บท 21: Chapter 21 Discussing Strategies
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Having cleared all the floors, it was already close to 6 or 7 in the evening. Coupled with the fog outside, the floors appeared very dim, and the hallways were dark due to the power outage. The entire building was indistinguishable from night, black as if an abyss.
The gloomy environment and their exhausted bodies left no one in the mood to allocate the resources on the spot. After a simple check, Su Han took Yan Meiyu back to the first floor.
"Su Han, do you really want to keep this plant with you? This thing grew from a pile of flesh and blood; I'm afraid it's not something simple."
In the hallway of the first floor, after being left with just the two of them, Yan Meiyu couldn't help but voice her concern to Su Han.
Startled, Su Han replied, "I'll be careful, but I always feel that this Lamp Tree is not as simple as we thought. You noticed it too, didn't you? That monster's movements slowed down a bit when it entered the range of the yellow light. I'm not sure if it's afraid, but at least the yellow light affects it. I want to figure out what use it might have."
Risk accompanies reward, and in a world gradually turning into the unknown, being overly cautious could lead to missed opportunities.
Reminded by Su Han, Yan Meiyu also recalled the encounter on the 20th floor, and her expression became serious.
If, as Su Han had said, that thing affected the monsters, even suppressed them, then that was good news for everyone.
Understanding this, she knew why Su Han was taking this risk, "Then you be careful. If it really comes to it, Old Gan and I can help keep an eye on the plant's changes. Everyone could take turns; there's no need for you to take all the risk alone."
She paused, her gaze falling on the Lamp Tree wrapped in cloth in the Four-armed Corpse's hand, and said earnestly, "I always feel that after being plucked, the plant didn't dim, but its fruits became even brighter."
"Is that so?"
With Yan Meiyu's reminder, Su Han took a look at the wrapped-up plant.
Through the cover of the bedsheet, he could faintly see the light it emitted, which indeed did not appear dim.
An idea struck him, "Is it because it's been slowly drawing power from the Four-armed Corpse?"
"Su Han, Meiyu, you're finally here. How's the situation?"
Gan Xinglei heard the noise in the corridor and came out with Zhu Xiong, just as Su Han and Yan Meiyu had returned.
Upon seeing them, Su Han nodded in greeting, then said, "Let's go inside and talk. Is there anything up with you all?"
The four entered a room, closing the door behind them. Su Han first instructed the Four-armed Corpse to place the plant in an empty room closest to a window.
The room wasn't large and seemed to be the original owner's child's room, containing nothing more than a bed, a desk, and other miscellaneous items. The desk, placed by the window, was flanked by many cluttered books and a withered potted jade plant, which Su Han used to set down the Lamp Tree.
This room was relatively far from Su Han's own master bedroom, separated by a living room, so any potential impact would be minimal. Thus, it was the most suitable place for handling the Lamp Tree.
After setting down the Lamp Tree, Su Han returned to the living room where the four sat on the couch.
Gan Xinglei asked curiously, "What was that thing just now?"
"Lamp Tree, found on the 20th floor today."
Su Han straightforwardly used the name of the Lamp Tree. Gan Xinglei and the others were not surprised, taking it as a figurative nickname he had coined.
Yan Meiyu recounted to Gan Xinglei and Zhu Xiong the cleaning from the 10th floor up to the 20th floor and their encounter on the 20th floor.
Upon hearing that He Fang had come into conflict with them during the exploration, Gan Xinglei and Zhu Xiong frowned, with Gan Xinglei commenting, "That group of people really can be quite bothersome."
Yan Meiyu scoffed, "Bothersome is an understatement. That He Fang, you guys need to watch out for him. He's looking to probe into the Four-armed Corpse, and I doubt he will let it go easily."
She was worried; although Su Han's Four-armed Corpse was formidable, she had seen what happened to Wang Qian that day. If Su Han were not careful and got ambushed, then no matter how strong the Four-armed Corpse was, it couldn't function alone.
As soon as she finished speaking, to her surprise, Gan Xinglei and Zhu Xiong exchanged glances, then pulled out two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes from the sofa.
Zhu Xiong chuckled, "This is quite the coincidence."
Seeing the two intact packs of cigarettes, Su Han didn't think that Zhu Xiong and Gan Xinglei had simply found them while scavenging for supplies.
Su Han inquired, "What's the story here?"
Zhu Xiong placed the two packs of cigarettes in the middle of the group and slowly began to recount the day's events on the first floor.
"After you guys went out to clear the floors today, it wasn't long before a couple of guys from He Fang's group came looking to cozy up with us."
Su Han raised his eyebrows; the situation was getting interesting. This He Fang seemed to have some schemes, playing both sides.
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He asked, "What did they want from you two, to dig for information?"
Zhu Xiong nodded and said, "That kid tried to cozy up to us, calling us 'big brother' this and 'elder brother' that. But those little tricks couldn't fool me."
He chuckled and then continued, "They want to know what's the deal with your Four-armed Corpse."
Gan Xinglei chimed in from the side, "At first, Old Zhu and I didn't pay much attention. Later, a young guy named Wu Guang, probably couldn't contain his impatience, directly said that if we were willing to leak some information, they could offer us two gold medals, about 200 grams in total, to split between the two of us."
The market price for 100 grams of gold was over 40,000, so 200 grams before the apocalypse was a significant amount—at least 80,000 to 90,000 yuan.
This was definitely not something they originally possessed, showing that He Fang's group wasn't too clean in their search through the floors.
However, that was secondary. Their real cunning lay in their two-faced tactics: on one hand, He Fang personally took the initiative to contact Su Han, while on the other, they secretly tried to win over members of Su Han's team—ambition laid bare.
Despite the crudeness of their method, one had to consider the current state of affairs.
Everyone on the floor had formed teams on the fly, banding together for survival. How solid could these relationships be? Most people couldn't resist such an enticement, not to mention the natural curiosity about the origins of the Four-armed Corpse.
Seeing the demeanor of Zhu Xiong and Gan Xinglei, it was obvious they hadn't agreed to anything, so he asked, "Don't beat around the bush, what did you guys respond with?"
"Don't know."
Zhu Xiong was straightforward, "I told him that I didn't know why the Four-armed Corpse was like that either. But if they really wanted me to help them lure out this secret, I'd have to think it over more."
Su Han: ?
Yan Meiyu: ?
Zhu Xiong grinned, his face turning serious, "I'm not afraid of thieves stealing, but I fear their coveting. I think we should strike first. They're ambitious, but shortsighted, and not thorough in their actions. It's just probing for now, but give it some time and, should chaos ensue, who knows what could happen."
Gan Xinglei nodded in agreement, "I think so too. That Wu Guang, whose Angel Envoy was severed by you, clearly holds a grudge when your name comes up."
"For now, let's keep an eye on them. It's inappropriate to attack without reason, as it may lead to misunderstandings and trouble, especially since Cheng Zhenyong might not just stand by and watch."
"I understand, we'll find a reason before taking action."
"..."
Bro, we really aren't the bad guys.
Su Han looked at Zhu Xiong's bear-like grin, feeling a bit weary, but the coarse words were not without reason.
He turned to Yan Meiyu and said, "Let Rot Skin Rat keep an eye on this, and try to gather some information."
Yan Meiyu nodded, acquiescing, "I'll find a way."
"The conflict with them is just a minor scuffle, that's not the main thing," Su Han reminded the three, "The most important thing is strength. With strength, you can live longer. I've discovered today if you control the Angel Envoy to perform a lot of activities, especially fighting, it powers up faster and the feedback of strength is more active. If possible, you should exercise more often."
Gan Xinglei's eyes widened, somewhat perplexed, "Is that really possible? I thought just enduring would slowly make us stronger."
"...."
Yan Meiyu glared at him fiercely, and Zhu Xiong's expression wasn't any better. So, your little brother just wanted to lie flat?
Gan Xinglei, noticing the collective irritation, chuckled sheepishly, "I'm just kidding. You all know that programmers are the best at grinding."
The strength of the Contracted Angel Envoys varied, as did the pace at which their Contract holders grew stronger and the energy feedback they received—this was already known to them.
But what Su Han mentioned was something they hadn't noticed until now.
"It seems we can't afford to idle anymore."
Zhu Xiong looked serious. Driving an Angel Envoy was taxing, and depending on what they were controlled to do and how intense the activity was, the energy consumed differed. This was somewhat similar to exercise, but it wasn't just physical energy being consumed. Generally, to avoid overtaxing themselves to exhaustion, they'd simply keep their Angel Envoys on alert.
But now, it seemed, a little tiredness was acceptable, as long as it didn't get to the point where they couldn't command the Angel Envoys to return to the Book of Blood Spirit.
Su Han checked the time and then said to the three, "It's getting late today, everyone should head back to rest. Tomorrow, we'll distribute the supplies and then focus on improving our strength. Although we're sure to have received plenty of supplies, we need to plan for the long term."
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