Ch 55: Su Wanwan’s Chess Game

Su Wanwan set up a chessboard in the chess room and played a game by herself with a serious demeanor.

This was already her 8th game tonight.

“Miss, what a refined pastime, playing chess by yourself.”

Hearing a male voice, Su Wanwan felt a surge of excitement, but on her face, she pretended to be startled and somewhat flustered.

“I’m sorry, miss, I startled you.”

“It’s alright, I was too engrossed in the game to notice anyone approaching.”

“Why are you playing chess alone?”

The man looked puzzled.

“When I was a child, Baba taught me how to play chess, and when I grew up, I would often play against Baba. Baba told me that life is like a game of chess, many sacrifices are made for better gains. But I can never see him again, I miss him today.”

Su Wanwan’s expression was somewhat sad; at this moment, she was earnestly playing the role of a daughter reminiscing about her loving father.

The man was very moved and silently sat opposite Su Wanwan.

“Miss, would you accompany me in a game?”

Su Wanwan’s expression shifted from sadness to joy. “Really? Then I’ll ask for your guidance, sir.”

Su Wanwan’s recent casual conversation topic in the Logistics Department was the Base’s Higher-Ups. Since she was a newcomer, her curiosity about the Base’s personnel structure wasn’t strange.

From among the Higher-Ups, she carefully selected a target.

Xu Huaizhi, the direct manager of the Base’s Combat Team, 45 years old, his family died at the hands of zombies, he once had a beloved daughter, and spared no effort in cultivating her, making her proficient in the Four Arts.

Every time he missed his daughter, he would come to the Base’s chess room late at night to play chess by himself, even talking to himself about his longing for his daughter. He was once seen by a guard, who was startled.

So for several days, Su Wanwan had been playing chess in the chess room again and again. Basically, no one else came in at night.

Finally, she met Xu Huaizhi today.

This was a carefully arranged chess game for Xu Huaizhi. Although Su Wanwan didn’t have a deep understanding of chess, she understood men.

“Thank you, sir, for playing chess with me, it eased my longing for my father.”

“You keep calling me sir, don’t you recognize me?”

Su Wanwan innocently shook her head. “A while ago, my parents died at the hands of zombies. Thankfully, the Base people saved me, allowing me to survive. I’ve been working in the Logistics Department and don’t know the people in the Base.”

Xu Huaizhi was even more moved. The young lady’s experiences were so similar to his own.

“My surname is Xu.”

“Okay, Mr. Xu, it’s late, and I have work to do in the Logistics Department tomorrow. I should go to rest.”

While the two were putting away the chess pieces, Su Wanwan seized the opportunity, and their hands “accidentally” touched.

“Mr. Xu’s hands are so warm. My father’s hands were also as warm as yours.”

Su Wanwan offered a strong smile, and after tidying up the last chess piece, she walked out with a melancholic look.

Xu Huaizhi stared at Su Wanwan’s back, lost in thought.

…

Early the next morning, Qi Feng, along with Team Seven and Cui Zixuan, set off for Xinghe District.

Although Qi Feng had heard about the Xinghe District Incident 1, he didn’t have the power to refuse.

Team Seven in the reconnaissance team had strong self-preservation abilities but weak combat abilities. Therefore, the Leader must have considered this and assigned the task of exploring Incident 1 to them, and also assigned Cui Zixuan, who has teleportation abilities.

So, he couldn’t even find a reason to refuse.

Qi Feng gritted his teeth and set off.

“Considering the danger of Incident 1, we can’t split up this time. If we encounter danger, Zixuan, use teleportation for everyone immediately.”

“Remember to hold hands or touch each other. If you’re not connected, I can only run by myself. Incident 1 is too terrifying; I’ve had close contact with it.”

Cui Zixuan’s life was on the line today. Her previous words weren’t just talk; if there was real danger, she wouldn’t care about them; they weren’t her team, and she didn’t have any feelings for them.

“But why are you carrying a cage of pigeons? If you encounter zombies, will you feed the pigeons instead of us?”

Cui Zixuan curiously asked Xu Kun of Team Seven.

“My Special Ability is 【a Pigeon Speaker】. I can talk to pigeons. Pigeons have a strong sense of direction and can help us explore. I also know that today’s task is dangerous; this cage of pigeons is all my assets…”

“Great, let’s not move forward, let the pigeons do it all!”

Cui Zixuan was very excited. What was wrong with Du Ling? The team had such a talented person, yet he didn’t tell her.

“Pigeons have limited identification abilities. They don’t know what our target looks like; they can only roughly check suspicious areas. If they find a suspicious area, whether Incident 1 is inside, whether Captain Xia and Team Leader Song are there, they can’t judge. We still have to rely on ourselves.”

Cui Zixuan became gloomy again. Olijia’er was shrouded in black mist; even a pigeon would definitely see that something was wrong there.

In the end, they would still have to explore it themselves.

If another small team was wiped out this time, how would they two explain it when they returned?

Cui Zixuan’s mind was filled with thoughts of defection, and she was afraid of approaching Ji Chuan and dying before she even had a chance to speak.

Twice before, in front of Ji Chuan, she had been interrupted by Ji Chuan before she could use her Special Ability, and she had been forced to kneel on the ground.

Now, Cui Zixuan almost had a conditioned reflex; when she thought of Ji Chuan, she wanted to kneel.

A cage of pigeons had already flown away.

Cui Zixuan and Du Ling were enjoying the last tranquility before the storm.

They prayed in their hearts that these silly pigeons wouldn’t discover anything.

Xinghe District was quite large, but under the patrol of a cage of flying pigeons, a general overview could be explored quickly.

The pigeons would report unusual situations to Xu Kun, such as where large numbers of zombies were gathered, where a large number of people were stationed, etc…

But very subtle situations were beyond the pigeons’ observation range; they couldn’t understand the anomalies.

Unless it was a more Advanced Level bird-controlling Special Ability, capable of sharing the birds’ vision. However, that level of Special Ability had only been seen online. The Base had tried to contact that person, but received no response.

Therefore, whether that person was still alive or whether that Special Ability existed could not be verified.

The moment Team Seven stepped into Xinghe District, Ji Chuan could sense them.

Ji Chuan knew that the Esper Base was constantly collecting Mutated Species corpses, so he didn’t take them seriously.

Recently, fewer and fewer teams had come to Xinghe District, and Ji Chuan was quite happy; this meant fewer walnuts would be taken away.

But why did this team bring a group of Lifeforms without Crystal Cores? And why were these Lifeforms moving so fast?

Unable to resist his curiosity, Ji Chuan flew into the air and looked towards the Lifeforms.

“Is that a bird? Oh, it’s a pigeon.”

Through possession, Ji Chuan saw the team members and clearly saw Cui Zixuan and Du Ling among them.

Ji Chuan sneered and used a subtle Shadow Power to pierce the pigeon’s heart.

The pigeon, after falling to the ground, slowly flew up again, but its eyes were bloodshot and its body was covered in blood.

Ji Chuan gently pointed forward, and the pigeon flew back in the direction it came from.