CHAPTER 14

Just before closing the door, Tang Yu heard Brother Hu instructing his men that he was going to smoke and they should stay put.

Although the gas station was abandoned, open flames were still prohibited. Brother Hu and his three lackeys walked a little further away and stood on the nearby curb.

Tang Yu withdrew her gaze and slammed the door shut. The lock was broken, so she left it slightly ajar. Then she pulled Jin Ye aside and whispered something to her.

Xiaoli casually surveyed the room as if nothing happened. She knew that Tang Yu and Jin Ye were discussing something. She had heard too many discussions and commotions along the way and had grown accustomed to them.

If there was something important, Jin Ye would convey it to her through brief writing or gestures, emphasizing the key points.

Xiaoli was used to this kind of communication, but the other girl had a frightened expression on her face.

These two people, why do they seem so abnormal?

The rest area was small, with only a folding bed and a row of lockers. Most of the lockers had been opened and were empty. There was a small window on the wall with an exhaust fan installed, and the interior of the room was dimly lit with a long-defunct light bulb.

Xiaoli patted the folding bed, gesturing for the girl to sit down. She asked, "I'm called Xiaoli, what's your name?"

The girl was wearing a yellow shirt and white shorts, with her hair tied in a ponytail, as if she was about to go on an outing. Her face was pretty, but currently filled with panic.

"L... Lu Lu." The girl looked at Tang Yu, Jin Ye, and then at Xiaoli. Finally, she couldn't help but speak, "Um, aren't your companions a bit strange?"

"They are indeed strange, they are zombies." Xiaoli whispered into Lu Lu's ear.

"Huh?!" Lu Lu jumped in fright and made a move as if she wanted to run to the door.

Xiaoli burst into laughter and grabbed Lu Lu's wrist, saying, "Don't worry, they still have their consciousness."

Lu Lu had a look on her face as if she was about to cry. Who wouldn't worry? Sharing a room with zombies, who wouldn't be concerned?

Coincidentally, Tang Yu and Jin Ye turned their heads simultaneously and looked at Lu Lu's face, startling her. She instinctively took two steps back and hid behind Xiaoli.

Jin Ye approached Xiaoli and gestured for a while, then extended her hand and wrote a few key words in the palm of Xiaoli's hand. Xiaoli, through a combination of deduction and guessing, understood what Jin Ye meant.

She turned to look at Lu Lu and lowered her voice, "Do you know that Brother Hu is a dangerous person?"

Lu Lu shook her head. She was completely ignorant, a newcomer to the game, and not yet familiar with the newly established order of the game. She only knew to fear Brother Hu's ruthless nature.

"He is not a good person. He must have done evil things in the past without punishment, which has made him more brazen now. He might use extreme methods to make us completely submissive to him—violence, or verbal oppression. In any case, he will make us too afraid to resist." Xiaoli pointed at Lu Lu, expressing her thoughts. Having spent over a year in the game with Jin Ye, she was already familiar with the current situation. This game encouraged violence. Xiaoli said, "Later, we'll need you to go along with our plan, to deceive him for a while. Don't worry, they will protect you."

Lu Lu couldn't digest this proposition quickly, but she didn't have time to think it through. Shortly after Xiaoli finished speaking, they heard a knocking sound at the door.

Tang Yu pulled Jin Ye into the corner, standing motionless like two wooden statues, with only their eyes visible.

After two knocks, the partially open door was pushed open. The person outside didn't really seek permission before opening the door, so the knocks seemed fake.

Brother Hu's burly figure leaned on the door frame, holding a bottle of water in his hand. He glanced at the four of them and smiled, saying, "You are also new members of our camp. Let me explain the rules of the camp to you."

After speaking, he turned to look at his men behind him and said, "No matter what noise you hear, don't come in." The people outside responded obediently. Such things happened often. Even newly recruited males would be violently beaten until they submitted to him. Brother Hu's management strategy for the camp was violence.

Lu Lu's companions stood in the crowd, silent and without speaking. Once they entered the tiger's den, they knew they wouldn't encounter anything good.

Tang Yu squinted her eyes, the statement was a warning to the four newcomers: no one would come to save them.

With the door closed, the light was cut off from the outside. The only remaining light in the room came from the small window, letting in the daylight.

Seemingly afraid that Tang Yu and the others would escape, Brother Hu deliberately pulled the storage cabinet and blocked the doorway.

Tang Yu was slightly surprised. The storage cabinet was not light, yet this Brother Hu could move it with one hand, indicating his strength was beyond ordinary.

Fortunately, she hadn't thought of a direct confrontation.

Their original plan was to assimilate Lu Lu first and then take down Brother Hu together. However, Lu Lu might not choose to stay in the game, and becoming an unconscious zombie would become a problem. So they changed their strategy.

Seeing that the four people in the room were all very docile and showed no signs of fear on their faces, Brother Hu was somewhat surprised. But he still spoke with a hint of ferocity, "Give me your weapons."

Tang Yu and Jin Ye obediently handed over the Jing Long and the submachine gun, then retreated back into the corner. Lu Lu also handed over the gun in her hand.

Xiaoli shrugged her hands and said. "Someone took away our weapons, and we just managed to escape."

Brother Hu sized her up, and besides a backpack, she didn't have anything else on her.

Brother Hu threw the weapons and the backpacks of the three people into an empty storage cabinet. Then he slammed the door, and the cabinet automatically locked. He turned his head to look at them.

Xiaoli forced a sweet smile, despite feeling disgusted. "Brother Hu, please have a seat."

Surprisingly, this confused Brother Hu. He thought these people would scream and run away or tremble in fear, but they seemed eager for something.

He put down the water bottle in his hand and sat on the folding bed. He casually pulled Lu Lu towards him, wanting to see what they were up to.

His arm clamped around Lu Lu like a block of iron, causing her arm to ache.

Lu Lu let out a low cry and struggled on her face, but Xiaoli's previous words reminded her. She endured the disgust and mustered a smile. "Brother Hu, be patient with newcomers."

Tang Yu felt nauseous in her heart.

Brother Hu was taken aback and slightly loosened his arm. "I didn't expect you to be quite sensible." He reached out and beckoned Tang Yu and Jin Ye to come closer.

Xiaoli looked embarrassed. "Brother Hu, these two have ugly faces, so they don't need to come over."

"What are you afraid of? Aren't we all members of our camp in the future?"

Tang Yu's gaze stopped at Brother Hu's waist. His weapon was a fully automatic pistol that made a loud bang like a shotgun when fired, but it was capable of rapid fire. Tang Yu had already witnessed it before.

She needed to find a way to make him unload the gun.

Tang Yu pulled down her cap and obediently walked towards Brother Hu, with Jin Ye reluctantly following her.

The four new members gathered around Brother Hu, and he quickly became complacent. He could conquer four women without using force. He had never experienced such treatment before.

Tang Yu secretly signaled to Lu Lu. Lu Lu, who was standing closest, understood and discreetly reached for Brother Hu's waist.

However, Brother Hu pressed down on Lu Lu's hand reaching for the pistol. "Hey, my gun can't be touched casually."

This person still had some vigilance.

Tang Yu's heart sank. It seemed that she couldn't make him unload the gun.

Lu Lu looked embarrassed and withdrew her hand reluctantly. "What I meant was, take off your jacket. It's quite hot."

"Okay." Brother Hu didn't refuse either.

At this moment, Tang Yu pulled Xiaoli and Jin Ye, pretending to show their loyalty to Brother Hu by massaging his shoulders and legs.

Brother Hu didn't refuse either. With his extraordinary strength, he didn't care much about a few newcomers.

He opened his arms wide, completely defenseless and off guard.

When Tang Yu touched Brother Hu's neck, her nails suddenly grew two sizes, while Jin Ye picked up the jacket Tiger Brother had taken off and tightly covered his head. Xiaoli and Lu Lu then hugged Brother Hu's arms from both sides.

Brother Hu sensed something was wrong and tried to get up.

Tang Yu could clearly feel Brother Hu's muscles undergo a sudden change. The hand squeezing his Adam's apple felt like it was gripping a steel plate, firm and unlike skin.

As Brother Hu resisted, a strong force countered Tang Yu. This strength would soon be able to break free from the suppression of the four people.

Oh no, it seemed that directly attacking wasn't going to work.

Tang Yu shook her head at Jin Ye, and Jin Ye also looked troubled. This guy's talent was likely to be impervious to harm.

No wonder he was fearless. This was an extraordinary ability.

Tang Yu thought of seizing the opportunity to grab the gun but stopped herself. As soon as she touched the gun, her intentions would be exposed.

It was difficult to say whether the gun could penetrate Tiger Brother's skin or not.

Tang Yu exerted force, gripping Brother Hu's neck tightly, while Jin Ye made the clothing cover even tighter. Xiaoli hurriedly cooperated and whispered, "Hey, don't move, don't move. Although we look thin, one of us has the ability to control minds. If you don't move, it's fine, but if you do, you're finished. Do you feel your head swelling right now?"

Brother Hu's breathing became increasingly rapid. Through the fabric of his clothes, he took deep, gasping breaths. He couldn't be certain if what Xiaoli said was true or not, but his mind was indeed becoming muddled, and he was struggling to breathe.

He had witnessed others with mind control abilities before. It wasn't a physical ability, and even if he was a skilled fighter, he couldn't escape the killing intent that could be triggered in an instant.

Seeing that Brother Hu was indeed suppressed, Tang Yu glanced and noticed a bottle of water by the bed. She freed a hand, grabbed the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and pressed the opening against Tiger Brother's T-shirt, forcefully pouring the remaining half of the bottle down his throat.

A severe choking and drowning sensation struck Brother Hu. He finally realized that something was wrong and started struggling violently.

But it was too late. He had already been deprived of oxygen for a while, and now, with his head spinning, he couldn't muster any strength.

His kicking legs banged against the iron door of the storage cabinet, making a loud thumping sound, but his men outside didn't rush in.

This was his own order, and even the little brother murmured quietly, "Big brother, he's going all out this time."

The four individuals tightly held onto Brother Hu's body. Just as Brother Hu was about to suffocate, his right hand suddenly exerted force, breaking free from Xiaoli's control. His flailing hand grabbed Tang Yu's wrist, and in an instant, Tang Yu felt a dull pain as if her hand was clamped by a pair of iron tongs.

Thanks to the slowed pain perception of the zombies, Tang Yu didn't loosen her grip on Brother Hu's neck. Five seconds later, the force completely disappeared, and Brother Hu stopped moving.

Jin Ye continued to cover Tiger Brother's head for a while before removing the clothing. His lifeless face still wore an expression of fear, an expression that usually appeared on the faces of the weak he had oppressed in the past.

This guy, who knows how long he had been doing evil deeds in the game.

Tang Yu stood up, took Brother Hu's gun, and observed it for a moment before handing it to Xiaoli. They both needed to have weapons on them.

The hand that Brother Hu had squeezed emitted a delayed dull pain. Tang Yu raised her hand and looked at it, hissing.

There were four finger marks on the back of her hand, and blood was starting to seep out.

Tang Yu was somewhat speechless. As a zombie, she was being harassed by a human.

The game's prompt sound timely rang, and Tang Yu opened the panel to take a look. Brother Hu had already been eliminated. He wasn't infected, he died due to external forces, so he didn't transform into a zombie but became an ordinary corpse.

Tang Yu rubbed her wound, a tingling sensation spreading from the wound to her chest, making her uncomfortable. She flicked her wrist, ignoring this slight feeling.

As for the group of little brothers outside, Tang Yu wasn't in a hurry to deal with them. Brother Hu's corpse still had its uses. They were planning to play as humans for a while longer.

Lu Lu, on the other hand, was panting heavily, still trembling from the fright. Since entering the game, she hadn't killed any zombies, but she had taken down a player.

Compared to her, the others in the room seemed much calmer. Lu Lu immediately made up her mind to follow these three peculiar individuals.

Her original teammates were completely unreliable, and she couldn't survive alone. Lu Lu looked at the group and tentatively spoke, "Can I join you guys?"

Jin Ye shook her head, "Her physical abilities can't keep up, being with us would be a death sentence."

Tang Yu, on the other hand, was willing. She didn't mind expanding her team, but Lu Lu had low physical abilities and was still a newbie in terms of thinking. They couldn't protect Lu Lu while searching for the Zombie King.

Tang Yu blinked, "How about this, let her find a safe place to hide for now, and when we finish the mission, she can become my assistant."

Jin Ye scoffed, "Why are you so eager to recruit people as your assistant?"

"The more people, the stronger we are." Tang Yu replied calmly.

Seeing them whispering to each other, Lu Lu looked confused. She turned to Xiaoli, treating her as the translator.

Xiaoli couldn't understand a word Tang Yu and Jin Ye were saying, so she made a guess, "They're asking if you want to become a zombie."

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