nycdaug Chapter 48 Long'an Base
Chapter 48 Long'an Base
As the group prepared to eat in the courtyard that evening, Yun Qian came in with a report and said, "This is a report just sent back by the communications officer from the reconnaissance unit. Zheng Yong asked me to give this to you two." Li Chenglong and Yun Lan opened the folder, which contained the contents sent back by Wu Gang's First Battalion Reconnaissance Company.
According to the report from the reconnaissance company of the 1st Battalion, less than a week after the Shuguang Base left Qing'an Town, a military force seized Jinghai City and established a base. Currently, the base is mostly staffed by soldiers, with a small number of civilians. Although they initially appeared to be a remnant force, they are slowly recovering. The report also detailed the location of the Long'an Base, which is located near the former Jinghai City First People's Hospital, which they previously occupied. However, due to the lack of in-depth investigation, the unit designation and leadership of this force remain unclear.
Li Chenglong nodded. Although he was eager to know more detailed information about the Long'an Base, he knew that this matter couldn't be rushed. Currently, there were two bases surrounding the Dawn Base: the Long'an Base, located 200 kilometers northeast of them, and the Huaxing Base, 100 kilometers to their south. They had already gathered information about the Huaxing Base; it was established primarily by a Level 5 ability user, located halfway up Qinglian Mountain, and based in a town. Recently, Dawn City and they had exchanged some supplies, and the cooperation had been relatively pleasant.
After reviewing the report, the two invited everyone to dinner. After dinner, Li Chenglong suggested visiting the Long'an base, as it was a military base, and judging from the situation, they had likely withdrawn from the Yanjing base. At the time, several bases, including the Donghai and Jinghai bases, had gone to defend Yanjing, but they encountered a massive zombie horde, Yanjing was captured, and the commander died in the attack. Later, the State Council issued a proclamation allowing people in various regions to independently establish their own forces to protect themselves and overcome the difficulties together. Yun Lan refused: "You're always out running around, leaving me here alone. Our Shuguang base is just starting out; now is the time when we need your leadership, and it's also a time for you to win the hearts of the people. You should show your face more often. Besides, we've already sent several groups of people to scout the Long'an base, so don't worry."
Li Chenglong nodded: "I'll talk to Zheng Yong tomorrow. We'll skip the covert investigation and go straight to an open visit. Tomorrow, have Qian Guangming's fourth battalion send 100 men as guards, with Zheng Yong, Yun Qian, and Qian Guangming acting as envoys. We'll have a direct exchange visit." Yun Lan said, "What if they refuse us? They might even detain our people." Li Chenglong smiled slightly: "They shouldn't. Their base was only recently established, so they definitely don't want to start a conflict easily. Even if a conflict does occur, Qian Guangming is now level four, Zheng Yong is level two, and Yun Qian is level three. They can still escape. We can also station another battalion 50 kilometers away from their base for backup, ensuring our safety." Yun Lan then agreed to the idea.
The next day, the exchange group, led by Yun Lan and consisting of five people, left the Dawn Base under the escort of 30 soldiers from the Fourth Battalion, heading north to contact the Long'an Base. Yun Lan decided to lead the group herself; in case they encountered any high-level zombies along the way, she could kill them directly, increasing the Tower of Martial Power's strength and better protecting the exchange group. Moreover, if the Long'an Base dared to make a move, with a level five soldier like herself present, they would have to think twice before acting. Before leaving, Li Chenglong entrusted the Demon-Slaying Bow to Yun Lan, instructing her to be extremely careful. It's worth noting that Yun Lan also took Zhao Liying with her, as Zhao Liying's intelligence-gathering skills were very useful.
Yunlan's delegation traveled in two cars, while the 30 soldiers escorting them rode in two military trucks. Before they set off, the other 200-plus men from the Fourth Battalion had already departed. They would wait at a location 30 kilometers away from the Long'an base, ready to cover Yunlan and the others' evacuation should any unusual activity occur at the Long'an base.
Four people were in the first vehicle: a female soldier named Han Xiao who was driving, Yun Lan, Yun Qian, and Zhao Liying. The following vehicle carried Zheng Yong and Qian Guangming. Yang Xuelin, the deputy battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion, was leading the covering force of the Fourth Battalion. The road was much easier to travel than the way they had come; troops from Shuguang City sometimes came to clear it, so the less than 200km journey took Yun Lan and the others about five hours. They arrived a few kilometers from the Long'an base and communicated with the troops behind them via radio. After a quick meal to recover their strength, they slowly drove towards the Long'an base.
The Long'an base, centered on the Linhai First People's Hospital, has a radius of about one kilometer, significantly larger than when Li Chenglong withdrew. Yun Qian looked at the hospital building in the distance and said, "I suddenly feel like I'm going home." Yun Lan also smiled and said, "Of course, there are some feelings involved, after all, this is where we first fought." The surrounding ground had been repaired, some collapsed buildings had been cleared, and defensive fortifications and low walls had been built in some places, with guards visible from afar.
It was 1 p.m., and the guards at the south gate of the Long'an base had just finished lunch and were feeling a bit drowsy when they suddenly noticed two cars and two trucks slowly approaching from the south. Judging from the trucks' appearance, they were clearly military vehicles. The guards immediately sounded the alarm and contacted their superiors via walkie-talkie. Soon, fifty or sixty heavily armed men were already standing in front of the defensive positions in front of the south gate. An officer-looking man used a megaphone to shout, "Please state your identities and purpose, otherwise we will have to resort to drastic measures..." He repeated this several times.
Yunlan told the others not to get out, and she and Zheng Yong from the back car walked to a spot 50 meters ahead of them. They exchanged glances, and Zheng Yong stepped forward, saying, "We're from another base, about 100 kilometers away. We heard they've set up a base here, and we wanted to make some friends. After all, in this apocalyptic world, having more friends means we can help each other, so we came here specifically." A burly man stepped forward and said, "Who knows if you're sincere? What if you're using friendship as a pretext to spy on us and then try to take us over?" Zheng Yong nodded, "Then only let the five of us in, and we'll be under your surveillance the whole time. If we do anything wrong, you can do whatever you want with us, okay? Besides, apart from the driver, none of the others have any weapons." As Zheng Yong spoke, he and Qian Guangming checked their tactical vests; indeed, they were empty. The other three girls were dressed very conservatively, so they couldn't hide any weapons either.
Qian Guangming stepped forward and said with a smile, "Does a base as prestigious as this be afraid of even five of us?" At this moment, a superhuman ran up to the leader-like man and whispered, "One level four, one level three, two level two, and as for that woman over there, she seems to be an ordinary person." The leader-like man nodded, communicated for a while through the walkie-talkie, and then said, "Alright, but only the five of you are allowed to come in." Yun Lan didn't waste any words and followed Zheng Yong and the others inside, with more than a dozen people guarding them.
As soon as the group entered the plaza in front of the hospital, they saw many military vehicles parked there, including two tanks and several armored vehicles. Most of the people in the courtyard were soldiers. Although they were curious about the strangers, they didn't approach. Yun Lan whispered, "I just used my Fire Phoenix Eye to scout. There are three Level 4s in the building, and at least a dozen Level 3s." Yun Lan had previously felt that Li Chenglong's right eye was called the True Dragon Eye, while her own right eye was called the Evil-Slaying Eye, which seemed a bit incongruous, so she simply renamed hers the Fire Phoenix Eye. However, what intrigued her most was that it's said that men should use their left eye and women their right, so why did Li Chenglong also only have his right eye's power?
Upon entering the main building of the hospital, the man who appeared to be a leader said, "Let's get acquainted. My name is Song Tie. I used to be from the Jinghai base. Judging from your builds, the three of you also seem to be soldiers." Zheng Yong immediately said, "This Qian Guangming and I were both from the X Battalion, X Regiment of the Jinghai base," and then introduced his former superior officer. Song Tie was overjoyed: "I didn't expect you to still be alive! After we set off ahead, we received news that Jinghai City was under attack by a large number of zombies, and we thought you had all perished." Zheng Yong also smiled and said, "We were just lucky, just lucky." Then Zheng Yong introduced everyone to Song Tie, but he didn't mention Yun Lan's former unit, only saying that she was also from the Jinghai base. When he introduced Zhao Liying, Song Tie was also surprised. He didn't expect that the big star who was popular all over the country during peacetime would now be joining the fight against zombies.
Just as Song Tie was about to lead them upstairs, the burly man from before stopped him, saying, "Song Tie, we can't just take them upstairs so rashly. Captain Qi is injured now; he's the hope of both our Donghai and Jinghai bases. You can't judge a book by its cover. Who knows what they've become after all this time? If they suddenly turn on us, we can't bear the consequences. We should keep an eye on them for now and wait until Captain Qi wakes up before we talk about it." Yun Lan frowned slightly upon hearing the word "Captain Qi," then relaxed. However, upon hearing that they needed to be kept under guard, Yun Lan's face immediately darkened: "If your captain is unavailable right now, we can come another time, but keeping an eye on us is a bit unreasonable." The man shouted, "I think you're trying to sneak back and get more people." Ignoring Song Tie's objections, he activated his supernatural abilities and rushed over.
Qian Guangming wanted to stop him, after all, he was now a level four ability user, and Yun Lan had just said that the highest level here was only level four. However, Yun Lan had already rushed out first. She had already checked the person's attributes: level four strength type, which was decent. Although Qian Guangming could win, it would probably take a long time, and who knew what might happen then? It was better for her to handle it herself.
Yun Lan activated her supernatural power and charged forward. Her speed was so fast that many didn't even see her clearly. Then came screams of agony as the burly man was pinned to the ground and brutally beaten by Yun Lan like a dog. A minute later, Yun Lan clapped her hands: "Alright, that's over." Song Tie and the others rushed over immediately. The man was lying motionless on the ground. Song Tie and the other soldiers were furious: "How could you beat him like that?" Some of them pointed their guns at Yun Lan and her men. Yun Lan's face was ashen. She kicked the man in the leg: "I just taught you a lesson. Don't play dead." The man scrambled to his feet: "It hurts, it hurts so much! Being defeated by a woman is a first in my six years of service. I surrender."
"Why did you start hitting people as soon as you arrived? I taught you to be more gentle and act like a girl, but you still have this fiery temper." A pleasant woman's voice came from behind.
Yunlan was wiping her hands with a wet wipe when she heard the sound, causing the wipe to fall to the ground. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears. She hurriedly turned to the woman, exclaiming, "Mom, it really is you, Mom!" as she rushed towards her. The woman was also crying, "Wan'er, my daughter, I thought I would never see you again, sob sob sob." The two women hugged each other and wept. Many of the other soldiers, witnessing this touching scene of reunion after a long separation, also shed tears.
After a while, Yunlan wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and asked, "Mom, where's Dad? They said Captain Qi was injured. Could it really be my dad?" Qin Fangyu nodded through her tears, "Your dad was scratched by a level-five zombie beast while saving people in the previous battle. If it weren't for several ability users treating him continuously, he would have given up long ago." Upon hearing this, Yunlan immediately called Zheng Yong and the others, and went to the ward on the fifth floor with her mother.
In the large ward, Qi Guoan lay on the bed, his face pale, with traces of dark blood still seeping from his right arm and right rib. Yun Lan rushed over immediately: "Dad, Wan'er is back! Open your eyes and look at me." Qi Guoan opened his cloudy eyes, looked at her, and then closed them again. Yun Qian stepped forward to support Yun Lan: "The most important thing now is to cure Uncle's illness. I am a level three water-type ability user, and I also have a healing skill. Let me take a look first." After saying that, Yun Qian used her ability to check Qi Guoan's condition and treat him.
Yun Qian activated her supernatural abilities with both hands, and the pale blue energy slowly flowed into Qi Guoan's body. As the energy flowed, the condition of his right arm and right rib gradually improved. After a while, Yun Qian, covered in sweat, slowly said, "No, the Level 5 zombie virus is just too overpowered. If it weren't for Uncle being a Level 4 ability user and having someone else treating him, he wouldn't have made it this far." Yun Lan immediately asked, "Then how can he be cured?" Yun Qian smiled and said, "Li Xue can definitely do it. She's a Level 5 Awakened and possesses the strongest healing ability in Dawn City." Yun Lan suddenly realized that she had forgotten about Xue'er in her haste, and immediately said to her mother, "Mom, there's someone in our base who can definitely cure Dad. Besides, this place isn't safe, so why don't we leave?" At this moment, Qi Guoan slowly opened his eyes: "We haven't been here long, and most of the people here are old, weak, sick, or disabled. It's not easy for us to leave. As their chosen leader, I can't abandon them."
Yunlan inquired about the recent situation at Long'an Base. The base had recently suffered a zombie attack at its rear, resulting in significant losses. Now, the total number of survivors was only around 600, with at most 300 capable of fighting. Before Yunlan could say anything more, someone suddenly entered from outside, saying, "Team Leader Qi, more zombies are coming from the rear, and it looks like one is level five!"