"Wu Zhao, are you crazy?" Liang Yunchong unleashed a fireball, incinerating the attacking vines, and roared.
"I'm not crazy! We just have different paths!" Wu Zhao's offensive did not cease; he continued to launch vines.
Hu Xueyan couldn't stand seeing anyone attack her beloved. She unleashed a blinding light that directly shot into Wu Zhao's eyes.
As Wu Zhao's eyes involuntarily shut tight from the stimulation, Liang Yunchong's fireball also struck.
At a critical moment, Xiao Wenqiang utilized the space within her ring to instantly teleport Wu Zhao outside the encirclement, to her side.
The speed was so great that Wu Zhao himself didn't perceive the path or method of movement. He only remembered closing his eyes, and upon opening them, he had changed locations.
"Are you alright? Why don't you go rest for a bit?" Xiao Wenqiang said, looking at the burnt hole in Wu Zhao's chest and his curled hair.
Wu Zhao quickly realized that the young girl in front of him had saved him. He bashfully covered his chest and said, "Thank you!"
Xiao Wenqiang gave a cool smile and threw a flying dagger, piercing the wrist of Yu Yang, who was attempting a sneak attack.
Yu Yang's scream was like a signal. Xiao Wenqiang's flying daggers became faster and faster, and soon, a chorus of screams echoed through the heavens.
In less than two minutes, the members of the "Sunshine Squad" had taken control of the core personnel of "Heng Ai Base" from top to bottom.
...
The truly peace-loving members of "Heng Ai Base" gathered with the "Sunshine Squad" members to discuss the fate of those captured.
Initially, those led by Zhou Jieying and Zhou Jiexiong wanted to kill Liang Yunchong and his companions to avenge their relatives. However, some, remembering the past kindness they had received, chose to spare them. Even if the kindness wasn't genuine, the fact that they had been taken in initially was undeniable.
The final decision was to expel the original "Heng Ai Squad" members, led by Liang Yunchong, from the base and let them fend for themselves.
This place was actually where Xiao Wenqiang had been driven out in the original book. She secretly calculated the timing and proposed, "Let them rest for another day. They can leave tomorrow morning. It's not safe to travel late at night."
Everyone praised Xiao Wenqiang for her kindness, but only she knew that she harbored no goodwill towards those who had caused the original owner's death.
The next morning, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Liang Yunchong and his group departed, each carrying only a bottle of water and two pieces of bread.
"You should head north. We came from that direction, and there were fewer zombies along the way," Xiao Wenqiang told Liang Yunchong and his group.
"Hmph! We don't need your fake kindness!" Hu Xueyan scoffed.
Liang Yunchong remained silent. He glanced around, and finally, he led the way south, in the opposite direction.
"Boss, why are you even talking to people like that? They're ungrateful!" An Xin said indignantly.
"It's fine, let's go back!" Xiao Wenqiang led the way back to the base. "I woke up too early, I still want to go back for a nap!"
The others followed her back to the base.
"Brother Chong, why didn't we go north?" Yu Yang asked after they had walked a distance and could no longer see the base.
"How could that woman named Xiao be so kind? I think Brother Liang doesn't trust her!" Hu Xueyan said first.
"Yes!" Liang Yunchong nodded. "And another thing, there's a government military base to the north. If we go there, we'll just be ordinary citizens. It's better to find our own place and start over!"
"That's right, let's collect more crystal cores on the road and improve everyone's abilities. Then, we can rise again!" Wang Yue excitedly planned.
After walking a short distance, a sudden clamor and violent commotion came from ahead.
Liang Yunchong and his group hurriedly looked up and found a group of zombies fighting! To be precise, two groups of zombies were dueling!
"What's going on? How can zombies fight each other?" Hu Xueyan exclaimed.
"This is bad! Could it be that these zombies have started to develop intelligence?" Liang Yunchong's face turned very grim.
Before they could react and flee the scene, the dueling zombies had already discovered the humans.
The attraction of human blood was too strong. Many zombies, forgetting each other, uncontrollably surged towards Liang Yunchong and his group...
When the dust settled, not a single living person remained. Only scattered limbs and mangled bodies lay on the ground, bearing silent testimony to the presence of humans.
The remaining zombies returned to their battle. About half an hour later, all zombies except for two zombie kings, who had already developed intelligence, were dead.
The two zombie kings were not faring any better. This duel had left them both severely wounded, unable to stand.
It was at this moment that Xiao Wenqiang, through her ring space, teleported to the scene.
The two zombie kings were startled and looked at the suddenly appearing woman alertly, daring not to move.
Xiao Wenqiang slowly walked closer, her right hand twirling a flying dagger, and examined the two zombies.
One zombie appeared to be tall and slender, but very young, likely around fifteen or sixteen years old. Although the original color of his clothes was indistinguishable, they were thankfully intact, covering everything that needed to be covered.
The other zombie had likely been an elite individual in his forties. His clothes were still a well-fitting suit. However, only the collar and a section of the back remained of the suit; the rest was scattered somewhere.
At this moment, both zombies' eyes showed a semblance of human pleading. Though they couldn't speak, they slowly shook their heads at Xiao Wenqiang.
"Are you hoping I'll spare you?" Xiao Wenqiang asked with a gentle smile.
The two zombies simultaneously nodded slowly and mechanically.
"Alright, consider it done!" As she spoke, Xiao Wenqiang used her flying dagger to split open the head of the middle-aged zombie in the suit.
The flying dagger spun, extracting the crystal core from the zombie's head, and then spun back into Xiao Wenqiang's hand.
This all happened incredibly fast. The younger zombie's head hadn't even moved down from its upward position when his mortal enemy was completely dead.
The young zombie slowly opened its mouth, as if to express its astonishment. Its blood-red pupils contracted uncontrollably, a mix of fear and excitement.
"Don't be nervous!" Xiao Wenqiang offered another benevolent smile. "I only had a grudge with that zombie!"
It turned out that the zombie in the suit was the one who had dismembered the original owner in the novel. Xiao Wenqiang had calculated everything, which was why she had kept Liang Yunchong and his group for an extra night.
Up to this point, she had finally avenged the original owner for all her grievances, making those who had harmed her pay the price.
Xiao Wenqiang looked at the young zombie, still lying on the ground with its mouth agape, and asked, "Kid, I know you can understand. Do you want to come with me?"