He smiled and said, “Mr. Jia is putting on this little show simply because he wants to use it as an excuse to take the lives of the three of us. Since Chief Gu has been hosting us these past two days, why don’t we do him the favor of giving him this information for free?”
Chief Gu immediately looked troubled.
Jia Lunxu, however, burst into laughter. His expression was smug and disdainful as he said, “You think Chief Gu will accept this insignificant favor just because you offer it to him? Young Master Chu, Young Master Chu, everyone says you’re clever, but I never imagined you could be so naive!”
“Since we’ve already laid our cards on the table, I might as well tell you. Outside this residence, there are our people everywhere. Do you really think you can escape?”
Jia Lunxu finally dropped his hypocritical facade, revealing a trace of savagery.
Chu Tian did not even spare him a glance. Instead, he smiled at Chief Gu and said, “Chief Gu, did you hear that? The General’s men have surrounded your residence. Think about it. If anything happens to you, they can simply blame us, and the General will have a perfect excuse to arrest us. Two birds with one stone. A single move, two gains!”
Chief Gu had been struggling with his decision. If the General was determined to kill Chu Tian and the other two, there would naturally be no reason for him to oppose the General on their behalf. However, Chu Tian’s words suddenly jolted him awake!
He had always disagreed politically with the General and belonged to a different faction. Yesterday, he had been able to find an excuse to brush off the death of the Deputy Chief. Today, the General could use almost exactly the same method to get rid of him!
The enormous secret had clouded Chief Gu’s judgment, but at last, he came to his senses. New calculations immediately began turning over in his mind, and his opinion of Jia Lunxu grew even worse.
So he wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work! Chief Gu sneered inwardly. Fine, then. Let’s see who comes out on top!
“As for the procedure for purifying crystal cores, I wrote it down long ago. Chief Gu, you can have it.” Chu Tian added another blow. “The copy Mr. Jia has is something he obtained through a transaction with us in the first place. I doubt it contains any more detail than the version I’ve written.”
After everything that had happened, Chu Tian had already proved himself trustworthy when it came to this matter. Chief Gu no longer doubted him and immediately accepted the document with his own hands.
“The only unfortunate thing is that we originally had a healing-type ability user who could demonstrate the process in person…” Chu Tian’s face filled with sorrow and regret. “But then, last night…”
Remembering what had happened the previous night, Chief Gu felt both anger and frustration. The General had received news of the incident so early that morning and sent someone over, yet that person had acted as though he knew nothing. On top of that, he had been determined to put Chu Tian and the others to death. Chief Gu grew increasingly suspicious that the General had been involved in the previous night’s events.
After turning the matter over in his mind a few times, he quickly reached a decision.
Jia Lunxu had been about to retort and mock Chu Tian again, but Chief Gu spoke first. However, he did not address either side. Instead, he ordered his chief bodyguard to surround the meeting room with men and forbid anyone from entering or leaving without his permission.
Having given the order, he hurried out himself, offering neither side an explanation and refusing to entertain them any further.
The sudden turn of events caught Jia Lunxu completely off guard. For a moment, he could not understand what had happened.
Chu Tian, however, curled his lips into a smile.
What are you up to? Bai Mingxi frantically tried to send a telepathic message to Chu Tian.
After a while, Chu Tian finally responded. What else can I do at this point? Buy time, of course! I’m taking advantage of Chief Gu’s suspicious nature and the conflict between him and the General to keep them from forming a united front. Even if it’s only temporary, it’ll do.
You’re waiting for those unreliable reinforcements? Bai Mingxi widened his eyes.
Student Bai, could you please stop calling them unreliable? First, this is a well-founded deduction. Second, ever since my mental power leveled up, I’ve occasionally had powerful hunches. The more dangerous the situation, the more accurate they seem to be. So please, shut up.
With that, Chu Tian immediately cut off his mental connection with Bai Mingxi.
Quan Xiaoyu had remained silent throughout, his mind full of worry. Chu Tian appeared relaxed, but Quan Xiaoyu had rarely seen him work so desperately to buy time. The first time he had seen Chu Tian like this had been during the great catastrophe in J City.
Today, he seemed to be seeing that version of Chu Tian again.
About twenty kilometers outside Dawn Base.
A convoy of vehicles maintained a steady speed as it traveled forward. Inside each vehicle was a horn-shaped device that allowed the occupants to communicate with one another over a certain distance.
It was a communications device newly developed by the Capital Base a month earlier. Apparently, it operated on principles entirely different from those used by communications equipment before the apocalypse.
At that moment, the person in the front passenger seat of the first vehicle was chatting with someone behind him through the device.
“I’m telling you, Liang Qingyun, are you sure your Bai family’s information is reliable? We’re really going to charge all the way over there like this? What if those people aren’t Third Young Master Chu and Young Master Bai?”
“Si Yunqi, shut your jinxing mouth!”
An extremely unfriendly voice immediately came through the speaker.
“Our Bai family has been searching for the young master’s whereabouts this entire time. We’ve sent out countless people, so of course the information is reliable!”
“And another thing!” The voice continued relentlessly. “Can’t your Chu family pay a little more attention to your Third Young Master? No wonder. When you have too many sons, none of them are worth much!”
Si Yunqi naturally refused to accept that. Especially since the other man had mocked the Chu family for not caring enough about their Third Young Master, he immediately howled in protest and fired back.
The two of them were having a grand time arguing when the driver beside Si Yunqi suddenly tapped the brakes. The vehicle lurched slightly, its speed gradually dropping.
Then the driver spoke. “Major, something doesn’t seem right!”
This time, the Chu and Bai families had sent a total of thirty people. Before the apocalypse, all thirty had been elite soldiers with exceptional combat skills. After the apocalypse, they had become ability users as well, making them even more formidable.
The Capital Base had been the first to master the techniques for leveling up after the apocalypse. Sending these thirty powerful individuals was enough to demonstrate just how seriously the Chu and Bai families regarded this mission.
In all the time since the apocalypse began, this was the first time they had received such definite news about Chu Tian and Bai Mingxi.
When they learned that the two might still be alive, the elders of both families had nearly wept with joy. Mrs. Bai in particular had been so overwhelmed that she had almost fainted.
Ever since the apocalypse began, Mrs. Bai had been consumed by regret. Back then, Father Bai had strongly opposed letting Bai Mingxi go to S City. But Mrs. Bai had a soft heart and could not withstand her son’s persistent pleading. In the end, she had agreed.
Once Mrs. Bai gave her consent, Father Bai had no choice but to give in. Who could have imagined that something like this would happen? They had managed to avoid the most difficult period of the apocalypse in the Capital, while their son was far away in S City, his fate unknown.
With the roads impassable and all communications severed, their separation had seemed as though it would be permanent.
At first, Mrs. Bai had wept every day, blaming herself in secret. She had even fallen ill from the anguish. If she had not held on to the thought that her son might still be alive and that she had to wait for him to come home, perhaps she would have…
Now that news had finally arrived, the Chu and Bai families immediately dispatched people.
Regardless of whether the young men who had appeared at Dawn Base were truly Chu Tian and Bai Mingxi, they had to send trusted subordinates to investigate.
If the Capital had not been keeping them too busy, and if Father Chu and Father Bai traveling out of the city together would have caused too much commotion, both men would have wanted to make the journey themselves.
However, by the time they learned that the An family had received the news before them and had dispatched people to Dawn Base first, Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun had already been on the road for more than half a day.
Communications were unreliable, so they could not be contacted and told to hurry up and catch the An family’s people, lest something happen to Bai Mingxi and Chu Tian.
Therefore, the two families had immediately sent out another team after them, which was now racing toward Dawn Base at full speed.
Unaware of the urgency of the situation, Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun had been traveling at a leisurely pace. What they did not know was that their comrades were speeding along behind them, desperately trying to catch up!
Hearing the driver’s warning, Si Yunqi immediately stopped joking around and looked ahead. Sure enough, something was wrong!
“All vehicles, halt!” His expression turned serious as he issued the order without hesitation.
“What is it up ahead?” Liang Qingyun’s voice came through the speaker. He was responsible for bringing up the rear and had no clear view of what was happening in front.
“Liang Qingyun! Get up here and take a look at what that is!” Si Yunqi’s voice sounded urgent.
Liang Qingyun jumped out of his vehicle without hesitation and quickly ran to where the first vehicle had stopped.
Si Yunqi had already gotten out. With a grave expression, he handed Liang Qingyun a pair of binoculars.
Liang Qingyun took them and looked through the lenses. He could clearly see a huge cloud of dust rising in the distance.
“A zombie horde!” he exclaimed in shock.
Si Yunqi’s expression grew even more solemn. He merely nodded without saying a word.
“Damn it! They seem to be heading toward Dawn Base! Young Master Bai and Third Young Master Chu are both there! What do we do?” Liang Qingyun panicked. Their mission this time was to bring Bai Mingxi home. He was the Bai family’s only son!
“How many heavy weapons did we bring this time?” Si Yunqi asked.
He certainly had no intention of turning around and heading home just because of this. At this point, he had to assume that the people who had appeared at Dawn Base really were Chu Tian and Bai Mingxi, and then fight his way in to find them, no matter what it took!
Because that was his mission. Even if the information turned out to be inaccurate, he still had to do it.