Dragon Transformation in the Apocalypse

Chapter 53 All-People Martial Arts Competition

It was 3 PM when the group returned to the base. As soon as Li Chenglong arrived at the office building, he immediately contacted several high-ranking officers from the Dawn Army and Dawn City. After a brief discussion, they decided to officially attack Xing'an District four days later at dawn. This attack would be led by the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Battalions, with the 3rd Battalion responsible for defending the base. The goal was to completely eliminate all zombies in Xing'an District within a day. Li Chenglong would then use the Dawn City blueprints to construct Dawn City, allowing for a smooth relocation process in the following days. Zheng Yong proposed promoting his former adjutant, Zhu Qian, to deputy battalion commander to strengthen the 4th Battalion, as Zhu Qian had successfully reached level four the previous day. Li Chenglong remembered Zhu Qian; they had fought alongside each other against zombies in the hospital, and Zhu Qian was a good person. After discussion, the group agreed.

After the main agenda items of the meeting concluded, Li Chenglong announced the upcoming martial arts competition, sharing his ideas with everyone and also taking out the samurai sword. Previously, when Wu Gang and Li Chenglong went on a mission to Xipo Village, they had obtained a sword belonging to Sun Xiao, which drew considerable envy from the others. Now, hearing that this was the sword of a level six samurai zombie, everyone was eager to try it out and see it for themselves. Li Chenglong passed the sword around among them, letting them examine it one by one.

Wu Gang was the first to receive it. He drew the knife from its sheath, brandished it, and laughed, saying repeatedly, "What a fine knife! Compared to this, my knife is just scrap metal. I must get my hands on this one!" Zheng Aiguo also snatched it and played with it for a moment, saying, "Hurry up and give it to me. You should be content with one knife. Why do you want another? This knife is definitely mine. You can't take it away, hahaha." The group took turns examining it, all of them extremely fond of it. Li Chenglong finally put the knife away again: "Yun Lan, Li Xue, and I will not participate in this competition. Everyone, whether from the Dawn Army or an ordinary person, can participate in this competition. The first place winner will receive this knife. The second place winner will receive five green crystals, the third place winner will receive three green crystals, the fourth place winner will receive two, and the fifth place winner will receive one. In addition, the top five winners will each receive three spirit energy persimmons. The sixth to fiftieth place winners will each receive one spirit energy persimmon in addition to the crystal reward. The fiftieth to one hundredth place winners will also receive some crystals and material rewards."

Hao Dahai stood up and said, "Ability users are much stronger than ordinary people, so ordinary people definitely can't get this reward. I wonder if the captain has any rewards for ordinary people?" Li Chenglong nodded, "That's a very good question. The competition will be divided into ability user group and ordinary person group. The top three in the ordinary person group will receive the most precious reward: a Spirit Apple. After consuming it, you will be guaranteed to become an ability user with no risk of failure. The fourth to tenth place winners will each receive a Spirit Persimmon. The 11th to 100th place winners will also receive some material rewards. In addition to the competition, there will also be special skill competitions, such as strength contests, bricklaying contests, bulldozing contests, money counting contests, etc., all with different rewards. This event will last for three days. Everyone in Dawn City is welcome to participate."

Qi Guoan happily said, "That's great! There are many people in the Dawn Army who are very capable, but they are not superhumans, which greatly affects their ability to perform. It's just that only three apples are too few." Li Chenglong could only regretfully say, "That is indeed a problem. However, the yield of the spiritual energy apple tree is very low right now. This is only because it is in my storage ring and can be nourished by spiritual energy and have its time accelerated. If it were in our daily living space, it would probably have withered long ago. All battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders, go back now. Disseminate the list to everyone today, and give me the list before 10 a.m. tomorrow. We will start the martial arts competition this afternoon."

After the Dawn Army members left, Li Chenglong stopped Yun Qian and asked her to find someone to spread the news throughout Dawn City: the martial arts competition registration deadline was 11:00 AM the next morning, the skills competition registration deadline was the next evening, and the skills competition would begin the day after tomorrow. Yun Qian nodded and immediately went to make the arrangements. After finishing this matter, Li Chenglong checked his watch; it was already past 4:00 PM. He then pulled Yun Lan to his office to see if there was any work to be done in the next two days, but Yun Lan's mood wasn't very high.

Li Chenglong pinched Yunlan's pretty little face and said, "What are you thinking about? Why are you unhappy?" Yunlan rolled her eyes at Li Chenglong: "Hmph! Figure it out yourself." Li Chenglong picked Yunlan up and let her sit on his lap, supporting her back with his right arm, while taking out a shiny apple with his left hand: "This is for you. Give it to my mother-in-law." Yunlan looked at the apple, which was still emitting a faint white light, and said in surprise, "A psionic apple? You have another one?" Li Chenglong lightly pecked Yunlan's cheek: "There were four in total this time. I took out three as a reward, and I kept one. It's estimated that it will ripen again at the end of May. I plan to give one to Sister Shen then. Moreover, I found that as my level increased, the concentration of psionic energy in the natural zone of my storage ring also increased. The yield and speed of both psionic persimmons and apples are becoming more and more abundant and faster."

Yun Lan happily accepted the psionic apple and put it into her storage ring. She leaned her head against Li Chenglong's chest and said, "You're so good to me. Actually, I was only a tiny bit dissatisfied." After saying this, Yun Lan leaned forward and kissed Li Chenglong on the lips. Three minutes later, the two slowly separated. Li Chenglong stroked Yun Lan's long black hair: "I consider myself a good person, but not a saint. When I have something good, I share it with everyone, but I also remember to leave some for my own people. Okay, tonight you can take this to Auntie and let her eat it. Also, give her some crystals to help her level up, but don't let her level up too quickly; too much of a good thing can be bad." Yun Lan kissed Li Chenglong on the cheek again, then said, "I'm going to check on the special forces. You rest here for a bit." With that, she left. Li Chenglong smiled and shook his head, then began to look at the documents on his desk.

After returning to their respective battalions, Wu Gang, Zheng Aiguo, Hao Dahai, and other battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders immediately assembled their battalions and informed them of the upcoming martial arts tournament and skills competition. They emphasized the prizes and urged their elite soldiers to strive for the best possible rewards. Upon learning this, the soldiers of the Dawn Army enthusiastically signed up, many not so much for the prizes, but to assess their own skill level. Meanwhile, Yun Qian's logistics, personnel, and publicity departments collaborated to print and post notices throughout the base. They also assigned personnel to handle publicity, and soon elites from various industries began signing up.

That evening, Li Chenglong, Li Xue, and others were having dinner in the courtyard. Shen Menghua looked around and asked, "Captain Li, where's Yunlan today?" Li Chenglong smiled and said, "She's having dinner with her parents today, just chatting about everyday things. Let's eat together." Li Chenglong looked at Cao Yuechan and Han Xiaoling and asked, "How are you two girls doing at the superpowered student school?" Han Xiaoling said happily, "I've gotten first place several times in my age group, and not only in the superpowered student exams, but also in the academic exams." Li Chenglong nodded in satisfaction. Cao Yuechan was a little embarrassed: "I got first place in our age group's special ability exam, and in the academic exam, hehe (*▽*)." Shen Menghua said irritably: "Why didn't you continue telling your Jackie Chan brother? The teacher told me that you were fifth from the bottom in academics this time. You brat, you don't even know how to study properly." Cao Yuechan sullenly didn't say anything, and Li Chenglong patted Cao Yuechan's head: "Yuechan, you still have to work hard in academics, and the academic lessons are even simpler than before, so you have to study even harder, okay?" Cao Yuechan nodded and began to concentrate on eating again.

Li Xue then reported to Li Chenglong on the recent progress of the virus protection drug. The Level 1 virus protection drug had completed testing and begun mass production, with 100% safety. Many ordinary people had already been vaccinated. The Level 2 vaccine was also under research. Li Chenglong nodded, "Good. This research should continue, and we will fully support your medical department." Chen Xiaoke asked curiously, "Brother Li, I heard you leveled up again! That's amazing!" Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Yes, I did. You should also work hard to level up. I heard you're already more than halfway to Level 3. Keep it up!" Chen Xiaoke sighed, "Unfortunately, although I have water-based abilities, I don't focus on attack; I focus almost entirely on defense and purification. And my purification can't purify the virus from infected people." Li Xue smiled and replied, "But your ability to purify water and soil is stronger than mine at Level 5. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Don't just focus on your weaknesses and ignore your strengths."

Yun Qian reported the registration details and material reserves to Li Chenglong. Li Chenglong wasn't exactly satisfied with Yun Qian, but rather grateful. Since taking on the logistics duties at the hospital, she had worked tirelessly and efficiently, but he couldn't offer her much in return, so he hadn't been involved in logistics much. He could only continuously improve Yun Qian's benefits and status. Currently, Yun Qian was the fourth most important figure in the Dawn City Coordination Committee, only behind him, Yun Lan, and Zheng Yong. Li Chenglong solemnly said, "Your logistics workload is currently very heavy, but I can't let you rest yet, at least not for now, because the materials managed by the logistics department are our top priority. Once we establish Dawn City, we'll give you a break." Yun Qian, Shen Menghua, and Chen Xiaoke all said in unison, "Thank you for your concern, Captain Li."

Li Chenglong told Yun Qian about the people from the agricultural university and said that when it came time to farm, they could come and provide guidance. In addition, with the old farmers and other talented people that Yun Qian had found, it would definitely be enough.

In the other courtyard, Yunlan said mysteriously, "Mom, I have a gift for you, I'm sure you'll like it." Qin Fangyu smiled and looked at Yunlan's hand, "You silly child, you're being mysterious now. What is it? I'm sure you'll like it." Qi Guoan was eating his meal nearby, "Eat quickly, I want to take a look around our Fifth Battalion later." Yunlan took out an apple from her storage ring, and streams of light surrounded the apple, emitting faint energy. Qi Guoan frowned, "Isn't this the spirit-energy apple that Captain Li showed us today? How did you get it?" Yunlan explained the whole story in detail, and Qi Guoan stopped talking and focused on eating again. Qin Fangyu said happily, "Jackie Chan is such a thoughtful child, he knows how to care for people."

Qi Guoan's expression was not good: "Daughter, this is wrong of you. You are also on the front lines, you know the zombie army is getting stronger and stronger. Your mother doesn't need to go to the front lines. This apple should be left for those outstanding ordinary soldiers who perform well on the front lines, so they can play a greater role." Yun Lan was afraid of her father since she was a child, and said directly: "Look, Mom, Dad is doing this again. I'll only do it this once, I won't do it again. Besides, Jackie Chan also hopes to cultivate a core group that truly belongs to him." Qi Guoan nodded and stopped talking. Qin Fangyu said: "I understand what you all are thinking, and I also want to try to awaken some kind of superpower. If it's a combat type, I want to participate in the battle. I'm only 45 years old this year, not old yet. I also want to do my part for my daughter and son-in-law, and I don't want to be a burden to you."

After saying that, she slowly began to eat the apple. After a while, a vortex of energy gradually emanated from her body and then slowly disappeared. Yun Lan used her Phoenix Eye to examine her and said, "Mom, you have wind-type abilities, and my dad has earth-type abilities. You two can complement each other perfectly." Qi Guoan then said, "Only level one? I'm almost level five." Qin Fangyu rolled her eyes at Qi Guoan, "When did you become an ability user? When did I become an ability user? You still have the nerve to compare yourself to me." Yun Lan immediately interrupted, "Mom, I've finished eating. You can have Dad teach you how to use your abilities later. I'll go back now." After saying that, Yun Lan left some crystals for her mother and left the house. Although Qi Guoan said that, he was also very happy to see his wife become an ability user, so he told her some ability user techniques, and Qin Fangyu patiently learned them.

Yunlan returned to her courtyard house, locked the gate, and went inside. She saw Li Chenglong still reading a report under the lamplight. She went over and massaged his shoulders. Li Chenglong put down the report, took Yunlan's hand, and said, "Did you use it, Auntie?" Yunlan nodded. "Yes, a level one wind-type ability user. The attributes are pretty good for a level one ability user. Brother Long, thank you so much." Li Chenglong put his right arm around Yunlan. "Let's not say thank you anymore. Go take a shower, I'll go do another round of inspections." Yunlan stopped Li Chenglong, who was about to get up. "You always have to go out to shower. There's a door, isn't there? I'm not afraid, why are you? Besides, do we really care about these things?" Li Chenglong said, "I was just worried you wouldn't be used to it. Go ahead and shower, I'll look at it for a while longer." After saying that, Li Chenglong started looking at some documents Yun Qian had just given him, while Yunlan smiled and went to take a shower.