Chapter 159
Pu’an County was the site where Ningcheng sells disinfectants to the outside world. Anyone who wanted to buy disinfectants, whether they were individuals or bases, could come to Pu’an County to trade.
After Jin Shangyu’s improvement, this disinfectant had a longer time limit and would still be effective when using half an hour after a zombie or mutant animal infection. The corrosion was greatly reduced as well, making it almost the same as washing alcohol. As a result, this improved disinfectant quickly replaced the disinfectant of Liaocheng, attracting everyone to come and buy it. Even if Liaocheng later developed an improved version for external sale, they would fail to recover half of its market share.
Pu’an County is a transit station for Ningcheng people, and it’s filled with precious medicament. Its defensive line was of paramount importance. Tan Mingyuan, Wang Tao and the others were stationed here all year round and there was fourteen hours of uninterrupted patrol.
As the ability users are increasing and their strength was getting stronger, Da Liu and Ling Yin could no longer keep up with everyone’s pace, and they willingly withdrew from the group. With their martial arts, they worked together with Lu Yun as the head of the Self-Defense Forces and trained a group of very capable soldiers. After being equipped with blue potion, blue liquid and various poisons, their team became one of the strongest players. Ability users did not dare provoke them so easily.
When Gong Lixin arrived, Lu Yun happened to complete a transaction and he was asked to move the materials piled up in the open space in the warehouse. Seeing Gong Lixin and his party, his eyes opened wide and a smile spread across his face. He ran to him immediately.
“Young Master Gong, Brother He, Brother Dou, Brother Song.” He went up and greeted each person. Seeing the ‘person’ standing next to Young Master Gong, with a crystal nucleus in his mouth, he looked up to see Jin Shanghui chewing the nucleus like a gum. The corner of Lu Yun’s mouth ticked before he yelled, “Brother Jin.”
Jin Shanghui glanced at him and nodded slightly. Without looking at his deep, golden eyes and vertical pupil, he looked like a normal person at the moment.
Lu Yun’s eyes bulged out. He asked while point at Jin Shanghui in disbelief, “He, he, he just responded to me? I can’t believe this! Can he understand people?”
“In short, he always understood, but he didn’t like bothering with you before.” Gong Lixin smiled and gently touched Jin Shanghui’s shoulder-length hair. Xiaohui had been willing to interact with people recently, which was a good sign.
Jin Shanghui narrowed his eyes and showed his teeth, gently rubbing against the other’s palm and he growled from his throat, causing Gong Lixin to smile and bend his eye’s in pleasure.
“Okay, go in and speak.” Song Haoran interrupted the intimate interaction between the two.
Gong Lixin agreed and took Jin Shanghui to the sales station and Dou Heng followed him step by step. Entering the back room, Lu Yun took out a pile of ledgers and habitually wanted to hand it over to Lin Wenbo, only to find that Lin Wenbo didn’t come. He looked at Song Haoran in confusion.
“There was an incident at the base and Wenbo was left behind to deal with it. Let me see the account book instead.” Song Haoran said as he took the account book.
“What happened?” Lu Yun asked with a frown.
He Jin gave Lin Wenbo some face in the end, didn’t say that he was imprisoned by his grandfather who was forcing him to have a baby with a woman, and simply told about the invasion of the base by outsiders last night.
“The base leaders kept asking me if they could buy the blue potion and blue liquid. I refused. It seems that they couldn’t hold themselves back. They even thought of sending someone to steal it. This person is also very daring. The fact that he can easily go in must mean that there’s someone on the inside. There are traitors in Ningcheng! You must drag them out and kill them!” Lu Yun said angrily.
Gong Lixin raised his brows, wondering if the results of the investigation came out at this time. He should send someone back to ask tonight. For those who have betrayed the clan, they must not be forgiven.
Lu Yun saw that the boss’ complexion was bad. He hesitated for a long time before he finally cautiously spoke, “Young Master Gong, didn’t Xiaoyu let us publicize oral disinfectants a while ago? People who came to trade recently have been asking when the oral disinfectants will be sold, you see…”
“It’s not for sale anymore. They love to steal, let them steal from Ningcheng then. If they can steal it, I will give it to them for free!” Gong Lixin lowered his brows and everyone could see his dazzling smile that was so cold that it could freeze one’s bone marrow.
“Alright, I will post your words intact and save them the trouble of asking after it all day.” Lu Yun is a young master who fears that the world is not chaotic enough.
As soon as the notice came out, the leaders of the bases who had come back from Liaocheng’s secret talks were greatly disappointed. On one hand, they were annoyed by Song Haoxuan; on the other hand, they were yearning even more for Ningcheng’s medicines. They didn’t plan to cooperate with Song Haoxuan, but now, they began to think about it seriously.
A few days later, Pu’an County received a tightly packed carton. The carton had the joint signatures and seals of the leaders of all the major bases, indicating that Gong Lixin should open it himself.
“Is there some biochemical gas inside?” Lu Yun said, frowning at the sight of the box.
“Give it here. Are you afraid of being poisoned?” Gong Lixin took the carton and unpacked the layers of the packaging neatly.
“This is?” Gong Lixin raised his brows in surprise when he picked up the contents. Dou Heng’s, Song Haoran’s and He Jin’s faces also changed and they immediately surrounded him.
“This is an ear of rice, a fresh ear of rice.” Song Haoran took the ear of rice, picked off a grain from it, crushed the husk, and placed the white rice into his mouth to taste. After a while, he opened his mouth and firmly said, “No, this is not grown using the power of ability users, this is naturally grown rice.”
“There is an unpolluted land in Wucheng that can still grow food. They invited us to explore the pure land in Wucheng.” He Jin took the letter attached to the bottom of the box and explained after reading ten lines.
“Oh, they can grow rice in the Northeast? Isn’t that a scam? Moreover, Wucheng is shrouded in poisonous mist all year round. How did they get in?” Lu Yun asked weakly.
“Of course, the north can grow rice. The north has only one season while the south has two. In terms of weather, rice can grow all year round. Didn’t you read that in books?” He Jin asked angrily. In the end, he added, “I heard that the poisonous fog in Wucheng City is dissipating recently, and people can set foot in the surrounding areas already. However, it may also be a scam. This ear of rice may be stored with the power of a space ability user before the apocalypse.”
“It’s possible, but it’s very unlikely.” Song Haoran shook his head. “Unless space ability users could use two spaces instead of one, it’s better to collect rice grains rather than rice ears.
“Whether it’s a scam or not, we have to go and see. It’s about food, it’s about our next generation. It’s better to believe rather than question whether it’s credible or not.” Gong Lixin said flatly.
“Then I will go and ask someone to prepare. Take team one, two and three with us. One group will follow us to Wucheng. Groups two and three will be stationed outside the city. If there is an accident, they can be called to support us at any time.” Dou Heng, who had not spoken until now, did so slowly. When he saw the young man nod, he immediately bowed and retreated. He was the right arm of Gong Lixin in the truest sense. No one can be more timely than him in his position when it came to supplement the youth with solutions.
Dou Heng sent for someone to bring the news back to Ningcheng and gathered the members of the different teams. The next day, Gong Lixin led everyone to a small town outside of Wucheng. When they arrived, people from other bases had already gathered and cleaned up the town.
The town was very clean and tidy. There were small farmyards made of bricks and tiles. There were potatoes and sweet potatoes in the back of the courtyard. A bunch of corn and garlic that were dry and moldy were hanging under the eaves of the houses. Coupled with the crowd of people coming and going from the courtyard, there was a strong breath of life.
As they approached, they saw that these people were fully armed and full of vigilance. The feeling of stability immediately burst like a bubble.
“Young Master Gong, everyone’s here and we were just waiting for you.” Song Haoxuan, who saw Gong Lixin and his party, stood at the entrance of the town talking to several leaders and smiled at him as he greeted him.
Song Haoxuan didn’t have the slightest impression on Gong Lixin, so he only nodded while his attitude remained indifferent.
Song Haoxuan’s smile didn’t change, and when he looked at the group of people behind him, his violet and red iris’ shrank invisibly. The leaders who followed him also looked stiff.
Gong Lixin brought a total of more than 70 people this time, which was nothing compared to the camp of hundreds of the other bases. But the average strength of these 70-odd people that was in fourth-level low-grade and fourth-level mid-grade was roughly 30 or 40 people. The strength was much greater than several of the other bases. In particular, Dou Heng, Song Haoran and He Jin, who were beside Gong Lixin, were all at the top of fourth-level high-grade. There was also the man with long hair as well. The leaders of the other bases were overwhelmed from this man’s aura and pressure.
When they had adjusted to the horrible atmosphere that this man exuded, they carefully examined his handsome face. When they did, they were shocked and pointed at him, speechless.
It was Song Haoxuan who first stabilized his mind and sighed, “I have long heard that Young Master Gong kept a zombie around him, and I finally get to see it today.”
Jin Shanghui’s dark, golden vertical eyes looked at Song Haoxuan. He grinned and screamed, revealing his sharp teeth that shone with cold light and his beautiful and feminine face immediately became horrifying. Even the firm-minded Song Haoxuan was intimidated by this display; his feet moved unconsciously, wanting to retreat.
Zheng Chaohe behind him pressed against his back in time before he let go of his stance. The leaders were all pale and trembled as they regretted secretly. Gong Lixin could even raise a fifth-level zombie as if it was a cat or a dog. How strong should he be? Can the Song family’s base really succeed? Should they have not gotten involved? But the arrow already had a string attached before it was sent flying. They got into Song Haoxuan’s thieving ship and it was difficult to rethink their decision. Receiving the threatening glances handed by Zheng Chaohe secretly, they suppressed the fear in their hearts and greeted Gong Lixin into the town with a smile.
When passing Zheng Chaohe, Gong Lixin paused and looked at the other person. Gong Lixin’s dark and deep eyes were very penetrating, as if he could look directly into the heart of the person.
Zheng Chaohe stiffened. He slightly lowered his head to avoid the other’s sight and asked with a smile, “Young Master Gong, is there something wrong with me?”
Song Haoxuan, who was walking in the front, heard his question and immediately stopped and turned to look back.
“You’re not afraid of Xiaohui’s aura. Your strength should be equal to him or above him?” Although in doubt, Gong Lixin’s tone was very confident.
He’d tried his best to hide it but he was still noticed? Gong Lixin’s strength was really unfathomable! He sighed. Zheng Chaohe didn’t hide and nodded and said, “Indeed, I’m also a fifth-level low-grade ability user. However, I’m a space ability user and have no combat power. There’s no way to compare to Young Master Gong’s pet.”
“Xiaohui’s my partner, not a pet.” Gong Lixin glanced at him as he spoke lightly before taking several subordinates to take a rest inside.
Zheng Chaohe and Song Haoxuan watched the group of people disappear behind the courtyard door. The smile on their faces disappeared immediately and was replaced by a vicious look. Seeing several leaders approaching them, with a fearful expression on their faces, the two sneered and waved their hands before leaving as well.