Chapter 375: Chapter 375: A Chance Encounter with Other Teams
No one liked fighting Zombies at night unless it was absolutely necessary, and Lin Xinghai was no exception.
So, looking at the setting sun, Lin Xinghai said, "Let’s find a place to rest. The Zombies around here have been mostly cleared out, so tonight should be relatively peaceful."
Lin Xinghai’s group advanced quickly, so after a while, they didn’t continue deeper into the city. Instead, they began clearing out Zombies laterally.
After all, the city center was too densely packed with Zombies. The hordes they would encounter would be too large, and for a small team like theirs, trying to clear them out quickly would be significantly more difficult.
Moreover, Lin Xinghai had estimated that if a horde exceeded 300 Zombies, he definitely wouldn’t be able to finish the fight within two and a half minutes. In that case, he would have no choice but to use his Superpower again.
Of course, that was only one reason. A more important reason was that Lin Xinghai didn’t want to go to the city center and go on a killing spree.
It’s easier to fish in muddy waters.
If the external threat from the Zombies was reduced, the other teams could spare more effort to deal with the threat from other examinees.
For him, who planned to compete for the Energy Ball single-handedly, this was not a good thing.
Therefore, for the next two days, Lin Xinghai planned to farm Points in an area with a moderate Zombie density. It wouldn’t be too late to head to the city center on the third day to compete for the Energy Ball.
"Boss, what do you think about spending the night in that mall over there?" Little Fatty asked, pointing to the most intact building in the vicinity.
"Mm, that’ll do," Lin Xinghai nodded. There weren’t any better buildings nearby.
Soon, the group of four arrived at the mall’s main entrance under the glow of the setting sun. Little Fatty stepped forward and pushed open the somewhat dilapidated doors with a great heave.
With a series of ear-piercing creaks, the doors slowly swung open.
Just then, a dark figure lunged out from inside.
It was obviously a Zombie from inside the mall, attracted by the sound of the opening doors.
SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!
Standing to the side, the quick-reflexed Jin Tong brandished his long blade and swiftly cut down the few lunging Zombies.
"Spread out and check for any more Zombies. Kill them all," Lin Xinghai ordered.
The others nodded. After entering the mall, they quickly spread out to clear out the Zombies inside.
Lin Xinghai didn’t pay them much mind.
There was nothing here that could threaten them. There wasn’t even a single High Level Zombie, because if one had spawned here, the mall’s ordinary doors and windows certainly wouldn’t have been able to contain it.
There were a little over a dozen Zombies in the mall, and the group quickly took care of them.
"Boss, look what I found!" At that moment, Little Fatty came downstairs carrying some bedding.
The blankets were still in their packaging, so even after ten years, they were still usable, aside from a musty smell.
However, that wasn’t a big deal for them. The smell would dissipate quickly once they were aired out, and it was much better than sleeping on the floor.
"Nice work," Lin Xinghai said in praise.
He then saw Little Fatty cheerfully rush back upstairs. When he came back down, he was carrying a damaged bookcase on his shoulder.
"What are you going to do with that?" Lin Xinghai asked, a little curious.
"This is some of the only solid wood furniture in the mall. If we break it apart, we can use it for firewood," Little Fatty explained as he began to dismantle it.
Lin Xinghai watched for a moment before turning his attention away. He just reminded him to cover the doors and windows later so no light would get out, which would attract a horde.
He then sat down on the bedding, took out some dry rations, and prepared to eat something to recover his stamina.
But just then, Little Fatty spoke up again.
"Boss, wait a sec. These rations are rock-hard. They taste better heated up." As he spoke, he took the rations from Lin Xinghai’s hand and started preparing them.
He first piled up the wooden pieces from the dismantled bookcase, then had Jin Tong use his Flame Superpower to light the fire.
Then, he ran upstairs in the mall again and quickly returned with an iron pot and some iron skewers.
He tossed some of the rations into the iron pot, added some water, and propped it over the fire to boil.
As for the remaining rations, he skewered them with the iron skewers and placed them directly over the fire to grill.
"These rations have oil and bits of meat in them. Whether you boil them into a thin porridge or grill them, it’s way better than just choking them down dry," Little Fatty explained to the others as he worked.
"Where did you learn all this?" Lin Xinghai asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Sigh... My dad forced me to take apocalypse survival classes back in the day. I had to eat dry rations every day back then, so I just figured it out myself." Little Fatty had a complicated expression on his face, as if it was a long and painful story.
This made Lin Xinghai revise his opinion of Little Fatty slightly. ’Maybe this guy isn’t just some ignorant, spoiled rich kid after all.’
Just as he was about to say something, his expression flickered. He looked toward the entrance and said, "Someone’s coming."
Hearing Lin Xinghai’s words, the others instantly became alert.
And soon enough, they heard footsteps and low voices from a distance.
"I can’t believe someone already cleared out all the Zombies around here."
"That’s a good thing! It’ll be much safer for us to stay here tonight."
"That mall up ahead is still in pretty good shape. Let’s go there!"
Soon, with another CREAK, the mall’s doors were pushed open, and more than twenty young people walked in from outside.
But after coming inside, the moment they saw Lin Xinghai’s group, their expressions became extremely wary. They even drew their weapons.
If the rules didn’t forbid fighting each other in the first two days of the assessment, their reaction might have been even more intense.
The young man leading the other team was slightly taken aback to see only four people, but the wary look on his face didn’t relax at all. In fact, he grew even more vigilant.
This was already deep into the city. His own team had rushed to get here, yet this group of only four people had made it this far. ’Their strength must be terrifying.’
He quickly focused his gaze on Lin Xinghai. If his judgment was correct, this man was the decision-maker of the group.
"I am Sun Tianbo. May I ask your name, brother?" Sun Tianbo asked politely, cupping one fist in his other hand.
"Lin Xinghai."
Those two simple words struck like a clap of thunder. Sun Tianbo and everyone behind him went pale.
"Apologies for the disturbance. We’ll leave immediately." Sun Tianbo hastily cupped his fists again and prepared to lead his people away.
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I had a fever last night. I went to the hospital today and had to get a nucleic acid test and have blood drawn. I’m really not in any condition to write, so there’s only one Chapter today.
