Chapter 56: Chapter 56: The Tide of Beasts

The situation seemed a bit different from what Ye Yuzhen had thought. She had assumed that Lin Shen had come to Yashen Base for assistance from the Lu Family to deal with the Xu Family.

Now, it seemed entirely not the case. Xu Tiange’s various actions made it very difficult for Ye Yuzhen to understand.

He clearly ambushed the Lin Family’s trade convoy and captured Lin Shen’s older sister, so how could he be so friendly toward Lin Shen, even to the point of appearing somewhat deliberately ingratiating?

This made Ye Yuzhen somewhat suspect whether the information she had received was incorrect, and that the Xu Family had not actually hijacked the Lin Family’s convoy. Perhaps there was no enmity between the two families at all; they might even be on very good terms.

Of course, Ye Yuzhen knew this was impossible, and the information could not be wrong.

“Shen, try this tea and see how it is. Sister-in-law, you try it too,” Xu Tiange said as he replaced the tea set and brewed a new pot. After it was ready, he first handed a cup to Lin Shen, then another to Ye Yuzhen.

Ye Yuzhen pursed her lips and glared at Lin Shen but said nothing.

“Let’s sit down and talk,” Lin Shen said after taking a sip of tea, addressing Xu Tiange.

Xu Tiange’s actions already represented the attitude of the Xu Family, and naturally, Lin Shen also needed to express his stance.

He knew the Xu Family must have some concerns, which was why they were behaving this way, but no matter what those concerns were, it did not make much difference to Lin Shen.

As long as he was given a little more time to develop, it wouldn’t be long before he didn’t need to care what the Xu Family thought or did, nor would he need to know what attitude they held.

Xu Tiange promptly sat down, smiling, and said, “Shen, how long do you plan to stay at Yashen Base?”

“I’ll go back in a couple of days after finishing my business,” Lin Shen replied casually.

“If there’s anything my brother can help you with, just say the word. I can’t speak for other places, but at Yashen Base, I do have some clout,” Xu Tiange hastened to say.

“Alright,” Lin Shen nodded slightly.

Seeing that Lin Shen did not reject the olive branch he extended, Xu Tiange felt much more relieved.

“If the matter is easy to handle, deal with it quickly, but if it’s not urgent and difficult, then put it off for a while,” Xu Tiange suddenly said, seemingly out of the blue.

“What do you mean by that?” Lin Shen asked, looking at Xu Tiange.

“Shen, you may not be aware, but our family has done a lot of investigations recently. All signs point to a large outbreak of Base Variant Creatures in half a month, which could likely form a creature surge. It will be very troublesome then, so it’s better to stay away if one can. Both our families and the Lu Family are already preparing to defend the base with all our might,” Xu Tiange said.

“How come I haven’t heard about the creature surge?” Ye Yuzhen asked, frowning.

“If everyone knew a surge was coming, I fear half the people in the base would run off. Then who would be left to defend it? To avoid panic, this matter is currently known only to a few senior members of the Xu Family, and the Lu Family. But if you observe closely, you should be able to see some hints from the preparations that the Lu Family is currently making,” Xu Tiange replied, looking at Lin Shen. “If it weren’t for you, Shen, I wouldn’t have revealed a word of this message. Please, Shen and sister-in-law, help me keep this secret. If you have any relatives or friends at Yashen Base, find an excuse to take them to another base for a few days. It’s not too late to come back after the creature surge is over.”

Ye Yuzhen was a smart person. After recalling some recent events at the Lu Family, she quickly understood that Xu Tiange was not exaggerating; there were indeed traces to be found, just that she had not thought about it from that angle before.

Ye Yuzhen now fully believed that Xu Tiange truly had a deep relationship with Lin Shen; otherwise, why would he tell Lin Shen about such a life-threatening matter?

But the previous incident of the Xu Family hijacking the Lin Family’s convoy and capturing Lin Miao was definitely true, which made it somewhat contradictory.

“What has this man done to cause such a drastic change in the Xu Family’s attitude? Is this still the Lin Shen I know?” Ye Yuzhen looked at Lin Shen with a strange expression, feeling as if the face she thought she knew had become somewhat unfamiliar.

“What’s the situation with the creature surge? Explain in detail,” Lin Shen was genuinely curious.

Near the Dark Bird Base, creature surges were rare. At most, a few lost Base Variant Creatures would wander near the base and be rounded up and killed. He had never witnessed a real surge sieging the city.

Just as Xu Tiange was about to answer, they suddenly heard a “drip, drip” noise from Ye Yuzhen’s side. Both men turned to look at her.

“Sorry, I have to go; something’s come up.” Ye Yuzhen took out her communicator from her bag, glanced at it, and stood up to say it directly.

Communicators generally only worked inside certain bases, because the equipment outside the bases was easily destroyed by Base Variant Creatures, making the communicators useless once outside the base.

In Dark Bird Base, the lack of equipment also rendered the communicators ineffective. Lin Shen did have a communicator, but alas, there was nowhere to use it.

What Lin Shen used most to understand the outside world was the radio broadcast.

It was said that some mega-bases still had TV stations and networks, but Yashen Base didn’t have those, let alone Dark Bird Base.

Ye Yuzhen got up and headed for the staircase, not walking very fast and being extra careful as she went downstairs.

However, even after her figure had disappeared from the second floor, she did not hear the voice she hoped to.

“Damn it, can’t he at least ask for a way to contact me?” Ye Yuzhen muttered under her breath before striding away quickly.

It wasn’t that Lin Shen deliberately didn’t ask; it was that he didn’t think of it. He seldom used a communicator at Dark Bird Base and didn’t carry one, so it didn’t occur to him.

“Give me the details, what’s with the beast tide this time?” Lin Shen asked again.

Xu Tiange thought for a moment and then said, “This beast tide is a bit strange. It actually has something to do with that Mutant Egg your Lin Family bought.”

“What does it have to do with that Mutant Egg?” Lin Shen asked, somewhat surprised.

“To the northeast of Yashen Base, there’s a Steel Forest. The trees in that Steel Forest are a bit different from typical metal plants; the trunk and leaves are blue. A vast expanse of blue forest looks like an ocean from afar, so we locals call it Blue Tree Sea. The Blue Tree Sea is vast, and though it originally housed many types of Base Variant Creatures, recently the variety has been dwindling, with only one species of Base Variant Creature becoming increasingly numerous…” Xu Tiange recounted the events in detail.

After leaving the teahouse, Ye Yuzhen walked down a street, turned a corner, and entered a shop. Without waiting for the server to greet her, she went straight into a private room.

“Yuzhen, Lin Shen is at Yashen Base, why didn’t you tell me?” Just as Ye Yuzhen entered the door, a slightly chubby, sweet-faced girl accused her somewhat indignantly.

“You’ve been broken up with him for such a long time, what’s the point of telling you? Don’t tell me, Lu Qing, that you want to get back with him?” Ye Yuzhen placed her bag on the coffee table and sat down beside the girl.

“Who wants to get back together? I just heard he went to our family’s shop, and I thought maybe he came to see me,” Lu Qing explained.

“Why would you think he came to see you?” Ye Yuzhen leaned back on the couch, crossed her sexy, smooth legs, and asked with a half-smiling glance at Lu Qing.

“Lin Shen’s elder sister was kidnapped by the Xu Family, and he’s surely here because of her. Other than pleading with me, what else can he do?” Lu Qing pouted.

“You want to help him?” Ye Yuzhen asked.

“That will depend on his attitude. If he comes to plead with me, perhaps I’ll lend him a hand,” Lu Qing stated.

Ye Yuzhen thought to herself, “Plead with you? That’s never going to happen, the Lin Shen you know isn’t the Lin Shen of today.”

“I think he should be able to handle it on his own,” Ye Yuzhen said aloud.

“Handle it on his own? How can he handle it? Don’t I know what he’s like? All he ever does is eat, drink, and be merry without any aspiration. A mama’s boy, a brother’s boy, what’s he got to solve this with? Let me tell you, I’m just waiting for him to come to me,” Lu Qing said with annoyance.

“Then you keep waiting,” Ye Yuzhen couldn’t help but want to laugh inside, but she said, “Yeah, right, just wait for him to plead with you. When he does, we’ll have to make him apologize to us too.”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking, but you know him, he’s never left Dark Bird Base and is unfamiliar with everything here. He probably won’t even find the door if he wanted to plead with me. How about this, next time you see him, if he asks about me, tell him I’m here,” Lu Qing said.

“Okay,” Ye Yuzhen’s smile was a bit strange.