Chapter 52

The interior of the small courtyard was surprisingly well-decorated. With bright windows and clean furniture, it was fully equipped, containing three double bedrooms and a dining hall.

"The conditions are good. Miss Chen, you've gone to a lot of trouble," Zhou Rong said with a smile after walking a full circle around the place. "Soldiers don't really need this kind of special treatment."

Pushed by Wan Biao, Chen Yajing stopped in the living room and sat by the square dining table, her hands folded over a blanket. She replied, "Captain Zhou, no need to be so polite. Your thousand-li journey to escort surviving civilians has left me in great admiration. It's only right to provide the best possible living environment."

Her appearance was very serene, but when she spoke, she possessed an indescribable air—poised, sincere, and resolute.

—It seemed she wasn't some so-called cultist brainwashing the masses with mind control. So, what abilities did she possess to lead this massive base?

Zhou Rong smiled, but his gaze as he sized her up was cold and impolite.

Chen Yajing seemed completely oblivious to Zhou Rong's scrutiny, gesturing to another chair at the table. "Captain Zhou, please sit."

Zhou Rong, however, leaned against the windowsill, his peripheral vision fixed on Si Nan and Chuncao eating and chatting in the backyard. He said, "No, thanks. The long drive was tiring. I'll stand for a while."

"...Alright." Chen Yajing didn't insist and changed the subject. "Today's events were a misunderstanding. I brought Wan Biao here specifically to apologize. In fact..."

Zhou Rong cut her off. "Who are those robbers, and why did they claim to be the army?"

Chen Yajing fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, "They can no longer be called an army."

Zhou Rong perceptively asked, "Can no longer?"

"Yes. This base was originally a large research institute directly under the G Military Region, so it has countless ties to the military. After the virus outbreak, some of the institute's leaders and I had a disagreement over the issue of resettling the nearby victims..."

Although Chen Yajing didn't say it outright, Zhou Rong could easily read between the lines—the disagreement had resulted in a violent mutiny.

Chen Yajing didn't mention the bloodshed and casualties of the mutiny, but the result was that these dissenters, who disagreed with her, eventually left the institute and established their own base on the other end of the peninsula.

Compared to the well-equipped and well-supplied research institute, the new base was clearly barren. The dissenters plundered the urban area and passing vehicles, all while not giving up on their attempts to launch a counter-attack to settle scores with the original institute. In recent weeks, the bloody conflicts between the two bases had grown increasingly frequent, to the point of making Chen Yajing extremely anxious.

—Yan Hao had acted together with Wan Biao this time precisely to combat the other party's ambushes on vehicles and to defend this essential route leading to the research institute.

However, Wan Biao couldn't stand the sight of a pretty boy like Yan Hao and often caused trouble for him, which led to nearly harming the passing Zhou Rong and Si Nan. This was purely a coincidence.

"Some of them did indeed once belong to the military region, but more of them are impostors who killed G Military Region soldiers during the conflict and stole their uniforms and guns." Chen Yajing let out a long sigh. "Wan Biao's actions were indeed inappropriate. He attacked indiscriminately and almost mistakenly injured Captain Zhou. I must apologize to you all..."

"Oh, it's fine. Yan Hao has long since gotten over it." Zhou Rong forcibly hooked an arm around Yan Hao, saying breezily, "Right, little Yan Hao?"

Yan Hao snorted coldly.

Wan Biao, bruised and swollen with gauze still taped to his head, shot his eyebrows up, unable to stop himself from flaring up. "It was clearly that guy surnamed Yan who wouldn't follow orders, and they even pulled a gun—"

"Rong—ge—!"

With a crash, the door was thrown open. Guo Weixiang, tears streaming down his face, scrambled in like an ecstatic, giant husky. He flew through the door, threw his arms around Zhou Rong, and started wailing, "It's so great that you're alive! I knew you were still alive!! We were looking for you everywhere every day and praying for you, thank goodness you're alive wuwuwu waawaawaa aoaoao..."

Caught off guard and covered in a mess of snot and tears, Zhou Rong frantically grabbed Guo Weixiang by the collar to pull him off. "Yan Hao, quick, help me get him to the backyard to go play with Si Nan and the others..."

"Yan Hao, what happened to your face!" Guo Weixiang exclaimed in shock. "The corner of your eye is cut! Who dared to touch your beautiful face?!"

Wan Biao: "..."

"Who!" Guo Weixiang rolled up his sleeves menacingly. "I'll go settle the score with him right now!"

Yan Hao hurriedly dragged Guo Weixiang to the backyard to eat and chat with Si Nan and Chuncao.

A moment later, an inhuman shriek came from the backyard:

"Si Xiaonan! What did Rong-ge do to you? When did you two get together? Dammit, why did no one wait for me?!"

Zhou Rong: "..."

An awkward silence filled the living room. After a long moment, Chen Yajing rubbed her temples.

"As you can see... Captain Zhou," she said helplessly. "Yan Hao and the others were desperately searching for your whereabouts. Now that you've reunited, what are your plans?"

She finally got to the main point.

"Yan Hao should have already explained to you that we hope to find a boat to go out to sea and head for the temporary headquarters on the Spratly Islands," Zhou Rong said politely. "If you are willing to send people to assist us, that would be for the best, of course..."

"Pardon my frankness," Chen Yajing said, "but the headquarters you speak of may no longer exist."

She had probably repeated the same words to Yan Hao many times, but Zhou Rong didn't immediately refute her. The two of them silently met each other's gaze.

Guo Weixiang's gleeful shouts and Chuncao's boisterous clamor from the backyard suddenly became jarringly conspicuous.

"Do you know which was the first region in the country where the virus broke out? It was this very land beneath your feet. But what did the government do back then?"

"Cover-ups, lockdowns, suppression, refusal to report, news blackouts," Chen Yajing said coldly. "Then, when the situation became so severe it was uncontrollable, they tried to cleanse entire villages and towns with indiscriminate bombings."

"The cleansing-by-bombing was necessary," Zhou Rong replied calmly. "From small coastal towns to the heart of the nation, as long as the spread of the virus could be controlled, all sacrifices were unavoidable."

Chen Yajing retorted, "But what happened after that? I spent incalculable manpower and resources to repair the communication base stations, constantly sending signals to surrounding areas for support before winter arrived. Where was the government? Where was the country? Where was the rescue?"

Zhou Rong fell silent.

"If we hadn't opened our gates to take in the people, the coastal regions would have completely fallen long ago. Captain Zhou, I admire iron-willed, steadfast soldiers like you who hold onto their convictions, but unfortunately, not all officials and soldiers share those same convictions," Chen Yajing said faintly. "The country has abandoned us. We can only struggle to save ourselves in this apocalypse, using every means at our disposal to prolong the flame of survival."

Zhou Rong was silent for a long time before saying slowly, "I see things differently, Miss Chen... What do you think the country is?"

Chen Yajing didn't answer.

"The country isn't a shifting, subjective state, nor is it a fixed, objective territory. The country is not just the government, institutions, the army, and its borders—it's also you and I, standing here right now, and every other person struggling desperately to survive elsewhere."

"You're the widow of this research institute's deputy director. You used the nation's property and resources to save tens of thousands of people from the surrounding areas. Do you think that action doesn't represent the country? I am a Major-level Squadron Leader of the Unit 118 Secret Force. I led twenty-one team members a thousand li south, sacrificing seventeen comrades to carry out our mission and protect the masses, but I have never abandoned a single ordinary survivor. Do you think that action doesn't represent the country?"

Chen Yajing instinctively wanted to say something in rebuttal, but she couldn't form the words and suppressed the urge.

"I understand your thoughts," Zhou Rong said frankly, his voice still very steady. "On this vast land, with the beacons of war lit everywhere, you couldn't get any rescue and felt abandoned. But now you've seen that we are constantly searching for the government and our organization, so in other places you can't see, there must be other soldiers like me, constantly searching for and rescuing survivors, slowly assembling into an army."

"Where do you think the government's power to rescue the people comes from? It's gathered bit by bit, just like this. If you declare yourself an independent faction, and I refuse to press on, and everyone becomes their own scattered grain of sand, then the country will be torn apart, and the government will never be able to gather the strength to mount a rescue, right?"

The living room fell into a long silence. A ray of the setting sun passed through the window, shining on Chen Yajing's blanket-covered legs.

After a long while, she finally shook her head and said in a low voice, "What you say has its merits, but the South Sea is vast. I still don't think it's possible for you to find your so-called... headquarters. It's more likely you'll die at sea."

Zhou Rong replied, "That's our business. But I can tell you frankly, successfully reaching the South Sea Base is a crucial part of our mission. Even if you refuse to cooperate, we will still do it."

Chen Yajing stared at him with a probing gaze, but Zhou Rong remained impassive.

Half of his profile was bathed in the golden-red afterglow, while the other half was hidden in shadow. His eyes were cold and grim, but one corner of his mouth was curled into a careless arc.

Judging by appearances alone, even that so-called "army" of mutineers who had gone off to become highway robbers looked a little more righteous than he did.

"...Forgive my impertinence, Captain Zhou," Chen Yajing finally said slowly. "An important mission that would make an elite soldier like yourself risk death to complete in this current apocalypse... could it... be related to a vaccine?"

"Rong-ge—!!"

The door crashed open again. Ding Shi, tears streaming and cheering for joy, flew in like a giant, wheezing, rolling Doberman and threw his arms around Zhou Rong, wailing, "It's so great that you're alive! And Si Nan is alive! Wuwuwu, I missed you guys to death! I knew Rong-ge was so capable that you definitely wouldn't die. I'm so happy..."

Once again covered in snot and tears, Zhou Rong could only hastily console Ding Shi. After much persuading, he finally calmed him down, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and handed him to Yan Hao, gesturing for him to quickly take this Doberman to the backyard to play with the husky from earlier.

"Yan Hao, what happened to your face?" Ding Shi asked, stunned. "Who hit you? Who dared to lay a hand on the face of our Unit 118's Team Flower?!"

Wan Biao, again: "..."

Yan Hao couldn't take it anymore. "Who's your damn Team Flower!"

"How are you not? We have to rely on your face for all the promotional performances and awards, don't we? You're an important asset to our team." Ding Shi rolled up his sleeves and said angrily, "Who hit you? I'll get Xiangzi and go settle the score with him!"

In a few quick strides, Yan Hao dragged him into the backyard and impatiently slammed the door shut.

Anticipating what was coming, Zhou Rong covered his ears. Three seconds later, a shocked voice echoed from the backyard again, "—Si Nan! You... don't you have a phobia of Alphas? You and Rong-ge... when did you two do it?"

It wasn't clear what Si Nan said in reply, but Ding Shi yelled at the top of his lungs:

"How are you going to plan the wedding? How many kids are you having? Have you decided if they'll take your surname or Rong-ge's?"

Zhou Rong rubbed his temples and took a deep breath.

"You're mistaken, Miss Chen." Zhou Rong finally regained his composure, raised his head, and looked directly at Chen Yajing. "To a soldier, every mission is of the utmost importance. But our mission has nothing to do with a vaccine. We received and began executing it before the apocalypse arrived. Now we just need to report on it."

Chen Yajing gave a noncommittal nod, making it impossible to tell if she believed him. Zhou Rong had no interest in probing her thoughts. He knew that a person like her wouldn't be easily convinced by a one-sided story.

"I understand. Since you're set on leaving, I will cooperate as much as I can," Chen Yajing said. "Starting tomorrow, I will send people to help you search the coastal area for usable boats and prepare supplies and manpower. I wish you and all your team members the best of luck."

Zhou Rong was slightly surprised. He gave a slight bow and said, "Thank you very much."

Chen Yajing gestured that there was no need for thanks. Wan Biao pushed her wheelchair out of the courtyard gate.

"Miss Chen," Zhou Rong called out loudly, leaning against the doorway.

Chen Yajing turned her head.

"This base won't be your eternal safe harbor," Zhou Rong said, his eyes fixed on her scarred left cheek. "The virus has already started to evolve. The zombies are gradually developing the hunting habits of pack animals. Once a large horde of zombies begins to besiege this settlement, the situation will become exceptionally dangerous. You must be prepared to relocate at any moment."

Chen Yajing gave a short laugh.

"No, that isn't evolution, just a few isolated incidents. There's no need to worry."

A trace of suspicion abruptly surfaced in Zhou Rong's mind as she calmly added:

"Just as you're determined to find the Nanhai Headquarters even at the cost of your life, I too will do whatever it takes to protect this base. Even if you don't understand now, you will one day understand my persistence."

Wan Biao pushed her toward a minivan that had long been waiting at the courtyard gate.

The vehicle had clearly been specially arranged due to Chen Yajing's mobility issues. The driver's side window was halfway down, revealing a part of the driver's profile.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual about the driver. He was a young-looking man in his thirties with fair skin, black hair, and a slender build. He wore glasses and even had a somewhat refined and scholarly air about him.

From his wrist resting casually on the window's edge, one could see he was wearing a light blue shirt under a white lab coat.

—But for some reason, Zhou Rong's eyelid suddenly twitched, and his long-honed instinct for danger flared up.

A sense of unease instantly swept over his sensitive nerves.

The driver sensed the stare, turned his head, and met Zhou Rong's eyes.

"..."

Two seconds later, the window slowly rolled up, cutting off his line of sight.

Zhou Rong's pupils narrowed. He gave a nonchalant smile, turned, went back inside, and shut the door.

The car slowly began to move forward. Chen Yajing asked in a low voice, "Ning Yu?"

The driver retracted his gaze and pointed to the blue and white SUV in the courtyard, which had been nearly totaled by a shotgun but was still clearly identifiable. "Isn't that the car Rommel and his group were driving?"

"Yes. It seems those three from Country A... are most likely dead."

"What did the one surnamed Zhou say?"

Chen Yajing clasped her hands and rubbed the bridge of her nose deeply with her index fingers. After a long moment, she said wearily, "I've decided to send this group away as soon as possible."

The driver, Ning Yu, glanced at her in the rearview mirror, somewhat surprised. "Why? I thought the plan was to try and keep the special forces soldiers here."

"That man surnamed Zhou... is especially dangerous."

Chen Yajing paused, as if searching for the right words to describe her feeling, before giving up with a shake of her head. "He's different from the others. His will is incredibly firm, and his perception is exceptionally sharp. I feel like he's already starting to suspect something... I don't want to be forced to kill these soldiers one day just to silence them. The only option is to have them leave as soon as possible."

Ning Yu nodded, then asked doubtfully, "How did the Omega that Rommel was searching for everywhere end up with this group of people?"

"That's the crux of the matter. Why did Rommel travel thousands of miles just to find this younger brother? Was it really just his twisted affections at play? Why did Captain Zhou separate from his whole team to rescue this Omega, personally mark him, and then bring him all this way?"

The car jolted slightly. Along the road, survivors stopped in their tracks to bow respectfully to Chen Yajing.

"The important mission Zhou Rong mentioned, the one he would risk his life to complete," Chen Yajing said softly, "is probably to control this Omega and safely escort him to the South Sea."

The minivan stopped in front of the office building. The last ray of sunset sank into the earth, and the sky became a wash of deep blue, pale cyan, and dark gray. Twilight gradually descended.

Ning Yu fastened the buttons of his white lab coat one by one, then suddenly blurted out, "This person is important. We can't let him leave."

"Understood. I have a plan." Chen Yajing's voice was low. "Once the bow is drawn, the arrow cannot be recalled. We have no other choice now."