An hour later, Bai Zemin left Wu Yijun's tent.
After chatting with her for about 60 minutes, Bai Zemin finally felt a more relaxed. The two of them had managed to come to a pretty good agreement; not perfect as they probably both wanted it to be but good enough to be considered a blessing in the situation they were in.
Bai Zemin felt quite complicated in his heart because while he hoped that the parents of Wu Yijun were safe and unharmed for obvious reasons as he did not want her to suffer, he also hoped that this huge base had nothing to do with them; that way, Bai Zemin could simply crush all opposition with brute force and take over enemy territory a lot easier than having to be planning so many things and considering so many details.
Unfortunately, if the parents of Wu Yijun were alive, then that base was most likely led by Wu Keqian since Bai Zemin doubted that a person who was described as intelligent and ambitious by Shangguan Bing Xue herself would allow such a terrifying power to rise up in his territory.
Therefore, even though it was a bit problematic, Bai Zemin would prefer that the parents of Wu Yijun be alive and become a headache for him rather than see the tears of that innocent girl spilling out uncontrollably.
"But what do we have here…" Lilith glowed and appeared in front of Bai Zemin, still invisible to everyone else. She walked backwards with her hands behind her back as she looked at him with a gentle smile and said, "It seems that your skill Stone Heart really weakened greatly. Have you noticed the changes in your behavior too?"
Bai Zemin nodded silently.
It was impossible for him not to notice the changes in his attitude. Previously, Bai Zemin would definitely find not-so-kind methods to obtain power from the enemy base even if it meant saddening Wu Yijun; after all, for the past he all that mattered was the final target and not the means one used to reach it.
However, the present Bai Zemin was no longer a war machine. The current him, at the very least, could sympathize with the people close to him even though they were not his family members.
"Haha…" Lilith laughed gleefully and disappeared without a trace.
"… Lilith, why do you seem happier when my personality becomes softer compared to when I become more powerful?" Bai Zemin asked the air as he walked towards his tent.
However, he did not receive an answer.
In the end, he couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly. There was no point in continuing to ask, he knew that if Lilith didn't want to answer something then she probably wouldn't change her mind even if the stars exploded all at the same time.
* * *
The next day.
In the south zone, the survivors in charge of digging the great well that would extend for more than 100 kilometers to the sides were already working. The clock showed 9 o'clock in the morning and it was about 3 hours before lunch, so everyone was quite energetic after having had breakfast 3 hours ago.
Beyond the army compound, a group of people had gathered.
"Evangeline, I leave everything to you." Bai Zemin looked at the foreign woman in front of him and smiled slightly.
"Sure." Evangeline, as usual, wasted no words and simply nodded indifferently.
Bai Zemin chuckled and shook his head.
He had made Evangeline his third Loyal Follower; she was the first one aside from Cai Jingyi and Kang Lan.
Evangeline had heard from Bai Zemin the pros and "cons" of becoming his Loyal Follower earlier today when she had gone to inform him of the information she had obtained from the female soul evolver he had captured the day before. Not to Bai Zemin's surprise, Evangeline didn't even think for more than a second before agreeing; thus effectively turning into the third Loyal Follower to receive the effect of Bai Zemin's subclass.
"Then, see you later." Bai Zemin waved his hand towards the people behind Evangeline before dashing off into the distance without waiting for a response.
Shangguan Bing Xue, Chen He, Wu Yijun, Cai Jingyi, Zhong De, Nangong Lingxin; the six of them nodded towards the others before chasing after Bai Zemin upon activating Lightning Movement.
The more agile ones naturally had to restrain themselves to avoid leaving the slower ones behind, even so, the group was definitely running at over 300 km/h.
Bai Zemin looked over his shoulder and sighed.
For this operation, he did not know what he might face. Therefore, Bai Zemin took almost all of the most powerful soul evolvers from his faction since if things went wrong he might need support to protect his loved ones.
Even then, the power of the current Transcendent faction could not be underestimated even without them present. Especially now that Evangeline had become one of Bai Zemin's Loyal Followers. With everything docked properly, even one or two Second Order creatures probably wouldn't be able to raise too many problems.
"Leader, do we really have to use this junk equipment?" Zhong De couldn't help but complain as he palmed his Rank 0 armor.
Bai Zemin sighed and said in a tired voice, "Zhong De, what did I tell you before we left?"
He felt like a father scolding his young son for misbehaving.
"Oh… Right." Zhong De nodded and then rephrased his earlier words, "Bai Zemin, we really have to wear this junk equipment?"
"Well, we can't just show up with shiny and powerful equipment." Bai Zemin pointed out loudly as the group raised a thick cloud of dust behind them.
"Why?" Zhong De still didn't understand.
Nangong Lingxin couldn't help but look at Zhong De and remarked, "I'm getting more and more glad that I'm not a Strength-type warrior…. It seems like all Strength-based soul evolvers lose their intelligence. Even my dear big brother has become a donkey lately."
Zhong De looked at Nangong Lingxin and said in a serious voice, "I say, Nangong Lingxin. I owe you something or what?"
Wu Yijun shook her head and couldn't help but laugh. She was very happy after hearing Evangeline's report and learning that indeed, her father Wu Keqian was the supreme leader of the faction called China Renaissance. At the same time, she was also a little apprehensive and worried about what the future held, and looking at Bai Zemin out of the corner of her eye, she prayed that her father would understand that times had changed and that power also needed to change hands to adapt to those changes.
Chen He looked at Zong De and explained Bai Zemin's plan calmly, "Remember that for everything to go smoothly, Bai Zemin will play the role of a subordinate…. Or rather, a mercenary who in order to get some benefits joined our group and helped us to get here with much difficulty, becoming a valuable ally in the course of our trip."
Shangguan Bing Xue noticed that Chen He paused so she interfered and explained what Zhong De clearly still didn't understand, "If we show up at the camp with too flashy equipment it might bring unnecessary trouble. Remember that our initial goal is to hand over the list with the name of the family members of each of our core team members before we start any other operations."
The female soul evolver that Bai Zemin had captured before did not know the exact number of survivors that the China Renaissance faction had, even so, she estimated that at the very least, there should be around 200,000.
Of course, the figure alone was enough to leave everyone in shock. After all, they had all gone through so many hardships and climbed so many steep mountains only to muster just over 30,000 survivors so far.
Among so many people, it was only natural that there was a certain probability that one of them was a relative or friend of a member of the faction led by Bai Zemin. Since it was impossible in the short term to ask everyone one by one, he had no choice but to make a list of the names of the loved ones of those in the highest echelons of his faction.
After all, Bai Zemin was not the only one who was searching for his family and longing to be reunited with them. The number of families broken at the beginning and during the course of the apocalypse was simply too great to call and many were fighting for the sake of repairing those ties that were forcibly severed.
"Oh!" The eyes of Zhong De sparkled upon hearing Shangguan Bing Xue's explanation and he exclaimed as if he had discovered a new world, much to the amusement of the group.
"By the way, Lead-" Cai Jingyi came to a halt when she saw Bai Zemin looking at her and stuck out her little tongue shyly before continuing, "Bai Zemin, what do you plan to do after finding your family? With the strength of our group it should be easy to crush the other party."
Then, she realized that her words might be misunderstood so she looked at Wu Yijun and clarified with a smile, "Ah, I don't mean that kind of crushing. I mean with our strength we can subdue them anyway."
Wu Yijun shook her head to indicate that she understood and after a moment of silence Bai Zemin explained what he had in mind.
"After finishing some arrangements, the first thing we will do is to study the situation inside the base and the surrounding area. Only after we have certain data will we move accordingly."
Knowing yourself was undoubtedly important, but even more important was knowing your enemy. Know your enemy, plan, and you won't have to fear 100 battles.
"Roger!" Cai Jingyi chuckled and looked amused as she said aloud, "Doesn't this feel fun? Like an adventure where explorers visit other worlds or unknown lands."
Chen He raised an eyebrow and looked at her in surprise, "Cai Jingyi, I didn't think you were the type of woman who daydreams."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Cai Jingyi looked at him and shook her left index finger from one side to the other as she said in a clear voice: "Chen He, that's why the Lead- That's why Bai Zemin is more popular than you among the female soul evolvers of the three legions."
"You…" Chen He looked at her not knowing what to say.
But Cai Jingyi was not finished as she continued, "Of course, there is also the fact that his position is higher than yours, his strength is also higher than yours, he is also more handsome than you, more firm in his decisions…."
Cai Jingyi seemed to have done her homework the night before making comparisons between the two men as she continued to name things one after the other like a locomotive that would never stop.
Shangguan Bing Xue, Wu Yijun, and Chen He exchanged glances and the three of them saw the corner of the other's mouth twitching uncontrollably.
"There's also the fact that he-"
"That's okay, Jingyi." Bai Zemin interrupted feeling a little embarrassed, "You've already made your personal preference clear."
Who knew that Cai Jingyi didn't seem satisfied as she looked at him and pouted prettily as she said in a grumpy voice, "Bai Zemin, not just my personal preferences! Look, let's ask Nangong Lingxin about it then!"
"Don't look at me." Nangong Lingxin shrugged her shoulders wisely.
"Cowardly woman, don't think I don't know what you're thinking! Well, in that case let's ask it to-"
Just as Cai Jingyi looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and was about to say something, she noticed those blue eyes flashing coldly and her small body trembled so she hurriedly swallowed her words and closed her mouth.
Bai Zemin really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He still remembered the shy Cai Jingyi who treated everyone carefully for fear of messing up but now she had turned into a little mischievous girl who let no one get away with her mischief; even he was not safe!
* * * * * * *
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
