Chapter 201: Encompassing
Zhong Gaoyi was drenched in sweat. He removed his mask and patted Zhuang Wan on the shoulder.
“She’s out of danger, but she hasn’t woken up yet. I need to rest for a bit before going back in.”
Everyone let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
Pei Dong exhaled deeply and said, “Please take care of Zining for now. I have to return immediately.”
The fall of the Shuifu District had resulted in devastating casualties.
Guan Zining had at least survived, but many others had been reduced to nothing but bones and ashes.
Su Tao grabbed Pei Dong’s hand, hesitated for a moment, and said, “I might have a way to help you, but I’m not sure if you’ll accept it.”
This idea had been buried in her mind for a long time. If she hadn’t witnessed Guan Zining nearly losing her life today, she might have hesitated even longer before speaking up.
Pei Dong’s heart almost stopped. “What way?”
Su Tao pursed her lips. “I could manage Dongyang’s land just like I do with Taoyang. I can build walls and rapidly establish infrastructure, but I need a large number of crystal cores.”
Pei Dong’s pupils shrank.
Afraid she wouldn’t believe her, Su Tao added, “Haven’t you noticed that Taoyang is much bigger compared to six months ago? As long as I have enough crystal cores, Taoyang can directly encompass Dongyang.”
Pei Dong felt her breath hitch.
She had noticed Taoyang’s expansion—the emergence of two massive office buildings and the ever-growing farmland were clear signs.
But she had never imagined that Taoyang could fully absorb Dongyang.
Su Tao sighed.
“Sister Pei, you should understand why I’ve waited until now to bring this up. Dongyang is the result of twenty years of effort by the old commander. It’s a place that you and countless others have shed blood to protect. If Taoyang takes over…”
Then Dongyang would be under her control.
Moreover, Dongyang had many leaders—how many of them would be willing to accept another superior?
And not just any superior, but one with absolute control over everything.
Aside from close allies like Pei Dong and Shi Zijin, who would trust her and accept such an arrangement?
If things weren’t handled properly, internal strife and chaos could break out.
Pei Dong understood this perfectly and fell into a long silence.
Su Tao glanced toward the clinic, took a deep breath, and continued,
“By the end of this month, Taoyang will have a protective shield that will completely eliminate threats from the sky. Even Bone Wings won’t be able to touch us.”
Pei Dong was stunned.
If Dongyang could have the same protection, why struggle to build walls at all?
“I’ll discuss this with the old commander first.”
*
Guan Zining finally regained consciousness the following night.
Though awake, she could only move her eyes. When she saw Su Tao, she weakly curled her lips into a faint smile.
Before she could do anything more, she blacked out again.
Su Tao panicked. “Didn’t you say she was out of danger?”
Zhong Gaoyi, who had been up all night, forced himself to stay awake.
“She’s just exhausted. Her injuries were severe—six broken bones, a gaping wound in her abdomen. If she weren’t an ability user with enhanced physical resilience, she would’ve been dead already.”
Su Tao’s heart pounded in fear.
Zhuang Wan, deeply concerned for her boyfriend, wiped his sweat while urging, “Go rest now, quickly.”
Zhong Gaoyi instantly felt less tired.
Lei Xing, witnessing this moment, suddenly felt a sense of urgency and asked, “When are you two getting married?”
Zhuang Wan shot him a glare. “Before you, that’s for sure.”
Lei Xing was immediately crushed.
Zhong Gaoyi, however, felt invigorated.
Su Tao shooed them all away, leaving only Chen Xi to help her take care of Guan Zining overnight.
By morning, Guan Zining still hadn’t shown signs of waking. Su Tao, exhausted beyond her limit, switched shifts with Zhuang Wan and collapsed into sleep, not waking until late afternoon due to hunger.
Just as she was about to head to the clinic, she noticed an incoming call from Ma Dapao on her communicator.
But when she answered, a cold female voice spoke instead.
“Su Tao, you used Lian Sha as bait, didn’t you?”
Su Tao’s alarm bells rang. She asked in a steady voice, “Who are you? Where’s Ma Dapao?”
“You used Lian Sha to bait Leopard Path into betraying us and capturing brother Yong. Who do you think I am?”
Qu Jingwen.
Su Tao’s face darkened.
Yesterday morning, Ma Dapao had informed her that he was going to meet with Qu Jingwen to see if he could convince her to bring her people over.
At the time, Guan Zining’s condition had been critical, so Su Tao hadn’t had the energy to think much about it and had simply agreed.
Had he been captured on the way?
Sure enough—
Qu Jingwen moved the communicator closer to the tightly bound Ma Dapao.
With his mouth gagged, Ma Dapao could only let out muffled noises, his struggles earning him a vicious beating from two nearby thugs.
Su Tao instantly recognized Ma Dapao’s muffled groans of pain. A surge of anger rushed through her, and she warned coldly:
“Try laying another hand on him and see what happens.”
With that, she opened Tao Chii’s management interface and disabled all ability usage within the territory.
Next, she purchased thirty surveillance cameras and installed them throughout Tao Chi.
Finally, she pulled up the live feed, and within five minutes, she located Ma Dapao—bound inside an abandoned package transfer station.
She could clearly see Qu Jingwen standing beside him, holding a communicator as she spoke.
Qu Jingwen sneered.
“He’s in my hands, and you still dare to threaten me? Su Tao, I’ll give you two days—exchange Ma Dapao for Tan Yong. If you refuse or miss the deadline, I’ll kill him!”
Su Tao narrowed her eyes and asked, “Did Ma Dapao not tell you why he came to see you?”
Qu Jingwen scoffed.
“He was captured the moment he stepped out of the Panliu Mountain territory. He never got the chance to say anything. But I don’t care what you wanted to discuss. I have only one condition—hand over Tan Yong.”
Without changing her expression, Su Tao opened the system’s map of Tao Chi and clicked “Teleport.”
In the blink of an eye, she appeared right outside the abandoned transfer station.
There were guards stationed in the distance.
However, their eyes were fixed on the outside, never expecting someone to appear inside out of nowhere.
Su Tao strode up the stairs boldly. Just as she was about to enter, voices from the communicator caught her attention.
“Jingwen, instead of exchanging for Boss Tan, why not ask for supplies? Forget about the past—just look at the present. The world is overrun with zombies and war. Supplies are the only thing that matters now!”
“Old Wei is right. It doesn’t matter who leads us, but without supplies, we’re all screwed! I support exchanging for supplies!”
“I agree too! Brother Yong has lost his mind over that woman. Bringing him back won’t do us any good.”
Qu Jingwen remained unmoved and declared firmly, “No! We must trade for Brother Yong!”
Someone immediately mocked, “You’d be heartbroken without Brother Yong, but we wouldn’t be.”
“Who knows if Boss Tan even wants you to exchange for him? Maybe the female boss of Panliu Mountain is more to his taste. Hahaha!”
Qu Jingwen snapped in fury, “Apart from the captured Mist, the rest of you can’t wait to kick him while he’s down! Do you even have a conscience? If you refuse to save him today, don’t expect anyone to save you when it’s your turn!”
Someone muttered under their breath, “You’re the only one blindly loyal. Do you really think Boss Tan cares? If you were the one captured instead of Mist, he wouldn’t save you. He’d probably be relieved to have you out of the way so he could enjoy his new lover.”
The words stabbed into Qu Jingwen’s heart like a thousand needles. Her voice trembled as she spoke, “I don’t need your understanding. But today, we are trading Ma Dapao for Yong-ge. I caught him—so I decide how we use him!”
Suddenly, someone interrupted with a sharp command:
“Silence!”
“Don’t you hear that? Our voices are echoing—like dual audio. It sounds like it’s coming from right outside.”
“There’s someone outside!”
The room fell into a dead silence.
After a long pause, a few older members frowned and said,
“That’s impossible. This is our territory. Who would dare come in?”
“Exactly. And we have guards posted. If someone snuck in, we would’ve been warned immediately.”
“…Even so, listen carefully. There’s still a sound.”
Qu Jingwen, now fully alert, drew her gun and aimed at the door. “Who’s out there?!”
The others tensed up, preparing for a fight as they focused on the entrance.
“Old Wei, use your x-ray vision to check,” Qu Jingwen ordered.
Wei Xiang narrowed his eyes and activated his ability.
But almost immediately, he realized something was wrong.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see through the door like usual.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his limbs went weak.
Qu Jingwen frowned. “What’s taking so long? What do you see outside?”
Wei Xiang stammered, “I-I think… my ability isn’t working anymore…”
