Dragon Transformation in the Apocalypse

Chapter 38 Capturing the Base

The convoy, a long, winding dragon, advanced along the route scouted beforehand by Li Chenglong. Several small waves of zombies encountered along the way were annihilated on the spot. According to the original plan, the troops were to reach the outskirts of the Tianqi base before 3 PM, and launch an attack immediately after full deployment at 3:15 PM. At noon, the convoy rested for an hour outside Chongwu County, and several battalion and company commanders met with Li Chenglong and Yun Lan to reaffirm their division of labor. At 2:50 PM, the troops had reached a point two kilometers from the Tianqi base. Since the area around the base was relatively flat, getting any closer would increase the risk of detection. Li Chenglong immediately decided to split the troops into three groups, each reaching their designated target locations, and launch the attack precisely at 3:15 PM, aiming to eliminate more than 60% of the resistance force in the first wave.

Li Xue followed Qian Guangming and Yang Xuelin's Fourth Battalion to harass the flanks and distract them. Yun Lan led Zheng Aiguo and Sun Youcai's Second Battalion to attack the western side gate of the Tianqi Base. Li Chenglong, Wu Gang, and Wang Yousheng waited in place until the appointed time to attack the northern main gate. The Tianqi Base was located northeast of Linhai City, with the main highway leading directly to Linhai City to the south. For security reasons, Lei Bao had completely closed the south gate, leaving only the north and west gates open. There was a reservoir two kilometers to the east.

Li Chenglong glanced at his watch. To prevent the Apocalypse Base from having any listening devices, they maintained silence on their walkie-talkies, so they could only coordinate their attacks by time. At this moment, Lei Bao was at his residence in the central part of the Apocalypse Base. This place, originally a high-end hotel in a university town, had been requisitioned by Lei Bao as his residence. A woman dressed as a bunny girl was massaging Lei Bao's shoulders, while another woman dressed as a catwoman was nestled in his arms, occasionally plucking a grape from a plate on the table and feeding it to him. A middle-aged man beside them looked lewdly at the row of beautiful women dressed as various animals standing nearby, then said to Lei Bao, "Brother Bao, that old bastard Ma Tiancheng seems to be plotting something in secret. Should I take a few men and wipe him out?" Lei Bao smiled, enjoying the women's service, and said calmly, "Let him do it. Once he's gathered his old subordinates and the forces opposing us, we can wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

The sleazy man gave a thumbs up: "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! As long as we wipe them all out, with your strength, Leopard, you'll have everything you could ever want." Lei Bao, however, opened his eyes: "Although I'm already level 6, I feel it's far from enough. The zombie king in Linhai City is probably level 7 now. And that man the other day, he gave me a feeling I couldn't figure out. Every day, I told them to hurry up and collect crystals, especially high-level crystals, and bring them all for me to absorb. I also told those who collect crystals that their families are all here with us. Only if they work hard will they live, otherwise they'll be taken to the execution platform in the square and beheaded one by one." After saying that, he turned his gaze to a girl wearing leopard-print underwear. The girl looked to be no more than eighteen or nineteen years old. When she saw Lei Bao looking at her, she immediately started trembling all over, and then she walked shakily to Lei Bao's side.

Lei Bao laughed and forcefully pulled the girl into his arms: "What are you afraid of? I'm not going to eat you." Then Lei Bao sniffed the girl's neck: "So fragrant, Ah Feng, tell me what human flesh tastes like." The lewd man next to him was Liu Feng, Lei Bao's staunch henchman, who had done many evil deeds with Lei Bao. Everyone in the base called him Crazy Liu behind his back. Liu Feng laughed loudly: "We'll only know after trying it. Are you interested, Leopard? I'll go to the base and catch a little lamb, guaranteed fresh and tender." Lei Bao's eyes flashed red, he snapped the girl's neck in his arms, and threw her to the ground: "She's the one. Get ready tonight." At this moment, the girls around screamed in fright, but Lei Bao casually glanced at them, and they dared not make a sound anymore. Liu Feng immediately had the girl carried away, and he bowed and said: "Leopard, I'll go prepare now, you just watch." After saying that, he walked out. Lei Bao looked at the girls around him: "Continue. As long as you make me comfortable, I'll make you comfortable too. Otherwise, hmph."

While Lei Bao was still enjoying himself, three attack units had already arrived and launched their assault simultaneously. Since Lei Bao's main force was at the North Gate, to minimize pressure on them, the southern units attacked first. And because the South Gate was already sealed off, it wasn't heavily guarded. Led by Li Xue, dozens of superhumans launched a coordinated attack, instantly killing the guards. Then, the demolition team blasted a large hole in the high wall of the Apocalypse Base, allowing the 300 men of the Fourth Company to rush in. The battle in the south alerted the defending forces at the West and North Gates, who indeed sent reinforcements.

"Explosive Dragon and Phoenix Charge!" "Heaven and Earth Shatter!" "Wind Blade!" "Giant Wave Impact!" Yun Lan, Zheng Aiguo, Sun Youcai, and Wan Dahai, four high-level superhumans, unleashed their strongest skills as they charged. Just as the enemy on the position was about to fire back, the Second Battalion also opened fire, pinning down the Apocalypse Base's troops. Then, superhuman abilities struck the position directly, leveling the resistance forces along with the west gate. At this moment, a dozen or so people emerged from the west gate, also unleashing various superhuman abilities to fight back. Yun Lan shouted, "Captain Li only gave us 40 minutes, let's finish this quickly!" With that, she engaged several superhumans in battle, while Zheng Aiguo and the others also chose to fight several superhumans. While the superhumans fought fiercely, the ordinary soldiers were also locked in a fierce battle.

Both sides fixed bayonets to their rifles and began hand-to-hand combat. Although the Second Battalion originally had fewer veterans, their fighting skills had greatly improved under Zheng Aiguo's training. On Lei Bao's side, besides some bandits he had recruited, there was only a local resistance force, making them relatively weak. In less than 15 minutes, Lei Bao's men were clearly defeated, surrendering or retreating one after another. Yun Lan stabbed a Level 2 Awakened to death and shouted, "Surrender and you won't be killed! Anyone who dares to resist again will die!" At this moment, a rumbling sound came, and two Type 99B tanks arrived. Zheng Aiguo was shocked: "How do they have these things?" As soon as he finished speaking, the two Type 99B tanks opened fire simultaneously, blowing up those who had surrendered. At this moment, a voice came from the tanks: "Anyone who dares to surrender, I'll blast you to death on the spot." After saying that, another shell was fired at the Second Battalion. Yun Lan tried to stop it, but the shell was too fast, and it still exploded in the Second Battalion's ranks.

Yun Lan roared, "Zheng Aiguo, cooperate with me! Let's blow them up!" Zheng Aiguo nodded and rushed to the tank, shouting, "Heaven and Earth Collapse!" Instantly, several large cracks appeared in the ground, and the tank tilted to one side. Yun Lan activated her superpower, "Explosive Dragon and Phoenix Charge!" An energy wave in the shape of a fire phoenix, with a dragon coiling beside it, charged directly at the tank, causing it to explode. A towering inferno erupted, and the tank and its occupants were reduced to ashes. Zheng Aiguo shouted, "Charge in! Annihilate their resistance!" The Second Battalion entered through the breach, their battle cries shaking the heavens.

The main battles at the South and West Gates were over, with only some remaining enemy forces to be cleared. Meanwhile, the main gate, under Li Chenglong's leadership, had also been successfully breached. Furthermore, because Li Chenglong had used teleportation to destroy several machine gun positions at the North Gate beforehand, the First Battalion's losses were minimized. The soldiers of the First Battalion had just entered the North Gate when they were blasted away by a shockwave. Li Chenglong used teleportation to catch more than a dozen men, then kept his eyes fixed on the front. At this moment, two people gradually emerged from the billowing dust: one was Lei Bao, and the other was Zhao Rui. Li Chenglong was somewhat surprised to see Zhao Rui; he had only been level three at the granary, but now he was level five, and even with Lei Bao.

Zhao Rui cupped his hands and said, "Battalion Commander Li, how have you been?" Li Chenglong said silently, "What are you doing here, and with Lei Bao?" Zhao Rui smiled and said, "I didn't know anything before, but Brother Lei Bao promoted me and gave me a lot of crystals to level up. Now I'm living the high life, and I have women all I want..." Seeing that Zhao Rui was about to continue, Li Chenglong waved his hand to interrupt him and turned to Lei Bao: "How do you have so many guns? Even Sister Shen doesn't know about them." Lei Bao laughed loudly: "They certainly don't know. I'm the commander of the Fourth Regiment of Jinghai Base. It's reasonable for me to have these things." Li Chenglong's pupils shrank slightly: "You're actually a member of the military? How did you become like this?" Lei Bao's smile changed: "Because I'm fed up. Heroes emerge in chaotic times. Why should I continue to serve them and let those soldiers waste their lives protecting those useless people? I want to enjoy myself. I want to be the king here." After saying that, he started laughing again.

Seeing that Lei Bao was already somewhat frantic, Li Chenglong knew that saying anything was useless, so he took out the Dragon Emperor Sword: "Surrender, and I can give your men a chance if you surrender." Lei Bao drew his battle sword: "No need, their lives have nothing to do with me. You can kill them all without consequence." At this time, Yun Lan had already led a part of the Second Battalion to this place, and Li Xue had also led the vanguard to arrive. Zhao Youcai recognized Lei Bao: "Aren't you Lei Xiaoguang, the commander of the Fourth Regiment of our base?" Lei Bao turned his head: "Oh? I didn't expect to meet people from Jinghai Base here. Which unit are you from?" Zhao Youcai replied: "I'm from the Second Company, who were left behind to search for survivors." Lei Bao nodded: "It's good that you're still alive, but we'll have to see if you can survive here today."

After speaking, Lei Bao's aura suddenly surged. Although Li Chenglong had mentioned in the meeting that Lei Bao was a level six ability user, he hadn't said much else. Yun Lan immediately activated the Right Eye of Exorcism: Lei Xiaoguang, a level six dual ability user of strength and wind, with attributes of: Constitution 165, Strength 160, Agility 140, and Spirit 125. Yun Lan immediately declared, "Captain Li, let me teach him a lesson." Li Chenglong had already reviewed Lei Bao's attributes, and with Yun Lan's current strength, defeating Lei Bao should be relatively easy. Li Chenglong then looked at Zhao Rui beside him: "Are you going to surrender or not?" Zhao Rui shook his head: "No, I've done a lot of bad things following Lei Bao. Do you think you can forgive me if I surrender? Hahaha." Li Xue stepped forward from behind: "I'll deal with this fat guy. I haven't had a proper fight since I reached level five, and this fat guy is also level five." Li Chenglong thought for a moment and agreed. Zhao Rui was a single-type strength-based ability user, while Li Xue was a level five awakened user with balanced attributes and long-range attack skills.

Lei Bao watched as a woman approached him: "Get down! I don't want to kill such a beautiful woman like you. After I kill your leader, you'll be mine too." Yun Lan's pretty face was frosty: "You dare to spout such nonsense even when you're about to die! Prepare to die!" With that, she raised her Dragon and Phoenix Spear and thrust it forward. Lei Bao hadn't expected that, despite both being at level five, her power was so fierce. He quickly drew his sword to meet her attack. Sword and spear clashed, sparks flying. As the saying goes, an inch longer, an inch stronger. Faced with Yun Lan's extremely high attributes and fierce spearmanship, Lei Bao gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. "Hah!" Lei Bao used all his strength to repel Yun Lan, sweat pouring down his face: "I didn't expect a woman like you to be so strong. Are you really level five?" Yun Lan pointed her spear at Lei Bao: "I'm definitely level five, but you're too weak." Just as Yun Lan was about to continue the fight, Lei Bao activated his wind-type combined with his strength-type ability, unleashing a move called "Flying Sand and Stones." Instantly, dust billowed up, and several huge stones flew towards Yun Lan from the thick dust. "A mere trick!" Yun Lan shouted, then used the Dragon and Phoenix Spear to block and thrust left and right, turning the boulders into small stones that fell to the ground.

As the two were locked in fierce combat, atop the tallest building in the university town, a figure in a black cloak was observing the battle with keen interest. On the slender middle finger of his right hand were two dragon and phoenix rings. The dragon ring remained still, while the phoenix ring emitted a faint glow. The man in black smoothed a strand of long blue hair draped over his chest with his left hand, then glanced at the rings on his finger. Suddenly, a vortex appeared in the space, and he swiftly entered it, vanishing without a trace. Li Chenglong suddenly sensed some energy fluctuation and immediately activated his True Dragon Eye to look up, but found nothing.

After Yun Lan shattered the thrown boulder, she immediately unleashed a "Burning Dragon and Phoenix Charge" into the smoke and dust. A deafening roar of colliding energy filled the air. As the smoke cleared, Lei Bao was seen kneeling on the ground, his clothes tattered, and only the hilt of his longsword remaining. Lei Bao looked at the hilt and said, "You're truly formidable; it was worth it for me to use that move." He then tore off his now-shredded clothes and shouted, "Blood Burning Technique Level 1, activate!" Lei Bao's entire body gradually turned crimson, and his aura intensified. Li Chenglong activated his True Dragon Eye and discovered that Lei Bao's attributes were indeed increasing. Yun Lan had initially thought he might use some kind of technique, but it turned out to be the Blood Burning Technique, essentially the same as the Dragon and Phoenix Blood Technique.