Dragon Transformation in the Apocalypse

Chapter 367 The New Invaders

On May 22, Li Chenglong, who was inspecting new recruits' training at the military camp, received a message from headquarters. Chen Guoqiang stated that the live broadcast of the Shuguang City memorial ceremony a few days ago had been transmitted overseas according to his wishes, and the European Union had expressed its appreciation for him and wanted to strengthen cooperation with China.

Li Chenglong, however, didn't seem to care much about this. He did want to gather all the fighting forces on Earth to fight the alien coalition, but the humans and zombies in China had only just begun to cooperate, and there were still many things to deal with.

Upon returning to military headquarters, Li Chenglong received a report that Qin Wan, a level 11 dual-elemental female zombie, was leading three level 10 zombies to request an audience outside the city, claiming they had important information to explain. Following the cooperation between zombies and humans, Xijiang Province is currently constructing a large crystal communication base station, which will make future communication between Li Chenglong and them more convenient.

Li Chenglong thought for a moment and then said, "Let them in. Anyway, level 10 zombies are already very close to humans, and level 11 zombies are exactly like Zheng Lei. Ordinary people shouldn't be able to tell that they are zombies. Go and inform Yang Liu to have her special forces team select 10 people to escort them. Let's choose the temporary conference room on the 14th floor of the Dawn Building as the meeting place."

Upon hearing Li Chenglong's words, an officer immediately went to make the arrangements. After the officer left, Li Chenglong took out his crystal phone and contacted Wang Jie, asking her to send someone to clean the conference room on the 14th floor and deliver some Flame Fruit and other fruits; she didn't need to worry about anything else.

Forty minutes later, Li Chenglong, Yun Lan, Zheng Yong, Zhao Liying, and Yang Liu entered the conference room on the 14th floor, where Qin Wan and the others were already waiting. The agreement previously signed between the zombies and humans clearly stipulated that neither humans nor zombies could discriminate against the other, nor could they refer to level 9 or higher zombies as "zombies," but rather as "humans." This was because level 9 zombies generally possessed the intelligence of a teenager and could distinguish between polite and offensive language.

Seeing Li Chenglong and the others enter, Qin Wan stood up and shook hands with each of them, then introduced her three subordinates to everyone. These three level 10 zombies were her personally trained henchmen, two women and one man.

After the guests and hosts were seated, Li Chenglong inquired about Qin Wan's reason for coming from so far away. Qin Wan then distributed several identical documents to the five of them before saying, "Seven days ago, some of our teams were attacked by unidentified enemies. These enemies are extremely powerful; they can even kill a level 10 enemy with a single blow. Originally, His Majesty the Emperor planned to conduct an internal investigation into this matter, but after learning that your human army had also been attacked by similar enemies, he sent me to join your investigation team to find out the true nature of these enemies."

Zheng Yong quickly reviewed the documents Qin Wan's side had investigated, which included on-site investigation reports and some photos. He said to Li Chenglong, "We did receive a message from headquarters saying that some bases in the south had their troops attacked while on missions, and judging from the traces at the scene, it was an enemy we've never seen before."

Li Chenglong nodded: "This is indeed a problem, especially at this time, right after we signed the peace agreement. We must investigate it immediately." He then said to Qin Wan: "Ms. Qin, please rest on this floor with your subordinates, but please do not wander around. I will give you an answer as soon as possible."

After finishing their conversation, the group left the conference room. As they walked away, Li Chenglong said, "I plan to personally lead a few people from Dawn City to form a joint investigation team with them to investigate the truth of this matter. Zheng Yong, please write a report for me and send it to the Eastern Theater Command of Dawn and the headquarters of Anxi Base. Yun Lan, you will temporarily take over my duties after I leave. As for the selection of personnel, I feel that quality is worse than quantity, so just three people coming with me will be enough."

After making the arrangements, Li Chenglong began to select the people who would accompany him on this investigation. The three people were Zhao Liying, Wang Shuang, and Jin Mengqi.

Two hours later, Li Chenglong arrived at Qin Wan's location with three others. According to Qin Wan, their investigation team was led by Dongfang Yunbing, and included Qin Wan, Protector Qian, and Marshal Zhuque of the Southern Route. With four people on each side, an eight-person investigation team was thus successfully formed.

Time was of the essence, so at noon the group split into two off-road vehicles and headed south towards their destination. They planned to first meet up with Dongfang Yunbing, who was waiting for them in southern Xijiang Province, and then proceed together to the scene of the incident. The scene of the incident was located in northern Nanping City, Fujian Province, at the temporary border between humans and zombies.

Qin Wan said in the car, "Lord Li, the construction of the large signal base station for the crystal communication network is progressing smoothly. It is estimated that it will be completed in another twenty days." Li Chenglong nodded and smiled, "After it is completed, I will provide you with the equipment in a timely manner, so that we can communicate in a timely manner."

The Zombie Empire has something similar to a storage capsule, which they call a storage handbag. It looks like a woman's small handbag, with an internal space of 5x3x5 cm, much smaller than the 8x4x5 cm of a storage capsule. Although the internal space is small, it is more expensive to manufacture than a storage capsule. Fortunately, it can be produced more freely, unlike storage capsules, which can only be produced by Li Chenglong's space factory.

The car driven by Li Chenglong carried four people from Dawn City and Qin Wan, while Qin Wan's three subordinates rode in the car behind. Along the way, Qin Wan talked about the recent situation of the Zombie Empire and also introduced some of its history.

In its earliest days, the Zombie Empire consisted of only Zhao Wuji, Nangong Yanran, and Dongfang Yunbing. They were the first to reach level 9 and gain intelligence. They then began recruiting soldiers and gathering forces from other zombie factions. After a bloody internal purge, the Zombie Empire was finally unified.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhao Wuji, after discussing with the others, established the Zombie Empire. He was elected as emperor, while Dongfang Yunbing and Nangong Yanran served as left and right prime ministers, respectively. Initially, the Zombie Empire did not have four marshals and eight protectors. Later, due to the expansion of the Zombie Empire and the continuous absorption of other forces, it gradually formed its own system.

Since last year, aliens have been in contact with the zombie empire, providing them with advanced technology such as jamming towers, storage bags, and electromagnetic cannons. However, as time goes on, in order to better control the zombies, the aliens are cultivating their own power within the zombie empire, attempting to split it apart.

Upon discovering the aliens' presence, Zhao Wuji decisively launched an attack, cooperating with the Left and Right Chancellors and the Four Marshals to eliminate them and the forces they had supported. However, this also led to a complete breakdown in relations between the Zombie Empire and the aliens, which is one of the reasons that prompted cooperation between the Chinese people and the zombies.

After learning the general history of the zombie empire, Li Chenglong asked Qin Wan why their emperor, Zhao Wuji, could level up so quickly. Qin Wan explained that the reason zombies level up faster than humans was because zombies could directly consume crystals of any level to boost their energy and help them level up.

Of course, some zombies would explode and die after consuming the crystals. Later, after Zhao Wuji explained, the zombies learned that there were different levels of potential, and different levels could be reached at different stages. The Zombie Empire even issued a decree regarding the consumption of crystals, requiring zombies of level 10 and above to have their potential tested by Nangong Yanran before consuming crystals. Only those whose potential met the requirements could continue consuming them.

Unlike zombies, humans, whether they are superhumans or awakened beings, cannot casually consume level 9 or higher crystals. They will either have no effect or explode and die. Currently, aside from those who level up due to reaching their potential, many are only able to advance one level because of Li Chenglong's special abilities, but that is already the limit.

Based on Qin Wan's account, Li Chenglong guessed that Right Chancellor Nangong Yanran likely possessed a similar ability to himself—the ability to perceive a target's potential level. Zhao Liying, sitting in the back seat, asked with a smile, "Your emperor's left and right chancellors are both women, so what is their relationship?" Qin Wan thought for a moment before replying, "Right Chancellor Nangong Yanran is our emperor's aunt, while I don't know about Left Chancellor Dongfang Yunbing. In my opinion, they are friends or comrades-in-arms."

At 8 p.m., after an afternoon of driving, the group decided to set up camp and rest, and set off early the next morning to try to meet up with Dongfang Yunbing before noon, and then begin investigating the attack of unknown cause.