After ensuring everyone was settled, the middle-aged leader of the rescue team finally found time to personally thank their saviours.
Without their repeated assistance, the main group might still have been stuck on the street battling zombies. Meeting reinforcements in such a critical situation was truly a stroke of luck.
“I’m Xiong Yan, leader of the No. 1 Rescue Team from Base No. 3. On behalf of everyone in my team, I want to sincerely thank you for your help,” the man said earnestly.
“We just happened to pass by and lent a hand. Most of the zombies on the street were dealt with by your team,” Gu Yicheng replied coolly, showing no intention of claiming the role of saviour. He hadn’t come to assist out of altruism.
His gaze briefly swept toward Dr. Chen, who was guarded in a corner by several people. Seeing that the doctor was unharmed, he looked away.
Xiong Yan found Gu Yicheng’s calm and composed demeanour admirable. Noticing the badge on Gu Yicheng’s chest, he asked, “Are you also from Base No. 3 on a mission?”
Many small teams from Base No. 3 used similar badges, though Xiong Yan didn’t recognize the name “Morning Light Team.”
“We did leave Base No. 3 recently, but not for a mission. We’re heading to B University’s new campus to find someone,” Gu Yicheng explained.
Xiong Yan, having been at Base No. 3 since its establishment, found it odd that such a capable team wasn’t familiar to him. He figured they must have arrived at the base during his absence for the rescue mission.
After chatting for a while, Xiong Yan grew increasingly impressed by Gu Yicheng. Unlike many young and impulsive ability users, Gu Yicheng displayed exceptional patience, insight, and thoughtfulness.
When Xiong Yan learned that Morning Light Team didn’t plan to stay in B City but intended to head to the capital after their search, he felt a mix of admiration and regret. A team like theirs would have been a significant asset to Base No. 3.
However, he understood their decision. The Hope Base in the capital, being the heart of the country, had far more resources and ability users. It was a logical destination. Still, the journey to the capital was long and fraught with dangers. He silently hoped they would make it there safely.
Regarding B University’s new campus, Xiong Yan couldn’t offer much assistance beyond sharing everything he knew. The rescue operation at B University had been Base No. 3’s most disastrous mission to date.
The operation, carried out by the No. 2 Rescue Team, had been forced to retreat before completing even a tenth of the planned objectives. Despite deploying over 200 people with powerful weapons, they managed to rescue only a few teachers and dozens of students while suffering heavy casualties.
Xiong Yan explained that even two weeks ago, there were already second-tier mutant zombies at the campus, possibly more than one. Considering the rapid evolution of zombies, it was likely that some had advanced to the third tier by now.
Hearing this, Gu Yicheng fell silent, deep in thought.
Third-tier mutant zombies…
Since his rebirth, Gu Yicheng discovered that his dual abilities allowed him to absorb all types of zombie crystal cores, unlike other ability users who could only absorb transparent cores or cores matching their ability type.
This unique advantage, combined with his experience as a sixth-tier ability user in his previous life, allowed him to progress far faster this time around. By now, his lightning ability had already reached the third tier, and his newly gained spatial ability was at the second tier.
Still, Gu Yicheng wasn’t satisfied. Third-tier lightning abilities gave him an edge over other ability users, but zombie evolution was equally swift. To defeat the zombie king in this life, he needed to grow even stronger.
B University’s new campus, with its dense population of over 10,000 students and faculty, was a prime location for high-tier zombies. If he could acquire their crystal cores, his lightning ability could advance further.
“By the way, Captain Gu, here’s the crystal core from the speed-mutated zombie. It’s yours,” Xiong Yan said, handing over the core.
Although his team had killed many zombies during their escape, they had only managed to recover this one core due to its uniqueness. Xiong Yan believed in fairness and recognized that the Morning Light Team deserved the credit for the kill.
Gu Yicheng accepted the core without hesitation and handed it to Ruan Ning beside him. A first-tier speed-mutated core was useless to him, and no one else in the team had matching abilities. However, Ruan Ning’s healing ability consumed crystal cores during treatment, making it a valuable resource for her.
The team was accustomed to Gu Yicheng prioritizing Ruan Ning’s needs, as he had done with the fire-type core given to Xie Fei previously. Outsiders, however, might find such behaviour surprising.
Xiong Yan assumed Ruan Ning was a speed ability user and smiled. “Captain Gu, is she your team’s speed ability user?”
Gu Yicheng’s expression didn’t change as he replied, “Our team doesn’t have a speed ability user.”
Xiong Yan wisely dropped the topic, understanding the importance of respecting other teams’ privacy.
Meanwhile, Ruan Ning quietly listened to their conversation, focusing on the details about B University. She tried to recall if the original novel had mentioned anything about it but couldn’t remember any useful clues.
After receiving the crystal core, she discreetly stored it in her space. Over the past few days, she had collected hundreds of cores from the zombies Gu Yicheng and the team had killed, so much so that the novelty had worn off.
—
While Gu Yicheng and Xiong Yan talked, Lin Yang, Xie Fei, and Li Bao retrieved a long-distance bus and a cargo truck from nearby streets. Though both vehicles were in poor condition, their engines were functional, making them suitable for transporting over 100 people.
With these vehicles and enough fuel to reach the base, the rescue team’s return trip became much more manageable.
“Captain Gu, I don’t know how to thank you enough,” Xiong Yan said, moved by the Morning Light Team’s generosity.
Ruan Ning, observing the arrangements, realized that Gu Yicheng’s extraordinary efforts were likely due to the presence of Dr. Chen, a scientist crucial to developing water purification solutions.
Such a significant figure deserved careful consideration.
**Nomad: Hi everyone, many of you may have noticed that some novels haven’t been updated for a while. I struggled to regain access to my account after my site went down, which took some time to resolve. I’m also in the process of moving the website to a different hosting plan, which I’ve been handling manually in the background. This has taken up a lot of my time, but I’m almost done. You might notice the website going down for a few hours now and then while everything gets sorted. Sorry about that!**
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