Chapter 76 Return to Base

After breakfast, the three cautiously advanced along the planned route, clearing out any remaining zombies.

As expected, the fire obediently concealed its tracks, only appearing suddenly when needed to quickly eliminate troublesome enemies, and then silently returning to the vicinity of Nguyen Ninh.

During the break, Zhou Min wiped her knife and said, "Have you noticed that Da Huo seems to listen to Ruan Ning a lot? Ten of my words are not as effective as one look from Ruan Ning."

Lin Yan nodded: "It's a spiritual contract, and Ruan Ning is strong enough to give it a crystal core. Animals, even if they've mutated, instinctively obey the more powerful leader."

“Not entirely.” Ruan Ning rarely participated in the discussion. She looked at the raging fire that was perched on the broken wall not far away. “It’s smart; it can distinguish between goodwill and benefits. The contract is just a bridge.” She signaled the fire to return via the link.

Da Huo trotted back and squatted down in front of Ruan Ning, its tail sweeping the dust off the ground.

Ruan Ning took out a small piece of jerky and handed it to it, then said to the two of them, "Try to communicate with it using simple commands; it will work more smoothly that way. Da Huo is very smart and can understand."

Zhou Min became interested and gestured towards the fire: "Fire, raise your hand... no, extend your claws?"

Da Huo tilted his head and looked at her with a "Are you stupid?" expression.

Lin Yan tried to be more direct, pointing to a small stone next to her: "Da Huo, bring it over here."

Da Huo looked at the stone, then at Lin Yan, walked over, nudged it with his nose, and the stone rolled over.

Then it looked up at Lin Yan, its eyes seeming to say something like, "So simple? Who do you think you are?"

"Haha, it understands! It even seems to be looking down on you!" Zhou Min laughed.

As it approached a sparse woodland on the outskirts of the base, the fire suddenly shot back from the front, emitting a low, warning sound, and nodding its head in a certain direction.

"Something's up. There are quite a few people, but they're not zombies." Zhou Min immediately sensed it. "It seems to be... another search team? There are conflicting energy fluctuations."

The three people and the dog hid themselves.

Soon, a commotion arose ahead.

Another team of about five or six superhumans was seen surrounding a wounded, boar-like mutated beast, seemingly vying for ownership of the prey, while confronting another group of two or three people. The tension was palpable.

“It’s the ‘Grey Wolf’ team and a few superhumans.” Lin Yan recognized one of them. “The Grey Wolf team has a bad reputation; they often steal other people’s loot.”

Ruan Ning observed the mutated beast; it was only at the second tier and of limited value. She didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble. "Go around it," she whispered the order.

However, just as they were preparing to quietly retreat, a sharp-eyed member of the Gray Wolf Squad spotted them, especially the obviously extraordinary mutated golden-haired fire next to Ruan Ning.

"Hey! You over there! Don't go!" the man shouted, his tone greedy and provocative. "Beautiful lady, this mutated beast is pretty good. Where did you get it? Want to borrow it and take a look?"

The fire immediately tensed up, letting out a threatening growl from its throat, and sparks began to appear on its surface.

Ruan Ning pressed down on Da Huo's head, trying to calm it down. She stepped forward, her gaze calmly sweeping over the group: "Just passing by. You can continue." Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling, penetrating power.

The leader of the Gray Wolf Squad was a burly man with a scar on his face. He squinted at Ruan Ning, then looked at Lin Yan, who had an unfriendly look in her eyes, and Zhou Min, who seemed to be quite strong. Finally, his gaze fell on Da Huo as he weighed the situation.

"Just passing by? Passing by with such a good trophy?" Scarface chuckled. "We've been busy for ages, and we still haven't dealt with this beast. Why don't you guys lend a hand? We can talk things over afterwards." His intentions were clear: he had his eye on the fire, and might even want to extort money from the man and the dog.

Lin Yan gripped the knife handle tightly, and Zhou Min also tensed up.

Ruan Ning suddenly laughed, but the laughter didn't reach her eyes; instead, it was colder. "Okay," she said, gently patting Da Huo's back.

The next second, Da Huo received the command and took a step forward, no longer concealing its aura!

The oppressive aura of the third-tier mutated beast, mixed with scorching fire energy, erupted with a deafening roar! It opened its mouth, and a solid, high-temperature red-white fireball condensed within, radiating terrifying energy fluctuations, aimed directly at the Gray Wolf Squad!

At the same time, Ruan Ning was surrounded by water vapor, and several sharp water blades appeared and disappeared around her. Her mental energy was also like cold needles, piercing towards her opponent.

Lin Yan and Zhou Min immediately entered battle mode, activating their level two strength and mental perception at full power.

The faces of the Gray Wolf Squad members turned deathly pale instantly! They could sense the terrifying power of the mutated golden retriever, and they could also feel the energy emanating from Ruan Ning, which was no weaker than, and perhaps even higher than, their captain's. Add to that the two other women who also looked formidable…

Cold sweat beaded on the scarred captain's forehead. He immediately forced an ugly smile: "Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! Ladies, please go ahead! We're leaving now, we're leaving now!" He glared at the talkative team member and quickly led his men away, dragging the still-alive mutated wild boar, not even bothering to confront them.

The other superhumans were also startled. They looked at Ruan Ning and the others warily before quickly leaving.

The crisis is over.

Zhou Min breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought we were going to have a fight."

Lin Yan shook her head: "They bully the weak and fear the strong."

Ruan Ning dispersed the water blades, and the fire also extinguished its flames, restoring a relatively peaceful state. It even wagged its tail smugly, seemingly quite satisfied with its intimidating power.

“There will be more and more of these kinds of conflicts near the base,” Ruan Ning said. “After the news of the integration of the superpowered groups spread, many teams wanted to show their strength and seize resources before the rating. We should try to avoid that in the future.”

She glanced at the sky: "Let's go back to base. Da Huo, well done." She rarely praised him, and then handed him a crystal core.

The fire swallowed it happily, circled around Ruan Ning once, and then continued to run ahead to clear the way, its steps much lighter.

As the sun set, the shadows of the three people and the dog gradually lengthened towards the base.