Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 744 - 348 Going Out

Chapter 744: Chapter 348 Going Out

Maya knew that Nightmare wanted to get rid of Lin Wu, but only Nightmare knew how much she wanted to kill Lin Wu herself. Compared to Maya’s limited promises, Nightmare had more reasons to be conflicted.

Listening to Lin Wu’s report, Maya said, "Lin Wu, go make some tea. Stone, deliver a load of soil."

Stone: "I can still dig."

Maya: "Deliver soil."

Feeling helpless, Stone picked up a bucket of soil and walked inside with Lin Wu. Not until the two of them left the shooting range did Nightmare make a move. Nevertheless, she didn’t leave but returned to leaning against the railing, took out a bottle of drink, gulped it down, and put the can back in her backpack.

Lin Wu brought over a homemade small round table, just big enough for someone’s behind, and started brewing tea on it. Soon after, Stone returned with the plastic bucket, placed it down, grabbed the hot tea, and downed it in one go, then turned to continue digging: "Is she ever going to shoot?" If she didn’t shoot soon, he’d have to make a second trip.

Not only did the Shadow People wonder about this question, but Nightmare did as well. At that moment, Little Fight, which had been circling, could only persist for another 40 minutes. However, this was plenty of time, as Stone and Lin Wu had run out of material to perform for another 40 minutes.

Little Fight then spotted a new Fortress agent, a veiled woman who arrived at the Sentry Card on an electric bike, immediately went into Concealment, and walked briskly over to Nightmare’s side.

Lin Wu said, "Blood Meng has arrived too. Two birds with one stone; I like it."

Little Fight’s split targeting system locked two rockets onto Nightmare and Blood Meng and was ready for them to make their move.

After a reminder from Nightmare, Blood Meng looked towards the bridgehead, saw the banner, and exchanged a few words with Nightmare. Then Blood Meng retreated the way she came. Nightmare tried to make Blood Meng stay, but she shook her head, and seemingly said something, then returned to the Sentry Card, mounted her electric bike, and left. Frustrated, Nightmare slammed her fist on the floor.

Maya said, "Let’s call it off, she doesn’t dare to shoot." When Maya said Nightmare didn’t dare, she didn’t say Nightmare didn’t want to, showing obviously she knew Nightmare wasn’t entirely bound by the contract rules and didn’t shoot due to being afraid of Lin Wu. Over more than a year of interactions, Nightmare had hardly ever gotten the better of Lin Wu. The last train operation was the first time Nightmare took the initiative to attack but ended up getting counter-killed by Lin Wu’s night vision goggles.

Whenever Nightmare cooperated with Shadow, she never came off worse. It’s just that because Nightmare’s family had a uniquely high score, she had shifted from an aggressive spirit to a conservative strategy. Earning points was about cooperation, but to defend points, she needed to kill Lin Wu.

Nightmare wasn’t indecisive, but the balance of factors made it impossible for her to make a decision. Apart from the aforementioned reasons, Nightmare also considered that the new base was over 300 kilometers away from her safe house, winter was approaching, and she fully had the chance to draw a card that could replace her safe house. Of course, she also took into account the not-so-substantial friendship with Maya.

As Lin Wu and Stone retreated, Nightmare withdrew first, bound by the fear of the unknown that would come from shooting, which ultimately led to her decision not to pull the trigger after an intense inner struggle.

Nobody was satisfied with the outcome. Shana wasn’t a greedy person, but as an employee of Fortress Company, she felt somewhat uncomfortable about being coerced into marrying Nightmare. More importantly, her lack of greed didn’t mean she lacked desires; having seen what the Nightmare Safe House contained, she had her own thoughts.

Maya was unhappy due to her distrust of Nightmare. Striking first was against her moral principles. Now, the problem was that even though Maya knew Nightmare wanted to kill Lin Wu and didn’t act upon it now, it didn’t mean Nightmare wouldn’t act in the future. However, as a rational person, she was also clear that there’s a big difference between thinking something and doing it.

Meanwhile, Lin Wu himself was the most nonchalant about the situation, successfully wasting Little Fight’s battery, earning time to charge and slack off, and contentedly sleeping through the entire morning. After waking up, he and Wai bullied Phantom. Only at lunchtime did he drive to pick everyone up for the meal.

When Stone and Su Shi first saw Lin Meng’s disfigured face, they were so shocked their jaws dropped. Lin Meng felt proud that she could shock the two uncles, but she still went to the infirmary.

The general practitioner Maya wrote Lin Meng’s admission form for half the day. Coming out of the infirmary, Stone, who couldn’t wait, asked, "What kind of zombie could do that to a person?"

"Uncle, shut up."

Stone showed a smiling face and said, "Rest well."

Shana shouted, "Su Shi has lost his mind!"

Everyone rushed out to see that Su Shi was bravely standing on the edge of the safe area, staring at a zombie thirty meters away. Turning back to the incoming crowd, Su Shi said, "These glasses are indeed useful." People didn’t understand Dizzy Zombies just like some didn’t understand motion sickness, let alone vertigo from 3D, gasoline, or blood. There were also those who got dizzy from water, light, or even video game lights.

Su Shi’s dizziness referred to a physiological stress reaction caused either by fear or revulsion upon seeing zombies. After putting on the glasses that Lin Meng gave him, all the zombies transformed into cartoonish dolls, not only less frightening but also quite adorable.

That was the power of a beauty filter, capable of turning a rough man into a cute girl.

...

The afternoon scavenging effort continued. After capturing the gas station, the neighboring auto parts store became the new objective. As always, the process of scavenging was simple, but luring zombies and killing them was time-consuming.

Around six in the evening, as the sun sank and streetlights were yet to come on, the indoor light worsened and Maya announced the end of the day’s work. Everyone headed back to base. At seven, the streetlights came on but had little to do with the interiors. After a long observation with the telescope and several mental simulations, Maya concluded that working at night presented too high a risk, and therefore she established the second rule: unless necessary, do not enter buildings swarming with zombies at night.