NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76 Finagle
Brian looked up and met David's gaze, hesitating for a moment. Seeing Brian's hesitation, Lily covertly nudged him with her elbow. "Got it," Brian said in a low voice to Lily.
Then he turned to David and said, "David, I wanted to ask you for some crystals. Not just for myself, but for Lily too."
As David heard this, his fingers rhythmically tapped on the tabletop. He raised an eyebrow and scanned both of them.
"Oh?" During this time, it was a kind of probation for them, and if they made any wrong moves during this period, David wouldn't keep them around.
Brian pursed his lips and continued, "Brother, we want to get stronger and continue following you without being a burden."
The idea was good, but David wondered if it was genuine. He nodded and then turned to Lily. "And what about you? Do you think the same?"
Lily nodded quickly when asked. "I think the same. David, you're getting stronger, and if we don't get stronger too, we won't be able to stay by your side. Besides, you saved us..."
Brian spoke a few more words afterwards, but David didn't pay much attention. Those words were just tired clichés. David silently stared at the two of them, their hands intertwined, biting their lips nervously, afraid to meet David's gaze.
After a few minutes, two crystals, one for Shadow and one for Healing, appeared on the table with a soft clink. "Take them," David said as he stood up.
Both of them were pleasantly surprised. They quickly expressed their gratitude. "Thank you, David!"
David raised his index finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet. They nodded, immediately closing their mouths. David looked at them for a moment and sighed. "I hope you don't disappoint me." With those words, David turned and left.
Although David tried to help Brian and Lily as much as possible, he still had a trace of wariness towards them. In this apocalyptic world, there were too many deceitful people. And considering what the two of them had experienced before, they naturally had a deeper sense of cunning than ordinary people.
Even so, David didn't reveal any of his thoughts. His top priority was to improve his own strength. Only by becoming stronger could he treat those with ulterior motives as nothing more than clowns.
After David left, the fear on Lily's face vanished in an instant. She held the crystals in her hands and sighed. "He only gave us two. Can it make me level up?" With that, Lily slumped onto the sofa.
Brian hurriedly approached and massaged Lily's shoulders. "Be content. David is very cautious, so getting two crystals is already good enough for us."
Hearing Brian's words, Lily could only sigh helplessly. She initially thought that their performance by David's side in these past few days would be enough to deceive him and obtain more resources for their team. But today, they were denied as soon as they asked. Although the healing crystal in her hand was valuable, it didn't satisfy her appetite.
As awakened individuals in this post-apocalyptic world, the two of them had been infiltrating various small team organizations. Their goal was to gain access to these teams and seize all of their resources for themselves. With their excellent acting skills, they had been quite successful so far. That was also why they were able to awaken their abilities.
Brian and Lily made up their minds to deceive David and obtain his resources by any means necessary. Once they succeeded, they planned to flee together and continue their scamming activities. The thought of it felt exhilarating.
"If we manage to deceive David and get all his resources, our strength will definitely increase significantly," Brian said, massaging Lily's shoulders. "After all, in this apocalypse, strength is everything. We will become the most powerful awakened individuals in the apocalypse."
Both of them had a greedy look in their eyes. This was also why Brian had helped David fend off the mental control of the towering zombie before. Once they gained David's complete trust, they would seize the opportunity. They fantasized about dominating the post-apocalyptic world and relished the idea.
"Heh heh heh, I didn't expect my dear David to be so ruthless. I like it!" Brian imagined David's figure in his mind and smirked with disdain.
Outside the door, David exuded a cold aura as he listened to their conversation. At his feet lay a corpse of a zombie. Coincidentally, a zombie had approached when he was about to leave earlier. After dealing with the zombie, he had overheard their conversation before he could leave.
As he listened further, David's expression gradually grew darker. These two had deceived him quite a bit. David smiled self-mockingly, collected the crystals from the floor, and turned to leave the room.
Sally was chatting with Sophie when the door suddenly opened. She became instantly alert. "Let me go check." She stood up and walked toward the living room. When she saw David, her sense of vigilance immediately dissipated.
"David!" Sally called out and hugged him. Sophie, who heard the sound, also came out. "David, you're back. Is everything alright?" Before she could finish her sentence, David nodded.
"Arnold is already home. Let me take you back." Sophie, being an ordinary person, could be in danger in the building, as there could be zombies. Last time, Sophie came alone to find Arnold and luckily didn't encounter any zombies.
After escorting Sophie back, David and Sally leaned against the sofa, cuddling. "Did you gain anything on this outing?" Sally leaned against David's chest and whispered.
David lowered his head and gently caressed her cheek. "I gained quite a few crystals." But compared to the massive critical hits before, it was still far off. David's consciousness stirred, and a transparent panel appeared before his eyes.
[Quest: Store Crystals! ]
[There is one month left until the first major zombie outbreak. Please collect as many mutated crystals as possible and form your own team. During this time, all the resources you store will receive a hundredfold critical hit bonus. Remaining quest time: 18 days, 6 hours, 5 minutes.]
Mutated crystals? David was momentarily stunned as he looked at the information on the panel. His warehouse had plenty of basic crystals, but mutated crystals with different attributes were scarce.
Finding new blood for his team in this chaotic world was incredibly difficult. David furrowed his brow. The person in his embrace moved and sat up. David lifted his gaze and met Sally's eyes. Sally didn't say anything but simply reached out and smoothed David's furrowed brow.
"A furrowed brow adds a few more years to your appearance," Sally whispered, suppressing her voice.