Chapter 90 - 89: Professional Team
When Lin Fan came out, the four of them were frozen in place as if someone had hit a pause button, spears in hand.
A dazed look was in everyone’s eyes.
"I... Yay! We did it!"
Chu Zhaozhao glanced at the zombie’s corpse on the floor, the first to snap out of it.
She threw down her spear, dashed past the two men who were still in a daze, and threw her arms around Su Qing!
"Sister Qing! We did it!"
Seeing Lin Fan emerge, she turned her head, her big, sparkling eyes fixed on him like a schoolgirl waiting for praise.
Lin Fan could see her arms were still trembling, but it was from adrenaline, not fear.
Shaken back to reality by Chu Zhaozhao, Su Qing let out a long, deep breath. She didn’t look at the corpse, her gaze instinctively finding Lin Fan, a hint of a smile in her crescent eyes. She hugged Chu Zhaozhao back, gently stroking her back.
Chu Zhaotian, however, wasn’t as relaxed as his sister. He still gripped his spear so tightly it seemed fused to his hands. He gave the shaft a tentative nudge, wanting to confirm the zombie was truly dead, still finding the situation hard to believe.
Chu Zhaozhao’s voice jolted Xu Qian awake. He stared blankly at the body on the ground, then suddenly spun around, stumbled to the corner of the stairwell, and began to dry-heave violently, leaning against the wall.
But Lin Fan had seen that his spear thrust had been far more accurate and ruthless than Chu Zhaotian’s.
...
"Alright, alright..."
Lin Fan ruffled Chu Zhaozhao’s hair and peeled her off Su Qing.
"You’re plenty strong. Even with a crooked aim, you still managed to pierce its skull..."
Chu Zhaozhao’s spear had gone in the deepest, entering through the edge of the eye socket and exiting the back of the head. It was the fatal blow.
"Sister Qing, good job. Your aim was precise, but you didn’t put enough force into it when you struck. Keep that in mind for next time."
Su Qing’s spear was stuck in the zombie’s eye socket but clearly hadn’t gone all the way through. Of course, it was possible Chu Zhaozhao’s powerful strike had knocked the zombie backward...
Lin Fan noticed Chu Zhaotian’s spear was stuck in the zombie’s sternum. Even though his position was closer, his spear was stuck behind Xu Qian’s. He reached out, patted Chu Zhaotian’s shoulder, and said:
"Your hands are steady, but you hesitated. Be a little more decisive..."
Then he walked over to Xu Qian. He hesitated for a moment, looking at the man who had struck so viciously but was now retching his guts out, and said:
"I don’t know why you’re reacting this way, but... don’t let it trap you..."
After that, he clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.
"From now on, you are Warriors!"
"Everyone, check your weapons and gear. We’re moving to the next room!"
As he spoke, he handed the crowbar he was holding to the two-man door-prying team emerging from the room. "You two, get ready to keep prying open doors upstairs..."
He watched the two head upstairs, followed by the CLANG CLANG of their work. They were just ordinary people, so naturally, they couldn’t just jam a crowbar into the door seam like Lin Fan. They had to use a hammer to slowly wedge it in.
Lin Fan had already scouted the entire building. He had them avoid all the quiet rooms and only pry open the ones with one or two zombies inside to ensure there were no mistakes.
The remaining rooms would be left to Liu Bin and his people. In any case, Lin Fan’s group was only responsible for clearing the building, not gathering supplies.
With someone helping them deal with zombies, they couldn’t be happier.
While the two were busy prying the door, Lin Fan held out a hand to Chu Zhaotian, who understood and took out four silvery-white vials from his pocket.
"Lin Fan, what is this?"
Su Qing was the first to ask. Although Chu Zhaozhao didn’t say anything, she also looked at Lin Fan with curiosity.
"...Uh, how should I explain this? Just think of it as a last resort... It’s a type of hormone, a stimulant, something like that..."
Lin Fan thought for a moment, skipping over its origin and telling them directly about its effects.
"The side effects are unknown, and there’s no guarantee it will work. So, unless it’s a life-or-death situation, don’t use it..."
"Aren’t you a vet, Big Brother? Where’d you get this? It’s not for animals, is it...?"
Chu Zhaozhao suspiciously took a vial from Chu Zhaotian and sniffed it.
"You talk too much!"
Lin Fan flicked Chu Zhaozhao’s forehead.
[-1]
With a yelp of "Ow!", she clutched her head and hid behind Su Qing.
Seeing her Life Value decrease made Lin Fan panic. He quickly checked her health bar. Thankfully, she had really only lost 1 point of health.
’I’m still not used to this superhuman physique. I sometimes don’t know my own strength...’
Su Qing turned to rub Chu Zhaozhao’s head, shot Lin Fan a glare, then took a vial from Chu Zhaotian and put it in her pocket.
Chu Zhaotian took one for himself and handed the last one to Xu Qian.
With everyone equipped with the vials, this was the only thing Lin Fan could really give them.
"I’ll watch you clear a few more rooms. Then I’m going to find Liu Bin and hunt the Mutated Zombie. Will you guys be okay on your own...?"
Lin Fan was still a little worried, but seeing their confident expressions made him feel like he was being a bit of a mother hen.
"Let’s go, upstairs!"
And so, he watched them clear three rooms. Two had a single zombie, one had two, but they managed to kill them all without any major incidents.
Watching their teamwork grow more and more practiced, he saw they were starting to look like a professional team, aside from their stamina being a bit low, requiring them to rest every so often.
"Don’t get cocky just because you’ve killed a few zombies. Someone on Liu Bin’s side died from carelessness... By the way, Zhaozhao..."
Lin Fan said to Chu Zhaozhao while the group was resting.
"From now on, if there’s only one zombie, try to let Su Qing attack first. If she kills it, save your strength. If she doesn’t, you deliver the finishing blow..."
"Okay, Big Brother!"
Though Chu Zhaozhao didn’t understand why, she assumed Lin Fan just wanted them to take turns to conserve stamina, so she readily agreed.
But only Lin Fan knew what a storm was raging beneath his calm expression.
He had been standing behind them this whole time, observing their health bars.
Of the four zombies, Chu Zhaozhao had killed three, but her health bar hadn’t changed at all.
One was killed by Su Qing, and her [105] had increased by 1, becoming [106]...
’Even though it’s only 1 point, it’s definitively the same growth path as mine!’
’This means Su Qing might also be able to level up to 200, 300, or even 600 health, just like me!’
’Although, when I first woke up, my 100 health gave me far more strength than Su Qing’s 100 health does...’
’But even if a 600-health Su Qing might not be my equal, she would still be far stronger than an ordinary person or a regular zombie!’
When he first realized this, Lin Fan was even tempted to take Su Qing to a zombie-infested place to "power level" her himself.
But he quickly extinguished that thought.
’It seems I’m just like them, getting a little cocky after killing a few Mutated Zombies.’
He could handle dozens of zombies on his own, fighting and retreating with room to maneuver, but if he brought Su Qing along, she would likely get herself killed for nothing before they even took down many zombies.
’It would be better to let them hunt zombies as a team and just have Chu Zhaozhao yield the killing blows to Su Qing. Not only can her health increase, but it will also improve the group’s synergy.’
Looking at the three green and one yellow health bars in front of him, a heroic feeling suddenly swelled in Lin Fan’s heart...
’If these people can all one day possess the power I have now, then maybe there will be a place for us to escape to in this world after all.’
’But first, I need to figure out the path of Su Qing’s awakening and whether it can be replicated...’
As he was thinking, Lin Fan pulled out his walkie-talkie.
"Brother Liu, are you there...? This is Lin Fan..."
"Brother Lin, Brother Lin, this is Liu Bin. I’m at..."
"Any suspicious rooms?"
"Yes... I’m in Unit 5... There’s something wrong on the fourth floor..."
"I’m on my way..."
Lin Fan put away the walkie-talkie and patted the heads of Su Qing and Chu Zhaozhao, who were sitting on the stairs.
"Don’t push yourselves if you’re tired. When you’ve had enough, head home and rest. We have plenty of time..."
Glancing at the excited looks on their faces, he finished speaking and turned to head downstairs.
Their teamwork was solid; he didn’t need to say anything more. Kids who are always coddled never grow up.
Reaching the second floor, he simply turned and entered the living room of 201, where they had just killed a zombie, and leaped off the balcony...
His short spear hit the ground with a THUD.
The fledglings had grown their Wings, and it was time for the falcon to hunt some real beasts...