Chapter 49 - Space Ability User
Experienced people and those with determination were generally hard to brainwash. The pyramid schemes and other organisations that looked for new members to indoctrinate before the end of the world would generally target those who were gullible, or had a smaller world view.
But during the apocalypse, the situation was different.
Many people had their worldview shattered by the reality of despair and death. Their injured hearts made them much more vulnerable to suggestion.
Furthermore, Nie Yi wasn’t brainwashing them into terrorists who disdained both their own lives and others; he just wanted a group of loyal subordinates.
In his last life, Nie Yi had once seen a brainwashing expert. An uncultured middle-aged woman spun a nonsensical story, convincing many ability users that she was the Savior, and they protected her faithfully. And false prophets who had initially swindled older people in the countryside became conspicuous figures, gathering many followers.
Some small-scale secure bases had even exploited such methods like this to control their residents, causing them to be unafraid of death and stake their lives for the base.
Not to mention… In his last life, Nie Yi himself had also brainwashed his subordinates, making them all the more fanatical about Qi Jingchen.
Because of all of this, he did this job with ease and familiarity, and no one would even realise that he was brainwashing them.
After Nie Yi took them to clear out the surrounding zombies, he checked the death count.
Over 2000 people had come, and 76 had perished. The number wasn’t small, but compared to the previous death toll, it was a vast improvement. In fact, some of them had died of their own carelessness. One had tripped over a rock and fallen straight into the path of a zombie’s foot. Another accidentally stabbed their own hand and became a zombie… Honestly, their deaths could be considered tragic, hah.
Nie Yi reorganised the teams with fallen comrades, then had them split into groups to collect supplies nearby.
Many residential homes still had some food like husked rice, flour, and pasta left behind, but the base didn’t have the manpower to check every house. Generally, they would just move between supermarkets, but things were different now.
They hadn’t gone far today but were able to clear out a large area of zombies. They could search for supplies at their leisure without fearing a siege.
“When you look for supplies, search for some car keys,” mentioned Nie Yi. To relocate the whole base, it was necessary to have more vehicles. It was a pity that Fei Xuelei just happened not to have these.
They nodded at Nie Yi’s words, then hurried to the nearby buildings.
When they returned, they basically all had acquired some edible food and other supplies. They piled it into the vehicles they found.
Nie Yi arranged the deck chair in their truck for Qi Jingchen, who was still hugging the lettuce, to rest in. Then, he ordered the people to line up. At this time, he suddenly yelled, “Eradicate the zombies! Protect humanity!”
He shouted a phrase that aroused their will and followed their thoughts. After he shouted, someone immediately joined him. “Eradicate the zombies! Protect humanity!”
Fei Xuelei was extremely moved and began to shout as well. “Eradicate the zombies! Protect humanity!”
At first, it was just the people around him, but gradually, more joined in until everyone was shouting together.
Over two thousand people shouting was deafening!
Such a resounding noise would undoubtedly attract a few zombies, but the team’s ability users killed them before they could even approach.
The team’s momentum only grew. Those who were fatigued from killing zombies and collecting supplies were now re-energised. Moreover, as they advanced, united by their motto, they gradually became a more coherent team.
Humanity’s potential was truly boundless; it just needed to be stimulated occasionally… Qi Jingchen sensed the flourishing momentum of the people around him and was somewhat jealous.
How great it was to have hope still…
He’d struggled through misfortune in the apocalypse for ten years, and most of his hope had been whittled away.
While thinking about this, Qi Jingchen raised his hand and rubbed his temple.
“Is it too noisy for you?” Nie Yi immediately asked.
“No. Actually, I feel a bit better.” Qi Jingchen opened his eyes. He previously had a headache all the time that would only worsen at night. Now, it was slightly less intense, which raised his spirits a little.
“Really?” Nie Yi was pleasantly surprised.
“I’m hungry.” Qi Jingchen suddenly had an appetite as well.
They had previously found many supplies, and this truck was also well-stocked. Nie Yi rummaged through a few jars of powdered milk and found a few packets of dried apples for Qi Jingchen. “Try it!”
Qi Jingchen crunched them up. Even though the dried apples weren’t fresh, the flavour was pretty good…
Nie Yi quickly brought over a packet of dried figs as well.
Qi Jingchen listened to the deafening shouts outside as he nibbled through the entire packet of dried figs.
The large team soon returned to the small secure base. At this time, Nie Yi said, “As long as you obey me, I’ll definitely lead you to eradicate the zombies!”
The only condition was obedience!
If he wanted a group of loyal subordinates, he naturally had to give some benefits… That night, Nie Yi had Fei Xuelei look for a few people with decent cooking skills, then prepared a meal outside the secure base for those who had gone to collect supplies.
The rice and noodles were cooked in large pots. Someone minced up the cured meat, pickled vegetables, and food that the secure base had conserved, sauteed it with oil, then added water to boil it into a soup.
Whether they ate rice or noodles, they all could wait for a rich spoonful of soup. The cooks had also prepared other dishes.
For example, vacuum-packed soy eggs cooked with dried green beans, dried eggssauteed with bean sprouts, dougan with seafood sauce, and so on. Before the apocalypse, many people probably wouldn’t like eating such a random meal; now, it was practically a banquet.
Nie Yi had even contributed two large wax gourdsand to prevent waste, the cooks cut them into strips, added a bit of ham sausage and cooked about 20 pots of soup. The flavour was unexpectedly good.
The food served to Qi Jingchen was much better compared to what others received. Nie Yi killed another chicken, cooked wax gourd and beansprouts with the stock, and then shredded the chicken, making chicken congee.
Qi Jingchen slowly ate while Nie Yi left temporarily and meandered around the crowd, making small conversation. His spiritual energy was currently very high, and his memory was good. He had already memorised the appearance of outstanding people, and now, during his walk, he spoke a few words with them. Of course, he also greeted the others he met.
His expression was cold and wasn’t friendly at all, and he didn’t speak much; however, the people he talked to were delighted. They had all experienced Nie Yi’s strength first-hand, and thus thought that his attitude was normal.
After Nie Yi did a round, he also had some understanding of these 2000 people. In fact, most of the 2000 people weren’t locals of B City.
In a big city like B City, most of the population were people from all over seeking work, the majority of whom were young. It wasn’t surprising at all that this would be the case, and besides, Nie Yi didn’t want people with families.
Among these people, many wanted to go back to their hometown… He could capitalise on this.
Nie Yi showed these people some concern, then looked for Ping Shengchao and gave him a command.
“Boss! I swear to accomplish this task!” Ping Shengchao had originally worshipped Nie Yi. Now, Nie Yi had not only used his own blood to save him, but also had found his parents. He was endlessly grateful to Nie Yi, and would be willing even to abandon his head or shed fresh blood. Nie Yi had just asked him to put in a good word for him in front of the others and speak well of his skills. Naturally, Ping Shengchao would do this well.
In truth, he had already guessed some of Nie Yi’s plans… Thus, when he was speaking, he would occasionally suggest that as long as they followed Nie Yi, they would become stronger and stronger…
The next day, Nie Yi took the same group out again.
With yesterday’s experience, they cooperated better than before. While they killed zombies, everyone shouted the chant to encourage themselves, making the team more like a single entity.
At first, everyone thought that it was strange for Nie Yi to carry someone while in battle, but after witnessing Nie Yi still able to annihilate row after row of zombies, they felt that this was Nie Yi’s skill.
“Two level two zombies are approaching,” Qi Jingchen suddenly said.
Level two zombies were extremely rare. They hadn’t met any yesterday, but unexpectedly some showed up today.
Nie Yi originally wanted to dispose of them personally, but he soon decided against it.
This team would encounter level two zombies sooner or later. He may be able to block them off this time, but that may not be the case in the future. He might as well observe their response.
Nie Yi climbed up a car parked by the roadside and dealt with the dumbass zombies without eyes that actually wanted to come after him while he watched over the people in the back.
The two level two zombies were close together and heading towards a few small units…
At present, there weren’t many zombies around, so the ability users in those units used their abilities freely. Having heard about level two zombies from Nie Yi before, they’d also practised aiming their abilities into the zombies’ mouths. Right when the level two zombies appeared, a water ability user threw a waterball, pegging one squarely in the mouth.
The zombie spat out a mouthful of black water.
“Level two zombies!” The entire unit immediately changed formations. Nie Yi had said before that ability users had a certain resistance towards the black fog the zombies spewed. If a level two appeared, the ability users initially protected in the centre of the formation had to move outwards and kill off the zombies as soon as possible. This would prevent the potential deaths of their members.
A few ability users stepped forward and threw various abilities at the zombies…
The zombies’ mouths were stuffed with an assortment of abilities. All the mixed energy was incompatible and repelled itself, culminating in an explosion.
Then, a fire ability user immediately burnt the remains on the floor to ashes.
They actually annihilated the zombies so easily!
“Eradicate the zombies! Protect humanity!”
“Eradicate the zombies! Protect humanity!”
…
The chant rang out continuously.
Nie Yi wasn’t afraid of zombies. Although he’d died due to a zombie-induced injury in his last life, in truth… If he could eat and drink his fill, then fight against zombies energetically without having to protect those cans, how would he have died?
Actually… Both he and Qi Jingchen had been hounded to death by the worsening environment.
But in the end, didn’t this happen because of zombies too? Nie Yi had long since directed all his wrath at the zombies. In the following days, he would bring people out to kill them every day.
In the beginning, their range of activity was nearby, but they slowly began to drive towards further places. This made the team more compliant towards Nie Yi’s requirements, and also idolise him more…
Meanwhile, the people in the small secure base were notified that they had to depart for B City secure base.
Upon receiving this news, many people were miserable and gloomy— They didn’t want to leave.
Even though staying at this secure base wasn’t necessarily safe, it was definitely much better compared to being outside. In this sort of situation, how could they be willing to leave?
Many people had resolved not to leave and behaved shamelessly.
At first, Fei Xuelei discussed the pros and cons with them nicely; however, this was precisely what made them even more unwilling to go.
In the end, it was still the words Nie Yi threw out. “In any case, we’re leaving. If you don’t want to come, then just stay here! No one’s stopping you!”
“How can we do this? We can’t just leave them behind…” Fei Xuelei was stunned— With no one to protect the old and weak, they would only be left to die!
“Do you think they’re willing to be left behind?” Nie Yi said.
Just as expected, even though there were still unhappy people who didn’t want to leave, everyone had packed up their things.
Ten days after Nie Yi arrived at this secure base, the entire base began to relocate.
People with no fighting ability and supplies that needed protection were placed in cars, while the others walked. After setting off, Nie Yi brought the 2000 people under his command to clear the path; those who could fight but didn’t join Nie Yi’s team continued standing guard around the vehicles to prevent any zombies that had slipped through from getting close.
The entire population was now gathered outside the secure base, and many people had been arranged to take care of distributing rations. At this time, Qi Jingchen suddenly looked at the abandoned secure base. “There are still people inside.”
Fei Xuelei sighed. “There are still people inside. Some of the elderly think that they are burdens and have already lost their will to live. They chose to stay behind.”
“There’s a child inside. I hear crying,” Qi Jingchen said, his expression somewhat indifferent.
“Go take a look!” Nie Yi said and went in while carrying Qi Jingchen. Fei Xuelei was stunned for a moment but followed them in. Sure enough, he immediately heard a child’s crying, then carried out a child about two or three years old.
Who knew if this child was abandoned by his parents, or if they’d died already and he was abandoned by relatives…
“I’ll go find some military dogs” Fei Xuelei immediately said.A subordinate was sent to search, and actually found ten children, young and old, and also discovered that many people had already committed suicide inside their homes. Of course, they had found a few adults and elderly that insisted on staying. All of them had lost the will to live.
They wasted an entire morning with the tedious search, but seeing the children made people think it was worth it.
“A bunch of disgraces, actually throwing away their own child!” Fei Xuelei couldn’t help saying. The secure base had quite a few orphans, and they had long been moved to a truck. As for pregnant women and elderly, they had also made appropriate arrangements, but he never imagined that there were still people who would toss aside a child…
But after thinking it through carefully, this wasn’t unusual either… Nie Yi remembered that after living got harder and harder in his last life, many people began to abandon others: the elderly, children, and even women were not exempt…
“Find a car for these children to ride. Let’s hurry up and depart.” Nie Yi had seen plenty of families fall apart and he could accept it easily, unlike Fei Xuelei. “Nie Yi, carry that child over.” Qi Jingchen suddenly pointed at a girl that was about four or five years old.
“Why?” Nie Yi asked quietly.
“She’s an ability user.” Qi Jingchen looked at the young girl with a nostalgic expression.
So what if she’s an ability user? As a child, even if she had an ability, her survivability couldn’t be that great!! Nie Yi absolutely didn’t want to carry someone else, much less carry them over to Qi Jingchen.
“Space ability,” Qi Jingchen suddenly added.
Baobao Notes
New editor, Meri, edited this chapter! She’s still on trial, but I’m sure she’ll become a firm member of the editing harem soon!
Edit:
Dumbo here (me) uploaded chapter 50 HAHA. please set me on fire. Might as well give yall a double release yeet.