"Uh-huh!"
Lin Fan groaned, his entire body frozen to his knees, dagger in hand.
Suddenly, Lin Fan's face paled, his teeth clenched. Chu Zhaozhao, unsure of what was happening, crouched beside him, holding an umbrella for him and frantically asking,
"Brother, what's wrong? Does your wound hurt again?"
But Lin Fan's entire willpower was fighting the pain, and he couldn't even respond.
It wasn't just the wound; there was a burning sensation deep within him, as if his very bones were ignited by fire...
Suddenly, memories stirred deep within him, and Lin Fan felt a strong sense of déjà vu...
This feeling!
He'd experienced it before!
On the day of the apocalypse!
Chu
Zhaozhao, beside him, was terribly nervous. Lin Fan hadn't expected such a mess from his own actions.
She was simply unprepared, which made her panic. Seeing Lin Fan in agony, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Brother, what's wrong with you?"
"It's all my fault!"
"Let me do it, let me do it, give it to you..."
"I'm fine! I'll help you..."
She tried to pry Lin Fan's hand away from the dagger, but couldn't. So she simply thrust her entire hand through the incision Lin Fan had made, groping incessantly.
A moment later, her eyes lit up. She tensed her arm and pulled it outward, pulling a bloody "crystal" from the monster's corpse!
Chu Zhaozhao reached out from under her umbrella, washing the stone and the blood off her hand.
"Huh? Brother, this one looks different from the last one?"
Then she opened her palm and presented the "crystal" to Lin Fan.
It was indeed different. This crystal wasn't a sphere, but a polyhedron with straight edges and angles, like an uncut diamond.
[Activation Crystal]
[Energy Level: Level 1]
[Quality: Ordinary (Fusible, 10% Effective Channel Structure)]
[Equippable]
[Activation: This equipment activates the body, increasing strength, reaction speed, five senses, and overall recovery speed. Wearing it consumes the wearer's own energy. (The degree of activation is determined by the crystal's energy level and quality.)]
Although Lin Fan froze in pain, the crystal's name and abilities still appeared before his eyes!
Although the pain was remarkably similar to his first coma, his physical condition was clearly not what it was then.
So, he didn't let the pain knock him unconscious. Gritting his teeth, he forced his left hand to release the dagger, slowly taking the crystal and holding it in his palm.
This crystal was vastly different from the previous one, not only in appearance but also in its properties!
The energy level was finally no longer "incompletely crystallized," but now "Level 1"!
The quality that had been incompatible with fusion had become compatible, and it also had an "effective channel structure of 10%."
What did this mean?
Consuming the crystal's energy had become consuming the wearer's own energy...
The wearer? Me?
What energy do I have...
But since it can be equipped, it can consume whatever energy it wants. The effect seems to be comparable to a Wild Potion, though I'm not sure if it has the same effects as an intermediate potion...
"Equip!"
With a thought, the Activation Crystal replaced the newly equipped Armor Crystal. A familiar tingling and warmth reappeared in my body.
But unlike last time, this warmth spread from the surface of my body to the inside, and wherever it passed, the numbness replaced the intense pain.
"Ah..."
Lin Fan grasped Chu Zhaozhao's arm, steadying himself from falling.
"Activation Crystal..."
Lin Fan muttered to himself.
At the same time, he noticed that the moment the crystal was attached to his equipment, a strange blue bar appeared below his health bar.
It was faint at first, but then gradually became clearer, becoming as distinct as his health bar.
[100/100]…
"Could this be my own… energy?"
I just don't know how long this [100] will last…
The activation crystal began to take effect, and the pain in my body and the burning sensation inside my body were finally eliminated. The improvement in my physical condition finally made Lin Fan's mind gradually regain clarity.
Feeling the familiar feeling coming from my body, and the effect description…
I flipped through the backpack column, and it was exactly the same as the wild potion!
"Why…"
Lin Fan had doubts about the efficacy of the stealth potion and stealth crystal from the beginning, but at that time there were still few samples.
But this time, the activation crystal and the wild potion…
one is dropped by ability, and the other exists naturally in the mutant organism. What is the relationship between them…
But there are only these two examples, no matter how hard he thinks, he can't get the answer.
Lin Fan simply gave up exploring the principle. As long as it can make him stronger, whether it is a potion or a crystal, he wants it all.
He let out a long breath, exhaling the anger that had been stagnating in his chest. Then he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the dirty little face of Chu Zhaozhao who was squatting on the ground.
"Good job, I've helped..."
Lin Fan patted Chu Zhaozhao's shoulder, pulled out the dagger from the mutant dog, and slowly stood up from the ground.
Chu Zhaozhao was delighted to see that Lin Fan had not only recovered his ability to move, but was not angry with him. He quickly picked up the umbrella, held it above Lin Fan's head, and hit himself with the other.
"Brother, don't be angry, I didn't just..."
"...It's okay, not everyone can face these things so naturally. It's great that you can do this..."
Lin Fan interrupted her. Although she hesitated at first, she reached out to grab it decisively as soon as she realized that she had a problem. She was quite brave.
"Don't dwell on this kind of thing. Let's go to the other one..."
"Ah? There's another one?"
Chu Zhaozhao said in surprise.
Lin Fan thought she didn't want to dissect the body, so he said lightly: "It's okay, then you go back, I can go by myself..."
"No, no..."
Chu Zhaozhao hurriedly defended herself when she heard Lin Fan was going to drive her away:
"It's not that I don't want to help you, brother, I'm just surprised that there are three monsters?"
She widened her eyes and raised her voice:
"Brother, you killed three!?"
After all, when she woke up, she only saw the death of the last mutant dog, but one more was also reasonable, but she didn't expect that there was a third one!
Lin Fan finally understood what she was surprised about. He glanced at her and walked towards the car wash far away from the gas station with an umbrella,
"What? Is there a problem?"
"How could it be! No problem! No problem at all!"
Chu Zhaozhao hurriedly shook her head and denied three times, then came up with a flattering smile and said:
"Brother, you have unparalleled skills, it's not surprising that you killed ten... hehe..."
She looked like she was clinging to someone's thigh.
But Lin Fan had no intention of joking with her. He was just wondering if the crystal in the other mutant dog's body was the same as this one...-+ Chu Zhaozhao squatted on the ground, holding an umbrella above his head, swallowing his nausea as he diligently cut up the corpses.
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Lin Fan took advantage of this moment to carefully observe his health bar.
[95/370].
Previously, when [Wild Potion (Medium)] was active, his health regenerated approximately one point every 20 seconds, for a total of approximately 30 health points in ten minutes of use.
With this activated crystal equipped, it takes about a minute for one point to be restored.
I don't know the effectiveness of [Wild Potion (Small)] yet, so I can't compare.
As for the energy bar, Lin Fan had a basic understanding. Equipping a crystal consumed energy, essentially consuming that blue energy bar.
Equipping this activated crystal consumed about one point per minute. Three minutes later, the bar still had 97 points.
This meant he had enough energy to maintain this state for an hour and a half,
restoring a total of 100 health points.
He just didn't know how quickly the energy bar would regenerate, and since he didn't dare remove the crystal, he had no way to test it.
"Eureka!"
Just as he was mentally calculating the entire system of his ability, a crisp, joyful cry echoed from beside him. Looking down, he saw Chu Zhaozhao pull his hand out of the corpse, clutching a bloody crystal.
She straightened her umbrella with one hand, then reached out to hold the crystal. She rinsed it clean with the rainwater dripping from the umbrella's edge,
then handed it to Lin Fan. It was another polyhedron crystal.
[Activated Crystal]
[Energy Level: Level 1]
[Quality: Ordinary (Fusible, 10% Effective Channel Structure)]
[Equippable]
[Fusible]
...
Fusible?
Lin Fan then reached out to take the crystal. As soon as he touched it, several more prompts popped up:
[Fusing crystals of the same level and channel will improve crystal quality (based on the effective channel structure ratio)]
[Synthesize?]
Lin Fan had anticipated this from the crystal's description. Sure enough, it could be synthesized!
Glancing at Chu Zhaozhao, who was looking at him nervously, Lin Fan pretended to put his hand in his pocket. A thought struck him, and he confirmed the synthesis!
He felt the crystal in his hand vibrate slightly before disappearing. At the same time, the enhanced feeling within him, similar to that of the Wild Potion, intensified even further!
The activated crystal he was currently equipping glowed with a faint blue light. Lin Fan's mind shifted as he checked its properties:
[Activated Crystal]
[Energy Level: Level 1]
[Quality: Excellent (Fusible, 20% Effective Channel Structure)]
[Equippable]
...
The effective channel structure has reached 20%, and the quality has been upgraded to Excellent!
The physical effect has indeed been enhanced!
Although it still hasn't reached the effects of [Wild Potion (Medium)].
Even so, a buff effect that lasts for an hour and a half is incredibly powerful!
In other words, fusion combines the "effective channel structure" of two crystals with the same function, creating a higher-quality crystal with increased effectiveness!
It's a shame the other crystals can't be fused, but that's okay. As more crystals accumulate, I'll be able to hunt mutant zombies more easily and obtain crystals. In the process, I'll also be able to increase my health limit and become stronger and stronger!
...
Chu Zhaozhao picked up the dagger on the ground and rinsed it with rainwater.
Looking at Lin Fan's resolute gaze and slightly raised lips, I couldn't help but feel more confident.
Although I don't know what the big brother is happy about, it must be a good thing!
"Let's go, let's go back."
Lin Fan felt the future becoming clearer and clearer, and his heart relaxed a little.
The two returned to the gas station. Chu Zhaozhao said goodbye to Lin Fan, picked up some food and water, and went to look after the two people.
Lin Fan still had no intention of entering their room. Instead, he found some food, picked up a few footstools from the ground, and placed them in the corner of the wall. He then pulled up a shelf and propped it up in front of him, forming a triangle with the wall.
Although the zombies around him had been mostly cleared, if he fell asleep, this arrangement would ensure that any zombies coming towards him would immediately bump into the shelf, making a noise.
Once everything was arranged, he leaned against the corner of the wall, eating snacks one by one to replenish his energy.
Besides increasing his health, having another way to become stronger was always a good thing.
The 10,000 HP bar always weighed on his mind like a nightmare that wouldn't go away.
Furthermore, the maximum health gained from killing regular zombies and mutant dogs has decreased.
Lin Fan suspected this was related to his own health, and it was reasonable to surmise that once his health reached a certain level, killing regular zombies would no longer increase his health.
To become stronger, it would be more efficient to kill mutant zombies or monsters with higher health than his own.
Simply increasing his health bar to reach that level would require not only the sheer number of zombies and monsters he would have to kill, but also the sheer amount of time it would take.
Zombies and monsters mutated so quickly, and he wondered if he could afford that much time.
Lin Fan peered through the iron frame at the rain outside the gas station, figuring that once he'd recovered enough, he'd have to find a way to kill more zombies.
Although he had been running for survival since the day he woke up.
He cleared the monsters in the building and, quite by chance, strangled two mutated zombies in a cradle.
In order to give himself more energy to fight, he trained Su Qing to help him with housework.
But compared to these monsters with thousands or tens of thousands of health points, this speed was still too slow.
Lin Fan lifted his clothes with one hand and looked at the torn wound on his abdomen. It had already healed together. Although it had not healed yet, it was much better than the authentic "dog tooth difference" caused by the canine teeth at the beginning.
Although he couldn't move his right arm yet, Lin Fan pinched it and found that the bone had basically returned to its original position under the healing effect of the activated crystal. Just like his hearing before, recovery was just a matter of time.
But if the wound had already healed, then what exactly was that feeling of the bone marrow being burned by the flames after the potion wore off and at the beginning of the end?
Puzzled, Lin Fan had no choice but to give up exploring this rootless question and turn his attention to his health.
[101/370]
He was still in a very bad state, his middle section was broken and tattered, and his right arm was paralyzed, but he had already recovered the health of an ordinary person.
He didn't know where all this health was coming from.
Lin Fan wondered if he was just a zombie. Even if he was just a head, he still had 30 HP left...
This thought, which came from nowhere, gave him a chill, as if he were no longer human.
But in truth, he didn't even know if he was still human.
The thought made Lin Fan chuckle bitterly. Perhaps in Chu Zhaozhao's eyes, he had long ceased to be human.
She looked at him as if he were some shabby male protagonist from a novel.
Was that similar?-+ Although the supernatural power is indeed similar, since the end of the world, he has faced countless life-and-death crises, and only Lin Fan himself knows the ups and downs of it.
After eating and drinking, he felt a little sleepy, and his thoughts were all over the place. After a while, he leaned against the wall, listening to the rain, and fell asleep.
He didn't know how long it had been, but a burst of rustling sounds came into his ears and woke him up.
"Zhao Zhao, are you crazy!"
"I heard that he was injured and lost so much blood. What if he turned into a zombie!"
"Brother, why are you like this...Brother Lin Fan...he won't do that!"
It was Chu Zhaozhao's voice, and it sounded like she was arguing with that person.
"You forgot about Li Tian! He was bitten! Not long after, he turned into a zombie!"
Another man whispered.
Lin Fan didn't know who was talking, but since Chu Zhaozhao called him brother, the one who spoke before should be Chu Zhaotian, and the one who said the latter should be another named Xu Qian.
Lin Fan had expected this to happen a long time ago, but in his imagination, it should be Chu Zhaozhao who had doubts about this matter.
After all, she was the only one who saw her wounds. But
he didn't expect this girl to be so stupid that she didn't ask about it at all, as if whether Lin Fan would turn into a zombie or not had nothing to do with her, or as if she firmly believed that Lin Fan would not turn into a zombie.
Since she didn't ask, Lin Fan naturally didn't mention it.
But he didn't expect that he still couldn't escape this bloody scene.
The three of them were still whispering in the room, and since the place wasn't big, Lin Fan could still hear everything clearly.
"What's your business! Shut up!"
"You didn't see it! A mutant that big! Big Brother Lin Fan smashed it to pieces in one snap! To pieces!"
"And you know what, it wasn't just one! It was three! Each one was as big as a bull!"
"Even if you didn't see that, you must have seen those zombies! Those corpses lying outside were all killed by people punching them one by one!"
"This isn't an ordinary person, this is a superman! One or two bites are nothing!"
Chu Zhaozhao passionately explained his glorious history to Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian, and Lin Fan himself couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.
How come they were all the size of bull yaks? And how come they could be killed with just one punch?
But the two boys clearly thought she was exaggerating and didn't believe her.
"Chu Zhaozhao, you said he was bleeding profusely when you dragged him back, with so many wounds. And then you went with him to look for gemstones. Can he recover that quickly? Is that normal?"
This was the voice of Xu Qian, the boy Lin Fan had barely heard speak.
Then he said with a slight tremor,
"What if...what if he is actually that kind of high-level zombie!? He keeps us alive just for..."
Another boy, Chu Zhaotian, interrupted him quickly and said nervously, "Keep your voice down!...But what Xu Qian said makes sense. Why don't we go..."
"Brother! What are you talking about? If it weren't for Brother Lin Fan saving us, we would have died long ago..."
...
"Ah, what a boring drama..."
He looked at his health bar. He had probably slept for more than an hour, and his health had recovered by 84 points, reaching [185].
The energy bar only had 22 points left.
The wound on his abdomen had basically scabbed over. Lin Fan carefully pulled it with his hands to prevent it from breaking open.
His right shoulder could already be controlled on its own, but his right arm still couldn't exert any force. However, after trying it, it didn't hurt that much anymore, apparently the bone had begun to heal.
Lin Fan thought and removed the activated crystal he was wearing.
As the powerful buff faded, a feeling of weakness spread, and his abdomen itched a little as the wound healed.
His right arm was still a little swollen and painful, but after only a few minutes, Lin Fan got used to it.
Lin Fan was very surprised that his injury could recover to such a state so quickly, so he temporarily removed the crystal equipment to let his energy bar recover.
"Cough cough..."
Lin Fan pretended to cough, and soon, there were a few clattering footsteps, and Chu Zhaozhao ran over first.
"Brother, you're awake!"
It was already dark, and there were no lights inside or outside the gas station. Lin Fan could only see an outline and a green [22/100] floating in the darkness.
This was Chu Zhaozhao's health bar, and there were two other yellow [21][20] a little further away, but they didn't come over.
Seeing that Chu Zhaozhao's health seemed to be a little higher than before, it seemed that she was recovering, and it was not a big deal.
But why did Chu Zhaozhao's health bar also turn green? Did she trust herself so much?
"Brother, they said..."
Chu Zhaozhao muttered softly, hesitating whether to ask some questions.
"If you feel there is danger, you can leave at any time. Don't you know about the quarantine area? The official quarantine area is right in your school..."
"Just go back the same way you came..."
Lin Fan was too lazy to explain too much to them, so he spoke to the other two blood bars.
"Hehe..." Chu Zhaozhao smiled a little embarrassedly, "Brother, you heard it all... They actually..."
Before Chu Zhaozhao could say anything, footsteps were heard, and one of the yellow blood bars walked over.
"Brother... Brother Lin, you... your injuries are not a big deal, the doors and windows here are broken, is it safe for us to spend the night here? Do we need to do something, use shelves to block the doors and windows, or take turns to keep watch..."
It was Chu Zhaotian. It could be seen that he was the calmer of the two.
As soon as he heard the alienation in Lin Fan's words, he hurried over to explain and make peace.
Although he was still muttering about leaving just now, but there was really no way back. If it was so easy, the three of them would still be trapped here.
"Oh? Aren't you afraid that I will turn into a zombie and eat you?"
Lin Fan said sarcastically, but he didn't really want to squeeze these young people. After all, if he were in another position, he would be afraid.
He just didn't like this person's pretending to be deep. Even if it was just a short-term cooperation, Lin Fan hoped that the other party would say anything directly.
In comparison, Chu Zhaozhao was more lovable for being straightforward.
"Look at what you're saying..." Chu Zhaotian could hear him getting nervous, even addressing him as "you."
"We believe what Zhao Zhao said. You should get some rest. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight..."
Without waiting for Lin Fan's response, he stormed off, whispering to another boy. The two of them found a few flashlights and, using the dim light, began to move the shelves,
trying to block the doors and windows of the hall to prevent any zombies from entering.
Chu Zhaozhao, holding a flashlight, found a few bags of snacks and candies, and squatted on the ground.
"Brother, don't bother with them. My brother is very timid..."
"When he was a kid, he went to someone else's orchard to steal peaches. A Pekingese chased him and bit him halfway across the village..."
"That Xu Qian was his classmate, and he was also a coward. His girlfriend before..."-+ Chu Zhaozhao suddenly stopped talking and placed the snacks one by one on the shelf in front of Lin Fan.
"Big Brother, you eat first. There's more over there. I'll help them set up the shelves and bring you more later."
With that, he stood up and went to help the two men move the shelves to block the door.
Lin Fan grabbed a bag of snacks Chu Zhaozhao had given him from the shelf. Although he felt very uncomfortable listening to the gossip, he lay down in a comfortable position and began to devour them.
As long as there was food in the outside world, he had no intention of using the supplies in his backpack.
Zombies wouldn't eat these packaged foods, and with the population declining sharply and resources abundant, there would be no shortage of food in the early days of the apocalypse.
As long as he could kill the ambushing zombies, any store's reserves would be enough to feed several people for a while.
The ideal scenario is to accumulate for a year to a year and a half. By then, with the exception of a few cans, all packaged meat outside will have spoiled and rotted.
The meat in your inventory will then become increasingly valuable over time, becoming a strategic survival-level protein source.
The rain outside is intensifying, and it won't stop anytime soon.
Occasional flashes of lightning illuminate the road outside, and Lin Fan can see that there are still no zombies in front of the gas station.
Even in the darkness, Lin Fan can see the zombies' health bars. No health bars mean safety.
He takes this opportunity to observe the blue energy bar.
After a while of recovery, the blue bar has risen to 27 points, an increase of 5 points, roughly one point every minute.
It seems like the energy regenerates pretty quickly. If I can get a lot of leveled crystals in the future, I won't have to worry about running out of crystal energy.
I just don't know how to increase the upper limit of this blue bar. Whether it's the activation crystal or future energy-consuming crystal skills, the longer the endurance, the better.
After eating and drinking, Lin Fan equipped the activation crystal again. After all, the energy will automatically expire when it runs out, so the more recovery, the better.
The three of them used the shelves to line up, blocking the doors and windows of the gas station lobby. After all, their health was too low and their bodies were weak. All three of them were exhausted and sat on the ground panting.
Since they discovered that Lin Fan had very sharp ears, the two boys didn't dare to say anything, for fear of making Lin Fan unhappy and being eaten by him.
The two of them sat far away, leaning against the wall. Chu Zhaozhao was the most energetic, on the other hand, being on duty for the first night shift.
Seeing that Lin Fan hadn't lain down yet, she walked over and leaned on the shelf in front of Lin Fan.
"Brother, the door is blocked. Do you want me to help you move this shelf..."
"No, just leave it here. Give them a sense of security..."
Lin Fan said casually. However, it was not only to give them a sense of security. The main reason was that Lin Fan didn't trust them either. They surrounded themselves so that he could sleep more peacefully.
"Hey, by the way, why do you keep calling me brother? Are we that familiar...?"
Lin Fan couldn't help it and asked curiously. There must be a limit to how familiar this girl is. Is it really okay to trust others so much in such a chaotic world?
Seeing that Lin Fan wouldn't let them take the shelf away, Chu Zhaozhao sat down against it with her back to him.
In the dim light, Lin Fan could only see the green blood bar above her head.
"I...in the novels I read before, the protagonists were all like you, big brother..."
She whispered, with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice.
"When everyone is in despair, the protagonist will stand up and say, 'The sky hasn't fallen yet! If you want to live, just listen to me!'"
"My brother usually says, 'Zhao Zhao, what should I do?', 'Zhao Zhao, save me,' 'Zhao Zhao, help me, help me'..."
"So I decided to be your little brother, and hang out with you... hehe..."
"That's it?"
Lin Fan had a puzzled look on his face. Is this a reason to trust someone?
"...Uh, yes! That's it!"
Chu Zhaozhao hesitated, but still answered affirmatively.
Although Lin Fan felt that she had something else to say, since she had the same green health bar on her head as Su Qing and himself, she would not harm him, so it didn't matter.
This was another function of the health bar that Lin Fan guessed.
All strangers were yellow, including the thieves downstairs that day and the people at the gas station.
But some people would turn green after being in contact with him for a long time.
In Lin Fan's view, this was a safe and harmless signal.
He simply lay down on his side with a pack of toilet paper as a pillow.
Chu Zhaozhao looked quite reliable, and since he was not sleepy either, he started chatting with her casually.
"What happened to the girlfriend of that guy you mentioned who didn't like to talk before?"
Lin Fan asked while lying down and counting the items in his inventory.
Chu Zhaozhao was silent for a few seconds, and said sullenly:
"There are five of us in total..."
"I came out to play with my brother, and the other four are his classmates."
"There is also one named Li Tian, and one named Huang Qi, who is Xu Qian's girlfriend..."
"Actually, Li Tiancai is the leader of my brother and his group, and he also rented the car..."
"...We originally wanted to fill up the gas here that day and then go to Jishan, but Huang Qi went to the toilet and was hugged by a zombie..."
"We thought we had encountered gangsters, so my brother and Li Tian went to pull it out, but the zombie was so strong that neither of them could pull it out."
"Huang Qi was bitten on the neck and there was blood... Li Tian was also bitten at that time."
"Xu Qian..."
As he spoke, Lin Fan felt Chu Zhaozhao glanced in the direction of the two people over there,
"He didn't dare to pull it out from the beginning to the end. The blood sprayed on him and frightened him silly. He sat on the ground, motionless..."
"It was my brother and Li Tian who dragged him back to the hall."
"But not long after, Li Tian felt unwell. He said he felt very uncomfortable, as if his soul was burning in fire... When we weren't paying attention, he opened the door of the hall and ran out."
"The zombies surrounding the door chased him, otherwise the glass wouldn't have held up for so long..."
"I don't like him..."
Chu Zhaozhao said silently.
Lin Fan knew she was referring to Xu Qian. To be honest, Lin Fan didn't like him either, but who could blame whom in this kind of thing...
He didn't know what to say, but just reached out his hand through the shelf and gently touched Chu Zhaozhao's head.
But she continued to say:
"I was scared... I wanted to run away... but I didn't want to be like him... I was completely frozen, unable to move..."
"You gave me two choices, equal choices..."
"You told me that saving others or running away was right and worthwhile..."
"It's better than being numb, a coward, frozen in place, and useless..."-+ "..."
This book was first published on Taiwan Novel Network → 𝓽𝔀𝓴𝓪𝓷.𝓬𝓸𝓶, providing you with a flawless, uncluttered reading experience.
Lin Fan was simply bored and wanted to listen to gossip, but unexpectedly, he asked Chu Zhaozhao what she truly thought.
This was the real reason she trusted him so much.
He simply laid out everything he could do for her, asking her to act quickly.
Unexpectedly, she interpreted this as some kind of power and sought to pursue it.
Uh... Lin Fan's original intention was not that complicated, but the execution was done...
well, it was a good thing.
He was the same, chasing survival, chasing power, and fighting and risking his life on the brink of life and death for it.
This would at least give the little girl the courage and hope to survive in this apocalyptic world.
"How many hours have you set for your shifts?"
Lin Fan didn't pursue the topic further, instead asking about the three of them keeping watch.
Chu Zhaozhao turned his back to Lin Fan, wiped his face with his hand, and whispered,
"I'll have my brother come over at 12 o'clock..."
It didn't matter what they arranged; Lin Fan had his own "wall" anyway. So he rubbed Chu Zhaozhao's head vigorously.
"Okay, then I'll leave Big Brother's safety in your hands. I'm going to sleep first..."
Then he put his hand to his nose and sniffed, whispering,
"It still stinks a bit..."
"Pfft... hehe..."
Chu Zhaozhao leaned against the shelf and couldn't help but let out a silly laugh. His body trembled, and the shelves followed suit with a "crackling" sound.
She turned her head and nodded heavily at Lin Fan:
"Yes! Big brother's safety is in my hands! Hey..."
Lin Fan couldn't see her expression, but from the sound of her voice, he knew she had recovered her energy. Just as he was about to close his eyes and fall asleep, he suddenly remembered something and asked:
"Hey? What are your brothers studying?"
"Computer science..."
"You're not in the same class as them. What are you studying?"
"As for me... I practice sports. Track and field, javelin..."
"...I'm fine. I'm going to sleep."
"Okay, big brother!"
Looking at the 23 points of health on her head, Lin Fan couldn't help but sigh.
No wonder the child is as strong as a bull!
While being shocked by the vitality of the sports students, Lin Fan suddenly thought of Su Qing.
I wonder what she is doing at home alone?
...
Early in the morning, just after dawn, around six o'clock.
Lin Fan woke up from his sleep. Nothing unexpected happened that night. Except for the two times they woke him up during the shift change, he slept soundly the rest of the time.
He stroked his right arm. The broken bone had basically healed and he could move it freely, but he still had no strength.
His health had recovered to [223/370]. He had removed the equipment after the activation crystal had used up its energy bar. Now the energy bar was full to [100/100].
With a thought, he equipped the activation crystal again. The familiar feeling activated his body and the strengthening began to take effect.
He had nothing to do anyway, so he might as well recover some health first.
Now it was Xu Qian who was on duty. He was leaning on the shelf at the door and looking out.
Hearing some noise behind him, he turned around and saw Lin Fan rustling and standing up from behind the shelf. He was startled and almost knocked over the shelf and fell to the ground.
"Keep your voice down..." Lin Fan moved the shelf away and looked at him speechlessly, asking him not to be so reckless.
"I'm... I'm sorry... Brother Lin..." Xu Qian said in a timid voice.
The other two were sleeping by the other wall. It was obvious that everyone was very tired. The commotion just now did not wake them up.
[34][31][30],
after a night of recovery, the health of the three people also increased by about 10 points. Chu Zhaozhao even recovered more than the other two, recovering 12 points.
This was Lin Fan's base recovery rate. If it was just weakness and superficial injuries, health regeneration would typically take about an hour, and would slow down as health increased.
If it was serious injury or bleeding, then recovery would simply stop, and health loss would even continue.
After confirming that the three were all safe, Lin Fan took a few candies from the shelf and popped them into his mouth to replenish his sugar intake. He patted Xu Qian's shoulder, signaling him to continue his shift, while he moved the shelf open and slipped out.
A light drizzle was still falling outside, but a thin ray of sunlight was already peeking through from the east, indicating the rain wouldn't get any heavier.
So he picked up the umbrella he had left outside yesterday, walked around, and retrieved his spear and short pike.
The short spear was leaning against the side of the car, and the long spear was stuck in the edge of the pool, almost thrown into the pool by the monster.
Putting the short spear back into the belt, Lin Fan held the umbrella in his right hand and the long spear in his left hand, then slowly walked towards the warehouse behind the gas station.
The gate had been knocked down by the three mutant dogs, and the warehouse door was now wide open.
From a distance, Lin Fan smelled the faint smell of diesel.
And this was the most important purpose of his trip, fuel.
Walking into the warehouse, there was the familiar smell of blood and several broken limbs scattered on the ground. It seemed that a few unlucky guys hid in the warehouse in the chaos and just happened to become food for these mutant dogs.
After these encounters with mutated zombies, Lin Fan had begun to grasp some patterns: next to each mutated zombie there was a completely eaten corpse with only a few remains.
In other words, the key to a zombie's transformation is likely to be consuming sufficient flesh and blood.
However, under normal circumstances, it's difficult for a zombie to completely consume a human, as humans are transformed into zombies shortly after being injured.
Zombies don't attack or devour each other, so a zombie likely needs to attack many people to accumulate the "energy" it needs to transform.
As for the conditions for completely devouring a human, Lin Fan speculates that it would likely require a starving zombie and a completely normal human to be trapped in an enclosed space, undisturbed.
Only then, with continuous feeding, can the zombie devour the human before they transform into zombies, potentially obtaining enough flesh and blood.
However, this is just Lin Fan's speculation based on existing observations. He is not authored and does not bear any academic responsibility.
The situation in this warehouse also confirms this conjecture.
In the warehouse covered with blood and oil, several stainless steel oil drums were overturned against the wall, and next to them was a huge machine.
This should be the generator that Lin Fan is going to find next, but...
"This is too big!"
He was looking for a small household diesel generator, not such a large industrial machine!
This machine is almost as big as half of his van!
And the machine's body is covered with messy claw marks. It seems that this is why it started running that day, but it stalled again not long after.
The sudden running of the machine stimulated the mutant dogs, causing them to start attacking indiscriminately until the machine was shut down.
"I wonder if this machine is still okay..."
Lin Fan pulled down all the gates with a give-it-and-see attitude, then pulled them all up, and then twisted the start knob...
"Buzz, buzz, thump, thump..."
After a muffled sound, a huge noise sounded, and the generator started successfully!-+ Immediately afterwards, the lights in the warehouse and the entire gas station lit up.
Looking at the "50KW" that could be barely distinguished on the shell, he said
, "How can a 50-kilowatt thing be so noisy!"
Although he had expected the noise that the trio described as attracting zombies, this noise was too loud!
Lin Fan had seen generators larger than this one, over a hundred kilowatts, at the zoo before, and they were not this loud!
It was probably because those mutant dogs attacked randomly and broke something.
This thing can't be pulled away, and even if it can be pulled away, it is useless.
If this noise stays downstairs for too long, it might attract back all the zombies that he had finally gotten rid of.
"Brother! What's wrong?"
Lin Fan turned the knob to shut off the generator, and then saw Chu Zhaozhao running towards him with a nervous look on her face.
Since the warehouse had no door, Lin Fan's back could be seen from outside, so she ran straight inside.
"Gee!"
Lin Fan hadn't said anything when Chu Zhaozhao, having just entered the warehouse, instinctively glanced around, noticed the pile of broken limbs and flesh, and immediately turned outside and began to gag.
The other two had only sluggishly run halfway through.
It seems that the two were awakened by the movement of the generator. Fortunately, they woke up before they had time to eat anything, otherwise it would have been a waste...
After these few days of training, Lin Fan has become accustomed to this bloody scene, but he overlooked that the most exciting thing Chu Zhaozhao has ever seen is probably the corpses of those mutant dogs.
But it doesn't matter. If you want to survive in this world, you must adapt to these.
"Are you done vomiting?"
Lin Fan walked to the door and looked at Chu Zhaozhao who was bending over to wipe her mouth, and asked teasingly.
"Vomiting... I'm done..."
Chu Zhaozhao covered her stomach with one hand, and said with some lingering fear.
"Come to work after you're done vomiting..."
Lin Fan waved at her, motioning her to come in to work, and then turned around to go back to the warehouse.
"Huh? What kind of work..."
Chu Zhaozhao's eyes widened in disbelief when she heard they were still going inside. After a moment's hesitation, she followed Lin Fan inside with a grimace on her face, her eyes fixed on Lin Fan's back, not daring to glance left or right.
Meanwhile, the other two had finally reached the warehouse door. Seeing Lin Fan and Chu Zhaozhao go in, they followed in as well...
but then rushed out again.
"Gee!"
"Gee!"
...
"Pfft..."
Lin Fan and Chu Zhaozhao couldn't help but laugh at the noise behind them.
"Ouch!"
Lin Fan seemed to have suddenly remembered something and suddenly stopped. Chu Zhaozhao didn't have time to stop and bumped her head against his back, startling him.
He turned around and tapped Chu Zhaozhao on the head. Then, stepping past her, he addressed the two men,
"Hey, Chu...never mind. Xu Qian, you come in and help Zhaozhao... Chu Zhaotian, you go back up front and keep watch. If any zombies get close, tell me immediately."
He had originally planned to have Chu Zhaotian come in to help, but then, remembering what Chu Zhaozhao had said yesterday, he decided to let Xu Qian do it instead.
Given his personality, Lin Fan felt a little uneasy about him keeping watch.
"Oh, okay, Brother Lin..."
Chu Zhaotian quickly agreed, turning and heading back to the front of the gas station.
Xu Qian was deeply displeased with Lin Fan's plan, but he didn't dare contradict him. He just bent over, pretending to be disgusted, and didn't stand up.
Seeing this, Lin Fan didn't waste any time. He raised his spear with his left hand and swung it hard, smashing it against the warehouse wall. A loud bang sent shards of cement flying everywhere, startling Xu Qian so much that he immediately took a step back and stood up straight.
"Come in and get to work..."
Lin Fan said coldly, not wanting to pay any attention, and turned to walk inside.
Chu Zhaozhao, seeing this, hurried out and whispered to Xu Qian,
"Don't waste your time. If you've made me angry, just think about getting back to school on your own..."
Then she turned and ran back to Lin Fan, asking,
"Brother, don't bother with him. Tell me what kind of work you need..."
In that moment, Xu Qian seemed to have figured something out, and slowly followed, covering his mouth.
The three of them walked to the wall. Lin Fan counted eleven 40-liter oil drums. Three of them lay on the ground, with claw marks on them. They were leaking, and diesel was everywhere.
Pointing at them, he said,
"I saw a cart just now. You two can pull these drums up there and fill them up later..."
"These three are leaking diesel. They're fine. They won't catch fire. Take them out and put them outside the door."
He turned and pointed at the cart leaning against the wall.
"Okay... okay, big brother!"
Chu Zhaozhao agreed immediately, but his eyes followed Lin Fan's finger, and when he caught a glimpse of the mangled limbs and flesh, his voice still trembled unnaturally.
She agreed and headed for the cart Lin Fan pointed at. Seeing Xu Qian still dazed, she took two steps and returned, elbowing him hard on the back.
"Go!"
she said, then tugged at his shirt and dragged him out.
Lin Fan listened to the commotion behind him but remained silent.
How the small team worked together was their own business, and he had no interest in counseling everyone.
Adapting was fate; failing to adapt meant leaving early, which was also fate...
There's strength in numbers. Three people can handle this kind of unskilled work much faster than one. With two trips back and forth, they've transported all the oil drums to the gas pumps.
Lin Fan simply drove his van to the warehouse entrance and loaded the van with whatever was still usable—water boots and gloves, electrical tools, car repair tools, engine oil, fire extinguishers, and so on.
He also found a fire axe and a crowbar in the warehouse.
But he had no use for them now. A
fire axe wasn't as effective as a spear at chopping zombies in wide areas, but his short spear was more versatile for stabbing and prying in tight quarters.
But just because he didn't use it didn't mean others couldn't, so he tossed them onto the van as well.
Seeing Chu Zhaozhao and the other two carry the last three oil drums over, Lin Fan waved to them, signaling them not to come back, to take a break and have something to eat.
He then walked to the generator and twisted the knob again.
"Thump, thump, thump..."
The generator that looked like a broken tractor started working again, and a few seconds later, the lights on the gas station sign also lit up.
Lin Fan parked the car in front of the gas pump, inserted the magnetic card he picked up from 401 into the gas pump, and started to refuel the van.
He picked up similar cards from the zombies that other gas station employees had turned into, and guessed the purpose of these cards.
Then he ordered the two men to bring 5 oil drums and fill them all with gasoline.
Then fill the remaining 3 with diesel.
Each barrel is 40 liters, a total of 200 liters of gasoline and 120 liters of diesel.
It's a pity that gas stations have regulations that prohibit the retail sale of gasoline, so gas stations now don't have oil barrels, and there are only a few of them in the warehouse .
But this is enough for the time being, after all, the generator is still missing.
Besides, the gas station can't run away, so we can come back when needed.
Chu Zhaotian was still patrolling outside, Chu Zhaozhao and Xu Qian helped Lin Fan load the oil barrels into the car.
While they were loading, Chu Zhaozhao suddenly came over and said to Lin Fan timidly:
"Brother, can our car also..."