112: Chapter 112 What are you doing in the gold market?

A man's voice suddenly came from outside. Everyone immediately stood up alertly, gripping their weapons as they looked at the group of people outside.

The glass doors were opened, and a group of men walked in.

Xu Wanning frowned. Looking at their posture, they seemed like regular soldiers.

The leading man swept his gaze around, finally fixing his eyes on Xu Wanning. "Apologies for the intrusion. We thought Jin City was deserted and wanted to establish a base here. Since there are already people, we..."

"Are you soldiers?" Xu Wanning interrupted him.

The man nodded. "We used to be."

"Used to be." It seemed there was more to the story.

Xu Wanning needed people, and these men were practically delivered right to her doorstep. "We've established the Dawn Base centered around the landmark building. We've already secured this area. Would you like to join us?"

The man next to the leader spoke up, looking somewhat displeased. "Are you saying you want our boss to take orders from you from now on?"

Xu Wanning shook her head. "Of course not absolute obedience. What I want is joint governance. The Central District area will belong to me, and the west of the city can belong to you. We can also just stay out of each other's way.

"I only have one requirement: when other cities attack, we must help each other."

Jin City was so large, and she had so few people that it was impossible to occupy all of it. Having others take over a portion of the area was fine, as long as they weren't bad people who wanted to kill or absorb them.

"Then why shouldn't you listen to our boss? Our boss is an S-class Lightning Ability user." The man next to him spoke up again.

"Oh? So what? Is S-class that big of a deal? We have S-class Ability Users on our side too." Xu Wanning pointed at the people behind her. "Did you think these are the only people we have?"

The leading man stared at Xu Wanning for a good while. "My name is Zhang Yang. May I ask, are you the Xu Wanning who was reborn and warned the country about the coming of The Apocalypse?"

As soon as he said this, his teammates behind him gasped. The man who had been clamoring earlier rubbed his nose rather awkwardly.

Xu Wanning was startled. Not many people should know about this, right? Who was this man?

"Who are you?" Xu Yu and Jiang Heng stepped forward to block Xu Wanning.

Jiang Heng turned his head slightly. "Sister Ning, there are thirty of them in total."

Zhang Yang continued to look at Xu Wanning through the gap between their shoulders. "My father is Zhang Jiang. You should know him."

Zhang Jiang? She did indeed know him. When The Great Leader first brought her to the grand conference room, she had indeed met him. She still remembered the nameplate she received.

Xu Wanning looked at them suspiciously. "In that case, what are you doing in Jin City? To capture me?"

Zhang Yang shook his head. "No, before my father died, he told me to find you. It's just that by the time I arrived in Jing City, you had already left. That's why I brought my brothers to Jin City. I didn't expect to run into you by such a coincidence."

"Since that's the case, let's sit down and talk." Xu Wanning parted Jiang Heng and Xu Yu.

Zhang Yang led his men over to sit down.

Wen Shuyang and the others picked up their lunch boxes again. Zhang Yang and his teammates couldn't help but fixate their eyes on the lunch boxes before forcing themselves to look away.

"Have you eaten?" Xu Wanning asked casually.

Zhang Yang shook his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "No. None of us are Wood Ability Users, and we don't have a Space Ability user either."

Xu Wanning released thirty lunch boxes. "Eat up."

"Thank you." Zhang Yang took a lunch box and passed it back. He didn't want to be like this, but his brothers had been starving for two days, filling their stomachs only with water. If they didn't eat soon, they wouldn't hold out.

"You're welcome. Tell me, why did Uncle Zhang tell you to find me?"

She didn't remember having any private contact with Zhang Jiang. She hadn't even known whether he was still in Jing City or not.

Zhang Yang swallowed his food. "My father discovered an Underground Research Institute. They were capturing Ability Users and ordinary people for experimentation. He was hunted down on his way to report it. Before he died, he instructed me to take my brothers to find you and follow you.

"As a result, we went to your villa, but no one was there. There was only a butler named Steward Zhang Song, who told us you had left.

"I was afraid something else would happen, and remembering that someone had said Jin City had become a zombie city, I brought my brothers here."

Xu Wanning understood. She hadn't expected the Underground Research Institute to have been established so early. But then again, by the time it could be openly discussed, it meant it had already begun.

Presumably, even The Great Leader was kept in the dark. She could lead her people away, but The Great Leader could not.

"What about your families? Are they still in Jing City?" Going back to Jing City to pick up their families now wouldn't be easy, as the enemy had already been alerted.

Zhang Yang shook his head. "No, before The Apocalypse, my father sent our families to the neighboring city. We planned to conquer this place first before picking them up."

Xu Wanning frowned. "I advise you to go pick them up now. If you're too late, it might be too late."

She reasonably suspected that the next batch of people captured for research would be these men's families. Since they already knew, the enemy might as well target their families.

It was impossible for such an Underground Research Institute to exist only in Jing City; other cities must have them too. The mastermind behind them might be the same, or they might not.

She had to assume the worst-case scenario. "I'm worried they will capture your families for experiments. Set off as soon as possible to bring them here. I will reserve a place for you here. I said West City is yours, so it's yours."

"No way, right?" The brothers behind Zhang Yang all showed anxious expressions on their faces.

Zhang Yang quickly finished his lunch box. "Thank you, we'll go right now."

His brothers also quickly finished their food. They were going to save people; they wouldn't stand a chance without physical strength.

Xu Wanning brought out a large bag and packed it with bread, ham sausages, self-heating hot pots, and instant noodles. "Take these to eat on the way."

A large man slung the bag onto his back. "Thank you."

Zhang Yang led his men out. At the door, he turned back. "If we can make it back, we will definitely take your orders!" With that, he turned and left.

"Ningning, do you think we did the right thing by leaving Jing City?" Wen Shuyang was a bit conflicted. "If even we don't help The Great Leader, who else can help him?"

Xu Wanning poked her cheek. "Do you think The Great Leader would fight alone? He hasn't been The Great Leader for all these years for nothing.

"He definitely has his own confidants and trump cards. The reason he hasn't dealt with those small fry yet must be because of his own considerations. Even our departure might be within his calculations.

"What we need to do now is improve our strength. Who knows, maybe one day we'll receive a message from The Great Leader asking for support."

Wen Shuyang opened her mouth but didn't say anything. She couldn't quite understand what Ningning was saying. Was that really how it was?

"Alright, now that we've eaten, let's all rest for a bit before heading out to kill zombies again." After saying that, Xu Wanning lay down on the ground. When it came to resting, lying down was definitely the most comfortable.

Although lying down immediately after eating wasn't good, now was not the time to fuss over such details. If she needed to lie down, she might as well just do it.

"Ningning, is everything alright on your end? I just saw a group of people pass by." Lu Chengyue's voice came through the walkie-talkie.