Chapter 71: Body Explosion, The Consequences of Misusing Powers

The news that Bian Changxi had joined the medical team left many who had hoped to recruit her sighing in regret. A powerful wood-type ability user was practically a second life for any team—who wouldn’t want that? But since she’d already been taken by the military, no one dared to poach her. All they could do was shift their eager gazes to the wood-type users within their own teams.

Overnight, the value of wood-type ability users skyrocketed. Bian Changxi, however, had no interest in any of this. She was assigned to a patrol group within the medical team. Unlike other groups, which had a dozen or even twenty members, this patrol group consisted of just two people: herself and Wei Xiaodong.

After checking out their temporary quarters, the two of them came down from the apartment building. Wei Xiaodong trailed after her like a little tail. Bian Changxi asked, “Don’t you have anything else to do?”

“Of course I do! Aren’t we patrolling right now? Always stay alert, help anyone injured in the new district as soon as we spot them. Wow, just listen to how noble that sounds.”

Bian Changxi ignored her. She knew that Wei Xiaodong was actually sent by Yue Fushan to keep an eye on her. “Keep an eye on the good stuff at all times, know where it is”—that was probably Yue Fushan’s thinking.

Wei Xiaodong herself was an ability user recruited by Yue Fushan, not some relative as the rumors claimed. Before Bian Changxi appeared, her wood-type abilities had been the most outstanding, so she’d received the most attention.

“By the way, how exactly do you practice your powers? We’re colleagues now, so there’s no need to keep secrets. Even if you don’t want to say, I’ll figure it out sooner or later.”

“Then go ahead and figure it out yourself.”

Just then, Bian Changxi looked up and saw a soldier at the apartment entrance politely asking a girl to leave. The girl waved frantically at her. “Changxi!”

“Lin Rongrong?” Bian Changxi walked over. “What are you doing here?”

“Hehe, I heard this building houses the medical team, so I came to take a look. I live in that building over there now—I joined the logistics team.”

Bian Changxi frowned. “You left too?”

“Yeah. You left, and I was only with Captain Gu’s group because of you. Now there’s no reason to stay, so I thought I’d come out and look for you. Just happened to see the logistics team recruiting. They give priority to space-type users, plus free food and lodging. It seemed like a good fit, so I signed up and just checked out my room.”

As Lin Rongrong spoke, she noticed Bian Changxi didn’t seem very happy for her and asked nervously, “What’s wrong? Is this team not good?”

Bian Changxi shook her head. “It’s not that it’s bad. Just… if they ever ask you to carry supplies with your space ability, be extra careful. Don’t let things get muddled. If something goes missing, they might accuse you of stealing, and you won’t be able to clear your name.”

Space-type users were basically walking warehouses. Lin Rongrong’s space was quite large, so she’d be valued, but if a space user died, everything inside their space would vanish too, so they’d be heavily protected. Still, there were downsides. From what Bian Changxi had learned, unless you were someone the leadership trusted completely, space users were treated just like warehouses—no real rights, essentially kept under strict control.

Lin Rongrong opened her mouth, understanding dawning, and said regretfully, “If I’d known, I would’ve joined the medical team too. They never explained any of this, just kept bragging about the great benefits.”

“It’s the same everywhere. Every team has its pros and cons.”

“Oh, by the way, Chen Haitao and his son are still trying out for the warrior squad. Who knows if they’ll make it.”

Bian Changxi paused, then nodded. The little group of twelve that had come to the new district together was already falling apart after just a few days.

After saying goodbye to Lin Rongrong, Bian Changxi strode off, Wei Xiaodong right on her heels. “Where are you going?”

“To kill zombies.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be patrolling?”

“One person is enough for patrol. Call me if you need me.” Key personnel and ability users were all issued military communication devices. Because of her special abilities, Bian Changxi got one too, but it was a piece of junk. With the satellite network in shambles, it barely rang twice, couldn’t make calls or send texts—worse than an old pager.

It was nothing compared to Gu Xu’s earpiece and smartwatch communicator.

She quickly left Wei Xiaodong behind and wandered around the new district. More survivors had arrived today, looking even more ragged than before. The streets and alleys were now full of refugees. The small new district couldn’t possibly hold so many people. At this rate, even without zombies, people would riot over lack of living space.

She struggled through the crowds, slipped past the barricades between zones A and B, and entered zombie-infested zone B. She found a relatively safe area and started killing zombies.

But by afternoon, competition arrived.

To expand living space, Yue Fushan officially ordered an advance into zone B—pushing the zombies back further.

This naturally became part of the warrior squad’s assessment.

So by afternoon, over a thousand people flooded into zone B, making Bian Changxi’s street much busier. Not wanting to run into anyone, she had to keep moving after every kill.

“Green core, green core…”

She muttered as she split open a zombie’s skull with her battered axe, scraping out the crystal nucleus—another white core.

Could her luck get any worse?

In four hours, she’d killed thirty-one zombies, but hadn’t seen a single green core, or even any other colored nuclei. Her luck was abysmal.

She looked at her last remaining green core, its color already faded, frowned, and prepared to kill another zombie when—BOOM!—the ground shook.

What happened?

Thick black smoke billowed from zone A—something had exploded. As she wondered, her “pager” beeped at her waist.

Where there’s fighting, there are casualties. Several medical teams were already on standby at the checkpoints to treat anyone coming back from zone B. She and Wei Xiaodong were among them. Now, something must have happened that Wei Xiaodong couldn’t handle.

She silenced the pager. Just as two more zombies appeared from behind a building, she smashed them with her axe and ran off in another direction.

When she arrived at the team’s location, a crowd had already gathered. Yue Fushan, Qu Nan, Gu Xu, and others were all there, looking grim. The rest looked terrified, whispering anxiously.

Wei Xiaodong was slumped on the ground, covered in blood, her face as pale as a ghost.

Not far away, an oil tanker was burning fiercely, the ground a mess.

“What happened?” Wasn’t she called here to save people? Why did it look like a crime scene from a horror movie?

Wei Xiaodong grabbed her, trembling. “I—I didn’t mean to. I just asked him to try, I didn’t think… It’s your fault! Why didn’t you tell me this could happen? If you’d warned me, would I have let him take the risk?”

Bian Changxi was baffled by her crying. She pushed past her and into the crowd.

When people saw Bian Changxi, they made way. Her exploits last night had spread—people feared those who could kill, but revered those who could save. Everyone hoped that if they were ever gravely injured, someone like her would bring them back from the brink.

Bian Changxi frowned as she took in the scene. On the ground lay six or seven burn victims, the worst so twisted you couldn’t tell if it was one person or two clinging together. These must be the ones she’d been called to help.

But nearby was another body, bloody and mangled, limbs torn off, as if the person had exploded from within. From the half-intact face, she recognized him as the male wood-type user who’d gone to the train station with Wei Xiaodong last night.

The health department’s Director Xu and several experts were examining the body, arguing intensely. Meanwhile, Lu Shaoyang and several medics from Bian Changxi’s team were treating the burn victims.

He saw Bian Changxi and called urgently, “See if you can save them.”

Four were still alive, but badly burned. Their clothes were fused to their bodies, skin charred and wrinkled, raw flesh exposed in many places. Bian Changxi checked each one. “There’s not much I can do. I can maybe help them breathe a little longer, but I can’t regrow skin over such large wounds. The real danger is infection—whether you can treat that is up to you.”

“We have to try.”

Bian Changxi nodded and began treatment, but noticed Liu Meng sitting dazed nearby, his own body scorched. Suddenly, he grabbed the collar of a small, thin man and shouted, “It’s all your fault, you bastard! I’ll kill you!”

The thin man was Zhang Hu’s driver.

Soldiers quickly pulled them apart.

Someone else was gathering up the male wood-type user’s remains, placing the pieces on a stretcher to be taken away with the experts. Wei Xiaodong was also led away, too terrified to resist, shaking like a leaf.

The crowd slowly dispersed.

Gu Xu glanced at Bian Changxi and said quietly, “Be careful. That guy probably misused a crystal core.”

Bian Changxi’s eyelid twitched. He’d already left. When most people were gone, she asked, “What happened?”

Lu Shaoyang was busy, but others, seeing the military gone, dared to speak. After listening for a while, Bian Changxi understood.

Apparently, the thin man had thrown a spark or something into the oil tanker while chatting with his companions, causing the explosion. The man who died—the male wood-type user—had been brought over by Wei Xiaodong’s group to help save people. Who could have guessed he’d end up like that? Remembering Gu Xu’s warning, she realized Wei Xiaodong must have urged him to use a white core, and he’d exploded as a result.

What a mess!

Liu Meng was still beating the thin man, who wailed, “If you won’t avenge Brother Hu, then go to hell with him!”"