Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 186 - 130 Waste City (Four)_2

Chapter 186: Chapter 130 Waste City (Four)_2

Lin Wu didn’t follow Maya; he stood up and walked toward the green device. When about 30 meters from the green device, it began to shake, and the zombies started running towards it. Lin Wu crouched down into Stealth mode, and the device stopped shaking, causing the zombies to turn back. Lin Wu stood up again, the device shook, and the zombies started running again. Lin Wu crouched down again...

Stand up, crouch down, stand up, crouch down, stand up, crouch down...

The green device shook, didn’t shake, shook, didn’t shake...

The zombies ran, returned, ran, returned, ran, returned...

On the second floor, Maya watched Lin Wu amuse himself endlessly with the machine and couldn’t help but facepalm, thinking to herself: I don’t know him, I don’t know him.

Maya thought Lin Wu would stop after playing for a bit, but he seemed addicted, as if he wouldn’t stop until he crashed the game. Helplessly, Maya reached out to contact Lin Wu, "Come back."

"Five minutes."

"Now."

"Oh."

Lin Wu left reluctantly, running back for one more round of stand-and-crouch, watching the zombies trudge back listlessly before finally feeling satisfied enough to return to the transport field.

...

Maya looked at the map, "The nearest retreat point is at a small airport four kilometers away."

Lin Wu saw Maya’s troubled expression and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Maya pointed at the map, "We have to cross a road that’s only 500 meters long and 7 meters wide."

Lin Wu deployed a drone, reporting, "The road is flanked by office buildings, with the first floors right up against the road. According to the scan, there are hundreds of zombies inside the rows of office buildings."

Maya said, "Taking a detour would mean an extra three kilometers, or we could head to a park with a lake that’s eight kilometers to the northwest. There’s a retreat point there too."

Lin Wu observed the 500-meter-long road back and forth and said, "That’s a very dangerous road; I suggest we head for the park."

Maya asked, "The detour to the airport is only seven kilometers."

Lin Wu said, "Have you forgotten the difficult situation we faced after completing our first mission? Back then, there wasn’t a single scientist within a five-kilometer radius of our position. If we take them to the nearest retreat point, I reckon we still won’t be able to find our next mission target."

"Your logic makes sense," Maya put away the map, "We’ve decided to go to the park."

Lin Wu asked, "Just a quick interview, what do you think of your own physical abilities?"

Maya tilted her head and gave him a look.

Maya’s main strength was carrying soldiers; after carrying them for about ten meters, she’d run out of stamina and need to stand still while waiting for her stamina bar to slowly refill, or she’d need to put the soldier down to recover stamina quickly. This was not a job for Lin Wu, as he hadn’t invested in strength; he was already close to his maximum carrying capacity and would probably need to catch his breath after less than five meters with a soldier on his back.

"Hehe, being incapable is a kind of bliss," mused Lin Wu. The capable do more work, the incapable do less. Of course, it was a joke—scout Lin Wu had very important tasks to take care of as well.

"I get it now, you’re just asking for a beating," Maya shook her head, checking the time, "Eat and drink, and we’ll set off in five minutes."

...

The journey to the park was not perilous; Lin Wu led the way, killing any stationary zombies they encountered on the road. To Lin Wu, open areas in Waste City felt like the safest places on his first day there.

The green zombies had one clear weakness: they remained stationary when they did not detect prey. Maya believed that this was not the original form of the green zombies. The form of the green zombies in Waste City was likely created by robots sent back to Earth a hundred years later by human colonists to collect information on the green zombies.

Lin Wu disagreed; he thought if the simulation was true, the city should have been overtaken by plants in the absence of humans. Waste City was desolate with sand flying everywhere, and there were hardly any plants to be seen.

Maya responded, "There is only one reason: the water in Waste City is contaminated, preventing plants from growing. Without the protection of plants, this coastal city has turned into a desert wasteland."

Just as Lin Wu was about to reply, he noticed something amiss and raised his left hand, signaling for both him and Maya to crouch down beside a bus stop by the road.

Lin Wu said, "There are players, sixty meters away. They are looking in our direction, uncertain if they are resting inside the building or planning to ambush us."

Maya asked, "What weapons do they have?"

Lin Wu reported, "There are three people visible; two women and one man. The man and one of the women have submachine guns, while the other woman has a pistol. They’re inside a shop, only needing to stand up to start shooting." The drone’s overhead view couldn’t make out the players’ faces but could see where their heads were pointed.

Maya said, "It can’t be an ambush. More likely they’re resting and, seeing us with scientists and soldiers, they might want to try their luck and rob us."

Lin Wu said, "I’m not sure, they are very lax, a man and a woman seem to be chatting, and one woman keeps looking in our direction."

Maya said, "Players are not an army, their ambush is very clumsy. Human nature is treacherous, we can’t rule out danger."

Lin Wu asked, "Wipe them out? We have the advantage here."

"Rules of engagement," Maya said, "we cannot open fire until the other party has shown hostility."

Lin Wu said, "So we just walk right past them? They have a couple of submachine guns in their hands, we can’t beat them." Lin Wu had the drone stop on the roof opposite, using only the camera function to effectively reduce power consumption.

Lin Wu then said, "They have a bell tower twenty meters away, should I try to hit the bell?" Using something else to kill for one, it’s the zombies that do the killing, nothing to do with me.

Maya did not answer, she took out a map and looked at it for a while: "Take a detour, one kilometer away."

"Okay."

The two, with two NPCs, turned right at the intersection, Lin Wu’s drone remained stationary. After Lin Wu made the detour, he reported in, "They haven’t stirred, they look like a couple with a third wheel. Maya, I think Waste City is quite safe, as long as we make sure there are no zombies around, there will be none." Most of the zombies in the Homeland game wander without a pattern.

Maya disagreed, "Look at the three zombies standing by the road ahead. If they had always been still, there wouldn’t be just a layer of sand on them. Less movement doesn’t mean no movement. Green devices are densely distributed inside Waste City, your drone may not find any personnel within a five-kilometer radius, but it can find one or two green devices."

"Right."

Maya said, "Maybe at night, without light pollution, the green light emitted by the green devices will extend from 30 meters to three hundred meters, maybe even further. After we drop them off, we’ll find a place to settle down, can’t be careless without knowing the enemy situation."

"Sure."

Maya asked, "How much battery does the drone have left?"

Lin Wu replied, "78%."

...

The Falcon was about to reach the retreat point; the sound of the helicopter, as usual, woke the zombies, and another battle with little danger ensued. Only, during this fight, the three players previously seen stayed a hundred meters away, approaching the battlefield. The couple stood together, discussing the fight. The girl in green sat on the wall, swinging her legs and watching the excitement.

After the fight ended, the three approached Lin Ma, and Maya, with her self-defense pistol, stepped forward to meet them. The other party did not bring out weapons; you can’t loot in the instance, and killing after the mission ends makes no sense.

As the two approached, the somewhat indolent man let the woman beside him do the talking. She introduced herself, they were from Starfire Base in Right County of South City of Future City, the man was called Sunlight, the speaking woman was Starlight, and the woman in green was Fire Dance. They had no other purpose aside from having witnessed the fight earlier and wanting to get to know Lin Ma.

Maya said, "My name is Maya."

Starlight asked, "Hello Maya, may I ask if you have another companion?"

Over the walkie-talkie came Lin Wu’s voice, "I’m called Marlon, your little brother, left because I had to take a leak."

Maya said, "My little brother is scouting nearby. His name is Marlon. We are members of the Shadow sub-base supermarket base in Left County, North City, North Town of Future City."

Starlight asked, "May we meet your little brother?"

Lin Wu maintained Stealth and crouched during the fight, camouflaged so that people at distance couldn’t see him, but they knew there was someone with Maya. That’s why they approached to strike up a conversation. They were curious about whether Lin Wu was invisible due to a skill or if he had high-tech stealth clothing.

Maya answered, "Without my little brother’s permission, I can’t agree to your request."

Starlight apologized very politely, "I’m sorry, we were a bit abrupt."

Fire Dance in green spoke up, "I saw you guys earlier."

Maya nodded, "Yes."

Fire Dance asked, "Did you detour because of us?"

Maya replied, "Yes."

Fire Dance and Starlight apologized together, "We’re sorry, we’re sorry, we didn’t mean to trouble you."

Fire Dance glanced at Sunlight, and Sunlight, smiling, asked, "Is it only one companion you have?"

"Yes."

Sunlight asked, "Is he really called Marlon? Don’t get me wrong, it’s just that I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before."