Apocalyptic Reincarnation: Start with a 30-million Bonus

The scorching sun hung high in the sky.

Sichuan Province.

A region of towering mountains and vast plains.

Western Alliance.

Within a massively sprawling base, surrounded by walls.

The night before had been cataclysmic.

Old Zhuang, an adherent of Gan Xiong for many years, knew well the styles of Gan Xiong's actions.

Inactive until the moment to strike, then thunderous in approach, he would stop at nothing to root out his targets completely.

The pressure on him was immense. The Zhang Family had numerous members, and to eliminate them without causing too large a disturbance was undoubtedly a task of extreme difficulty.

He organized their elite personnel, lying in ambush around the area.

Old Zhuang had arranged a meeting with the current head of the Zhang Family, Zhang San.

Under the cover of night, the slaughter unfolded in the darkness.

Zhang San had never expected that Gan Xiong, the founder of the Western Alliance, would harbor such immense animosity towards him.

He thought the meeting was to discuss the hunt for the escaped slave, but it turned out to be a planned murder against his Zhang Family.

Zhang San died, and the majority of the Zhang Family along with him.

Only Zhang Rufen, who had been out visiting friends, escaped by chance.

By the time Old Zhuang realized, Zhang Rufen had already left the Western Alliance, escaping beyond the perimeter walls.

...

Bang clang—

A fine ceramic cup hit the floor, shattering with a resounding crash.

"Why can't you even handle such a trivial matter!!!" Gan Xiong's face turned gloomy as he bellowed suddenly!

Old Zhuang behind him bowed his head, lower and lower.

Silence—

He didn't dare to retort, his body trembling slightly.

It had been a long time since he had seen Gan Xiong this angry. From what he knew about Gan Xiong, based on past experiences, he understood that this time, he was probably done for.

Therefore, when he came to report the situation to Gan Xiong, he had already taken care of the affairs for his family.

Despite not being hot in the room, he was drenched in sweat.

The atmosphere was suffocating, even more than the scorching temperature outside.

Quiet, long and without the sound of Gan Xiong's voice.

One minute.

Two minutes.

.....

After a long while.

A commanding voice came from above:

"Are you sure no one else is left except for Zhang Rufen?"

Old Zhuang affirmed, "No one. I have verified them one by one. Boss, it was indeed my oversight this time. I initiated the operation before ensuring whether everyone was at home or not, allowing Zhang Rufen to escape."

Gan Xiong remained noncommittal.

He lifted his head, eyelids drooping, gazing down at this subordinate who had followed him for many years.

His eyes shone with sharpness.

After a while, he turned around, his back facing Old Zhuang, and said, "This is your last chance."

Hearing these words, Old Zhuang lifted his head, his face a picture of shock, his mouth slightly open. After so many years, he had never seen Gan Xiong forgive someone who had failed in their duties.

Surprised and feeling uniquely favored, a feeling of privilege surged within him.

A loyal subject would die for one who appreciates his worth.

With a choked voice, he said, "Boss, I'll take a team out to search. I won't come back until we find Zhang Rufen."

Gan Xiong, still with his back turned, was inscrutable.

"You don't need to. With the current temperature, it would be hard for him to survive alone, and besides, he alone can't cause much turmoil. Go."

"Boss, I..."

"Prove it with actions, go!" Gan Xiong's tone brooked no argument.

Old Zhuang was wracked with guilt. The boss had entrusted him with such an important task, and yet he had not delivered.

He had neglected the boss's trust. This was the last time, he warned himself inwardly. Never to make the same mistake again.

...

Juzi Island.

Days of intense heat had enveloped Juzi Island in a bizarre atmosphere.

Ever since Ju Tianrui and the others had left, South District had fallen into chaos; there was no morality, no law, no conscience, no hope...

Subordinates of Gan Shang recklessly committed deeds of the basest nature.

Gan Shang didn't pay them any mind; ever since his son went missing, he had become increasingly sensitive and paranoid.

Furthermore, the threats and humiliations during the departure of Ju Tianrui and his group had caused him to lose his balance of mind.

His mood became unpredictable.

Subordinates of Gan Shang in the North District, seeing that Gan Shang did not intervene, went on to carry out some inhumane 'games' in the South District.

Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.

In this apocalyptic world, it seemed no one believed in karma anymore.

No one believed in the existence of hell or heaven.

Without restraint, humanity was obliterated.

...

Big Camphor Tree Base.

Li Yu glanced at the clock in the duty room.

There were still the final four hours left until the three-day deadline.

After four hours, the gates of Big Camphor Tree would not open for a very long time.

Third Uncle held a mandarin orange, peeling it, and the juice sprayed out, filling the entire duty room with the scent of the orange.

This mandarin, after sitting for a week, had also ripened a bit. Third Uncle, fond of fruits, wasted no time in trying it.

After peeling the mandarin orange.

Third Uncle tore off a piece of fruit flesh, stuffed it into his mouth, and its juices overflowed within his mouth, eight parts sweet, two parts sour.

Third Uncle squinted his eyes, a slight smile on his lips, savoring the flavor of the navel orange.

For Third Uncle, he spent the first half of his life on various missions; wherever there was danger, he would be there, never living a peaceful life.

The apocalypse today, in comparison to his former work environment, wasn't actually all that bad.

There is beauty to be found everywhere in life, one should enjoy themselves in time and be content when it's appropriate.

Meow meow meow—

Suddenly, he felt something tugging at his trouser leg.

It was the yellow tabby cat he had picked up.

The kitten bit down on his trouser leg and, when Third Uncle looked down at it, its deeply human-like eyes stared intently at the navel orange in Third Uncle's hand, as if saying: I want some too.

Third Uncle instantly melted and cheerfully said, "Haha, here you go."

Gently, he broke off a small piece of fruit flesh and placed it in the palm of his hand.

The kitten, seemingly cautious not to bite Third Uncle's hand, politely extended its tongue and rolled the piece of fruit into its belly.

Seeing the kitten eat the fruit flesh, the smile on Third Uncle's face became even more pronounced.

After eating the piece of fruit, the kitten licked its pink tongue and just stared blankly at Third Uncle.

Quiet and undisturbed, it simply watched Third Uncle in silence.

Melted by its cuteness.

Third Uncle immediately caved in: "Alright, here's another piece for you."

In the post-apocalyptic world, food was incredibly precious; even the most unpalatable food would taste delicious to someone who has experienced hunger.

And this was even more true for animals in the apocalypse.

This kitten had no cat food, and there was basically no leftovers in the base; every time Third Uncle went to get food, he would get a little extra, then share some with it.

There was nothing it couldn't eat—if humans could eat it, it could too.

These days, many fish in the reservoir had been killed by the heat, and the base had been eating fish for several days.

This kitten had also benefited from this.

Li Yu stared at the tabby cat, lost in his own thoughts, not sure what he was thinking.

Suddenly, the intercom hanging on the wall transmitted a voice.

"Big Camphor Tree Base, this is Extra Staff Team Nine, Zhu Xiao. Please respond if you receive this."

Zzzt zzzt zzzt—

After that voice, the intercom resumed with the sound of static.

Li Yu got up and walked over, thinking to himself that today, when he was comparing the list of people with He Chao and Second Uncle, he remembered that there was a missing Extra Staff team, which in his recollection, was Team Nine.

Speaking of Zhu Xiao, Li Yu also had some memory of him.

He wasn't short himself, standing at 185 cm, but Zhu Xiao was over a dozen centimeters taller than him.

And Zhu Xiao was all muscle, looking ferocious to an extreme, like a human-shaped beast.

Li Yu picked up the intercom and pressed the button saying, "Received, this is Li Yu from Big Camphor Tree Base, go ahead."

"On our way here, we encountered a team in military uniforms, about sixty to seventy people with firearms. One of them stopped us, saying they were looking for Big Camphor Tree Base and mentioned two names, Xiao Jun and Ju Tianrui. What should we do now? Should we bring them to the base?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yu thought to himself, Xiao Jun? Ju Tianrui?

Recently, he did hear something from Xiao Jun about the situation at Juzi Island, and knew there was a group of people there with Xiao Jun.

But why aren't these people at Juzi Island anymore? Instead, they've come to Xin City and directly mentioned heading to the Big Camphor Tree Base.

Li Yu hesitated a bit; although in this period, Xiao Jun and his people had proven their goodwill through their actions.

However, Li Yu had never met Ju Tianrui and the others, and had no idea what their condition was.

After pondering for a few seconds, just as he was still hesitating, Third Uncle, who had been listening by his side, nodded at Li Yu.

Li Yu's thoughts spun quickly; Third Uncle had been to Juzi Island and certainly knew more about the situation there. Since he nodded, there must be a reason.

So he said to Zhu Xiao, "Where are you now?"

Zhu Xiao looked at the map and replied, "About eighteen kilometers away. At our speed, we should arrive at the Big Camphor Tree Base in roughly 20 minutes. Also, there's a guy named Dong Tai who says their Camp Commander, Ju Tianrui, has a severe case of heatstroke and is pleading for assistance from the base."

Li Yu thought for a moment and said to Zhu Xiao, "Continue heading toward the Big Camphor Tree Base, and I'll get back to you soon."

Then, Li Yu used another walkie-talkie to notify He Chao in the First Outer City Residential Building.

"He Chao, bring Xiao Jun over to the duty room at the main gate. Fast."

He Chao, who had been watching a video on his phone in the room, immediately leapt to his feet upon hearing Li Yu's command and replied, "Okay, two minutes."

He then immediately ran to Xiao Jun's room.

Li Yu also said to Third Uncle, "Regardless of whether it's the Camp Commander Xiao Jun spoke of, we need to be prepared. Third Uncle, please go inform the others to be battle-ready."

Third Uncle nodded; he obviously understood the priority, split the orange he was holding into two halves, gave one half to the little orange cat, stuffed the other half into his mouth, and headed out the door.

Two minutes later.

He Chao walked into the duty room with Xiao Jun.

Xiao Jun was somewhat clueless; this was his first time on the wall and first time entering the duty room.

On the way here, as he looked down from the wall, he had a clear view of everything in the Outer City.

"What does Ju Tianrui look like?" Li Yu asked directly.

"What, what?" Xiao Jun was surprised and didn't understand why Li Yu would suddenly ask that.

"An armed squad is on their way here and has encountered our people. They claim to have come from Juzi Island, and it's very likely they are your Camp Commander and his men."

Given the urgency of the situation, Li Yu did not beat around the bush and swiftly made his point.

Xiao Jun's brain short-circuited for a moment. He had thought about how great it would be if his Camp Commander and the others left Juzi Island and came here, but he knew that possibility was too slim.

Now Li Yu was directly telling him that Ju Tianrui and his men were on their way here.

This???

Seeing him in a daze, Li Yu didn't waste time, picked up a walkie-talkie from the wall, and said to Zhu Xiao from team nine, "Describe the person you saw and also say his name."

On National Highway 319, after waiting for several minutes, Zhu Xiao finally heard Li Yu's voice.

Carefully recalling, he said, "That person claimed to be Dong Tai, with a buzz cut, around 175 cm tall, with a mole on his nose, and, uh, a square face."

Dong Tai??

Li Yu lifted his head to look at Xiao Jun, the meaning in his eyes clear—was it him?

Seeing Li Yu's expression, Xiao Jun reacted instantly and said loudly, "Yes, yes, that's them, Dong Tai, Dong Tai is also one of our men."

Hearing that, Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief; confirming their identity was good.

Then he said to Zhu Xiao, "What they're saying is true, you can bring them over. Be careful."

Although he had confirmed it was Xiao Jun's Camp Commander and their group, Li Yu remained on high alert.

....

——

There's another chapter at noon.