CH 57

The car their X Squadron had was a small armored vehicle that can hold up to ten people.



Liang Yan and them put the important materials into Luo Zi Lin's dimension, while the rest like clothes, could be placed outside.



Liang Yan drove the car behind A Base’s vehicle. They went to four different locations to pick up people before beginning to drive toward the direction of A Base.



Liang Yan asked Luo Zi Lin, "Zi Lin, how much gasoline do you still have in your space?"



Luo Zi Lin said, "There’s still two big barrels."



Two large barrels sound like a lot, but they only last for a week.



In the future when they leave A Base, they need at least stock up five barrels of gasoline. He wondered if there was any gasoline in the base that can be exchanged with crystal nuclei.



The sky was already brightly lit, causing the zombies to disappear without a trace.



They finally arrived at the legendary A Base after two hours of driving.



The leader of A Base was quite a renowned woman. It is said that she was both incomparably beautiful and talented. She is a psychic -type ability user who can directly attack the brains of either people or zombies. Once she killed a Level 2 zombie, who was protected by a circle of Level 1 zombies. She just stared in the direction of the Level 2 zombie, and the Level 2 zombie suddenly exploded, even the crystal in its brain was shattered into fragments. 



The bearded leader explained Liang Yan’s group’s situation to the gatekeeper as Liang Yan gave the keeper sixty crystal nuclei. The six members of X Squadron registered their basic personal information and abilities before getting in the car to continue to drive the car into A Base.



A Base seemed extremely prosperous. On both the roadway and the sidewalk, there were streams of ordinary people and ability users everywhere. They all had relaxed smiles on their faces and didn’t appear like people who were living in post-apocalypse times.



Although ordinary people didn’t even have the ability to wrestle a chicken and can’t kill zombies like the ability users, they were an indispensable part of humankind.



Because women with ability lost their fertility, while for ordinary people, both men and women, can conceive and have children. On the day of their child’s first birthday, people can determine whether they will become ability users or ordinary people in the future.



Due to this characteristic, ordinary people were able to survive in the post-apocalypse days with their weak bodies. These people will be treated cherished and valued by ability users wherever they go.



If humankind wants to continue, they must guarantee the survival of the normal people.



The bearded leader took them to a designated place to park the car, and then escorted them to meet the boss of A Base.



Liang Yan curiously asked, "Brother Hu, do all of those who join A Base meet your boss?"



Brother Hu laughed, "You should say' our boss'. Not everyone needs to see the boss, but Boss once said we must introduce any ability user with potential to her. The six members of your team have their own distinct characteristics and are indispensable. Of course, I have to recommend you guys to Boss."



Luan Qing Xiao smiled slightly, "So that’s why. I have admired 'our boss' for the longest time, and now I finally have a chance to meet her."



"Haha, Qing Xiao, this temperament of yours is really similar to that of Boss." Who knows what Brother Hu thought of that caused the smile on his face to pause?



"My temperament?" Luan Qing Xiao asked Liang Yan, confused,  "Captain, what temperament do I have in me?"



Luo Zi Lin cut in, "A haughty and cold temperament."



Luan Qing Xiao just pretended not to hear her, and continued to stare at Liang Yan.



Liang Yan replied, "Probably the temperament of a proud girl of the Heavens."



From Luan Qing Xiao's family background, she really can be called the proud girl of the Heavens.



Brother Hu suddenly realized, "You guys are more cultured than I am. After thinking about it this long, I still haven't come up with this term. Indeed, the proud girl of the Heavens." Naturally, a proud girl of the Heavens would be aloof. In some aspects, Luo Zi Lin spoke correctly.



Luan Qing Xiao forgot where she had seen it, that people with the same personality tend to like people with basically the same personality. The original owner liked a man like Liang Yan. Who knows how this legendary female boss would act?



The six people followed Brother Hu and walked on the street for some ten minutes before arriving in front of a small white western-style building.



"Boss lives right here." Brother Hu announced.



Two men guarded outside the door of the western-style building. They were short in stature, but had the fiercest pairs of eyes.



Brother Hu walked over and gestured to both of them. After talking for a bit, the two men turned around and pushed the door open. Brother Hu waved to them with a look of excitement, "Come on, let’s go."



Previously, Nie Zhen'er had been able to maintain the pretense that she was unfamiliar with Luan Qing Xiao. However, when she arrived here, she felt a huge sense of fear, and couldn't help but hold onto the hem of Luan Qing Xiao's clothes.



Luan Qing Xiao sensed her concealed movements. She slowed down without anybody noticing, and fell to the back of the crowd. She glanced back at Nie Zhen'er with concern and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong, Zhen'er?"



Nie Zhen'er's face was slightly pale. "I'm a little scared." She has also heard about the leader of A Base killing the Level 2 zombie and was afraid of being recognized by her. Her power only worked against the zombies. Compared to humans, the only unique thing about her body was the enhanced strength and higher physique. If A Base’s leader met her, there was definitely no way for her to escape or survive.



Luan Qing Xiao didn't understand why she was like this. She turned around and petted Nie Zhen'er's head, "Don't be afraid, I’ll protect you. Trust me, alright?"



"En." Nie Zhen'er nodded, "Later, I will stay closer to Qing Xiao, so I won't be afraid."



She paused and added, "I’ll make sure not to let Captain see it."



Luan Qing Xiao smiled softly and bopped the tip of her nose, "Good girl."



In the time of their short conversation, Brother Hu and their group had already climbed to the top of the stairs. Maybe because everyone was nervous, no one noticed that Luan Qing Xiao and Nie Zhen'er fell behind the group.



Luan Qing Xiao and Nie Zhen'er quickly sped up a few steps to keep up. Then, they slowed down after closing the gap between Zhang Yao Xue, who was closest to the back.



There was hardly any sound in the whole western-style building. It was deathly silent.



Before they entered, Brother Hu had reminded them to lighten their footsteps. Ability users could control their own body to the point that they wouldn't even hear their own footsteps.



Brother Hu led them to the door of the room on the second floor near the balcony. He knocked on the door three times, and whispered, "Boss, it's me, Da Hu Zi."



After five seconds, there was a lazy female voice, "What's the matter?"



"Boss, I met a few talented ability users while on a mission. So I brought them to see you." Brother Hu's originally rough voice was forced by him into a sissy-sounding voice.



Luan Qing Xiao felt it was rather weird. The one inside was the leader of A Base, not some little girl in need of protection. Wasn't Brother Hu simply too cautious?



"Come in."



Brother Hu let out a sigh of relief and signaled them not to make any noise before pushing the door open. After making sure that the group understood, he opened the door extremely carefully.



After they walked inside, they found that this was a bedroom with a two-meter bed placed at the center of the room. The bed was covered with scarlet silk. Behind it, a slightly pale face was revealed. Her eyes moved slowly. Once she confirmed that all the people had arrived in front of her, did she sit up on the bed with both hands.



The silk blanket fell and exposed her white lace PJ’s.



Her eyes were jet-black, without any light, and appeared a little terrified.



"This is them?" The woman asked, lifting her chin slightly. Her voice was indifferent.



She was indeed somewhat similar to Luan Qing Xiao.



Brother Hu introduced them one by one, "Captain Liang Yan is particularly outstanding. His abilities actually turned out to be metal and fire, both of which are extremely lethal."



The woman's indifferent face finally had a subtle change. She seemed to be very interested in Liang Yan. For a while, her dark eyes stared at Liang Yan. Seeing Liang Yan, she almost couldn't help pushing the door and reaching for him before gradually retracting her gaze. A satisfied smile appeared in her eyes, "Liang Yan, not bad."



Liang Yan curled his lips. He didn't know what to say as he wasn’t used to communicating with women.



"My name is Yuan Ting, you can call me by my name." Yuan Ting said.



This was the last sentence Yuan Ting said. After speaking, she laid down again and waved her thin white wrists in the depths, beckoning them to leave.



Walking out of the small western-style building, Brother Hu buzzed excitedly to Liang Yan, "Brother Liang, not bad, huh? Boss appreciates you very much."



"Yuan Ting acted a little different towards me, but it’s not to the point where she appreciated me." Liang Yan didn't believe Brother Hu’s words. He thought he was exaggerating.



Brother Hu shook his head:, "You are the only person who Boss took the initiative to introduce herself. Boss even allowed you to call her by her name. If this isn’t appreciation, what is?"



Brother Hu patted Liang Yan on the shoulder, and asked with a smile, "How was it? Don’t you want to consider staying at A Base permanently? With the boss’ approval, you’ll surely be able to skyrocket to a higher position."



Although Liang Yan felt what Brother Hu offered was quite tempting, the thoughts of hugging her thighs never crossed his mind when facing a woman with a personality similar to Luan Qing Xiao's.



Liang Yan shook his head, "Thank you, Brother Hu. No need, my aspiration isn’t here."



His target was X Base.



Brother Hu sighed regretfully, "My heart feels quite uncomfortable thinking we’ll have to separate in the future."



Luo Zi Lin stood behind Liang Yan with a secret smile on her lips.



Only she who has read the novel knew that Yuan Ting wasn’t an ability user at all, but an ordinary person.



The reason why she was able to kill the Level 2 zombie from a distance was because she was a genetically modified person who escaped from a hospital.



A genetically modified person has exceptionally high mental power, but their physical fitness was generally mediocre. Generally speaking, Yuan Ting living to twenty-five years old was already the limit. In another two weeks, she will suddenly die and then pass the position of the base’s leader to Liang Yan.



Luo Zi Lin knew Yuan Ting fell in love with Liang Yan at first sight. However, towards Yuan Ting, the stepping stone on Liang Yan's journey to the pinnacle of life, Luo Zi Lin only felt sympathetic instead of being jealous.



No matter how powerful Yuan Ting was, she wouldn’t be able to live more than a few days. Luo Zi Lin wasn’t petty enough to trouble a dying person.



Brother Hu took them to their living quarters. Halfway through the route, someone ran over and told him he needed to attend a meeting. Therefore, Brother Hu couldn’t personally escort them to the location and felt very guilty. However, he was the chairperson of the meeting, so he couldn’t just leave. He found one of his underlings to take them to their residence.



Brother Hu’s underling was a wind-type ability user. He seemed gentle, a bit like Liang Yan from the previous world.



"My name is Fan Le. Since you guys are probably tired, I put a small whirlwind under your feet. It’ll be a lot easier to walk."



Liang Yan thanked him on the behalf of X Squadron. During the journey, Fan Le introduced the basic situation of Base A to them. When they arrived at the dormitory building, Fan Le’s throat was already parched from speaking.



"Okay, here is the dormitory building. On the left is where the men live, while on the right is where the women live. Generally, there are two people per room. You four girls decide who you want to pair up with."



Luan Qing Xiao stood aloofly on the side without speaking. Luo Zi Lin immediately ran over to Jiang Yue Bai and held her arm, "I'll be in the same room as Yue Bai." She definitely didn’t want to live with Luan Qing Xiao, the vicious female supporting character, or Nie Zhen'er, the official female lead.



Liang Yan instantly went to observe Luan Qing Xiao's expression. He saw she was a little unhappy with her lips tightened, yet she was reluctant to say more because of “conceited” persona, causing him to be a little relieved.



As long as the soul in Luan Qing Xiao's body doesn’t change, it was fine for her to live with Luan Qing Xiao.



Liang Yan left some words of warning before the six headed into the dormitory separately.



She wasn't sure how the male dorms work. However after Luan Qing Xiao and the others entered, there was someone on the first floor who was responsible for allocating rooms for them.



"There is a dark and sunny side room. Do you guys want to discuss this or do you want to draw lots?"



Because Luan Qing Xiao's plant-type ability can grow vegetables, she was always given the sunny room.



Just as Jiang Yue Bai was about to say she would take the dark sided room, Luo Zi Lin proclaimed loudly, "Let draw lots and have fate decide it for us whoever will live on the sunny side. Luan Qing Xiao, do you dare to draw lots with me?" Once she finished speaking, Luo Zi Lin provocatively stared at Luo Qing Xiao.



Jiang Yue Bai yanked on La Luo Zi Lin's sleeve. So Luo Zi Lin pulled out her sleeve as she raised her chin and continued to stare at Luan Qing Xiao.



"Please arrange the sunny room for us. Thank you." Luan Qing Xiao’s expression was indifferent like she didn't hear Luo Zi Lin's words.



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Notes:

Brother Hu (胡大哥): The way Liang Yan’s group addresses the bearded leader that they meet who saved Liang Yan and Lu Zi Lin, since they didn’t know his name. Hu (胡) in Chinese means beard, while the Brother (大哥) part is added to show respect 

Da Hu Zi (大胡子): Since Yuan Ting is obviously in a higher position of power as the leader of A Base, Brother Hu refers to himself as something more subordinate