Chapter 79 - 78: Mass Is Strength
"That’s not it?"
’Could it be that the color of the health bars has nothing to do with trust, like I’d guessed?’
Lin Fan would rather believe his own theory was flawed than accept that Xu Qian, for some strange reason, trusted him more than Chu Zhaotian did.
Despite his confusion, he acted normally and greeted them.
"Are Sister Qing and Zhaozhao awake?"
Lin Fan asked.
"I don’t know, the door’s closed. We heard a noise and came straight down..."
It was Chu Zhaotian who answered again.
Even though Xu Qian’s health bar was green, he still had that same withdrawn look when he wasn’t drinking.
"Alright..."
Lin Fan glanced at Xu Qian and gave up on puzzling over the matter.
"Go ahead and start the RV. We don’t want the battery to die."
After speaking to Chu Zhaotian, Lin Fan saw the others had almost finished connecting the equipment. He handed a long spear and a short one to Wu Haitao.
"Make them both solid..."
"You got it, Brother Lin!"
Liu Bin and Zhang Ziyi went back to scavenging, leaving Wu Haitao to work alone. It was the perfect opportunity to put the two idle men, Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian, to work.
Under Wu Haitao’s direction, the two of them followed the procedure he had devised step-by-step.
First, they sawed off the spear tip Lin Fan had left on the pipe. Then, they sanded the rust from the inner walls several times before stuffing welding rods inside, handful by handful...
Finally, Lin Fan himself used a steel rebar to tamp down the welding rods, making more room to stuff in new ones until it was completely solid and even he couldn’t pack it any tighter.
When they tapped the pipe, the crisp DANG DANG sound had been replaced by a dull THUD THUD, proving it was now incredibly solid.
Lastly, they filled the few centimeters of empty space at both ends with waste steel slag.
Wu Haitao connected the power, put on his welding mask, and stood on a stool.
The electric arc that flared between the welding rod and the slag was more blinding than the sun. Golden-red molten iron covered the slag until it completely fused with the inner wall.
After they did the same to the other end and let it cool, the hollow steel pipe had become a solid steel rod weighing over thirty pounds.
Lin Fan picked it up. He tested its weight in his hands; it felt much more substantial than before.
Gripping it with both hands, he swung it forcefully. The rod cut through the air with a WHOOSH, like a wailing ghost.
A dull THUD echoed as the spinning rod slammed into the ground, shattering a sidewalk tile.
"Good! This weight is about right."
As for Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian, they were already numb to his feats.
But when Wu Haitao saw Lin Fan casually swing the rod around, his jaw nearly hit the floor.
He could probably manage to lift the rod to bludgeon someone, but swinging it around like that? Unthinkable. A single swing would be impossible to stop, and he’d probably throw out his back.
He had assumed Lin Fan wanted such a heavy weapon to deliver one-hit-kill blows to zombies. He never imagined Lin Fan would handle it just like his old one, his movements and dodges completely unhindered!
He couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. He leaned over and quietly asked Chu Zhaotian,
"What does Brother Lin do for a living? Is he really a veterinarian? He must be a weightlifting champion..."
Chu Zhaotian just smiled politely and didn’t answer.
"This will work." Lin Fan gave it another swing, confident he could handle the weight. He leaned it against the RV and turned to Wu Haitao.
"Brother Wu, what should we do about the spearhead? If we attach it like my old one, the filling will be exposed..."
"This thing still needs a spearhead? One swing would smash any zombie to pieces..."
Wu Haitao was still reeling from Lin Fan’s show of strength. He couldn’t help but marvel at the question, but when he saw Lin Fan’s serious expression, he trailed off and asked hesitantly,
"What kind of spearhead are you looking for?"
Lin Fan thought for a moment and replied,
"With this much weight, any kind will do. It just needs to be sturdy, hard to bend, and have a point."
’That request isn’t too difficult...’
Wu Haitao thought it over carefully before answering, "For such a heavy steel rod, the tip can’t be just a simple metal sheet. Let’s weld a block of square steel to the end and grind it into a three-sided point..."
"Good, let’s go with that plan." Lin Fan clapped his hands, settling the matter.
He then told Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian to help out while he went back upstairs to check on Su Qing.
He’d been busy all morning, but he was still thinking about that [105] health bar...
Opening the door, he saw Su Qing was already up. She was wearing a simple dress and cooking in the kitchen. When she saw him return, she quickly greeted him.
"Where were you so early this morning? I woke up and you were gone—it gave me a scare. If Zhaozhao wasn’t still asleep outside, I would’ve thought something had happened..."
Seeing her, Lin Fan wiped his dirty hands on his clothes, chuckled, and pulled her into a hug. His hands began to wander as he spoke,
"The walkie-talkie woke me up. I went out for a bit with Liu Bin and the others and found some good stuff. I’ll make you girls some weapons later...
By the way, Sister Qing, when you woke up this morning, did you feel any different from before?"
Hearing his question, Su Qing thought for a moment, then muttered to herself, "Different how?"
"I do feel a bit more energetic today than usual. I probably just slept well..."
Suddenly, she winked. Her face flushing, she leaned close to his ear and whispered in a sultry, announcer-like voice,
"And also... my body isn’t just mine anymore. It’s yours, too..."
"..." Hearing that voice tickle his ear, making his whole body tingle, Lin Fan was completely captivated again...
Seeing his reaction, Su Qing gave a sly smile, gently caressed his cheek, and turned back to the stove...
’This Su Qing is getting more and more audacious!’
’How can a real man be kept under a woman’s thumb!’
Lin Fan steeled himself. ’I have to punish her severely for this!’
He walked up behind her and reached out to turn off the burner...
"Sister Qing, let’s conduct an experiment..."
"Hey, wait, my noodles..."
"Mmm~..."
The peaks converged, and the waves crashed in fury.
The sounds of a private storm drifted from the kitchen into the living room, soon joined by the continuous SCREECH of a grinder from the window below.
Caught between the two noises, a still-sleeping Chu Zhaozhao squeezed her eyes shut, frowned, and buried her head between two sofa cushions...
She let out a soft groan from time to time, lost in who knows what kind of nightmare...
When the rain passed, Su Qing, hair disheveled, leaned against a cabinet, glaring resentfully at Lin Fan.
Lin Fan simply raised an eyebrow and whispered in her ear, "Still feeling naughty...?"
But his attention was focused on the health bar above Su Qing’s head.
[105/105]
’No change at all...’
Lin Fan had been hoping that if it really added 5 Life Value points each time, then for the future of humanity, he would have to work himself to the bone to get Su Qing’s Life Value up to 10,000!