Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Among the three candidate bases, K Base is the largest in scale, followed by L Base, while South City Base is the smallest.

As everyone knows, military-run places have always been strict, and apocalypse-era bases are no different.

From Jiang Nian’s memories of his past life, he knew that the four city bases—East, West, South, and North—were the most strictly managed nationwide, but also the safest.

Everything has its pros and cons. Naturally, freedom in these four city bases couldn’t match that of other bases.

Most survivors were ordinary people, so many would go for bases with more freedom.

Especially superhumans—who could get better opportunities elsewhere than in the four city bases.

Satellite broadcasts had been running nonstop about each base’s basic information for days, so everyone’s got the gist.

Jumping on the chance, Jiang Nian filled them in further based on what he remembered from his past life, then asked what they thought.

He already had a base in mind and was ready to explain patiently if others pushed back.

But surprisingly, after Cheng Jing left it up to him, the others just went, “Whatever, you decide.”

Teammates this easygoing? Score. So Jiang didn’t beat around the bush. He tapped the spot for South City Base:

“Let’s head to South City Base in the next province over.”

Everyone—including Xiao Ya—nodded as one and said:

“Okay.”

“So… There are two reasons I picked South City Base.”

Seeing not a single person gave even a hint of disagreement, Jiang spelled it out:

“First, order and security are exactly what we need most right now. Plus, our team’s pretty well-drilled, so we’ll adapt easier to a military-style base than regular folks.”

“Second, places with more freedom are usually messier. As superhumans grow stronger, the whole ‘might makes right’ thing kicks in. Even the leadership ends up splitting into factions. The military’s different—their management’s more level-headed.”

That’s something he’d learned from his past life. The military had factions too, but they stuck to shared principles, driven by purpose and duty.

Last time, he died during a horde attack, but before that, he’d heard plenty of people trying to get into military-run bases.

Told you—military’s got your back.

“That’s right…”

“Makes sense…”

“Bro Nian’s got a point…”

“…”

The team all nodded along. Zhao Lei rumbled,

“A military setup weeds out a lot of troublemakers who want to cause chaos or freeload. You’ll find more law-abiding folks there than in freer bases.”

They just wanted peace, not to be big-shot survivors. A base run by the military suited them best.

Plus, Cheng Jing’s younger brother and the company HQ were hooked up with both government and military. This was clearly the smartest move.

Jiang Nian gave a slight nod and continued,

"Exactly. So if no one has any objections, we'll head to the South City Base. It might take a bit longer, but since we're all superpowered individuals, I'm sure we’ll manage just fine."

They planned to set off around early March, when temps would creep up but the snow hadn’t fully melted yet, meaning fewer zombies. They could use a snowplow to pave the way.

By early April, when the snow had completely thawed, they would arrive at the base—timing worked out perfect.

With the base decision settled, they moved on to discussing the details. The journey wouldn't be short, so careful planning was necessary.

After a while, Liao Yu suddenly perked up and asked,

"*Yifu* (lit. 'righteous father,' an honorary title), you just said we’re all superpowered—does that mean you’ve awakened a superpower too?"

The title "*Yifu*" was one of those things that, once used, stuck forever. At first, everyone found it hilarious, and even Jiang Nian felt awkward about it. But over time, they all got used to it.

If Liao Yu suddenly called Jiang Nian by his actual name, everyone would immediately think: *This guy’s up to something!*

Hearing Liao Yu's question, the others also turned to Jiang Nian with curiosity. He *had* just said, "We’re all superpowered," something he’d never mentioned before.

Only Huang Qian remained calm. Back when they were handling Xiao Ya’s parents, she and Cheng Jing had been attacked by Xiao Ya’s mother’s psychic ability. It was Jiang Nian who had snapped them back to reality with a single touch. That was when she'd realized he had a superpower, but she never brought it up.

If Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian chose to keep it a secret, there had to be a reason.

"Uh…"

Jiang Nian realized he’d let it slip. He chuckled and simply admitted,

"I do have a superpower—Cleansing. But I’d appreciate it if you all could keep this quiet. Mine and Xiao Ya’s abilities shouldn’t be revealed unless absolutely necessary."

"Got it."

Liao Yu nodded in understanding, and the others chimed in:

"Understood."

"Sure."

"Copy that..."

"……"

Only then did it dawn on everyone—without a superpower, how could Jiang Nian have possibly endured the freezing cold while traveling with them?

Even with Cheng Jing’s protection, his softie act wouldn’t have cut it. They’d all been so stuck on his *hamster* vibe they didn’t notice.

Jiang Nian then explained that his superpower could purify mental attacks, though he didn’t mention its other properties, like alleviating zombie toxins.

He’d find the right moment to reveal those later.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his teammates—holding back a few aces just felt like the savvier play.

The news that Jiang Nian’s superpower could counter mind control had everyone hyped—it was a major asset for the whole team.

You can dodge a punch, but mind control? Good luck blocking that.

Zhou Rongbin immediately tested his own psychic ability on the group:

Their minds blanked as they were sucked into a hallucination—a horror show crawling with terrifying zombies.

Except for Zhou Rongbin, the others stood frozen, faces pale with terror. Jiang Nian placed his hand on the table in front of him, concentrated, and unleashed his superpower.

Blue-white energy pulsed from his palm, rippling outward like waves in water, washing over those trapped in the illusion. Soon, everyone broke free from the hallucination.

At the same time, Zhou Rongbin felt a slight backlash in his mind, causing momentary discomfort—a side effect of the purification.

Jiang Nian’s power might seem useless at first glance, but it was surprisingly effective when least expected.

After finalizing their plans, everything went back to normal.

Having become an official guild rescue team, Cheng Jing and the others started pulling night patrol shifts like other squads.

Following the incident at Room 1805 in Jiaheyuan, the number of night patrol members had increased significantly, and each squad now moved as a unit.

Each team had at least five people, patrolling two to three buildings per night.

Huang Qian had to take care of Xiao Ya, so the guys naturally took over the night shifts.

Although Huang Qian was officially registered as part of Squad 07, Zhou Li, the person in overall charge, looked the other way about the shift swaps, knowing they were caring for a child.