7.6

"You don't have to waste your words with them, captain." Sun Bin strode forward and said. He reached Fang Huailin's side and continued, "The world is a mess now. There are those who snatch everything and anything that doesn't belong to them now. If they aren't willing to give us these things, then we have no choice but to have them hand it over."

"Aiya, I'll go." Zhang Gang stepped forward and said. "Now I've seen many a shameless person throughout my life, but this is the first time in my entire life that I've witnessed someone be this shameless. First you say we shouldn't be stealing or taking things that don't belong to us, but now you're spouting off something completely different. It hasn't even been that long, but now you're saying the world's a mess now so you can snatch other people's belongings as you please?"

"I just have one question for you." Zhang Gang asked. Then he rubbed his face and continued, "Doesn't your face hurt?"

Long Ao and the other soldiers behind Zhang Gang laughed.

Fang Huailin's face turned ugly with Zhang Gang's ridicule. He growled out in anger, "I cannot allow you to take these things away. The soldiers of the 03 Base have never feared anyone. Since you won't take the easy way out, then we have to show you the hard way."

"03 Base? Oh I'm just terrified." Zhang Gang clutched his chest as he mimicked fear and said. "Dragon Team, brothers, we have fighting against these undead zombies for the past two years now. It seems that we haven't fought with real life people for a long time. How about we take a walk down memory lane?"

Fang Huailin thought that the name 03 Base would at lease cause some fear with his opponents or at least give them second doubts. Unfortunately, they seemed to have dismissed his veiled threat. Zhang Gang's attitude made his quite upset and embarrassed.

The 03 Base and the East One Base are not in the same military command. There was little contact between the two sides. Therefore, although the name 03 Base was well known within their military zone, it was actually incomparable with the East One Base.

If the 03 Base was considered renowned in their military zone, then the Special Forces Unit: East One Base would be renowned throughout the country. There wasn't a single soldier who couldn't recognize the name East One Base.

If Zhang Gang and the other soldiers had stated their base's name, then it would be Fang Huailin and his group who would have the second doubts. However, Zhang Gang had been following Long Ao for many years now. He understood what Long Ao planned to do. These people bullied Qiao Chen, so now Long Ao wanted to teach them a lesson.

Therefore, Zhang Gang deliberately withheld their base name. The East One Base soldiers would lull the 03 Base into thinking they were the big fish first. Then they would show them that the 03 Base were just big fish swimming in a small pond. The humiliation on top of the beating would satisfy Long Ao's desire for revenge.

"Are you done running your mouth yet? You've talked big game, now are you gonna show it or are you just gonna keep talking?" Long Ao lifted his hand, and the soldiers behind him immediately fell into an attack formation.

Fang Huailin and his soldiers immediately took several steps back and fell into formation as well.

Fang Huailin took the lead. He was an electricity ability holder, so he sent out a lighting ball. He wanted to expand the ball into an electrical grid and cause damage to everyone on the other team. He wanted them to suffer to a certain extent before they could even make a move.

Long Ao stood in place. Before Fang Huailin's lighting ball fully expanded, he dropped several thunderous cannons from the air. The sound of consecutive bangs rang throughout the air. Dust kicked up on Fang Huailin's side and their cars turned over several times.

Fang Huailin's original plan to attack with the lightning turned quickly turned into a defensive maneuver. Although most of the soldiers hadn't been seriously injured, a few of them lay prone on the ground coughing out blood.

Fang Huailin looked at Long Ao with and ugly face. He never expected that Long Ao would actually be a thunder ability holder. The number of thunder ability holders was even less than those with the healer abilities. Furthermore, the strength of thunder users was second to none. Statistically, his electric ability should have been the strongest ability among all of the ability users here.

Zhang Gang and the rest of the group rushed over before the 03 Base soldiers could react. All of them had fallen into disarray. Of course Zhang Gang and his group weren't lost in the scuffle. They faced hundreds of zombie sieges and battles in the past two years. They were long accustomed to cooperating in the chaos. It was obvious that Fang Huailin and his people were no match to Zhang Gang and his group in terms of both ability and force.

Qiao Chen's fighting value in this life was too low. He was currently sat in the car watching the scene unfold. He couldn't tell who was who or who hit whom. He didn't even know if the people outside successfully attacked the other party or accidentally hit one of their own. Qiao Chen was only responsible for using his brain and supporting behind the scenes.

Long Ao was the one with the highest strength as the thunder ability holder. He also stood by and watched. If he sent out anymore thunder cannons, then he would even injure his own people. Furthermore, he only had one target. Therefore, he waited.

Zhang Gang threw found and threw Fang Huailin from out of the crowd. Long Ao stepped forward, grabbed him by his collar, and started beating him.

Long Ao undertook his task of beating Fang Huailin in a cruel manner. Even Qiao Chen couldn't bear to watch after a while and turned away. One could say that it would only take two or three hits for Long Ao to kill someone, but he didn't. He specifically chose to hit Fang Huailin in places that would cause a lot of pain but wouldn't be fatal.

Long Ao didn't kill Fang Huailin in the end. The other soldiers on Fang Huailin's side were all seriously injured, but still alive. Long Ao and his soldiers' hands were all stained with blood long before the zombie outbreak. Killing zombies for these past two years have made them even number to violence.

It wasn't that the East One group couldn't kill these men. They chose to keep Fang Huailin and his group alive. It was just that living in this world was worse than death. If Long Ao and his men killed them, then they'd be released from this cruel world where one had to fight everyday just to survive. Living life in this world was torturous.

Long Ao and his men left the wounded soldiers behind and drove off. As for whether the other group could leave before a zombie horde was attracted by their blood… well that had nothing to do with them.

Qiao Chen truthfully explained everything from the treatment he received at the 03 Base to his escape for Long Ao to hear once they returned to base. As a matter of fact, he originally wanted to explain everything to Long Ao once they got back. He knew that Long Ao would ask even if he didn't take the initiative to say it. He just didn't expect to meet Fang Huailin and the others before he had the chance to.

Long Ao thought that he had given Fang Huailin too light of a beating. He even thought that Sun Bin should have been knocked around a few times too after he heard about everything that happened to Qiao Chen.

Dr Lu asked Qiao Chen to select the equipment he needed first before distributing it to the rest of the research teams. The things Long Ao brought back originally belonged to Qiao Chen's family anyways.

Qiao Chen set up his research team in the research building. However, he didn't select any members from the research department. Most of the researchers there were older than him and had more seniority. It was unlikely that they would take the time away from their own projects to assist him. This apocalypse had gone on long enough. Too many people had died. Qiao Chen didn't want to waste any more time on trivial matters.

Qiao Chen asked the doctors in the medical department to act as his assistants. He could do most of the legwork on his own.

The first thing Qiao Chen did after setting up his research team was tp immediate begin working on the cure to the bone spur growth on the soldiers injected with those antibodies.

Qiao Chen used his system to analyze and study the antibodies and the blood of the soldiers injected with the serum. Then he had his system prepare the appropriate drugs for them. He had everything he needed from their trip to his family's pharmaceutical factory. He didn't need to look for any other raw materials.

Qiao Chen injected the afflicted soldiers with the medicine he and the system developed a few days later. He observed the soldiers for a while and determined that the soldiers would not grow any bone spurs again.

Those soldiers were eternally grateful towards Qiao Chen. They constantly expressed their gratitude to Qiao Chen whenever Qiao Chen and Long Ao went to see them.

"Thank you so much Dr. Mu! I thought that I wouldn't make it. The bone spurs were so painful when they pierced through me. It was agony. I thought that it was better just to end my life than persevere through the pain of bone spurs just to die from them in the end." A gentle-looking soldier exclaimed gratefully.

"That's right, Dr. Mu! Thank you so much. I really, really…" The round-faced soldier was so excited that he couldn't even express himself. He lost his words, so he stuck out his hand to shake Qiao Chen's. "Anyways, thank you again. Thank you so much!"

Zhang Gang quickly intercepted the round-faced soldiers hand with his own. He held the soldiers hand and said, "Dr. Mu can already feel your gratitude with your words and your sincerity."

Zhang Gang gave the round-faced soldier a meaningful look and gripped his hand tightly. This foolish boy, didn't he see the entire Dragon Squad standing beside the doctor? Why would you go so far as to be so forward with him?

"Huh?" The round-faced soldier couldn't react in that moment. He looked at their captain blankly and didn't understand the look in his eyes.

These soldiers were injected with the antibodies as guinea pigs. They were all chosen by drawing lots. The people in the research group weren't able to find any solutions once the problems started cropping up. Every single one of them thought they were at the end of their rope.

They prepared themselves for their deaths. However, if there was a person who was willing to research and find a cure for their impending death, then how couldn't they feel moved? This was especially so because the antibody research team tried to offload responsibility, so they wouldn't have to face the consequences. Qiao Chen's choice to save them made them feel even more grateful.

Qiao Chen understood their feelings. The joy one felt from escaping death was a strong feeling. Qiao Chen smiled and told them to have a good rest for two days or so. They would probably go back to normal by then.

Even though Qiao Chen's research was done, he sent an application to Dr. Lu to start a different research project. He wanted to retain his research team and continue conducting research in the department.

Qiao Chen was able to find a solution to the bone spur problem within such a short time period. He was able to do something that the seasoned veterans of the antibody research team couldn't. Therefore, Dr. Lu naturally and straightforwardly agreed with Qiao Chen's request.

The number of people disappointed with the various bases around was growing and growing. Some bases even began to merge to form a stronger singular base. In fact, some of the smaller bases with little to no strength began to uproot their lives to take refuge in the more powerful bases.

It was to be expected that the legendary East One Base was the one that everyone wanted to seek refuge in. It was the base with the strongest soldiers in the country.

Even after the end of the world, when everything had fallen into chaos and their country splintered into bases and groups, many people wanted to find refuge in military commander Long Wu's base. These people used to be his subordinates. They all wanted to arrange all the soldiers into one strong and cohesive force. There were a lot of people with great strength. Now, the base was currently attempting to cultivate and farm produce. This meant that the ordinary people, the ones without abilities, they brought with them could also participate in food production.

There was one of the bases that surprised Long Wu. It was the 03 Base. This base was nowhere near or within their jurisdiction. What was even more peculiar was that they didn't even look to the military bases within their region. They wanted seek refuge in the East One base instead. This made Long Wu feel quite confused.

Furthermore, they proposed to join the East One Base under the name of cooperation. This meant that not only did they want to take refuge in their base, but they even wanted to have equal power with the East One Base and act on their own. Most bases that wanted to take refuge in their base would be incorporated into their existing structure and act as subordinate bases.

However, Long Wu was very curious about what they had to offer for them to talk about cooperating with their base instead of joining like every other base had. Therefore, Long Wu took some time out of his busy schedule to have a meeting with them.