Chapter 336: Zombie Nemesis
Chapter 336: Chapter 336: Zombie Nemesis
Besides, what reason did Chaoyang Base have to hold a grudge against them?
"The people from Chaoyang Base were the ones who attacked Captain Zuo and his team first. It’s understandable to want resources. After all, you can’t get through an entire Ice Age without enough supplies."
The problem was, the people from Chaoyang Base didn’t try to negotiate. They just rushed the cargo plane and started smashing and looting.
Who could tolerate that?
"Did you open fire?" Xie Ning glanced at Gu Chen curiously.
"We barely had to. They were defeated after just a few exchanges." Gu Chen said with a sincere look on his face, pulling a superpower gun from behind his waist. "This is the newly improved K40. It’s not in mass production yet—these are just a few prototypes. Take it and give it a try."
Xie Ning silently took it, making it her own.
’She was already quite comfortable using the K30. Since this was an improved version, she figured it would have upgrades to its magazine capacity and firing rate. It should be a better fit for the hand speed of a Fourth-stage Superpower User.’
Gu Chen smiled at her. "We can leave once they finish loading up the cargo."
"Oh, right. There’s an open-bed truck at the base—burn all the meat inside it. Find the van Martin left behind, take care of the driver, and leave the canned goods for Golden City Base."
Gu Chen knew the young woman was a person of action and must have her reasons, so he didn’t ask questions, simply nodding in agreement.
At the crack of dawn, the large helicopter carrying Xie Ning, Zuo Li, and their party took off toward Golden City Base.
After they entered the base, the most frustrated person was, without a doubt, the youth, Beichen.
’He truly hadn’t expected that damn woman to be so heartless. After dragging him back to the courtyard house and making him heal her grandparents, she had tossed him over to Zuo Li next door without a second thought.’
Her excuse was that the house was too full, telling him to just make do with Zuo Li’s team.
Zuo Li had rushed back to the base with a pile of supplies, but before she could even take a couple of sips of tea, she was summoned by Zuo Dazhu to an urgent, closed-door meeting.
Also invited to the meeting was, of course, Gu Chen.
However, the moment he walked in the door, young Gu Chen dropped a massive bombshell on the Song Family.
Then, before the family could even react, he was called away again. And so...
Xie Ning found herself surrounded by the entire family on the sofa, sitting bolt upright and looking serious.
The air conditioning was on, making the house quite warm compared to the ten-to-twenty-below-zero temperatures outside.
Song You’ai looked at her expressionless daughter and cautiously asked, "Is what Xiao Gu said true?"
"More or less."
"What do you mean, ’more or less’?" Song Kexin blinked rapidly. "Sis, something’s not right with your attitude."
"That’s right. Dating is a major life event; you can’t treat it like a game!" Song Shijun nodded.
"How am I treating it like a game?" Xie Ning refused to accept the label they had inexplicably pinned on her.
"So you and Xiao Gu... are really dating?"
Xie Ning noticed that her mother, Song You’ai’s, eyes suddenly lit up, which was quite comical.
"You’re overthinking it." Xie Ning gave her mother a cool glance. "We’re not dating, we’re just boyfriend and girlfriend. Who has time to date? With the time it takes to date, I’d rather be out killing more zombies and training."
Everyone stared at her, their faces blank.
"So you and Xiao Gu?" Her aunt, He Shuping, asked out of the blue, scratching her head in confusion. "You’re boyfriend and girlfriend? The kind that don’t date, but just kill zombies together?"
"Right!"
’And she says "Right!"...’
Everyone looked to the heavens, speechless. They felt their child had probably been led astray by his nonsensical sweet-talk.
"What exactly did Xiao Gu say to you?" Everyone found the situation utterly ridiculous.
Xie Ning didn’t hide anything, completely unaware that her family was interrogating her about her private life.
She replied in all seriousness, "Xiao Gu said, ’Don’t worry, Ningning. Don’t feel burdened at all. It won’t waste any of your time. From now on, I’ll be in charge of killing monsters and earning the keep, and you can just follow behind and pick up all the Crystal Cores.’"
"I don’t feel like I’m losing out, do you?"
The family didn’t laugh, but Cres burst into a fit of wild laughter. HAHAHAHA.
The Song Family shot him a silent glance, their eyes warning him to shut up.
"You’re not losing out. You’re definitely not losing out." Song You’ai nodded repeatedly, fixing her daughter with an encouraging gaze. "You’re right, Ningning. We can’t waste our finite lives on dating."
"We won’t date; we’ll just be a boyfriend and girlfriend who kill zombies. That sounds great. The way I see it, you and Xiao Gu are a match made in heaven—the ultimate zombie-slaying duo! When the zombies see you two, they’ll tremble in fear and run for the hills!"
This pleased Xie Ning, who nodded with a smile. "I think so too. The Ice Age is about to arrive, and once we’re sealed in, it’ll likely be for half a year."
"Uncle Yong, we’ll need to dig another cellar for working out."
"Even if we’re stuck at home every day, we can’t slack off on our training!"
Everyone looked at her blankly before nodding in silent agreement. A single thought surfaced in all of their minds: ’This six-month Ice Age is going to be hell.’
...
"This is the general layout. Ningning, take a look and see if anything needs to be changed."
Xie Ning toured the underground tunnels a couple of times, then nodded and praised him in a low voice. "Uncle Yong, did you do all of this yourself?"
’Earth Ability Users are truly geniuses.’
The underground tunnels he had dug were spacious and didn’t compromise the stability of the ground above in the slightest.
The largest, living-room-like cavern connected directly to the main house above, making it very convenient to move between them.
Since the tunnels had to accommodate nearly twenty people moving about freely, some of the bulkier supplies could be kept in the main house above, to be fetched as needed.
"Uncle Yong is amazing," little Su Xiyue chirped, trailing behind her older brother and sister. "He even dug a separate side tunnel, built a fireplace, and ran a flue pipe up to the surface."
"Right! Now I just have to toss some Fireballs in there to provide heat twenty-four-seven. We estimate it can keep the temperature around seven or eight degrees Celsius."
Embarrassed by the children’s praise, Zhu Yong waved his hands dismissively. "It’s nothing, really. Not worth mentioning."
The group toured the tunnels with Zhu Yong a bit longer, and Xie Ning reinforced a few spots he pointed out with metal plates.
Zhu Yong nodded in satisfaction. "Much sturdier. Ningning, it seems your Gold Ability has improved quite a bit."
"I think so too."
Zhu Yong walked beside her up the stairs. They pushed open the trapdoor and climbed out, a blast of cold air hitting them in the face.
"The vents still need another inspection. Mechanical ventilation is a bit of a hassle, but at least it doesn’t require any power," Zhu Yong said with a smile.
"Uncle Yong, you’ve thought of everything. We owe you so much for these past few days."
"Don’t say that. Uncle Song and Aunt Song are the ones who have taken care of us."
Chatting, Xie Ning and Zhu Yong left the courtyard to inspect the ventilation system. On their way back, they happened to see Zuo Li dragging herself toward them, her eyes drooping as if she had been brutally tormented for hours.