“Xiaoyu, that’s enough.”
Bai Mingxi glanced at Jia Lunxu, who was lying on the ground with a deathly pale face, clutching his wound. He reached out and gently took Quan Xiaoyu by the arm.
Bai Mingxi knew nothing about the grudges and entanglements between the two of them. He simply felt that this was enough. The base had sent people over, and it would be better to stop fighting.
Quan Xiaoyu did not insist.
Since Chu Tian had told him to stop, he did not even spare the person on the ground another glance. He turned around and left with Bai Mingxi.
Once the fighting stopped, the leader from the base seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He swept his gaze over everyone before finally looking at Chu Tian.
“Hello. We’re members of the J City Base Security Force. My name is Mu Jiu. We were originally conducting our routine sweep of the zombies in the surrounding area when we discovered people fighting here, so we came over. May I ask your name, brother?”
Mu Jiu had a welcoming smile, and both his attitude and tone were extremely courteous.
However, the people beside him were not nearly as relaxed or friendly.
In particular, the mental-type ability user who had been attacked by Chu Tian was still watching him warily.
“Chu Tian.”
Chu Tian smiled as well.
After all, one did not hit someone who was smiling, and besides, the purpose of their trip was to visit the other side’s base.
“What was going on just now?”
Mu Jiu smiled and glanced at the corpses of the several ability users lying on the ground.
The two sides were clearly separated, and it was obvious at a glance which side had come out on top.
“There was a little misunderstanding just now. It’s been resolved already. Isn’t that right, Captain Lei?”
Chu Tian turned toward Lei Shi and asked softly, his tone once again gentle, as though nothing had happened.
Lei Shi had only just recovered from the shock when he noticed Wen Tong’s death.
His expression instantly changed, shock and fury flashing across his face.
Wen Tong was a noncombatant. Lei Shi had always thought he had hidden himself safely.
He had never expected him to die!
And with all the team’s supplies—
gone with him!
Many people on the team had secretly wondered before whether the supplies inside a space-type ability user’s storage space would be released if the ability user died.
According to the law of conservation of energy, the possibility of the supplies being released had seemed quite high.
Some people had even entertained ulterior motives because of this.
However, reality had now proven that when a space-type ability user died, the objects inside their space disappeared along with them. They did not spill out the way everyone had imagined.
But it was too late to say anything now.
Even if they knew the truth, what difference did it make?
The supplies were gone!
Lei Shi’s heart was filled with unbearable grief.
They had deliberately provoked this conflict in the first place because their supplies had been running low.
But instead of gaining anything, they had lost several ability users—and even their most precious space-type ability user and all their supplies.
Without enough supplies to support the existence of the team, did the Leijia Team even have a future?
Lei Shi was still drowning in pain and confusion when he heard Chu Tian call his name.
It was him!
This was the person who possessed that strange power—the one who killed Wen Tong!
Why did he kill Wen Tong? Why would he kill a noncombatant?
The thoughts in his mind came pouring out through his mouth.
“Why?! Why did you kill him? He wasn’t even a combatant! Why?!”
Chu Tian frowned, deeply disappointed by Lei Shi’s reaction.
Where was the spirited confidence he had shown during his speech earlier?
Was the death of one space-type ability user and the loss of their supplies really enough to crush his entire team?
He had treated them as opponents before.
He had thought too highly of them.
So Chu Tian stopped paying attention to him and instead shrugged at Mu Jiu.
“Looks like Captain Lei isn’t in a very stable state emotionally. When two sides fight, some casualties are inevitable. Don’t you agree?”
“Heh-heh, naturally, naturally.”
Mu Jiu gave two awkward laughs and changed the subject.
After all, neither side had anything to do with him. His only responsibility was the security of the area around J City.
He truly looked down on Lei Shi’s group in their current miserable state, so his attention shifted entirely to Chu Tian’s side.
“May I ask what brings all of you here?”
“Oh, we’re from S City. We’re heading north and happened to pass through this area. We were actually thinking of stopping in J City to rest for a while. What a coincidence that we happened to run into you.”
Chu Tian smiled.
“No! I won’t allow you to set foot in J City!”
Yuan Shaohua suddenly jumped out, having already completely forgotten his earlier humiliation.
After shouting at Chu Tian, he turned around and yelled at Mu Jiu as well.
“I order you to drive them away! They’re all bad people! Do you hear me?!”
Mu Jiu frowned deeply and gave the mental-type ability user beside him a meaningful glance.
Very quickly, Yuan Shaohua collapsed.
Another person caught him and dragged him back into the group.
Chu Tian raised an eyebrow at the sight.
“I heard this is the base commander’s only son?”
There was an implication in his words.
Mu Jiu’s behavior certainly did not look like the way one would treat the son of the base commander.
Mu Jiu gave two awkward laughs.
“Actually, we haven’t been in J City very long either. We did hear that the base commander has a son who is carrying out a mission outside the city, but we don’t know what he looks like. So we can only take him back first and verify his identity.”
He explained himself.
“Oh, oh. That makes sense.”
Chu Tian verbally agreed, but his mind was already turning.
Even so, Mu Jiu had acted far too decisively and bluntly.
He had not shown even the slightest hesitation.
It seemed that the situation in J City was far more complicated than he had imagined.
“This isn’t really a place to talk. Since you’re planning to go to J City, why don’t you come with me? I’ll lead the way. As for whether you can actually enter the city, though, I’ll have to report it to my superiors first before…”
“Understood. Then thank you, Officer Mu.”
Since Mu Jiu was with the Security Force, calling him an officer was certainly appropriate.
The two exchanged a few more polite words before calling their respective people together and getting into their vehicles.
Mu Jiu and his people led the way and drove off first.
This time, Chu Tian brought Quan Xiaoyu with him and got into Xiao Ziran’s vehicle.
Ouyang Jing was driving.
It was obvious that they had something to discuss.
After the two groups had departed, Lei Shi remained where he was, standing there in a daze.
Aside from his grief and anger, what filled him even more was confusion about the future.
The people who had originally followed him and struggled alongside him had already been whittled down to almost nothing along the journey.
Most of the people he had now had joined them later along the road.
They were no longer of one mind with him the way those original companions had been.
What was he supposed to do in the future?
Without supplies, how could he keep these people?
How could he recruit more people?
How could he grow stronger?
How could he realize his ideals?
Elsewhere, Jia Lunxu, who had fallen to the ground, struggled over and retrieved his severed arm.
He lay on the ground, barely supporting himself with one hand, staring in the direction where Chu Tian and the others had left.
His eyes were filled with blazing hatred.
“Brother Pei, what do we do?”
One of the only three ability users still under Yuan Shaohua’s command asked Pei Qianxing.
They did not know the people who had just claimed to be from the Security Force.
They themselves were also affiliated with the Security Force, but they had never seen those people before.
However, the vehicles those people were using really did belong to the base.
The two of them had followed Pei Qianxing’s instructions and remained hidden among the crowd the entire time.
Even when Yuan Shaohua ran out, they had not gone after him.
Now that they were nearing J City, they felt increasingly uneasy.
They had failed to complete the mission, while almost all the people they had taken out with them had died.
And if that spoiled rich kid Yuan Shaohua went back and accused them of failing to protect him…
They weren’t afraid of much else.
But both of them had family members living in the J City base.
If that weren’t the case, Yuan Long would never have been so confident about entrusting his son to them.
“I’m planning to leave J City with those people.”
Pei Qianxing lifted his chin toward the direction Chu Tian and the others had gone.
“I’ll see if I can secretly help you get into the city and find a way to get your families out. Staying with the Yuan father and son won’t end well. Find another way out.”
The two men sighed inwardly.
Three vehicles had gone out with that young master, all of them filled with ability users.
Only three had returned.
Sometimes, those sacrifices had been completely unnecessary.
They had died simply because that young master wanted to have some fun.
If it weren’t for their families in the J City base, they would have left long ago…
Pei Qianxing’s words made sense.
At the moment, this was probably their only option.
Otherwise, if that young master made a complaint against them, no one knew what the consequences would be.
It would be better to find a way to secretly get their families out and seek another path for themselves.
The three discussed it for a while and finally made up their minds.
They then got into their vehicle and chased after the people who had already left.
Meanwhile, Mu Jiu sat inside his vehicle.
Beside him sat the mental-type ability user who had nearly been knocked unconscious by Chu Tian.
“Brother Jiu, you really intend to bring them into the safe zone?”
The mental-type ability user asked.
“Of course. That person is stronger than you, right?”
Mu Jiu glanced at the person beside him.
Although it was phrased as a question, his tone was completely certain.
The man immediately felt deeply ashamed.
He had always been proud of himself and his ability.
His ability really was frightening.
When dealing with humans, it was particularly effective.
Because of this, he had always received the recognition of his superiors.
Everyone in the team usually treated him with considerable respect.
So when Mu Jiu had told him to find a way to make those people stop fighting, he had released an attack without even thinking.
His original intention had been to knock the two people who were fighting unconscious directly, while also showing off their side’s strength and giving the newcomers a warning.
But the result—
He had been slapped hard across the face by the other side!
He had actually ended up giving the other side an opportunity to demonstrate their strength instead!
How humiliating!
“Mm.”
He answered meekly, his heart filled with frustration.
“How much stronger is he than you? If you went up against him, how much chance would you have of winning?”
Mu Jiu asked again.
The mental-type ability user felt even more ashamed after hearing this.
It was only when Mu Jiu asked that he realized just how much stronger the other person was.
A casual attack from the other side had left him completely helpless.
But exactly how much stronger was he?
He could not even judge that.
If he could not determine the difference in their strength, how could he possibly talk about his chances of winning?
This time, he lowered his head so far that he could barely lift it.
Mu Jiu did not force him to answer.
Instead, he continued on his own.
“That’s why the commander needs talents like this the most right now. The good days of the Yuan father and son are clearly coming to an end. If this team can join us, the commander will be even more powerful.”
“Put that little bit of resentment in your heart away!”
“Yes.”
This time, the ability user did not dare to argue at all.
He answered meekly.