Chapter 64

Not only did Lin Tantan not see being poached as a big deal, Bai Cheng apparently felt the same. He was mainly the one recruiting people, but he didn’t do it publicly; he approached the people he favored one by one in private.
The process seemed to be going smoothly. Lin Tantan threw herself into helping pick up what others missed, she felt she was too inefficient on her own and might overlook things, and after thinking it over she remembered that nest of mutant rats.
“This is the kind of energy fluctuation, remember it?” Like the strictest homeroom teacher, she used her power to simulate what it looked like both when an ability was about to awaken and when it hadn’t yet, and with a stern face taught her students.
A dozen-or-so mutant rats watched her intently. Their little black-bean eyes were wide, their short forepaws raised and curled in front of them, each practically on its hind legs as they turned their pointy or flattened heads in time with Lin Tantan’s waving arms.
Ye Xiao and the others watching from the side were speechless: “…”
They all had the feeling that a lot of odd things had snuck into their team.
The mutant plant curled obediently at Ye Xiao’s feet and “looked” over with something like longing. It glanced at the big boss beside it, figured he probably wouldn’t stop it, and cautiously began to crawl over.
Its crawling was peculiar: it didn’t writhe like a mollusk but extended the short fine tendrils on its rhizome to grip the ground and pulled itself forward. Because the floor was so smooth, moving across the marble surface was somewhat difficult.
It managed to crawl a bit further and saw the big boss really wasn’t going to stop it, so it happily scuttled up beside Lin Tantan and began wildly “nodding.”
Lin Tantan had just been thinking the mutant rats were not very bright or sociable when she saw the plant’s display and her eyes lit up. “You remembered! Good, well done.” She patted its head and gave it a little energy. The mutant plant was overjoyed; a whole rhizome and its two stunted limbs wriggled. Lin Tantan’s mouth twitched, it was almost painfully cute.
The mutant rats wouldn’t stand for it; they swarmed the strange thing and began squeaking angrily.
These mutant rats seemed especially sensitive to the mutant plant, probably because they’d been badly burned the first time they’d encountered one. Lin Tantan’s first pet, the big gray rat, reacted the strongest. It had once been trapped and bound by a mutant weed, an enduring humiliation for the creature. Now larger and with its gold-type power stronger, it opened its mouth and bit into the obnoxious thing that had invaded their territory.
Each bite left a tooth mark. Fortunately the mutant plant’s skin was thick, but the other rats pounced too and were left covered in tooth marks, pitifully mauled.
Lin Tantan’s class was ruined in an instant. She shouted, “Oh, stop! Break it up, everyone, break it up!”
Ye Xiao rubbed his forehead while the others were in stitches.
Although the lesson had its bumps, because the students split into two camps and each side wanted to outdo the other, they worked hard. The mutant rats scurried through their tunnels across the shantytown to sense that peculiar energy fluctuation, and the mutant plant, after days of observation, had at last convinced Ye Xiao it was a well-behaved specimen, so he gave it a chance to show itself.
That thing had been away from the soil for days and was almost withered; the moment it returned it ran about in sheer delight. It was a completely different creature underground than on the surface, much faster. If it hadn't crawled up the stairs that night and thrown itself into a trap, even Ye Xiao might not have been able to catch it.
Once freed, it didn't run off; it actually went to work. It burrowed beneath the shantytown and would occasionally poke its head aboveground. There were no experts in the shantytown and most surfaces were bare earth, so it could come and go with ease without fear of being spotted, its efficiency rivaled that of a dozen mutated rats.
The first day alone, each side had found three potential candidates who might awaken abilities.
Lin Tantan was surprised, but the problem was the mutated rats couldn't speak, and the mutated plant could only make a twisted "3" gesture as if about to snap itself, so neither could convey precise information about the targets.
She was wondering whether she should teach them to read when Xu Li suddenly said, "How about I go with them to find people?"
He volunteered suddenly, which surprised Lin Tantan. Xu Li was about the same age as Mei Baisheng and also the team's youngest, but his personality was the opposite of Baisheng's: shy, fond of quiet, and usually so silent he was almost invisible. He practiced ancient martial arts and had some breathing techniques that hid him well, sitting motionless, people barely noticed he was there. That's why Lin Tantan had become close with Mei Baisheng but rarely interacted with Xu Li.
Seeing Lin Tantan's look, Xu Li scratched his head. "Is that okay?"
Lin Tantan said, "Of course. But how do you plan to do it?"
Xu Li smiled. "They'll lead the way; I'll just follow."
Then, for the first time, Lin Tantan felt what it truly meant to move like a shadow on the eaves and walls.
He was truly invisible in arrival and departure, like wind, like lightning, like mist. Even strong ability-users found it hard to detect his presence or shape.
Xu Li happily took the task and set out after dark, first with the mutated rats, then with the mutated plant. The plant would occasionally poke its head out from the ground to signal to Xu Li. They had located all six people before midnight, noted them one by one, and by early the next morning presented fairly detailed information.
Lin Tantan marveled at his efficiency. Bai Cheng began to make contact with the six, pitiful people from the shantytown who would work for a little supply, though their character still needed vetting. Bai Cheng seemed born for this kind of work; Ye Xiao was reluctant to handle such things, but Bai Cheng took pleasure in it.
So the "picking up the slack" work mainly fell to the two mutated species and Xu Li. Xu Li didn't need Lin Tantan's supervision, but whenever the other two performed a service, Lin Tantan rewarded them. The mutated plant only wanted Lin Tantan's wood-type energy; the mutated rats hadn't needed it at first, but seeing the plant receive it, they too began clamoring for Lin Tantan's energy.
Lin Tantan, who had originally planned to reward them with canned meat and fruit, promptly acquiesced to popular demand, energy was plentiful, eco-friendly, and economical. She decided to save the fruit for herself.
Several more days passed; no more rain and clear skies continued. The horde outside the base dwindled, and after the last group was wiped out by a proactive strike from the base's forces, the base announced it would open its gates from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, entry and exit outside those hours were prohibited.
Once the news spread, people erupted with excitement.
They had been cooped up for too long. Packed into this tiny, densely populated space, there was little work and most people were living off dwindling supplies. The food crisis worsened; people died of starvation or took their own lives daily. They needed to get out for air; they needed to find food!
Moreover, the base guaranteed that, considering how hard survival was, for at least half a month any food brought in from outside would not have to be surrendered, previously, at least one-third had to be handed over.
Because of this, people were more motivated; ignoring the dangers outside, many went out on the first day the base gate opened.
Some speculated what Ye Xiao and his group, who had decided to develop the Ning City base, would do on such a day. Surely they'd make some big move. Where would they head? The XX Farm? The XX Agricultural Market? The XX Grain Depot?
But they were all wrong. Ye Xiao and his team didn't leave the base that day; they started building houses!
The site was, of course, the far east side of the base, the plot near the parking lot. On the day work began, Lin Tantan gave herself a two-hour break and ran over to watch the spectacle.
It was indeed a very large piece of land, over forty acres; beyond it lay the base wall. The reason such a big plot remained unused inside the densely populated base was that it was hilly, full of rocks and roots, and uneven, hard to build on, and it bordered the wall, a hair's breadth from the dangerous outside. It felt unsafe, so it had been left to waste and, over time, became a dump.
Scrapped vehicles and the like were one thing, but household refuse looked terrible. After the heavy rains began and the base was sealed, garbage couldn't be removed and had to be piled here. The low-lying terrain channeled water toward it, making it a filthy, waterlogged dump.
In short, nobody wanted it; nobody came here, except for people who scavenged.
With the rain gone and skies cleared, the river outside the base receded. The base's main drainage channels began to work, and many flooded spots slowly drained. Ye Xiao organized some earth-type ability-users to connect the plot to the nearest drain to get rid of the standing water.
After a few days the water was finally gone. When Lin Tantan went to see it today, the ground was nearly dry but even more trash had been exposed. A loader was rumbling as it shoveled the waste into piles to burn.
Wet trash isn't easy to burn, but if the ones setting it alight are fire-type ability-users, that's another story. They didn't even need fuel, standing upwind, a few of them tossed fireballs now and then, and the piles ignited quickly.
At the same time, a few wind-affinity ability users were blowing, sending the smoke out beyond the base so the smell would dissipate.
Lin Tantan looked up at the drifting smoke as it floated away and slowly dissolved in the air. She felt she'd learned something new, she’d never realized abilities could be used this way. Acting as a burn crew, huh, that was impressive.
The onlookers in the distance were even more astonished, whispering among themselves. Those who knew the situation muttered that these people were clearly no ordinary folk, there must be so many ability users you don't know what to do with them, right?
But that wasn't all. Once the trash was cleared, it left a pitted, sodden ground mixed with chunks of stone and debris, giving off a sour, rotten smell, with insects buzzing about. Then three professional excavators moved in.
Their massive buckets flashed golden in the sunlight, especially the teeth, razor-sharp. One bite and even the biggest, hardest rocks split in two. Digging the earth was as easy as scooping potatoes.
Lin Tantan recognized those teeth after a moment's staring, then suddenly realized, "Isn't that...?"
Standing beside her, Ye Xiao said, "It's the thing Xu Qin's been carrying around every day for the past few days."
Her guess confirmed, Lin Tantan went quiet. Lately Xu Qin hadn't been playing with spoons or small knives or tinkering with other metal objects in the villa; he'd been fussing over large, thick, heavy triangular chunks of metal.
She only saw him occasionally at night and had no idea what he was up to, it turned out he’d been modifying the excavator teeth.
She guessed he altered each tooth individually, used his ability to fuse them together, and then mounted the whole set onto the bucket.
His metal-affinity power could reshape metal. With some tools to help, welding was no problem. Ever since he gained that ability he’d almost become a welder, the villa's security bars showed almost no weld marks, the seams looked as if they'd grown together. The buckets before them were the same.
She looked around and indeed saw Xu Qin standing on a rise watching the excavators at work, his face solemn, it was hard to tell whether he was satisfied with the results.
The layer of earth mixed with stones and plant roots was shoveled away, revealing broad stretches of level ground. Then people in tall rubber boots came in, pointing at blueprints and gesturing; Lin Tantan asked what they were, and Ye Xiao said they were building design engineers.
Lin Tantan watched the highly professional crew and couldn't help but feel impressed.
After a while the group came over. "Captain Ye, based on our site survey we've made some adjustments to the plans, have a look. Also, it's best to raise the ground by three to five meters; the current elevation is still too low."
Lin Tantan glanced at the brightly colored plans and felt a little dizzy. Ye Xiao said, "No problem, it can be done within two days."
The lead engineer rubbed his hands and said, "Next is building materials. We can try to make cement ourselves..." He paused, as if the idea sounded a bit fantastical. "It's difficult, but with ability users' help it should be possible. We can fire bricks ourselves, but we can't do without rebar."
"That won't be a problem, we'll have it," Ye replied.
The lead engineer couldn't help but add, "Captain Ye, this will consume a lot of manpower and resources. If we built single-story cottages it would be much simpler."
Ye Xiao looked mildly surprised, then smiled. "Building with mud bricks and planks is easier, but that would be too poor for decent living, we can't skimp. If something can be solved with manpower it's not an issue. Go ahead and take charge of the project; tell me boldly if you need anything."
The lead engineer, now officially the chief engineer, stiffened with excitement. All his worries vanished and he repeatedly promised he'd do the job well.
After the group left, Lin Tantan looked at Ye Xiao. "If something manpower can solve isn't a problem, are you planning to hire a lot of people to work, using labor as relief to support more mouths? But don't we only have a hundred tons of grain? That's enough to squander in just a few days."
Although the gates were open from today, not everyone went out to forage. Some people lacked the ability to compete, and those who did go out weren't guaranteed to find food.
Ye Xiao's eyes briefly flashed and he smiled. "It's not that extreme. There are so many idle hands in the base; leaving them idle is a waste. Put that labor to work here and we can build a better home for ourselves, why not?"
He played a small trick and Lin Tantan fell for it, her eyes lighting up. "Our future home?" She liked the phrase and nodded at once. "That's really nice. You can't have living quarters too shabby, it drags down morale." Although they might not stay here forever, if Ye Xiao chose to remain perhaps they could avoid the kind of disaster that once tore Ning City's base apart.
She still worried. "But will the food be enough?"
"Xiaotian flew a drone around the surrounding area and we found many more mutated plants and animals," Ye Xiao said, pointing toward the mountain ranges west of the base. "Especially over that way, lots of mutated animals are coming down from the hills. We suspect there are even more inside."
Ning City is a mountainous place, and this part of the base is ringed by peaks. There's a mountain directly behind the base, but to the west the ranges are far more extensive and continuous.
Those mountains both block threats coming from that side and represent a danger themselves. Letting mutated species in the hills reproduce and grow unchecked would be unwise.
Lin Tantan asked, "So?"
"So starting tomorrow we'll leave the base and hunt the mutated animals," Ye Xiao said with a smile, "and we’ll identify which species are suitable for eating."
From the start he hadn't planned to hunt down stored grain. They could scavenge non-reproducible supplies, but when it came to food there was no point competing with millions of starving people. Even if they found some food, it would be gone once eaten, what mattered was developing a sustainable path forward.
“Also, for these forty-odd mu of land, I plan to set aside a plot for crops. Yang Xinyu and Old Man Chen have already been raising seedlings. With our current conditions large-scale planting isn’t possible, but after some time we’ll see if we can extend the perimeter.”
Old Man Chen was the elder Lin Tantan had found in the shantytown who might awaken a wood-type ability. Bai Cheng had met with him and his children, no one knows exactly what was said, but they were given ample food. Lin Tantan helped him sort his energy, and after a few days the old man truly awakened.
His wood-type ability was purely for cultivation. Unlike Yang Xinyu’s vine-wrapping attack style, Old Man Chen had none of that, his energy only promoted plant growth.
At first he didn’t know how to control it. At home he’d planted scallions in a cracked earthenware pot and greens in a wooden crate; he fussed with them a little, and within hours the scallions and vegetables shot up, growing thick and strong as if fed the best fertilizer.
Bai Cheng personally went to talk with them that evening and brought Old Man Chen and his two children back, finding them a place to live. Chen began raising seedlings and, I heard, planted every patch of spare ground at home with vegetables.
The old man had farmed his whole life; he handled it with practiced ease and genuine love. His planting ability was far stronger than Yang Xinyu’s.
As Ye Xiao outlined some of his plans, Lin Tantan realized that when he’d taken this land he’d already been thinking about expanding the walls, if so, this place was indeed very suitable for them.
Lin Tantan watched his composed expression but couldn’t help imagining him full of youthful vigor; she smiled, “Ye Xiao, you’re a very good leader.”
Ye Xiao returned her gaze warmly. “Thank you for the compliment.”
“I mean it, you’re better than anyone. With you leading us, we’ll do well.”
Such open praise left Ye Xiao slightly embarrassed. He knew he hadn’t done enough. If he were truly capable he should be able to place everyone properly, yet even here many people were dying every day.
One person’s strength was small; he often felt powerless, and he had never said this aloud.
But at that moment his heart felt as if soaked in warm, sugared water, a weight, heavy yet comforting, and he became solemn. “There are many things I’ve overlooked and handled poorly, but I will try harder.”
“Mm!” They smiled at each other. Lin Tantan looked away first and asked, “Rebar can’t be produced by manpower alone, what are we going to do?”
“Go to the factories; if that fails, take it from nearby buildings.” Ye Xiao said lightly. Lin Tantan thought to herself: only you would dare tear down someone else’s building to get rebar.
“By the way, you just said you want to raise the ground three to five meters within two days, are you going to bring soil from elsewhere?”
“Yes.”
Lin Tantan rubbed her fingers. “It’d be handy if an earth-type ability user could conjure up that much soil at once.”
Ye Xiao glanced at her, something like meaning in his eyes. “No need for that, we can just dig some from nearby.”
As they feverishly pushed the infrastructure work forward, naturally some people watched with displeasure.
Li Qun was particularly upset. Seeing Ye Xiao really trying to put down roots here made him anxious. Others might fear Ye Xiao would simply take a share of their cake, but he feared not getting a slice at all, that the whole cake would be taken away.
Many people knew that before the end times he had been only a colonel; the higher-ups had promoted him to major general to have him compete with Lu Jianping. Such moves were common, Lu Jianping had also risen from colonel, but their faction was slightly more reliable and only jumped one rank to fill the dead garrison commander’s post.
So Li Qun didn’t feel confident facing Lu Jianping, and he felt even less secure in front of Ye Xiao.
Because of some personal ties with Min Yande, he had known of Ye Xiao early on, Ye Xiao carried out special foreign missions, the kind that flirted with life and death, so he rose very quickly. Li Qun had clawed his way to colonel by seniority; Ye Xiao reached that level while still young.
Now Ye Xiao was at odds with the higher-ups, but if he softened his stance and, with his ability, produced results at the base, the authorities wouldn’t hesitate, one order and someone would be moved aside for Ye Xiao.
By then everything Li Qun currently had would rightfully and formally belong to Ye Xiao.
How could Li Qun accept that? He’d advanced far with backing from above, but his own efforts had also been substantial, and now, because of his position, everything might be transferred to someone else at any moment.
He stared at the major-general insignia he’d taken from his shoulder, his brow pounding. If only he could give up his military title, then the higher-ups couldn’t touch him.
The thought flashed and he quickly suppressed it. Without half the military as his backing, how could he have developed so well and so fast on his own?
There was a knock. He snapped the insignia back on and said in a low voice, “Come in.”
Zhou Li stepped inside.
The striking young man, whose ability was also formidable, stood respectfully before him and said humbly, “Chief, you called for me?”
A strange flush of satisfaction rose in Li Qun’s chest.
He admitted to himself that in pure ability he probably couldn’t compare to the young man, but didn’t that still mean he could keep him bowing his head and cautiously calling him “Chief”?
And men like him, he had many under his command.
He put on a stern face. “I told you to bribe people, so why is Ye Xiao’s side still doing so well? I hear he can recruit a group of ability users just to burn trash. How have you been handling things?”
Zhou Li bristled at the tone but answered carefully, “We bribed whoever could be bribed, but there are still many who won’t budge, there’s nothing more we can do. Besides…” He paused and glanced at Li Qun, “the supplies you sent me were limited.”
The people trying to buy loyalty were, of course, relying on supplies and tangible rewards. They chose recruits from Congyang City, strong folk who were likely to drift into Ye Xiao’s camp. Convincing them wouldn’t be easy. Supplies flowed out like water, but Li Qun wasn’t a big spender; he had to conserve as much as he could. That made the operation slow and weak.
And some people simply wouldn’t be swayed, no matter how many goods you offered.
Li Qun said coldly, “So what you’re saying is I’m just supposed to stand by and watch him go on thriving and building his foothold in the base?”
Zhou Li didn’t answer aloud; in his head he thought, unless you kill him.
Or… unsettle his plans by targeting someone he cares about, throw him off his stride.
Zhou Li left Li Qun’s place and went back to his own quarters. Zhou Yan rushed up to him. “Bro, did you bring up that matter?”
Zhou Li shook his head.
“Why not?” Zhou Yan raised his voice, then, realizing he might be too worked up, quickly added, “Li Qun took it out on us today, when the base opened he assigned us tasks. Those were death sentences! We made it through today, sure, but what about tomorrow? That guy wants to fight Ye Xiao? Let them fight each other; we’ll slip away.”
Zhou Li said, “It’s not that simple.” He sat down to think. He’d realized by now that Li Qun wasn’t someone to rely on. He’d already chosen wrong once, but there was still a chance to make amends.
If he chose Ye Xiao…
But he couldn’t stomach being under Ye Xiao’s thumb.
It was strange: he knew Li Qun had been a colonel before the end, the same rank as Ye Xiao, and in many ways inferior. Yet, when it came to who he’d rather serve, he’d sooner listen to Li Qun’s empty talk than run errands for Ye Xiao.
Zhou Li gave a bitter smile. He knew his attitude was wrong, but he still couldn’t accept it.
And if he didn’t join Ye Xiao now, having already fallen into Li Qun’s camp, it wouldn’t be easy to get out. Who could make Li Qun so fearful he wouldn’t act? One small mistake and all the influence he’d worked for could be gone.
Zhou Yan watched his brother staring off and bit his lip. Worthless, always looking impressive until it comes down to it, then dragging everyone behind him. If only I had his ability, I could do so much better!
Zhou Li looked up. Zhou Yan snapped his expression shut and returned to anxious concern. Zhou Li said, “Keep an eye on that man. Don’t let him blurt things out. I’ll think this over.”
“Yes, bro.” Zhou Yan answered obediently, but after he left his face fell. He went back to his room, now that he was Zhou Li’s brother he even had a room of his own. Someone else was there, chewing on a pack of braised chicken wings; when Zhou Yan came in the man hurried to his feet. “Brother Yan.”
Zhou Yan looked at him for a moment, then smiled. “Xiao Yu, tell me again about that day.”
Xiao Yu said, “I’m telling the truth. The rain was really heavy that day; I just wanted to get into the base fast. But the gun truck was driven by my dad, and he insisted on following Bai Cheng and left the convoy to go help. I was so mad, I kept watching the convoy, hoping everyone would get in, and when the last vehicle came up…it wasn’t even one of ours. It was a car that had fallen in behind us, dawdling, and then it suddenly got frozen. I was furious. Then I heard Captain Ye call for the fire-type, probably to melt the sudden ice, but the fire users hadn’t shown up yet, and Miss Lin jumped down from the armored vehicle.”
Xiao Yu swallowed. “I really saw it. She shoved her hand into the muddy water, and from beneath the ice a bunch of spikes shot up, stabbing the ice until it broke and turned back into water.”
Zhou Yan listened quietly. It was the fourth time he’d heard the story; when Xiao Yu finished he said, “Lin Tantan already has both metal and wood affinities, those could have been metal spikes.”
“No way,” Xiao Yu replied emphatically. “Her metal spikes and blades are all golden, I’ve seen them. The spikes that came up from the ground that day were the color of dirt, exactly like the earth spikes earth-type users summon!”
He was certain. “She must have an earth-type ability. She already has two; why wouldn’t she get a third?”
Xiao Yu watched Zhou Yan’s face. He hadn’t known this information would be taken so seriously, he only knew the recruiters were throwing supplies around to get ability users to join them, and he’d been tempted. He wasn’t an ability user, nor was his father, and after the convoy was disbanded their life went downhill.
They’d behaved the whole way, no glory, but plenty of hard work, even helped fend off zombies, but in the end they were left like that.
How could Xiao Yu come to terms with it?
He’d forgotten that because his father was such a skilled driver of the gun truck, they’d been treated very well during the migration, well fed, full supplies, snacks, someone to wash their faces. Compared to others, they’d lived comfortably.
All he remembered was being abandoned, so he tried to get close to those recruiting people, hoping they’d take his father and him to live better lives. He had no special skills, so he traded what he knew. In a rush he blurted out a string of things and, not expecting Zhou Yan to be so invested, mentioned the earth ability.
Then they brought him back.
Zhou Yan smiled. “I understand. You didn’t tell anyone else about this, right?”
“No, no.” Xiao Yu truly believed Lin Tantan already had two abilities; a third didn’t seem like a big deal. He’d only murmured it to his dad, who didn’t believe him, so he stopped talking about it.
“Okay. Stay here. Don’t go out, and don’t tell anyone else.” Zhou Yan left. Based on one person’s story he couldn’t be completely sure, he had no access to Lin Tantan or her people, so he might have to find another source to confirm it.
Xiao Yu didn't know what a three-branch ability even meant, but he was well aware that two-branch ability holders were vanishingly rare across the country. In the capital, the Academy of Sciences was desperately researching ways to grant ordinary people powers to improve survivors' overall chances. They'd even resorted to extreme methods, whole batches of ability users died. Two-ability users had been treated as test subjects too; a few of them were killed. That caused a huge conflict in the capital.
If those people found out there was a three-ability user all the way in distant Ning City...
Zhou Yan took a deep breath. If Lin Tantan were taken away, Ye Xiao would surely go with her. He had done Li Qun a favor; that should earn him some regard, maybe even a line to the capital.
He was hesitant, though, on one hand eager to probe into Lin Tantan's situation, on the other hand instinctively wary of how dangerous she might be; the farther away, the better.
He found someone and, smiling, said, "Wenzi, I remember you were closest with Xu Tianjin before, right? He even went with you to see a doctor."
...
After a busy day, everyone returned to the villa. During the after-dinner rest, Jiang Xiaotian suddenly started muttering to Bai Cheng while clutching a laptop, then called to Ye Xiao. "Captain, there's another message from the capital."
Ye Xiao was practicing his ability; Lin Tantan's few words earlier had affected him and put pressure on him, making him more diligent. He asked calmly, "What are they saying now?"
"They're ordering us to come back at once," Jiang Xiaotian said. "They claim our last mission hasn't been reported as closed; not coming back would be disobeying orders. It's probably Li Qun trying to drive us out, he's been working behind the scenes. Messages have become more frequent lately."
Mei Baisheng, chewing a carrot, said, "It's always the same lines, no originality. This business about closing out missions: our mission was terminated back at the end of the world. Why don't you hack into the archives, grab screenshots, and send them to jog their memories?"
He bit off a big chunk of carrot and mumbled, "When one mission ends and the next doesn't come, we're effectively on leave, free to do as we please. It's routine, isn't it? Don't you get it?"
Jiang Xiaotian said, "They'll claim they've already assigned us a new mission."
"Then make them complete all the paperwork. We don't accept anything without the commander-in-chief's signature."
The commander-in-chief had died at the very start of the apocalypse.
They were silent for a moment. Jiang Xiaotian looked at him with a smirk. "Come on, you're even eating a carrot? What, are you a rabbit?"
"Can't help it; Brother Bai won't let us eat the fruit."
Bai Cheng shot him a look. "There's not much fruit left." Those big-bellied men could eat an absurd amount; they'd better leave it for the girls.
Apparently Mei Baisheng knew that too, so he chewed contentedly on his carrot, rough men were meant for carrots. Jiang Xiaotian sighed, "Any more? Give me one."
"Go get it yourself from the kitchen."
Ye Xiao paid their chatter no mind.
On the coffee table before him, small whirlwinds formed and dissolved. Fine sand in different colors lay scattered; he would sometimes blend it into shapes, sometimes sort it into neat piles by color.
As the vortices faded, invisible hands of air molded the sand into a simple house: yellow walls, a brown door, white windows, a red roof.
They couldn't help but watch, his control was astonishing.
When they fell silent, Ye Xiao asked, "Aside from those messages, anything else?"
If there hadn't been, Jiang Xiaotian wouldn't have bothered to bring it up, and he'd have spoken with Bai Cheng privately first.
Jiang Xiaotian looked to Bai Cheng, who said, "They went on about the rarity of two-ability users and how vital they are to power research."
With a soft rustle, Ye Xiao's motion froze; the pretty house collapsed into a scatter of sand. He looked up at Bai Cheng. "Let me see it."
He opened the encrypted message that had come through the highest channels. After reading a good deal of it, he sneered, "Their reach is impressive. Min Yande doesn't want Li Qun to be well, he's trying to force me to kill him, isn't he?"
They fell silent; even Xu Qin and the others over by the far side looked over, rarely did they hear Ye Xiao speak like that.
Bai Cheng reached for the laptop and deleted the message. "It's enough that we know about it. The two places are far apart, and while two-ability users are scarce, they're not nonexistent. He's just dreaming."
Two-ability users don't warrant drastic measures, but a three-ability user?
Ye Xiao's face darkened as he glanced toward the second floor. Earlier, Lin Tantan had taken two hours off to go check some digging; when she returned she'd extended her rest, probably tired, and said she'd go to bed early.
Suddenly an engine sounded outside the villa. Cars returning to the neighborhood at this hour weren't unusual, but this one stopped at their gate and someone called out.
It was Zhou Li.
"Zhou Li? What's he doing here?"
No one much liked the man who was always trying to poach from them, but since he was here Ye Xiao rose to answer the door. Zhou Li stood outside the iron gate and, apologetic, explained his purpose: a brother of his had taken a sudden high fever and he wanted to arrange for Lin Tantan to check him tomorrow.
He claimed the fever had come on violently and was only asking for a tomorrow appointment rather than bringing the patient unannounced, so it wasn't too forward, but Ye Xiao didn't agree right away; he told him to explain the situation clearly.
Zhou Li forced a smile. "Captain Ye, may I come in and explain?"
Ye Xiao regarded him coolly, his intentions weren't entirely about the conversation, and then turned. "Come in."
But what surprised him was that, as soon as he let him in, Lin Tantan came padding downstairs.
She wore a fluffy little bear onesie in pale yellow; her short wisps of hair were a bit tousled and just as soft, and on her feet were fuzzy slippers that went tap-tap down the stairs. From head to toe she was covered in fluff, soft, warm, and utterly youthful, radiating pure girlish charm.
She still had a phone in her hand and asked curiously, "Is someone here?"
She couldn't sleep and had started playing a game. The phone glitched, so she planned to go downstairs to ask Jiang Xiaotian to take a look, and happened to run into Zhou Li coming in.
She paused on the stairs, puzzled at his sudden appearance, and instinctively searched for Zhou Yan, hmm, not there. Since that guy hadn't shown up, Zhou Li no longer interested her; she'd never seen him as any kind of threat.
Ye Xiao, however, couldn't stop frowning.
"Tantan." Ye Xiao's teeth clenched and his expression stiffened oddly.
"Hm?"
"Go back to bed."
Lin Tantan blinked, glanced at Zhou Li, and obediently said, "Oh."
Suddenly Zhou Li said, "Miss Lin, a friend of mine has a fever. I was wondering if you could treat him."
Lin Tantan's turn faltered; she turned back and asked reflexively, "When did it start? How is he now?"
Ye Xiao's face went completely cold. He shot Zhou Li a cold look. "Mr. Zhou, wait a moment."
He strode to the stairs, grabbed Lin Tantan's hand and pulled her up: "Come up first."
"?" She didn't know why but decided to obey. Lin Tantan followed obediently and, once inside the room, asked, "What's wrong, does Zhou Li's friend have a problem, or is it Zhou Li? You don't want me to treat him? Fine, then I won't."
Ye Xiao's mouth twitched; after a pause he managed to say, "Change your clothes."