Chapter 501: Interrogation

“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! Don’t hit her, don’t you hit her!!” Chen Chong was truly a loving father.

And yet, this loving father’s hands were stained with the blood of countless innocent people.

Xie Ning sneered. “Speak. What exactly is going on? What the hell are you people up to?”

“What do you outsiders know? Gushang Base had a Superpower User rebellion more than half a year ago.”

“The Superpower Users in the base thought they were superior and made exorbitant demands for special privileges from the base leadership.”

“Ever since then, the base leaders have been warier, knowing that those ill-intentioned Superpower Users are completely unreliable.”

“Planting mutated plants around the base that inhibit superpower growth was a last resort.”

“Chen Chong, stop spewing bullshit!” Huang Genmei couldn’t help but retort. “I’ve been at this base for over a year. I basically came here with my mom and my family to get by right when the apocalypse started.”

“How could you know the base’s situation better than me? There was no Superpower User rebellion more than half a year ago like you said.”

“What, are we not living in the same base??” Huang Genmei was so angry she almost laughed. “Besides, you’ve only been here for a few months. Why the hell are you talking about something that happened more than half a year ago?”

“What, do you have all-seeing eyes? You can see things that happened before you even got here?”

Hearing this, Liang Zhongping also nodded in agreement and added reasonably, “Captain Xie, don’t listen to his nonsense. I recognize them. Chen Chong, his daughter, and their little squad have been at our Gushang Base for half a year at most!”

“How could he know anything about what happened more than half a year ago?”

“I’m not lying!” Chen Chong’s face filled with pride. “This information came directly from the new Base Chief’s personal secretary, alright?”

“Who? Are you talking about Fan Yusen?”

“What does he know? He’s just a pretty boy that Chen Zhaowei recently propped up,” Huang Genmei scoffed.

Gu Chen glanced at him curiously. “If Chen Zhaowei thinks Superpower Users cause trouble, then why does he place so much trust in you?”

“Yeah, what’s so special about you?” Huang Genmei sized up Chen Chong. “Don’t tell me you’re also involved with that Chen Zhaowei guy? I heard he’s gay!”

Everyone: …

This Huang Genmei really had no filter.

Chen Chong’s face flushed bright red. “You fucking—!”

He wanted to curse her out, but seeing all his people pinned to the ground by Xie Ning’s group, he had no choice but to swallow his anger. “His surname is Chen, and my surname is Chen. What do you think?”

Chen Chong roared, “Base Chief Chen and I are clansmen, separated by a generation! How could he possibly not trust me?”

“Oh, so you’re saying you’re trustworthy, and we’re the villains??” Huang Genmei was so furious her head felt like it was about to explode.

“So just because of some trumped-up charge pinned on Superpower Users, Chen Zhaowei and his lackeys secretly planted those mutated plants that suppress Superpower User development all over the streets, let them grow unchecked, and ultimately caused the sand worm storm.”

Xie Ning reminded her, “Don’t forget, this Base Chief Chen had already developed an insecticide that repels sand worms before this all happened.”

Huang Genmei slapped her thigh and cursed up a storm. “Chen Zhaowei knew from the very beginning that planting these mutated plants would attract hordes of mutated insects!”

“In other words, these mutated plants are actually food for the mutated insects.”

“Once the sand worms finish devouring the mutated plants, they’ll target Superpower Users, who are energy sources! The Superpower Users will become their next meal.”

Liang Zhongping’s expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, “You… you did this on purpose!”

“Zhongping, this is no time to be all polite with them,” Huang Genmei said before letting out a string of curses.

“You bunch of bastards! All of you are fated to die without descendants! I’m telling you, for being so vicious, your whole families will come to a bad end!”

Chen Jiajia cried and howled in pain, “It has nothing to do with us! We were just following orders. Let us go, let us go!”

“What’s the deal with those ugly mermaid test subjects locked up in the lab?” Xie Ning steered the conversation back, looking at Chen Chong with a placid expression.

Chen Chong gave a bitter smile. “Captain Xie, it’s not that I don’t want to answer you. It’s just that we were only responsible for standing guard. As for what’s being researched in the lab and what its purpose is, we truly don’t know.”

“Oh, then I’ll just have to find that Chen Zhaowei and ask him myself,” Xie Ning nodded.

Although her voice was light, it carried a chilling aura.

Yu Tianfeng smiled faintly. “I have a feeling that since this new Base Chief is so against Superpower Users, he must be trying to prop up his own faction of ordinary people.”

“What do ordinary people need most? To be able to help him fight zombies while ensuring their own survival, of course.”

With a taut handsome face, Gu Chen, for once, agreed with Yu Tianfeng’s deduction. “Chen Zhaowei wants to create a batch of defensive gear or advanced weapons.”

“His labs are definitely researching more than just that one type of mutated fish, the ugly mermaid.”

“As Base Chief Chen’s right-hand man, you should at least know where the other labs are.”

Chen Chong hesitated for a second, and Chen Jiajia was hit with three more hard punches, tears and snot streaming down her face.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything! There are three experimental zones in the base. I can draw a map of the other two for you.”

“But you have to promise you won’t hurt me or my daughter. After this is over, you have to let my daughter and me leave safely.”

Xie Ning smiled and nodded at Chen Chong. “Alright.”

Seeing her agree so readily, Chen Chong’s heart started pounding with unease.

Xie Ning gave a look to two Team A members.

As the two men released their grip, Lu Wei also untied Chen Chong.

Chen Chong, his face full of fear, glanced in the direction of Lu Wei and the others.

‘It feels like it’s only been a short year, yet these people’s Superpower Ranks have already completely surpassed ours.’

It wasn’t as if Chen Chong had never seen a Wood Element Superpower User before.

The Wood Element Superpower Users at their Gushang Base usually just planted some crops or grew some fruit, and even that was a struggle for them.

They were nothing like the man before him. The thorny, winding wood vines were like toys in his hands, extending and retracting at will.

This level of precise superpower control was completely beyond anything the Superpower Users from Gushang Base could compare to.

Chen Chong obediently drew two maps and handed them to Gu Chen.

The lines were crooked, and one could barely make out the locations.

Gu Chen then passed the small maps to Cres.

The child scanned them with his spiritual power and nodded. “I have a rough idea of where they are. Should we go now?”

“Let’s go.” Xie Ning pulled up the hood of her small down jacket and put it on. “Are the two labs close to each other?”

“They’re in opposite directions.”

“Then we’ll split into two groups.” Xie Ning glanced at Gu Chen.

Comrade Gu was a bit reluctant, but when he saw his girlfriend shoot a look his way, he could only nod in agreement. “Okay.”