"Zhong, they’re Superpower Users!" Cao Fa clutched his scorched hand, his face filled with terror.
Lu Zhong cursed, pulled two spray bottles from behind his waist, and unleashed a heavy spray at them.
"Hold your breath!" a cold voice called out. The command came from a tall, slender figure running toward them, silhouetted against the light.
WHOOSH! A thin metal wall erupted from the ground, blocking the lingering inhibitor mist.
Although Xie Ning’s hands were in motion, her dark, glossy eyes never left the group of people who had just entered.
Zuo Li and Luo Kui were here. ’I didn’t expect to meet them so early in this life.’
Zuo Li was still in her classic, form-fitting black top and pants. Beneath her short, flyaway hair, her star-like, ink-black eyes shimmered with a brilliant light as they swept across the scene.
Vice-captain Luo Kui, with his two-meter-tall frame, stood guard by Captain Zuo’s side like a lighthouse. He never left her—just as in the previous life.
Xie Ning saw several familiar young faces behind them. In this life, their features were not yet etched with the weariness of years spent surviving the apocalypse.
"Thanks, little sis." As soon as the thin metal wall disappeared, Zuo Li led her people to rush over and rescue the Superpower Users on the ground.
Cres raised a hand and waved it vigorously in front of Xie Ning’s face. "Hey, hey, hey! Snap out of it! What are you staring at?"
Xie Ning glanced upstairs with a deadpan expression. "Should we check upstairs, or head to the supermarket and meet up with..."
"Ningning, wait for me a sec." Before she could finish, Yu Tianfeng followed after the other group, his face full of excitement.
It seemed he was completely captivated by Beichen and his self-healing ability.
"I’m a doctor. I can help with the bandaging."
"Thank you, thank you." Zuo Li turned her head to look at Yu Tianfeng who had followed them, looking slightly taken aback.
’Why does the light in this young man’s eyes seem so... weird?’
While his mask hid most of his face, the part she could see looked clean and neat. Unfortunately, he was draped in a stinking jacket that made one want to steer clear.
By now, Yu Tianfeng had already squeezed his way to Beichen’s side. He pulled out a syringe and stuck him with the needle...
Cres couldn’t even bear to watch how fast the guy worked.
"What are you doing?" Beichen coughed lightly and glared furiously.
"Don’t move! I’ll bandage you up right now!"
"Bandage what?!" Beichen tried to pull his arm away, but to his surprise, the strange kid was quite strong, pinning him down so he couldn’t move at all.
"I’m not injured! They’re the ones who need bandaging!" ’Is this guy nuts? Where does he see an injury on me?’
The layers of dried, brown blood on his body were from when he was stabbed yesterday. He had already healed completely; there wasn’t a single wound on him now!
By now, Yu Tianfeng had already drawn half a vial of blood. Zuo Li’s teammates could all see there was something wrong with him and hurried forward to stop him. "Who are you? Are you even a doctor? Why are you drawing his blood?!"
"Of course I am! The real deal." Yu Tianfeng fumbled in his pocket, pulled out his credentials, and waved them in front of everyone. "I have an international medical license!"
Just then, Xie Ning walked out of a jade shop next door, holding a potted plant, and said flatly, "Are you guys looking for this?"
The two groups, who had been arguing incessantly, all turned in unison to look at her... and the plant in her hands.
"Boss, that’s the raw ingredient for the inhibitor!" Xie Ning recognized the cheering team member. After the apocalypse began, everyone had started calling him Xiao Qi Zi; his real name was unknown.
Zuo Li broke away and walked over. Xie Ning held the plant, and although she looked at her with a completely blank expression, her heart was pounding.
"Ah, where did you find this?" Zuo Li’s eyes curved into a smile as she looked at her. "Little miss, how about a trade? You give this to me, and I’ll give you a case of chocolate candy."
Xie Ning stared blankly at Captain Zuo, who was clearly treating her like a child.
"Ningning." Yu Tianfeng hurried to her side to stop her. "No, no way. We have to go halves on this pot. I need to take my half back for research."
"What are you going to research? Aren’t you a doctor?!" Zuo Li turned and frowned at Yu Tianfeng.
"I am a doctor, but I’m also an experienced botanist." Yu Tianfeng took out a flowerpot and carefully started to divide the plant and separate the soil.
"Hey, listen to me for a sec," Zuo Li leaned in and whispered to Xie Ning. "Your teammate seems... not quite normal. How about you just join my team?"
Yu Tianfeng, who was squatting on the ground digging at the soil, couldn’t help but roll his eyes. "Lady, I can hear everything you’re saying."
"Who are you calling ’Lady’?!" Zuo Li glared. "You’re just asking for a beating."
When she turned back to Xie Ning, her expression switched back to a beaming smile. "Little sis, I feel like we just click, you know? How about..."
"Captain, there’s a Superpower User over here who’s seriously injured!" her teammate Xiao Qi Zi suddenly interrupted Zuo Li with an urgent shout.
"Kiddo, wait for me. I’ll be right back to chat." Zuo Li gave her a cool wave, then turned and strode over to the group of Superpower Users.
"Hey, you, the doctor! Get over here! Stop messing with that plant and come save people."
Yu Tianfeng carefully buried the plant’s roots, put away his half-pot of the mutated plant, and smiled at Xie Ning. "Ningning, just wait for me a little longer."
"You guys aren’t with them, are you?" Xiao Qi Zi looked at Yu Tianfeng, his face full of curiosity. "Dressing like that, were you trying to sneak in and steal this mutated plant used to make the inhibitor?"
"Steal what? We took it fair and square, okay?" Cres stood to the side with his arms crossed and snorted. "You think those losers could have stopped us?"
"Hmph, this half-assed inhibitor only works on Superpower Users below the First Rank anyway. Try using it on a Second Order expert and see what happens."
"Wow, really?" Xiao Qi Zi’s face lit up with excitement. "So it’s useless against Second Order Superpower Users."
"Boss, what should we do with these guys?" A few of Zuo Li’s subordinates shoved Lu Zhong, Cao Fa, and the others forward.
The crowd instantly grew agitated, and some people surged forward to beat and claw at Lu Zhong and his men.
Lu Zhong’s eyes were filled with panic. "What are you doing? Is this how you repay kindness—with hatred? After the apocalypse started, who saved you? Who established Oasis Base to give you a place to live? Are you all going to betray us now? Do you really think you’ll have a good life following Superpower Users to their base?"
"Do you think those high-and-mighty Superpower Users will ever treat us ordinary people like human beings? They only need ordinary people to work like cattle for base construction, don’t they?"
"Once the base’s infrastructure is complete, ordinary people will have no way to survive." Lu Zhong’s words filled the faces of the large group of ordinary survivors with terror.
Zuo Li frowned. "Everyone, don’t listen to his vile slander. As survivors in this difficult world, we should be uniting to fight zombies, not creating this pointless conflict between Superpower Users and ordinary people."
"In the bases, positions go to the capable. Even if you don’t have a superpower, as long as you have a skill and are willing to work hard, you’ll be able to earn your keep."
"My name is Zuo Li, and the current director of Golden City Base is my father."