Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 293 - 173: Riverside

Chapter 293: Chapter 173: Riverside

Maya said, "The Hunter’s sniping skill is too limited, effective only against Titans. But would you use a Silencer to shoot Titans? As for using a Forest Wolf, it’s restricted by distance and bullets. Of course, it’s beneficial for hunting animals, especially large ones, but you know how few large animals there are. It essentially doesn’t help. To increase your kill count, you should be hunting rats in the sewers. Clearly, this skill doesn’t aid in rat hunting at all."

Lin Wu thoughtfully...

"You just want revenge, right?" Maya asked.

Lin Wu scoffed, "Cut it out, I’m not that petty. I have no grudge against Black Bears; otherwise, all the Black Bears in Left County would have been eliminated by me."

"I didn’t mention Black Bears," Maya said.

Lin Wu changed the subject, "What about Eagle Eye?"

Maya gave Lin Wu a meaningful look before continuing, "Eagle Eye is of limited use unless a mission requires tracking a certain type of creature. Usually, we don’t specifically hunt a type of zombie or animal... except for Black Bears."

Lin Wu placed hands on hips: You wanna fight?

Maya, holding back a laugh, continued, "Bleeding is very strong. You don’t have spear or bow skills, but it goes well with your Beast Trap. It’s hard to judge Concealment. When it’s useful, it can be terrifyingly effective, but most of the time, it’s useless. The role of Hunting Dog is unknown—it lacks detailed description. There’s no description of whether the Hunting Dog needs to be fed, how capable it is in combat, or if it has strong tracking abilities. However, based on my knowledge of military dogs, I think Hunting Dog is the top choice among the five skills."

Lin Wu didn’t quite agree.

"And among the five skills," Maya added, "Hunting Dog is the most impressive."

Lin Wu nodded in deep agreement. The other skills might be invisible to others, but a dog was tangible and real. And if it could resurrect 24 hours after death, what did that imply? It meant you could eat every day... such evil thoughts shouldn’t be harbored. Lin Wu declared, "That settles it. Tomorrow, I’ll start hunting rats."

"For rat hunting, you need bait. You should set up feeding points for some time at a certain location. I suggest setting up a long-term feeding and hunting plan based on terrain after we get to the Sawmill."

Lin Wu nodded repeatedly, "Makes sense."

"I’m off to read," Maya announced.

"Barbecue?" asked Lin Wu.

"Whatever," Maya replied, seemingly without anticipation. This dampened Lin Wu’s spirits a bit, halving his enthusiasm. Fortunately, he was still half interested, so he set up the grill Stone had given him, took out some meat and seasoning, and began to barbecue in the hallway.

When the aroma filled the air, Lin Wu turned around and was startled to find Maya standing behind him, looking down at the barbecue. He jumped when he saw a woman with long hair standing less than 30 centimeters from him in the dim light, tossing his tongs aside in fright.

Unperturbed, Maya picked up the tongs and handed them back to Lin Wu, "Did I scare you?"

"Not at all," he replied.

"Looks good," Maya said.

Lin Wu dished up some bacon and pork belly for Maya, who took it and said, "Thanks."

"You’re welcome."

Maya walked toward the library, pausing to say, "It would be better if we could barbecue outside. Too much smoke."

Serve me right, huh! Lin Wu ravenously ate a strip of bacon. It was delicious, albeit slightly dry—needed more oil. He moved the bacon currently grilling to a cooler spot to rest the meat.

Previously, Lin Wu and Maya had partnered mostly for battle. This partnership during the cold, winter nights confined them indoors, giving them more domestic time. Unlike Shana, who would always join in any fun activity, Maya focused on her own tasks, not bothering Lin Wu, and he didn’t bother her either. After all, he had plenty of ways to amuse himself: reading good books, eating delicious meat, or if really bored, he could go lie in the snow outside for a while.

...

The next morning, as Lin Wu was taking the tea Maya had brewed for him, the system alerted: Base threat level rose to six stars. Neither Lin Wu nor Maya was phased, they’d not only seen six stars before but had participated in defending walled cities against such a threat twice. They’d hold the line if possible, and escape if not.

Today, they weren’t heading to the cement factory but to Riverside Park on Left County 2nd Road. This park was mostly populated by ordinary zombies in not very large numbers, with low density, allowing Maya to bring out her cherished machete. They came here because Riverside Park and Forest Park are somewhat similar, both open-air outdoor spots—perhaps they could find some good stuff there.

What Maya wanted the most was a White Noise Generator. It could reduce dormitory residents’ required sleep time by half an hour. The only White Noise Generator available was in the main base and couldn’t be bought in the market. Lin Wu felt that half an hour more or less of sleep didn’t make much of a difference, but he was also keen on the idea of exploring somewhere new.

Left County River was two hundred meters wide with an average depth of four meters. Its surface was now completely frozen, covered with roughly 15 centimeters of snow. Riverside Park was right on the bank of Left County River. With an average width of about 15 meters, it stretched from the north to the south edge of Left County along the river. The riverside had a walkway with railings about 1.3 meters high. However, the railing was not continuous; in some places, steps led down to the river.

There were no recreational facilities in Riverside Park, and most buildings were pavilions, with a few water police duty booths. There were two paths: one for walking, one for bicycling, aligned side by side. Benches were placed about every 50 meters along the walkway. Willow trees were planted on both sides of the road.