“Complete idiot.”
Through the shop window, Jiāng Chéng watched the scene unfold, unable to articulate his feelings.
This disaster had forged too many tragedies, but also brought forth many heroes.
Regarding Wang Wei, he thought the man was foolish but worthy of respect.
With a sigh, Jiāng Chéng turned his gaze back to the female security officer struggling towards the restaurant.
The female security officer moved incredibly slowly, barely covering half a meter per second. It was estimated she was still fifty meters away from the restaurant, while the zombies were three times her speed, and about a hundred meters from her.
At this rate, the zombies would catch up to her just as she reached the restaurant entrance.
Save her, or not?
Jiāng Chéng wrestled with the decision internally. He estimated his distance to the female security officer was about 200 meters. However, with his agility attribute of 2.9, it would take him at most ten seconds to rush over, and there were no other immediate threats around.
In that case…
Jiāng Chéng's gaze swept over the gun on the female security officer's waist. His mind was made up. Let's do a good deed.
With that thought, he quietly tucked the cleaver into his belt, then climbed out of the store. With a push of his foot, he shot out like an arrow.
At the same time.
“Faster… faster!”
Lín Rú's face was pale; her stamina had reached its limit. She was only able to move by sheer willpower.
In her mind, as long as she reached the restaurant and used the cover inside, she could hold out against the zombies for a while longer.
She continued to move with difficulty, completely failing to notice a stone underfoot.
She stumbled, stepped on the stone, and twisted her ankle. She immediately lost her balance and fell.
“Mmmph—”
She fell to the ground, letting out a pained groan. But Lín Rú reacted quickly. Ignoring her throbbing ankle and scraped palms, she struggled to push herself up, dragging her injured leg towards the restaurant.
“Lín Rú, you can’t die yet!”
“You can’t betray Zhōu Qiáng’s sacrifice, you haven’t fulfilled Wang Wei’s last wish.”
Lín Rú constantly told herself.
But she was just a rookie security officer, only 22 years old, in the prime of her life. She had never encountered anything like this.
A sting in her nose brought a surge of helplessness. The more she crawled, the stronger this feeling became. Tears streamed down her beautiful face, dropping onto the hot ground and quickly evaporating.
She looked back; the horde was less than fifty meters away.
Gradually, despair set in, and she muttered to herself.
“Someone… save me!”
And in the next second.
“Hey, Security Officer, what are you doing lying on the ground?”
The male voice that echoed in her ears made Lín Rú think she was hallucinating.
But the male voice spoke again.
“If I help you up, you’re not going to sue me, are you?”
Lín Rú looked up in surprise.
The man was silhouetted against the sun, making it difficult to see, but she could make out his appearance. His eyes were narrowed, and the corners of his mouth were turned up in a way that seemed intentionally provocative, yet she couldn't bring herself to be angry.
“Number 006525, if you don’t say anything else, I’m leaving?” the man’s voice carried a hint of teasing.
“Please, help me! I don’t want to die!” Lín Rú shouted with all her might.
She wanted to live.
Jiāng Chéng could hear the desperate longing for life in Lín Rú’s voice.
He smiled faintly, bent down, scooped Lín Rú up in a bridal carry, and slowly stood up, saying, “Then please hold on tight.”
Lín Rú was light in his arms, weighing less than 95 jin. Jiāng Chéng inwardly shook his head. This young woman must have been in a support role.
95 jin had almost no impact on Jiāng Chéng’s running speed.
Lín Rú only felt the wind whistling past her ears. Behind them, the zombie horde, though wanting to pursue, could only roar as they watched the two of them gradually get further away.
After running for five minutes, Jiāng Chéng returned to the base. As luck would have it, he ran into Liǔ Xīnrú, who was coming downstairs to get food.
She looked at Jiāng Chéng with a playful gaze: “Tsk tsk tsk, I didn’t know you had a taste for this.”
“A taste for what?”
Jiāng Chéng looked bewildered.
Liǔ Xīnrú said casually, “The allure of the uniform.”
Then, with a hint of provocation, she added, “If you have any… difficulties, feel free to come to me, sis. I guarantee I’ll teach you how to last longer.”
“Pfft!”
Jiāng Chéng inwardly cursed the teasing veteran driver. She had been so defiant when he saved her before, but now, she practically cracked jokes daily.
“Alright, she’s injured. You’re the doctor, so the treatment is up to you,” Jiāng Chéng said, annoyed.
“No problem.” Liǔ Xīnrú gave a thumbs-up. After Jiāng Chéng put her down, she immediately stepped forward and asked, “Where are you hurt, little security officer?”
“It’s… it’s nothing, just sprained my ankle.” Lín Rú was slightly displeased hearing Liǔ Xīnrú call her “little security officer.”
“Just a sprained ankle, are you sure there’s nothing wrong with your chest?” Liǔ Xīnrú chuckled.
Lín Rú looked at her chest in confusion and asked, “What could be wrong with my chest?”
“A broken heart!” Liǔ Xīnrú said, then immediately burst into laughter.
Only then did Lín Rú realize she had been tricked, and her face instantly turned crimson.
Jiāng Chéng watched from the side, shaking his head.
A young girl against a seasoned veteran – it was painful to watch.
Afterward, once Liǔ Xīnrú had finished treating Lín Rú’s wound, Jiāng Chéng decided not to beat around the bush and directly stated, “Number 006525, now that I’ve saved you, we need to talk about revenge.”
Lín Rú: “?”
She was in a comfortable environment and had relaxed, but upon hearing Jiāng Chéng’s words, she was momentarily unable to process them.
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, especially since I’ve saved your life. As we say in ancient Zhou, a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring, and a life-saving grace…”
“You want me to repay you with my body?” Before Jiāng Chéng could finish, Lín Rú immediately understood. Her gaze towards Jiāng Chéng became wary, and her right hand secretly moved to the grip of her gun.
Seeing Lín Rú’s expression, Jiāng Chéng knew she had misunderstood. He shook his head and said, “No, I’m not interested in women.”
“Is it because of… difficulties? Or a special preference?” Lín Rú looked at Jiāng Chéng even more strangely, her right hand tightening its grip on the gun handle.
Jiāng Chéng’s expression turned ugly because he noticed Liǔ Xīnrú beside them was already laughing uncontrollably. As if trying to spare him embarrassment, she covered her mouth, her body trembling, clearly struggling.
Taking a deep breath, Jiāng Chéng stopped speaking indirectly and got straight to the point: “I don’t have any strange preferences. I’m a normal man. If you still doubt me, you can come to my room tonight and find out.”
“Okay, let’s not talk about this topic. I want to talk about the gun in your hand.”
Gun?
Lín Rú looked at the dark gun barrel with confusion, not understanding what Jiāng Chéng meant.
Jiāng Chéng said, “Yes, the gun. I need the gun you have, and the more the better. I also hope you can tell me if your security office has any more guns, or if there are any military bases or armories in the entire Línxiān City. This is very important to me.”
Lín Rú listened, and without thinking, shook her head and refused, “I cannot tell you about this matter. It’s classified.”
“But I saved you.” Jiāng Chéng’s expression turned stern.
Lín Rú ignored Jiāng Chéng’s gaze and continued, “You can choose to kill me, but I will never tell you where the guns are.”