“Watching the fun is fine, but don’t go trying to join in,” Pei Huaiye said. He never wasted his energy on useless endeavors.
Whether it was superpowers or weaponry, taking things by clever strategy was the real key; one had to preserve their strength at all times.
The fight was still going on fiercely not far away, and the open area of the entire hospital was filled with a hideous smell.
Ning Ran pressed her head against Pei Huaiye’s chest: “Brother, stinky!”
In fact, she herself smelled utterly awful—especially with zombie blood splattered over her body, looking both unsightly and foul-smelling.
“You smell even worse than the zombies,” Pei Huaiye remarked, using his Wood superpower to purify the air around them.
After a long while, the noise in the distance gradually quieted down. A vehicle rolled over the zombie corpses and pulled up beside them: “Come out, we spotted you guys long ago.”
Pei Huaiye had no intention of hiding in the first place, stepping out from his hiding spot with Ning Ran still clinging to him: “Friend, which base are you guys from?”
They probably weren’t from Hope Base—Cheng Feng wouldn’t easily bring out advanced weapons like those.
“Being self-reliant is so great, why bother joining a base?” The car door opened, and a man clad in black tactical gear stepped out.
He appeared to be in his thirties, with a crew cut, holding an assault rifle in his hands.
“Meng Xun. How should I address you folks?” the man asked.
“Pei Huaiye, Ning Ran. Those few are my brothers—Han Chao, Xu Sui, Ji Hengyuan, Xiao Jinyang, Wu Ci…” Pei Huaiye gave the “pendant” on his body a slight tug, his voice sounding faint and indifferent.
“Seeing that you folks dared to come to the hospital without carrying any weapons, you must have extraordinary capabilities.” Meng Xun stowed his weapon away. “If you don’t mind, we can travel together.”
Just as Han Chao was about to open his mouth to refuse, he heard Pei Huaiye say: “Sure thing. But there are ordinary people in my team, so we’ll need Mr. Meng’s people to protect them.”
Not knowing what trick his Boss was playing, Han Chao had no choice but to shut his mouth and follow behind the other group.
Having slaughtered a wave of zombies, Meng Xun’s team didn’t seem to plan on lingering at the hospital or searching for anything, driving their vehicles out of the hospital instead.
Pei Huaiye and his crew hotwired a few cars, starting the engines to follow behind.
The convoy rolled toward the suburbs in a grand line, slaughtering every zombie they encountered along the way.
Han Chao drove with a calm gaze, though Xu Wei and Lin Yao felt somewhat uneasy.
The cars traveled deep into the suburbs, finally coming to a stop at an industrial park.
High brick walls surrounded the park on all sides, topped with electrified wire fencing. The only main gate was equipped with barricades and guarded by sentries—it was unmistakably a small-scale base.
To be precise, a private base.
Meng Xun’s vehicle drove inside, pulling up all the way onto the central square. Pei Huaiye and his crew following behind pulled over to the side as well.
“I can tell Mr. Pei is a capable man. I, Meng, don’t care for much else, but I love cooperating with capable and insightful people.” Meng Xun walked over, leading them toward the main building.
The main building was a renovated six-story office block. Steel plates had been added to the exterior walls, and the windows had been built narrow and small.
Meng Xun walked at the very front, his shoes making heavy thuds against the floor.
The first floor was a renovated activity zone. A dozen men were in the corner wiping down guns and sharpening knives. Seeing the string of strangers brought in by Meng Xun, their eyes turned toward them in unison, filled with scrutiny and vigilance.
Pei Huaiye’s expression remained entirely normal. Clinging to him like a giant cat, Ning Ran only had eyes for her Brother, completely unbothered by those stares.
Han Chao looked expressionless, while Xu Sui walked nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets. Only Ji Hengyuan and the others in the rear acted with extreme caution.
Taking all this in, Meng Xun’s lips curled into a smile: “The conference room is on the second floor, please follow me.”
Though called a conference room, it was actually just a large table used for daily meals as well, capable of seating over twenty people.
Meng Xun led the group inside and sat down at the head position, getting straight to the point: “Mr. Pei was willing to come back with me, surely attracted by the weapons I brought, right? Otherwise, with the skills of your group, you would certainly have ways to break free.”
Pei Huaiye nodded: “Correct, I indeed felt curious about Mr. Meng. In the apocalypse, capable people are few and far between, and Mr. Meng is one of them. To be frank, I hold another identity—I am a member of the Ministry of National Security. My mission out here is to recruit capable individuals on behalf of the Ministry.”
At this, even Han Chao and Xu Sui were shocked for a moment.
They had never heard their Boss mention this matter before.
“Mr. Pei wants to recruit me into the Ministry of National Security?” Meng Xun burst out laughing.
“Precisely. Before the onset of the apocalypse, the state had already formulated countermeasures. Besides several large-scale bases, there are core territories. Surely Mr. Meng must have heard about them.” Pei Huaiye stared intently at the man at the head of the table: “The Northern Alliance, Hope Base, and Dawn City—these three are the largest core forces, equipped with advanced weaponry beyond saying. Mr. Meng joining the Ministry of National Security will only be like adding wings to a tiger.”
Zombies would only grow increasingly powerful, while humanity faced not only the threat of zombies, but also the depletion of energy and resources.
Only by having more and more talented and capable individuals join the Ministry of National Security would there be a possibility of weathering this crisis.
“Mr. Pei must be joking,” Meng Xun’s smile remained undiminished. “You’ve seen it as well—this base of mine is as solid as a fortress; zombies can’t possibly breach it from the outside. My brothers have guns and capabilities, so why should we submit beneath someone else?”
“Resources will be depleted, and food won’t regenerate. Is Mr. Meng so certain that your brothers won’t fall ill, or won’t engage in internal strife due to diminishing food supplies?” Pei Huaiye’s words were like a sharp blade thrusting straight into Meng Xun’s chest, causing his smile to instantly vanish.
What Pei Huaiye said was the truth. When going out, relying on their numbers and superior weaponry, they had gathered a lot of food. However, there would come a day when that food was completely consumed, while the food outside would rot, spoil, and gradually diminish to nothing.
“Mr. Meng, you can consider my proposal. Joining the Ministry of National Security holds no downside for you or your brothers.”
Meng Xun fell silent.
Meanwhile, Han Chao looked at Pei Huaiye with quite a bit of excitement. He had never expected his Boss to actually possess this layer of identity.
People of the Ministry of National Security couldn’t get in without true capability.
“I can consider your proposal, but I cannot give you a reply right now,” Meng Xun’s tone carried a bit more politeness.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll still be in Huacheng for some time, staying at Villa No. 36 in the East City Villa District. Once you’ve thought it through, you can come find me there.” As he spoke, Pei Huaiye stood up.
In his arms, Ning Ran was like a boneless creature, clinging tightly to his clothes.
Meng Xun shot a surprised glance, but didn’t utter a word.
After leaving the small base, the excitement in Han Chao’s eyes had yet to fade: “Wild-ge, you kept your identity so tightly hidden—not leaking a single bit of info to your brothers at all?”
Pei Huaiye replied, “What was there to talk about?”
Xu Sui turned his head to glance at him: “Not gonna lie, once I learned the Boss is with the Ministry of National Security, I instantly felt my own status raised a notch.”
“Raised a notch in front of zombies, huh?” Han Chao poked fun at him.
Xu Sui rolled his eyes at him, not bothering to take the bait.
Driving all the way back to the villa, Cheng Lichuan opened the gate, let the vehicles inside, and only then lowered the defense system.
Reaching safe territory, the crew instantly relaxed: “It’s still better at our own home—at least there isn’t so much danger.”
“Look at that base of theirs, solid as a fortress. Had I known, I would’ve set up a bigger place too,” Xu Sui remarked with deep emotion as he walked into the house.