No Time

We got to the research center and Guard 3 was waiting for us.

"Chief!" he acknowledged me.

I nodded and asked, "What's the situation now?"

"Zombie #37 just finished telling its' story. It's now standing silently. But when it seemed to hear people's footsteps it moved to its' cell door."

Xiao Lai was trying to look calm, but his expression became stranger by the minute. He was very concerned about this problem I guess.

Guard 3 showed us to the monitor center where he showed us fast-forwarded clips of the activity in zombie #37's cell.

The monitor had different sections, the regular screen, the sound capturer, and the heat sensitivity, metal detector, etc.

None of them had major changes. Of course, the regular screen and sound were activated once zombie #37 had begun talking and moving around.

What was strange was that the nucleus detector monitor had been started up and it noticed a significant change.

There were levels or tiers for strength during the apocalypse. It was hard to determine them for humans since everyone had different abilities and talents for leveling, but for zombies and mutant animals or plants, it was fairly easy to determine them.

In my past life, a nucleus detector was a lifesaver.

It could determine a far away creature's nucleus stage and warn the user. For instance, if the person using it was a regular ability user who was about the same level as the people outside of the base, the nucleus detector could tell through colors and a number of the creature being analyzed to tell the creature's strength.

It could be . Which would mean it was in level 5 but soon to level up. And for the color, it would be of the analyzed subject's element. In this case, fire.

There were cases where a creature could have a merged element or have more than one nucleus. Those creatures were usually highly dangerous and only powerful ability users would want to hunt them.

For zombies, the nucleus detector also did wonders. But as zombies could have multiple powers, it was harder for a nucleus detector to warn its user clearly.

Anyway, for zombie #37, the nuclear detector did notice something strange.

Zombie #37 did have a nucleus, so it wasn't level 1 or 2. Besides, it did have powers before it zombified.

When Zombie #37 was living, his powers were...

Actually, what were they?

"Xiao Lai, do you remember Zhang Xing's powers? What abilities did he have?"

"He had the water ability, and some strange ability from shadows."

"Hm, ok. That's unique."

Zombie #37's powers might've been a clue to its strange actions, but none of his powers could explain. They just didn't match up.

And listening to the recording, it definitely was zombie #37's life before it was zombified.

But zombies never retained their memories.

???

I was thoroughly confused.

What was the meaning of this? How had this happened? Why had this happened? What caused this?

Finding things I didn't know was a common thing, but to find something that I was confident I knew most about was a little heartbreaking for me.

Whew. Well, it was bound to happen.

I calmed down and settled my thoughts.

"...Yu Ge, I think I know why this happened."

I quickly turned towards Xiao Lai.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how I blacked out, right? I mean, it could have been caused by stress plus an incoming projectile, but just maybe... it might be my abnormal ability?"

"What abnormal ability?"

"I think... it's something like, if I know them, I can connect with zombies to have them become loyal to me... maybe?"

"That's an awfully specific power, but I have no choice but to believe that. There isn't any other known explanation for this after all," I sighed.

Now, because of this second, or was it first(?) abnormal ability that somehow never acted up in the start, Xiao Lai was going to have to see zombie #37 whether he wanted to or not. I would've preferred not, but he would need another subject if he wanted to test this power, and we so far didn't know the consequences for another "servant" to be gained.

To be honest, it wasn't bad to have everyone just rest and work in the city. The zombie hunting wasn't very necessary, but it was the sole thing we could do to rid ourselves of the guilt of not bringing any more people in. Of course, mostly my guilt, also my fault for singling out only a few. And then rashly bringing in whatever random people at the end was a weird choice too.

In the base, everyone, at least mostly everyone, had good and upright morals, and to keep it that way, everyone in the council agreed that the zombie huntings should be continued. Besides, using cores as a currency was already established, and the materials gained from the "outside world" were very useful in all sorts of advancements.

Maybe I was the only one trying to keep everyone 'innocent' as they called it, but I was grateful when they accepted the decision.

Although, they joked, "We were scared that you'd kick us out of the base if we didn't agree!" they are still people who understood what was good for the community at the time.

Ehem, back to the point, Xiao Lai was going to have to be responsible for zombie #37.

"So, you can order him around?" Guard 3 asked incredulously.

"Yes, but he's gaining full consciousness right now. So, I'll leave him alone for about 3 hours first. ...And he doesn't have emotions but can think, so he'll be different from what he previously was..." Xiao Lai muttered the last part softly.

"Well, we aren't going to bring him back for now. Let' go back. And thank you for your hard work Mr.Guard."

"No problem Chief! Don't worry about things here! Have a good night!"

I nodded politely to the enthusiastic guard and took Xiao Lai home.

Right after we said our goodnights to each other, I got another call.

This time, from Guard 14, who was stationed near the gates of the base.

"Chief, we've got a situation. There have been outsiders found near the base of one of the mountains. Some of them are injured and there are only two ability users, and weak ones at that. There are about 11 regular humans, some of them are children who have fainted. The injured ones are the two ability users as well as some of the adults. It has not been confirmed if they have been injured by zombies, but seeing the group still keeps the injured around, it would be safe to assume so."

It was slightly roundabout, but the report summed up the situation. Yes, by this point, outsiders should know about zombie scratches or bites giving rise to zombies.

"What should we do? Kill or lead them away?"

I was just about to say lead them away when a picture of the intruders caught my eye.

"No. Bring them in."

"B-bring them in sir?" The tremble in the guard's voice was evident, I didn't allow outsiders in the base after all.

"Yes, several of them are esteemed pharmaceutical scientists. They may be highly useful in some of our research. Go with several guards and bring them in. If the intruders are willing to come in, then escort them peacefully, but if they are not willing, kill them."

"Yes, sir!"

"Wait. I'll come with."

"S-sir?"

"We have to make a welcoming appearance after all."

"Then I'll be gathering guards while you arrive, sir!"

"Alright."

I ended the call and dressed in slightly formal wear. A collared navy shirt, grey suit pants, and dress shoes. I also added a watch for accessories.

Time to go meet new people.

The base was something I couldn't get lost in.

...Well, I did get lost at first, and still now. But only sometimes. Just sometimes.

The places I frequented though, I could find easily. It's been quite over a year already, how could I not know?

It had taken only about 10 minutes for me to dress up and arrive, but the last of the guards had arrived.

I commended Guard 14 for his good work and brought him and 7 other guards out of the base.

Of course, I didn't lead, Guard 14 who had noticed the situation did, and he really was a great navigator.

The intruders were currently resting.

The mountain was extremely hot during the day and freezing during the night.

They were shivering and had set up a fire by burning some wood. The abled had brought as many twigs as they could and were adding them, just enough to keep the fire alive to provide some warmth.

They were prepared, I could see that. But not enough.

They had camping equipment, but not for everyone. Sleeping bags, check. Tents, check. Supplies, check. But one for every person? No. One for every 3 people? No. It was only about 4 bags of well-prepared supplies. And the rest had some backpacks.

My guess was that these people weren't together. At least, they probably didn't come from the same status. 13 people but already containing 2 ability users, it was evident that this group was special. The people outside of the base shouldn't have much ability users, but this small group had two.

"Let's proceed," I said and walked forward.

The guards went in front of me as if to prepare my entrance. But instead of doing it calmly, they acted very loud, as if to inform the group of their presence.

The group was startled. We hadn't made much noise before this and the small noise we made could have passed as the wind.

The two ability users, though injured, hid the pharmaceutical scientists that I was planning on inviting into the base.

The rest of the group were huddled together and tried to go behind or stay near the scientists.

"Who are you guys?" interrogatively asked one of the ability users.

I arrived in front and made a frown.

"That would be our question. Your group is intruding upon our territory."

Guard 14 had a slightly confused look on his face for a second that quickly vanished.

No doubt, he thought I was going to use a friendly approach. But by doing so, it would make us more suspicious in this dark period. Nobody would trust that people were naturally nice now. They all had motives. It was strange for one not to.

The ability user who had questioned me calmed down.

The other ability user had a sheepish look on his face.

"We need supplies, are you willing to make a trade?"

The first ability user angrily glared at the second one.

He was probably mad at the other man for showing their position.

I put away my frown but put up a dead-pan expression.

"What can you give?" I asked as if I wasn't anticipating anything.

"We have information!" the second ability user exclaimed. He had a hopeful expression on his face.

The first ability user scowled but gave in, "We have information on the plants that have mutated and their properties."

They weren't willing to give up the people behind them and what they researched. Still, they apparently did have a few extra valuables.

But when they took out proof, I could feel my eye twitch. The guards around me almost lost their formation as well.

It was the same damn booklet I had given the higher-ups at my ex-parents' base.

Anyhow, I had to get them inside the base.

So, no choice but to accept the very thing I made.

I tried hard to not make my voice steady as I answered, "Alright. Follow us."

I turned around and following the guards, the group trudged behind, hurriedly packing up their tents and supporting the injured.

The group didn't make a squeak, but they did make taps. Taps that indicated communication. It was morse code, something I was well-versed in. The apocalypse taught you many things.

It was the scientists and the ability users, arguing if this was safe. They ended the conversation by declaring they had no choice. If they didn't get food soon, they'd starve to death.

They then argued about bringing 'those' people. The scientists had felt pity for the people not allowed in the base due to not being able to give supplies as offerings to the base and had taken them along. They later realized that although they were grateful, they were a huge burden. But they couldn't just chase them away, thus the current situation where they were soon to starve.

Sometimes, trying to take pity on people and helping them would backstab you. Although the people who were saved did not mean to, they inevitably did.

It wasn't my situation. I was planning to get rid of the regular people out later. After closing of the base from regular humans or regular ability users, I had people keep in their mind never to bring back unnecessary things. This included people.

Mind wiping wasn't completely safe, they might remember things by a trigger. Killing was a much safer choice. So unless they had a special talent, they were going to die.

It was cruel of me to separate my people and others and have such bias, but I wanted to keep a mindset that it wasn't good if outsiders got ahold of information about our base. Even if they were weak, if all of them came together, it wouldn't be impossible for them to take over.

Anyways, currently, the guards didn't want to keep quiet anymore and were joking around. The 8 guards were close buddies and planned to go for a drink after their shifts were over.

"Chief, you want in?" a young guard asked as a joke.

Guard 14 quickly smacked the young guard's head and reprimanded him through whispers.

"I have things to do afterward, so how about I pay for your drinks? If it's Red Sky, I know the owner. And don't be polite, drink as much as you want," I smiled.

The young guard grinned and then glared at Guard 14. Guard 14 coughed lightly and then gruffed, "Thank you, sir."

The other guards had wide smiles on their faces as they began to talk about their daily lives and what they saw during their patrols.

The group behind us was still quiet except for the tapping that they believed weren't noticed by us.

When we arrived near the base's barriers and walls, I could hear frantic tapping.

After the monitors identified me, we were let in without any trouble.

Some of the group members were awed and let out gasps of surprise.

The ability users and scientists were suspecting us now, but they didn't have a choice.

We entered the base and the guards escorted the group up to the office building.

The tapping had all but disappeared as the group saw how advanced the inside of the base was, with the better technology and more regular-city like setting, not the devastating state of the apocalypse they were used to.

"I will only talk to the representative," I demanded.

The ability users were hesitant and looked towards the scientists. The scientists were looking towards one person.

"I'm the representative."

It was a grimy looking young man with shoulder-length messy hair that covered his face. He didn't look clean, slightly malnourished even, but his voice was clear and confident.

Something that caught my eye was that he wasn't with the regular people. He was within the group of scientists. This person didn't seem simple.

"Alright, the rest can go take a rest and regroup tomorrow. Guards, escort them to Apartment 30. That place has 2 empty rooms on floor 17. After that, you guys can go drink."

Guard 14 and his comrades saluted and headed out. Guard 14 also knew my implied words, 'don't let them wander around'.

After sending them off, I acknowledged the young man in front of me.

"I am the leader of this base, Shui Yu."

I held out my hand.

The young man shook my hand with a steady grip.

He slightly nodded his head and the tousle showed his bright eyes.

Smiling, he greeted, "Hello, I'm Xia Jiayi."