Chu Tian frowned and shot Xiao Ziran a glance. “Can’t you see colors?”
Xiao Ziran gave a bitter smile. “I couldn’t control it before, so there was nothing I could do. Later, as I gradually leveled up, I learned how to control it. Unless I deliberately look, everything is still the same as usual. Who would want to see people in all sorts of colors every day?” His expression suggested he would rather not revisit those memories.
“Today, I only looked because I thought that woman was too bizarre. She was white. Then I remembered the files on the desk…”
Xiao Ziran looked at Chu Tian. Chu Tian’s lips moved slightly, but in the end, he said nothing. His expression, however, was difficult to describe.
The doctor hurriedly changed the subject. “Oh, right. Everyone that woman brought with her is an ability user. The most unusual one is Wei Li. His color is similar to yours, but not quite the same.” He spread his hands. Forgive him—he was a doctor, not an artist. His sensitivity to color still needed improvement.
“Similar to mine?” Chu Tian immediately perked up. “Did you feel any discomfort or experience any memory loss while interacting with him?”
“Not at all!” Xiao Ziran glared at Chu Tian. He knew what Chu Tian wanted to ask. With someone like Wei Li, he would have been exceptionally vigilant even without seeing his color. Given the level Chu Tian’s ability had reached, if someone invaded his mind, he should at least have sensed something, right?
“Hmm.” Chu Tian nodded. When he had communicated with the doctor through brain waves earlier, he hadn’t detected anything unusual either.
“Then let me meet him properly,” Chu Tian said. Based on what Quan Xiaoyu had told him and his own experiments, there were quite a few branches of the mental-type ability.
After that, the two stopped dwelling on the subject and discussed various details of the transaction, including how the weapons would be put to use once they had been handed over.
Just then, someone came to report that a small wave of zombies had attacked the second city wall south of the city. The attack had come so suddenly that everyone had been caught unprepared. As a result, several ordinary people working on the wall had been injured or killed. The security team had now arrived, and the situation was under control.
Even with Bai Mingxi’s new communications device, some time had already passed by the time the news reached them.
The so-called second city wall was part of Xiao Ziran’s design for a city within a city. The plan was to expand outward from the original Dawn Base and establish an outer city.
This would allow them to relax the admission requirements once more and move the people currently stationed outside the city gates into the outer city, solving some of their existing problems.
The section that had come under attack was precisely the southern outer wall, which was still under construction.
As soon as they heard there had been casualties, neither of them could sit still. They immediately decided to go and take a look.
The terms of the exchange had already been settled. Now that they had figured out who those people were, and Chu Tian was responsible for handling the matter, he would have to show his face sooner or later. There was no point in deliberately avoiding them.
By the time they arrived at the southern outskirts, the battle was already over. Zuo Li had led the ability users to a decisive victory, and they were now harvesting the zombies’ crystal cores.
Zuo Li was now the captain of the Dawn Base security team. The team was divided into five squads and included almost every ability user in the base.
All five squad leaders were former subordinates of Ouyang Jing.
“A wave of Level Four zombies suddenly appeared. They came in silently, and the sentries didn’t notice them. There were thirteen of them. As soon as they arrived, they dragged off three people. The others were injured when they fell while fleeing, but none of them were infected.” The moment he saw Xiao Ziran and Chu Tian, Zuo Li came over to report. “All the zombies have been eliminated, and we obtained thirteen crystal cores.”
Zuo Li paused before adding, “Something feels fishy. Sneaking up on us like that doesn’t seem like the zombies’ usual style.”
“We’ll investigate that later. Where are the injured now?” Xiao Ziran asked. How to deal with what had already happened was his main concern. “Have you notified Lu Zhongxia? If the injuries are serious, call Xiao Nan over too.”
Although they had outsiders present, Lu Zhongxia’s ability was no secret. Lei Shi and the others had known about it for a long time. As for Li Nan’s ability, it was no longer much of a secret within Dawn Base either. Anyone who made a few inquiries would find out.
“No need to.”
The one who answered Xiao Ziran was Chu Tian. He lifted his chin and lazily gestured in a certain direction.
Xiao Ziran followed his gaze and was instantly speechless.
White light was flashing repeatedly where the injured were being treated. Everyone was already familiar with that glow: the light emitted by healing-type ability users when they used their powers.
Of course, that wasn’t the point.
The point was, did the woman not get tired of using her ability in a pose that made her look as though an angel had descended from heaven?
Those who knew Li Nan and Lu Zhongxia well understood perfectly that the closer a healing ability user’s hands were to a wound or affected area, the less energy the treatment consumed—and the more effective it was.
Yet here was this woman, eyes half-closed, face tilted upward at a forty-five-degree angle, both arms spread wide as though embracing the earth. Her entire body was bathed in holy light as she healed five injured people simultaneously…
Or rather, as she spammed her healing skill.
It certainly looked beautiful. Xiao Ziran couldn’t deny that. But did she really think she was a healer in a video game, spamming some kind of grand holy healing spell?
“Are their injuries serious?” Watching the woman fool around like this, Xiao Ziran had to ask. If the injuries were severe, he would naturally have to tell her to get lost and leave the treatment to Lu Zhongxia and Li Nan. If they weren’t serious… well, she could put on her show if she wanted.
Zuo Li also found the sight difficult to process. He swallowed, his throat feeling dry, before answering, “They’re not seriously injured. Otherwise, Lu Zhongxia would’ve rushed over here ages ago.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a surprised voice rang out nearby.
“What is she doing?”
The newcomer was none other than Lu Zhongxia. He was now responsible for collecting, managing, and distributing the Dawn Base’s medicines. Although he hadn’t known much about the subject at first, Xiao Ziran was a doctor and had personally taught him everything step by step. Later, when several university students who had studied medicine arrived at the base, Xiao Ziran handed them over to Lu Zhongxia. While managing them, Lu Zhongxia also learned a thing or two from them.
When unexpected injuries like these occurred, conventional treatment was too slow, so they still needed him to step in. He had come as soon as he received the news, but when he heard that the injuries weren’t serious, he hadn’t bothered to come flying over at full speed.
“Probably… spamming heals!” Chu Tian said teasingly, looking absolutely certain as he gave a firm nod.
“Does she have enough mana to spam that much healing?” Lu Zhongxia asked worriedly, looking as though he had a toothache.
“What does mana matter? Looking beautiful is what counts!” Zuo Li chimed in.
Everyone present was young. How many of them hadn’t played video games before the apocalypse? Even Zuo Li, a mercenary, had once used online games as a way to relieve stress.
“Does this skill require chanting? Is there a cooldown?” Lu Zhongxia had had his job stolen from him, so he might as well join the others in watching the show and talking nonsense.
However, this rare moment of idle banter was soon interrupted.
Wei Li, who had been standing quietly behind Miss An the entire time, noticed them and quickly walked over.
“Greetings, Chief Xiao. Captain Zuo.” He first smiled and nodded to the two men he knew. Only then did he turn to Lu Zhongxia and Chu Tian. “And who might these two gentlemen be?”
Rather than looking at both of them equally, his attention seemed to be focused almost entirely on Chu Tian. Yet whether he was speaking or observing them, he maintained impeccable restraint, leaving no room for criticism.
“This is our doctor, Lu. He originally came to treat the injured, but Miss An has kindly taken over the job. We’re terribly sorry to have troubled her.” Xiao Ziran said he was “sorry,” but his expression clearly conveyed something else entirely: You’ve overstepped your bounds and stolen someone else’s job.
Of course, he was only making a sarcastic remark. Before Wei Li could respond, Xiao Ziran turned to Chu Tian.
“Mr. Wei, it’s quite a coincidence that you’re here.” He gestured toward Chu Tian. “This is Chu Tian. From now on, he’ll be fully responsible for all cooperation between our two sides. Whatever he says carries the same weight as my own words.”
When Wei Li heard the name “Chu Tian,” his eyes lit up briefly. It lasted only a second, though. Unless someone was watching closely, they would never have noticed.
Chu Tian didn’t miss a single change in his expression. However, since he already knew Wei Li had an ability of the same type as his own, and he had no idea how powerful the man was, Chu Tian refrained from activating his ability to probe him.
The two men therefore exchanged a friendly handshake.
“Mr. Chu, I look forward to learning from you. I hope our cooperation goes smoothly,” Wei Li said with impeccable courtesy and a smile.
“I hope so too.”
The moment Wei Li addressed him as “Mr. Chu,” Chu Tian knew the man had already figured out his identity. Since that was the case, he decided to put on airs. He adopted an arrogant expression and spoke as little as possible.
Yet Wei Li showed no dissatisfaction with Chu Tian’s haughty attitude. On the contrary, he seemed to consider it entirely natural.
Chu Tian immediately understood. A surge of joy rose in his heart.
Although he had claimed that he was no longer worried about his family’s safety, deep down, he had never truly been able to let go of that concern.
Now, Wei Li, who had come from the capital, had recognized his identity and treated him with respect. That meant the Chu family had undoubtedly come through the apocalypse completely unharmed.
For so long, apart from the safety of the people around him, nothing had brought him greater joy—or weighed more heavily on his mind—than the safety of his family.
Before their greetings could even finish, Miss An’s healing performance came to an end.
The injured people who had received treatment exchanged bewildered looks. All of them looked somewhat confused.
Was it over? But they were still in pain. Their wounds hadn’t completely healed…
Although the scene just now had been beautiful, breathtaking, and sacred, they had all been mesmerized by it. But—
Their injuries weren’t fully healed!
Some of them had received treatment from Lu Zhongxia before, while others had at least witnessed him treating patients. None of it had ever looked like this!
Sure, Lu Zhongxia wasn’t as beautiful or as divine as this young woman, but he had completely healed most injuries and illnesses!
Before they could finish puzzling over the situation, the young woman over there opened her mouth.