Chapter 270: Dog

In the cafeteria, Zhang Tie's eyelids drooped as he pretended to be still recovering from serious injuries.

Lin Dui, what's up?

Aren't we supposed to wait for the blood cocoon to hatch and then level up?

Xiong Hanzi's level was almost in sync with his, and of the mutants they encountered, Zhang Tie basically got all the experience.

Except for the marrow-sucking spider encounter he didn't join, but all he needed to advance was to kill one more First Level mutant.

Therefore, Zhang Tie was eagerly anticipating how strong he would become upon reaching Second Level.

Especially since Lin An told him he had specially prepared a skill book for him after his advancement.

Lin An slowly tore open the hot pot ingredients, and his voice sounded in the team chat:

"Someone wants to attack us after we kill the mutants, so I plan to strike first."

"Later I'll give you a leaf; just pretend to eat it."

"After eating it, pretend to be on the verge of death, otherwise those people might not dare to move."

"What?"

Zhang Tie rubbed his forehead, curiously sizing up everyone in the cafeteria:

"Who else dares to scheme against us? Just this bunch of trash?"

"Li Lei and that Wang guy?"

A pair of bear eyes glared wildly, making everyone in the cafeteria dare not meet his gaze.

Lin An casually nodded.

Li Lei wanted to dispel his own wariness—wasn't he also trying to dispel Li Lei's wariness?

He was very interested in the spirit entity in Li Lei's necklace.

He planned to, after asking a few questions later, eat the Manchineel Flower in person to lure the two into acting prematurely.

After all, the energy core could only restore 50% of mental power.

If the mutant hatching from the blood cocoon turned out to be special, there might still be some unexpected developments.

No matter how strong he was, Lin An intended to reduce the risk to a minimum.

Such an annoying pest, it's better to deal with it early.

Delay invites change.

Li Lei's talent hinted at something strange.

Got it, Lin Dui.

Zhang Tie didn't think much after hearing it; anyway, Lin Dui told him what to do, and he just did it.

Beside Lin An, Mo Ling glared at Fan Bing with her big eyes full of hostility, and the voice in the team channel was full of discontent:

"Lin An, what's with the perfume on you!"

"She's a bad woman! Don't you know!"

Fan Bing seemed to sense Mo Ling's hostility, offering her a can with a pleasing smile, her eyebrows curved.

Since she had already prepared to betray Li Lei, she naturally needed to maintain good relations with the people in Lin An's team.

Regardless of whether Lin An would take her with him, establishing good relations in advance was appropriate.

The saying "don't strike a smiling face" obviously didn't work on Mo Ling.

The atmosphere was awkward.

The little girl stared coldly at her feet, then picked up a fruit knife from the table and gestured twice.

The meaning in Mo Ling's eyes was clear: if you dare to hook your foot around Lin An again, I'll chop off your leg.

Fan Bing gave an embarrassed chuckle; she hadn't thought much, she just wanted to get closer.

After all, she had already planned to sever ties with Li Lei, and Lin An was very likely to be her capital for survival going forward.

Moreover...

She simply couldn't touch Lin An at all.

That telekinetic barrier of hers formed an invisible barrier between her and Lin An.

Fan Bing secretly sighed.

"Do I have the Zombie virus on me? I can't even touch?"

"Deng deng-deng"

Footsteps hurried downstairs, Li Lei holding a brand-new hot pot, followed by Li Lei holding an alcohol stove.

"Sir!"

"This is the hot pot I brought for you!"

Li Lei forced a smile, but seeing the fingerprint on Sister Bing's face sparked a surge of anger.

"Damn little beast."

He forcibly suppressed his killing intent, set down the hot pot, then sat opposite Lin An:

"Sir, just tell me what else you need!"

"We still have wine; I'll toast you later."

"Sister Bing told you, right? We want to join your team, or we could go together to Brother Wang Kun's..."

His voice trembled; saying such lowly words in front of his goddess, how could he not be in agony?

Wang Kun performed slightly better; he diligently set up the alcohol stove, smiling apologetically as he sat to the side.

"Sir, do you have any backing, and are you interested in establishing a safe zone? Like Long'an Base?"

"If not, with your strength joining us to follow my brother, you'd at least be second-in-command!"

"My brother commands thousands, with guns, ammo, Awakened Ones... everything!"

Lin An chuckled lightly and looked at Wang Kun:

- Lin An (person)

- Wang Kun (person)

"Let me be second-in-command? Who is your brother? Where is his influence?"

: No Chinese characters present (we replaced). Good.

"From what you're saying, he seems quite strong?"

- No new.

He didn't answer Wang Kun's first question; instead, Lin An sensed Wang Kun's wholehearted admiration for the brother he kept mentioning.

: No Chinese characters.

"Splash-"

- Sound effect, not a name.

After pouring hot water, Wang Kun's heart stirred.

- Wang Kun.

Lin An asked this, could it be that he has no backing?

- Lin An.

Recalling his earlier guess, he hurriedly replied:

- No new.

"My brother's name is Wang Ba; you can also call him by his nickname, Ba Wang!"

: Need to avoid Chinese. Original meaning: Wang Ba is a person; the name means King Hegemon. So: "【80】 - Wang Ba is a person; the name means 'King Hegemon'."

: Ba Wang is a nickname; the name means Overlord King, used as an epithet. So: "【81】 - Ba Wang is a nickname; the name means 'Overlord King', used as an epithet."

Zhang Tie couldn't help but laugh out loud.

- Zhang Tie (person)

"Wang Ba? Which turtle bastard came up with this name?"

: 【85】 - "Turtle" is a slang meaning insult; not a name. "Turtle grandson" also insult. Not names.

Wang Kun's face darkened a bit; he could only pretend not to care and continue speaking:

- Wang Kun.

"My brother Ba Wang opened a martial arts gym before the apocalypse and was very well-known locally!"

- Ba Wang (nickname) again.

: 【90】 - "Apocalypse" appears in glossary.

: 【91】 - "Combat Hall" generic.

"I also happened to see his message in the chat channel; his power is based in the Approaching River Suburbs, in a town called Huang Village."

:

:

:

"He said he got a lot of heavy weapons, though I don't know if they came from the military region."

:

"His strength is quite strong, though it might still be a bit lacking compared to yours."

- No new.

"But he's already preparing to build his own safe zone! Once the city is built, it will be the first safe zone in our Approaching River War Zone!"

:

:

- But maybe we should treat 'Approaching River' as a place name but not meaningless; still we translate meaning.

Also "安全區" already in glossary as Safe Zone.

Zhang Tie shook his head and let out a scornful chuckle.

- Zhang Tie.

"The first safe zone? Tsk, what big talk."

:

"You're not as strong as our boss, yet you dare to talk big and claim to be second-in-command?"

:

"Step down from the boss's position, and maybe our captain will be more interested."

:

Wang Kun lowered his head, gave an embarrassed chuckle twice, and smirked inwardly.

- Wang Kun.

Yes, your captain is strong, but he also heard from Li Lei what this kid is really like.

:

:

High attack, low defense, and its burst lasts only a few seconds.

- No names.

In his view, such Awakened Ones are fearsome, but when faced with many Awakened Ones attacking, they aren't instantly turned to ash.

:

Especially since this kid isn't an agility-type Awakened One, a single barrage of artillery could probably blow him up!

:

:

No matter how high the damage, it still doesn't have the mutant's freakish vitality and defense.

:

Therefore, he didn't think his brother Ba Wang would be any worse than Lin An.

- Wang Ba, Lin An.

No matter how strong you are, what good is it if you have no followers or influence?

- No.

You might be able to beat ten people, but can you beat a thousand?

- No.

Lin An raised his hand to stop Zhang Tie's mockery.

- Lin An, Zhang Tie.

Huang Village? A lot of heavy weapons.

:

As I recall, the Approaching River Military Region is nearby.

:

It looks like the weapons and equipment were taken from the military region.

:

In his previous life, the Approaching River Military Region had always been active, even organizing rescue operations not long after the apocalypse broke out.

:

:

:

:

But in this life, it has remained silent, as if it had disappeared.

- No.

Therefore, when searching for supplies, Lin An once wondered if some kind of mutation had occurred in the Approaching River Military Region, which is why he never considered going there.

- Lin An.

:

:

Now Wang Kun actually said his brother had once obtained equipment from the military region, which suggests the danger might not be as high as he imagined.

- Wang Kun.

- Wang Ba (brother).

:

After holding off the zombie tide, perhaps I can go take a look; maybe there's something hidden there.

:

The Approaching River Military Region isn't far from the Long'an Base; if there's any danger, it would be good to detect it early...

:

:

After a moment's thought, Lin An planned to ask his final question and then force Li Lei to act.

- Lin An.

- Li Lei.

"Regarding the location of the Rotting Titan you previously provided, has anything special happened there?"

:

- Also note the brackets are part of the text but not needed.

Upon hearing this, Wang Kun raised his head, put down his chopsticks, and hesitated for a moment.

- Wang Kun.

"Special..."

- No.

"It's just a high-end residential area; there's nothing special about it."

- No.

"If I had to say, maybe it's just that there are a lot of dogs there..."

- No.

Oh, that's a dog bone eaten by a zombie, not a living...