Yunze Base has a well-established system for accepting new recruits in the late post-apocalyptic period. The newcomers quickly became familiar with and integrated into the Yunze Base family without any problems.
After this incident, Yunze Base gained a great reputation in Mingzhu City, and survivors came to join it in an endless stream. By the end of this year, the base had more than 50,000 people.
This is the first new year after the end of the world, also known as the new calendar year.
To add some entertainment to everyone's monotonous lives, Zhang Yun arranged for a New Year's Eve party to be held at the base.
The format was similar to the Spring Festival Gala before the end of the world, except that the programs and scenes were much simpler. Even so, on New Year's Eve, the streets were deserted.
The disaster brought everyone's lives to a standstill, but the survivors cannot dwell on the sadness of the past. They need to rest so that they can face new challenges with renewed energy.
At the end of the party, Yang Shize even went on stage and sang a song.
This was an unexpected program. It wasn't until the host announced the names of the next performers that Zhang Yun, who was sitting in the audience, realized that Yang Shize was also participating in the performance. He couldn't help but look at the man in the center of the stage, whose posture was as straight as a pine tree.
"This song is dedicated to the person I love most. I am grateful that he came to my side when disaster struck and helped me through one difficult time after another. The end times are tough, and it is a blessing that we were able to meet here. I hope that everyone can cherish the people in front of them and live each day to the fullest."
Applause erupted.
The crisp sound of an electronic keyboard accompaniment came from the loudspeaker, and everyone quieted down again.
"Your landing was so sudden!"
"I just happened to be passing by."
"The opportunity is rare, and I subjectively feel that I can't just openly steal it, even if I wanted to."
You brought me joy~
"Let's add some color to this world!"
"I really want to scold you for being so casual; treasures should be cherished!"
"Are you mine or not?"
"You are as desirable as something from another world, something we could never have; your name in this world is no longer important."
"It just so happens that my hidden personality is one of perseverance, until all those who flock to me become transparent."
"I'm neither too close nor too far, I'll trade tomorrow for you to come closer to me..."
"..."
Zhang Yun stared intently at the dazzling man in the center of the stage, her heart melting into his loving singing.
...
In the blink of an eye, another five years have passed amidst encountering and overcoming difficulties.
Yunze Base has completely recovered Nanjiang Province, where Mingzhu City is located. With a population of over one million, it has become a super-large base comparable to the capital.
The cold wind howled and snowflakes fluttered.
A guest has arrived at Yunze Base.
"General Ye Hui, Commander-in-Chief of the Capital Base Military Headquarters," the visitor introduced himself.
"Zhang Yun, the administrator of Yunze Base."
The two shook hands briefly before politely parting ways.
Ye Hui is around thirty years old, with a handsome and upright appearance, and has the demeanor of a calm and capable veteran cadre.
Judging by his appearance alone, you would never associate him with the depraved character in the original story who injected purified zombie virus into living test subjects.
"I have come uninvited this time because I would like to invite Mr. Zhang to visit the capital."
Ye Hui got straight to the point: "The development model of Yunze Base is very advanced and suitable for the management of post-apocalyptic bases. We hope that Mr. Zhang can come to the capital and give us some guidance."
"In addition, in the face of the threat of zombies, all bases, large and small, across the East Continent should unite as one, exchange and share resources and information, and jointly resist the zombies to defend human dignity. The East Continent government plans to hold an alliance meeting in the capital in two months, at which time all base leaders from the East Continent will be invited to attend, and everyone will sign an alliance contract to form a new East Continent Alliance."
Zhang Yun picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and then said, "Excuse my bluntness, but with the current prestige and strength of the Eastern Continent government, I'm afraid it's not enough to unite all the bases in the Eastern Continent."
"What if we include Yunze Base and all the large bases outside the five provinces of Dongzhou?"
"Oh?" Zhang Yun smiled. "Then, General Ye, what do you intend to use to persuade us to join the new ASEAN?"
Ye Hui frowned and said, "Humanity has reached a critical moment of life and death. Why must Mr. Zhang waste his energy on internal strife?"
"It was the Dongzhou government that announced its abandonment of us. Now that we have finally overcome the most difficult times and have our own little piece of land, the Dongzhou government wants to reap the benefits without spending a penny. They are really dreaming."
Hearing that his words were starting to stray from reality, Zhang Yun didn't bother to be polite with him anymore.
"Even if humanity truly faces a life-or-death crisis, the Eastern Continent government, with only five provincial capital bases remaining, may not be able to lead everyone to victory against the zombies. If they want us to submit, they need to come up with concrete support policies. It's the apocalypse; making empty promises will only make people more resentful."
Ye Hui paused for a moment before saying, "We can provide Yunze Base with material and weapons assistance and give you maximum autonomy, but Yunze Base must step in to help us persuade the other bases."
Zhang Yun sneered inwardly. This was a scheme to make Yunze Base act as the bad guys and offend people, while he would play the good guy behind the scenes.
"Materials and weapons aid? Specific aid plans?"
Ye Hui waved his hand, and his assistant handed him a document. Zhang Yun glanced at the contents and tossed it aside. "General Ye, please go find someone else."
"What do you want?" Ye Hui narrowed his eyes, a habit he had when he was truly angry.
Zhang Yun said, "I want the Dongzhou government to share your latest weapons manufacturing technology and biological research technology."
"impossible!"
Zhang Yun shrugged and said, "Then there's nothing to talk about."
Ye Hui's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. "Zhang Yun, humanity can no longer afford internal strife. Do you really want to start a war and become a sinner against humanity?"
"Is this robber's logic for real? Is General Ye the only one in the capital who is so self-righteous, or are they all like this?"
Zhang Yun's tone became slightly more serious. "My conditions are already laid out here. If you want to cooperate with us, share your technology. If not, that's fine too. Yunze Base is not afraid of any provocation or threat."
Although Yunze Base does not have as large a population or as abundant resources as the capital, it has the largest number of evolved beings and superhumans in the world!
Not just the whole of East Asia, but the whole world.
After the system gained control of the satellite, Zhang Yun had it create a ranking list of world evolvers and superhumans, and upload it to the global communication network used by people all over the world.
Initially, this list was considered a prank, but as more and more people awakened to evolution, they gradually realized that the data from these two lists was as authoritative as could be.
Currently, more than half of the top 100 on both lists come from Yunze Base.
As a result, Yunze Base has become a pilgrimage site for people with superpowers and those who have evolved from other species all over the world.
They already have a complete training manual, as well as various cultivation methods and insights created by people at the forefront of cultivation. Any evolved being or superhuman who comes to Yunze Base for further study can gain a lot.
Those who came to Yunze Base to improve themselves, even if they didn't ultimately choose to stay in Yunze, still had a very high level of goodwill towards Yunze Base.
After all, the evolved beings and superhumans who come to Yunze Base for further training are either high-ranking officials in other bases or at least the backbone of a base. With their help, Yunze's reputation and prestige in the Eastern Continent have long surpassed those of the Eastern Continent government.
Some of them were leaders of small bases themselves. After experiencing the environment of Yunze Base, they went back and brought everyone from their bases to join Yunze.
Those lone wolves and adventure teams who prefer to act alone are also particularly fond of the mercenary guilds in Yunze Base, which offer a high degree of freedom. They have basically registered their mercenary qualifications here and made it their fixed base.
The only difference between Yunze Base and the capital is that Yunze has fewer grassroots personnel and lacks large-scale offensive and defensive weapons, but its actual comprehensive strength has long surpassed that of the capital base.
They've just been holding back. If the capital base really sends someone to attack them, that person will definitely get a taste of hitting a brick wall.
The negotiations ended in discord, and Ye Hui left with his men that very night.
The reason Zhang Yun treated Ye Hui so badly was not only due to the influence of the original work, but also because the Yunze Base's database had been invaded by unknown forces for the past three years.
The other party thought they had left no trace, but little did they know that everything they did was under the system's surveillance, and all the information they stole was fake information deliberately created by Zhang Yun.
It was precisely because the other party initially took the false information that Zhang Yun had deliberately left for them to steal as real and began to carry it out that Zhang Yun was able to discover that the person who stole their information was sent by Ye Hui.
Ye Hui's visit to Yunze Base this time was likely a test, as he knew that his previous infiltration had been exposed.
In the original story, the capital was a place where various forces were deeply intertwined. Ye Hui had to put in a lot of effort to get the various forces in the capital to temporarily obey him, and Yang Shize also contributed a lot to this.
It was precisely because many forces had offended Yang Shize to the bitter end that they had no choice but to unite against the increasingly powerful Yang Shize and the forces under his control.
However, now that the course of events is known, Zhang Yun naturally cannot allow history to repeat itself.
Four years ago, after the Yunze base stabilized, Yang Shize, under the alias Zhang Shaoze, led a group of reliable subordinates and disguised himself to infiltrate the capital.
Zhang Shaoze is now a rising star among the major powers in the capital. Shen Shengzhi, the current governor of the capital, has also seen through Ye Hui's wolfish ambitions and has been secretly supporting Zhang Shaoze to make him a counterweight to Ye Hui.
This also resulted in Ye Hui, who had become the highest military commander in the capital at the same time in the original story, now only being a general in the military, and having to personally handle even things like winning over external base forces.
In the original story, after Ye Hui became the Marshal of the Army, he colluded with ability users from other continents to assassinate Shen Shengzhi, thus seizing control of the capital's military and political power and becoming the supreme leader.
Now, with the help of Zhang Shaoze, an alias of Yang Shize, Old Shen is practically divinely aided.
Ye Hui's power has shrunk by more than half compared to the original novel, and he can't make any big waves at all. If things continue like this, it's uncertain whether he can become the final villain.
Hopefully, he'll be sensible and stop making futile struggles, otherwise Zhang Yun will have no choice but to send him to meet the King of Hell.
As Zhang Yun was pondering, the bone ring on his wrist, given to him by Yang Shize, suddenly lit up, indicating that another owner of the bone ring had activated it from a great distance.
"System, what time is it now?"
"11:07 AM on February 14th".
"Holy crap, I'm doomed!" Zhang Yun's calm and composed aura vanished instantly, and he disappeared from the Yunze base's reception room in a flash.
After advancing to the seventh rank, the furthest distance he could teleport in a single teleport reached one thousand meters!
After teleporting dozens of times, Zhang Yun appeared on a remote and desolate mountain. After briefly determining his direction, Zhang Yun teleported to an underground cave.
The cave is completely undetectable from the outside, but inside it is a completely different world. Not only is there a well-built stone house, but the interior decoration and furnishings are also very modern. There are even electric lights and a shower and bathtub in the bathroom.
After using dozens of maximum-distance teleports in succession, even though Zhang Yun was already at the seventh level, the energy consumption was quite high.
He leaned against the wall, panting as he searched for a figure.
Zhang Yun's gaze fell on the fresh bouquet of roses that had appeared on the coffee table, and she tentatively asked, "Yang Shize?"
Suddenly, someone grabbed her waist and pulled her backward, causing Zhang Yun's body to lean back uncontrollably.
Surrounded by his familiar scent, Zhang Yun instantly relaxed, letting herself fall into his strong embrace.
Yang Shize bit his ear and said with dissatisfaction, "Brother, you made me wait for eleven hours."
"Sorry, something came up at the base..."
Yang Shize silenced her as she was explaining.
Yang Shize hugged and kissed him for a while before letting go and then kissing his face, saying, "I won't listen to your explanation. You clearly promised me that you would be with me from midnight today, but now you're so late, making all my expectations go down the drain. You have to be punished, brother."
Zhang Yun looked at him, blinked, and asked, "How do you want to punish me?"
Yang Shize picked him up and carried him to the bedroom.
He took out a tie, tied Zhang Yun's hands together, and fastened them to the headboard.
"These were forced upon me by the people at the capital base. I didn't have any designs on them. I was originally going to throw them away, but I remembered that Brother said that resources are so scarce right now, and nothing should be wasted. So I kept them. And their colors just happen to suit Brother's skin tone perfectly, so they'd be perfect for him..."
As he spoke, he took out another black tie and blindfolded Zhang Yun.
"Brother, you're not allowed to use your senses," Yang Shize commanded.
"……good."
With her hands bound and her eyes blindfolded, the unknown sensation made her heart pound. Zhang Yun stretched out on the bed, waiting anxiously and expectantly.
Her lover's fair cheeks flushed with shyness, and her pale pink lips were slightly pursed with nervousness, like a delicious dessert waiting to be tasted, exuding a sweet and tempting aroma to lure the man in front of her.
Yang Shize felt a surge of anger and blood rush to his head.
He couldn't help but lower his head and kiss Zhang Yun's pert nose.
"Brother, I'm going to start eating now~"
...
As darkness fell and then dawn broke again outside, Zhang Yun collapsed onto the bed, utterly exhausted, his eyes still wet.
He let out a long breath and complained in a hoarse voice, "Next year... I never want to spend Valentine's Day like this again..."
Yang Shize raised the hand he was holding, glanced at it, and smiled, "I think this way of life is fine."
Zhang Yun: "..."
The two lingered for a while longer before finally getting up.
Yang Shize suddenly hugged Zhang Yun, who was already dressed, and said in an extremely aggrieved tone, "I won't see you for another two or three months, brother. I'm so sad! When will this end? It's been five years. Do you know how I've gotten through these five years?"
Zhang Yun couldn't help but smile, and patted his back. "Alright, stop being so cute, we need to get down to business."
Yang Shize held him tightly and refused to let go, saying, "I don't care. I'm only twenty-three years old. Brother, hurry up and think of a way. If you don't let me eat more meat, I'll go crazy. I can't eat anything because I think about you every day. If you don't believe me, feel me. I've lost weight."
As he spoke, he took Zhang Yun's hand and placed it on his waist.
While Zhang Yunzhen was touching his waist muscles, Yang Shize suddenly pinned him against the wall and started kissing him again.
“Um…not just now…you…” Zhang Yun reached out and pushed him.
"Not enough, not enough!"
Yang Shize loosened the belt he had just fastened, his hot breath brushing against his neck. "Brother, a person needs to drink water every day to live. You can't only give me water once every two months, or I'll die."
"Just thinking about parting with you soon, and that we won't see each other for at least two months, makes me feel like I'm dying of thirst."
Yang Shize's words were fiery and passionate, making his face flush and his heart melt.
"I want to be with you forever, but there's nothing I can do about it..."
Zhang Yun gently hugged him, "Aze, our current separation and forbearance are all for the future..."
"Brother always says this: the power in the capital base is now biased towards Elder Shen, and Ye Hui's underhanded actions are completely under our control. Why don't we just take action directly? If we keep tolerating this, Ye Hui won't go crazy, but I will."
Zhang Yun shuddered as he regained his senses, catching his breath as he said, "Ye Hui... he's colluding with people from other continents. We need to find the person behind him to solve this once and for all. If we act now, we'll alert them..."
Yang Shize pursed his lips and remained silent.
The two of them were secretly competing with each other, neither willing to admit defeat.
...
Although both of them were equally determined to win, Zhang Yun was no match for Yang Shize, who had already evolved to the seventh level, in terms of physical strength.
“…I’ll try to visit you once a month, that’s the biggest concession I can make. If we meet too often, your identity will be exposed! I can’t risk your life and the lives of my brothers!” Zhang Yun was the first to give in and compromise.
Although Yang Shize was still not satisfied, he could only sigh and agree.
Seeing that he had agreed, Zhang Yun breathed a sigh of relief, raised her fist and punched his shoulder, saying in embarrassment and annoyance, "Hurry up and let me go!"
Yang Shize smiled, about to speak, when he suddenly sensed something and looked up at the sky with some unease.
The two were underground, so all they could see above them was the stone ceiling.
Suddenly, a piercing system notification rang in Zhang Yun's ears: "Warning! Warning! Extreme danger! In ten seconds, the host and protagonist's location will be attacked by a laser satellite. Please evacuate immediately! Please evacuate immediately!"
"...nine, eight, seven..."
Zhang Yun's expression changed drastically. He quickly hugged Yang Shize tightly and activated teleportation.
Only after spatial abilities reach the seventh level can one teleport others, but the maximum distance teleported at one time is only ten meters, and the energy consumed is ten times that of teleporting by oneself.
Zhang Yun teleported out of the underground cave with Yang Shize, and then Yang Shize carried him away at breakneck speed.
They had only run about a hundred meters when a laser beam, more than ten meters in diameter, suddenly descended from the sky and landed directly in the stone house where they had just been.
The surrounding rocks were pulverized into dust by the intense heat. Yang Shize held him tightly in his arms, his combat uniform and the skin on his back carbonized by the heat.
If Yang Shize weren't a seventh-tier evolver with ridiculously high defense and recovery abilities, he would have been a charred corpse by now.
"Warning! Warning! The second laser beam will descend in 15 seconds! The coordinates are the protagonist's current location. Please evacuate immediately! Please evacuate immediately! This system is currently attempting to crack the enemy's control system. It is estimated to take one minute. Please ensure the protagonist's safe evacuation!"
Yang Shize carried him and flew more than a thousand meters, but in mid-air he felt that heart-stopping feeling of impending death again.
He looked up at the sky and grinned at Zhang Yun in his arms.
As if sensing something, Zhang Yunruo immediately cried out, "Yang Shize! I won't allow it..."
Before he could finish speaking, Yang Shize lifted him up and threw him forcefully into the distance.
But this time, a golden light suddenly shone from Zhang Yun's hand, which had been far away from him. His body, which had been thrown out, flew back, and the bracelet on his hand and Yang Shize's bracelet stuck together with a "snap".
"You bastard! You actually... want to abandon me again!" Zhang Yun hugged him tightly, crying and pounding his shoulders.
Yang Shize also shed tears, holding his one true love tightly as if he wanted to melt her into his very bones.
That's fine too.
"...3, 2, 1, 0."
In the last second of the system's countdown, Zhang Yun used all his energy to unleash teleportation.
A miracle is bound to happen; he's the chosen one!
God, I'd rather die as many times as you want, just please let him live!
Before losing consciousness, Zhang Yun offered a sincere prayer in his heart.
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