Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 51 - 50 Highland Villa (Part 2)

Chapter 51: Chapter 50 Highland Villa (Part 2)

"Help out!" Kicking zombies and executing them took time. The remaining two zombies were closing in, and Shana had no time even to raise her leg; she could only use Stone’s signature move, wielding the hockey stick and swinging it repeatedly.

"Oh." Lin Wu ran over. While the zombies were still focused on Shana, he executed one from behind with a steak knife, and Wind Stinger took care of the other one on the left.

Shana praised, "So cool."

Lin Wu modestly replied, "Just average." Still, being complimented felt good.

Shana asked with a curious tone, "Is this move effective against players too?"

Why was she asking this question? Lin Wu felt guilty and stammered, "I haven’t, haven’t used it, don’t, don’t know."

After saying that, feeling it wasn’t very supportive, he added, "I’m a pacifist."

Shana couldn’t help but snicker and continued to compliment, "Being able to maintain pacifism in the apocalypse is a kind of success."

"Thank you." Lin Wu changed the subject, "I’ll lead the way; let’s sneak in. Fighting is too much trouble." Lin Wu had a clear advantage when facing single zombies or a few. He wasn’t good at confronting hordes of them head-on. If trapped in a building by zombies without any way out and no one else’s help, he would also have a hard time getting out safely.

Shana nodded and followed Lin Wu as he zigzagged forward, clearing a path and opening the main building door. After Shana entered, Lin Wu shut the main building door.

The stairs were in the middle, with a large room on the left that was the kitchen, and the dining room on the right. Considering the noise Shana made while fighting, Lin Wu stealthily eliminated the zombies on the first floor. He asked Shana to wait on the first floor while he went up to the second. The second floor had three rooms, and he easily wiped out the zombies there, soon clearing the third floor as well. Next was the scavenging.

"Backpack." Lin Wu called Shana over, and started packing dishes and utensils from the dishwasher into her backpack, along with meat, milk, Ovaltine, salt, and more, stuffing her bag full. Lin Wu, focused on his work, completely missed Shana turning her head to reveal a look of pretended resentment.

On the second floor, Lin Wu went to the master bedroom to take down the TV, asking Shana to hold it. She finally couldn’t help but ask, "Taking it back to base?"

"Mhmm," Lin Wu nodded. "We’ll have TV tonight."

Shana asked, "Which channels do we get?"

Lin Wu replied, "Probably sports channels, I like soccer, how about you?"

Shana said, "I like baseball... no, wait, how can we watch?"

Lin Wu answered, "Our base has electricity."

Shana noted, "I know, but you still need channels."

Lin Wu replied, "Sports channels."

Shana patiently explained, "Humanity is extinct, how could there still be sports channels?"

Makes sense, Lin Wu suddenly realized. Shana shook her head gently: silly goose.

Lin Wu took out a PS5 from under the TV cabinet and unhooked it, hanging it around Shana’s neck: "We can play games."

"This..." Shana found herself at a loss for words, as if it were indeed feasible, and asked indignantly, "Are we also supposed to take the air conditioning unit?"

Lin Wu looked towards the air conditioner, and Shana quickly said, "No, no, I was joking. I can’t carry any more weight."

"Take out the bowls and other items." Lin Wu calculated: the air conditioner main unit plus the air conditioner itself plus the television plus the game console would weigh about 65 kilograms. This load was definitely too much, but since Shana had strong willpower, she could carry more than the average person and cover more distance. With him leading the way and Shana following slowly, it was perfect.

"How should I take them?"

"I’ll find some rope."

Shana, bound with the air conditioner, holding the television, and dangling a game console, was nearly in tears. First, I’m a beauty, and it’s very impolite to treat a beauty this way. Second... What was the second point again? It wasn’t excessive to have a newbie carry some items, and damn it, these electrical appliances might actually work. Try as she might, she couldn’t find a reason to oppose Lin Wu.

Lin Wu said with concern, "You go downstairs and wait for me. Be careful not to bump the appliances or make any noise."

Shana reluctantly smiled on the outside but was seething on the inside as she asked, "May I crouch down and wait?"

Lin Wu wondered, "Why don’t you sit and wait?"

It was over; this was a man of steel, a paragon among men, the bane of green tea and pure girls, a creature that could instantly skyrocket a girlfriend’s blood pressure to 200. Their way of thinking was beyond the comprehension of ordinary girls. For instance, girls might think boys like watching dance videos of pretty girls when, in fact, the videos that keep most men watching are about shoeing donkeys, washing wool blankets, removing barnacles, sniping rats, hunting wild boars...

With resignation, Shana said, "Fine, I’ll wait for you downstairs. I can’t carry any more, so don’t pick up any more appliances."

Lin Wu felt a tinge of regret: "I should have brought Little Knife out, or Snow Egg, or Horse Soul, even Stone would do." Will was the least beneficial for carrying things, even less so than his own nimble body.

Are you still not satisfied?

...

After dispatching Shana with the air conditioner and the television, Lin Wu could finally take his time scavenging. It was a habit cultivated from working nights; he didn’t rush to pull out drawers when he saw a table, instead he first examined what was on the table – picture frames, pens, text documents, etc. Then he would sit down as if he were the homeowner, open a drawer, read half a page from the top book, and if he was interested, he would throw it into his backpack, if not, he would set it aside.

After switching rooms, he found a diary of the homeowner’s daughter on the desk. Reading from back to front, Lin Wu expectedly found a clue. The daughter was the owner of shop number 5 on Commercial Street. After the zombie virus outbreak, she rushed home only to find her father missing, with just an address left behind. She planned to go look for him. She also explained why she left the diary there – to inform any family members looking for her about her and her father’s whereabouts.

Normally, one would stop reading at this point, but Lin Wu wasn’t in a hurry and continued flipping through the diary. The daughter had recorded the events leading up to the appearance of the zombies, mentioning some information. For example, her father was once a paratrooper and a master of survival. He had a favorite jeep that he told his daughter, after modifications, would become one of the best modes of transportation in the Apocalypse World. When the daughter brought up zombies during dinner one evening, her father mentioned he would modify a gun suitable for fighting zombies the next day.

An hour passed, and Shana was still sitting on a chair on the first floor. She did have the mindset of a newbie, and besides, it wasn’t technically bullying her. She thought about putting the appliances aside, but worried that moving them alone might make noise and attract zombies, and it wouldn’t be good if she accidentally smashed the electronics. She considered asking Lin Wu how much longer he would be, but the vexing fact was Lin Wu never came downstairs, nor could she call out to him.

Meanwhile, Lin Wu was on the third floor, thumbing through a book titled ’Professional Hunter.’ The book was interesting, filled with knowledge about how to stake out prey, pursue them, set beast traps, skin them, cut meat...

System Alert: Due to your low intelligence, you are unable to comprehend new skills.

Damn it! Lin Wu was immediately infuriated. He just wanted to read a book out of interest, without any intention to acquire new skills. Yet, not only did he fail to learn the skills, but he also had to endure a taunt from the system.

Dawn, if you dare, come out and fight me one-on-one!