Chapter 50: Team Reunion, Heading to Xucheng University

Check out my new novel:

Douluo Continent: Beginning with Signing In Yan Lingji

•~~~•~~~•~~~•~~

With the first strike, the boulder remained unmoved, only stirring up a bit of dust.

The second strike caused some corners of the boulder to begin to chip away.

By the third strike, cracks spread across the surface of the boulder, gradually deepening.

The fourth strike shattered the boulder, scattering debris everywhere, but Anna's stamina was nearly depleted.

Before she could deliver the fifth strike, the hammers slipped from her hands and crashed into a distant wall, creating a large hole.

Anna muttered to herself, "It seems that while this skill is powerful, it also consumes a great deal of energy. The most important thing now is to train more and improve my physical fitness."

She then gazed thoughtfully at the room where Ye Zian was, wondering what he was thinking.

All of this did not escape Ye Zian's notice. In the original story, Su Chen had only managed to execute four strikes with the hammers after a month into the apocalypse, as he was already an ability user.

In comparison, Anna was not yet an ability user, and her potential was far greater than Su Chen's.

Thinking about this, Ye Zian felt even more motivated to enhance his own training.

Outside, Anna waited for her stamina to recover a bit before picking up the golden hammers and returning to the hotel.

In the morning, the convoy departed from Wang Yan's temporary supply point, heading back toward Xucheng Bridge.

The scene was a mess, filled with zombie corpses and vehicles that had been violently destroyed, a testament to the brutal battle that took place yesterday.

The team members looked at Ye Zian with increased respect, and their overall favorability toward him rose significantly.

The team members' feelings toward Ye Zian all surged to 90.

For the search team, which frequently conducted missions, the importance of having a stable and secure base was all too clear.

Ye Zian and Lin Qianshan worked together, clearing the corpses and obstacles from the bridge and storing them in his space before tossing them into the sea, creating a safe passage.

The few remaining zombies were swiftly dealt with by Anna using her hammers.

Although it was worthwhile, it cost the convoy nearly two hours.

Once they crossed Xucheng Bridge, the path ahead became much clearer, no longer restricted to fixed routes.

The convoy traveled along the sparsely populated seaside, heading directly to their final destination: Xucheng University.

This was also Ye Zian and Lin Qianshan's alma mater.

"City lord, we've arrived."

Ye Zian was roused from his thoughts by the driver's voice, and he saw the entrance to Xucheng University roughly 500 meters ahead.

Nearby the entrance, at least a thousand well-dressed zombies had gathered, all seemingly young students who had tried to escape the school but had been infected by the zombies.

Ye Zian took the walkie-talkie and asked the intelligence team member, "Where is Huizi's camp?"

"The captain and her team are on the seventh floor of the round building, three hundred meters ahead."

Ye Zian looked into the distance; it was a tall building that offered a good view of the university's changes.

Huizi and several team members were in a suite, constantly observing the situation within Xucheng University.

"City lord, I have something to report to you privately."

After saying this, Huizi glanced at Lin Qianshan.

Ye Zian felt a surge of alertness; it seemed that what Huizi was about to say was related to Su Chen.

But hadn't Su Chen left Xucheng? How could he return so soon?

"Alright, I'll go out with you. I have several questions to ask as well."

Turning to Lin Qianshan and Anna, he instructed, "The other team members should rest here and prepare for the afternoon's battle."

Anna understood and began explaining to Lin Qianshan how to manage the team members.

Ye Zian intended to groom Lin Qianshan to become the captain of the third search team, so it was essential for her to become familiar with team management and daily tasks.

Leaving the room, Huizi led Ye Zian to an empty room on the third floor. Noticing that Lin Qianshan had remained behind, Ye Zian said to Huizi, "It's safe here; you can speak now."

"Su Chen is currently at Xucheng University and has built quite a large force."

Although Ye Zian had mentally prepared for this news, he was still somewhat shocked.

Ye Zian sat on a nearby sofa as Huizi recounted her observations.

When Huizi arrived at Xucheng University, she found that Su Chen had already established himself there.

Moreover, he had gathered a group of several hundred people in the boys' dormitory, occupied the school cafeteria, and started abducting female students for the enjoyment of his group. They were now at an impasse with a self-rescue group formed by the girls, with the cafeteria acting as the dividing line.

After hearing Huizi's account, Ye Zian's expression became slightly unnatural.

How could the protagonist Su Chen be acting so much like a villain now?

Had he darkened due to all the blows he had received from Ye Zian? The original story did have this plot point, but it occurred half a month later. At that time, Su Chen stood with the female self-rescue group, helping them fend off attacks from other factions and using that as a base to establish the Xucheng base.

Now, not only had the timeline shifted earlier, but Su Chen had also switched sides.

Processing this information in his mind, Ye Zian realized that this wasn't necessarily a bad thing; at least it was the result he had hoped for.

Originally, he worried that the female students might resist coming with him when they arrived at Xucheng University. Now it seemed that wouldn't be an issue.

It appeared Su Chen had actually done them a favor.

"Understood. Is there anything else?"

Noticing Huizi's hesitance, Ye Zian couldn't help but ask.

"N-no, nothing else."

A flicker of panic crossed Huizi's eyes, and a faint blush crept onto her face, partially obscured by her disheveled hair, making it hard to read her expression.

Huizi turned and left, heading back to the temporary camp.

Ye Zian quietly followed her, even without her explicitly stating it, he could guess that it was related to Anna's rising strength.

As former comrades in arms, they understood how significant the changes in Anna were.

Back in the room, Anna was still passionately discussing team management issues, while Lin Qianshan was taking notes with a serious expression on her face.

"Cough, cough."

Ye Zian cleared his throat, signaling the surrounding team members to pay attention.

With the intelligence team and a few captains, the team now numbered nearly thirty, making them a formidable force. Ye Zian spoke, "This afternoon's mission is to enter Xucheng University and rescue the female survivors from the girls' dormitory."

As soon as Ye Zian finished speaking, Huizi pointed toward a distant wall and said, "I've already scouted the surrounding area in detail over the past few days. If we climb over this wall, we'll reach the girls' dormitory area."

She then explained, "There are about three to four thousand zombies concentrated near the school gate. Taking this route will help us avoid many unnecessary troubles."

Seeing that no one in the team had any objections, Ye Zian made the decision, and the team set off toward the wall.

•---•---•---•---•

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁: '𝗕𝗼𝗴𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂' 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 $5 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿.

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁: '𝗝𝗰1202' 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 $5 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿.

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗼-𝗙𝗶 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 35+ 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:

𝗞𝗼-𝗙𝗶.𝗰𝗼𝗺/𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗢𝗳𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿