Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 948 - 411 Library Base

Chapter 948: Chapter 411 Library Base

The next morning, worried that cooking would produce strong smells, the team continued to eat canned food. The young girl gave Lin Wu a can of luncheon meat, and Lin Wu checked the expiration date—damn, a 20-year shelf life. The girl explained that these were part of strategic reserves.

The girl wasn’t very talkative, but she liked to sit next to Lin Wu and listen to him boast. This made Lin Wu sigh inwardly; why was it so hard to find a girl in real life? Perhaps some evil scientist was dedicated to creating the perfect girlfriend because it was impossible to find one in reality.

Nightmare’s voice came through the communication device: "Peanut, I see Peanut."

Lin Wu asked, "What does he look like?"

Nightmare replied, "I don’t know. He seems to have just woken up, sitting alone on a bench by the first-floor entrance, quietly staring ahead."

During the meal, Maya inquired, "Did you see Emerald Feather?"

"I have a vague recollection of Emerald Feather. I probably wouldn’t recognize him even if I saw him," Nightmare answered. "There’s no reason for Peanut not to join the robbers’ field staff, meaning Nightmare’s truck base. Besides, Starlight wouldn’t trust Nightmare and would likely keep Peanut close to him."

Blood Meng picked up the communication device and said, "If Peanut is kept close to Nightmare, Nightmare would find a way to kill Peanut. Don’t we know his character? He’s a complete mix of arrogance and cunning, and he can’t tolerate anyone confronting him."

Lin Wu responded, "Translated, that means he is brave and intelligent, with clear loves and hates." Lazy against comfortable, irritable against genuine, stingy against thrifty, selfish against true-self, and cowardly against cautious.

Nightmare continued, "They had breakfast, and several people took gasoline cans out to check the number of zombies in the pits by the front and back doors. Some are farming. I only saw two assault rifles. Some are using air rifles. Didn’t they get the password for Veteran’s Club’s underground arsenal? Why has there been no activity?"

Maya replied, "It’s too risky; Veteran’s Club is in the city center. It seems that besides some equipment they got earlier, their biggest gain was ambushing the logistics park and obtaining a batch of firearms and ammunition."

Nightmare commented, "You know, I think Starlight is doing well. His followers are well-organized, though not exceedingly active, but they’re not lifeless. Look at the four people farming near Building 2; they’re very serious about their work."

Maya asked, "How many people do you estimate there are?"

After observing for a while, Nightmare said, "I see about 15 people right now. Some live directly in the residential buildings, but all go to the outdoor kitchen set up next to the library for breakfast. They also have at least two dogs. I suggest raising pigs; pigs eat everything, they could eat people, so they should also eat zombies."

Maya questioned, "The problem is whether we eat pigs that eat people."

Nightmare replied, "It depends on the circumstances. In ancient times, during famines, eating each other was common; if they couldn’t resist eating people, why not pigs?"

The girl had already finished her breakfast. She took Lin Wu’s gun for disassembly and maintenance, instructing him on how to do routine maintenance, as well as dust cleaning and moisture removal techniques. It was clear that Blood Meng and Maya didn’t know these skills and watched with keen interest. After reassembling the gun, the girl handed it back to Lin Wu with a smile.

Blood Meng sighed, "Girl, humans and spirits follow different paths; take care of yourself."

The lookout Nightmare perched in the sunroom reported, "There’s a truck coming from the south."

It was an old, beat-up truck, but upon closer inspection, it had been crudely armored. The southern road had been cleared, just wide enough for a medium-sized box truck to pass through. For this reason, the truck was not fast, carefully avoiding obstacles on the road, ruthlessly severing any zombies blocking its path.

The flat front of the truck was welded with half of a car’s shell, finely sharpened after polishing, with two layers of wire mesh between the shell and the truck’s front, containing spring-like shock absorbers.

Five motorcycles followed the truck. Except for one, each motorcycle carried two riders.

When the truck reached the community’s main gate, the rear compartment opened, and two masked men got off. They worked with others on the truck, using a winch’s power to place a metal ramp, and then a jeep drove down the ramp. People on the motorcycles stroked and patted the jeep, seemingly very impressed by it.

Everyone’s faces were covered with masks, making it impossible to tell who was who. Lin Wu and his group also wore masks, not to cover their faces but to block the stench. Now the entire city was like a garbage dump, and despite getting used to the smell, many removed their masks only when eating or talking. Of course, places like the railway bridge base or the library area, where there were no zombies or corpses around, did not need face covering.

After retracting the ramp and closing the rear door, the truck was about to pull aside but then stopped midway. The robbers reopened the rear door, and two men pulled a one-meter-wide wooden plank to form a ramp. All motorcycles then drove up the ramp. Afterward, the personnel jumped down from the rear compartment, closed the door, the truck turned around at the front, and the others walked towards the community’s front gate.

Near the entrance, a man and a woman turned a winch to lower a metal ramp, allowing the jeep to enter the community. The others followed on foot, greeting each other along the way, obviously quite familiar with each other. Soon, the truck driver and the co-driver also entered the community on foot, followed by the turning of a winch to pull up the metal ramp.