Chapter 120 - 119: Prologue
BZZT... BZZT...
"Brother Lin... that Awakened One is awake..."
Lin Fan was only resting lightly, so he woke up the instant the walkie-talkie crackled to life.
Breathing in the familiar, sweet scent of the person in his arms, he subconsciously squeezed the soft, warm body and planted a habitual kiss on a smooth cheek...
...
?
Something’s off!
This doesn’t feel right!
He quickly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the somewhat messy hair of Chu Zhaozhao, which he often ruffled...
’Why am I facing this way?’
’I thought I was a light sleeper!’
Guilt-ridden, Lin Fan quickly turned his head to the side. Su Qing’s familiar figure had her back to him. Seeing the gentle rise and fall of her shoulders, it seemed the walkie-talkie hadn’t woken her; she was sleeping soundly.
The movement, however, disturbed Chu Zhaozhao. She murmured and shifted in his arms, turning over to face away from them both.
This motion also pulled Lin Fan’s hand out from under her shirt...
He recalled his reflexive actions upon waking up—the feel of her was a bit smaller than Su Qing, but considerably firmer...
’This hand! How can I not control it even in my sleep!’
Lin Fan quickly sat up, scrambled out from between the two women, and bolted from the room. He didn’t notice that after he left, the side of Chu Zhaozhao’s face gradually turned bright red...
...
Lin Fan went to the bathroom to wash his face. He checked the time; he had only been asleep for a little over an hour.
Not wanting to disturb the two sleeping women, he put his blood-stained clothes back on from the pile by the door, tucked the walkie-talkie into his pocket, and went up to the roof.
Ever since he had forged his spear here, Lin Fan had grown fond of the rooftop, where he could look down on the entire district.
Watching the survivors below, who were busy moving bodies and organizing the people from the nearby buildings to gather, Lin Fan took out his walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button.
"Brother Liu... It’s Lin Fan..."
"Brother Lin, you’re up? I’m right here in the district..."
"I need to ask you to do something..."
Over the walkie-talkie, Lin Fan clearly explained the morning’s events concerning Wang Yuanhua and shared his own thoughts on the matter.
"That would be fantastic! If our combat team had another Awakened One like him, we wouldn’t have to be so cautious when dealing with zombies or Mutant Dogs!"
Liu Bin’s excited voice came through the walkie-talkie.
"Don’t celebrate too early. I’m handing him over to you, but that doesn’t mean he’ll actually follow you... As for how to make him join you sincerely, that’s up to you..."
Lin Fan said quietly.
"Don’t worry, Brother Lin. From what you’ve said, this Wang fellow doesn’t seem like a bad guy. I’m sure he’ll get along with us..."
Liu Bin said, full of confidence.
"Think it through before you go over... By the way, about those problematic rooms, do you have the list on you?"
Hearing Liu Bin’s confidence, Lin Fan stopped worrying about it and shifted to a topic that directly concerned him.
"I do, I do... Hold on... Uh... Should I read it to you?"
"Yeah... go ahead..."
Lin Fan took a pen and paper from his pocket. He listened to Liu Bin read the list and jotted it down, quickly accumulating nearly twenty entries.
"Whoa, that’s a lot. You guys work fast..."
Lin Fan couldn’t help but remark.
"After Zhang Ziyi and the others heard about the Awakened Ones and how important this is, they put their backs into it—working even harder than when they’re looking for food. We have another team still searching, so we’ll probably have the lists for the other two buildings later..."
"Alright, I’ll leave it to you then. I’m heading out..."
"Take care, and be safe..."
Having said what needed to be said and asked what needed to be asked, Lin Fan put away his walkie-talkie. He sat on the edge of the roof, watching Liu Bin below consult with Zhang Ziyi and the others before slowly walking away from the body-hauling team toward Wang Yuanhua and Xu Qian...
He had previously considered the problem of Wang Yuanhua. How should he handle a spontaneously developed lone wolf? Should he let him go free, or keep him under his watch...
If he allowed Wang Yuanhua to gather his own people, he would gradually form a group similar in nature to Liu Bin’s, but one centered only on his personal strength.
Then, obviously, it wouldn’t be long before this group clashed with Liu Bin’s. Even if they wouldn’t come to blows due to Lin Fan’s presence, friction behind the scenes would be inevitable.
But he couldn’t keep this man by his own side. For one, he was a stranger, not transparent and easy to read like Chu Zhaozhao and the others.
And then there was his strange ability.
The one where he would inexplicably lose consciousness when injured and turn into a beast.
For Wang Yuanhua himself, it might be a god-tier, life-saving skill, but for Lin Fan, he didn’t need such an unstable element around him.
So, after much consideration, he decided to have Liu Bin recruit Wang Yuanhua while he was at his weakest, integrating him into the larger group, rather than subjugating him personally and then assigning him to Liu Bin.
This way, even if a split or internal strife occurred in the future, Lin Fan could easily step in and suppress it.
Besides, Wang Yuanhua didn’t seem like a coordinator-type like Liu Bin. So, even if the larger team fractured into factions, the personnel and logistics portion led by Liu Bin would at least remain stable.
He had caused such a huge commotion in the district today; if there were any other surviving Awakened Ones, they would surely have shown themselves. But as he watched the bodies below being cleared away, he only saw a few trembling survivors with low health from hunger or thirst come downstairs. Lin Fan didn’t see a single person with a Life Value above 50.
This Wang Yuanhua was incredibly lucky. He had brute-forced his way through an entire building without running into a Mutated Zombie with energy attacks, like a Giant-Armed Zombie or a Banshee Zombie.
Watching Liu Bin and Wang Yuanhua talking cheerfully below, it seemed they had reached an agreement. That combat asset was now temporarily under his command. How these people would get along from now on was Liu Bin’s problem.
After his short nap, his energy had recovered quite a bit. Though not full, it was over 170. With a thought, he equipped the Strength Crystal.
After his battle with the Giant-Armed Zombie, he had grown rather fond of the Strength Crystal. Its power didn’t turn him into a muscle-bound freak who would rip through his clothes like a strength potion, yet it still provided a significant boost to his strength, which in turn increased his speed and resilience.
Once the crystal was equipped, Lin Fan turned and leaped from the rooftop toward the street to the south.
THUD.
’As expected...’
The Strength Crystal’s effect on his body was purer than the previous Activation Crystal’s. Plus, without a weapon in hand, he was dozens of pounds lighter.
This time, he didn’t lose any health at all upon landing...
Lin Fan grabbed some food from the RV. The sight of the survivors bustling in the distance, moving supplies from the residential buildings to the supermarket, served as a good accompaniment to his meal. He finished eating in no time.
Wiping his hands on his clothes, Lin Fan had a thought, and the heavy "Unnamed" spear materialized in his hand.
He turned and strode purposefully across the road toward the buildings of the De’anli District that faced the street.
De’anli District wasn’t large—just two rows of buildings, eight in total.
The four buildings facing the street were Buildings 5, 6, 7, and 8.
He grabbed a random "lucky contestant" to ask which one was the Building 8 that Liu Bin had mentioned. Then, Lin Fan climbed over a first-floor window and slipped into Unit 5 of Building 8.
From this unit on, there were seventeen rooms. According to Liu Bin’s demining odds, that meant at least 15 Mutated Zombies...
Unit 5, Room 401. Lin Fan stood at the door without knocking.
Just by sniffing, he could smell the stench of blood, tinged with something strange, seeping from the cracks in the door.
He channeled three points of energy into the tip of his spear, aimed it at the door lock, and gently released the energy into the lock cylinder.
CLICK-CLACK-CLANK! With the sound of a mechanism breaking, the security door slowly creaked open.
Smelling that familiar scent, Lin Fan’s gaze slowly locked onto the wooden door of the master bedroom.
"Heh heh..."
"Here I come..."