In the middle of the night, Zhou Quchuan suddenly opened his eyes and sensed with his spiritual power that Zhao Lian had already fallen into a deep sleep. He silently slipped out of bed and disappeared into the courtyard without making a sound.
The cheetah crouching under the eaves immediately raised its head alertly, but upon seeing that it was Zhou Quchuan, it relaxed and then heard his faint voice in its mind: "I'm going out for a while. Look after this place and don’t let anything unwelcome come in."
The cheetah emitted a slight purring sound from its throat, indicating that it had received the command. Then, it looked around and glanced at the wolf cubs lying next to the mother sheep not far away before resting its head on its front paws and falling asleep.
Zhou Quchuan swiftly left the farm in almost the blink of an eye, passing through the small grove on the outskirts and heading swiftly towards a nearby small town.
Although Zhao Lian was right that they didn't currently lack food, in this world, not lacking food meant not lacking anything at all. However, he still decided to gather some things from the small town for potential future use. After all, Zhao Lian was concerned for his safety, but he didn't need to worry about these things.
He needed to find a way to make himself more comfortable for the at least the next three months on the farm.
Before long, Zhou Quchuan arrived at the outskirts of the small town. He had been here once before and now he headed straight for the only large supermarket in the town.
In the dark of night, his figure flickered in and out, either along the roads filled with zombies or on the rooftops nearby. Strangely, the zombies seemed to pay no attention to his presence, almost as if they couldn’t see him.
The same was true once he entered the supermarket. Carrying a large bundle wrapped in a quilt on his shoulder, he swaggered around the supermarket, scavenging various useful items. Sometimes, a few zombies with severely decayed faces and bodies would pass by him, but they completely ignored him.
After packing up a large bundle with items he deemed useful, he was about to leave the supermarket and head back to the farm when he suddenly sensed a familiar smell coming from another direction of the small town. With a thought, he diverted his path towards that smell.
Before he reached the area, he heard gunfire and commotion coming from that direction.
When he arrived at the scene, he was surprised to see two groups of people in conflict. With his sharp eyes, he quickly identified one group as his subordinates from the Xinchuan Base, led by his two brothers and trusted subordinates. The other group included several familiar faces, people who had always allied with the "Tong Rong Base".
The leader of the Tong Rong Base group was none other than the base leader, "Meng Zhibin".
At the moment, Meng Zhibin was effortlessly handling Zhou Quchuan's two brothers, and the three of them were gradually moving away from the main battleground. Even though some of the subordinates on both sides were holding guns, they didn't dare to shoot, fearing that they might hit their own leader.
Since the establishment of the Tong Rong Base, Meng Zhibin had always pretended to be friendly and subservient to the Xinchuan Base but had been engaging in secret activities. Recently, due to Meng Zhibin's heightened level of superpowers, he seemed to be increasingly dismissive of the Xinchuan Base.
When Zhou Quchuan had set out to challenge the Lava Rampage Dragon, he had instructed his subordinates to keep a close eye on the movements of the Tong Rong Base, to prevent Meng Zhibin from causing trouble in his absence.
He didn't expect Meng Zhibin to lead so many people to this place, and engage in a fight with his people.
With a turn of his mind, Zhou Quchuan roughly guessed the truth of the matter: his challenge to the Lava Rampage Dragon had been leaked, and his prolonged absence had raised Meng Zhibin's suspicions, leading to the speculation that he had been severely injured, if not dead, during the battle with the Lava Rampage Dragon.
After all, the strength of the Lava Rampage Dragon had been predicted to be a "dragon-slaying" existence, requiring all the superhumans in the world to unite in order to defeat it. Therefore, Meng Zhibin, no matter how cunning, couldn’t have guessed that Zhou Quchuan's strength had reached such a terrifying level, not only had he killed the Lava Rampage Dragon, but he himself had only received a minor external injury with no internal wounds or broken bones.
Of course, Meng Zhibin would not underestimate Zhou Quchuan's strength too much. Perhaps in his heart, he was thinking that Zhou Quchuan and the Lava Tyrannosaurus would both be injured in a fight, and then he could bring his people over. If the Lava Tyrannosaurus did not die but was seriously injured, he could still kill it in one fell swoop, and then claim to the outside world that he had killed the Lava Tyrannosaurus himself.
In this world, strength is paramount. As long as the news of him killing the Lava Tyrannosaurus spreads, it is an excellent propaganda for both his personal reputation and the Tongrong Base. When the "Xinchuan Base" is gone, it will be like fish on a cutting board, waiting to be carved up!
As for the always cautious Meng Zhibin, why would he rush here just because of a guess? Apart from the inflated desire in his heart, it is also because everything on the body of a mutant beast of the level of the Lava Tyrannosaurus is precious treasure to an esper.
As long as he can obtain it, even if it's just the corpse, it might be able to give birth to a new group of espers, allowing any faction to greatly increase their strength overnight.
With Meng Zhibin's greed, he would never miss such a good opportunity.
It's just that he did not expect that Zhou Quchuan had long seen through his concealed ambition under the mask of kindness.
The reason why Zhou Quchuan did not immediately get rid of Meng Zhibin, was because he still needed Meng Zhibin as a bridge to join forces with a super base named "Changnan Base" in the southeast, at the same level as the "Xinchuan Base," to eliminate the zombie army that had threatened both of their bases near the coastline.
Meng Zhibin is the elder brother of the mistress of the Changnan Base, and as the leader of a small to medium-sized base, he can also have a say between the leaders of the two major forces.
However, after the two major forces successfully cleared the threat posed by the zombie army, Changnan Base secretly ordered Meng Zhibin to create various obstacles for the Xinchuan Base.
At first, Meng Zhibin was still concealing it, maintaining a friendly relationship with the Xinchuan Base on the surface. But just six months ago, he somehow obtained an opportunity that greatly increased his esper abilities and surpassed Zhou Quchuan and his brothers and confidants, approaching Zhou Quchuan's strength.
From that moment on, Meng Zhibin started to become somewhat crazy, finally revealing his true intentions to the Xinchuan Base.
Zhou Quchuan had long wanted to get rid of this guy who was lurking at his side with ulterior motives, but at that time he had more important matters to attend to. He felt that his strength was about to break through, and he was originally a battle maniac with an extraordinary love for improving his strength, so he planned to challenge the Lava Tyrannosaurus first before dealing with Meng Zhibin.
Moreover, one base wanting to absorb another base, they must find some reasonable grounds for it. After all, his Xinchuan Base had a good reputation in the outside world and was not a bandit organization.
He just didn't expect to be "picked up" by Zhao Lian and to discover some magical qualities in her, so he just wanted to stay and observe for a while, and also practice.
He never expected that he wouldn't go back, but Meng Zhibin came to him.
Zhou Quchuan gave a cold laugh, and his figure suddenly disappeared in place.
The next moment, a figure suddenly appeared above the three people who were fighting at high speed, and in an instant, it was like a cannonball whizzing down toward Meng Zhibin!
Meng Zhibin almost simultaneously sensed the presence of danger, but before he could react, he felt like he was hit by a high-speed train, and was slammed to the ground!
With a "boom," a large pit was smashed into the ground like a falling meteorite. The nearby ground shook, and a gunman from the Tongrong Base who was standing nearby even lost his balance and fell to the ground, accidentally shooting his companion.
The two sides in the melee were all shocked by the sudden loud noise, and for a moment, they all looked towards the large amount of dust rising from the nearby place.
Although it was midnight, this area was open and, under the bright moonlight, coupled with the reflection of a nearby lake, they could still see many things clearly.
As the dust gradually dispersed, a strange figure appeared from within.
That figure seemed to have a huge tumor on his back, even causing many people to suspect that he might be some kind of mutant zombie.
However, soon, that figure snapped his fingers, and suddenly a flame ignited above the open space, illuminating the whole area.
Zhou Quchuan stood beside the pit, holding a bundle behind his back, and with one hand in his pocket, he said with a smile, "Oh, it's late at night, and everyone's so excited, huh?"