Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 88 - 87: Night Inspection

Chapter 88: Chapter 87: Night Inspection

Lin Wu explained the reason, "My ex-girlfriend always wanted to change me. When a classmate sent a mass invitation to his birthday party to the whole class, I decided not to attend because I wasn’t close to him. My ex-girlfriend thought I should go out of courtesy. When others purposely bumped into me during basketball, I looked for a chance to bump them back, but my ex-girlfriend would say, ’Just because a dog bites you doesn’t mean you should bite back.’

Lin Wu said, "And every time, her opening line would be: ’We need to talk.’ I’m too sensitive—whenever you say that, I immediately get defensive."

Shana didn’t commit to a view but asked, "I have a question, what is your opinion of your ex-girlfriend?"

Lin Wu said seriously, "She was a very outstanding girl, an extremely excellent girlfriend, she should have been a goddess out of my league."

Shana said, "I don’t mean to change you. I think there are many areas where I fall short compared to you and I need your suggestions. And you often get distracted and need someone to keep you in check. For instance, you wasted a lot of time getting the design for the Beast Trap. But because you got that design, it puts me in a position where I can’t really say anything."

Lin Wu understood, "Like how today I greeted Night Demons all along the way, played with Frenzies using a trap, and practiced Gun Skill on Exploding Carnage, and so on."

Shana said, "I understand your gaming attitude. But I’d rather focus on completing the tasks Maya and Stone assigned us. I want to do everything to the best of my ability."

Lin Wu nodded, "Agreed."

Shana asked, "So we’re good?" extending her right hand.

Lin Wu stood up, walked over, and shook hands with Shana, "We’re good."

One minute later...

"Shana."

"Hmm?"

Lin Wu said, "I have a suggestion."

"Go ahead."

Lin Wu said, "Don’t bother drawing."

"Why not?"

Lin Wu said, "Even if you draw, we still have to go there in person. Since we have to visit the site anyway, why bother drawing?"

Shana reflected: That makes sense.

Lin Wu said, "Let’s make a trip on route 2. It runs alongside the river. If the car breaks down, we can still take Riverside Park."

"Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

Lin Wu said, "See, you say you need my suggestions, but when I offer a good one, not only do I get no thanks, you complain instead."

Once again, Shana had nothing to say, resignedly packed up her paper and pencil, and stood up, saying, "Thank you! Let’s set off."

Wisely, Lin Wu chose not to ask further: Why not finish the drawing since it’s almost complete?

Those who consider all details often encounter problems of choice, becoming caught up in the gains and losses of their options; some even have obsessive-compulsive disorders, needing to execute the best plan to feel comfortable. However, the very presence of a choice indicates that the difference in advantage between two options is not significant.

If Shana were a perfectionist, she wouldn’t settle for sketching and photocopying murals because only finding the System Map would satisfy her. If Shana were a dogmatist, she’d finish the mural, because she wouldn’t be sure if she could acquire more information than the mural offered. Most people, however, are neither perfectionists nor dogmatists, and they face more distress when confronted with choices.

For example, if two men both of good standing pursued a woman and the woman had a certain liking for both, she would be very troubled. Once troubled by choice, she has a high probability of tragedy, because when in future sorrow, she might regret why she didn’t choose the other, instead of the one she did. Yet, when happy, she would not necessarily feel fortunate for her choice.

Lin Wu once found himself in a dilemma. The divorced man who shared his life experience told him, the best thing to do when faced with two tough choices is to just pick one. If you regret it immediately, switch to the other because your subconscious likely prefers that one. If you don’t regret it right away, then stick with it. Perhaps the path you chose is not easy, but the one you did not choose could be even harder.

...

Route 2 wasn’t that easy either. Observing from the signal tower, they noticed the zombies on Highway 2 were not dense, either making way for a patrolling horde or perhaps the zombies were swept into the patrol. The only issue they had to face was the horde itself.

Shana said, "Take the pedestrian walkway on the left (non-motor vehicle lane)."

Lin Wu said, "The pedestrian walkway on the right has a gentle slope leading to Riverside Park, but there are more zombies there than on the left."

Neither of these choices was good. "Any ideas?"

Lin Wu, "It depends on your driving skills. If that’s not a problem, we’ll take the main road. If we encounter a horde, we’ll drive onto the sidewalk to bypass them. We need to be fast, Frenzy can reach speeds close to 40, and we can’t go under 40 during the detour. There’s a landscape tree every ten meters along the edge of the sidewalk; if we hit one, we’ll be swamped by the horde."

Shana, holding the Silencer, observed the sidewalk for a while: "It shouldn’t be a problem, but we can’t be sure there won’t be obstacles on the sidewalk. For example, a car that’s illegally parked."

Lin Wu, "You have two options, left or right; the likelihood of obstacles on either walkway shouldn’t be high."

After another look, Shana slapped Lin Wu’s backpack, "Let’s go; big sis will take you for a ride."

...

As an amateur retro motorcycle racer, Shana’s driving skills were quite impressive, different from Stone’s veteran driver skills. The latter was better at handling emergencies, while Shana excelled in maneuvering vehicles. Shana told Lin Wu that even just driving a car onto a sidewalk required skill in the angle at which the wheels hit the curb.

The first time they detoured onto a curb, the force of the impact was so strong, due to the inability to decelerate, that it made Lin Wu feel very uncomfortable. The jolt was uncomfortable for Shana too, but she firmly held the steering wheel and counter-steered to avoid crashing into the walls by the road, dodged the zombies on the sidewalk, and chose the right moment to drop back down between two trees to the road.

Every detour was a test, and Shana concentrated all her focus on driving. A focused woman is the most beautiful, and even Lin Wu couldn’t help but give her a second glance. Of course, Lin Wu’s attention wasn’t on Shana; he was watching the surroundings, as they might need to abandon the car at any moment and choose whether to head into a community on the left or to Riverside Park on the right—a decision directly connected to their survival.

Ten minutes later, the car reached the central part of Left County, where a bridge connecting to Shuixi was located. The bridge entrance had a roundabout. Lin Wu pointed: "Police station."

This wasn’t a police station, but the Water Police Department. The department was situated near the bridgehead, a standalone two-story building. Shana drove around the roundabout, "The location is good, a pity the building is a bit small."

Lin Wu, "Shouldn’t it be the building is good, but the location is a bit off?"

Shana looked at Lin Wu, "Rule number one of my team: fines for quibbling."

Lin Wu forced a smile, "Let’s go."

Shana pointed, "You see the road sign? Cross the bridge to Shuixi and go straight for about 5 kilometers, and there’s a sawmill."

Lin Wu, "Sawmill? Hmm, could the sawmill be a car repair shop?"

Shana didn’t understand, and Lin Wu explained, "I’m talking about Invincible Base. It’s a pretty good base with advantages in cars and gasoline. But it’s located in a remote area, with no shopping streets nearby and few residents. A sawmill definitely couldn’t be built in a residential area."

Shana, "It’s not the best choice."

Lin Wu, "Yeah, it’s not the best choice."

After the roundabout, the four-lane two-way road became a six-lane one, with a median strip added in the middle. This greatly increased Shana’s operating space, the more she drove, the better she felt.

Driving along, Shana was pleasantly surprised, "This stretch of road is quite suitable for driving." The wider road, decreased density of zombies, and lack of abandoned vehicles indicated that a vehicular traffic line could be established between the south city and the city center.

"We’re nearing the south city," Lin Wu indicated, "There’s a signal tower."

"I see it," Shana drove near the signal tower, circling it while controlling the speed to pull the zombies away, then used the car’s speed to shake them off and drove straight to the base of the tower.

When Lin Wu got out of the car, he found not a single zombie within a ten-meter radius and admired, "I have to say it, your driving skills are really good."

Shana asked, "What’s not good about me?"

Lin Wu, "Fines for quibbling."

"..." Shana was speechless once more.

"Only magic can defeat magic," Lin Wu led the way up the ladder.