Chapter 28: Conviction (29.3.29)
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Even so, Yu Chen did not care in the slightest.
At least for now, he was merely a father who wanted to know whether his daughter was alive or dead.
Hearing the commotion, the black-eyed aberrant finally turned around. It paid no attention to Yu Chen standing behind it, instead looking suspiciously toward Li Ye.
“Yours?”
Li Ye did not answer. After a long silence, he finally nodded.
Having received his answer, the aberrant vanished in the blink of an eye. A savage surge of force burst across the entire second floor like raging waves.
The outcome of an unranked Chosen One challenging a second-rank special aberrant went without saying.
Xiao Qi turned his head away, unable to bear watching any longer.
After a tremendous crash, Yu Chen’s towering body collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon. Violent coughing brought up streaks of bright red blood.
The scarlet light in his eyes gradually dispersed, leaving them dull and lifeless, and he passed out completely.
The aberrant vanished from everyone’s sight. Once again, the earth-shaking thunder of running footsteps rang out. Clearly, the aberrants that had gathered in the street were leaving.
Xiao Qi ran to Yu Chen, who lay sprawled on the ground. With trembling fingers, he held them near Uncle Chen’s nose and mouth. Only after detecting his faint breathing did he let out a long sigh of relief.
Lu Xue Ning parted her crimson lips, seeming to want to ask something. After hesitating for a while, she lowered her head without saying a word.
Li Ye turned and looked at the man and woman bound in the corner. Their horrified expressions made it clear that they had been terrified by what had just happened.
“Take them back to the military region. Staff Officer Shen must be short of people to hunt for him.”
Li Ye spoke with feigned ease, but the fists he had been unable to unclench betrayed his troubled thoughts.
After all, the creature that had just cooperated with him right before his eyes was an intelligent aberrant.
Moreover, through their brief conversation, Li Ye had already confirmed that it was not like the Gluttons, which gained intelligence merely by “using” human brains. It genuinely possessed its own biological intelligence.
The advanced intelligence that humanity had evolved over millions of years had been attained by this unknown aberrant in just five days.
Such ability was even more formidable than that of the Brainworm race that had run rampant across the American continent in his previous life.
In his mind, Li Ye had already raised its danger rating to the same level as the Fallen God Xiangliu. Its current rank might not be high, but its potential for growth was absolutely terrifying.
......
......
The Sixth Day of the Apocalypse, Dongming Military Region.
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Lu Xue Ning, Suo Hao, and several others stood behind Shen Zhi Hong, chatting with the Chosen Ones from the other military regions. Among them was the female nurse Li Ye had encountered before.
Shen Zhi Hong looked at Li Ye with satisfaction. “The rise of our Dongming Military Region will certainly owe a share of its credit to you.”
“Just make sure you don’t coddle them, Staff Officer Shen. Chosen Ones who have never endured the trials of life and death are nothing more than harmless little rabbits.”
Li Ye paid no attention to the credit Shen the Old Fox was offering. What truly mattered was whether he could obtain a larger share of the blood crystal marrow.
“Also, I suggest that you organize them into combat squads according to their individual abilities...”
“All right, all right. The people I, Shen Zhi Hong, have trained could never disappoint you, young brother. Rest assured.”
Li Ye gave a helpless laugh, only then realizing that he had indeed been showing off his expertise before an expert.
After all, the man standing before him was Shen Zhi Hong. The systematic battle formations and combat squads that Li Ye knew from his previous life had not been devised by anyone else—they had originated with this very man.
“How many Chosen Ones does the military region have now?”
Shen Zhi Hong sighed. “Fewer than a hundred.”
“That’s already quite a number. What day of the apocalypse is it, after all? Once the Red Mist period ends, the Dongming Military Region may already possess the greatest fighting strength among the Seven Military Regions. In that case, Staff Officer Shen, surely you no longer feel the need to send anyone to the Nether Capital?”
Li Ye looked at Shen Zhi Hong teasingly. He refused to believe that a man of such ability would willingly remain subordinate to others—least of all to the wretches of the Nether Capital.
“The apocalypse is an opportunity, Staff Officer Shen.”
When Shen Zhi Hong remained silent, Li Ye continued, his words carrying the seductive cadence of a demon tempting a mortal.
“Before the Red Mist period ends, I’ll do my best to eliminate that Fallen God. When the time comes, Staff Officer Shen can move directly into Jiangning and establish a free fortress there as his base. In this apocalypse, every Chosen One throughout Huaxia will hear of the Dongming Military Region... By then...”
Before Li Ye could finish, Shen Zhi Hong silently turned and walked away, heading toward the gathered Chosen Ones.
Li Ye shrugged helplessly, the corner of his mouth curling upward. Whether the Old Fox Shen believed him or not was hard to say, but at the very least, he had listened.
Since he had already offended the Qin family of the Nether Capital, Li Ye needed to find himself a backer.
What? He had no backer? Then he would create one himself.
Once the Dongming Military Region grew powerful enough, even if he suffered setbacks outside, he could always return and lie low for a while.
Li Ye suddenly remembered something and called loudly toward Shen Zhi Hong, “Staff Officer Shen, where is Commander Chen?”
Shen Zhi Hong did not turn around. He merely pointed in a direction, knowing that Li Ye could see it.
Lowering his arm, he continued studying the dozens of Chosen Ones before him, whose faces were not yet entirely visible.
He put on the monocular infrared night-vision device that a guard had prepared for him, ensuring that he could see every person before him clearly. Then he raised a loudspeaker and said, “Today is the sixth day of the apocalypse. In accordance with the old practice of welcoming new recruits into the Dongming Military Region, I’ll tell you a few basic things.”
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Shen Zhi Hong cleared his throat, adopting the casual air of an old teacher beginning a lesson.
“For half a century, our Dongming Military Region has had only six combat units. From this day onward, you will be the seventh.
“Before the apocalypse, our Dongming forces drove those false people from the Fusang Islands away from the mainland and sank the invading ships that came from America. From top to bottom, we stood as one.
“But now the world has changed. The apocalypse has descended, zombies rule the land, and the Red Mist has swept across everything. Even so, we must remain united. As humanity’s vanguard, chosen by the heavens, I have only one demand of you: survive!
“You are no longer merely yourselves. You are also the kindling of humanity.
“Now, on behalf of Commander Chen Xian Yun, I welcome all ninety-three of you to the Seventh Unit of the Huaxia Dongming Military Region.
“From this moment onward, the only path before you is to become qualified soldiers—to become qualified Chosen Ones of the Seventh Army of our Dongming Military Region.”
This was merely a verbal enlistment ceremony conducted by the military region’s chief of staff. It possessed no sense of ceremony and carried no official status.
Yet the nearly one hundred Chosen Ones standing before Shen Zhi Hong inexplicably straightened their backs.
“Do any of you have questions?” Shen Zhi Hong asked kindly, looking at the dozens of future soldiers before him.
Naturally, everyone standing before him had already expressed an intention to join the military region. As for the few who had refused to cooperate, they had already been restrained.
In the silent crowd, Suo Hao suddenly drew a deep breath and shouted, “Reporting!”
Shen Zhi Hong looked toward the chubby, squinting young man. He remembered him: a Chosen One brought by Li Ye. He seemed reliable, so his question ought to be meaningful, Shen Zhi Hong thought.
“Can we date freely in the Dongming Military Region?!”
Shen Zhi Hong: “...”
Li Ye stood quietly at the back, in no hurry to leave.
Naturally, he had not brought Xue Ning and the others here on a whim.
In the apocalypse, survival was not threatened by material hardship alone. Many people also took their own lives after watching those around them die and losing any reason to go on living.
In his previous life, the Dongming Military Region had been a renowned “Iron Army” force throughout Huaxia. Chosen Ones who emerged from this place always possessed a certain quality that set them apart from others.
Li Ye had never understood what that quality was.
But now, he thought he might know.
It was conviction.
The thing was intangible and elusive, yet undeniably real. It influenced a person’s spirit and vitality every moment of every day.
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