NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50 - Releasing Trust
Not far away, Tian Hai looked at them and threw a large thunder ball at the zombies. He moved next to Bai Qi and whispered, “Brother Bai, I want to…”
“Hmm?” Bai Qi, with one hand holding onto Tang Ruo and the other tossing an ice blade at a zombie’s head, noticed that Tian Hai had trailed off and glanced over.
Tian Hai pulled out a bag.
Bai Qi recognized it as the bag he used to store crystal cores and understood what he wanted to say.
Bai Qi turned to Tang Ruo, “Do you like this team?”
Tang Ruo was focusing on empowering the bodyguard fighting fiercely in front of her. Upon hearing Bai Qi’s question, she turned around and said, “Me?” After thinking for a moment, she nodded and replied, “I like them; they’re all pretty good.”
There was no backstabbing or slacking off; everyone was working hard to fight the monsters.
Compared to the few university students they had seen at the science museum before, this team seemed much better.
Bai Qi responded with an “Mm,” then said to Tian Hai, “You can distribute them. After all, people will find out what these are for sooner or later. It’s better to tell them now and do a favor.”
After several rounds of elimination, those remaining in the team could be trusted to a degree. At least those who were selfish and only cared about their own survival had already driven off to the base in L City.
Since Tang Ruo liked the atmosphere of this team, Bai Qi didn’t mind releasing some trust to understand these people better.
If these individuals were truly trustworthy, he would be willing to form a mercenary group with the team.
In the aftermath of the apocalypse, the term “mercenary” would become popular at the bases. Most ability users could not venture out alone; they needed to group together for safety, leading to the phenomenon of teaming up to fight monsters.
Mercenaries would undoubtedly have a higher safety level and efficiency compared to the mixed teams of many “hunters.”
Tian Hai smiled happily and nodded, then ran over to Liu Bing.
Tang Ruo wrapped Tian Hai in a layer of spiritual energy, then looked at Bai Qi and smiled, “That way, our entire team will be even stronger.”
“Mm.” Her happiness rubbed off on Bai Qi, who reached out to touch her face, “If they’re suitable, we’ll stay in this team.”
Tang Ruo beamed back at him, “Okay.”
Although having Bai Qi and Tian Hai was already great, in a society like this, more people meant greater strength.
They weren’t really capable of defying the odds, conquering the world relying on just one person.
But why conquer the world anyway?
Liu Bing had just taken down another zombie when he saw Tian Hai coming over and waved, “Xiao Hai, come on, help us kill a few more here; Old Pan is too slow, it takes him ages to trap even two…”
Pan Dawei didn’t stop using his abilities and grumbled, “Youngster, not respecting your elders and caring for the young shows a lack of character.”
Liu Bing retorted, “As long as you’re willing to admit you’re old, that’s good enough.”
Tian Hai stuffed a bag into Liu Bing’s hands.
Liu Bing stopped and asked, confused, “What is this?”
Tian Hai replied, “It’s for when you run out of abilities; just hold it and absorb the energy.”
Pan Dawei snatched the bag and poured out its contents.
What spilled out was the blue crystal cores that Bai Qi and the others dug out of the zombies’ heads.
Liu Bing exclaimed, “Ah!” but was quickly shushed by Pan Dawei, “Keep your voice down! Are you trying to make a free broadcast to attract zombies?”
He and Liu Bing each took a core, examined it, and absorbed the energy. A refreshing power flowed from their veins straight to their hearts, and they both felt their abilities replenished.
Pan Dawei said, “Xioa Tian, this is where you went wrong. For the organization and the people, you should have told us about this sooner. At least you should have told me! What you’re doing now is ruining our wonderful friendship. I trusted you so much, and you didn’t consider my feelings…”
Tian Hai was speechless.
Suddenly, he really wanted to take it back and not give it to him.
Liu Bing suggested, “Pan Bro, why don’t you give it back to me, and we can pretend you never heard about this?”
Pan Dawei responded, “That’s not acceptable. It’s better to know late than never. Xiao Tian has already told me; how can I pretend I don’t know? Don’t worry, Xioa Tian, I will make good use of these blue crystals…” He patted Tian Hai on the shoulder and added, “You’re a good kid. You and that Bai guy are both decent—there’s potential in you.”
He knew that without Bai Qi’s suggestion, Tian Hai wouldn’t have revealed anyone’s secret.
With the crystal cores replenishing their abilities, the team’s speed didn’t increase significantly.
This was simply because their numbers were limited.
However, Bai Qi also didn’t keep it a secret anymore; he directly shared this “secret” with Hu Haotian.
When Hu Haotian’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape in surprise, he quickly accepted the information. After all, it was a secret discovered by someone else that they were willing to share. Would it make sense to complain about the timing?
He was self-aware; with Bai Qi and Tian Hai’s abilities, they didn’t even need to stay with them to survive well.
The most obvious contrast was seen in the four days that followed their departure.
During those four days, the rest of the team looked like they had just returned from an African camping trip, while Bai Qi and the others appeared as if they had been vacationing in their own villa.
Once Hu Haotian learned about the function of the crystal cores, he didn’t hide it and shared the information with the rest of the team.
As the others looked at Hu Haotian, their eyes brimmed with tears. But then they realized that Bai Qi and the others had been mining crystal cores just days before. This meant they had been sharing their experience.
So, the team felt even more grateful toward Bai Qi’s poker face.
From then on, the team was even more motivated to hunt zombies.
After all, each zombie killed meant a crystal core, and each crystal core meant a boost in power.
Everyone was energized as they fought zombies and dug up crystal cores. Along the way, they also discovered a problem: crystal cores weren’t something you could absorb just whenever you wanted.
It seemed to have a daily limit.
Hu Haotian brought this question to Bai Qi, and they discussed it in depth.
Bai Qi said, “I’m not sure either. When I discovered it by accident, my ability wasn’t very strong. I was still hiding in a theater, and I didn’t have many opportunities to use it. Later, when I joined the convoy, it seemed like I could absorb more than five cores in a day.”
Hu Haotian, being a shrewd businessman, quickly caught on: “So you’re saying that not only can this replenish your abilities, but it can also enhance them?”
Bai Qi replied, “Maybe. Anyway, my abilities feel much stronger now compared to when I first awakened them.” As he spoke, he released five ice blades and swiftly dealt with a group of zombies.
Upon hearing this and witnessing Bai Qi’s power firsthand, everyone’s spirits soared to an unprecedented high.
The strength of abilities signifies something important; every hot-blooded young man hopes to have powers that inspire awe.
Moreover, Bai Qi’s abilities were not only powerful but also impressive!
The zombies on the road did not hinder their progress, and after five hours, they arrived at the entrance of Blue Light Technology.
Blue Light Technology is a large solar energy grid company, and there are likely thousands of employees inside.
A group of people stood at the entrance, peering inside.
Luo Ziqiang said, “That area inside isn’t just the employee dormitory? Once we go in, we’ll need to be careful.”
Tang Ruo stood at the entrance, releasing her mental energy to sense her surroundings. She discovered that the five-story building located at the far east was indeed the employee dormitory.
Liu Hai added, “In such a company, the employee dormitory area is definitely around five to six stories high. Just avoid any places where you see clothes hanging out the windows or on balconies.”
Everyone found this reasoning very sound, so they voluntarily split into two small groups and cautiously entered through the main gate.