Chapter 535 - 529: Expulsion
Chapter 535: Chapter 529: Expulsion
Seeing the dilapidated generator room on the verge of collapse, Ji Taixian quickly urged Song Kexin to climb up with him. The two moved swiftly, scrambling out of the hole in the ground one after the other.
The members of the other Superpower User teams were all gathered there.
There were a lot of them.
Gu Chen was asking Feng Lijian, the captain of Team One, and Hu Jianfeng, the captain of Team Two, for details.
Feng Lijian gave a wry smile. "Captain, some people in the underground shelter are adamantly refusing to leave. They say we have to agree to some of their conditions before they’ll come with us. In short, they’re causing a huge scene. They said they want to speak with you in person."
Gu Chen’s smile was gentle, but the words that left his lips were utterly cold and merciless.
"Will speaking to me directly somehow change the situation? Just take everyone who wants to leave. As for those who don’t, let them stay behind."
"It makes no difference to us. We’ve already saved plenty of people. That should be enough to meet our performance quota, shouldn’t it?"
As he spoke the last few words, Gu Chen’s voice lifted, tinged with sarcasm.
Hearing the word "performance," Chen Chong felt his face burn with shame.
’Even if my daughter misspoke and offended them, is it really necessary to be so sarcastic over and over again?’
’From the start of this rescue until now, Gu Chen and his people have been watching our group like we’re criminals.’
’What could we have possibly done that was so wrong?’
’We were kept in the dark by Chen Zhaowei too, all right?’
’Why do they have to be so relentless? Why won’t they just let it go?’
’Sure, we guarded the lab, but to be frank, we were just a bunch of hired thugs. We didn’t know any of the lab’s core secrets.’
’Besides, I’ve already confessed everything I was supposed to.’
’Even criminals get a chance at leniency for confessing, don’t they?’
’Doesn’t this count as a voluntary surrender? Shouldn’t our punishment be reduced?’
Gu Chen completely ignored Chen Chong’s small, resentful eyes. He turned and ordered the captain of Team Two, Hu Jianfeng, "Assemble here for a roll call."
It was now five in the morning.
Barring any surprises, the rescue mission could be declared complete around six o’clock.
Casualties for the entire team had been low, so the mission was considered a success.
Hu Jianfeng nodded and began gathering his people to line up for the roll call. He also reminded everyone to maintain their defensive posture and watch out for a last-ditch counterattack from the mutated sand worms.
Having been awake all night, with their spiritual power stretched taut from constant high alert, many of them—including the Superpower Users—were drowsy. They were forcing themselves to stay focused for the roll call.
Li Dawei was huddled at the back of the formation, muttering to his little sister.
"See? I told you so. Going on a mission with Xie Ning’s group is basically risk-free."
"Xie Ning is probably blessed with good fortune. Add to that how powerful her superpower is, and even if we encounter danger, she’ll lead everyone to safety."
Li Xiang nodded in agreement. "Bro, I’ve noticed you’re getting smarter and smarter. You’re a real genius."
Li Dawei let out a smug chuckle.
He turned to glance at Zheng Heng’s team, his gaze sweeping over them.
Li Xiang frowned and tugged on his sleeve. "What are you looking at? I’m telling you, knock off those playboy ideas right now. You’re not allowed to go chasing after other women. My two sisters-in-law are back at the base, going through hell to have your children! Don’t you dare get into any of that messy stuff. You’re about to be a father; you should grow up and act like it."
"You know, Li Xiang, I’m finding that when you lecture me, you’re starting to sound just like your sisters-in-law."
Li Dawei grinned. "What’s on your mind? I was just noticing that Zheng Heng’s team seems to be missing a few people."
"Oh, you’re right." Li Xiang turned to look as well.
"Looks like they’re short two or three men? Judging by the foul expressions on Zheng Heng’s teammates, they must have run into some serious trouble in the search zone."
Li Dawei shrugged and muttered to his sister, "Good thing all our teammates pull their weight. Look at their team—they’ve got several shit-stirrers. Like that girl, Zhuang-what’s-her-name. She’s a real handful."
"We all came from the same university, so how can the gap between people be this big?"
"Look at our ’village belle,’ and then look at them... Mm, it’s truly a world of difference."
Suppressing a laugh, Li Xiang nodded and pulled the other members of their group off to the side.
The siblings, Li Dawei and Li Xiang, weren’t whispering. Since Zheng Heng’s group wasn’t far away, they could be heard clearly.
Zheng Feina suddenly remarked, "Even teams we barely know have figured it out, yet some people still have absolutely no self-awareness. They just tag along with the team all day with no idea what to do. Not only are they completely useless, but they’re always causing trouble."
Zhuang Xinyi bit her lip and remained silent.
Zha Peng, standing beside her like a white knight, couldn’t resist retorting, "Xinyi didn’t do it on purpose."
"It’s just that those guys had bad luck. If they had just gotten out a little sooner, everything would have been fine, right?"
Zheng Feina sneered at Zha Peng.
’She had originally thought that this man, while a bit muddle-headed, at least had some intelligence.’
’But now it seemed he wasn’t just muddle-headed—his IQ was a flat zero.’
’I must have been completely blind to have secretly crushed on this man for so long.’
’Was I attracted to the sight of him playing basketball in the sunlight?’
’Or the moment he, drenched, flung shimmering beads of sweat from his hair?’
’In any case, that was all a long, long time ago. Looking back now, it feels like another lifetime.’
Once you learn to let things go, everything else fades away.
Right now, all Zheng Feina wanted was to survive this apocalypse with her brother.
Zheng Heng spoke calmly. "Zhuang Xinyi is no longer fit to remain on our team."
"Feina, He Zhi, and the others discussed it. Either Zhuang Xinyi leaves on her own, or you take Zhuang Xinyi and leave with her. Choose one."
Zha Peng stared at his friend in disbelief.
"Zheng Heng, what did you just say? You mean you want to kick Xinyi out by herself and leave her to fend for herself?"
He looked as if he had just heard the biggest joke since the apocalypse began, his eyes wide and round.
"How can you be so cruel? When did you become this cold, ruthless, terrifying person?"
"Don’t you forget, we were all university classmates! We came from the same school, and we’ve been through so much together over the years. You’ve never, ever talked about abandoning or leaving anyone behind before."
"I just can’t believe these words are coming from you, Zheng Heng. I can’t wrap my head around it, no matter how I try."
"I’ve never said that before. But you saw what happened today! We lost three teammates because of Zhuang Xinyi!"
"And I’m sure you know just how important those three teammates were to us."