Chapter 230 - 223: The Three Gao Siblings

Chapter 230: Chapter 223: The Three Gao Siblings

This apocalyptic catastrophe was a global one!

Naturally, the South District of East Sea City was no exception.

But unlike the West District, which was rife with countless bases and constant turmoil, the South District had established its three major factions very early on in the past two months.

While other, smaller bases existed, they were insignificant compared to these three major powers.

After all, each of these three major factions had populations exceeding ten thousand survivors!

And the number of Superpower Users under their command was naturally even greater.

The Gao Group, controlled by Gao Lan’s older brother, Gao Qiang, was one of these three major powers.

At this moment, on the top floor of the Gao Group building—the heart of the Gao’s Base!

The lights were blazing!

Even though it was late into the night, Gao Qiang was still awake.

A pot of coffee sat beside him, his fuel for staying awake.

He held a book, reading with rapt attention as he sat in his executive chair.

The book was well-worn from countless readings.

It was practically falling apart at the seams.

But Gao Qiang refused to throw it away.

Even in this apocalyptic era of drastic change, where might makes right, and even though he himself had awakened a powerful Superpower, Gao Qiang still treated the book like a priceless treasure, taking it out to read whenever he had a spare moment.

He read with the reverence one would reserve for a sacred text.

In fact, Gao Qiang had already decided that, if he got the chance, he would pass this book down as a family heirloom.

The reason for this was quite simple.

He, Gao Qiang, had relied on this very book for his slow but steady rise to power, eventually building the Gao Group into a renowned name in East Sea City.

It was also by constantly learning from past lessons that, at the very beginning of the apocalypse, he had so keenly recognized the impending crisis.

That was why he had his people start gathering daily necessities early on.

In the early days of the apocalypse, most people’s sense of crisis wasn’t as acute.

And not everyone possessed Gao Qiang’s sharp business acumen.

As a result, gathering supplies was still relatively easy at the start of the apocalypse.

After all, money still held some value back then.

It was no surprise that some greedy speculators were willing to sell off their supplies for cash.

Furthermore, the Gao Group had its own logistics and transportation division.

Thus, they were able to quickly gather four-fifths of all the supplies in the entire South District.

It was precisely because of these supplies that the massive Gao Group had managed to survive the apocalypse so far.

Of course, even with the Gao Group’s immense scale, it was not without enemies.

To say nothing of others, the other two major factions alone were enough to give him a headache.

And tonight, the headache they caused was already giving him insomnia.

But his biggest headache was the whereabouts of his younger sister.

He had sent men to risk their lives searching for her in the West District at the very start of the apocalypse.

It wasn’t until a few days ago that he finally received reliable news from his men.

They had found his sister and were bringing her back today.

The reason he was up so late was that he was waiting for her return.

The three siblings had relied on each other since childhood.

Nothing was more important to him than the safety of his younger brother and sister.

’Right now, my greatest fear is that something has happened to my sister out there!’

Gao Qiang glanced at the time. It was almost midnight.

Seeing that the day was almost over, he frowned deeply.

’They’re so late... I’m afraid something has happened to the men bringing my sister back! Something must have gone wrong!!!’

Just as he had that thought, a man in a sharp suit burst into the room.

"Brother, bad news!"

"Something’s happened to Xiaolan!"

Even though he had mentally prepared himself, hearing the news directly from his younger brother, Gao Sheng, still made Gao Qiang tremble. He even set down the treasured book he was holding.

"Ahsheng, what happened to Xiaolan?"

Gao Sheng had run all the way here, but he didn’t even pause for a drink of water.

"Xiaolan’s been captured by the Dayong Base!"

"The Dayong Base just sent a message."

"We’re to hand over all our supplies by tomorrow, or else... they’ll harm Xiaolan!"

"I just confirmed it. It’s true!"

Gao Sheng tried his best to catch his breath as he relayed all the information he had gathered.

But he couldn’t hide the panic in his voice.

"Brother, we have to save Xiaolan!"

"She’s our only little sister!!!"

Compared to his younger brother’s panic, Gao Qiang was much calmer.

As a magnate who had navigated the business world for years, he had at least that much composure.

He was no stranger to the Dayong Base.

It was one of the three major Survivor Base factions in the South District of East Sea City.

It had been formed by a base called Yong Village, which had united with several others.

In terms of strength, it was slightly weaker than his Gao’s Base, but not by much.

In fact, their survivor population was even slightly larger than his!

If it weren’t for his own formidable strength and the superior Superpower Users in his base, the Dayong Base would have breached their defenses long ago!

The two sides were normally in a state of constant friction.

Clashes between them were frequent.

After all, the supplies in the South District were finite.

With Gao Qiang controlling so many of those supplies, it was hard for others not to be envious.

That was why he had always maintained a state of high alert.

But he never expected them to find such a crucial weakness.

’Xiaolan is my sister. I have to save her, no matter what. Even if it costs me all our supplies, I’ll do it!’

The only thing he couldn’t understand was how the Dayong Base had managed to capture Xiaolan.

’After all, I’ve kept the fact that she’s my sister a secret for years! Only a handful of people knew!’

Gao Qiang couldn’t figure it out.

’But now isn’t the time to dwell on that. Saving my sister is what’s most important.’

"Immediately have someone confirm where they’re holding Xiaolan and arrange a rescue team!"

"Also, have someone contact the Dayong Base. Tell them we agree to all their conditions!"

"They can have all our supplies, but they must guarantee Xiaolan’s safety."

Gao Sheng was ecstatic to get his brother’s approval.

’I knew my brother wouldn’t abandon Xiaolan!’

He immediately turned to run out and deliver the message.

But Gao Qiang stopped him.

"Wait! Give them another message from me. They want supplies? Fine. But if..."

Gao Sheng stopped in his tracks as he heard his brother’s voice turn ferocious.

"...if Xiaolan is harmed in the slightest, I’ll have every single person in their base wiped out!!!"

As soon as he spoke, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

But Gao Sheng could still hear the suppressed rage and unwavering determination in his brother’s voice.

He nodded grimly.

"Don’t worry, Brother!"

"If anything happens to Xiaolan, we’ll go to war with them!!!"

With that, Gao Sheng ran out of the room without a backward glance.

Gao Qiang watched his brother’s retreating back, then grabbed a cup from the table and hurled it violently to the floor.

Amid the sound of shattering glass, Gao Qiang’s furious voice roared.

"A bunch of goddamn bastards!!!"

..........

But as Gao Qiang was venting his rage,

he was unaware that a convoy of vehicles was slowly approaching... the Celestial Wolf Base, the place where his sister, Gao Lan, was truly being held captive...

..........