Chapter 59

After Gong Lixin's test, the six heads of district extended their congratulations to Gong Yuanhang. They shelved out compliments after compliments, racked their brains for every praise imaginable to give Master Gong. Even the lieutenant who had triggered fire abilities didn't dare to be arrogant, instead he kept on praising Master Gong with a smile on his face. The leadership position of Gong Family had become stable after Gong Lixin's display of strength.

At the same time, Gong Lixin's demonstration also laid a solid foundation for Lixin's transcendental status in the base.

Father Gong stood in the crowd and looked at his young son from afar. He couldn't see the other's eyes.

Gong Lixin retracted his outer instinct and his indifferent look dissipated at once, making it seem as if it was an illusion. He walked slowly toward Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo with his eyebrows bent and a childish smile on his face.

The two temperaments were so contradictory but they unexpectedly blended in a perfect harmonious fashion to form this youth's unique charm, making him irresistible to Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo. Their heartbeats that had just normalized became a mess once again. Both of them stretched out their arms at the same time, expecting the child to come to them.

Gong Lixin blinked, held the arms of the two men on the left and right and supported himself on the two strong arms, lifting his feet in the air. Normally mature, he rarely revealed his childish young heart.

Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo laughed at his cute and naughty move and carried him back to his father.

"Naughty!" Father Gong faked his anger and tapped his fist on his head, but the smile in his eyes immediately revealed his pleasant mood right away. The son seemed to become more and more cheerful and gave him great comfort.

Gong Lixin held his head, his face stunned. His cheeks gained a faint blush, making his white face look pink and tender. Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran both blinked and turned away from the sight.

"Naughty, boys are supposed to be naughty!" said Grandfather Lin with a smile as he touched the child's head. Suddenly he was treating Gong Lixin like his own grandson.

A few of the people in charge on the side finally found the opportunity to interject and make his acquaintance. They quickly came forward to introduce themselves and their attitudes were respectful. It didn't matter that Gong Lixin was a generation younger. Before this, they only acknowledged Gong Lixin as the second child of his father and didn't give him further thought. After this event, Gong Lixin became the existence they needed to respect and be wary of.

The test in the agora was still going on. Because the base had a three-system ability user, the mass' enthusiasm was higher than before. Everyone hoped that they would be fortunate enough to be someone with multiple abilities. But it turned out that being an ability user itself made them really lucky. Although they weren't rare, in the eyes of the general public, they were.

All the people in the second district had already finished testing by midnight. Under the tough persuasion of the military, the people in the remaining four districts had to go back to their rooms and wait for the next day to test.

In the first two districts, there were more than 400 people and, among them, only a total of 30 ability users were found, of which only eight have triggered their abilities. The situation was neither good nor bad. At least after all six districts have been tested, it would be enough to establish a special combat team similar to Flying Tigers.

Early next morning, at the strong request of the people, the testing started early. At the same time, the army sent out helicopters non-stop to search for survivors throughout the city.

At noon, a helicopter returned to base in advance and the soldiers on the helicopter rushed down without even waiting for the vehicle to stop. They rushed to the agora and, seeing their urgent expressions, there must be something major to be reported.

The soldiers lined up in a neat row and walked to Gong Yuanhang, whispering something in his ear. Gong Yuanhang was happy at first, then he showed a dignified expression and looked at the other higher-ups. Several of the higher-ups gave indulging responses, but none of them immediately gave an affirmative nor a negative answer.

"Then let's hold a meeting. Let's head on over to the conference room." Gong Yuanhang announced as he stood with Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran beside him. He was only interested in his son's test result. He waved to his son, "In the future, at these military conferences, you must participate, Lixin. Come with Dad."

Gong Lixin nodded and followed his father.

The generals heard his words and felt at ease. Since the head of the Gong family showed intention to cultivate Young Master Gong, they could finally relax. In the future, this base would definitely be handed over to Young Master Gong. Concerning this matter, they had no opinion nor dared to have one.

On the other side of the testing area, Gong Xiangyi and the others saw them retreat and Gong Xiangyi's face changed slightly. She quickly handed the form to the staff member beside her and walked towards the conference room.

She would never let go of her power on the base. If she could intervene, she would intervene [1] in order to avoid losing her right in deciding the base's future so that she could become an asset, unlike her last life where she was easily forgotten and abandoned.

"Come in." Seeing her daughter chasing after them, Gong Yuanhang's face turned dark. In the end, he didn't refute his daughter and let her in.

"The meeting has started. The report just now concerns the situation of the survivors." Gong Yuanhang opened the map of the city and called a scout over.

The scout stepped forward, indicated a point on the map, and explained the details of their investigation to the generals who were present.

While searching through downtown of the Western District today, there had been no moving heat source previously, but the sensor actually showed a heat source representing signs of life and this heat source was extremely dense even from the beginning. It was estimated that there were at least 50 survivors. This news was just too exciting for the scout who had been searching for days with no results. They steered the helicopter over to that area and observed before finally determining the location of the survivors which was actually in the largest small commodity market in the province.

The survivors, having heard the roar of the helicopter, had someone crawl out through a small skylight at the top of the market and wave a brightly colored shirt in the sky.

The helicopter hovered over the small warehouse for a long time which attracted a large group of zombies to them. The driver couldn't do anything but fly close to the ground for a while. After the zombies were led away, they immediately returned to the base for help.

"Green Park market, the largest small commodity distribution center in A province. The daily flow of people in and out the market is no less than 100,000. Today, the number of zombies would certainly not be less than this number. It's not easy to rescue these people from there." After the scouts have finished explaining, the rest expressed their worries.

"Indeed, to rescue more than 50 people will require at least three helicopters and 20 soldiers to go. The movement made definitely won’t be small. I am afraid that those people cannot be rescued. We have to put too much of our military strength into it." Another person in charge answered negatively.

"Do you mean you won't save them?" Gong Yuanhang sat at the head of the table, looking at everyone around him as he silently waited for their answer.

His question was met with silence around the conference room. Even Gong Xiangyi, who had always expressed her love and support, didn't speak. The attitude of the person in charge was very reasonable. All that needed to be said was already said. She really didn't need to open her mouth to anger Mr. Gong. She understood Gong Yuanhang's altruistic character and, in this kind of situation, he certainly won't allow his people to be abandoned.

Sure enough, Father Gong spoke up, his tone very severe. "As a soldier, do you still remember your responsibility? Our duty is to protect the country. Now that there is no country, we can at least protect our citizens. Not only our own lives, but the thousand of lives in C country. Do you think that with military strength, you could live safely and securely? We have more than a thousand great men in the army yet with few surviving women and fewer than a hundred young children. How do you want to continue living in the future? How will you live? In the end, isn't it scarier to become extinct?! At that time, what would have destroyed us and our future won't be zombies but us, humans, because of our selfishness.

This reasoning was very simple but if it weren't for Father Gong's words, no one would think of it. They have been blinded by their own self-interest and could no longer see a longer-term future.

Seeing that everyone's expressions changed, Father Gong continued to speak. "Old people, children, men, women, everyone in this world has a right to live. From the smallest child to the biggest adult, we should save as many survivors as we can. Just think, what we are saving is the lifeblood of humanity."

The participants all showed a thoughtful expression. Right then, a small flash of light reflected in their eyes.

"Dad, I will help you save those people!" Seeing the hidden worry and anxiety in Father Gong's eyes, Gong Lixin almost didn't need to think about. He immediately volunteered as soon as Gong Yuanhang finished speaking.

He doesn't know the importance of a country nor does he understand the continuity of humankind. He only knows that this was his father's wish and he must help his father achieve it.

The youth's crisp voice seemed to have a penetrating power and it hit the eardrums of all the participants present, causing them to tremble. The youth's star-like eyes were full of decisiveness and perseverance. His fearless gesture was like a spark, hitting both Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran, making them equally excited.

If the child, Lixin, was not afraid, then what am I afraid of? Pressing down his agitated heart, Song Haoran firmly said, "Uncle Gong, I'll immediately send troops to save those people."

Although the six district leaders managed the six districts, the strength in their hands was far behind Song Haoran's. Even their military prestige was inferior. However, Song Haoran was willing to take care of it, basically settling this matter.

"I will also go and send four helicopters in case the number of survivors exceed the estimate." Lin Wenbo waited for Song Haoran's words before he spoke in turn.

Alright, as Lin Wenbo was the army's biggest material controller and has also spoken up, there was no longer any room for opposition. In this moment, several higher-ups finally saw it. The relationship between Song Haoran, Lin Wenbo, and Young Master Gong was not an ordinary one. It was not an exaggeration to say that Young Master Gong was the leader. The three of them clung together in a group and Young Master Gong apparently listened to Gong Yuanhang's words. Aside from Gong Yuanhang, who else was there to speak to them?

Recognizing this reality, several higher ups nodded in agreement.

"I don't agree! Gong Lixin, you decided to send yourself, why are you pulling others along with you? Wenbo's not allowed to go!" Gong Xiangyi thinks of Green Park market being filled with zombies and thus, she hurriedly pointed this out to Lin Wenbo.

Lin Wenbo's face was blue and green from exasperation. He used to be loyal to Gong Xiangyi and often did what she said, but that was because he found her very charming then and was willing to spoil her. However, when confronted with such a slap to the face, Gong Xiangyi's arrogance only gave him a headache.

"This is a military meeting, not a family meeting! Xiangyi, you shut up!" Gong Yuanhang yelled, a throbbing blue vein could be seen on his forehead.

Seeing how the other generals watched her strangely, Gong Xiangyi became pale, slowly sitting back in her seat. After finding out about Gong Lixin's ability yesterday, although she no longer had any plans for revenge, there was no outlet for her resentment, and now that this was burrowed deep into her bones, it just made her ache. Restless, Gong Xiangyi's temper was difficult to control, subsequently making her burst out in anger regardless of the situation.

Gong Yuanhang observed that his daughter's kindness was slowly growing weak and the desire for control growing steadily stronger. At the beginning, she only valued the materials. Now, however, she was intervening in the base's affairs even without the ability to handle it.

Father Gong massaged his temple, feeling upset. He had been raising her for 25 years. How could he not understand her by now? He has made this child, Wenbo, suffer. He doesn't know how much worse it was in private.

"Alright, it's not too late, you can go right away." Gong Yuanhang apologetically patted Lin Wenbo's shoulder before he dismissed everyone.

When he walked towards his well-behaved son, he felt very warm and so touched his son's head with affection. He whispered, "Be careful. If you can't handle it, you should retreat."

The reason he so strongly encouraged saving people was: one, because it was Father Gong's responsibility as a soldier and two, to establish an environment filled with love and kindness within the base and to maintain the peaceful development of the base. However, his character was not inflexible. It's always best to be able to save people but if saving someone was impossible, he would not let his soldiers march to their funeral for the sake of trying, especially since in the roster of these soldiers were his most beloved son and his two juniors.

He did his best and didn't violate his own beliefs. This was enough.

[1] CrazedCookies: *rolls eyes*