QT: The Rescue Of The Miserable Bigshots-Chapter 296 - 9.42

"Save him!? Save who?"

When the members of the Gale Squad stormed into his office, Fang Jing deliberately played dumb. "Don’t you know the order I gave? The base is on high alert. Do you really not understand?"

"But Jiang Jiamian is still in B City!"

Chen Ran’s voice trembled with urgency. "If we don’t save him, he might never come back!"

Fang Jing frowned, speaking solemnly. "You think I don’t want to save him? That’s an advanced zombie horde. It’s our misfortune that we didn’t discover it sooner, otherwise I could have warned him, and he wouldn’t be trapped there. But if he could return, he would have done so already. He’s probably dead by now. Should we send more ability users to die? Or draw the attention of advanced zombies and bring danger to the A City base?"

Chen Ran was furious. The hypocritical righteousness on Fang Jing’s face made him sick.

If he hadn’t lived a previous life, he might actually have been fooled by Fang Jing’s act, the noble leader protecting the entire base.

But he knew all too well, Fang Jing had sent Jiang Jiamian to die.

And now he was twisting the truth again.

Even worse, Xiao Jingfeng who had originally agreed to help, clearly hesitated after hearing Fang Jing.

Xiao Jingfeng said softly, "Chief Fang’s words... they’re not unreasonable. None of us expected advanced zombies in B City. If Jiang Jiamian can’t escape, then going after him would just add more casualties."

Zheng Shuqiu said carefully, "I agree. With so many advanced zombies so close to A City, they could approach the base at any moment. Chief Fang’s decision is harsh, but it is the most rational one."

The apocalypse was cruel.

Many times, decisions had to be made.

And Jiang Jiamian’s survival probability... was close to zero.

They couldn’t risk losing more fighting power over a tiny hope.

Closing the base, restricting entry and exit, and focusing on strengthening ability users was the correct course of action.

"You... all of you..."

Chen Ran looked helplessly at Xiao Jingfeng, then Zheng Shuqiu, and finally turned toward the silent Shen Hao.

"Shen Hao?"

Shen Hao’s expression stiffened. After a long pause, he shook his head. "I’m sorry, Chen Ran. You need to wake up. He might already be gone."

"No. No! If you won’t go, then I’ll go myself!"

Chen Ran’s eyes, filled with despair, swept over the silent group, then landed on Fang Jing with pure hatred.

He turned sharply to leave.

"Chen Ran! Calm down!" Xiao Jingfeng panicked and hurried after him.

"We’ll take our leave, Chief Fang." Zheng Shuqiu said quickly before pulling Shen Hao out.

The instant the Gale Squad members exited the office, everything on Fang Jing’s face, the worry, the helplessness, the sighs, vanished. A triumphant sneer replaced them.

"Hmph. If it weren’t for maintaining appearances, I would’ve happily sent the entire Gale Squad to die with that ignorant Jiang Jiamian."

What a pity.

Now that word of advanced zombies and the high-alert status had spread, he couldn’t openly send more people to B City. Otherwise, he would seem incompetent, a leader who ordered ability users to their deaths.

What’s more, the horde of advanced zombies was dangerously close to A City. Losing too many combatants now was unwise.

Jiang Jiamian’s death? That was necessary, he was too strong, too unruly, too threatening.

But the Gale Squad?

They needed to be kept alive.

If the zombies from B City approached the base, their strength was indispensable.

Night fell.

No stars. No moon.

In the apocalypse, the sky was almost always pitch-black. Even during the day, sunlight was rare. The weight of the gloom pressed down endlessly on people’s hearts.

Ling Zhuang stared at the pot of chicken soup on the table, untouched, the surface already gelled from the cold.

His fingers tightened.

A chilling glint passed through his eyes. The next moment, he stood abruptly and strode to the door.

The night guard saw only a blur, a figure in white flashing past like a ghost.

"Who!?"

He spun around, startled, but no one was there.

The fence was still intact.

"Open the door."

A cold voice came from directly behind him.

Before he could turn fully, a sharp chill touched his neck, and a blade pressed to his skin.

He froze.

The figure behind him wore white, his face obscured by the angle, but his presence was terrifyingly silent.

"Wh-who are you?"

The guard trembled. Though he was also an ability user, the pressure radiating from the man behind him felt more suffocating than facing a zombie.

"I’ll say it once more. Open. The. Door."

Ling Zhuang’s tone was calm, utterly emotionless.

"And a reminder, if you don’t, I’ll kill you and use your face to open it myself."

Rules had changed earlier. Originally, ability users could enter with facial scans. Only exit required mission authorization. But since the high-alert order, both entering and exiting required the gatekeeper’s manual approval.

"Okay! I-I’ll open it! Don’t kill me!"

The guard felt the blade slice lightly against his skin.

Terrified, he quickly faced the scanner and opened the gate.

Outside, Jiang Jiamian’s familiar SUV sat quietly.

Ling Zhuang, who had planned to grab just any vehicle, saw the familiar SUV and got in without hesitation.

The night wind reeked of decay.

Ling Zhuang gripped the wheel, jaw tight, and sped toward B City.

Why hadn’t Jiang Jiamian returned?

Those second-tier zombies couldn’t possibly harm him. The Zombie King’s suppression was instinctive, absolute. There were no usurpers or rebellions, the king was king.

No one could defy him.

But that didn’t ease Ling Zhuang’s heart.

He couldn’t sit and wait any longer.

The stench of decay grew thicker as he approached B City, aggravating his mood further.

Maybe it was Jiang Jiamian’s earlier talk about letting him taste the joy of being a good person, a savior, that had lodged itself in his heart, but he suddenly felt a real weariness toward this apocalyptic world.

He was growing tired, deeply tired of this world.

Fang Jing’s petty schemes...

The endless stench of rot...

The ugliness of human nature he once found fascinating was now monotonous.

He suddenly found himself longing, truly longing, for a quiet place to live.

Somewhere far from zombies, rot, and manipulative humans.

Somewhere he could live peacefully with Jiang Jiamian.

Roar!

The moment Ling Zhuang entered B City, the advanced zombies reacted instantly.

Their roars filled the cold air, and in seconds, dozens of them swarmed toward the SUV.

Their force shattered the car window.

Ling Zhuang’s pupils contracted.

He kicked the door open and leapt out.

As he moved, something slipped between his fingers, like a powdery substance, too fast to see clearly.

But its effect was immediate.

The charging zombies suddenly slowed. Their movements became sluggish, stiff, like frail elderly men.

Ling Zhuang stepped back several paces, watching the zombies creep toward him at a sluggish pace.

Then he lifted his eyes slightly, voice cold.

"Come out."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Three crisp claps echoed in the darkness.

A clear voice followed, dripping with playful praise.

"As expected of Professor Ling. Impressive, truly impressive. And judging by how effortless that was..."

A tall figure stepped out of the shadows, smiling under the moonless sky.

"You didn’t even break a sweat!"

Ling Zhuang pushed up his glasses, expression flat.

"Why aren’t you home eating dinner? What are you doing here so late?"

Jiang Jiamian closed the distance in two swift steps, looping his arm around Ling Zhuang’s neck.

"What? Already missing me?"