by Tai Baiyang
Yuan Rui nodded her head and answered, “Sure, uncle.” After that, she touched the back of the Obsidian Beetle playfully and said, “Little Black, you’re my pet from now onwards. So you need to be well-behaved, alright?” The Obsidian Beetle criticized Zhang Mu in its heart. However, it silently yielded as it was merely for a show. Under Zhang Mu’s reminder, it lowered its aura from the second rank to the first rank too.
After the preparation, they slowly walked to the front of the city in a line, which was a simple wall that was reconstructed from a high-speed toll station.
Although it did not look perfect, if it was completed recently, then the earth-type evolver responsible for this project had powerful ability and background as this was not a simple wall constructed by the earth. Zhang Mu estimated the length of the wall, and it appeared that the wall almost surrounded the entire city.
Even though the thickness and the defense power was not perfect, but it was enough to use as a warning to others.
However, Zhang Mu knew that even a hundred of mutated animals could break through such a wall that built around the city with such a far range, not to mention about the herd of walking dead too.
Right now, they did not encounter any hardship yet. But when the time comes, this line of defenses must be pulled back.
Nevertheless, these were not the things that Zhang Mu need to worry about now, as they had reached the city now.
Zhang Mu could felt that the flow of energy in the air was a little chaotic. Looking up, the guards on the wall above them seems to discover the arrival of Zhang Mu and the others, and everyone’s eyes were on them.
A man, a woman, and a child. Together with a big dog as tall as a human, and a beetle that was even bigger than the dog.
“Stop moving!” They were equipped with loudspeakers. When Zhang Mu was about a hundred meters away from the tower, they warned Zhang Mu and the others to stop advancing any further.
Zhang Mu also stopped in a very cooperative manner, and squinted his eye looking straight at them.
“Who are you? State your intention for coming here.” There was a commotion within the guards on the simple-looking tower for a moment. A good looking young man walked out and took over the loudspeaker to question Zhang Mu. He seemed to be the person in charge.
It appears that they were afraid that they could not hear Zhang Mu clearly from a distance, as a loudspeaker flew out from the tower and landed on Zhang Mu’s feet.
A psychological evolver!
Zhang Mu narrowed his eye even more. Just a place with guards had a psychological evolver that could extend his psychic ability more than a hundred meters away. It was uncertain if his psychic attack would be powerful too. Did Shan Xi city had too many powerful evolvers, or their leader did not know the value of these evolvers? What a waste of God’s gift.
Zhang Mu’s mind was more towards the latter possibility. Even if he did not have any combat ability, such a psychology evolver with strong detection ability, this power would be treasured and used as a small hidden card in his past life.
He picked up the loudspeaker and switched on the power. He maintained his smiling expression and said slowly, “We are people from the town outside. We decided to come here as we believed that the capital city of a province would be safer for us.” Once Zhang Mu spoke, the people on the tower breathe out a sigh of relief after confirming that he was a human. Hence, they retracted back all types of ability that was formerly aimed at Zhang Mu and the other.
The young in charge pulled a short man to his side and spoke, “Li Hu, looks like they were the same as you, a tamer evolver that could control the creature after they were mutated. Let Thunder go and inspect their body. If there is no problem, then let them in. Although there were many first-ranked evolver in the base now, it's always good to have more people with combat ability.”
Chapter 162: Welcome
The short man called Li Hu, had a solemn look on his face. Once he heard the orders, he asked with uncertainty, “Brother Feng, why are you so certain that they are first-ranked evolvers?” The young men laughed, “When I sent down the loudspeaker earlier, I secretly confirmed their identity too. Even though the man’s energy had a strong fluctuation, but he definitely did not exceed the range of the first rank.” “You must know that the existence of the second rank, is untouchable and there is only the boss who had managed to reach that rank in the whole Shan Xi city!”
At this moment, the young man's eyes were full of enthusiasm for the person that he mentioned earlier.
Li Hu knew in his heart that the current in charge was one of the few people that worshipped the base leader, so he no longer talked anymore. He walked down the tower by himself and opened the gate.
“Do not try to resist. We are going to carry out an inspection.”
After that, the gate slowly opened.
At this moment, all the fur on the mutated wolfdog stood up abruptly, and its gaze transfixed at the direction of the gate.
The moment Zhang Mu felt strange, a ray of black and yellow lightning sprang out from the gates together with a person sitting on top of it.
It was a German Shepherd dog! A military dog!
After they went out, the gate quickly closed again.
As quick as lightning, they had arrived in front of Zhang Mu and the others. Although Zhang Mu was able to capture the moment of that military dog, the speed was too fast for him to see the person’s face distinctly.
That German Shepherd dog, was remarkable!
No wonder his mutated wolfdog had an embattled look, it turned out that it had met its own kind.
The mutated wolfdog barked twice but that military dog ignored it completely. The difference in obedience could be seen from here.
A short men leap down from the mutated military dog that parked in front of Zhang Mu. The look that he was giving Zhang Mu was like a wolf staring at him.
“A veteran?” Zhang Mu no longer narrowed his eyes to size up the other party. He guessed the identity of the person and questioned him.
The clean leap, straight body, the amount of space between his legs, and the opened shoulders that even a recruit could not do, coupled with the imposing pressure from his eye, allowed Zhang Mu to confirm that this man, was most likely a soldier who had been enlisted for many years.
Zhang Mu had contacted many soldiers in the past. Their ability might not be the strongest, but their enforcement was utterly superb. In fact, there were many bases controlled by the military because of the bunch of soldiers in their hand.
Was the current Shan Xi city taken over by the military? That provides much food for thought.
The short men now looked at Zhang Mu with a hint of interest, but there was still some doubts in them. He felt that some areas in Zhang Mu’s body was like his comrades. But that murderous vibe Zhang Mu was emitting was so thick, like a mercenary he had met before.
Li Hu had a good eye for discerning people. That young man smiling at him, although from his presence and appearance, he looked above 25 years old, when he looked closer, there were certain areas that he found had a youthful appearance. Especially his hands, it was slender, bright, and clean. It was not like a soldier at all, with many calluses on their knuckles.
But this familiar presence, really gave him a homely feeling.
Li Hu prompted Zhang Mu, “Which unit are you from?”
Zhang Mu smiled. The short men in front of him actually took him as someone from the army. Indeed, there was a reason for him to think that way. Zhang Mu had fought with soldiers from a division together for two months in his past to protect a gateway city. Zhang Mu did not want to participate in the battle at first. However, the gateway city was too valuable for him. If the city had succumbed, then it would be a lot harder for Zhang Mu to complete his era merchant’s task.
At that time, many evolvers had participated with this battle against the walking dead. The opponent was six-figure walking dead corps under the command of a second-ranked intellectual type
of walking dead. Even though it was a long pull, they managed to pull it off in the end.
It was during those two months that the combat soldiers had exerted a subtle influence on Zhang Mu's character. They had fought, lived, and ate together. So naturally, he would be infected by their unique presence, and was counted as a half-soldier. Therefore, it was not surprising that Li Hu had noticed this from him.
A soldier would always be sensitive and familiar with this presence.
Zhang Mu was a little stunned. Until the moment Li Hu questioned him again if he was a comrade, he had recovered from the shock. He smiled and answered, “I’m not, but there was a relative in my family that was a soldier, and I followed him from young.” Since he had fought with soldiers, so they should be counted as a relative right? Therefore, Zhang Mu answered him with a clear conscience in his mind, thinking that this was not counted as a lie.
At this moment, Li Hu came to an understanding immediately, “I see. No wonder I felt familiar.” He touched the mutated military dog that was standing motionless on his side and commanded, “Thunder, go and inspect them.” He had a good impression with Zhang Mu as he smiled at him and said, “My name is Li Hu, and I’m the inspector for Shan Xi city. Although you felt like a comrade, I still have to do my duty. Please cooperate with Thunder for a while. It will be quick.” “No problem, we should cooperate with your job. We don’t dare to enter if you didn’t inspect us a little.” Zhang Mu generously let the mutated military dog called Thunder, to sniff his body.
When the mutated wolfdog was getting sniffed by Thunder, it abruptly opened its mouth and showed its teeth to the German Shepherd that was as tall as its height.
However, the other party did not appear to care about its protest. It returned to Li Hu’s side after sniffing Zhang Mu and the rest, and barked for a few times.
This Li Hu could understand the words from his mutated military dog? This ability was not the same as training to be in sync. It appeared that the dog was not merely a companion he had before the Cataclysm. Li Hu’s awakening ability to tame the mutated animal was enough for him to communicate with the military dog that he was close with previously.
“Two first-ranked humans, two first-ranked mutated animals and a child with no ability?” The feedback that Li Hu heard from Thunder was the same as the person in charge with the surname Feng.
“Then, there should be no problem. There was no need to check for any bite marks from the walking dead for such an evolver.” After that, he opened his left hand to signal the people on the tower that there was no problem.
The previously closed door produced a creaking sound when it was opened from the inside due to the friction against the ground.
Li Hu smiled to Zhang Mu and the others, “Hello and welcome to the Coal City.”
Chapter 163: Bewildered
When Zhang Mu entered the gate, he smiled and greeted the soldiers guarding the entrance. At this moment, Li Hu caught up to them riding the mutated military dog while the people inside closed the gate immediately.
Li Hu leap down from the broad back of the military dog. He patted its head and spoke, “Go and have fun by yourself for a while.” But at this moment, the mutated wolfdog who was quiet for the whole time earlier, barked a few times and lowered its head to rub Zhang Mu’s shoulder. Meanwhile, its hopeful eyes looked at Zhang Mu.
Zhang Mu understood its intention right off the bat. He reckoned that it wanted to play with Li Hu’s German Shepherd. Also, he found that the mutated wolfdog had been following him closely for these days, so it was normal for it to be itching to do something when it saw its kind.
“Brother Li, you see my mutated wolfdog did not have fun for a long time. Now that we are in the city, can you let your German Shepherd take him to stroll around and relax?” Zhang Mu chuckled and asked for Li Hu’s opinion.
Li Hu pondered for a moment and agreed immediately, “Sure thing. Just now, the one who spoke to you earlier was my person in charge, and he had approved my leave for the rest of the day. Also, someone has been arranged to take over my place, so Thunder does not need to be here anymore. Alright, I’ll let your big dog go out and play with my Thunder then. Meanwhile, let me take all of you to the base and register.”
After that, he caressed the chin of Thunder and said, “Today we have a night off, so there is no need for you to return to the camp. You can bring him to play around, but don’t be too late. Come back when it’s about time.” At first, Thunder looked at the mutated wolfdog with a face of disdain. However, Thunder felt that it had to thank the wolfdog that possessed the same canine breed instead now. It also felt a little excited as Li Hu did not give it a day off for a long time.
Although it was a military dog, trained to be disciplined since young and continued to obey its dog handler even after its mutation, it still had a thirst to play deep within its heart.
Looking at the mutated wolfdog and Li Hu’s Shepherd dog running out from his vision one after the another, Zhang Mu made a connection suddenly. He turned and asked Li Hu, “Brother Li, is Thunder male or female?” Li Hu was a little uncertain what to say to Zhang Mu, but he still replied, “Female.” Now, Zhang Mu knew why the mutated wolfdog was so excited. Oh boy, this fellow had taken a fancy to a military dog. How bold and daring.
He silently prayed for the mutated wolfdog. He felt that the combat ability of this Thunder was not beneath the mutated wolfdog, and might be even stronger than him. That wolfdog, once he looked for a mate, he found an overlord flower within the dogs.
Zhang Mu chuckled, “It’s nothing, I’m just curious. Why did you name it Thunder even though it is a female?” Li Hu laughed, “I say, why did you ask this question? As for the name, when we were still in the military, we cooperated with Yun Nan’s police to capture drugs smugglers. Therefore, we brought along Thunder, that is a military dog. She sniffed out a bunch of landmines that were hidden extremely well in the forest. Therefore, I gave her the name Thunder. There were fewer females in the military, so everyone treated her as a male dog. As a result, everyone also finds that the name Thunder was not bad, so I have been using this name since then.” “Wow, so she is a dog with great achievement. That’s amazing.” Zhang Mu boasted the dog openly.
When Li Hu talked about Thunder, even an upright man like him could not hide the pride on his face. Previously she was his favorite pet, and now she became the most significant part of his awakening ability. Hence, he treasured her like his life. He pointed to a distant place and said, “There is some distance from the main district. But there is nothing for you to worry about as the walking dead and the mutated animals in the entire city were cleared by us already. Therefore, the entire main district is safe.” A huge raging wave set off in Zhang Mu’s heart when he heard this. This Li Hu said that the entire Shan Xi city was swipe cleaned? When Zhang Mu left Luoyang city, all of the bases were scattered. Furthermore, it was good for them not to be devoured by a large group of walking dead already. Even though it had been half a month now, Zhang Mu still didn’t have the confidence that he could help Wang Liang to clear out all the walking dead herd in the entire Luoyang city, and the reason is that he needed time.
Right now, this Shan Xi city, was far beyond his expectation. He formerly thought that only the side closed to the wall were recovered. Never did he expect that they put so much effort to clear out the walking dead and the mutated animal.
It was unheard of for a city to develop to such a state within two months. That had pulled Luoyang city far behind from them. Who was the leader of this base exactly?
Did the Ice Queen evolve in advance?
Seeing the surprised look on Zhang Mu’s face, coupled with the affection he had for Zhang Mu, Li Hu did not keep too much information to himself as he said proudly, “All of this relies on our current leader and that was how our base gets to develop into such a state.” Zhang Mu felt a little strange as he questioned Li Hu, “But aren’t you a soldier? How come you obeyed others too?” “How should I say this?
I wouldn’t obey the others, but this leader had a close connection to the military. He used to take over us soldiers for a period. Although he left in the end, there were a few of his students in this troop, so not much people object when he leads all of us. Even a few of them became his crazy worshipper.
Even though I’m not one of them, but I have to say that our instructor, his charisma, does have a notable impact. Because now is a unique period, I don’t worship him, but that does not mean that I dislike him.”
A military instructor? It was not the Ice Queen then. How was it possible that there was an evolver in Shan Xi city that was far above the existence of the Ice Queen and even managed to unify Shan Xi city in advance?
Unless, he had the wrong news from his past life. However, there was no way for such a piece of common knowledge to be incorrect.
“So it was your instructor. No wonder. I was thinking why would such a high and mighty soldier like you guys obey someone’s order. So what kind of person is he?”
As soon as he said there, Li Hu stopped chatting. He said mysteriously, “Later, you’ll find out. When you are registering, someone would inform him. Two first-ranked evolvers and two first-ranked mutated animals are a good combat ability. Now is a great time for the base to develop.”
Zhang Mu held hands with Yuan Rui and Hao Hao while they followed behind Li Hu, who was leading the way. Gradually, there were signs of human habitation as they walked farther. The pedestrians walked past them looked with curious eyes at the strange combination of Zhang Mu’s party.
There were children and the elderly, and there was no numb expression on their face. This leader had done a great job.
Zhang Mu looked around while nodding to himself secretly.
Was he going to see the mysterious leader of Shan Xi city soon? What kind of person would he be? What about the Ice Queen? Where is she?
This matter, had become complicated and confused.