newbobooks Chapter 9 Rescue
Chapter 9 Rescue
January 4, 2024, the fourth day of the full-scale outbreak of the zombie virus. In a base established by the Kiel aliens on the moon. "My friend Little, how's the situation on Earth now?" Ingram asked another alien in a white robe. Little blinked his three large eyes: "The situation is better than I thought. Based on the results from the trace virus experiments conducted on Earth last month, I've improved the virus this time. According to my observations, the virus deployed on Earth now will wipe out more than 70% of life on Earth in less than a year." Ingram picked up two glasses of green liquid and handed one to Little: "Excellent! Cheers to the success of our immigration plan!" The two then drank the green liquid in one gulp and burst into laughter. At this moment, Little added, "I've discovered they're communicating using spacecraft floating on the outer reaches of Earth. If we let them maintain this organized communication, it might not be good for our plans." Ingram dismissed it, saying, "I'll immediately send some drones disguised as a meteor shower to sabotage those things." Little added, "Be careful; we can't let those Earth bugs know we're here yet." With that, the two of them left the conference room together. Just then, a dark shadow flashed in the ventilation duct and vanished without a trace.
Just as Li Chenglong and Yun Lan finished eating, Zheng Yong came to the canteen with a grave expression: "Our reconnaissance team just returned and found that the number of zombies around here is still slowly increasing, but it's still within our acceptable range. However, according to their drone reconnaissance, the road to Jinghai base is severely congested, and we simply can't get there in our current state. Moreover, since noon, our satellite phone has stopped working, and we've completely lost contact with our superiors." At this moment, another soldier came to report: "The second batch of supply search teams has returned, but..." Zheng Yong said anxiously, "But what? Tell me, there aren't any outsiders here." Li Chenglong said, "There are too many people around, and if the bad news causes panic among these people, let's go somewhere else." Zheng Yong agreed and went with several others to the inspection room on the fifth floor. The soldier then spoke: "Our second supply search team encountered an attack by a monster at Huimin Shopping Mall. The monster was a little bigger than a tiger and moved very quickly. Two police officers were killed, and two of our base personnel were accidentally scratched by zombies during our emergency evacuation. They are currently being held in the conference room on the second floor."
Zheng Yong gritted his teeth, then said, "Let me go see these two brothers." He then led the soldier out. Li Chenglong looked at Yun Lan: "Since Xia Guo knew about the possibility of the virus turning people into superhumans about a month ago, they should have notified all the major bases. Do you know how many superhumans are among us?" Yun Lan opened her notebook and wrote on it: "Originally, there should have been 12 superhumans in total, plus 3 awakened ones including the captain and Xue'er. But four superhumans were killed in the battle with the zombies at dawn, so now there are only eight left." Li Chenglong then said, "I'll talk to Zheng Yong later and gather the superhumans together. I need to discuss something. Also, I feel that there must be superhumans among those 400-plus civilians, but my level is too low right now, and my Eye of Truth can't perform such a large-scale scan. Wu Gang and Zheng Aiguo, you two go and explain to the survivors the situation, clarify the pros and cons, and try to get them to join us. Yun Qian, you go and help record this." Wu Gang and the other two nodded and left.
Li Chenglong checked the time: "Xue'er, come with me. There's not much time left; perhaps you can save those two." Yun Lan's eyes lit up: "Really? You can save them?" As they walked, Li Chenglong said, "Xue'er has awakened a skill called Purification, which can purify all negative statuses of a target. I feel that perhaps we can save those two." After saying that, they arrived at a conference room on the second floor. Most of the tables in the conference room had been moved out, leaving only a dozen chairs and a long table.
Li Chenglong knocked on the door, and Zheng Yong gestured for him to come in. Li Chenglong entered and saw two soldiers sitting on two chairs beside him. One had an injured hand, and the other an injured arm; although they had received simple bandages, blood was seeping out. Zheng Yong said sorrowfully, "It's my incompetence as commander that made my brothers have to find supplies on their own, and they even got injured. I couldn't save you." The two soldiers smiled calmly, "Company Commander, what are you saying? When has our Second Company ever been a coward? We're just unwilling to die because of a search mission, not in the fight against zombies..." The two soldiers started to cry as they spoke. Li Chenglong immediately went over and explained the situation to Company Commander Zheng. Zheng Yong looked at Li Xue and said, "If that's really the case, you are our Second Company's greatest benefactors. You've saved our Second Company once again."
At her brother's prompting, Li Xue stepped forward, gradually gathering power in her hands. A few dozen seconds later, two pale blue lights enveloped the two soldiers. The two looked curiously at the blue light emanating from their bodies, feeling a warm sensation. The intense pain and itching they had experienced earlier slowly subsided, and their numb wounds and blackened arms began to heal. Five minutes later, the blue light faded, and the two felt completely refreshed, all their discomfort gone. However, Li Xue possessed purifying power, not healing power, so their wounds were not yet fully healed.
Li Xue wiped the sweat from her brow and said to Zheng Yong, "Company Commander Zheng, the virus has been completely eradicated." Li Chenglong activated his True Eye in his right eye and confirmed that the virus had indeed been eliminated. Zheng Yong, seeing his two soldiers regain their normal complexion, was overjoyed and said, "You two, hurry up and thank this young lady!" The two soldiers thanked Li Xue profusely, almost kneeling down. Li Xue had never seen anyone so enthusiastic towards her, and her face flushed slightly. Yun Lan, seeing this, was also surprised by Li Xue's abilities, even though she was also an Awakened. Li Chenglong then checked their wounds again: "Although the wounds haven't fully healed, with the help of the purification power, they should recover quickly. Go find a doctor to re-bandage them." The two soldiers thanked him repeatedly and left.
By this time, the door to the conference room was already filled with military and police personnel who had heard the news. They had originally come to bid farewell to their two comrades, but after witnessing Li Xue heal them, they cheered. Zheng Yong said sternly, "Quickly return to your posts. Don't think that just because Li Xue is here, you can be careless. You must be extra careful." Only then did everyone disperse.
"Company Commander Zheng, I have a favor to ask of you," Li Chenglong said. Zheng Yong replied solemnly, "Are you trying to slap me in the face? Let's not talk about favors between us. Besides, I heard from Wu Gang that you're already a lieutenant colonel in Xiaolong Squad at such a young age, while I'm only a captain. You're truly young and outstanding." "Then I'll say it," Li Chenglong continued earnestly, "I heard that we still have eight ability users. Logically speaking, we have quite a few ability users, but their combat effectiveness is very limited. This is because firstly, our ability users lack understanding of their abilities, and some don't even know how to use them properly. Secondly, it's also related to the fact that our team is currently in disarray. Could you see if you can gather the ability users together? Yunlan and I can teach them some knowledge about ability users." Li Chenglong said seriously, and also pulled Yunlan over to him.
Zheng Yong was overjoyed: "Great! This is wonderful news. Actually, even if you hadn't said anything, I would have asked you to do this anyway." Li Chenglong continued, "There's a second thing. I heard from Yunlan that after we finished fighting the zombies at dawn, she asked you to send some people to search for crystals. You on the front lines might only know the basic uses of crystals, but you might not be clear about their other uses. Could you lend me those crystals? I'll explain the various uses of crystals to those with superpowers and some of the people we've transferred out. Besides, both superpowered individuals and awakened individuals use crystals in combat." Upon hearing this, Zheng Yong said without hesitation, "No problem. If it weren't for you yesterday, we might have died long ago. What's a little crystal? Take it and use it. I collected them all when we were clearing out the zombie bodies yesterday. I'll have someone give them to you right away." Then he said to a soldier next to him, "Go and call all the awakened superpowered individuals here. Also, see if anyone wants to come and listen to Brother Li's lecture. They can come too. And bring all the crystals you collected yesterday. Brother Li can do with them as he sees fit." The adjutant accepted the order and left.
A moment later, the adjutant brought over a military backpack, which Li Chenglong opened. It was almost entirely filled with crystals. The adjutant said, "Actually, the crystal drop rate was quite low at first, but it seems to be higher today. Plus, we've killed a lot of enemies, so we've collected this big bag." Li Chenglong smiled and said, "With so many crystals, we can fight another battle." He started sorting them out, then said, "Yunlan, help me gather the survivors together. I have something to say." Yunlan responded and went out to gather the survivors. "I'll go help Sister Yun," Li Xue said, following Yunlan out. Li Chenglong looked around and began counting the various crystals. The ordinary white crystals were actually quite small, only slightly larger than a large soybean. The red crystals were a bit larger. The best one Li Chenglong had seen so far was a cyan crystal for his sister, about the size of a longan.
Just as Li Chenglong was busy counting the crystals, a middle-aged man walked in from outside: "It really is Li Chenglong from next door. I was afraid I had mistaken you for someone else." Li Chenglong looked at the man and realized it was Liu Dongliang, the son of Old Man Liu next door and the director of the Qing'an Town Police Station. Last night at the police station, Li Chenglong had asked Yun Qian why Director Liu wasn't there. Yun Qian said he had gone to a meeting in the city and they couldn't contact him now. He never expected to run into him here. Li Chenglong went over and shook hands with Director Liu: "Director Liu, it's a pleasure to see you again." Liu Dongliang also said, "I didn't expect this either. If our meeting place hadn't been so close yesterday, and if Company Commander Zheng Yong hadn't come to rescue us, we would definitely be dead. By the way, do you know how my dad and mom are doing, and how Xiao Dongzi is?" Xiao Dongzi was Liu Dongliang's son, named Liu Dong.
Li Chenglong's face darkened: "The old man and his wife, along with Dongzi, were all infected. I even went to your house to check on them. It seems that Aunt Liu was infected by zombies while shopping for groceries, and then she infected Uncle Liu too, and finally..." Upon hearing this, Liu Dongliang felt a sudden darkness engulf him and collapsed. Liu Chenglong reacted quickly, stepping forward to support Chief Liu: "Chief Liu, the dead cannot be brought back to life. You must grieve in moderation, and at least cherish your life. Kill more zombies to avenge them." Chief Liu gave a bitter smile and slowly walked out. Li Chenglong watched Liu Dongliang's retreating figure, feeling that he had aged ten years in an instant. A moment later, Liu Dongliang's heart-wrenching cries echoed down the corridor.
At this moment, Yunlan entered: "Everything is ready. I've gathered them all in the small auditorium on the sixth floor. You can go now. And what about Director Liu?" Li Chenglong told Yunlan about the situation at Grandpa Liu's house, and Yunlan's eyes were also red. Li Chenglong took Yunlan's hand: "Did you contact your parents? How are they now?" Yunlan bit her lip: "My parents are both from the East Sea Military Region. I contacted them by phone yesterday, but I couldn't reach them this morning. But I believe they're alright." Li Chenglong squeezed Yunlan's hand: "Yes, they'll be alright. Okay, let's go." After saying that, he slung his backpack containing the crystal over his shoulder and led Yunlan out of the conference room.
As Li Chenglong walked, he said to Yunlan, "I just tallied up the crystals Commander Zheng brought: two green crystals, three yellow crystals, ten orange crystals, fifteen red crystals, and three hundred and forty-two ordinary white crystals." Yunlan was a little surprised: "So many? And two green ones too! Xiaofeng told me the higher the color grade, the lower the drop rate." Li Chenglong thought for a moment and said, "Zheng Yong's adjutant said the drop rate seems to have increased. Let's discuss how to use these higher-grade crystals later." Yunlan added, "Even with green crystals, the probability of successfully awakening someone is only 66%. You're not planning to use them on someone, are you?" Li Chenglong said seriously, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Although a crystal can only be used once per person, and failure will turn someone into a cripple, once awakened, they will at least become a superhuman, immune to zombie viruses of the same level as themselves, and gain superhuman strength. I believe some people will want to use them."
Yunlan thought for a moment without speaking, then said, "You just had Wu Gang, Zheng Aiguo, and Yunqian count the survivors for those with superpowers. The count is in; there are 10 superpowered individuals, but no awakened ones." Li Chenglong nodded, not surprised that there were no awakened ones. After all, according to Long Ling, there might only be one or two superpowered individuals out of a hundred, but probably only one awakened one out of ten thousand. Five minutes later, the two arrived at the small auditorium. Li Chenglong composed himself and went inside.