Chapter 133 - 132: Gravity
"Zhaozhao, I just had an idea. If you stand on top of this, do you think you can control it and make it fly...?"
Lin Fan stood before the massive dumpster inside the residential complex, speaking to the four people who were psyching themselves up to push it out of the area again.
Liu Bin and Wu Haitao had left after dinner. They had their own business to attend to. The bodies inside the complex had also been cleared away, leaving only pools of blood and scattered chunks of flesh at the scene.
"Huh? Can I do that?"
Chu Zhaozhao scratched her head. She lifted her spear over her head with both hands. Suddenly, her arms shot straight, and propelled by the spear, her feet left the ground. She was floating!
"Whoa—! It really works! Whoa—"
But in her nervousness, she wobbled left and right, looking like she was about to crash-land.
"Get down, get down..."
Lin Fan watched in amazement as Chu Zhaozhao slowly descended back to the ground. Even using the spear to carry herself in flight only cost four points of energy per second.
Even at top speed, based on Lin Fan’s previous tests, the energy consumption would only be two or three times higher.
’With her current energy reserves, flying for a full minute would be no problem at all!’
A minute might not seem like much, but it was enough for her to get over most obstacles. Her mobility had just gone up a whole new level.
Previously, even Lin Fan had been fooled by the misconception that "a strongman can’t lift himself," and he’d almost forgotten about this possibility!
"In that case, we don’t have to go through the trouble of pushing it out. Zhaozhao, you just stand on top of it. I’ll push you to the wall, and you can just control it to fly over..."
As he spoke, Lin Fan took matters into his own hands, pushing the dumpster toward the residential complex’s wall.
Su Qing and the others followed alongside. Knowing Lin Fan’s strength, they didn’t offer to help. Instead, they simply held their spears, gathering their power.
Meanwhile, Chu Zhaozhao was off to the side, utterly fascinated. She kept lifting her spear to float for a second, then another, over and over, until Lin Fan confiscated it. Only then did she settle down.
"Save your energy!"
To Lin Fan, pushing the three- or four-hundred-pound dumpster was no different from pushing a small cart. He could do more than just push it; he could have easily lifted and carried it on his shoulder.
Before long, he had pushed it to the edge of the wall.
The complex’s wall wasn’t low, standing at a little over six and a half feet. For the Chu Zhaozhao of this morning, maneuvering such a huge object over it would have likely been a struggle.
But for the Chu Zhaozhao of now, it was merely a question of whether she wanted to conserve energy or not.
"Here I go!"
Chu Zhaozhao leaped onto the top of the dumpster. With her hands held in open fists, she began to exert her power.
’She hadn’t tried it before to save energy, but if she could lift herself with the spear, then in theory, she could lift the dumpster too.’
Sure enough, the moment her power fully enveloped the entire dumpster, the huge metal container let out a series of CREAKS, slowly lifting off the ground and rising into the air!
"Higher, higher, good! Forward, forward, keep going... okay, down, down..."
Guided by Lin Fan and the others, Chu Zhaozhao actually managed to pilot her "moving castle" over the complex wall using her own power, landing it smoothly on the sidewalk outside!
"Whoa—! I did it!"
She stood excitedly on the dumpster, jumping up and down and making the metal container ring out with loud THUDS.
It took about four seconds, costing 14 energy per second, for a total loss of 56 Energy Value. For Chu Zhaozhao, she could recover that much energy in under ten minutes.
’Completely acceptable.’
"Catch!"
Lin Fan gently tossed Chu Zhaozhao’s confiscated spear over the wall for her to catch. Then, he grabbed two of the iron bars on the complex’s fence with both hands and bent them wide apart, leading the others through the gap.
Once everyone was out, he didn’t forget to turn around and bend the two iron bars back into place, preventing any "zombies" from slipping through the net in the middle of the night.
"How did that feel? Was it difficult?"
Lin Fan stood beside the dumpster. Even though he had a clear view of the energy consumption, he still looked up at Chu Zhaozhao on top of it and asked.
"Boss! I can fly! I can really fly!"
Still immersed in the excitement of temporarily defying gravity, Chu Zhaozhao completely ignored Lin Fan’s question and said breezily,
"Not at all! Not difficult at all! I feel like I could ride this thing for at least a minute! From here!"
As she spoke, she pointed at the ground beneath her feet, and then toward the distance.
"All the way to that gas station!"
Lin Fan pursed his lips as he listened to her. ’She’s really overestimating herself,’ he thought, then mercilessly shot back,
"Yeah, right. I’d be surprised if you made it to the mouth of the alley before you crash-landed..."
"Wow... It must be nice to fly..."
Su Qing came to Lin Fan’s side and gently tugged on his arm. She watched Chu Zhaozhao with an envious expression, then turned her expectant gaze to Lin Fan and asked in a low voice,
"Lin Fan, can you fly?"
"Er..."
The question truly hit a blind spot in Lin Fan’s knowledge. He could only answer sheepishly,
"That, I really can’t do..."
’That was the truth. At least, among his current paths to power, he hadn’t seen any possibility of flight.’
’Of course, super jumps didn’t count as flying.’
"So there is something you can’t do..."
Seeing Lin Fan’s slightly flustered expression, Su Qing, for some unknown reason, suddenly covered her face and began to laugh.
’The fact that Lin Fan couldn’t fly made her feel that the distance that had grown between them when he became their shield had shrunk a little. It made her feel relieved.’
"Of course there is. I’m not actually Superman..."
Watching Su Qing, Lin Fan was once again a little baffled. ’Is not being able to fly something to be happy about?’
"Stand steady!"
Since Chu Zhaozhao was still standing on the dumpster, Lin Fan simply pushed it—with her on it—over to the wall of the neighboring complex.
"Any zombies? Should you go in?"
The wall of De’anli was different from Xingfu Li’s; it was a solid brick wall, about six and a half feet high, topped with a small section of railing.
So Lin Fan, standing on the ground, couldn’t see what was inside. He looked up and asked Chu Zhaozhao, who had a higher vantage point.
"There are a few, but it’s fine. I’ll go in and take care of them!"
Chu Zhaozhao reached out, telekinetically calling the two "Flying Swords" that were hanging from a wire on the side of the dumpster into her grasp. She then turned her head to ask Lin Fan below,
"Boss, should I go in first then?"
"If you’re confident, go for it..."
’Lin Fan had faith in the current Chu Zhaozhao. Forget her ranged abilities, even with just her strength and 200-plus health, she wouldn’t die dealing with a few zombies.’
"Okay... uh, Sister Qing, do you want to come along...?"
Chu Zhaozhao was just about to use her power to lift the dumpster. It wasn’t clear whether she had overheard Su Qing’s question to Lin Fan or simply noticed her expression, but she suddenly turned her head to ask Su Qing, who was standing nearby.
"Huh? Me too... Can I?"
Su Qing was taken aback by Chu Zhaozhao’s offer. She instinctively glanced at Lin Fan before turning back to Chu Zhaozhao to ask.
"If Zhaozhao says it’s fine, then it’s fine..."
Lin Fan smiled and nodded. Looking up at Chu Zhaozhao, he could clearly see a smile on her face that was practically begging for praise.
He then discreetly gave Chu Zhaozhao a thumbs-up and helped Su Qing onto the dumpster.
’Adding Su Qing would only cost an extra three or four energy per second. It was nowhere near the upper limit of Chu Zhaozhao’s "load capacity."’
"Yaa!"
The sudden movement beneath her feet startled Su Qing, and she quickly crouched down, holding her spear close.
The sudden addition of another person on the dumpster—though she wasn’t heavy, it was still over a hundred pounds extra—shifted the whole thing’s center of gravity.
After a few test lifts, Chu Zhaozhao finally got the hang of it.
"Alright, we’re off!"
With that, she reached out and took Su Qing’s hand. With a surge of her power, the dumpster, carrying them both, slowly rose up and over the wall.
The group outside the wall heard a soft CLANG, followed by the low roars of several zombies.
Standing outside, Chu Zhaotian tensed at the sound. He gripped his spear tightly and scanned the area, looking for a way in.
But the roars only lasted for a moment, followed by the THUDS of heavy bodies hitting the ground and a few low shouts. In less than five seconds, Chu Zhaozhao’s voice called out from behind the wall:
"Boss! Brother! You guys can come in! It’s clear of zombies over here!"