Food Crisis

His tone held a hint of resentment. "That night, everyone at the base was saying you were as good as dead, Captain. They sounded so sure of it, but none of us believed them. We went out looking for you as soon as the gates opened the next morning, and eventually found the mutated wolf king's corpse and the white feathers on the ground in the wasteland. That area is snow bird territory, so we thought he might have taken you. That's why we were planning to look for you in the nest."

He laughed again, looking very pleased with himself. "Those guys nearly dropped their jaws when they found out you'd come back alive, Captain. Once we find proof they tried to murder you, we'll make them pay!"

From what Liu Qi'an said, they had yet to find any proof.

Lou Yu wasn't surprised. They had only been here a short time, and their arrival had been rushed. They had only just gained a foothold in Yong'an Base, so it was only natural that they couldn't take on those deeply entrenched people.

"Huo Lan and Chen Lin are out on business. I'll let them know you're awake in a bit, Captain. They'll be thrilled." As John spoke, his gaze shifted to the gaping hole in the ward door. He turned back to Lou Yu and asked curiously, "Captain, has your ability gotten stronger?"

John's words reminded Liu Qi'an of the explosion earlier. He looked at Lou Yu, then at the pitch-black hole, unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

"Yeah, Captain, you blasted that hole. When did you get so strong? I remember you could barely use your ability before we came to Yong'an Base."

Lou Yu stared at the right hand he had used to unleash his ability, a hint of puzzlement in his eyes. "I used it by accident in a dream. I didn't expect it to do that, either."

Lou Yu had indeed kept things from his teammates about his ability, but this time he wasn't lying.

Before he came to Yong'an Base, his ability had been extremely unstable, showing signs of collapse at any moment. He had been classified as a failed experiment, with little value left to exploit. Otherwise, those people wouldn't have let him leave so easily.

After the great disaster, animals and plants had all mutated and gained tremendous power. Only humanity had been abandoned by the god of fate, failing to evolve naturally for a hundred years.

They had finally found a way to give humans supernatural powers through technology, but it was expensive and had an extremely low success rate. As a result, every ability user was precious to humanity.

Few people in Yong'an Base knew Lou Yu had an ability. For safety's sake, neither he nor his teammates volunteered the information, and he never used his ability in daily life.

Only Lou Yu himself knew that, during his six months in Yong'an, his ability had grown more stable and gradually gained a measure of power and destructive force.

He feared the news would leak, so he hadn't even told his teammates.

It wasn't that he didn't trust them. They were currently at a disadvantage, and there was no guessing what methods those scheming against them would use to pry information out of them.

He also kept it from his teammates because he feared they would face more danger if he told them.

On the day he lured the mutated wolf king away, it was also thanks to his ability and his greatly improved physique that, after a fierce battle had drained everyone else's strength, he still had enough energy left to engage the mutated wolves in a chase.

He had planned it out long ago. If the snow bird never appeared, he would use all his power. Even if it wasn't enough to take the wolf king down with him, he would at least leave it gravely wounded.

In the wilderness, where mutated monsters were everywhere, being injured meant becoming prey. If he, Lou Yu, died, the wolf king wouldn't live much longer either.

But with the strength he'd had before, he certainly couldn't have done that kind of damage to the door. Though it was made of wood, the material came from a mutated tree and was nearly as hard as iron.

What was more, he knew perfectly well that he hadn't used all his strength just now.

His ability seemed to have doubled in power overnight.

Seeing Lou Yu lost in thought, Liu Qi'an smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Captain. Abilities are just that unpredictable. Even the experts haven't fully figured them out yet. Otherwise, they wouldn't all have declared that your ability awakening had failed."

Lou Yu nodded, as though he agreed with Liu Qi'an.

He didn't explain that the increase in his ability's power might have something to do with what had happened on the night of the rainstorm. The main reason was that the experience had been so bizarre that Lou Yu couldn't explain it clearly, and it wasn't easy to talk about.

John folded his arms. "This is good news and bad news. In this world, if you want to stay alive, the stronger you are, the better. But if word gets out that your ability has stabilized, Captain, I'm afraid the people at Central Base won't let it go."

Liu Qi'an frowned at that. "The explosion just now was too loud. Those people's spies have been hanging around the hospital for the past two days, and there's no getting rid of them all. I'm afraid they heard it too. And there's the door—it'll be hard to explain away."

"The hospital is Lou Quan's turf. He's got more schemes than hairs on his head. I'm afraid we can't keep it from him," John said worriedly.

John and Liu Qi'an were both anxious, but Lou Yu remained calm. "There's no need to hide it from Lou Quan. On the contrary, I need to tell him right away."

Liu Qi'an was puzzled. "Why?"

"Because I have an agreement with him," Lou Yu said.

Meanwhile, in Lou Quan's office.

Lou Quan smiled knowingly as he listened to the latest news from the hospital.

"A lightning ability. Its power really is extraordinary. It seems I was right to take the risk of sheltering them back then."

Chapter 7: Food Crisis

In the hospital ward, Lou Yu told Liu Qi'an and John that Yong'an Base had dared to risk offending those people at Central Base by letting them stay because he had agreed to two of Lou Quan's conditions.

He had already told them one of them: he was to act as a subordinate of sorts to Lou Quan and work for him.

As for the second, Lou Yu had kept quiet because he feared his teammates wouldn't agree. But now, he had no choice but to tell them.

The condition was that he cooperate with Lou Quan's researchers in their research on ability awakening.

The technology for making the Ability Awakening Reagent was now monopolized by Central Base. Satellite bases like Yong'an Base couldn't even get close to it. As for the finished product, Central Base didn't have enough to go around, so how could it be their turn to receive any?

The satellite bases had originally existed as a "wall" protecting Central Base and were subordinate to it. But after mutated monsters had suddenly begun attacking human bases less frequently decades ago, the external threat had subsided and human society had gradually grown more stable. Internal conflicts had slowly emerged.

Central Base was the strongest overall, but the major families who held sway were evenly matched, and all wanted the top position. Their struggles for power and profit were unavoidable, and the outward peace they had maintained over the years was precarious.

As for the satellite bases, they still had to remain where they were after the monsters retreated. Their living conditions lagged behind Central Base's, their development was held back, and they had to keep supplying Central Base with resources.

It was very difficult for people from the satellite bases to settle in Central Base, while the people of Central Base considered themselves superior and looked down on them.

With all those grievances building up for so long, it was only a matter of time before they erupted.

Several satellite bases now had ideas of "independence," but, deterred by Central Base, they only dared pursue them in secret.

Five years ago, the Ability Awakening Reagent had appeared out of nowhere. Although the awakening rate was low, once successful, a single ability user could take on a hundred opponents and deal with mutated monsters much more easily.

Who wouldn't covet such a treasure?

The family that had created the Ability Awakening Reagent had instantly risen in status at Central Base. It was no exaggeration to say they stood above all the others. If the other families hadn't joined forces against them, Central Base might have long since taken their family name.

But an accident half a year ago had forced that family to share the technology for making the serum with the other major families, and Central Base had once again returned to an outward peace.

Yong'an Base ranked among the top three satellite bases in overall strength, and its leader, Lou Quan, was exceptionally ambitious. Over the years, he had been stringing Central Base along while doing everything he could to develop Yong'an Base.

Lou Yu's identity was sensitive, and he counted as half an ability user. The other satellite bases coveted him, but feared offending Central Base and didn't dare take him in.

Lou Yu knew his own situation well enough not to invite rejection at the other satellite bases. After leaving Central Base, he had come straight to Yong'an Base, because he knew exactly what kind of person his older cousin was, as well as his ambition and capabilities.

Lou Quan would surely take him in so he could crack the technology behind the Ability Awakening Reagent.

Looking at the surprised faces of the two men after they heard him out, Lou Yu sighed softly. "It's nothing. You have to pay for what you want."

Liu Qi'an and John both understood that, but they still felt uneasy.

John asked, "Will those experiments hurt your body, Captain?"

Liu Qi'an remembered the horror movies he had watched before, and his eyes filled with dread. "They won't cut you open to study you, will they?"

Lou Yu smiled reassuringly. "It's not that scary. Usually they just draw some blood, ask me about what happened when I underwent ability awakening, scan me with some strangely shaped machines, and have me help the researchers record changes in my ability. I'm their only test subject. If they kill me, they're the ones who lose out."

Despite what he said, John and Liu Qi'an's expressions didn't improve much.

Surrounded by enemies and powerless to resist, they had been forced to agree to Lou Quan's conditions, unreasonable as they were, just to have a place to stay.

"I'll contact Huo Lan and Chen Lin and ask them to come back early." John felt a pang in his chest and found an excuse to leave. He didn't want Lou Yu to see how upset he was.

Back then, the few of them had insisted on leaving with Lou Yu to repay him for saving their lives. Lou Yu felt guilty toward them and had done his utmost to make it up to them and protect them. That was why he had agreed to become Lou Quan's test subject.

Worst of all, there was nothing they could do now except rage helplessly.

Liu Qi'an tactfully changed the subject too. Smiling, he said, "You've been asleep for so long, Captain. You must be hungry. I happened to buy food: stir-fried shredded potatoes, braised chicken, and cabbage soup. The owner said the potatoes are a new variety, tastier than the old one. They cost twice as much, too."

Lou Yu had only just woken up and didn't really have much appetite. While he was unconscious, the doctor had given him an IV to provide the nutrients his body needed. But he didn't want everyone to feel awkward, so he said, "You haven't eaten yet either, have you? Let's eat together."