The journey was long and hard but everyone had bitterly suffered in silence of suffering. Being fed by dog food for long hours almost made those inside the same car as the general and Master Ximen gone crazy.
The soldiers from the other cars were not spared as the shameless couple was stuck together, inseparable while fighting with zombies. Everyone chooses tacitly to ignore the shameless couple not to be drowned by dog food.
Meanwhile in Hope Base.
Shi Moye has been suffering from a headache ever since he and his team returned back to the base after looking for resources and meeting Su Liye and his team. The problem had exceeded just him leaving the base without telling anyone to persecute Su Liye from killing someone from the base.
Killing. Yes, Su Liye had indeed killed someone. The dead man's name is Liu Ling. It was the same person who took his family away from the city where they lived.
After hearing what kind of man this Liu Ling is, Su Liye made his plan. At first he and his team pretended to be just ordinary instead of telling everyone that most of them were mercenaries.
This is an event that happened few days ago after the blood rain.
Then they lingered at the mission hall. As expected Liu Ling of the Dawn Team had been invited to join them during one of their missions. Su Liye and two more awakened members of their team tried acting like newly awakened ability users.
Pretending to be weaklings, Su Liye had successfully baited this man called Liu Ling including his Dawn Team. After hearing what kind of person Liu Ling is from both Shi Moye and Yun Suisen, he made this plan and tried to get Liu Ling out of the base and interrogate him about what happened to his family. He had only done this because he couldn't accept the fact or possibility that his family is no longer around.
After successfully joining temporarily in the Dawn Team, with his other two men, during one of their missions. Su Liye and his men finally realized that the rumors about this man Liu Ling is indeed true! In the Mission Hall, the Dawn Team had invited not only the three of them who were pretending as newly awakened ability users, another two more real just awakened ability users had been invited to join as well.
The mission the Dawn Team had accepted is just gathering some resources in Y District. This district is well-known for having orchards. There are different kinds of fruit trees and bushes growing in this place. They were tasked to get some seeds in this area. Shi Moye and Yun Suisen had issued farming to solve their never ending problems with regards to food.
The regressor Shi Moye, who has memories of the future knew that the land would once again become fertile after the Blood Rain. It seems that aside from upgrading zombies, the world had given the human's a chance of survival. Mutated animals can be eaten. Land becomes fertile. Even sea creatures can be eaten as most of them have mutated instead of becoming zombies.
Though mutated creatures are stronger and more intelligent than normal animals, their meat was nutritious and full of energy that allowed the ability to upgrade even more. This is why the leader of Z District Base had issued a mission to gather seeds after the blood rain.
In the beginning the original members of the Dawn Team were acting kind like they were a group of benevolent people. This is especially true about Liu Ling who even used his former job as a police officer to capture the hearts of the two newly awakened ability users.
Watching the two listen to Liu Ling's glib mouth and give the bastard a worshipping gaze that Su Liye almost couldn't stop himself from coming over and beating up that bastard. Only when they've reached the Y District and experience a zombie siege do Liu Ling and his team show their true colors.
The Zombie Siege is not too big nor too small. There are at least one hundred zombies coming over to catch them. Sadly they couldn't just leave the place they were in as the zombies surrounded them from all directions.
Su Liye and his other two teammates were on guard towards the Dawn Team and kept a certain distance with them but the two other ability users were newbies who didn't know about people's schemes. Just based on their ordinary reactions, these two must be civilians. One that had no conflict with other people.
As Su Liye had expected, Liu Ling and his Dawn Team had finally made their move. One of the Dawn Team members approached the two newly joined ability users and made a cut to their legs and ankles. The wounds were quite deep but it wasn't fatal but wounds on legs restrict people from walking normally much less run.
AAHHH!!!
The wounded ability users had fallen seated on the ground with blood gushing from their wounds. The fresh scent of meat and blood spreads in the area. Like bees gathering in a honeycomb, the zombies had all moved to those injured humans making them the main target. Using this opportunity, Liu Ling and his team had rode the car intending to leave not only their two victims but also Su Liye and their small group.
What Liu Ling and the dawn team didn't expect is that Su Liye had already known their plans of leaving by sacrificing newbies to join them for the mission. Su Liye had already tempered their car, preventing their leave. Sadly, the dawn team is a small team and they don't even have a high level space ability user on their team to bring a spare car with them.
Surrounded by countless zombies, the group had to work to their fullest to eliminate all the one hundred zombies involved in the zombie siege. Unlike Su Liye and his men, the rest of the members of the team were only level 1 ability users with Liu Ling being level 2.
Meanwhile Su Liye and the two men with him were all high level ability users. One level 2 mental type ability user and one level 2 space ability user. Su Liye on the other hand is a dual Level 3 ability user of Earth and Wind. He can use it for both defensive and offensive purposes. The newbies were eaten during the siege.
After all the zombies were cleaned up. Liu Ling and his team were on the ground trapped in soil. Su Liye had used his ability to control earth and buried everyone from the dawn team with only their heads popping out the ground. They were all shouting profanities towards Su Liye's group of three.
With the space ability user of his group gathering the one hundred crystal on the ground, Su Liye and the mental type ability user from his group had started their interrogation with Liu ling and his team.
The mental type ability Su Liye whom he brought to this mission had the ability to control minds. It is called hypnotism. A mental type ability which would allow the user to charm his target making them fall in a state of confusion. As long as they ask, the target under charm would reveal anything without hints of a lie.
"Boss, should I begin?"
Su Liye replied, "Do it. No need to hypnotize everyone just this bastard would do." he pointed at Liu Ling as they squat in front of them.
"Okay boss~ Fall~ Fall in love with me~"
"Sigh~ your chant to activate your ability is so weird as always."
"As long as it will activate my ability to care about my face~" retorted the lady ability user who could control others' minds. "Boss, you can start asking questions~ I will help my hubby pick crystals over there~ Don't forget our rewards. I want wine my hubby wants cigarettes~"
"I know. Go leave and flirt your husband over there. Shoo..."
The lady ability user had walked away as she was told to do so. Afterwards Su Liye had brought out a family picture from his inner pocket. In the photo, Su Liye and his wife were standing together beside him, his younger brother and his lover were also standing beside them. The four figures in the photo all had smiles on their faces.
Su Liye made the charmed Liu Ling see the photo. He covered his face with a finger and allowed only his wife, young brother and his lover's face to be seen. With a dark expression on his face Su Liye started asking.
"Have you seen any of these three before?"
"...Saw them. Before we reached Z District they used to be with us."
"Do you remember their names?"
"The two men were Su Wan and Lu Meng. They were lovers I guess. The lady is called Shi Hong, she had a baby with her."
"Baby? My baby is born!?"
"Yes. A baby."
"Where are they now?"
With a lifeless and dull expression, Liu Ling replied monotonously. "Dead."
When that one word came out from Liu Ling's mouth, the anger and hatred within Su Liye had risen but he was still able to hold it and prevent himself from killing the bastard in front of him. While the other members of the dawn team who had also seen the photo Su Liye had shown their leader had all their faces instantly turned ashen especially when the charmed Liu Ling spoke the taboo word death.
The expression on Su Liye's face turned ugly and malicious. He truly wanted to hack the bastard in front of him. He yanked his hair roughly to make him face him.
"Tell every single detail on how the three no... four of them died!!? Speak now!!"
"The three of them including the baby were almost inseparable. I wanted to woo the woman but she chose to ignore me because of the useless baby she had with her! This is why I thought of splitting their little group. I've tasked my members to bring the two men with them with the reason of looking for clues about the base or looking for resources.
When they've finally let their guards down towards me, I've sent the two men to look around for resources with my people. I told them to wound one of the two men and left them to be fed to the zombies. After successfully removing the two obstacles around that woman, I tried treating her well and wanted to make her lean on him.
But who would expect that the woman is so tough. If not for that baby with her causing disputes with the rest of my team then I would choose not to sacrifice her. But that baby with her is really annoying, I've lost count on how many times that baby's cry made zombies target their group.
The other people in his group had told her to throw away that annoying and noisy baby but she didn't listen. The woman even killed one of my team members. In the end I choose to push her and her child in the group of zombies to be used as bait to escape."
The expression on Su Liye had turned uglier and eviler at each of Liu Ling's words. The husband and wife who worked under Su Liye had just finished collecting all the crystals and seeds available and overheard Liu Ling's explanation about their boss' family's end. No one knew but them, how much their boss longed to see his family. Su Liye is a very family oriented person. He is kind and loyal. No one from their group would say bad things about him.
Now hearing the horrible details on how their boss' family had died made them feel his raging anger. They saw him controlling his ability on earth and made all members of the dawn team be pulled out of the ground but still restrained on earth pillars. All of their hands were restrained by earth above their heads.
"Boss? Why did you pull them out?"
"It's better to have their bodies exposed for the zombies to easily find them. Prepare the car, we are going back to the base."
"Yes, boss." The space ability user had brought out a car from his storage and pulled his wife inside the car. The married couple decided to wait for Su Liye inside the car.
AAAHHHH
SPARE ME~
STOP!! I'M...SORRY~ ARGGH~
Don't leave us here!!
As they walked towards the car they heard shrieks and screams behind them. Only they know how their boss made countless open wounds on each body of the dawn team. He let their blood flow like a river as he wanted the zombies to get attracted to the scene of their blood and flesh exposed in air.
It didn't take long for Su Liye to ride in the car his subordinate had gotten from his space and immediately closed his eyes as if wanting to sleep. The husband and wife with him didn't even speak when their boss joined them in the car.
They've only heard him say, "Drive. Go back to the base."
Following Su Liye's command the car had moved towards the directions of the base in Z District. As for what happened in the dawn group, they were either eaten by zombies alive or died due to blood loss. No one knows but one thing is for sure. They are already as good as dead.
On the other hand the zombies gathering at the capital had almost reached millions. But none of these zombies dare to fight one another. They were just standing in attention in front of a luxurious mansion as if waiting for their masters.