No one had to wait long. More than a dozen people clad in leaves and dried grass appeared at the entrance of the military camp.
"Alert!"
Lin Yuan didn't recognize the newcomers, so he had to adopt a vigilant posture to avoid being perceived as an easy target.
Seeing Lin Yuan's group raise their firearms, the approaching group also leveled their weapons in a standoff.
Lin Yuan removed his gas mask, holstered his weapon, and stepped forward, asking, "Who was the one who provided covering fire just now?"
A person wearing a mask stepped out from the opposing group. Judging by their build, it was a woman.
"It was me!"
Lin Yuan glanced at the QBU-191 wrapped in bandages in her hand, nodded, and waved to his team, signaling them to lower their weapons.
"Care to come meet us?" Lin Yuan said to the person leading the group.
The leader appeared to be a honest and straightforward man, but Lin Yuan wasn't foolish enough to believe that appearances were everything; judging people solely by their looks was the most superficial method.
"Everyone else, clear the battlefield and maintain vigilance. This place isn't very safe," Lin Yuan issued another order and gave Wu Tian a meaningful glance.
Wu Tian understood and immediately led a team to the third floor of the central building to search for the armory key.
They had to secure the key first. Greed could easily incite people, and there was no guarantee they wouldn't turn hostile once they possessed the armory key.
The leader of the other group merely smiled at Wu Tian's actions and said nothing further, walking over with the woman who had fired the shot.
Lin Yuan shook their hands cordially and said, "Thank you for your assistance just now. I'm Lin Yuan, may I ask who you are?"
Sensing Lin Yuan's gaze, the two introduced themselves.
"My name is Zeng Yilong."
"I am Cao Xueqin."
Cao Xueqin?
Lin Yuan was somewhat surprised by the name. A great literary master, the author of "Dream of the Red Chamber."
Perhaps sensing Lin Yuan's thoughts, Cao Xueqin added, "It's the 'qin' from 'qinse heming' (harmonious zither and lute), not the 'qin' from celery."
Lin Yuan realized his mistake and quickly put on a smile, asking, "Are you also here to search for weapons?"
He had specifically observed the weapons and equipment of the dozen or so individuals, as well as their demeanor and combat effectiveness. They were not weak.
However, Zeng Yilong waved his hand and replied with a simple, honest smile, "No, no. We knew there was a military camp here, but there were too many zombies inside for us to handle. We were originally looking for trouble with another convoy today, and then we spotted you, so we followed, hoping to get a piece of the action."
"Your female sniper saved my team member, so we can share some of the weapons in this military camp with you, but you must let us choose first, understand?" Lin Yuan thought for a moment and decided to offer some goodwill.
Debts of gratitude were the hardest to repay, so it was best to be clear from the start.
Zeng Yilong was naturally more than willing, having no intention of exploiting their kindness. He then bashfully added, "By the way, Captain Lin, may I make a small request for Xueqin?"
A request?
Lin Yuan looked at Cao Xueqin, who was holding Zeng Yilong's clothes and trying to stop him from speaking, and felt a flicker of curiosity.
"Go ahead and tell me. If it's within my ability, I'll definitely help," Lin Yuan had a very good impression of this sharpshooter who had saved them with a timely shot.
In the apocalypse, anyone willing to waste a bullet to save you couldn't be a bad person.
"It's just that Xueqin here was injured on her face. I heard on the radio that the Night Demon has a nerve ball, and inside it contains a mutant gel. I was hoping to see if it could help her recover, otherwise she wears a mask all day and doesn't talk much," Zeng Yilong said in a very subdued tone.
Cao Xueqin beside him had already buried her head to her chest.
She seemed very reluctant to mention this scar.
"Sigh," Lin Yuan sighed. Another pitiable child.
Hearing Lin Yuan sigh, Zeng Yilong panicked, thinking he was displeased, and quickly interjected, "We can ask for very little in terms of weapons and equipment, we just hope Captain Lin agrees to this. It won't take much."
This attitude made Lin Yuan feel a bit embarrassed. He had already intended to agree, but his intentions were misunderstood. He quickly said, "It's alright, Brother Zeng, you've misunderstood me. I was just about to agree. Our convoy has something even more advanced, so this little bit of gel won't be a problem."
Lin Yuan deliberately mentioned having a Gel from an "Evil Ghost" level mutant in their convoy as a way to display their strength.
It was a subtle reminder not to harbor any malicious intentions.
"Then I'll thank you on Xueqin's behalf, Captain Lin," Zeng Yilong nudged Cao Xueqin.
She finally reacted, bowed, and thanked Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan wasn't a devil and quickly helped her up, preventing a deep bow that would have put her face close to the ground.
"In that case, I'll have a couple of our nurses take you to apply the mutant gel."
With that, he called Lin Qingyan and Zhou Ping over and instructed them, "Take this girl to apply the gel. She has an injury on her face.
Also, make sure to clean the nerve ball taken from the Night Demon thoroughly."
Although Lin Qingyan and Zhou Ping didn't know the extent of Cao Xueqin's injuries, they smilingly escorted her to the medical room.
They knew that this young woman had just saved a member of their team, so they naturally wanted to take good care of her.
After seeing them enter the medical room, Lin Yuan turned back to Zeng Yilong, "Tell me, how did she get injured?"
Zeng Yilong also sighed and began to talk, "My brothers and sisters, I suppose I should say fellow villagers, but now it feels too distant. We are all from the same village. We usually help the elders during busy farming seasons. We know each other very well and have no hidden agendas.
Xueqin is also back for her summer vacation. She used to come back happy and cheerful, but this time she returned with a mask on her face. Later, when we kept asking, we learned that she had encountered some unpleasant incidents at school. Her lips were cut on both sides, and there were several scratches on her cheeks.
When asked who did it, she wouldn't say anything, just that the school and her family had handled it and that we didn't need to worry.
What kind of situation is that?
Everyone in our village decided to go and get that bastard, sigh, I don't know what she's thinking."
As he spoke, Zeng Yilong's eyes reddened, clearly from anger.
Those people deserved to die.
"Were there scars?" Lin Yuan didn't quite know how to respond. Righteous indignation? It seemed like he couldn't do anything but ask for more details.
"Not only that, but while her face only had scars, the corners of her mouth never healed properly. As soon as they scabbed over, they would suppurate. I imagine it was due to eating, but one can't stop eating, can they?"
"Did you not go to a hospital?"
"No," Zeng Yilong leaned closer and whispered, "Her family only has her and her grandparents left. Their conditions are very poor, and she didn't want to burden her family, so she never went.
This girl is also stubborn. She refuses the money we offer, insisting she has to earn it herself. It's infuriating."
Zeng Yilong's current demeanor was like an exasperated father whose child was being difficult; he was almost breathless.
He took a few deep breaths to calm down and then reorganized his emotions, saying, "Later, this damn zombie crisis broke out. Her grandparents also passed away, and only these dozen or so people were left from our village. Some of the women and children at home couldn't fight.
I used to be a soldier for a few years, so I stepped up to organize production and combat for everyone. Xueqin had no one to rely on, so we brought her along.
Captain Lin, you have no idea, as soon as the airdrop arrived, she wanted to grab a gun, which scared me to death. I thought she was going to charge out with a rifle and fight the zombies.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case. It was only after she promised me she would study diligently that I let her touch one. To my surprise, this girl learned very quickly and had even higher talent. I let her use the team's only brand-new model rifle, and the results were astonishing. In her first battle, she killed 17 zombies without a single miss."
Zeng Yilong spoke about these recent events as if he were praising his own daughter, constantly recounting them.
Lin Yuan listened intently, finding it quite interesting. It was a pleasure to hear the stories of a decent survivor group encountered in the apocalypse.
"..."
"So, the reason she didn't come forward earlier was probably because she felt she had saved the day with her shot, and Captain Lin had agreed, which is why she went," Zeng Yilong concluded.
Lin Yuan didn't find anything wrong with it. Instead, he felt that Cao Xueqin was genuine, not arrogant, and straightforward. "This is the result of her hard work, and she can face it with a clear conscience."
Just as Lin Yuan was chatting with Zeng Yilong again, Wu Tian brought good news.
The armory key had been found!