Chapter 182: Huang Zheng's Thoughts

The highway heading towards Linjiang and Wangjiang.

The tour bus, its body steady.

The interior was spotless, sprayed with fresh perfume.

The seats were dismantled and combined into a spacious, comfortable rest area.

The floor was carpeted with a velvet rug cut from the VIP lounge.

In the center of the vehicle, a high-end dining table had been brought in, laden with plenty of fruit.

Lin An lay on the added massage chair, a card pinched between his fingertips.

The card lay under the fruit tray, its neat handwriting reading: "On behalf of all base members, we eagerly await your return."

When he first got on the bus, Lin An hadn't noticed these details; he had been lost in thought.

The journey was long, and only then did he notice that virtually every detail inside the vehicle had been cleaned spotless.

It seems.

The base folks practically wanted to turn this bus into a luxury RV.

The students surely don't have this kind of thought.

Only Huang Zheng's crew could have done this brown-nosing so perfectly.

"Captain Lin, those old guys are actually kind of interesting."

Zhang Tie unexpectedly found a case of Moutai under the table, along with plenty of high-end cigarettes.

"Serving people like this is damn enjoyable!"

"Where did they get this stuff?"

He oddly pulled out a box of Cuban cigars from under the table, turning it over and over, unsure how to smoke it.

Huang Haitao heard the voice and quickly stepped behind Lin An, giving a slight bow:

"Lord Lin An, these were specially prepared by my uncle and his group."

"But rest assured, everyone in the base has turned in supplies; no one is hoarding anything privately."

"These supplies were turned in, logged with the warehouse, and then prepared for you."

"My uncle said you might be away for a while on this trip, and the journey will be tough..."

Lin An shook his head with a smile, indicating Huang Haitao need not say more.

These old slickers are a bit lacking in work ability, but their eyesight is indeed sharp.

The card bore no signature, yet it arranged for his own nephew to volunteer for this operation.

This bus, too, was likely thrown together overnight by that bunch.

Even.

Lin An glanced over at another bus.

Among the 11 ordinary people who came along, there are 7 men and 4 women.

The men all look honest and hardworking, big fellows who keep their heads down while working.

The women all have fine figures, none unattractive.

Their muscles are well proportioned, specially selected from dance and sports institutes.

They are not weaklings; each looks quite capable, spirited and vigorous.

Just selecting the people took considerable effort.

Lin An isn't an ascetic; he won't affectingly insist on leading the way in hardship.

What a joke.

He seeks strength to protect those he cares about, and secondly, isn't it just to live well?

He doesn't mind this bunch flattering him and serving him more comfortably.

If he were cold‑faced and banned these, it would only make people uneasy.

Besides, all the base's supplies are his.

Lin An casually set down the card, his gaze calm as he looked at the respectfully bowed Huang Haitao:

"Speak, what does your uncle want?"

The base lacks administrators, and Lin An doesn't mind giving them some authority again.

As long as they obey and can get things done, that's enough.

This bunch of old slickers, if used well, are quite handy.

Huang Haitao slightly lifted his head, his gaze solemn:

"Lord Lin An, you've misunderstood."

"My uncle has already volunteered to join the engineering team, working alongside everyone."

"He only asks that you let me take part in more missions so I can follow you."

"Brother Zhang is suited to charge at the front; my ability is actually similar to group defense."

"When I previously fought Brother Zhang, my ability actually isn't good at one‑on‑one combat."

"Of course, I am certainly no match for Brother Zhang."

After Huang Haitao finished speaking, he slowly activated his skill, a yellow‑green ripple spreading.

Those within the range felt their defense increase, and their mental and physical recovery also sped up considerably.

Somewhat interesting.

Lin An gave a light chuckle, looking thoughtfully at Huang Haitao.

He could sense that the Huang Haitao before him spoke from the heart.

It seems Huang Zheng said a lot to him.

He treats advancing as retreating, voluntarily goes to work with the engineering team, wanting nothing.

He's indeed a crafty person.

"Open your panel."

Lin An suddenly felt a hint of interest, gesturing for Huang Haitao to open his talent panel.

He kept nodding, and the light screen appeared:

"A-level talent: Tide-Suppress (Group)"

"Tide-Suppress: Upon activating the skill, it continuously consumes mental power, allowing one to actively choose the type of protective shield to generate."

"1. Single-target shield: blocks physical attacks up to 10 points, reduces elemental damage, adds water and earth elemental damage upon activation, and boosts defense and strength."

"2. Group shield: blocks physical attacks up to 7 points, reduces elemental damage, provides defense and recovery speed boost to all members within a maximum 10*10 meter range."

"Note: Each time attacked, extra mental power is consumed, the amount depending on the damage."

Somewhat unexpected.

Lin An never expected his talent level to actually reach a-level.

It is also a rare group support, a damage-reducing shield.

This damage reduction attribute and bonus is equivalent to giving everyone a splicer's carapace, plus an extra recovery effect.

As long as his mental power is sufficient, he can even lead people to charge straight through the machine-gun fire of hundreds of enemies.

No wonder that earlier, with his support, ordinary Huang Zheng could even stand against another batch of Awakened Ones from the academy.

This talent is overly useful in group combat.

That is, when he met Zhang Tie, whose left fist came from a top-tier second-level mutant, one punch nearly killed Huang Haitao.

This made Lin An mistakenly think that this guy was actually useless...

He nodded, and Lin An gestured for him to sit back in his seat.

I didn't expect Huang Haitao to be a support-type Awakened One, and moreover one with decent combat ability.

It seems I previously overlooked him too much.

If properly nurtured, maybe in the future he could team up with Zhang Tie to form a 'Steel Wall' that sweeps the battlefield.

Since he wants to follow me voluntarily, Lin An doesn't mind bringing him along.

A support-type Awakened One with self-preservation ability is indeed not bad.

The bus continued driving, with two hours left to the destination.

Lin An glanced at the black dragon on his wrist, not knowing when he'd be able to ride it.

Or perhaps after holding off the zombie tide, we could make a trip to the air force base?

The driving speed is really too slow; if we could get a few armed helicopters, future operations would be much more convenient.

Even obtaining some fighter jets to station at the base would let us reach many places remembered to have equipment.

And we wouldn't have to spend large amounts of time traveling each time as we do now.

The distance of our outings still can't be too far, to prevent accidents at the base.

If we could bring back a fighter jet, maybe we could go to several treasure-filled secret realms remembered from memory...

Lost in thought, the car interior fell silent.

Before long, over an hour had passed.

As they neared the destination, the ring on Lin An's left hand suddenly lit up.

"Beep, the Rat King's Ring activates its search effect."

"Beep, detected prop fluctuations nearby."

"Beep, detected equipment fluctuations nearby."

"Beep, detected spirit-energy fruit fluctuations nearby."

As the successive alerts sounded, a piercing shriek suddenly erupted from the far distance.

Lin An abruptly lifted his gaze toward the front.

In his perception, a black shadow was swiftly swooping in...