7.13

Qiao Chen hid in a chamber in the control room. The most dangerous place was actually the safest place for him right now. Adding on to the fact that most of the soldiers on 03 Base couldn't even stand correctly, Qiao Chen knew he was safe. They wouldn't be able to find him in a long time even when they weren't incapacitated anyways, so Qiao Chen lay low and waited.

Qiao Chen saw images of the plane dropping bombs down from above. He immediately called Long Ao's communicator, "Watch out. Don't just blow every single thing up or all of this work would be in vain, okay?"

"Shut up and don't make any more sounds. Hide carefully, so no one can find you." Long Ao replied unhappily.

Qiao Chen obediently shut his mouth and chose not to incite him anymore.

Long Ao originally opposed the plan for Qiao Chen to go to 03 Base on his own. However, Qiao Chen thought that this was the most efficient way to dismantle 03 Base. This was the plan with the least amount of potential life loss. Furthermore, this was the fairest manner in which they would be able to take everything they needed from the 03 Base once it crumbled. They'd be able to kill two birds with one stone all while standing on the side of "justice".

Therefore, under Qiao Chen's repeated promises of his own safety and guarantees on his ability to follow through with these promises, Long Ao reluctantly agreed.

Long Ao took less than an hour to completely occupy 03 Base.

Qiao Chen leaned against the glass wall and looked below. The soldiers from East One Base were already patrolling the area. The entire base was under their control, but Qiao Chen kept his word with Long Ao and quietly stayed put.

Qiao Chen heard the sound of a door opening. He turned around to see the man standing at the door and he couldn't help but smile.

Long Ao walked over and inspected Qiao Chen several times. After confirming Qiao Chen's health and wellbeing, he pulled Qiao Chen into a tight hug. He lowered his face and passionately pressed his lips against Qiao Chen's. It had only been two days since they last saw each other, but it looked as though they hadn't met in years.

The East One soldiers rounded up every single soldier in 03's base. They kettled them into an area and began taking headcounts. Zhang Gang reported to Long Ao via the communicator, "Captain Long. Commander Feng escaped. We didn't see where Fang Huailin, Sun Bin, or Sun Yu ran too either."

Commander Feng would rather run away than risk the chance of falling into Long Ao's hands. As long as he was able to escape to different base where their military regions combined, then he could accuse Long Ao of something. Then he might be able to stage a comeback under those pretenses. However, this all relied on the need for him not to be captured. It was certain death if he ever fell into Long Ao's hands.

Commander Feng happened to run into Fang Huailin, Sun Yu, and Sun Bing on his way to the secret escape passage. The rest of the soldiers were either incapacitated or refused to run away. Only these soldiers were willing to retreat with Commander Feng.

Commander Feng decided to take Sun Bin and Sun Yu with him to flee as human meat shields. Sun Bin was virtually useless to him as a person who had lost his abilities. Sun Yu's healing powers were no longer as useful as before either, so they were both assigned the expendable labels in the event of a zombie attack and Commander Feng wasn't able to escape.

Sun Bin and Sun Yu were in the same boat as the other soldiers who didn't have any stomach problems. They all skipped breakfast that morning. Commander Feng had his own small kitchen and a separate chef to prepare his meals. Fang Huailin was too busy to eat the entire meal during breakfast and was only able to take a few bites of his breakfast, so he wasn't as badly affected as the other soldiers. He was able to run away with Commander Feng on this small coincidence, so he forced himself to carry on.

On the way, there were zombies that blocked their way. They weren't able to get rid of the zombies, so Commander Feng ordered Sun Bin to exit the vehicle and draw the zombies away so that the rest of them could escape. Sun Bin was adamant that he would do no such thing. He begged and pleaded with Commander Feng for as long as he could, but they were on a time limit. The zombies were quickly approaching and something had to be done. Commander Feng told Sun Bin that he could either step out of the vehicle himself, or be thrown out of it.

"Huailin, Xiao Yu please help me plead my case with the commander. I don't want to die!" Sun Bin begged them with a face full of panic.

Fang Huailin and Sun Yu turned their heads in the face of Sun Bin's pleas. They were currently surrounded by zombies. If no one was sacrificed, then they'd all die. However, if they tried to help him then Commander Feng would take it as them volunteering themselves as the bait and kick them out.

"Isn't it better to sacrifice your single life for the many lives of the rest of the team here?" Commander Feng shouted. "Sun Bin! You are a soldier how can you not look at death in the face? How can you be so greedy and put your life above the lives of your squad mates?"

The zombies reached their target and were attempting to overturn the vehicle. They banged, clawed, and violently shook the car. Commander Feng ordered the soldiers to throw Sun Bin out the vehicle.

"Don't kick me out. I don't have any abilities anymore! If you do this then I will absolutely die. Please take me with you!" Sun Bin clutched at the back of the seat as he refused to die for everyone else's survival.

"It's because you don't have any abilities that we have to sacrifice you! Let those with more value survive." Commander Feng saw more and more zombies crowd around their vehicles and yelled, "Hurry up and throw him out of here already! Do you all want to die here?"

"No! Don't throw me out! I can't go out there! Why do I have to die alone? Why can't we all die together?" Sun Bin cried. He grasped onto the door's frame as tightly as he could while the others pushed him out. He wasn't able to last for long, because the zombies found their meal. They dragged him off the car and into their hungry mouths.

"Ahhhhh! Help! Hualin! Xiao Yu! Save me…"

Sun Bin's scream rang out for a short while until they stopped. Sun Yu saw his brother being eaten alive and vomited. When the world ended, he was protected in the base and shielded from these kinds of sights. He had never seen anything like it in the entirety of his life and was scared to death.

The vehicle was nearly immediately surrounded after they sacrificed Sun Bin. They hadn't even gone more than ten meters away before the other zombies came for them. Commander Feng wanted the soldiers to throw Sun Yu down as quickly as they could, but it was too late. The car's windshield shattered under the zombies' attacks. The doors were also ripped open and thrown to the side. Everyone inside the car was dragged out and miserable screams of people being eaten alive rang out in the air.

By the time Zhang Gang and his team arrived, Sun Bin had been torn into several pieces. There was no way he could have survived. Commander Feng, Fang Huailin, and Sun Yu were surprisingly still alive. They were still breathing, but it was a horrible sight to behold. They wouldn't be able to live well in the future. Everyone all lost at least a limb.

Lon Ao and the rest of the soldiers also rushed over. Zhang Gang asked Long Ao for further instructions. He didn't know what to do. He felt that these people were already half dead. It'd be a waste of food if they rescued them. It was better just to give them an easy death.

When Long Ao was considering whether or not to bring them back or leave them to rot, Commander Feng raised a trembling finger and pointed it at Qiao Chen. "Yes…Y-you were the one.. drugged… harmed us. You've… killed us."

Qiao Chen smiled and replied, "Yes. I was the one who dosed your food. I destroyed your defense system too."

Commander Feng coughed out blood and loudly cursed, "You- how vicious…"

"I'm the vicious one?" Qiao Chen though for a bit before he continued, "Alright. Even if I'm the vicious one, weren't you the ones who gave me the opportunity to do it? If you didn't force be to come back here, how would I even have the chance to do any of this? It's like they say: Refrain from hurting others, and guard against those trying to hurt you. Did you think that you could threaten and kidnap others without having to defend yourself from retaliation? If you were careful, then how would things be able to come to this point?"

"Muchen, help.. save me…" Fang Hualin lost both of his hands and was left with only one leg, but still didn't want to die yet.

Qiao Chen glanced at Fang Huailin and Sun Yu. Then he wordlessly turned around and made his way back to the car. He left their fates up to Long Ao's discretion.

Long Ao had his team retrieve Fang Huailin, Sun Yu, and the other surviving soldiers back. He considered their current predicament and felt that surviving would be their worst torment. They'll see the humanity recover. As the world heals and the zombies are eliminated, they'll realize that they can live for longer and longer. Finally, they'll have all that time to regret their live choices as they see everyone return to normal, while they stuck- haunted by the memories of the zombies that nearly devoured them.

As for Commander Feng? Well he was a commander after all. With all those soldiers still under his command, he would obviously attempt something as soon as he recovered. Therefore, Long Ao had Zhang Gang end his life and eliminate this lifelong thorn in their side.

Zhang Gang was a fire type ability user. He released a bright and scorching flame and burned Commander's Feng body into ashes.

This was karmic retribution. Commander never expected that he'd burned to death just like when he had those researchers burned alive after they were infected by that virus.

Long Ao had his people clean out 03 Base. Nothing would be left behind. The soldiers who were willing to return to East One Base were welcomed with open arms. Those that weren't, were not forced to join. They were free to go to another base if they so desired. However, once they arrived at East One, then they had to abide by East One's rules. If not, then they'd be punished according to regulation.

Qiao Chen not only successfully developed antibodies against various viral mutations, but he was also able to develop a serum with Dr. Lu to revert low leveled zombies back into humans. This meant that the East One Base stood tall among all the other bases. However, unlike 03, East One did not hesitate to share their results with the other bases.

East One Base also had a contingency plan in case people like Commander Feng would attempt to establish their own strength before the zombies were eradicated. People had already begun fighting amongst themselves. Therefore, East One Base required that any base who wanted a share of the results to sign a peace agreement. East One wanted them all to establish a new system and procedures for during the zombie apocalypse as well as a new one for when the zombies were eliminated. This new world needed stability and order.

If any of the other bases or even individual violated the peace agreements, then all the bases who agreed to the treaty would retaliate. Treason was not permitted.

Anyone that was willing to sign the peach treaty would be able to send their own medical teams over to East One Base to learn about the new medical technology. They'd even receive guidance on research and development of new drugs and medicines.

East One Base expanded three times already. They became the East One Military Zone. More and more people were willing to sign the peace agreement as time passed. This meant that more and more people visited the East One Military Zone to learn and those who resisted eventually bowed to the pressure.

If any conflicts or tension cropped up between the bases, they would consult East One for judgment and mediation. A new system was gradually formed. Everyone worked together to rebuild their country and step into the next chapter of their lives.

During East One's third expansion, the commander assigned a two story house in the residential area to Long Ao and Qiao Chen. Their affairs weren't much of a secret. No one would say anything about them living together. Therefore, even though they couldn't have a public announcement or marriage, they still had the ceremony done internally. They were considered a married couple.

As even more time went by, they hit the day where no one, not a single person, turned into a zombie. The number of zombies left also quickly dwindled. Qiao Chen often asked Long Ao to take him to the roof of the highest building in the military area to watch the sunrise and sunset. Sometimes he just wanted to feel the sun's rays. The world was healing. It got better and better every day.

In this time and space, Mu Chen's name was forever cemented into history. Hundreds of years would pass, but no one could ever forget the man who saved the world: Mu Chen.