QT: Grace To Grass Counterattack System

He Yuan stepped out of the building with a splitting headache. He did not get very far before Xiao Yu rushed up to him and began inspecting him all over.

When the boy did not find a scratch on He Yuan, he released a sigh of relief. "Squad leader Ling~"

He Yuan forced a small smile and patted the Xiao Yu's head gently. "No worries."

Xiao Yu took in a deep breath to calm himself. "How can you say no worries squad leader? You were suddenly called over to the research facility and if not for a few people who saw you enter, no one would have known your whereabouts. That was very irresponsible of you.

-You might not know this but," He leaned closer to the exasperated He Yuan and whispered, "A lot of the people who suddenly disappeared or turned into zombies were called into the research facility too and when people began to notice the oddity, it stopped for a while.

-And then the abnormalities started again whenever they came in contact with Lu Ming or his weird scientist lover.

-I've not met the scientist but I can already feel in my heart that he's a creepy guy. You shouldn't interact with them so freely anymore.

-I got so worried when you didn't come out for a long time and I even alerted Bao Bao, she might be here soon.

-It's a good thing you're alright squad leader, I would be very sad if you weren't."

He Yuan finally let out a breath of relief when Xiao Yu took a break. He didn't stop the kid sooner because he knew Xiao Yu needed to let out all the tension that made him high strung and talking was the boy's outlet.

He went into the research facility alone because he had a reliable back up plan and would've been able to escape if anything went wrong.

He Yuan blinked repeatedly. The headache was getting worse and he needed to cultivate to ease the pressure in his head so began walking away with Xiao Yu following right behind him.

When they got closer to the residential area, Xiao Yu suddenly blushed and looked up at He Yuan.

"Squad leader can I ask a question?" He Yuan groaned and Xiao Yu's smile froze before he waved his hands. "It's okay if you don't want to, it's a personal question anyway, I don't even think you would've wanted to answer it."

He Yuan paused and rubbed his face. "What is it Yu?"

"Uhhhmm... That Lu Ming guy... Who is he to you?" He Yuan was silent and Xiao Yu panicked. "I'm sorry if I'm being nosy, I can't help it sometimes. It's just that he's always watching you and you're always avoiding him so-"

"He's my ex," He Yuan said simply and Xiao Yu's eyes widened slightly.

"Your ex?" This question did not come from Xiao Yu but from Liu Bao, who had just managed to catch up with them.

The both of them turned to her and Liu Bao lowered her head slightly. He Yuan observed her demeanor for sometime before something clicked in his head. He turned to Xiao Yu. "Yu, can you give us sometime alone?"

Xiao Yu looked between them before nodding slowly and walking off whilst Liu Bao looked up at He Yuan, slightly confused.

He Yuan walked and came to a stop before her."Liu Bao... Do you like me?"

Liu Bao froze for a second before hope sprang up in her eyes, causing He Yuan to sigh. Liu Bao was his very first companion in this realm but their conversations were always short and straight to the point.

Liu Bao was also a person that always controlled her expressions around him, making it difficult for him to read her.

At first, he thought nothing of it, but now... He Yuan sighed again. "I'm sorry Liu Bao but we both know it can't work." First of all, he was very much gay, just like Du Ling.

Even if he wasn't, there was no way he would get into such a relationship with an inhabitant of a task realm. It was doomed to fail.

Liu Bao's lips quivered and she lowered her head. She'd always suspected that he was gay but suspecting and having him confirm her thoughts were different. She was hurt.

She sent a teary smile to He Yuan. "Just my wishful thinking wasn't it? I let myself fall too deep, to fast." She gave him a nod before turning around and walking away, trying her best to resist the urge to run.

He Yuan sighed for the third time before walking off to his room.

For the next few weeks, things went on as normal in the base. More people developed abilities and the number of times they had to scavenge became less and less.

This was because people with plant and water based abilities were able to increase the rate of food production in the base.

Things were too peaceful that it made He Yuan uneasy. Very uneasy. After he left Du Jian and Lu Ming bleeding in Du Jian's office, there'd been no confrontation whatsoever and this fact was unsettling for He Yuan.

He still went scavenging with the Nova team on special occasions so he always ran into Lu Ming but the man did nothing but watch He Yuan in silence. It was very unnerving.

Lately, there had been reports of coordinated zombie attacks on various bases all around the world. Some bases were completely wiped out while a lot of other bases began to merge.

The higher ups of the military base soon received news of a weapon vault and the Nova team was assigned the task of retrieving the weapons.

With the development of abilities, the fighting capacity of the humans and zombies had almost been evened out. The zombies grew smarter and more flexible and this was a problem for the humans.

A weapon vault filled with bombs and advance weapons would tip the scales on the side of the humans.

The Nova team got prepared and were soon on their way to the weapon vault. Liu Bao had requested to be transferred to a different team a while ago but He Yuan said nothing. He knew she did it to avoid him. Maybe it was for the best.

It took them seven hours to get to the warehouse. He Yuan was tense. He had a very bad feeling so he was on high alert.

He made sure every member of the team were in his line of sight. He didn't want anyone sneaking up on him. He his feeling of uneasiness today was off the charts.

The team members all got down from the trucks and edged towards the warehouse.

"ARGH, ACK, ACK!" About fifty zombies all ran at them as soon as they got to the warehouse.

Everyone got into position and started fighting off the snarling monsters. He Yuan slowed down their movements through compulsion whilst the rest of the team members all used their abilities to face off the zombies.

These zombies were much stronger and faster than the zombies before the advent of abilities. They were especially sensitive to energies and were able to pinpoint He Yuan as the one behind their delayed movements.

"ARGH! ACK! ACK!" The zombies became more frenzied as they all directed most of their attacks at He Yuan.

Three zombies all rushed towards He Yuan. One of them extended numerous dried vines towards He Yuan, which he effectively dodged.

The second one leaped from the side and lunged at He Yuan's throat but he sent a huge load of energy at the zombie, blowing its brain to bits from the overload.

Before the third one could activate its abilities, He Yuan sent three bullets through it's head and turned to focus on the first one once more.

The zombie sent more vines his way but he dodged and slashed at the vines before directing a wave of his energy at the zombie.

This one was much stronger than the other two and was able to withstand the energy overload but He Yuan didn't give it time to recover before blowing its brains to bits.

After they all got rid of the zombies surrounding the warehouse, the Nova team wasted no time in going right in.

He Yuan was on high alert at all times and even Xiao Yu kept sending him concerned looks at his tense state, which he completely ignored. He didn't want others worrying for him but he couldn't help it.

888 sighed. [He Yuan-]

"I'm fine," He Yuan said before the system could continue. "Don't worry," He added when he realized the tone of his voice was a little harsh.

Surprisingly, they were able to clear off the zombies in the warehouse and retrieve the weapons from the vault. They had come with three huge trucks so most of the team members piled into one truck to create space for the weapons but they left a few others in the other trucks to safeguard the weapons.

Once they got on their way back to the base, He Yuan relaxed a little. He knew he wasn't feeling uneasy for no reason but he just couldn't pinpoint the problem.

An hour away from the base, the team ran into a family of three being chased by zombies. The mother ran in front while the father was right behind with a little girl of about ten held in his hands.

He Yuan frowned slightly. "Stop."

"No." The opposing voice came from Lu Ming. "We're on an important mission which must be completed no matter what. We don't have time to play hero."

He Yuan massaged his forehead. The headache was back but he still tried to send out energy to delay the zombies chasing the family. "This has nothing to do with playing hero. There's more than enough space for them on the truck.

-It's totally unreasonable to leave them behind to die."

Lu Ming smiled. "Well you're not the squad leader of this team are you?"

The team members all shifted uneasily, Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes at Lu Ming and He Yuan clenched his teeth hard.