’So, this place that’s practically hell on earth is supposed to be humanity’s hope for survival?’
’How ironic. The Oasis Base?’
’If this is truly an oasis, then humanity is really screwed...’
Xie Ning followed Cres’s gaze.
Behind the rest area, in front of an open-front nail salon, seventeen or eighteen sallow-faced men and women were tied up.
The colorful, eye-catching advertising banners hanging at the entrance of the nail salon were tattered and torn, dangling to one side.
On either side were jewelry stores and shops selling gold, silver, and jade, their glass counters long since smashed to pieces.
Diamonds, gold, and jade, which had been priceless before the apocalypse, were now scattered everywhere like garbage.
The first floor of Hengyue Building was mostly shops selling cosmetics, gold, silver, jade, and eyeglasses. The second floor was for electronics, the third and fourth for men’s and women’s clothing, with the food court only on the fifth and sixth floors, and a cinema on the seventh.
Unfortunately, these people lacked the combat strength to even make it to the second floor, it seemed.
"You bastards," one of the bound Superpower Users sneered. "What’s the point of tying us up here? Day after day, you can’t even get into the hot pot restaurant across the way. What damn good is occupying this huge shopping center? Just waiting to starve to death, all of you."
"What did you say? Huh? Shut your mouth!" A few burly men in black tank tops rushed over and began to punch and kick the Superpower User who had spoken.
"You’re asking to die."
"Zhong," Cao Fa said, cowering as he approached a medium-built man. Before he could even finish speaking, a slap landed squarely on his face.
"Useless trash!" Lu Zhong roared, his eyes bloodshot.
He had led over thirty men to the hot pot restaurant across the way time and again. After three whole days of fighting, they still couldn’t even take the first floor.
The food shortage wasn’t even the most frightening part.
What was truly deadly was that for a day and a half straight, even he, the boss, hadn’t had a single sip of water.
He desperately needed water now—he’d even take the water used to wash the pots in the restaurant!
Fortunately, when the Hengyue Shopping Center was built, it followed the principles of energy conservation and environmental protection, and a complete solar photovoltaic system had been installed.
So, although there was no power supply now, this solar system at least kept the indoor temperature at a constant thirty degrees Celsius or so.
Otherwise, the dehydration would be even more severe.
"Boss, I just saw this fucking bitch hiding some water and secretly feeding it to the Superpower Users."
Lu Zhong whipped his head around, his fierce, red eyes staring daggers at the woman who had been dragged and thrown before him.
"Hong Peiling, you’ve got some nerve! Who gave you permission to ignore my orders?"
Immediately after, a slender young man was dragged out from the crowd of Superpower Users by a few men in black tank tops and shoved violently to the ground.
THUD. The young man fell lifelessly to the ground, his head hanging low, letting a lock of his slanted bangs cover his indifferent eyes.
"Don’t hit him! Zhong, I’m begging you, please don’t hit him!" Hong Peiling lunged forward, fell to her knees before Lu Zhong, and hugged his leg, crying and pleading.
"Fuck!" Lu Zhong kicked the woman repeatedly, venting all the violent frustration born from his thirst upon her. "What, weren’t my boys enough to satisfy you yesterday? You still have the energy to crawl over to other men?"
"You promiscuous whore. I’ll teach you to go looking for other men, I’ll teach you."
"Tsk." Lying half-sprawled on the ground, the young man let out a soft chuckle, his low, faint voice rising. "Can’t get it up yourself, so you blame others?"
"What did you say?" Cao Fa glared furiously at the death-courting young man. "Boss, we can’t kill this kid by stabbing him. We stabbed him so many times yesterday, but today he’s alive and kicking. He’s a monster. Why don’t we just chop off his head and see if it grows back?"
"HAHAHAHAHA," the nearby men in black tank tops laughed. "Grow his head back after it’s cut off? Wouldn’t that make him the real Sun Wukong?"
The young man lifted his neck slightly, prying open one emerald eye to stare at them. He smiled. "I don’t know if my head will grow back if you cut it off, but if yours are cut off, they’re definitely staying off."
Xie Ning stood at the edge of the crowd. When she got a clear look at the young man’s half-filthy face, her pupils contracted sharply.
’It’s him?’
Those clear, jade-green eyes were unforgettable.
Four years into the apocalypse, this person would become one of the most highly sought-after assets, fought over by the top echelons of every major safe zone.
A High-level Healing Ability User: Beichen.
Back then, he was the same age as her, but their treatment was completely different.
Because of his special superpower, he was followed by a large group of fanatical male and female devotees.
She still remembered the time she and her team members returned to the Golden City Base after a mission and ran into this High-level Healing Ability User and his zealous fans at the base entrance.
At that time, a young girl covered in dirt and mud had rushed toward him. After being blocked by countless people, she knelt before him and cried out, begging him to save her terminally ill father.
And him?
He glanced down at the tiny scuff mark the girl had left on his leather shoe and waved a dismissive hand.
The girl and her father were dragged out of the Golden City Base’s main gate by his fanatical followers and thrown out.
That wasn’t the worst part. What was even more cruel was that they inflicted countless cuts on the pitiful father and daughter, told them to get lost, and ordered them to go "have a party" with the horde of zombies outside.
Back then, Xie Ning couldn’t do anything, because she was just another refugee surviving on the lowest rung of society.
If it weren’t for her captain and teammates looking out for her time and time again, she would have died countless times over!
At a time like that, she couldn’t endanger her own team over some laughable sense of compassion.
Because she knew very well that if they got on the wrong side of that powerful High-level Healing Ability User, it would be a... disaster for every member of their Sweet Potato Team.
And now, this not-yet-fully-developed High-level Healing Ability User was actually being held captive here by the Oasis Base?
’So he went through this in his past life, too?’
’Is that why he became so twisted later on?’
No wonder Cres mentioned a "clean and refreshing" superpower fluctuation. So it was him.
Xie Ning’s gaze flickered.
The current situation didn’t leave her any more time to think.
Cao Fa grabbed a knife and swung it at the young man’s head. Hong Peiling let out a frantic scream and threw herself on top of him.
The other Superpower Users, their eyes wide with fury, roared, "Don’t do it! He has an extremely rare Healing System, you can’t—"
BANG! The heavy glass door was kicked open with brutal force.
The glass shattered, scattering all over the floor with a loud CRASH.
A figure backlit by the light rushed in, raised a hand holding a crackling, purplish-red Thunder Ball, and blasted it straight into Cao Fa’s hand.
"The Golden City Base is officially clearing the Hengyue Shopping Center! All survivors, don’t be afraid! Come over here! You’ll be returning to the safe zone with us shortly!" a deep roar echoed from the main entrance.
Upon hearing the voice, the survivors who had been sitting on the leather sofas, staring blankly toward the entrance, began to stir, their heads turning one by one.
Someone stood up, their face filled with excitement. "Golden City Base? The Golden City Base sent troops to get us?"
"Are we saved?"