Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 103 Action
From the second-floor window, Zhuang Fan watched the floating car depart, eventually disappearing into the gray skyline.

His thoughts were still lingering on the conversation they had just had. Zhongdu, Hope Home, orphans, child laborers... these words kept popping into his mind.

The team is currently lacking in fresh blood, especially talents like Chu Ningyan and Pipi. One provides top-notch combat power, and the other enhances the team's survival.

If he could invite them in as well… the thought had barely formed in his mind before it began to grow wildly.

"Hey."

Hua Xin appeared behind him without his noticing and bumped him hard with her shoulder.

Zhuang Fan stumbled and almost lost his balance.

He turned around and gave her a disapproving look: "Are you sick?"

"hey-hey."

Hua Xin's fluffy cat ears twitched, a sly look on her face, revealing a knowing look.

"Say something quickly."

"How's it going?" she leaned closer, her tone full of gossip.

"What progress?" Zhuang Fan frowned.

"Still pretending."

Hua Xin gestured with her lip, pointing in the direction where the hovercar had disappeared, "I saw you two chatting quite a bit on the balcony just now."

Zhuang Fan replied in a flat tone, "A little bit."

"Wow!"

Hua Xin's eyes lit up. "Then good luck! Just say the word if you need my help, and I'll cheer you on and create some excitement."

Zhuang Fan then realized that the little cat girl had completely misunderstood.

He was too lazy to explain, "Get lost."

"okay!"

Hua Xin readily agreed, then curled up into a ball and rolled down the stairs like a fur ball.

The movements were fluid, without the slightest hesitation.

"..."

Zhuang Fan was utterly speechless.

Since this child developed cat ears and a tail, some of his behaviors have become unpredictable and cannot be understood using common sense.

On the other side, inside the floating vehicle.

While skillfully maneuvering the steering wheel, Pipi glanced at Chu Ningyan beside him.

"Team leader, don't you think that when you were standing with that man just now, it really looked like a scene from an old movie?"

"What scene?"

"It's that...feeling of love."

Pipi's voice couldn't hide her excitement, "It feels great, it's really good."

Chu Ningyan turned her head and said, "Don't talk nonsense in the future. He and I are just business partners. Don't let people misunderstand."

"Okay, okay, I apologize."

Pipi chuckled, his gossip-loving spirit still burning.

"But team leader, I always feel that the way he looks at you is unusual, like... he's looking at an old friend he hasn't seen for many years. Are you satisfied with this explanation?"

Chu Ningyan turned her gaze to the window, where the desolate wasteland rushed past in her field of vision, seemingly without end.

An old friend...maybe.

Seeing that she remained silent, Pipi wisely changed the subject.

"Team leader, have you heard? It seems that the new governor is encouraging citizens to form natural unions and reproduce naturally."

"Is this happening?"

"Yes, I have."

Pipi's eyes darted around. "I'm guessing, is it because we're running out of cloning fluid?"

Chu Ningyan shook her head. "It could also be caused by the Jack tribe. The clones were growing bigger and bigger, and Zhongdu finally couldn't sit still anymore."

"...The Jack tribe?" Pipi had never heard of them.

"Or perhaps, they discovered some fatal flaws in clones."

Pipi paused for a moment. "What defect is it?"

"Didn't you notice?"

Chu Ningyan turned her head and looked at her. "Those clones have lower tolerance to the eerie mist and are more prone to mutations."

"And those babies grown in artificial incubators also have a high rate of birth defects. You're a military doctor, so you should know this better than I do."

Pipi thought about it seriously for a moment, "No wonder! I am my mother's biological child, and the concentration of the eerie mist in my body has always been relatively low."

The marriage system in the wasteland is practically nonexistent; men and women freely marry, forming and dissolving families at any time, resulting in a chaotic social landscape.

The product of this chaotic combination is the ubiquitous abandoned infants and orphans, as well as deformed children born with disabilities.

Chu Ningyan tried hard to adapt to this era, but she always felt a physical aversion to it.

She could neither judge nor change it.

At that moment, her wrist trembled.

An encrypted message from the Fengmang internal review committee popped up silently:
Regarding the unexpected death of Vice Captain Harry Harbenson, the final investigation has concluded that due to a lack of direct evidence, the review process for your case is now terminated. Thank you for your cooperation.

Immediately afterwards, the panel vibrated again; it was a promotion notification from the HR department:

[In recognition of the outstanding performance of Team Leader Grey Goose in the joint operations of the Nuclear Group, the Board of Directors has decided to promote you to Deputy Team Leader of the Third Operations Squad, effective next month.]

Pipi noticed that she was staring at the panel. "Team leader, what's wrong?"

A complex expression flashed across Chu Ningyan's face. "My review is over, and I've even been promoted to deputy captain."

"Really? That's great! Those bastards, I knew the team leader was innocent!"

Pipi was genuinely happy for her: "Team leader, now that you've been promoted to vice team leader, are you still going to resign?"

Chu Ningyan did not answer immediately and turned off the light screen.

She vaguely sensed that this was a power struggle within the organization, possibly orchestrated by Qiu Shan's political enemies.

Withdrawing the review is a gesture of goodwill, while promising a promotion is an attempt to win them over; both are bargaining chips thrown out by the other party.

But she had absolutely no interest in the game.

"Forget it, let's go back to Zhongdu."

"Okay, wherever you go, I'll go."

The airship quickly arrived at Mao Shanwang's stronghold.

After returning the hovercar to King Maoshan, Chu Ningyan said directly, "Boss Cat, I need to book two tickets back to Zhongdu, the earliest available train."

Mao Shanwang fanned himself with a palm leaf fan: "The only available tickets are for the upper class, five thousand gold coins each, taking off tomorrow night from the Black Gold Trading Company branch in the city."

Chu Ningyan did not haggle and promptly paid 10,000 gold coins.

After buying the ticket, she took out a gold bar from her pocket and pushed it on the counter: "Please exchange it for 100,000 gold coins."

"no problem."

Mao Shanwang took the gold bars, tested their purity with professional instruments, and after confirming that they were correct, took out ten stacks of gold banknotes with a face value of one thousand yuan.

The two returned to the headquarters of the Sharp Edge Mercenary Group, carrying heavy bags of money.

The headquarters of the Sharp Edge consisted of several sturdy buildings, with the outer walls riddled with bullet holes.

"Team leader, I'm going to the infirmary to pack my personal belongings. See you later." Pipi waved to her.

"Well, let's go."

Chu Ningyan walked alone towards the finance department on the third floor.

The finance specialist was a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. When he saw Chu Ningyan, he put on a formulaic smile.

"Good evening, Grey Goose Team Leader."

"Good evening, I'm here to return the money."

Chu Ningyan took out a money bag containing 90,000 gold coins and placed it on the table.

"Pay back the money?"

The commissioner paused for a moment, then remembered something, and waved his hand with a smile.

“Team Leader Grey Goose, you previously received an advance of three months’ salary and already paid a 5% handling fee. You don’t need to return these 90,000 gold coins. Returning them would be a loss for you.”

"I want to pay it back."

Chu Ningyan's tone left no room for argument: "I'm preparing to resign. All accounts must be settled and all debts wiped clean."

Even if she leaves, she must leave cleanly, without leaving any stain or evidence; this is her principle as a top hunter.

The finance specialist was stunned for a moment: "Resignation..."

Chu Ningyan nodded and continued, "In addition, please settle my personal bonuses for all the tasks I have completed this year. I remember it was 200,000."

The finance specialist was initially confused, but quickly realized that the person in front of her was an S-class hunter.

Even if she had to split the profits with the mercenary group, her personal share would still be a huge sum.

"Team Leader Grey Goose, let me check for you first."

He adjusted his glasses, tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and brought up Chu Ningyan's personal file.

"Team Leader Grey Goose, regarding your personal bonus, the agreement signed at the time stipulated that the mercenary group would manage the funds on your behalf. Currently, it is invested in 'Linhaiwaicheng Commercial Development Bond C', with a lock-up period of one year."

"Yes, it's been a year today, so you can redeem it now."

Chu Ningyan stared at him. "How much money is inside now?"

"Okay, I'll check for you."

The specialist typed on the keyboard, then stared at the screen for a long time with a strange expression.

"Team Leader Grey Goose, regarding the profits... the final settlement is a negative 100,000."

"Negative returns?"

Chu Ningyan frowned slightly. "If it's a loss, just say it's a loss. How can the profit be negative?"

"This is how it's written on the settlement statement."

She still couldn't accept it: "Are you sure this is legitimate financial management? Why are you losing so much money?"

The commissioner cleared his throat, his gaze fixed on the light screen, and read out, word by word:

"The unpredictable market volatility caused by the zombie horde has dealt a devastating blow to the rental business in the outer city, resulting in a significant reduction in bond value."

Chu Ningyan frowned: "How much of the principal is left?"

“Team Leader Grey Goose, of your initial investment of 200,000, only 100,000 remains.”

Ning Yan fell silent.

Two hundred thousand in principal, ten thousand evaporated in a year.

She even doubted that she had heard correctly.

She had originally planned to get back 200,000 gold coins, which would have given the children at Hope Home at least another six months.

The specialist looked up, adjusted his glasses, and offered a slightly formulaic apology:

"In addition, if you redeem now, you will need to pay a 5% handling fee. If you redeem after half a month, the fee will be reduced to 2%."

Chu Ningyan understood.

This excuse is probably a common tactic used by mercenary groups to embezzle personal assets.

The so-called "unpredictable market fluctuations" are nothing more than an excuse that can be used at will.

"I'll redeem it now." She didn't hesitate.

"Ok."

The specialist operated the terminal again, but with a deeper apology on his face. "Team Leader Grey Goose, I'm sorry, it's too late now. The vault department has already closed. I'm afraid this money won't be available to you until tomorrow."

Chu Ningyan was even more depressed.

She pointed to the bag of gold coins on the table, "Fine, I'll take back this 90,000 as the principal for redeeming my investment. Give me the rest tomorrow."

"Team leader, this... the procedures are not in accordance with regulations."

The commissioner looked troubled. "I'll be in a difficult position, and according to regulations, you'll also be in trouble."

Looking at his face, which was filled with "rules" and "procedures," Chu Ningyan didn't know what to say.

She knew that continuing to argue would be pointless.

"Then I'll come pick it up tomorrow," she said, turning and leaving.

"Ok, no problem."

At this moment, Qiu Shan was watching Chu Ningyan leave the finance department through the monitoring screen.

He knew the fish had taken the bait.

He pushed aside the woman beside him and connected to Director Soren's encrypted communication.

On the screen, a man with a sinister face appeared.

"Director, she's been tricked into coming back."

Qiu Shan's voice carried a hint of smugness, "The personnel department and the review committee have been very cooperative."

Soren nodded: "Very good, let's close the net according to plan, and finish this quickly. I'll find a way to hold off that old fox, Harpenson."

Qiu Shan's heart skipped a beat: "Director Soren, do you think... Harbenson will go to rescue Chu Ningyan?"

"The possibility is not small."

Soren smiled and analyzed, "Since I've bet on you, he'll naturally bet on Grey Goose too, let's see who can support a new combat commander."

"Besides, when it comes to the competition for the team captain, Qiu Shan, with your physical abilities, how can you compare to Grey Goose in his prime?" Qiu Shan had nothing to say.

This is the fact he least wants to admit, yet cannot refute.

"But... anyone with eyes can see that Harry was killed by the Grey Goose. Would that old dog, Harbenson, really give a second chance to someone who killed his son?"

"Qiu Shan, is your brain covered in shit?"

Soren said with a hint of mockery, "I sent you to collect false evidence, not to hypnotize yourself into believing it."

Qiu Shan felt a little embarrassed and became even more humble.

After he hung up the call, his face was grim.

At that moment, another message popped up silently, its content concise and to the point.

The investigation team has surrounded Chu Ningyan's apartment and confirmed that the target is inside.

"very good."

A resolute glint flashed in Qiu Shan's eyes, "Execute the Goose-Catching Plan. This time, she can't escape."

Meanwhile, Chu Ningyan was packing her personal belongings in her apartment.

She had just stuffed the last magazine into her pouch when her movement suddenly froze, and a faint tremor, imperceptible to most, came from the floor.

She immediately looked at the monitor screen in the corner of the wall.

Everything appeared normal; there were no alarms, and the six sensors secretly deployed did not react at all.

But she trusted her instincts more and immediately picked up the Wasteland Traveler, only to find that the signal had been completely cut off.

She quietly approached the window and lifted a corner of the curtain.

Downstairs, several armored soldiers had sealed off all the exits, and a rotary machine gun was turning silently.

Several drones hovered outside the window, their tactical goggles locked onto her.

Outside the door, a soldier picked up a detonator and pressed it.

"boom--!"

The apartment door was blown open.

A dozen or so combat soldiers rushed in, their guns pointed steadily at her.

The head examiner walked over, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Grey Goose, you are suspected of murdering Lieutenant Captain Harry. The evidence is conclusive. Please come with us."

In that instant, Chu Ningyan realized she had been tricked; the news of withdrawing the investigation and promoting her to deputy captain was all fake.

She calculated the disparity in strength between the two sides and knew that any resistance would be futile.

Where's Pipi?

"Don't worry, she's already been asked to go."

Chu Ningyan's heart sank. She immediately put down her weapon and did not put up any further resistance.

"Okay, I'll go with you."

The inspector secretly breathed a sigh of relief; he had temporarily deployed several squads in case they failed to capture the hunter.

Chu Ningyan's last action before being taken away was to quietly press the destroy button on her wrist panel.

On the other side, Pipi had just finished packing her personal belongings and was carrying her medical kit out of the infirmary when she was stopped by a group of soldiers.

"Dr. Peter Shing, you are suspected of involvement in the murder of Lieutenant Captain Harry. Please come with us."

"Ah, what's going on..."

Pipi's face turned ashen, and before he could even speak, he was taken away by the soldiers.

The next morning, at the Torch Base.

Hua Xin was leading his newly recruited scavenging team, preparing to drive his truck out.

Suddenly, Xiong Er in the watchtower sounded the alarm.

"Attention! A massive zombie horde has been discovered! It covers an extremely wide area and has an enormous number of zombies, estimated to exceed five million!"

five million?
Everyone present froze instantly; this was an absolutely rare, massive zombie horde!

Xiong Er shouted angrily again, "Five minutes left!"

Watson rushed up from the basement, yelling, "All members, immediately execute the silence order!"

After the instructions were given, the panic among all members gradually subsided, and the team began to operate at high speed.

All lights were turned off within ten seconds, backup power was cut off, and only the most basic life support system was maintained.

The alloy door crashed down under hydraulic pressure, and a dozen thick bolts immediately locked in place.

Bulletproof shields were lowered on all windows, ventilator fans stopped running, and even the water purification system's circulation pump went into hibernation mode.

Inside the base, all members hid in the basement, ceased all non-essential activities, and were prohibited from making any noise.

Radio communications were switched to the lowest power level and could only be used in the most urgent situations.

Zhuang Fan walked to the window, looked at the gray horde of corpses in the distance, and gently shook his head:
"Remove all the machine gun turrets from the roof. Xiong Er, you come back too. With a zombie horde of several million, the number of red zombie birds will be terrifying. The watchtower will be a sitting duck."

"but……"

Xiong Er hesitated. If they lost the tower, the base would be rendered useless.

Zhuang Fan smiled gently and said, "It's alright, come back, I'll be your eyes."

Xiong Er was stunned for a moment, then realized that his boss had the ability to control fog, which meant he was no ordinary person.

Although he was stubborn, he wasn't reckless. He immediately picked up his sniper rifle and quickly returned to base via zipline.

Zhuang Fan arrived on the first floor. The room was pitch black, all the fog lights were off, and eerie fog was slowly forming.

He frowned, turned the fog lights back on, and absorbed all the resulting light fog.

He then went down to the basement, where he found it packed with tense members, each pointing a gun at the door; the air was so oppressive it was suffocating.

"It's alright, everyone come out."

Zhuang Fan's voice clearly reached everyone's ears, "It's just a zombie horde, no need to be so nervous. Just do what you need to do and don't make too much noise."

"Trust me, the zombie horde is being quite polite today and won't get close to our base."

The group looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion.

The previous zombie horde attack was still fresh in their minds, so they thought Zhuang Fan was just joking.

Watson understood immediately. "Listen to the boss, everyone get out."

Watson was the first to lead the way out, and the others hesitated for a moment before leaving the basement with some skepticism.

In the lobby on the first floor, Cole and the other nine members of the Firelink were wearing power armor. This imposing presence gave them a sense of confidence.

"You guys stay here, I'm going out for a walk."

After saying that, Zhuang Fan opened the second-floor window and jumped out.

The new member looked bewildered. With a horde of zombies attacking, leaving the base was tantamount to suicide.
"Don't just sit there."

Watson clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention.

"Come and organize the ammunition, collect all the spent cartridge cases, reload the gunpowder and bullets, and remember to be gentle."

Everyone immediately sprang into action, operating in a silent and orderly manner.

When faced with the threat of death, having something to do is better than sitting idly and letting your mind wander.

Zhuang Fan placed clusters of eerie black mist at more than a dozen key locations around the base and the new warehouse, leaving them suspended motionless in mid-air.

After doing all this, Zhuang Fan's face was slightly pale, and the familiar dizziness returned.

However, the symptoms are relatively mild.

He glanced again at the small vegetable garden next to him, which was enclosed by a fence and contained fruits, vegetables, and catnip grown by Hua Xin and some cat girls.

Next to the fence were swings, tree holes, and climbing frames. They even dug a small pond and filled it with water, apparently to raise some fish.

In the desolate wasteland, this small patch of life seems especially precious, at least the team won't be lifeless.

Zhuang Fan condensed several more wisps of black mist, which carefully drifted above the small vegetable garden.

This is all he can do; there's nothing he can do if he really ruins it.

After doing all this, he left alone and climbed to the top of an abandoned building across the street.

The first wave of zombies arrived downstairs. The little zombies were extremely fast, tearing apart any living thing, not even sparing leaves and grass.

When they passed by the vegetable garden and saw the clusters of black mist, they trembled and showed a kind of instinctive fear, and immediately went around it.

Zhuang Fan sat cross-legged on the rooftop, observing the distance.

From the distant, blurred horizon to the nearby horizon, an overwhelming, dense mass of surging, gray-white zombies stretched as far as the eye could see.

Xiong Er was being conservative; the number of zombies in this wave is likely to reach tens of millions.

Zhuang Fan's gaze searched through the horde of zombies, but he didn't see any green-skinned figures. It seemed to be just a simple zombie horde attack.

In this wave of zombies, there were many three-meter-tall zombie monsters. They ran very fast, and the ground trembled slightly.

As the horde of zombies approached the Firewood base, it seemed to hit an invisible barrier, and they parted to the sides with perfect understanding, maintaining a distance of five or six meters.

Even the corpse monsters that used to trample on rooftops now take a long detour.

They had an instinctive fear of the black mist floating in the corner and dared not touch it in the slightest.

Inside the base, everyone stared intently at this bizarre scene through the gaps in the firing ports.

They didn't notice the black mist floating in the corner, but they thought their boss was incredibly insightful, and that the zombies were indeed very polite today...

On the rooftop, Zhuang Fan looked down at everything. In his field of vision, there was nothing but surging gray and white, and no figure behind the corpse.

Given the Queen's terrifyingly vigorous reproductive capacity, the current number is probably not enough for her to personally take action.

The only target of this wave of zombies can be Linhai City.

Old Cui, the owner of the landfill, had just sent six scrap trucks out of the city when he saw a convoy speeding towards him in the distance, kicking up a large cloud of yellow dust.

On the top of the lead carriage stood a giant house crab, the exclusive mount of King Maoshan.

"The delivery point hasn't arrived yet, so why did this old cat come here on its own initiative?" Old Cui was puzzled.

The quick-witted deputy whispered, "Boss, is that fat cat going to try to haggle again?"

"How else does he want to chop it up? With his snot?!"

"Boss, he's going to cut our fuel costs..."

Old Cui's expression suddenly turned serious. He sat up abruptly, his one eye wide open.

The deputy also felt a chill run down his spine. In the distance ahead, beyond the yellow sand, lay an endless gray shadow, sweeping in like a sandstorm.

"It's a horde of zombies! Turn around immediately!"

The six trucks came to an immediate stop, leaving several dark tire tracks on the ground.

Mao Shanwang stood on the top of the carriage, passing by Lao Cui's convoy.

He vigorously waved his palm-leaf fan: "Old Cui, what are you standing there for? Let's run!"

"You damn cat, you didn't even tell me the zombie horde was coming!"

"How was I supposed to know you left the city ahead of time? Hurry up, the drawbridge will be raised soon!"

"Quickly, turn around! Everyone follow!"

The two caravans began a frantic, desperate escape.

The zombie horde was much slower than the convoy, but the red zombie birds flying in the sky were quite fast.

That flock of blood-red birds, like dark clouds pressing down overhead, was so imposing that it dyed most of the sky a deep crimson.

The Linhai City border defense zone is on high alert, with all mutant soldiers and regular troops mobilized.

Mao Shanwang and Lao Cui's convoy rushed in just before the suspension bridge was raised.

But many more homeless people and scavengers were left behind in despair.

As the suspension bridge rose, they were terrified. Some jumped up in the air, trying to grab the edge of the bridge, but ended up falling into a ten-meter-deep ditch.

The oil pipelines on the trench walls were spewing fuel downwards, ready to turn everything into a sea of ​​fire at any moment.

The remaining refugees knelt on the ground and wailed.

The slowly rising suspension bridge completely severed their path to survival.

……

In the wilderness, in an abandoned building.

Two ragged men were sitting face to face, hiding in the shadow of a wall.

Below, a dense horde of corpses stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Old Mike, aren't you tired after all these days?"

"Not tired."

"What are you after? Is it his age, or his money?"

"Mr. Xu has done me a great favor, and I am doing my duty to protect him."

"You're just kidding, I'm not doing it anymore."

"You're a wanted criminal; there's no hope if you quit."

"Hey, is there any difference now?"

"At least there is still hope. As long as we find Mr. Xu, we can make a comeback."

"Old Mike, I've ended up in this miserable state because I believed your... Wait, it's already dawn!"

"The scorched earth has arrived."

"...Holy crap, they're going to roast the zombies alive!"

(End of this chapter)