Chapter 2: Someone Must Pay the Price

Su Han instantly thought of many countermeasures in his mind, but none of them would work.

Judging by the way the other person had just thrown a machete and cleanly severed the head of a Primary Zombie, he definitely couldn't beat this man.

Shen Chengyin leaned over and reached out to grab Su Han by the throat.

Just as Su Han wanted to dodge, the man swayed and fell forward, slamming solidly onto Su Han.

With a dull thud, Su Han coughed heart-rendingly; he had almost been crushed to death by this guy.

He struggled to flip the man off, caught his breath, and complained to system 111:

"Why do I feel like the male lead wanted to kill me just now?"

system 111 replied with a guilty conscience: 【…It's an illusion, it's all your illusion.】

Su Han turned Shen Chengyin over and saw that the man, who had been a pile of rotting flesh just a moment ago, had miraculously regenerated his bones and flesh in the blink of an eye, looking no different from a normal person.

This was a Life Ability; he would even believe it if someone called it sorcery.

The man had perfect facial features and a sharp, three-dimensional profile; it was the kind of face where everyone would know he was the male lead the moment he appeared.

So handsome.

Su Han offered a couple of compliments, then reached out and felt the solid muscles on the man's chest and abdomen before turning around to take clothes from his bag to put on the male lead.

He touched Shen Chengyin's forehead, and sure enough, it was burning hot.

It was the normal fever associated with awakening a new Ability.

This was no place to stay for long, especially since the male lead had just awakened his Life Ability and was running a fever; he needed to find a warmer place to rest and recover properly.

He picked up the machete, split open the zombie's head on the ground, took out a glass-like crystal core, and shoved it into his pocket.

Then, he propped up Shen Chengyin's arm with one hand and struggled to move outward, bit by bit, with the man.

As long as they found the road, they would be able to find a useful vehicle.

The two of them stumbled along for more than ten minutes when a gunshot suddenly rang out behind them.

Su Han frowned. This area was desolate and uninhabited; the only people who could obtain firearms and be so unscrupulous about firing them were likely from Xiwang Base.

Had they caught up?

In the original text, Shen Chengyin had also awakened his Life Ability at the last moment of near-death, fleeing in a sorry state, only to be spotted by the lackeys of Xiwang Base and hunted for a long time.

"Damn it, do you think Old Wang has become paranoid? That guy was a pile of rotting flesh—how could he still be alive? How could he get up and walk? Isn't he just playing us for fools!"

A voice approached from far to near.

"Exactly. We've been walking for so long, and we haven't even seen a shadow, while the zombies are just getting more numerous," another voice complained indignantly. "Doing this dirty work for him, it wouldn't even be an honorable way to die."

"Forget it, it's not like you don't know Wang Jiafu's methods. Everyone in Xiwang Base knows that Chief Shen is brutal and excessive, while Deputy Leader Wang is benevolent and righteous. They've probably already criticized that Shen guy to pieces and are dying for him to step down."

Upon hearing this, Su Han turned his head calmly.

The man's head was lowered, very close to him, eyes tightly shut; Su Han could easily see the man's slightly trembling eyelashes.

He knew that the conversation between these two was factual. The book stated that Shen Chengyin trusted his sworn brother Wang Jiafu unquestioningly and left everything for Wang Jiafu to handle.

Wang Jiafu took the opportunity to claim all the credit for himself and even had people spread rumors to smear Shen Chengyin's image.

Shen Chengyin didn't find out about all of this until he was nearly dead.

No one sought justice for him, and no one even mourned him. When he died, the survivors in Xiwang Base felt a sense of relief instead.

【Hurry up and leave! What are you standing there for!】 system 111 couldn't help but remind him, 【If you don't run now, you're going to be discovered!】

The voices of those two were getting closer and closer, and they had guns in their hands; if they were discovered, they would be done for.

"I can't leave." Su Han pulled himself out of his memories, having found an answer.

system 111:???

No, is the host crazy?

"Since I've decided to save the male lead, and the male lead has been wronged here, the entire base must pay the price."

A cold light flashed in Su Han's eyes.

system 111: 【...】

Is this the time to be thinking about that?! Saving your life is what matters!

After dodging a round of searching, Su Han brought Shen Chengyin to the edge of the city closest to Xiwang Base.

The city was densely populated and, after The Apocalypse, was not suitable for human survival. The area closest to Xiwang Base had already been picked clean by scavenging teams, so no one usually came here.

By comparison, placing Shen Chengyin, who was unconscious with a high fever, here was the best choice.

Su Han found a relatively tidy apartment in an old residential complex, cleared out the zombies inside, and placed Shen Chengyin on the bed.

The man's hair was messy, and his brows were tightly furrowed; he was clearly enduring great pain.

For some reason, Su Han felt a bit of heartache. He took out the last half-bottle of mineral water from his backpack and used the cap to feed it into the man's mouth, bit by bit.

After finishing all this, he left some food by the man's side, locked the door, and quietly retreated.

The next morning, a fair-haired youth appeared among the people queuing at the entrance of Xiwang Base.

The looks the crowd gave Su Han carried a hint of curiosity, but were mostly malicious.

In this era where order had been lost, those good-looking young men and women had basically all been abducted by powerful people; it was rare to see such a good-looking youth among the commoners.

"Are you also here to apply to join Xiwang Base?"

Someone struck up a conversation with Su Han.

Su Han nodded, putting on a naive and innocent expression. "I'm very powerful; I have an Ability!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd was in an uproar.

Ability User—a get-out-of-jail-free card in The Apocalypse.

At the beginning of The Apocalypse, a very small number of humans developed symptoms of high fever. Those who survived and woke up gained different abilities.

People called such people "Ability Users."

In the early days of The Apocalypse, the classification of abilities was not clear. They only knew that some people could create fire out of thin air, and others could control lightning.

Even more so, there were people like the former chief of Xiwang Base, Shen Chengyin, who possessed the greatest known Spatial Ability.

Upon learning that Su Han was an Ability User, the gazes of the people around him changed instantly. The original malice and disgusting thoughts were hidden away, replaced by uniform praise.

"Young and promising, truly young and promising."

"What Xiwang Base lacks are capable young people like you!"

As a few people chimed in, the managers at the front of the line soon noticed the situation here.

Several men wearing black combat uniforms walked over, with Xiwang Base badges hanging on their chests.

"If you want to queue, queue properly. If you don't want to queue, get lost. There are plenty of people who want to enter our base; we don't need you."

Someone wanting to curry favor went up with a fawning smile and reported the situation to the two men in detail.

When the two men heard that Su Han was an Ability User, their attitudes did a 180-degree turn immediately.

"So you are an Ability User; it was our oversight. Please come with us. Ability Users who want to join our base are all met by the chief personally."

This was one-in-a-ten-thousand talent. Even though Xiwang Base held the title of one of the three major bases, there were currently only a few dozen Ability Users in the base.

Su Han nodded and followed the two men through the gate.

He hadn't actually intended to meet Wang Jiafu directly; he just wanted to find a reason to sneak into Xiwang Base.

He hadn't expected Xiwang Base to have such a rule, which actually played right into his hands.

On the way, he chatted casually with the two men. "I've been struggling on my own outside, so I'm very out of the loop. It wasn't until I met people from your base today that I realized there was a Xiwang Base here."

"Who is the chief of your base? Why does the chief have to meet people with abilities?"

Hearing news about the chief, the gatekeepers subconsciously avoided the topic and brushed him off: "You'll know when you get there."

Su Han followed the guards through the streets to the tallest building in Xiwang Base, and the three of them took the elevator to the top floor.

In a simple yet imposing office, a stocky young man had received the news early and had been waiting for a long time.

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