Chapter 30

In the end Ye Xiao didn't approve the proposal to chop off fingers and gouge out eyes. Jiang Xiaotian and Mei Baisheng were disappointed. Lin Tantan... Lin Tantan silently bowed her head, as quiet as a mouse, pretending she didn't exist.
Ye Xiao glanced at her amusedly. "Still, that suggestion had its merits," he said.
Lin Tantan looked up at him, coughed, and was still a little embarrassed.
At everyone's request, Ye Xiao then called Min Yande in front of them. He told him that if he wanted Cai Chengliang returned alive, no dirty tricks, and to send the troops within ten days.
Min Yande almost thought he'd misheard. Threatened by his own subordinate?!
"What did you say?" came a middle-aged man's incredulous, barely contained anger from the other end of the line. The people in the living room were all amused. Mei Baisheng rolled up his sleeve, motioned for Ye Xiao to hand him the phone, and said into it, "Old Min, weren't you the one asking us to rescue that woman Xu? Fine, send over those classified files. If you don't, we won't do the job."
The voice on the other end, boiling with anger: "Who are you? Where's Ye Xiao? Let Ye Xiao talk to me!"
"Our boss is busy, can't be bothered with you. You're always nagging us to rescue that mother and daughter; someone who didn't know might think they're your mistress and illegitimate child. Tell me, how much did the principal give you? With your level, you really think you deserve the position? Don't tell me you climbed up by taking favors and assigning errands. How many people like us have you foolishly sent on these missions?"
Min Yande, furious: "You people! No discipline at all. Do you even regard me as your commander? This is an order!"
"Pfft! What kind of commander are you? You dare adorn your own face with gold. In front of the real leaders you were always groveling and flattering. I saw long ago you were no good. It's only because there are no big bosses around that you're acting like the king of the monkeys!"
"All right then, it's settled. Send everything you're supposed to send, and cut the crap. Oh, and you wanted to know who I am? I'll tell you, I'm Mei Baisheng, used to be with Unit XXX, enlisted in 2016. Go check the records and kick me out."
After rattling that off, Meimei hung up feeling refreshed. These scumbags deserved a good dressing-down. He looked at the others staring at him and scratched his head: "I just couldn't stand that guy. I'm speaking for myself, if it weren't for Tantan, I'd be dead. I just want to live a bit freer. I was planning to retire in a couple years anyway."
No one reprimanded him; in fact, the word "retire" struck a chord with many.
Lin Tantan was puzzled the whole time. She'd been thinking about whether she could get Ye Xiao out of that military quagmire and had come up with a devious plan, only for Meimei to flatly refuse.
That was a helpful assist.
She secretly gave Mei a thumbs-up.
On the other end, Min Yande, after who knows how much internal struggle, actually sent over a file overnight. It wasn't much: some analysis and conjecture on classifying abilities, using crystal cores, and upgrading powers. Lin Tantan skimmed it and found most of it incorrect; she couldn't tell whether Min Yande had tampered with it or if the Academy people were still groping in the dark.
Lin Tantan guessed it was a bit of both.
Then Min Yande added that the army would show up as usual, trying to get there within ten days; there simply weren't many troops available now, and Yang City was poorly located, so they couldn't hurry it.
No one expected him to cave so quickly. Everyone was surprised, and Bai Cheng laid out the truth: “He probably hasn't fully secured his position, or within their faction he's just a minor player. If we count as his people but he can't suppress a small unit, it only makes him look incompetent.”
His earlier bluster and rude tone were likely because he didn't expect them to be so tough. He's the sort who bullies the weak and fears the strong, and he was even more afraid that Cai Chengliang might actually be taken down by them, so he wanted to minimize the matter.
The group's feelings were complicated; things were awkward for Min Yande. They should have been happy, but knowing that a former superior who once issued them orders had turned out so timid made them feel their own standing had slipped.
Since they'd achieved their goal, Ye Xiao's side went to rescue people the next day, not specifically for that mother and daughter, but heading for a wholesale farmers' market where they could get rice, flour, oil and grain. The mother and daughter's villa was roughly on the way.
Lin Tantan didn't go; Bai Cheng did, his spatial ability was perfect for that kind of operation.
Lin Tantan, with Jiang Zhongyi's team and a few other ability users, went out to clear zombies. Several waves had appeared the night before; some were blown into the air, some fell into traps, and some were stopped by barricades.
Boom! Boom! A woman of twenty-five or six sent out fireballs that struck the head of a limping zombie approaching her. After seven or eight hits she finally knocked it down, her face breaking into a relieved, joyful smile, then she crouched and dug out its crystal core.
On the hedgehog-like barricade of sharpened construction materials at the intersection, several zombies were impaled, chests pierced, yet their arms still flailed and they kept roaring. A man blasted continuous water jets into one zombie's mouth; it took a dozen shots before the jet pierced through the back of the skull and finally killed it.
Also on that barricade, a younger boy conjured a jagged clod of earth in his hand and hurled it at a zombie hung on the spikes, smashing it repeatedly until its face was crushed.
Further off, a baby-faced girl sent out green vines to trip a zombie, bound it tightly, hoisted it up and pummeled it with a huge pickaxe.
A capable woman of about thirty pressed her hand to the ground and formed a thin sheet of ice; a wandering zombie stepped on it and slipped, and she and a young man waded in with knives and cut it down.
This was how ability users fought zombies, clumsy and not very efficient, but earnest attempts to explore their abilities. Jiang Zhongyi and the others without powers simply used big clubs, axes and machetes; they were faster.
Besides that, many who were too scared or lacked the ability to fight served as carriers, hauling zombie corpses away, piling them up and setting them on fire.
Thick plumes of smoke rose into the sky.
Not far off several excavators were digging; the plan was to dig a three-meter-wide trench to hold the zombies back.
Many others were building new barricades and doing other work. Jiang Xiaotian, Mei Baisheng and the rest were there too, acting as foremen and commanders alongside Lin Tantan.
When Lin Tantan saw a place getting overwhelmed, she'd jump in to help, while also keeping an eye on the sky for descending zombie-birds.
With her around, those killing zombies, hauling bodies and working felt a lot bolder.
With a whoosh, a black bird that hadn't yet come close was shot from the sky by Lin Tantan's golden spike, the range was astonishing. Someone hurriedly grabbed it with tongs; she looked it over. It was a zombie-bird, and when they cut open its tiny skull there was no crystal core, so she signaled that it could be burned.
The yield rate of crystal cores from zombified animals was much lower.
She turned to the girl beside her. The girl was pouring water into cups, four full cups were tipped into a bucket. She paused, pinched the blue crystal core in her hand and absorbed it slowly. After a while she started pouring again; compared with yesterday's three cups, she was clearly making progress.
But, “They can be forgiven, but if they're going to fight zombies, why did you come out if you're not fighting?”
“Seeing everyone working hard pushes me to work harder, and I need to adapt to the environment.” The girl with water powers wiped the sweat from her face and said firmly, “When I'm out there seeing zombies and zombie-birds in the sky I feel a real sense of danger. I think this will train me to use my powers steadily even in dangerous situations.”
All right, they all had their ideas.
After a while, a few novice ability users trickled back to absorb crystal cores and replenish their energy. The water girl's water was just right for washing hands and drinking; once they'd rested and absorbed enough, they went back to work.
The morning passed in a blur of activity. At noon, someone in the South Garden brought food; they took bowls and ate on the spot. When a group of survivors arrived, what they saw was a bunch of young people flinging their arms and digging into lunch.
“Ahem, someone's coming.” Lin Tantan, sharp-eyed, called out. Everyone hurriedly finished their food, wiped their mouths and stood up, looking at the dust-beaten, sallow-faced newcomers with some wariness. No wonder, their gazes were off. Those eyes glowing green, had they gone days without eating?
And there were over a hundred of them, mostly men in their prime. Though gaunt and sallow, they weren't to be trifled with. Most held weapons smeared with zombie gore.
Fortunately they hadn't lost their heads. A middle-aged man stepped forward and said, “Surname Wei. We saw online that this is a temporary safe zone. Are you taking people in?”
Lin Tantan said, “Yes, but you'll have to follow our arrangements and not cause trouble. As for lodging, see that building? It's an office building, you'll stay there for now.”
“Will you provide food?” the middle-aged man asked.
“We will, but it's limited. If you can kill zombies or do work, you'll get extra rations, distribution is basically based on labor.”
The middle-aged man regarded her with a questioning look. "You're the one in charge here?"
Fine, she was being underestimated. Lin Tantan called Xu Qin. As usual: with Ye Xiao absent, Bai Cheng took the lead; if Bai Cheng wasn't around, Xu Qin filled in. In fact, Xu Qin was the most senior member of the team after Ye Xiao and Bai Cheng.
Before long Xu Qin came out. He didn't look pleased, probably because he'd been working on weapon upgrades and had been summoned suddenly; of course that put him in a bad mood. It wasn't aimed at Lin Tantan personally.
If you asked who was the toughest member of the squad, it was Xu Qin. Don't let his delicate features fool you: he usually seemed easy to talk to, but his personality was actually cold and hard. Disturb him while he's working on weapons and he'll turn a dark face.
Lin Tantan rubbed her nose. It wasn't her fault, they'd agreed earlier that someone would call him if people showed up.
Xu Qin scanned the hundred-odd people. "Any people with special abilities?" No one answered. He asked again, "Anyone running a fever?" Still no response. Finally he said, "Anyone with wounds? Torn by zombies?"
At that the middle-aged man surnamed Wei hurriedly said, "No, no, absolutely not."
Cheng Qinan said calmly, "Then come with me for a simple check. Those with fevers go into isolation; anyone with wounds must leave."
He was about to go when someone in the crowd suddenly called out, "Tantan? Are you Lin Tantan?"
Lin Tantan froze. She looked over and saw a young man and woman running toward her, faces full of surprise. "You're actually here!"