TL: Moonlit

The soldiers in the car felt a chill down their spines.

Old Xue reprimanded, “Don’t spread panic! These are all just your speculations without scientific basis!”

Xiao Hen sternly replied, “It has been over two years since the apocalypse began. What more scientific basis do you want? I’m not fearmongering, I just want to advise you all not to use energy weapons recklessly. The consequences would be unimaginable.”

Xiao Hen wasn’t trying to scare them; he had a vague feeling, perhaps from “General” or Wen Qingling’s side, some kind of premonition. It was indistinct, but he could vaguely sense that something bad would happen soon.

Xiao Hen suddenly remembered Wen Qingling’s words. What did they mean exactly?

“You? Who are you referring to? Don’t forget, you’re also human!” Old Xue’s angry rebuke brought Xiao Hen back to his thoughts.

Those words sounded so familiar. Xiao Hen remembered that he seemed to have said the same thing to Wen Qingling before. Was Wen Qingling feeling the same way as he did now, too complex to speak?

Xiao Hen said, “The Level 8 Evolved ‘General’ is very powerful. Its known abilities include commanding all zombies, causing mental confusion, self-healing, and precognition. It can even create Level 5 Evolved ‘Corpse Mountains.’ Its defense is extremely high, and bullets are useless against it.”

This was the last thing Xiao Hen could do for humanity—to inform them about the Level 8 Evolved “General.”

There was a deathly silence in the car. After a while, Old Xue spoke, “How do you know all this?”

Xiao Hen replied, “I had a battle with the Level 8 Evolved.”

Everyone in the car was shocked. They only knew that the Level 8 Evolved “General” had appeared in Lingcheng, but they had no idea that Xiao Hen had actually fought against that kind of zombie!

And he had come back alive!

Old Xue’s expression turned serious. “What was the result?”

Xiao Hen’s tone was calm, as if he was talking about someone else’s story. “I and a weapons operator flew an armed helicopter and bombed its lair. We ran out of ammunition, but the Level 8 Evolved was still alive and kicking, able to fight back against us.”

“Then you…” Old Xue examined Xiao Hen from head to toe.

“I was saved by someone, that’s why you can see me now.” Xiao Hen knew what he was suspecting.

Old Xue tentatively asked, “Was it that doctor?”

As a high-ranking military official and Xiao Hen’s superior, it was impossible for Old Xue to be unaware of Wen Qingling’s existence.

Xiao Hen didn’t deny it. The only explanation for him coming back alive was Wen Qingling. Wen Qingling had something to treat the infected, and the higher-ups in Central Mega City should know about it.

Xue Feng fell silent for a moment before saying, “I heard that doctor is a dual-ability user, and his mental power is strong enough to control zombies. Is that true?”

Xiao Hen didn’t directly answer, “What do you want to ask?”

Xue Feng asked, “With his strength, do you think he could be recruited by the Central Mega City?”

“Not possible,” Xiao Hen replied firmly.

If it were possible, it wouldn’t have taken him so long. In the end, Wen Qingling wasn’t recruited by Xiao Hen but rather Xiao Hen was recruited by Wen Qingling.

Xue Feng said, “Aren’t you friends?”Xiao Hen replied, “Friends won’t work either.”

Xue Feng stared at Xiao Hen for a while, “From the information brought back by Meng Lao, the things in that doctor’s hands may be the key to developing a vaccine. If he cooperates…”

“Don’t have any ideas about him,” Xiao Hen interrupted, his gaze fixed on his superior, “That is not the key to developing a vaccine. It could be a disaster for humanity. Besides Dr. Wen, no one can control it.”

The car had already stopped, but no one got out.

Xiao Hen continued, “Based on our past relationship, I must remind you, don’t go to Ling City, don’t provoke Dr. Wen. His willingness to release Meng Lao is already the biggest concession. He has already handed over the people with antibodies to Meng Lao. Whether they can develop a vaccine depends on the abilities of the researchers. Don’t force him to become an enemy of Central Mega City. He may be humanity’s only way out in the future. Humanity shouldn’t destroy itself.”

Xue Feng looked at him in astonishment, and Xiao Hen continued, “I can only tell you these things. Xiao Jiang won’t listen to me. If someone proposes the use of force against Ling City in the future, I hope you can stop them. Ling City must not be attacked, and Dr. Wen should not be provoked.”

Xiao Hen’s tone was particularly serious, and Xue Feng had to take it seriously. “Is that why you retired and left the city?”

“This was my own choice,” Xiao Hen replied.

Xiao Hen didn’t give Xue Feng a chance to think and then dropped another bombshell.

“Furthermore, Central Mega City should strengthen its defenses. There is a new group appearing in the south. They appear human and hide among human bases. It’s difficult to distinguish them with the naked eye. They increase their strength by consuming humans. They call themselves ‘Undead.’ They are neither pure zombies nor pure humans. Like zombies, they spread the virus by biting, but their infection speed is faster. After biting someone, they transform in just 5 seconds, without any buffer time. Several survivor bases in the south have already been attacked.”

“New species?!” Xue Feng exclaimed.

“Something like that. Don’t judge by appearances. Their human disguise is flawless. It’s best to draw blood for verification. Their blood is different from human blood.”

Xiao Hen carefully explained the strength and characteristics of the “Undead” to Xue Feng, whose expression grew increasingly serious.

“Do you have any corpses?” Xue Feng asked.

“Yes,” Xiao Hen’s storage space indeed contained some “Undead” corpses. They had killed too many of them, so obtaining a few specimens for research purposes was not difficult. Xiao Hen gave Xue Feng several “Undead” corpses.

Xue Feng had the bodies placed in the trunk. This news was too significant, and he no longer had time to guide Xiao Hen slowly. He had to report this information as soon as possible. As for Xiao Hen’s matter, he would leave it to his own father to handle.

Xue Feng had two soldiers escort Xiao Hen upstairs while he took the corpses to the virus research institute, seeking trustworthy researchers to study them.

Xiao Hen had no intention of escaping and followed the two soldiers straight to General Xiao’s office.

General Xiao was busy. When he saw Xiao Hen enter, he glanced at him briefly, then continued his phone call. Xiao Hen stood in the office, waiting for General Xiao to finish giving his orders. Only then did General Xiao hang up the phone and picked up a stack of documents from his desk to review.

Without looking up, General Xiao said, “Your retirement request was denied.”

Xiao Hen looked at his father, who stood tall and busy, and the regrets and resentments he once had seemed less important now. Xiao Hen didn’t know if it was the influence of the zombie virus, but at this moment, standing here, he felt surprisingly calm.

He said, “I will leave Central Mega City.”

General Xiao paused with the pen in his hand, raised his face, which bore some resemblance to Xiao Hen’s, and finally looked at his long-lost son. He had a stern expression and a cold gaze. “Are you going against orders?”

Xiao Hen stared directly at him and replied, “I am no longer a soldier of Central Mega City.”

Therefore, there was no question of disobeying orders.

Xiao Jiang’s gaze darkened, his face clouded over, clearly on the verge of anger, but he managed to restrain himself. “Reason?”

Xiao Hen replied, “What kind of reason would convince you? If I turned into a zombie, would you kill me?”

Xiao Hen retaliated, “Just like how you didn’t hesitate to kill my mother.”Xiao Jiang slammed his pen down heavily. “Xiao Hen, let me say it once. I’m busy and don’t want to waste time on such pointless questions.”

A heavy gloom surged in Xiao Hen’s eyes. “You think this is a pointless question?”

Xiao Jiang said, “Yes, such a hypothesis has no meaning!”

Xiao Hen’s gaze turned gloomy. “Since it has no meaning, then don’t bother about whether I stay or leave!”

After saying that, Xiao Hen turned around and walked away.

“Stop!” Xiao Jiang shouted angrily, “Where do you think you’re going if you leave Central City? Ling City? What is there in Ling City that you’re so attached to?”

Xiao Hen replied, “Don’t worry about it.”

Xiao Jiang slammed the table in anger. “You caused trouble for me in Ling City and still say ‘don’t worry about it’? I ask you, did you leak the information about Yin Cheng taking the armored team to Ling City? Yin Cheng doesn’t know the meaning of life or death, and now he’s stubbornly holding onto us like a madman. And you still say ‘don’t worry about it’?”

Xiao Hen looked at the enraged man. “Yin Cheng was ambushed on the way. His life and death have nothing to do with us.”

Xiao Jiang said, “Go and explain that to Yin Jiang and see if he’ll listen!”

Xiao Hen said, “I’ve said what needs to be said. If he’s so eager to seek death, the power distribution in Central Mega City might need to be reshuffled.”

“Xiao Hen!” Xiao Jiang angrily exclaimed, “Once you leave this door, don’t even think about coming back!”

Xiao Hen stood at the door without looking back. “Take care of yourself.”

Xiao Hen left quickly and met the waiting soldiers downstairs. They stopped Xiao Hen and said, “Colonel Xiao, there’s a phone call for you.”

Xiao Hen hesitated for a moment, then followed them to answer the phone. “This is Xiao Hen.”

As soon as Xiao Hen spoke, he heard Xue Feng’s angry roar from the other end of the line. “Xiao Hen! Tell me the truth, what did you come back for this time?!”

Xiao Hen’s heart sank. He knew he was in trouble.

Sure enough, the next second, Xue yelled, “A batch of research equipment in the Virus Research Institute has been tampered with. Did you do it?!”

For someone who understood Xiao Hen’s abilities, it was too easy to guess.

When Xiao Hen tampered with the equipment, he chose an unused laboratory to buy himself time. It wasn’t until this morning when the researchers arrived for work and found the equipment malfunctioning and unfamiliar in appearance that they realized the equipment had been swapped.

It wasn’t just a few devices, but an entire batch. The entire Virus Research Institute was in chaos. They immediately checked the surveillance inside the institute, but as expected, they found nothing. A complete batch of intact equipment had been swapped out.

Such a big incident had to be reported, but before it could reach the person in charge, Xue Feng suddenly called and ran into it. After understanding the situation, Xue Feng’s first thought was Xiao Hen, who had just returned.

To silently and unnoticedly sneak in and move so many devices overnight, it had to be a spatial ability user. While there were many awakened spatial ability users, there were not many who could fully develop their spatial abilities. Spatial abilities were just a branch of the space ability users, who only possessed the ability to store items in space. But spatial ability users were different; as long as their strength and level were sufficient, they could fully develop their spatial abilities.

The spatial ability user Xue Feng was familiar with was none other than Xiao Hen, who had just returned yesterday. Only he could have stealthily infiltrated and moved so many devices. Xue Feng couldn’t think of anyone else.

While Xue Feng was still yelling on the phone, Xiao Hen glanced around him. The soldiers who brought him here were all prepared, most likely instructed by Xue Feng. Xiao Hen calmly said, “We don’t have a repairman at our base. I’ll borrow yours.”

Xue Feng exploded in anger, “Stop spouting nonsense! What kind of borrowing is this? It’s theft! Immediately return them to me!”

Xiao Hen had developed a thick skin in Ling City. “I’ve already compensated. Unless you erase the information and return the research materials I gave you.”

Of course, that was impossible, so there was no need to return the devices that had been swapped.

After Xiao Hen finished speaking, he hung up the phone with a snap. Regardless of how furious Xue Feng was on the other end or how he banged against the wall, Xiao Hen turned and walked away. Before the soldiers could pounce on him, he had already disappeared from the command center.

The phone rang again, and Xue Feng gave the order to capture Xiao Hen and his accomplices.

After delaying for so long, Ji Rong and the others had already left Central Mega City with Shi Chong’s Uncle. Xiao Hen dashed towards the outskirts to meet up with them. He didn’t need to leave through the city gates; everything that stood in his way would crumble under his spatial movement.

With this departure, he would never be able to return to Central Mega City again.