Chapter 376: Chapter 376: Expanding the Team
A man’s reputation precedes him. Not a single examinee was unfamiliar with the name Lin Xinghai.
That was precisely why Sun Tianbo decided to retreat without a second thought.
After all, it was just a place to stay. There were houses everywhere nearby; there was absolutely no need to start a conflict with them over something so trivial.
A conflict now might not be a big deal, but on the third day, if they ran into each other again, who knew what this formidable figure would do.
Just then, however, Jin Tong suddenly shouted, "Zhang Ning! Wu Jing!"
At Jin Tong’s call, a man and a woman in the other team stopped in their tracks, looking over with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.
"Jin Tong, is that really you? I almost didn’t recognize you," the girl named Wu Jing said, her voice a mix of pleasant surprise and nervousness.
"Brother Lin, those two are my friends. Like me, they’re from the Ruifeng Shelter. How about we let them stay here?" Jin Tong turned to Lin Xinghai, his voice hopeful.
"Alright," Lin Xinghai nodded. To him, it was a trivial matter.
As for Sun Tianbo, he was startled by the exchange, but a look of delight quickly spread across his face.
He whispered a few questions to his two companions. After getting confirmation, he walked over, his face beaming with enthusiasm.
Sun Tianbo first exchanged a few pleasantries with Lin Xinghai before introducing his team.
The team had 23 members in total. Among them were three A Level Genetic Assessors. There was also one B Level Genetic Assessor whose Superpower had undergone a second awakening.
After listening, Lin Xinghai merely gave a calm nod.
A team like that, in terms of both strength and numbers, could only be considered average.
Seeing that Lin Xinghai wasn’t in the mood to talk, Sun Tianbo took the hint and didn’t press the conversation. He quickly turned his attention to Jin Tong and started making small talk.
Feeling a bit nostalgic, Jin Tong told Sun Tianbo, Wu Jing, and Zhang Ning how he had joined Lin Xinghai’s team and watched him dominate the battlefield.
"I’m so jealous you have such a great second uncle!" Wu Jing said, full of emotion.
The others all nodded in agreement. Even Little Fatty was just now learning about the connection between Jin Tong and Lin Xinghai.
"Haha, I didn’t expect my second uncle to be so amazing, either. He’s the one who connected me with Brother Lin," Jin Tong said with a laugh.
But remembering all the unreliable things his second uncle had done in the past, he didn’t dare say more.
He quickly changed the subject, asking Wu Jing and Zhang Ning how they had been.
"There’s not much to tell! Shortly after you left, we followed a transport convoy from the Shelter to East Sea Base."
"Then we registered for the academy. During that process, we received an invitation from Captain Sun, and we joined up," Wu Jing explained simply.
Their experience was the same as most people’s.
After all, the Ruifeng Shelter was just an ordinary shelter. They couldn’t compare to the geniuses from the major bases, so their only option was to join a decent-looking team and hope for the best.
At this point in the conversation, Sun Tianbo shot Wu Jing a meaningful look.
After a slight hesitation, Wu Jing looked at Jin Tong and asked, "You guys are heading to the city center too, right? Can you take us with you? We can help. We’ll even follow your lead on everything."
Their team’s strength was only average. Reaching the city center in two days would be no easy feat for them.
They had already encountered two other teams today and proposed working together, but the stronger teams had given them the cold shoulder.
As for the teams on their level, disagreements over who was pulling more weight led to them parting on bad terms.
Lin Xinghai’s group was undoubtedly a team of heavy hitters. As long as they agreed, Sun Tianbo’s team wouldn’t mind putting in extra effort.
Hearing Wu Jing’s request, Jin Tong kept his mouth shut. Not daring to respond himself, he quickly looked toward Lin Xinghai.
He wasn’t the only one; everyone else did the same.
At that moment, Lin Xinghai was already eating the dry rations that Little Fatty had grilled.
The originally rock-hard rations had softened after being grilled, the fat inside seeping out and lending them a meaty aroma. The texture was much better now.
Seeing that all eyes were on him, Lin Xinghai thought for a moment before speaking. "It’s not impossible for you to follow us, but I have a condition."
Hearing the first part of Lin Xinghai’s sentence, Sun Tianbo and the others broke into expressions of joy. But when they heard the second part, their hearts leaped into their throats.
"Brother Lin, what is your condition? If it’s within our power, we’ll certainly do our utmost," Sun Tianbo said. Of course, he was careful to say "utmost," not making an absolute promise.
"The condition is simple: fifty bullets per person," Lin Xinghai stated.
That was probably the only thing they had that would be useful to him.
’Their team had 23 people. At 50 bullets each, he would gain 1,150 rounds.’
’Plus, Liu Miaomiao and the others haven’t used their ammunition. If I take all of theirs, I’ll have over 1,500 rounds.’
’With that, my ammo supply would be pretty well-stocked.’
When Sun Tianbo heard that this was the only condition, he could no longer contain the joyful expression on his face.
"Done. No problem," he agreed immediately.
It would be a lie to say the bullets weren’t important, but they weren’t exactly critical, either.
After all, they were just ordinary bullets; they couldn’t even take down a High Level Zombie.
Of course, the bullets could kill regular and Intermediate Zombies, which made them quite useful for ending fights quickly.
But that small advantage paled in comparison to traveling to the city center with Lin Xinghai’s group.
Besides, they had already used an average of 20 rounds per person in a single afternoon. At that rate, it was doubtful their ammunition would even last until they reached the city center.
So, no matter how you looked at it, this deal was a net gain.
"So be it, then." Seeing no objections, Lin Xinghai gave a nod and went back to eating his rations.
’Enlarging the team actually has some benefits for me,’ he thought. ’This way, we can annihilate large hordes of Zombies more quickly.’
’Before, if two hordes were too close together, we wouldn’t have dared to engage. We would have had to go around.’
’But now, with Sun Tianbo’s team, I can try going for a "double kill." That would make clearing out Zombies much more efficient.’
But when Sun Tianbo heard Lin Xinghai say just that and then go back to eating on his own, his expression turned a bit dazed.
He was happy they had reached an agreement, but... ’Shouldn’t he say something more?’
’Things like tactical arrangements, formation adjustments, route planning, crisis response... Aren’t these important things he should be explaining to us?’
’If a problem came up because of poor communication, getting injured would be the least of our worries. A single crisis could force the team to call for rescue, making many of us fail the assessment.’
