Chapter 160

Chapter 160

After driving forward for a while, Da Jun and Xiao Liu's vehicle took a side road.

According to the address provided by Chen Shanmin, their destination was a residential building in a small town development zone up ahead.

Meanwhile, based on the map Liang Xiaoyan had given them, Jiang Wenwen was being held in the vicinity.

Considering Chu Yi was in charge of the main group and that they should take turns driving after arriving here, Jiang Nian volunteered to take over driving.

The others objected, and in the end, Uncle Li became the driver instead.

Chu Yi moved to the back seat and launched a custom-built silent thermal drone, working with Liao Yu to scout the area and observe the surroundings.

Once everything was ready, Uncle Li set off at a steady pace.

Jiang Nian remained in the passenger seat, cross-referencing the map with landmarks along the way. After a while, he asked:

"Chu Yi, should we send out some of your team before we arrive? That way, we won’t have to worry about being trapped or letting them escape—we’ll have inside support."

Confidence was one thing, but it never hurt to have a backup plan.

"I think Xiao Nian’s got a point."

Uncle Li was the first to agree, and the others nodded as well.

Jiang Nian added:

"The thing is, we’re too strong to wait until someone points a gun at our heads before acting. We should hit first—if they want a surprise, we’ll give them an even bigger one."

Playing dumb wouldn’t cut it in this situation. Even if they were only briefly threatened, word getting back to Brother Jing could complicate things. If it led to a misjudgment, the consequences wouldn’t be worth it.

In short, they couldn’t afford to let anyone gain even the slightest advantage over them.

Given his understanding of Brother Jing, if anything went wrong this time, he’d be grounded for life.

The others chuckled, and Chu Yi nodded:

"Alright. Stay on top of the map. Liao Yu and I will monitor the surroundings. We’ll find a chance to deploy them when we’re close."

Who knew—for all his casual talk, this guy was quite careful when it counted.

Chu Yi had Liao Yu handle the drone while he took out his phone and called the temporary squad leader inside his superpower space to brief them on the plan.

If he lowered his mental block, those inside his space could hear outside conversations, and he could also sense their situation and communicate directly.

But since talking to himself in public would look weird, he opted against it.

Phones and walkie-talkies worked across dimensions—this was the most convenient method. As far as he knew, most superpower spaces cut you off once someone entered.

After the call, Chu Yi took out a walkie-talkie, adjusted the channel, and prepared to deploy his men when they got closer.

"There aren’t any zombies here… No living creatures at all."

Liao Yu, monitoring the drone, sounded puzzled. The thermal imaging showed nothing, and the normal visuals were equally still—a creepy, dead silence.

Chu Yi glanced at the screen and said:

"Too many zombies gathering would draw the base’s attention. Southern City Base patrols come through here often. If they don’t want to expose themselves, they’d definitely clear out the zombies nearby."

Too many people have turned into zombies or died, leaving many deserted ghost cities now. Unless there's intel about zombie hordes, the bases don't waste manpower on useless search and inspection.

As for those survivors still wandering outside, the bases only encourage them to join shelters rather than enforce it.

Patrols mostly use drone surveillance, so careful hiders won't get spotted.

"..."

As dusk fell, Jiang Nian said suspiciously as they approached:

"The route we're on isn't the address Chen Shanmin mentioned. If we go straight ahead on the map, it dead-ends at a church..."

They had already passed the intersection where they should have turned into the development zone.

So this was why Chen Shanmin had Da Jun and Xiao Liu waiting for them.

Li Liang glanced outside and said calmly:

"Relax, we've got a whole regiment."

Chu Yi: "..."

Is this cockiness contagious or what?

The car ahead slowed down, and Uncle Li reminded them:

"We're almost there. There's a big corner ahead with some low houses and dark alleys—good for dropping people off."

Chu Yi asked Jiang Nian:

"Teams of ten. Jiang Nian, how many squads should we deploy?"

Jiang Nian calculated and replied:

"Twenty squads. More bodies means more security, and we can assign one Superpowered to each squad."

Twenty teams is just two hundred people—keeping it low-profile.

"Alright."

Chu Yi had no objections.

Uncle Li gradually slowed the car and parked behind cover.

Jiang Nian sensed a change in Chu Yi's Superpower fluctuations, then saw through the rearview mirror:

Fully armed soldiers materialized out of thin air on the open ground like some movie CGI, then quickly fanning out into side streets and alleys.

"..."

Meanwhile, Xiao Liu noticed through the rearview mirror that the car behind had slowed down, falling way behind. He couldn't help but remind Da Jun:

"Jun-ge, look, what's taking them so long?"

"Probably realized the route is wrong. Whatever—they'll catch up now we're here."

Da Jun glanced back, unconcerned. No way Jiang Nian's group would turn back now.

Xiao Liu let off the gas a little and went along:

"Xia Weiwei said Jiang Nian doesn't get along well with his father. How do you think Chen Shanmin tricked Jiang Nian into coming here?"

Da Jun shook his head:

"No idea. Even if they don't get along, they're still father and son. With Cheng Jing gone, that pretty-faced bastard fell apart. It's normal he got tricked. Though it's pretty lowdown of Chen Shanmin to trade his ex-wife's son for Chen Yue's chance at survival - aren't they both his own sons?"

Of course, he wasn't sympathizing with Jiang Nian. In fact, he took pleasure in it. Without Cheng Jing's protection, that pretty boy would soon be like a used-up dishrag. He was looking forward to it.

Xiao Liu curled his lips:

"Jiang Nian doesn't even share his surname. Just a fluke. Chen Yue is his real son, raised by him after all. I'd do the same... But speaking of which, does S Base really have a way to slow down the zombie virus spread?"

Originally, capturing Jiang Nian was just one of the conditions for Xia Weiwei to bring her boyfriend's family to S Base.

Now that Chen Yue got infected, Jiang Nian became their family's only ticket to S Base. Xia Weiwei's father also promised to give Chen Yue S Base's newly developed experimental serum that can slow the zombie virus infection.

As long as the virus spread slows down and humanity remains, there's chance for recovery. No wonder Chen Shanmin and his wife were so frantic.

"......"

Da Jun thought for a long while before speculating:

"Capturing Jiang Nian to force Cheng Jing's hand, with a mental-domain superpowered evolver plus Xia Weiwei's father's specialized mutation traits combined with the new serum, the possibility should be pretty high... Meh, we're just here for the points. Don't overthink it."

They only learned recently through Xia Weiwei's mission that Cheng Jing was truly pathetically obsessed with Jiang Nian.

"True."

Xiao Liu nodded, then asked with a dirty grin:

"Heh, Brother Jun, aren't you interested in Jiang Nian? When he gets caught, you should take him for a spin. Jiang Wenwen's off limits, but Jiang Nian should be up for grabs, right?"

Da Jun snorted lightly, Jiang Nian's face flashing through his mind as he said with a nasty grin:

"Wanna join me?"

Ever since seeing Jiang Nian with his teammates at the supply shop, and after hearing Xiao Liu and Liang Xiaoyan's trash talk, he'd wanted to use that guy up like a rag.

No particular reason. If he had to say, it was probably Cheng Jing's look that got under his skin.

So he planned to record his fun with Jiang Nian and send it to Cheng Jing.

"Nah bro, not into dudes. Besides, he wouldn't survive more than a few rounds with you. Heh, I'm more interested in that classmate of Liang Xiaoyan's."

Xiao Liu laughed it off. Jiang Nian was Brother Jun's, which meant Li Shuhui would be his. Anyway, none would be left except Jiang Nian. Might as well get some use out of them, he mused.