Chapter 32
The modified car leaves the park, the story progress is 60%, and there are still two places to visit.
The front hall, responsible for receiving and arranging various bounty missions, and the base training grounds are both located in the area outside the inner gate.
These two places are usually the most crowded. Even if it was instructed in advance, Qian Hui would still be seen by many people if she appeared with Nan Tingjin.
Before leaving the inner gate, Nan Tingjin gave a general explanation of the relevant procedures for the appointment. Qian Hui understood the meaning, and when the modified car arrived at the front hall entrance, the progress bar increased by 20%.
Hearing the footsteps coming and going on the roadside and inside the hall, Qian Hui turned her head and leaned towards Nan Tingjin's direction: "Let's not go here."
Nan Tingjin agreed with a "okay" and drove the car away from the vicinity.
The modified car was moving slowly. Qian Hui raised her hand and touched the blindfold, then quietly lifted it up a little.
After confirming that no one was around, he quickly asked Nan Tingjin, "That guy who delivered the food the other day, could he be related to the zombies?"
Qian Hui remembered that one of Nan Tingjin's subordinates mentioned the assignment to transport food that day. The task of "quietly approaching the zombie camp and seeing what they were doing" suddenly increased by 10%.
Qianhui didn't quite understand, nor did she know the cause of the incident, but she felt that it must have been the work of zombies again, and it was very likely related to the escaped zombie king 03.
He wanted to complete the story progress first, so he didn't choose to go to the front hall now. Instead, he wanted to tell Nan Tingjin about it.
“Zombies?” Nan Tingjin asked. “Why do you say that?”
Qian Hui couldn't answer for a moment, and kept her head down: "It's just... something that suddenly came to mind."
He himself hadn't figured out many things, such as why the plants had come here, or whether he could return to the plant garden... so he never mentioned the existence of the game.
Qianhui tells the three plants that he has a way to revive the little mushroom, and the plants seem never to have doubted it.
If I were to actually say it, how would I explain it?
A game that appeared out of nowhere gave him a lot of resources and all sorts of strange information...
Nan Tingjin didn't ask any further questions: "I'll have them keep an eye out."
The task of transporting the grain has been accepted, and Yuanji is personally leading the team. He sent a message to Nanting before leaving.
Upon arriving at the entrance to the training ground, Nan Tingjin parked the car, took out his communicator, and sent a message to Yuan Ji.
His subordinates came to greet him outside the training ground, but when they saw him raise his hand to stop them, they tactfully left.
Qian Hui got out of the car and asked curiously, "What's this place for?"
“Training, getting familiar with the superpowers,” Nan Tingjin stood by the car, seemingly reluctant to take Qian Hui inside. “There are too many people inside. Want to go?”
But this is the only location left. Going there should unlock a story point.
Qian Hui unconsciously moved closer to Nan Tingjin, clutching his sleeve tightly: "Mm."
So Nan Tingjin led him through the iron gate at the entrance.
Once inside, the surrounding noise was chaotic, a mixture of various indistinguishable sounds.
Qian Hui couldn't see anything, but she could feel that it was very noisy, and at least several dozen humans had gathered there.
The aura of the human superhumans was very strong, and they were all in high spirits. The two plants inside the hood became alert.
However, Qian Hui was alone, so Nan Tingjin must have led him along the least crowded section of the road.
A few minutes later, a subordinate rushed forward and whispered, "Boss, over here."
After rounding two more corners, the noise subsided a bit, and Qianhui was led to a chair to sit down.
Nan Tingjin released his hand and went a short distance away. A moment later, the sounds of windows closing and curtains being drawn could be heard.
"alright."
Qian Hui tore off the strip of cloth in front of her and cautiously looked around.
This is a room with the door and windows closed, and a gap left in the curtains.
The previous subordinates had already left, leaving only Nan Tingjin and Qian Hui inside.
The room was simply furnished with only a table and chairs. Qian Hui got up, walked around, and came to the window.
He hid behind the curtains, peering outside with his eyes slightly wide open.
The outside was set up like a gladiatorial arena, with tiered stands from top to bottom, and about half of the seats were occupied, more than the previous estimate, with a full hundred human superhumans.
Meanwhile, in the open space below, four people are attacking each other.
Their abilities varied, and they held simple weapons, all appearing to be giving it their all; it didn't seem like they were "training" at all.
Soon, one of them was found with an abdominal wound, lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance. The dark ground made it impossible to tell how much blood he had lost.
When he was knocked down, a commotion erupted in the stands, with some cheering and others cursing.
There was a table in a corner below the stands, surrounded by several people, presumably for betting.
Qian Hui's light-colored eyelashes trembled, and her expression was somewhat blank, as if she had been frightened.
Suddenly, his vision went dark as his eyes were covered again with a strip of cloth.
Nan Tingjin hugged him from behind: "Okay, stop looking."
Qian Hui slowly turned around and hugged Nan Tingjin tightly.
Still shaken, he couldn't help but ask, "Is that person... dead?"
“No,” Nan Tingjin stroked his hair, “He will receive treatment after the procedure.”
In a battle of this magnitude, a superhuman wouldn't die so easily.
The training grounds at the base have always been like this: not only are there combat exercises, but also winners and losers and rankings. Only the strongest can have everything. If you can't handle it, you can leave for another base at any time.
Qian Hui responded softly, "So, were you like them before...?"
Nan Tingjin was silent for a moment: "Yes."
Before him, there were two other leaders, and all the superhumans who joined the base had to go to the training ground.
However, there are very few people in the entire base who can injure him.
Qian Hui knew that Nan Tingjin was very powerful, but she still felt uneasy and buried herself tightly in his arms.
So this is how Nan Tingjin spent the six years they were apart.
There are also man-eating plants, carrots, sunflowers captured by zombies, nuts sleeping in the back hills, and little mushrooms that haven't come back to life yet...
He disliked this place at all and wished he could find all the plants immediately and bring them back to the courtyard.
Qian Hui was sullen when she heard Nan Ting ask, "Go back?"
Just then, a notification popped up indicating that the story progress had reached 100%, and he hummed in response.
Afterwards, Nan Tingjin led Qian Hui out of the room and left along the outermost path of the stands.
The battle inside the arena continued, and Qianhui tried her best not to listen. Only after returning to the car did she open the game interface.
[Blackridge Mountain Base exploration complete! Hidden story point obtained.]
The modified car started moving forward, preparing to return to the low building. Qianhui activated the story point.
[Blackridge Mountain Base, medium-sized, ranks among the top three in overall strength. It is criticized for not accepting any ordinary humans. It makes a living by accepting various assignments and bounties, and while not always following the rules, it is relatively honest in business. A few years after the apocalypse, it was jointly attacked by several major bases during a conflict, ultimately losing and being taken over by Sky Base.]
Qian Hui frowned as she finished reading, and then another message popped up.
[Original endings for key personnel in the base.]
[Nan Tingjin, then leader of the base, possesses a Rule-based ability, ranked SSS. He is cold-blooded, ruthless, and enjoys killing. He has been single for many years and dislikes companionship, but it is rumored that he once pursued a man, a relationship that ended abruptly after the apocalypse. He disappeared suddenly after the base was captured and taken over, at the age of twenty-six.]
[Yuan Ji, then the base's main captain, possesses a nature-based ability, level SSS...]
There were still several unfamiliar names left, and Qianhui didn't continue swiping.
He read the passage describing Nan Tingjin over and over again, feeling somewhat confused and puzzled.
"Single for many years"...
Qian Hui knew the meaning of those words, but wasn't she Nan Tingjin's lover?
Could there be a mistake in the information, or... or perhaps they were secretly together and no one discovered them?
What does "once pursued" mean...? Who was it?
Qian Hui's mind was in turmoil, and she didn't notice that the modified car had already stopped.
The car door opened, and Nan Tingjin carried him out of the car and towards the low building.
Qian Hui remained silent in his arms. After they went upstairs and entered the room, he took off the strip of cloth and stared intently at Nan Tingjin in front of him.
Nan Tingjin lowered his eyes: "What's wrong?"
"No..." Qian Hui mumbled in response, unable to resist leaning closer to sniff his scent.
I smelled it carefully, from the side of his face to his collar.
Could it be a mistake...? The Nam Ting Jin here is not the same as the Nam Ting Jin in the Woods Hut.
But how could that be? They look exactly alike, and their auras are the same too.
Moreover, the other plants in the courtyard are here, and so am I.
Qian Hui couldn't figure out what went wrong. He had always trusted the game's prompts.
The original endings of the previous two plot points correspond to the descriptions in the first half, such as the carnivorous plant being hunted by human superhumans and the sunflower being imprisoned by zombies.
This time is different, though.
Even so, Qianhui was still very worried.
He tugged at Nan Tingjin's sleeve and frowned: "You...you guys need to be careful of Sky Base, they're definitely not good people."
Nan Tingjin took Qian Hui's hand in return: "Okay."
He agreed too quickly, so Qianhui emphasized again, "Really."
The plot doesn't explain the cause of the conflict. Thinking of Nan Tingjin's original ending, Qian Hui reminds her, "Also, you have to be careful, don't... don't run around aimlessly."
He looked nervous and worried, and his words became hesitant. Nan Tingjin smiled and bent down to hug him: "Okay, I understand."
Just then, Nan Tingjin's communicator beeped twice in succession.
He released Qian Hui, took it out to examine it, and the smile in his eyes gradually disappeared.
—
Several modified vehicles were parked on the roadside in front of the base's outer gate, with the Sky Base logo printed on their bodies.
Several people got off the vehicle and handed a paper item to the guard in charge.
The guard looked unwell and replied, "Please wait a moment, we are informing the leader."
The man leading the group opposite them was Zhao Xing, one of Wen Jue's trusted confidants. He took the paper documents and put them away, saying slowly and deliberately, "The search warrant has all the stamps and signatures. Even if your leader doesn't agree, you have to open the door."
Search warrants are rules jointly established by several bases. Once approved by the responsible parties, they can be used to enter any human territory.
If they refuse to resist, Zhao Xing can immediately lead his men to storm the base, and the Black Ridge Mountain base will subsequently face trial and punishment.
The guard suppressed his anger and forced a smile: "Didn't you return all the deposits when you didn't complete your assignment last time? Haven't you received them?"
Besides these, what else is a Sky Base?
Even the guards knew that with Wen Jue's status and position, whatever he said was law, and he could easily obtain a search warrant.
Zhao Xing smiled and said, "Then there's even less to worry about. We just want to go in and take a look. If we've made a mistake, we'll definitely provide sufficient compensation."
In the car behind, Wen Jue was sitting in the back seat.
He closed his eyes to rest, slowly turning a string of sandalwood beads in his hand.
After a moment, Wen Jue murmured, "The man-eating flower...it's actually here. How interesting."
Qi Yue didn't care much about the durian that he lost; it was just a high-grade exotic plant. Even if it weren't for that, he would have come over anyway.
As they drew closer to their goal, Wen Jue's premonition began to become clearer, but he still couldn't see much.
Some fragmented images flashed by; it wasn't just the carnivorous plant, but there must have been other plants as well.
The scene that followed became even more chaotic, finally settling on a blood-stained, lifeless face.
—It's Zhao Xing.
Wen Jue paused in his hand movements and slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment, the outer gate of the Blackridge Mountain base had already opened. Zhao Xing went to the car window and asked, "Sir?"
Wen Jue's expression was not good. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Go in."
Inside the base, Shan Jun stood on a high place.
He put down his binoculars and murmured, "They came so quickly..."
He sent a message that day, but there was no reply. Shan Jun thought they had given up.
Nan Tingjin has never liked Sky Base, and who can just walk into a base whenever they want? It's obvious he'll refuse.
However, in just two days, Sky Base obtained a search warrant, which suggests that they had been preparing for this long before asking me.
In the distance, the curtains on the second floor were tightly drawn, and Qian Hui was hiding behind them, also observing with binoculars.
He counted and found that there were ten modified vehicles that had entered the base, and four or five more parked outside.
Recalling the description in the plot not long ago, Qian Hui felt uneasy.
The rest of the plants were on the back hill. He only had chili peppers and carnivorous plants around him. Chili peppers popped out of the hood and took the binoculars from Qian Hui's hand.
It looked carefully for a while, and when it put down the binoculars, its eyes were filled with suppressed anger. Then it handed the binoculars to the carnivorous plant.
The man-eating flower's head rested on Qian Hui's other shoulder, shaking its head to indicate that it didn't need it.
Its black bean-like eyes were fixed on the distance, and its nose was gently sniffing.
The carnivorous plant emitted low growls from its throat, grinding its sharp teeth together fiercely.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
