In the blink of an eye, Xu Yan Ze had been tightly surrounded by zombies. Beardy and the others' eyes had gone red, as if they could already imagine the scene of these monsters tearing and chewing their food.
Clearly, they knew there was no hope but they still floored the accelerator and shot forward.
It was at this time that an invisible explosive force abruptly burst out from the middle of the encirclement. Although it had no substantial impact on the nearby living beings, it instantly destroyed the crystal nucleus core in the zombies' brains. The scratching and biting zombies immediately fell onto the ground like dominoes.
Xiang Han was nearer and thus, more affected than Beardy. The pain from the explosive force made him feel like his head had been instantly split apart. He staggered, crashing to the ground. Despite his ears nearly bleeding from pain, he was still wild with joy. His limbs were useless as he turned over, staring nervously at the person in the middle.
Xu Yan Ze had opened his eyes during this time and the blood-red colour had yet to subside. He froze the instant he saw Xiang Han and the explosive mental force gradually subsided.
Everything seemed to happen in an instant. Just a second ago, the melon-eating team was suffering from a head-splitting ache but in the next moment, the world had turned silent.
Seeing Xu Yan Ze stand among the zombies unharmed, everyone was overjoyed. "Hurry over. Even if it's hopeless, we need to at least get his body back. We can't let our brother become a monster."
"The Wu lad, don't let him escape!"
"Fuck! Laozi was really blind."
Xu Yan Ze headed towards Xiang Han step by step, his eyes filled with grief and indignation that had yet to disappear. But when he saw Xiang Han, it turned into confusion. He actually thought he'd seen the little fool… no, the memories from two worlds collided and he suddenly gripped his head. He stared rigidly at Xiang Han, on the verge of bleeding.
Xiang Han's heart tightened and he unconsciously took a step back, wondering: Did it not succeed? That can't be, the mental force had exploded. He should have returned to this world.
Xu Yan Ze suddenly crouched down and grabbed his calves. He leaned forwards and barely squeezed two words out. "Wu Han?"
Xiang Han's heart jumped. He thought Xu Yan Ze hadn't recovered his memories and began to howl silently: I'm finished! He's come to settle the debt.
But in the next second, Xu Yan Ze reached out a hand towards his face, wanting to touch but not daring to…
"Little Fool?" His voice was hoarse and his gaze was filled with despair and joy, along with a hint of insatiable anticipation. He stared unwaveringly, as if Xiang Han would deny it.
Xiang Han let out a long breath, his heart full of joy. After confirming that it was a success, he was elated. He quickly tried to hold the other's injured hand while saying, "It's…"
The word 'me' hadn't yet left his mouth when Beardy and the others trapped him. With one hand holding him down, he roared, "Lad, what are you trying to do with Captain Xu?"
After asking, he turned back to Xu Yan Ze, who had been knocked aside with a dumbfounded expression. "Captain, don't worry. We won't let this lad off."
After the explosive force, Xu Yan Ze's mind was still a mess but managed to hold on until now because he believed Wu Han was the little fool. With this bump, his head grew even more painful and there was a faint buzz in his mind.
"Don't…"
"Don't let him off? You don't have to worry, we won't let him off!"
…It's not what you guys are thinking. All of you fuckers, let go of me!
Xu Yan Ze wanted to cuss but Tan Wei and the others had grabbed on to him. "Captain! Captain! Are you alright? God, his skin has begun to turn dark. I-It can't be that he's already changing, right?"
Xu Yan Ze just silently cursed and directly fell over.
Everyone grew silent when they saw him faint. After a moment, Xu Lele asked, "What should we do? Do we tie him up? What if he changes…?"
The baby-faced man nodded. "Tie him up. If he changes, I…I'll personally send him off."
The last words were squeezed out through gritted teeth. Xu Lele's eyes reddened.
Xiang Han wanted to collapse and vomit blood from Beardy's suppression. He finally understood what pig teammates were. Especially when the A team suddenly turned into a party full of pigs. It was simply hopeless.
"Quick, let me go. I can save him." He struggled even more fiercely when he saw the crowd nearly tying up the other person.
"Save your grandmother. Did you think Laozi didn't see it? It was you who pushed Captain Xu in!" Beardy held him down with a death grip, fire spitting from his eyes.
"Can you use your brain? If I wanted to hurt him, why would I jump out of the car earlier?" Xiang Han shouted.
Beardy choked for a moment before fuming, "Who knows if you got cold feet? You wanted Captain to hold off the zombies and escape on your own."
After speaking, he thought for a moment and really believed in this possibility, so he reaffirmed it with a nod. "That's right, that must be the case. After pushing, you just ran. You still dare to say you weren't trying to escape? Captain was injured trying to save you, yet did your conscience get eaten by a dog?!"
Xiang Han was met with a spray of saliva but he didn't wipe it away. He could only shrug his shoulders in disdain. "If you continue to spit, Captain will really become a zombie. I can really save him. If you don't believe me, you can grab a zombie over and let him bite me."
"Really?" Beardy was doubtful. Looking at his face, he really looked like he intended to go grab one over.
The baby-faced man walked over and hit him with the butt of the gun. "Are you crazy? Do you think it's so easy to just grab one?"
He turned back to Xiang Han with a paralysed face and said coldly, "Go and try. Don't try anything funny."
He was the vice-captain. After Xu Yan Ze, he had the most say in the team. Beardy heard this and quickly released Xiang Han.
Xiang Han wiped his face first and rubbed his shoulders as he walked over.
Xu Yan Ze was lying on the ground, his hands bound. There was a frown on his face, evidently enduring the pain of changing, but after a moment, his brows relaxed. Others couldn't help but wonder what he was dreaming of.
Xiang Han let out a sigh and lightly raised a hand to his temples.
Xu Lele was full of hope. "Wu Han, can you really save him?" Then, she lowered her voice, "Actually, I believe you wouldn't hurt the captain…"
With a forced smile, Xiang Han turned on the ability interface and put his hands over Xu Yan Ze's wound to attempt to 'purify' it.
A bright glow appeared around his palm until it enveloped his entire body. Xiang Han closed his eyes, feeling the flowing spiritual force.
[The 'purifying' ability consumes a lot of spiritual energy. You need to hold on.] Big A encouraged.
[Isn't the casting…too fucking long?] Xiang Han clenched his jaw.
As the light gradually penetrated his body, Xu Yan Ze's darkened skin turned lighter and the fierce-looking veins also retreated.
The melon-eating team's eyes were wide. No one dared to breathe too loudly for fear of disrupting him.
Slowly, the darkened skin reverted back to its original form and even the wound was no longer dark. Blood and pus disappeared, only leaving behind thin wisps of red.
Xiang Han hadn't expected this ability to be so heaven-defying. By the time he was done, his body was covered in a layer of cold sweat and he didn't have any energy left. A sharp pain abruptly came from his temples.
He nearly fell over. Xu Lele hurriedly went forward nervously to support him. "Wu Han, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I just overused my mental force." He waved a hand to signal that he simply needed to rest a little.
Beardy inspected Xu Yan Ze's body and couldn't help feeling excited when he saw that he was fine. "H-He's alright. How did you do it? An ability?"
The baby-faced man glanced at him and replied lightly, "Don't guess blindly."
Many ability users didn't like to expose their secrets, especially so for the rarer abilities. In Wu Han's situation, it would undoubtedly cause bloody rain to fall during the fight once a certain base learnt of this.
The baby-faced man swept a gaze over the others and warned, "You guys are also not allowed to speak about it to outsiders."
Saving another person in front of them was evident that Wu Han trusted them. In that case, they couldn't betray this trust. Although the apocalypse was cold and cruel, if everyone only cared about themselves and discarded basic trust, what was the difference between that and death?
This world shouldn't only be full of darkness. There should also be light, to give people hope.
Beardy grew embarrassed and scratched his head. He laughed foolishly, "Then…I'll help the lad dig those crystal nuclei."
The baby-faced man nodded and instructed Tan Wei, "Follow him and be careful."
They returned as quickly as they left. Beardy touched his head and said, "It's too strange. All the nuclei have been shattered."
The baby-faced man was stunned for a second before following the doctor to take a look. The doctor studied it for a while before speaking. "It must have been forcefully broken down. It looks like the force we felt earlier wasn't an illusion."
The baby-faced man glanced towards Xu Yan Ze with a thoughtful expression. "Bring him onto the car. Let's leave this place before speaking."
Beardy crouched beside Xiang Han and searched for a long time before he found a small crystal nuclei. He carefully selected two that weren't big nor small and passed them over with a pained expression. "Bro, I misunderstood you before… take these nuclei."
Ability users absorbed these crystal nuclei to replenish their mental force as well as upgrade their abilities. But this was only a setting in the novel and had no effect on Xiang Han, who was an outsider.
He was a person from the real world. If spiritual force could be upgraded so easily, the federation would be full of S-level users.
[If you constantly use your ability, it'll upgrade quickly.] Big A reminded him with a big heart. With the most urgent matter resolved, he was evidently more relaxed and added, [I'm going off to drink some nutrient fluid. Talk to 009 or Roy if there is anything you need.]
[Got it.] Xiang Han was utterly speechless when it came to this 'expert in digging pits'. He turned back to Beardy, "Thanks, but… I probably don't need it."
Coincidentally, the baby-faced man walked back, saw the two crystal nuclei the size of a thumb, and snorted coldly, "Grow up!"
Then, he threw a nucleus the size of an egg to Xiang Han. Beardy's face reddened. He gritted his teeth and steeled his heart to push everything to Xiang Han. "It's all for you. Is Laozi such a stingy person?"
Xiang Han was caught in between. He really didn't need it!
After bandaging up his wounds, Xu Yan Ze was brought into the car. Xiang Han sat beside him and would occasionally help him wipe off some dirt from his face while sighing in his heart.
How should he face Xu Yan Ze once he wakes up? Especially after pushing him…
Just as he was still struggling in his mind, he saw Xu Yan Ze was already awake. He was staring firmly at him. Xiang Han didn't know how long he'd been looking for.
"Hehe, you're awake?" Xiang Han lifted his paw and waved awkwardly.
Tan Wei's hand jerked and he nearly crashed the car into a ditch. He hurriedly turned back. "Captain, you're really awake?"
"Drive properly!" Xu Lele grabbed him and turned him back.
Everyone heard the commotion and frantically looked over. "Awake? He really woke up? Captain, your life is really big."
Xu Yan Ze's head was spinning. He used all his effort to shout, "Shut up."
Once everyone quietened down, he turned towards Xiang Han. His lips opened and closed, and just as he was about to speak, Xu Lele turned back. "…Captain, actually, it was Wu Han who saved you. Don't hold it against him."
Everyone nodded, "That's right…"
Xu Yan Ze: "…" Can you guys fucking let me talk to my wife properly?
With great difficulty, everyone was finally quiet. He grabbed Xiang Han's hands tightly and asked nervously. "You're Little Fool, aren't you?"
"No!" Xiang Han was still thinking of how he should explain the matter of pushing Xu Yan Ze. He denied it before even hearing the question. After shaking his head, he was finally stunned.