Apocalypse: I Can See the HP Bar, Killing Monsters Drops Loot

"If Zou Jian goes out and attracts the attention of that eagle, he will definitely try everything to escape! The farther he runs, the farther the eagle will be drawn away. Does that mean we'll be temporarily safe?"

...

Hearing this, Yao Hai opened his mouth.

But Su Jie hadn't finished speaking; she continued:

"Now, in the dead of winter, it must be hard for mutant beasts to find food, right? If this eagle is smart enough—after the apocalypse, the mutant beasts have all become smarter! Maybe it won't attack Zou Jian right away but instead follow him to Mammoth Base?"

"???"

Yao Hai's mouth hung open.

"With the terrifying power of this eagle, if it wipes out the entire Mammoth Base... then all our problems will be solved—the eagle would be gone, and the people of Mammoth Base would be dead. Then we could move into Mammoth Base!"

"!!!"

Yao Hai stared at Su Jie in shock, as if he was seeing her for the first time.

"Of course, this is just my hypothesis. There are actually a lot of issues, for example, whether the eagle will occupy Mammoth Base, whether the eagle is that smart, whether the eagle can see the fleeing Zou Jian... There are too many uncertainties. But no matter what, this at least adds one potential way for us to survive, doesn't it?"

Gulp~

Yao Hai swallowed hard.

He wanted to say that this might not be a good idea, that if it were as Su Jie had said, it would mean exchanging the lives of all the survivors at Mammoth Base for those at Ocean Base. But when he thought about the various inhumane acts committed by Mammoth Base and the familiar faces of more than a thousand survivors at Ocean Base, he changed his mind.

"Why don't you take over as the leader of Ocean Base? I'm not as capable as you..."

Seeing Yao Hai's careful expression, Su Jie was somewhat speechless; she held Yao Hai's arm and said seriously:

"What nonsense are you talking about! You are the leader of Ocean Base, and you always will be! Only you can lead the more than a thousand people at Ocean Base to survive in the apocalypse! I'm just occasionally offering a minor suggestion... You have to believe in yourself, you're the best!"

Seeing the seriousness in Su Jie's eyes, Yao Hai suddenly regained confidence.

"Alright, then we all have to survive!"

"Let's hope that the eagle finds Zou Jian; logically, given the level of this mutant beast, Zou Jian's disguise might not work..."

...

"Huh? Why is that person going into the rift? Could it be that their base is down there?"

In the air, on the back of the Golden Eagle.

Watching Zou Jian hurriedly enter a dark underground rift, Wang Tao, who had been following him for a while, was somewhat amazed.

There was a lot of black mist in the underground rift, and Wang Tao, being too far away, couldn't manipulate the black mist and naturally couldn't see the situation inside.

But Wang Tao speculated that there might indeed be a Survivor Base down there. On reflection, as long as all the dangers within the rift were cleared, it was actually a suitable place to build a base—the temperature inside the rift was relatively warm, there was no worry about being seen by flying zombies, and the other zombies outside wouldn't venture in...

"Chirp~"

The Golden Eagle asked him whether to go down or return.

After Wang Tao explained that the black mist was not dangerous, the Golden Eagle was no longer afraid of it.

"Let's go back first, and if there is indeed a Survivor Base here, it would be the second base. Our target is the first base; let's complete the mission first."

The Golden Eagle immediately turned around and flew toward the previous snow slope.

Recalling the recent event, Wang Tao found it quite interesting.

At the instant he noticed the explosion, Wang Tao thought of a phrase—"feint to the east but attack in the west."

The Golden Eagle had noticed something and was preparing to land and investigate when a loud explosion suddenly occurred in the distance... It was too much of a coincidence, especially since it appeared to be caused by explosives, clearly man-made.

Of course, it could genuinely be a coincidence, or perhaps something was actually amiss there. Anything was possible.

So, Wang Tao had the Golden Eagle fly over.

However, if even he could see the explosion from afar, then the Golden Eagle could certainly see even more.

Similarly, at the location of the explosion, the Golden Eagle could still see the situation at the previous snow slope clearly!

Those survivors knew nothing about the Golden Eagle's capabilities.

Without Wang Tao even needing to remind it, the Golden Eagle was always observing the surroundings. When a hole suddenly appeared at the snow slope, the Golden Eagle immediately spotted them and even made out a few people inside.

Hearing the Golden Eagle report that one person had come out and run in a different direction, Wang Tao became curious, so he had the Golden Eagle follow far behind to see. Judging by the look of the base, there seemed to be no immediate danger.

Then Wang Tao discovered that the person had gone into the rift... That was a bit of an unexpected gain.

Soon, the Golden Eagle returned to the vicinity of the previous snow slope.

"You play outside for a while to avoid scaring them from opening the door. I'll go by myself to take a look, and I'll call you if needed."

Wang Tao jumped down along with Lightning.

Since he had discovered that Survivor Base was still safe, Wang Tao decided to go inside to see what kind of people the survivors were.

Changhe Base wasn't just open to anyone, and the atmosphere inside was very good right now. Wang Tao wouldn't allow a single bad apple.

"Chirp~"

After Golden Eagle soared into the sky again, Wang Tao straightened his clothes and then, accompanied by Lightning, calmly made his way to the snowy slope amidst the blizzard.

There were hardly any traces in the snow, but Wang Tao still used his spiritual power to spot some shallow footprints. He followed them to the front gate and then stomped his foot.

Boom—

With that stomp, the surrounding snow and dirt were blown away, revealing a slanted metal gate.

"Is anyone there?"

Wang Tao shouted.

Creak—

Moments later, the metal gate cracked open a slit, revealing two shocked faces.

Looking at the man and dog who walked through such icy conditions as if strolling in a courtyard... Yao Hai was puzzled, and Su Jie next to him was equally baffled.

Not to mention where this man and dog came from, isn't it cold! They felt like freezing to death just by opening a crack in the door...

"Hurry in! There are mutant flying beasts outside!"

It was Su Jie who reacted first, immediately inviting Wang Tao inside.

Under normal circumstances, they shouldn't have let strangers into the base so casually, especially given the strange manner of Wang Tao's arrival... but now, with Ocean Base at a life-and-death juncture, they couldn't afford to miss any opportunities!

Wang Tao and Lightning swaggered into the base.

Once inside, Yao Hai quickly closed the door. There were some torches around, making the environment fairly bright.

Wang Tao instantly noticed the words "Ocean Base."

"This is 'Ocean Base'?"

Seeing Wang Tao's confusion, Yao Hai quickly responded,

"Ahem! Hello, my name is Yao Hai, nickname Ocean..."

"...Makes sense. My name is Wang Tao, and this is Lightning. Nice to meet you."

Wang Tao couldn't help but express his feelings.

"Hello, hello, this is my girlfriend Su Jie..."

"Hello, Mr. Wang!"

While introducing themselves, Yao Hai and Su Jie quietly observed Wang Tao.

Wang Tao's towering figure was quite imposing, especially when accompanied by a sizable wolf-dog... the presence was simply overwhelming.

Although they were unsure of the levels of Wang Tao and Lightning, there was no doubt that their combat abilities were incredibly strong.

Yao Hai led Wang Tao to the central area of the base.

When other survivors saw Yao Hai bring in a tall stranger and a dog, they immediately gave curious glances.

As Wang Tao observed these survivors, he instantly got a measure of them.

A person's spirit can reflect their environment; these people looked a bit dispirited but hadn't lost hope for life, especially the trusting looks they gave Yao Hai. Wang Tao was all too familiar with that!

Since there didn't seem to be any major problems, Wang Tao didn't waste any more time. He directly asked,

"Did you send out a distress signal a few days ago?"

Wang Tao needed to confirm once more if it was their message.

"Ah?"

Yao Hai was confused again.

No, it wasn't that he had unexpectedly contacted some unknown base, and it would be fine if Zou Jian knew, but how did a new outsider also know?

Compared to his naive confusion, Su Jie just stared in disbelief.

"Mr. Wang, you... are you from Changhe Base?"

Wang Tao nodded.

Thud!

Before Wang Tao could react, Su Jie had already knelt down, dragging along a bewildered Yao Hai.

"Mr. Wang, please save our 1037 survivors at Ocean Base!"