ATDIWR Chapter 13
by VolareTang Ning almost puffed up like a pufferfish internally, but maintained a smiling facade.
Another subordinate of the man also said, “Boss, we arrived late, there’s nothing left. But these Zombie Crystal Cores can compensate for our losses, so we didn’t come for nothing.”
The man nodded slightly, indicating he understood, but didn’t speak. He seemed to be a taciturn person.
“Wait a moment.” Ji An slowly stood up with Tang Ning’s support. He still felt weak all over, and asked weakly, “Excuse me, are you from the Jing Shi Base?”
The man turned to look at Ji An, his eyes dark and deep, like an endless tunnel, giving Ji An an inexplicable sense of danger. But the man didn’t answer Ji An’s question.
Instead, the man’s subordinate said, “We are from the Jing Shi Base. Which base are you from? Which base is so careless as to send out a Tier 3 Mental-type Power User, a non-combat personnel?”
Ji An still couldn’t figure out why these people knew his ability and its level.
“We are…” Tang Ning was about to answer but was pulled back by Ji An.
“I know the Jing Shi Base always accepts ordinary people and Power Users with clear backgrounds. We want to join the Jing Shi Base. Can we go with you?” Ji An took out the Tier 3 Zombie Crystal Core he had obtained earlier. “We can provide supplies. Can these Zombie Crystal Cores be considered our travel expenses?”
“A Tier 3 Crystal Core, of course, this is…” The man’s subordinate was about to happily accept Ji An’s Crystal Core, but as soon as his hand reached out, he felt a cold gust of wind on the back of his neck. He turned around and saw his boss’s icy gaze.
The man’s subordinate swallowed the rest of his words, choking, then withdrew his hand and rubbed his nose through his protective suit, saying awkwardly, “Well, about that, we still have to ask our boss.”
The man’s subordinate fawned, “Boss, what do you think? Is this acceptable?”
The man coldly withdrew his gaze and looked at Ji An again with his dark, emotionless eyes, saying, “No.”
“Why?” Ji An and the man’s subordinate asked in unison.
Ji An was fine, and Tang Ning was also curious and supported him in asking. The man’s subordinate was miserable, being directly covered by the mouth by the very capable-looking girl from before and dragged away, in the manner of dragging a dead dog.
“Wuwuwu…” The man’s subordinate whimpered, struggling desperately, but couldn’t break free.
The man then spoke again, “Not enough.”
With those two cold words, Ji An understood the man’s meaning. He was saying that these Crystal Cores were not enough as travel expenses.
But his subordinate’s reaction just now clearly indicated it was more than enough, perhaps far more than needed.
Ji An took a deep breath. Forget it, he said, “I have some experimental equipment with me. I’m willing to hand all of it over.”
Hearing “experimental equipment,” the man’s expression immediately changed, including that of his subordinate, who stopped fooling around. They all looked over in unison.
Ji An released a few valuable pieces of experimental equipment from his space, then quickly put them back. Although his movements were fast, they were enough for everyone present to see clearly.
Even though Ji An could only see the man’s eyes, he could see his gaze turn serious.
“You’re also a Space Power User! A Mental-type and Space Dual-ability Power User! My god! Can Mental-type Power Users also awaken other abilities?” The man’s subordinate started yelling again.
But no one paid attention to him. “I have a lot more experimental equipment in my space. I’m willing to hand it over.”
“Conditions.” The man would never naively think that so much valuable equipment was merely for travel expenses. There must be other conditions.
He’s a smart person, Ji An thought. Talking to smart people saves effort. He said, “In exchange, the Jing Shi Base accepts both of us and provides us with accommodation. We don’t want to live in shared rooms; we prefer single rooms, ideally our own place, a one-bedroom or two-bedroom is fine.
Additionally, we need three years of meals, the base’s most basic food is acceptable.
I also want a separate laboratory, and I need lifelong right of use for all experimental equipment in the base.”
Ji An had a lot of food in his space; he wasn’t short of provisions. But Tang Ning didn’t. As an ordinary person who hadn’t awakened an ability, food meant risking her life to obtain it.
Moreover, this time, whether it was collecting experimental equipment or hunting zombies, Tang Ning had put in effort. Even if distributed according to labor, this was what she deserved.
Three years of food, given Tang Ning’s effort this time, was only more, not less.
The man’s eyes looked at Ji An strangely. Silence spread between the two. For some reason, Ji An always felt that this man would be very difficult to deal with, so he said, “If you can’t make the decision, you can take me back, and I will talk to your Commander.”
The man glanced at Ji An sideways, neither saying yes nor no, and turned to leave!
What did that mean? Give an answer, yes or no!
Ji An was baffled for a moment, completely confused. But the man’s subordinate had already walked over. He was much friendlier than the man, like the difference between cold winter and scorching summer. “Our boss is the Jing Shi Base’s Highest Commander. He can make decisions about everything at the base.”
The capable-sounding female Power User also said, “Our boss is just like this. You’ll get used to it later, don’t take it to heart.”
“You don’t know, residents of our base privately call our boss ‘Humanoid Weapon’, a machine that only knows how to kill without emotions. As excessively handsome as his face is, his personality is just as cold and ruthless.”
The man’s subordinate scratched his head and said, “But speaking of which, boss was indeed very strange today. Even though he’s usually cold, he wasn’t this weird today! Is it because you’re too good-looking? Maybe boss doesn’t like seeing people better looking than him, but you guys are clearly different types! Boss has that kind of strong, masculine handsomeness, and you have an androgynous beauty.”
“Shut up!” The woman rolled her eyes.
The man didn’t know why he was being scolded, so he just shrugged.
“Let’s go,” the woman said, following the main group.
Ji An was completely exhausted, leaning entirely on Tang Ning. Tang Ning, an ordinary woman without an awakened ability, had limited strength and couldn’t support Ji An at all. After only a few steps, both of them fell.
Tang Ning landed on top of Ji An, adding insult to injury for the already weak Ji An. He couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan.
The loudly chattering man’s subordinate walking ahead turned back. “I’ll carry you on my back.”
“Thank you.” Ji An knew his physical condition and didn’t try to be strong.
The man’s subordinate walked over and squatted down in front of Ji An. Just as Ji An was about to climb onto his back, a shadow suddenly enveloped his head, and he looked up to meet a pair of icy eyes.
Then Ji An felt his body lighten and was lifted horizontally by the cold man.
Ji An was stunned, his mind in disarray. He couldn’t understand what this man meant?
Didn’t he dislike him? Just now he was so difficult to talk to, unwilling to take them back to the Jing Shi Base even with compensation far exceeding the travel expenses. In the end, it was his experimental equipment that persuaded him.
Now why was he actively helping him? Shouldn’t he have pretended not to hear even if he did?
Ji An didn’t know, but the man’s subordinate’s jaw had dropped.
Their boss, actually holding someone? Didn’t their boss have some kind of human allergy!
However, Ji An quickly noticed something was wrong. As the man carried him along the way, almost every Power User they saw immediately stopped and stared.
This was very abnormal.
The man carried Ji An up the stairs. As soon as they came out, they found zombies that had come scenting them.
Fire tongues, wind blades, wooden vines… all sorts of abilities emerged endlessly from behind them. In the blink of an eye, they cleared a path for the two of them.
Several vans were parked along the side of the road. The man walked to the middle one, pulled open the door, put Ji An inside, and then turned to sit in the driver’s seat himself.
The man’s subordinates followed, coming out one after another. Ji An saw Tang Ning trying to follow but was arranged into another vehicle.
Everyone got into the cars, and the zombies behind also chased after them. Ji An looked in the rearview mirror and saw this wave of zombies had split into three groups.
The man’s subordinate sitting next to him leaned halfway out of the car window and threw two grenades towards the back.
The grenades landed in the zombie piles, blasting the zombies apart, leaving scattered limbs. A Fire-type Power User spewed out a red dragon, instantly burning these zombies to ashes.
“Hello, from now on we’ll be in the same base, let’s get acquainted. My name is Kong Zhongcheng, a Strength-type Early Tier 4 Power User.” The man’s subordinate nudged Ji An with his shoulder. “The one driving is our Jing Shi Base’s boss, named Gu Jinsheng, a Thunder-type and Wind-type Dual-ability Peak Tier 5 Power User.”
Kong Zhongcheng whispered, “That tomboy is called Wan Xueying, a Peak Tier 4 Power User.”
Wan Xueying, who was the capable and straightforward woman, sneered upon hearing this, making Kong Zhongcheng shiver. He smiled at Wan Xueying apologetically.
“You scared me to death.” Kong Zhongcheng patted his chest. “Right, what’s your name?”
“My name is Ji An, a Mental and Space Dual-ability Power User.”
“You are really amazing. It’s the first time I’ve seen a non-combat oriented brain-type Power User like the Mental-type awaken into a Dual-ability Early Tier 3 Power User.”
Kong Zhongcheng blinked. “Hey, Ji An, how did it feel being carried by our boss? Do you know that our boss has never carried any living creature other than you? Can you believe, at his age, he’s still a virgin!
“Do you think our boss dislikes you or doesn’t dislike you?” Kong Zhongcheng’s eyes sparkled with intense gossip.
Wan Xueying’s eyes had already rolled up to the sky.
Ji An remained silent. How would he know!
In the Apocalypse, mental stress is high, and many people have mental problems. Is it possible that their boss has multiple personality disorder, with two personalities, which is why his actions are contradictory?
Ji An didn’t know if he had two personalities, but the team he led was indeed very powerful. They actively attacked zombies along the way and weren’t afraid of zombie hordes. They threw a few grenades, blasting the zombies into pieces, and then burned the zombie corpses clean with fire.
Many Power Users, after killing zombies, would burn the corpses if there was a Fire-type Power User present.
This is because zombies carry the zombie virus. Even if a zombie dies, the virus doesn’t die. These viruses would seep into the soil as the zombies decompose, polluting the land and water sources. If accidentally eaten by animals, the animals could become infected with the zombie virus.
So, capable Power User teams would burn the zombie corpses clean after hunting them.
Along the way, Ji An witnessed the power of this team and understood the gap between Chen Chen’s base and the Jing Shi Base.
Peak Tier 3 Power Users were not rare in the Jing Shi Base; they were only enough to be a small team leader. But Chen Chen could be a Base Commander and was still head and shoulders above others in the Third Base.
After seven years in the Apocalypse, the Jing Shi Base had taken shape and restored most of the pre-Apocalypse infrastructure, functioning as a city.
Many factories and workshops in the base had reopened, basically returning to the pre-Apocalypse state.
Ordinary people could work as laborers in factories without having to risk their lives. Although they didn’t earn as much as Power Users, supporting themselves was definitely not a problem.
Listening to Kong Zhongcheng’s introduction along the way, Ji An gained a preliminary understanding of the Jing Shi Base and also learned that the Jing Shi Base greatly valued research personnel.
Ji An knew he hadn’t come to the wrong place.
About three days later, when they were about a kilometer away from the Jing Shi Base, their team encountered a team from another base.
The other side first flashed their hazard lights, signaling they wanted to talk. As they got closer, a familiar face emerged from the car: it was Chen Chen.
“Hello, excuse me, have you seen a Tier 2 Mental-type Power User? He was accompanied by an ordinary woman who hadn’t awakened an ability?”
As if afraid of not explaining clearly, he added, “He might also be pretending to be an ordinary person, and might not be accompanied by an ordinary woman. But he is very beautiful, with that androgynous beauty?”
Hearing the other party ask this, Kong Zhongcheng, who was sitting next to him, immediately turned to look at Ji An, his eyes wide open, gleaming with intense desire for gossip.
“Haven’t seen them. Why, who are they from your base?” Wan Xueying, sitting in the passenger seat, leaned forward and asked.
“It’s shameful to say,” Chen Chen said, quite ashamed. “It’s a base scandal. That person is a traitor from our base who stole our base’s supplies and fled.”
At this moment, Gu Jinsheng, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, suddenly sneered, “Useless!”
Chen Chen’s face changed. He never dreamed that the other party would call him that.
Wan Xueying seemed afraid that Chen Chen wouldn’t understand and explained, “What our boss means is, your base can actually let a non-combat oriented Mental-type Power User and an ordinary person steal the stored supplies from the base warehouse. Everyone in your base, including you, is useless!”