared at the crimson lips, but leaned over and placed a heavy kiss on his forehead. He whispered, "Wait for me to come back!"

The skin was kissed very loudly, even the roar of the propellers could not cover it up. At first, Song Haoran, who understood and agreed to his child's wish to wait by the helicopter to bid farewell, suddenly stiffened. If the other didn't leave soon, he was likely to change his mind.

Lu Yun and Wu Ming were shocked by He Jin's enthusiasm. He Jin was also stunned for a while before he hugged Gong Lixin and got into the helicopter in three steps.

While waiting for the helicopter to fly away, Song Haoran already pulled the child to his side possessively, and wiped his forehead vigorously.

"Big Brother Song, hurts." His forehead was rubbed red. Gong Lixin looked at the dark-skinned Song Haoran, his face showing his grievances and confusion.

"I'm sorry." Song Haoran stared for a while before the anger in his heart gradually subsided, revealing a blank expression. He was out of control just because of a normal, yet unusual farewell kiss. However, the meaningful glances He Jin shot at Gong Lixin before leaving made him feel that there was something wrong.

His brain was a mess, but Song Haoran's face didn’t show it. He couldn't help but lean over the smooth, red forehead and use his own kiss to erase the invisible traces that had irritated him a moment ago.

At the same time, when his lips felt Gong Lixin's smooth forehead, the suffocated feeling in his heart miraculously disappeared. His eyes brightened and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile.

Lin Wenbo stood not too far off, watching the two's intimacy. His line of sight was fixed on his friend's expression as he placed the kiss. His eyes darkened at the sight.

"He's really lucky to have a unique and pretty face!" Gong Xiangyi stood beside him and whispered, masking her hatred with cynicism.

Lin Wenbo heard her words and turned his head to look at her with a blank face. He said coldly, "Xiangyi, open your eyes and take a good look at Xiaoxin. He's not what you think. You won't find anyone more frank and honest than Xiaoxin in this world."

"Is he really frank and honest? He's innocent? You've being deceived by him!" Gong Xiangyi was unwilling to believe him and looked at Lin Wenbo with disappointment and moved further and further away.

***

On the helicopter, He Jin tore open the beautifully packaged gift box, his face full of expectation.

"What is it?" Lu Yun leaned over and asked curiously.

"Lixin gave me a parting gift." He Jin turned his back to them and prevented the two from seeing the things in the box.

"Why didn't we get any? Young Master Gong is too eccentric!" Lu Yun cried out with red eyes, then he remembered the two vessels, Ren and Du being attached. He immediately closed his mouth and shook his head and shivered.

He didn't tell Wu Ming and He Jin that he could now learn martial arts now. After all, he was not a fool. Such a shocking thing, if it was known, would definitely bring trouble to Young Master Gong. Therefore, he would keep this secret for a lifetime, bringing it with him to his grave.

Knowing Gong Lixin treated them differently, the level of smug satisfaction in He Jin's heart was overwhelming and the action of unwrapping his gift became more anxious. When he saw the medicine bottle in the box, he raised his brows due to being unable to understand. But he quickly placed it into his backpack even though he was confused. He then noticed paper underneath the bottle. He took the paper strip and began to examine it.

The writing on the paper looked like scribbles and, at first glance, was inconsistent with the child's well-behaved temperament, but when he thought about it again, it fit the boy very well. He Jin's dark eyes once again focused on the paper and looked at the contents. After reading it, the feeling in his heart filled his eyes and made them look red. He didn't know what to do. This was the most precious gift he had ever received in his life. It represented the child's unreserved trust in him. Whether it was the value of the gift itself or the meaning contained behind it that had touched him, he had no idea.

"Brother He, what did Young Master Gong give you? Let us have a look." Seeing He Jin staring at the note, Lu Yun patted his shoulder as he urged the other on.

"No!" He returned to Earth, put the piece of paper in an inner shirt pocket and decisively denied the other's request. This bottle of medicine was too previous and it would be dangerous for the child. He would never let anyone know.

"Oh." Lu Yun bitterly shut up and after a while, he looked forward again and said, "Brother He, when we're done with Kyoto, can we regroup with Master Gong? I've thought long and hard about it, and I still feel like it would be the safest choice."

He Jin looked at him before making a decision and opening his mouth, "Did you listen to the conversation between Gong Xiangyi and I?" If not, Lu Yun wouldn't think of returning here from Lu family headquarters.

"Yes." Lu Yun bowed his head and replied honestly. After being in a life and death situation, he was ready to face everything coming his way. As Young Master Gong said, as long as he was still alive, everything would be fine.

"I see," He Jin said, his expression cold. "I will definitely come back, but I don't have to bring you with me. You can't always rely on others. If you still do, I won't ever bring you along, save you from dragging us down!"

"No, no. I will try to become stronger. I would rather die than drag Young Master Gong down. I still owe him for giving me a second chance in this life!" Lu Yun quickly promised, a devout expression appeared on his face as he swore his promise.

"When the cow becomes a horse, I'll believe it then. [1]" He Jin gave him a look before he stopped talking.

Lu Yun scratched his head. He felt lost and shy. Indeed, with his current strength, it was still not possible to become a horse for Young Master Gong. But if he doesn't try, he'll never reach his goal!

"Young Master Lu, have courage." Wu Ming — who had been silent the entire time — patted Lu Yun's shoulder and encouraged him.

"Brother Wu, don't call me Young Master Lu in the future, just call me Lu Yun or Xiao Lu or Xiao Yun. I'm not the young master of the Lu family anymore. Although I may not be a horse yet, but I will strive to follow Master Gong." Lu Yun took Wu Ming's hand and cautiously corrected him.

Staring into Lu Yun's eyes, Wu Ming's mouth twitched and he nodded, secretly thinking: 'Turning Young Master Lu from an arrogant young master to this sticky loyal dog, Young Master Gong was not only good at martial arts, but also had strong teaching skills.'

***

After they had sent He Jin off, another helicopter landed on the tarmac. This one brought news from the city center. As Gong Yuanhang estimated, there were very few survivors. Even if there were survivors, the helicopters couldn't land in the immediate area to rescue them, and the soldiers couldn't be sent down to the ground to meet them.

The noise of the propellers was very loud and often attracted many zombies to besiege them, making rescue operations difficult and very risky. It had been four days since the outbreak of the apocalypse and the survivors brought back by the army were less than a hundred. If they didn't increase their search and rescue efforts, in half a month, a large number of evolved zombies would appear and the city center would undoubtedly become a city of the dead.

Sitting in his office and looking at the short list of survivors in his hand, Gong Yuanhang's heart felt heavy. In a city with a population of millions, in just four days, there were less than a hundred survivors that had been rescued. What was this madness? The apocalypse really was the end of the world and the power to destroy the Earth was horrible.

Just when Gong Yuanhang's mood fell to rock bottom, the office doorbell rang. The people who were responsible for the base had arrived to hold an important meeting on how to establish and develop the base.

The still ignorant and innocent Gong Lixin was also brought over by Song Haoran to attend the meeting. There was a change in his daughter's thinking. He didn't know if he could still correct it. As for his son, Gong Yuanhang valued him more and wanted to cultivate his ability, intentionally or unintentionally, so that he could stand alone as soon as possible.

Pushing down the weakness deep inside, Gong Yuanhang changed back to the original leader made out of steel and blood and sat in the main position. Without a lengthy opening statement, he directly announced the start of the meeting.

The people responsible made a detailed report on the progress of their work and, at the end, made many suggestions.

For the construction of the base, Gong Xiangyi, who had lived through two worlds, had the most to say. After everyone said their fill, she slowly said, "Dad, these trivial things can be solved slowly in the future. The current objective should be to establish a sound population control system and issue a base law to restrain the behavior of the base's inhabitants to ensure safety on the base. Also, we have to test for ability users as soon as possible and train them specifically to form a squad. This squad will become the foundation of our base in the future."

Presently, weapons were still abundant. The Gong family's base had a considerable advantage. But that was until the guns and ammunition ran out in the future. Then, the strength of the base would depend on the number and level of ability users. Gong Xiangyi's suggestion was to plan ahead.

Gong Yuanhang pondered for a moment and nodded for Gong Xiangyi to continue.

Gong Xiangyi gulped and instructed them on the construction of the base based on her memories of her previous life. "First of all, we have to establish a household registration system and check the information of all the people and register them, so that they can be assigned tasks in the future. The base materials are limited and we cannot afford the extra people. If they want to survive, they will need to pay with corresponding labor. Secondly, we must separate ability users and civilians and then formulate different management systems for both. For ability users, we can supply subsidies for material and improved treatment and for…"

The clerk recorded Gong Xiangyi's words while listening. The participants also nodded frequently and agreed with her.

Gong Yuanhang was so solemn that one couldn't see his expression, but his heart was secretly surprised. These things, he could come up with them with a bit of thought, but his daughter who had never been exposed to politics could see so far and was completely different from her usual innocent personality. He reminisced about his daughter's recent changes and Gong Yuanhang's inner feelings were quickly replaced with worry.

When Gong Xiangyi finished, there was silence in the meeting room. Everyone was pondering on her words and showed expressions of approval. Gong Xiangyi lowered her head and the corners of her mouth rose slightly. She not only had to implant the business for the base, but also had a chance to intervene in the business of the base in the future, and this was just the beginning.

"According to what you said, ability users and civilians would be separated. In the future, this will cause a class differentiation. The different classes will inevitably affect the stability and security of the base. Have you considered this?" Song Haoran's face was cold as he said this.

Gong Xiangyi was silent. Indeed, as Song Haoran had said, when the base developed to the later stages, the ability users became more arrogant while the civilians became meaner, the societal class differences became obvious. The living environment of the base then was not much better than the zombie filled world outside the safe areas.

However the weak were powerless. No base leader would offend ability users because of civilians. In a crisis-ridden environment, these class differences seemed so insignificant.

After thinking about it, Gong Xiangyi slowly added, "The emergence of class differences will be inevitable. As long as people have selfish and personal desires as well as strong and weak points, class differentiation won't disappear. Real communism, societies with equality doesn't exist, especially in the apocalypse. Because the apocalyptic world has zombies and with the abominable society that would rise with it, the so-called class differentiation is small compared to that cruel reality."

The people looked at Gong Xiangyi with strange expressions. They were surprised by how quickly she had adapted to the apocalyptic world.

Song Haoran stared at her coldly and stopped talking. He was very clear that Gong Xiangyi's words were correct, but at the bottom of his heart he still couldn't stop himself from feeling cold. Some of the things Gong Xiangyi said felt wrong. The apocalypse would not only have zombies eating people, but the emergence of a cannibalistic society was possible. He couldn't do anything about this. He could only keep such thoughts in his heart.

"Actually, we can set up a bunch of balanced teams, select a mix of people with superior strength, character integrity and other ability users. That could reduce the class difference." Lin Wenbo, who had remained silent, spoke openly.

"This method is feasible, write it down first." Gong Yuanhang immediately nodded and instructed the clerk.

Gong Lixin looked left and right, his face showing his ignorance. He didn't understand at all what these people were saying. In terms of management, he can be said to be ignorant. Coming to this meeting was completely because of others.

Obviously, everyone at the meeting did not take Young Master Gong seriously.

Despising Gong Lixin's sluggish attitude, Gong Xiangyi revealed her contempt. This younger brother was still the same as the previous one. Apart from confusing people, he had no skills at all. In this way, her fear calmed down a little.

On the side, Gong Xiangyi eagerly opened her mouth. "Dad, it's not too late. We should gather all the people in the base this afternoon to conduct the household registration and ability test. The personnel have been sorted out and the management regulations should be issued as soon as possible and be implemented."

As for the origin of the non-attribute stone that could test the ability of ability users, Gong Xiangyi told Gong Yuanhang that it was a gift from God and came with her space ability. Although this statement was hard to believe, in the absence of a more reasonable explanation, Gong Yuanhang was still skeptical but this 'military secret' was still told to others and none of his subordinates dared to ask questions. This was why Gong Xiangyi dared to take out the stone and make it public.

The non-attribute stone was an energy nucleus that came from devouring zombies. Devouring zombies — as the name suggested — have the ability to devour the ability of other ability users for their own use and were extremely difficult to kill. It was extremely rare to encounter a devouring zombie and, only one in a million of zombies was one. It could transform its ability into that of others and turn it into their own strength, thus making it much, much harder to deal with.

Its nucleus could display different properties under the influence of different abilities, but it had no attributes by itself. It couldn't be absorbed by ability users and could only be used for ability testing.

Gong Xiangyi's space had a collection of guns enough for an entire army. It was very important to her. They were for bombarding a high-level devouring zombie. She had been collecting them in her own space, but she didn't want to be reborn again. The space itself was left behind from her past. The material didn't disappear, but it reappeared with her reincarnation.

"Alright, the notice will go out. All personnel carry out a household registration and ability test in batches. Starting from the first district this afternoon. Meeting adjourned." Gong Yuanhang raised his hand and dismissed everyone.

Song Haoran patted Gong Lixin's shoulder, who came back to Earth, and exchanged a conversation through their eyes with Lin Wenbo.

Lin Wenbo nodded and went after Gong Xiangyi, asking casually. "Xiangyi, is the test result of the attribute stone accurate? Will there be any problem?"

"No." Gong Xiangyi shook her head.

"Is there no exception? Even multiple ability users can be tested accurately?" Lin Wenbo continued to ask.

Gong Xiangyi's pace paused for a moment and she hesitantly said. "Multiple ability users do exist, but the possibility is extremely rare. Only one in a hundred of millions of people will there be one. If it's a two-ability ability user, the attribute stone can still measure it, but if it's more than two ability, I don't know."

She only knew that Song Haoxuan was a double-ability user in her past life. Whenever Song Haoxuan was bored he would play with the attribute stones. Deep purple and fire red colours would appear on the stone. The radiant shine and colors were so great, that she was still unable to forget it. As for three-ability users or four, five, six ability users, those were not seen and she had never heard of them before.

Lin Wenbo nodded, his dark eyes showing his satisfaction as he no longer asked questions.

[1] Editor’s Note: Idiom in Chinese doesn’t really make sense in english. Thus I have kept it like this. The idiom “骑牛搵马” actually means: To make use of what you have until something better avails itself to you.