Cultivation Partner Reborn in the Apocalypse

Zhu Xiao, having raided many esper teams, knew well that such vehicles were highly sought after in the apocalypse for their safety and convenience, so he nodded in agreement.

But when they opened the door, they were met by a group of espers, mostly tier-two, with some at the initial and intermediate stages. They eyed the group warily, surrounding the area.

Seeing this, Park Su realized that while he was busy with the seeds, he had neglected to maintain control over the dandelion's illusions, and some had escaped the hallucination, coming here. These must be somewhat capable.

Park Su was considering whether to act when Xu Nuo spoke up, "Since I've brought everyone here, it's time to stretch our legs. Xia Ji, you go with Ge Qing and Lu Shang to handle these people. I'll go with Zhu Xiao to get the vehicles; we'll come back to pick you up. By the time I return, I expect this situation to be resolved, and ensure no one from the research institute is taken or injured, understood?"

Ge Qing raised an eyebrow, "Alright, since we're here, we won't just take advantage for free. We'll handle this; they shouldn't think we're pushovers."

If he didn't know about the antidotes in the lab, he might have been worried, but with that knowledge, what was there to fear? They could give these people a taste of their own medicine, letting them experience being beaten to a pulp, also venting out the frustration from their previous encounters.

With Ge Qing's clear response, Xu Nuo felt at ease leaving. The principle of trust was clear: don't use someone you doubt, and don't doubt someone you use. Especially given Ge Qing and Lu Shang's strength, he was confident. Moreover, these people had just escaped from an illusion, so even if they were tier-two espers, their abilities might be significantly weakened. With the antidotes, handling them shouldn't be a challenge.

On their side, with Zhu Xiao, the local leader, everything went smoothly. Those who came to drive the vehicles were Zhu Xiao's loyal followers, so there was no significant disruption.

They managed to secure six trucks, two container vehicles, and eight urban off-road vehicles from the village, which was more than enough to transport everyone. They headed back without delay.

Upon returning, they were pleased to see that Ge Qing and his team had taken care of everything. Lu Shang was helping the researchers pack their lab equipment.

Zhu Xiao joined in, packing an entire truck with their gear, then headed to the village's warehouse to load two more trucks and one container with their accumulated supplies, preparing for the future.

Only after everything was packed did Zhu Xiao feel satisfied, arranging everyone into the vehicles. He then told Xu Nuo, "We've taken everything we can; the rest we leave for those staying behind. After all, there are still people from my old days here; they'll need something to help them find new homes."

Xu Nuo only glanced at Zhu Xiao without much comment. Although Zhu Xiao's words sounded noble, the resources he left behind were pitifully small compared to the number of people staying, which was five times the number he was taking.

But in reality, those people weren't his confidants and had no significant value to him, so he was unwilling to take them along. In peacetime, this might have been criticized, but in the apocalypse, Xu Nuo saw no reason to judge. If it were him, he might have been even more ruthless.

After all, these people didn't stand by Zhu Xiao when others tried to seize his position; instead, they either joined the opposition or watched from a so-called neutral stance, forgetting who had helped them when they were at their lowest. They only cared about their own benefits. People like that, even before the apocalypse, wouldn't have fared well.

Since they were so hesitant, why should he go out of his way for them?

However, with so many new people in the team, Park Su and Xu Nuo might need to adjust their original plans. Primarily because they needed to manage and protect more individuals.

To ease the burden on his wife and himself, allowing for more private time together, Xu Nuo reorganized the team.

Since Xia Ji had performed well on this mission under Park Su and Xu Nuo, showing competence and discretion, he passed the first test. Xu Nuo then promoted him to group leader.

Though he only managed six people, these six were responsible for the safety of all the ordinary survivors in the team except for the researchers. The researchers' safety was overseen by the two vice-captains and Lü Xia and Shi Lei.

The two captains naturally took charge of the team's overall safety. Zhu Xiao, with most of the team being from his former village, would also help protect them.

However, Zhu Xiao had a more pressing concern - the promise Xu Nuo made about helping him break through his esper abilities. Ever since they left Ping Cheng, he had been asking how they could help him achieve this breakthrough.

After the coup attempt, Zhu Xiao understood more deeply the importance of enhancing his powers. Unfortunately, each time he brought it up, Xu Nuo casually ignored him, which frustrated Zhu Xiao. Given the authority of Xu Nuo and Park Su, he didn't dare openly defy them, but he couldn't suppress his irritation. Was this just a ploy to get him to join the team, with no real intention to help him improve his abilities?

Despite knowing that even if they couldn't boost his abilities, he had already gained significantly by safely escaping the rebellion, teaching those rebels a lesson they wouldn't forget, and showing what happens when you cross Zhu Xiao, he still couldn't help but hope for more.

But others had given him hope, and now to find out that hope was just an illusion, how could he accept it easily, even if he understood?

Little did he know that Xu Nuo was well aware of his frustration but chose not to address it openly. In Xu Nuo's view, esper abilities should be cultivated through hard work to achieve the best results.

Even if he helped Zhu Xiao find more zombie crystals to quickly enhance his spatial ability, without real combat experience, he'd still be helpless against hordes of zombies. Having such a good ability but not using it effectively, what was the point?

Xu Nuo's lack of response was also a test of Zhu Xiao's resilience and patience, which would determine Zhu Xiao's future role in the team.

Fortunately, despite his irritability, Zhu Xiao continued his duties methodically. When dealing with his team members, he maintained his inscrutable demeanor, ensuring he didn't let his personal frustrations affect his image among his subordinates. He continued to offer them comfort and build their confidence.

Their next major target was Li Cheng!

It was only one small city away from S Base, but they had taken a large detour. Without this detour, they could have reached Li Cheng by bypassing that small city.

The detour had two purposes: to help Park Su repay an old debt from his past life and to quickly elevate Park Su's ability to tier four, which would be crucial for subduing the mutant rose vine.

Li Cheng was nearly as large as the S City they used to be in, and initially, Park Su and Xu Nuo planned to loot it thoroughly before heading to deal with the rose vine.

However, with so many ordinary people now under their protection, and considering that Li Cheng might host tier-three or even higher mutant plants, Park Su guessed there could also be energy stones there. Cities with energy stones tend to have higher-level zombies, thus increasing the danger.

But danger also signifies opportunity. If it weren't for these extra people to protect, they might not have minded sweeping through Li Cheng for more training and esper enhancement.

However, given their current team composition, it wasn't suitable for such reckless self-training. More importantly, just because Zhu Xiao trusted his team didn't mean Xu Nuo did. These team members Zhu Xiao brought weren't necessarily loyal to Xu Nuo; their character and discretion were unknown to him.

They were cautious even with their own team members, let alone these outsiders. Xu Nuo was even less inclined to reveal much of his own strength to them.

Thus, before reaching Li Cheng, they altered their original plan, reorganized into groups, with a rotation system to protect the survivors while others went out to hunt.

They held a small meeting with their original team members in a relatively safe location before entering Li Cheng to communicate this new strategy.

Although the team was somewhat disappointed, as they had been eager for a big operation, they understood that Park Su and Xu Nuo were the main combat forces. The team leaders not only had to hunt but also protect them. Without their backing, they couldn't perform the sweeping operations they had done before with their current capabilities.

Moreover, even with the additional vehicles from Zhu Xiao's group, they only had four trucks and one container vehicle for supplies. Even if the team leaders split into two groups to hunt while moving, they could still fill these vehicles. And if they couldn't, it wouldn't matter much; their gains from this trip had far exceeded expectations.

In essence, they had already profited greatly from this outing. There was no need to be too greedy. Instead of seeking more supplies, it would be better to go out with Park Su and Xu Nuo to train and improve themselves.

When Park Su and Xu Nuo announced this plan, there was little resistance, the only issue being that everyone wanted more time for field training.

Seeing this result, Park Su wasn't sure whether to be pleased or frustrated; he hadn't realized his friends from his past life were so eager to fight zombies.