Chapter 45
Nie Yi also had a reason to go to that small-scale base . In truth, he had learnt of the existence of that small base in his last life .
After the apocalypse struck, all of B City was in a mess . All the troops had also cleared up the zombies in the barracks at the shortest time then a.s.sembled, gathering at B City secure base or rescuing civilians spread out over the city .
At that time, there was a small troop led by a company leader that had reached the west of B City . He had saved many people in western B City and had found a place to settle these people down . As a result, when he wanted to return to B City secure base, he realised that there were too many people; the slightest movement would lead to an attack from all sides by a large number of zombies . Moreover, because the elderly, the weak, females, and children were in high numbers among them, wanting them to make a long and arduous journey to B City secure base was incredibly difficult .
Not only that, but the overall numbers of the people who had slowly converged here also totalled several tens of thousands . If so many people were to migrate, how many people were needed to protect them?
Even though there were a lot of military troops defending B City secure base, there were too many things to deal with at present, and the troops naturally couldn’t free anyone up— It had only been more than a month since the apocalypse began . The current B City secure base itself had a lot of aspects that hadn’t been straightened out yet .
In any case, since the people there had a place to settle down, the leaders of B City secure base waved their hands and had him temporarily form a small base and rely on themselves .
According to Nie Yi’s memory from his last life, under the protection of the military troops and ability users, this secure base had been able to reach B City secure base in the fifth month of the apocalypse . Moreover, at that time, the reason why they had wanted to enter B City secure base despite the trials and tribulations was because many level two zombies had appeared outside . This had caused this small secure base to become increasingly unsafe; therefore, even though they had lost half of their people, they still trudged on for several days to join B City secure base .
Now, since the appearance of level two zombies had occurred in advance, the dangerous situation this base had encountered was also pushed forward…
Nie Yi wasn’t a saint at all . He also had his reasons for wanting to come to this secure base .
Reason number one was that the person in control of that small base right now, the company leader, was a very powerful person . He had even helped him before in his last life . Also, that person had also taken the initiative to bring people to leave B City secure base… Reason number two was that Ping Shengchao’s parents were in that base .
His own mother, as well as his grandparents, had already died, while Shao Zhenglan’s family were also gone . This was something Nie Yi knew long ago, and he even knew that Ping Shengchao’s parents were still alive .
The Ping family was previously an influential family clan, but had later declined . Back then, because Ping Shengchao’s father had done illegal things, he had even entered prison for a few years . After he left, he brought his wife and son to B City to live the life of an ordinary family .
Father Ping had opened a real estate agency, while Mother Ping had always been working in a hospital . The life of this married couple had been very dull, and when the apocalypse struck, they fortunately didn’t encounter any mishaps . It was just that they couldn’t enter B City secure base, and so entered this western small base instead .
Mother Ping was a doctor, and had specialised in Cesarean section operations before the apocalypse . This trade was also considered as useful during the apocalypse— She knew how to do common things like st.i.tching a wound, determinedly doing some appendicitis operations was fine as well, and she could even help people during labour…
Father Ping’s real estate agency, on the contrary, wasn’t of much use during the apocalypse, but he relied on the considerable amount of general medical knowledge he had learnt from Mother Ping, actually mastering it in an incredibly short time and becoming a nurse…
Doctors and nurses were all protected especially well, so when this small base joined B City secure base in their last life, the two of them were still fine and recognised Ping Shengchao .
But later, when Ping Shengchao had died due to his inattentiveness, this couple’s body condition also rapidly declined . In the end, they hadn’t held out for long before they died .
Nie Yi had long decided that he should contact this small base earlier, but he had originally planned to wait until he had more subordinates before he went . After all, that place was pretty far, but now the plan had been shifted to an earlier date .
Arriving and meeting the Ping parents could also give Ping Shengchao, who had been looking more and more depressed these days, a pleasant surprise .
Their unit didn’t encounter any obstructions as they left the secure base .
Now, their trucks had been modified . Not only did the truck Nie Yi rode have added thickness, the carriage had also been raised higher . Moreover, both sides had welded railings, and the roof also had an additional layer of metal sheet to block the wind and rain .
This installment allowed the people inside to attack the zombies, as well as preventing the zombies to climb in . More importantly, with the existence of the metal sheet over the roof, they didn’t have to worry about getting soaked by the rain outside .
So much that, Nie Yi had specially asked someone to weld a small railing on the metal sheet, then took the vegetables they had planted at home, as well as the yuejis he had bought, and placed them on the car roof…
Various sorts of flowers and green plants swaying on top of the truck they used for doing missions looked… rather adorable .
Qi Jingchen still occupied the place in the middle of the truck, and by his side was Nie Yi and the team’s family members .
Those who had followed Nie Yi from J City to B City secure base and had family members ended up choosing to stay and work in the secure base, opting not to join the unit led by Xu Nan . The ten people Nie Yi had taken from Base Two weren’t from B City, and didn’t have a single family member .
So the family members who were left at Qi Jingchen’s side were just Xu Nan’s wife and daughter, Zhao Yue and Xu Yun .
Zhao Yue still had that bone-thin appearance, looking very weak; however, Xu Yun’s complexion was pretty good as she spoke to her mother nonstop .
Qi Jingchen leaned to the side, his eyes always on Xu Yun .
A child’s adaptability towards their surrounding environment was sometimes greater than adults because they didn’t have a solid perception towards the world yet . Xu Yun had adapted to the apocalyptic lifestyle rather well, and now, inside the carriage, she had even softly sang and danced for her mother .
Qi Jingchen liked lively children like this the most, and his eyes couldn’t move away from Xu Yun at all . When Nie Yi saw this, he clenched his jaw and was all the more reluctant to look for Qi An .
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Zhao Yue was a little surprised, then smiled . “I think so too . ”
Currently, B City’s center has become the realm of zombies . Speaking of which, someone had even suggested they use carpet bombing to level B City, annihilating all the zombies there .
However, this proposal had been quickly rejected .
Even if they ignored the possibility of survivors hiding in obscure corners of B City, as well as the various supplies still being preserved there, such an explosive that could destroy the whole of B City would worsen the environment . If everyone did this… perhaps, before the zombies could even consume all of humanity, humans would’ve already become extinct .
Upon the last stage of the apocalypse, someone had once mentioned that if they had done this sooner, could they have avoided welcoming humanity’s last days? However, no one knew the answer .
Because there were too many zombies in B City now, and it was extremely possible that there were level two zombies, their unit circled around B City . The route Nie Yi had chosen even had them pa.s.s through the villages surrounding B City .
There, they could find many things, especially various vegetables suitable for Qi Jingchen to eat .
Nie Yi had also sorted out the roofs of the other trucks; he had already made the decision to plant vegetables there when the time came .
On this night, their unit stopped by a village .
The people in this village had already left, the food at home, and even many of the beddings, were gone . Clearly, people from the secure base had already come by and plundered this area . However, the vegetables in the fields were still here . Even though many had died because no one was taking care of them, it was still enough for them to gather a sufficient amount of vegetables .
A party picked some cowpeas, eggplants, and so on, then took out their own seasoning and stoves and began cooking .
And among all the people, Qi Jingchen was once again the first to eat— Nie Yi had used his fire ability to cook, which was much faster than others .
After eating, when Qi Jingchen washed his face while Nie Yi waited upon him, he suddenly said, “Are there scissors?”
“Why do you want scissors?” Nie Yi immediately asked .
“Cut my nails,” Qi Jingchen said . He previously hadn’t paid attention to his nails, but when he looked just now… his nails were already that long .
Qi Yaoyao quickly brought out a small, red scissors . Holding the scissors, Qi Jingchen was about to cut his nails .
“Wait a second, I’ll do it,” Nie Yi said hurriedly . Seeing Qi Jingchen’s fair hands holding scissors, he unconsciously had a fearful feeling, afraid that Qi Jingchen would hurt himself .
To prevent any accidents, it’s better if he cuts them ba…
Nie Yi held Qi Jingchen’s hands and slowly cut his nails . His movements were extremely careful, and he even meticulously held his hands together so that Qi Jingchen’s cut nails wouldn’t fly all over the place . Every cut nail was placed inside a box by his side .
Qi Jingchen’s body was very unusual . Whether it was Qi Jingchen’s dropped hair or cut nails, he would collect them very carefully .
This… was showing PDA as if there weren’t anyone around again! They clearly didn’t want single dogs to live well!
Ping Shengchao looked at the sky outside, estimated that there was still a while more before nightfall, and promptly notified Nie Yi . “Boss, I’m going to take a look around and see if there’s anything useful . ”
“Look through the houses around here, see if there are any clean blankets . ” Nie Yi didn’t even lift his head . It was summer when the apocalypse struck, but later, the days will become colder and colder .
“OK!” Ping Shengchao said and went out .
“Pigtails, wait for me!” Zhang Zihai called and followed him out . It was so boring in the house . Since he had time, he might as well take a stroll outside .
“Baldy, don’t follow me,” Ping Shengchao said bluntly .
“Pigtails, don’t be so heartless . Truthfully, I’m quite envious of your hair . The center of my head was burnt . I’ll probably never grow hair and be bald for the rest of my life . ” Zhang Zihai touched his head and was a little depressed .
“Serves you right,” Ping Shengchao said . To provoke the person his family’s boss cared about the most, if this wasn’t deserved, then what was it?
The house where Nie Yi and the others were living in had a lot of zombies gathering outside, but there weren’t many zombies in this village itself . They had all been blocked by earth walls, and the majority had even been encircled by a ring of earth walls; therefore, when Ping Shengchao exited the house, he didn’t encounter any trouble .
He had been following Nie Yi since a long time ago and learnt many things . His marksmanship was extremely good and he had gone through a lot of training, so the speed at which he killed zombies was very quick . Walking behind him, Zhang Zihai couldn’t help praising, “Your marksmanship is really good . ”
Ping Shengchao used to be a talkative person, but the life in the apocalypse was very bitter and he still couldn’t find his family . So now, his words became fewer and fewer and he only focused on walking forward while guarding against his surroundings at the same time .
This village had been planned meticulously and the houses were all constructed together . Ping Shengchao looked around and finally chose a house to go in . Consequently, just as he walked in, he was shoved . “Careful!”
Ping Shengchao was pushed to a stumble, and when he righted himself, he discovered there was a small zombie that suddenly crawled out from under a car . This little zombie even had an open mouth and belched a puff of black fog!
Level two zombie!
Even though Nie Yi and the others had encountered level two zombies, but probably because there weren’t that many zombies right now, no one had met them since . On the journey today, the ones they had met were the most common level one zombies .
And now, a little level two zombie actually appeared!
Knowing that he was just a regular person, if he was sprayed by the black fog, he would turn into a zombie! Ping Shengchao’s heartbeat quickened and he had a strange sense of grat.i.tude for getting a new lease on life . He looked at Zhang Zihai, who had already thrown a fireball at that small zombie’s mouth, in grat.i.tude . “Thanks a lot . Without you, I would be dead . ”
After his thanks, Ping Shengchao couldn’t help asking, “You touched the black fog just now . Are you okay?” He hadn’t breathed in any black fog, but Zhang Zihai had come in contact with it after pushing him away .
“I’m fine . Nie shao said that ability users have immunity towards this sort of black fog,” Zhang Zihai said, then looked at the zombie on the floor that had his fireball thrown in its mouth, but was still squirming because its skull wasn’t shattered . “Level one zombies are on the same level as regular people . We ability users can battle with level two zombies, but we just have to be careful . Haha, how was that? Was I cool enough?”
“A level two zombie appeared . Let’s kill it and quickly return . ” Ping Shengchao had wanted to stab Zhang Zihai with a few words, but found it hard to say anything when he recalled him saving his life . “Today, you saved my life . I’ll always remember this!”
“Alright . ” Zhang Zihai wanted to burn that little zombie with a fireball, but suddenly thought of something . “Say, do you think there’ll be a crystal nucleus inside a zombie’s head like in those novels? I’ve looked at low level zombies, they didn’t have it, but level two zombies…” Zhang Zihai held a long-handled knife and promptly used it to cleave apart the zombie’s skull .
Its skull split apart, the zombie immediately stopped moving . At the same time, a soybean -sized black droplet flowed out from its brain . This droplet was pitch-black yet had a twinkling l.u.s.tre . It rolled out of the zombie’s brain and fell on the floor . Immediately, that patch of soil turned charred black like it was corroded .
“I didn’t think there was really something in its brains…” Zhang Zihai was a little surprised .
Ping Shengchao also looked curiously, but suddenly realised something was wrong and violently pulled Zhang Zihai . “Hurry up and leave!”
At the same time, the charred black area where that black droplet corroded actually began to emit a wisp of black fog!
This was the exact same black fog the zombie had sprayed . It quickly dissipated into thin air, however, Ping Shengchao had still come in contact with it . When he spoke, he had probably breathed a little in .
The area where his hand had touched the black fog stung . Even though he currently didn’t have any zombification, according to what the people who had been protecting Li Bi had said, after a period of time, he’ll probably turn into a zombie…
Ping Shengchao looked at his hand, a little stunned .
“I’m sorry . ” Zhang Zihai didn’t really think this would happen, his eyes filled with remorse . “It’s all my fault…” He slapped his own face .
“If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been sprayed by that zombie just now . How could I blame you?” At this time, Ping Shengchao also was itching to slap Zhang Zihai, but he knew this was useless .
Furthermore… If Zhang Zihai really weren’t here, he would’ve encountered a calamity just now .
This Zhang Zihai really wasn’t able to suffer a loss! Just when he saved him, in a blink of an eye, he caused his death!
Ping Shengchao gritted his teeth and took a few deep breaths and finally calmed down . He had already seen many deaths . In the unit he and Xu Nan were leading, there were already two who had died…
But… Why couldn’t he die instantaneously? And had to wait as he slowly turned into a zombie? Slowly experiencing that despair?
“Sorry… I’ll keep you company to the end . ” Zhang Zihai clenched his fist . Turning into a zombie under these circ.u.mstances would be very despairing . He would definitely stay by Ping Shengchao’s side… Speaking of, this was his fault .
“I’ll go back and tell the boss something and leave . You don’t have to accompany me,” Ping Shengchao said .
“You… care about Nie shao a lot?” Zhang Zihai asked . He was respectful and grateful towards Nie Yi, but sometimes, when Nie Yi was too dictatorial, it truly made him a little unbearable .
“If it weren’t for Boss, I wouldn’t know what I’d be now . ” Ping Shengchao quickened his steps as he headed back . Meeting a few zombies on the way, he raised his hands and headshot all of them .
Back when the Ping family declined and his father was imprisoned, many people had thrown a stone down a well . Those who didn’t had stayed away from him . It was just Nie Yi who didn’t care and still brought him along to play .
There was once when he had been blocked by people and beaten, and it was also Nie Yi who had saved him… At that time, he had resolved to follow Nie Yi for a lifetime, becoming Nie Yi’s little brother . Even though Nie Yi would value his lover more than friendship sometimes, he was still pretty good to this little brother of his .
Arriving outside the house everyone was living in, Ping Shengchao shot and killed all the zombies that had just gathered but hadn’t been trapped, then entered the house .
He felt a little strange already, and didn’t know how long it’ll be before he turned into a zombie… Ping Shengchao looked around, and saw Nie Yi, in the center of the room and currently cutting Qi Jingchen’s toenails .
Nie Yi was extremely careful when cutting and was very slow . It even made Qi Jingchen feel that he wasn’t cutting his nails, but taking liberties with him…
In truth, Nie Yi really was taking this opportunity to take liberties .
“Boss, in the notebook in my bag here, I recorded the amount of all of our supplies . Zhou Xiaofeng and Xu Nan know this as well . You take a look ba, I…” In the end, Ping Shengchao didn’t want to die, and he couldn’t continue . “It’s too stuffy here . I’m going out again for a walk . ”
While speaking, Ping Shengchao took out the things in his bag . His head dipped lower and lower, afraid that someone would discover an abnormality .
“Stay away from me . You stink,” Qi Jingchen suddenly said .
Ping Shengchao’s movements were stiff, his heart rolling with all sorts of complicated emotions, so much that the rims of his eyes had reddened and tears were about to fall from his eyes . But after hearing Qi Jingchen’s words in his sorrowful despair, all of this shattered .
This person was too hateful! He’s about to die and he still wanted to avoid him!
When Nie Yi heard what Ping Shengchao was saying, he already felt that something was wrong since Ping Shengchao’s tone was too different from normal… After hearing what Qi Jingchen said, he immediately understood .
Qi Jingchen wouldn’t say someone stank for no reason, unless that person… was about to become a zombie .
From the past till now, what Qi Jingchen hated the most was zombies .
Nie Yi had even thought to give Ping Shengchao a pleasant surprise, bringing him to meet his parents, but didn’t expect him to come across this matter . He was immediately shocked, and after his shock pa.s.sed, he suddenly stood up and grabbed Ping Shengchao, dragging him to a corner, then took a length of rope at the side and tied Ping Shengchao up .
After this, he took something out from his chest and shoved it in Ping Shengchao’s mouth, then used his water ability and forcibly made Ping Shengchao swallow it down .
Finally, he even doused Ping Shengchao in water and gave him a shower, then said, “Stay here obediently, don’t move, and don’t speak nonsense!”
When Zhang Zihai saw this at first, he was stunned . What’s the matter with Nie Yi?! Qi Jingchen said a word of ‘stinky’, so he just tied Ping Shengchao up and threw him in a corner?
That’s not right… Zhang Zihai quickly discovered Nie Yi’s serious expression, and Nie Yi had even glared at him .
Nie Yi had probably discovered something but didn’t say anything, even deliberately telling them not to speak nonsense… Zhang Zihai sat by Ping Shengchao’s side and finally didn’t utter a word .
Nie Yi, could it be that he didn’t want to declare that Ping Shengchao was turning into a zombie?
Zhang Zihai thought a lot, but Ping Shengchao was coughing violently . He didn’t know what Nie Yi gave him, but it was particularly sc.r.a.ping at his throat . Now, his throat was incredibly painful, and he couldn’t help coughing .
All of this actually left him no time to think about him turning into a zombie .
Nie Yi returned to Qi Jingchen’s side, but was looking at those nails at the side… If hair didn’t work, how about trying nails?