“Let’s try it,” Luo Guang muttered under his breath after weighing things in his mind.
“Luo, what did you just say?” Lin saw his lips move, but she had not caught what he said.
“Nothing.” The words Luo Guang had muttered to himself just now had been in Chinese.
This time he switched back to English.
“Let’s go take a look at the subway station.”
His finger moved across the map, then suddenly stopped on one spot.
“Raccoon City Central Subway Station.
It’s the closest station to us, so let’s head there and try our luck.”
Lin nodded and did not object.
Luo Guang glanced at her.
Just a moment ago, she had obediently stayed here following her brother’s advice.
Now, though, she was thinking about leaving.
From Lin’s perspective, that was not because she did not care about her brother, nor had her tears been fake.
Her brother was already dead.
If she stayed hiding here, no matter what, no one was going to save her.
Lin had heard the city council’s announcement, but she had not believed a single word of it.
And after that, when the city council made no further announcements, it only confirmed for her that Raccoon City’s government had no ability to resolve this disaster.
That meant she could only save herself.
It was not that Lin refused to listen to her brother.
It was just that this time, she would be the one walking in front, carrying her brother forward—letting him keep “living on.”
Seeing Lin unconsciously clutch the pistol her brother had left her a little tighter, Luo Guang suddenly thought of something and asked, “Do you know how to use a gun?”
“My brother taught me.
I know how to use one, but my aim’s not very good.” Lin made it very clear—no one should be counting on her marksmanship.
“Then unless it’s an emergency, it’s better not to use it.
Those zombies have pretty decent hearing.
Individually, they’re not much of a threat, but once there are too many of them, they’re a pain to deal with.”
Luo Guang shared some of his own experience with her.
Though Lin could not compare to Jill in either strength or combat skill, as long as she used the right methods, handling a basic one-on-one was still something she could learn easily enough.
That being said, Luo Guang was not expecting much combat ability from her.
As long as she did not drag him down, and could help a little in other areas, that was already good enough.
After all, skilled support personnel always had their uses.
“Okay.” Lin nodded obediently, then asked, “Are we leaving now?
Luo, do you want to rest first?
I think this place should still be safe for the time being.”
“Do you have supplies?
Weapons, food, water, things like that?” Luo Guang remembered the goals he had originally set for himself.
This time there was no Nemesis barging in to ruin things, so Luo Guang gathered supplies smoothly.
Under Lin’s guidance, they smashed open a powerless vending machine and ended up with a whole table of food and bottled drinks.
Since they could not carry too much anyway, Luo Guang chose to eat with Lin until they were about sixty percent full, using the chance to digest part of the food they could not take with them.
After that, the two of them selectively packed the food and water from the table into their own backpack and shoulder bag.
Lin’s shoulder bag was sky blue.
At first, Luo Guang had tried to persuade her that, if she ever got the chance, she should switch to a backpack with more capacity—something that would not swing around as she ran.
But when Lin told him that the bag had been a birthday gift from her brother, Luo Guang fell silent and did not try to persuade her any further.
He only told her to adjust the strap so it would not affect her ability to run.
At the very least, he did not want it swinging from side to side once she started sprinting.
Even after transmigrating to a place this dangerous, I still can’t bring myself to be as cold and ruthless as people in a post-apocalyptic world…
Looking at Lin obediently adjusting the strap of her shoulder bag, that was what Luo Guang thought.
Luo Guang had not been in this world for very long.
He still carried the habits of a peaceful era, so the idea of abandoning her had not taken root in him.
Even so, ever since meeting her, he had still maintained a certain amount of caution and wariness.
Besides, I already told her her brother gave me the key.
Looking at it that way, doesn’t that practically mean her brother entrusted her to me?
I’m just making my lie hold together.
Caught in that contradiction, Luo Guang watched Lin adjusting the strap and found himself an excuse for his own behavior.
…
Right after eating, people got sleepy, and it was not ideal to start moving around immediately.
So the two of them rested for a while before finally setting out.
Leaving the R.P.D. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Youth Activity Center, the two walked side by side.
Luo Guang did not choose to walk in front to protect Lin.
Instead, he kept a short distance between them so they could cover each other, while also keeping her movements within his field of view.
Neither of them had received professional training, so their movements and formation looked anything but professional.
But this was already the best arrangement the system could offer Luo Guang.
Whether it came to rescuing her or abandoning her, the system had already analyzed possible responses for Luo Guang.
In fact, the system’s assessment of Lin was that she had no combat ability and would not be able to keep up with Luo Guang’s pace, making her nothing more than baggage.
While Luo Guang had been resting, it had even proposed that he act alone, since that would be better than teaming up with dead weight.
When Luo Guang rejected the suggestion, he said, “Her brother was a cop, so she’s had some physical training before.
She’s not as fragile as she looks.”
The system could only quantify Luo Guang’s capabilities as its host.
For other people, it could only observe them through Luo Guang’s eyes and make rough judgments, so all it could determine was a broad range.
While they had been eating, Luo Guang had put his Chinese table-culture skills to work and chatted with Lin about quite a few things.
Among those topics was the influence her brother had had on her.
So besides exercising regularly, Lin was also studying medicine and possessed a certain amount of medical knowledge.
It was true that getting bitten by a zombie would result in mutation, which made ordinary medical knowledge feel a bit useless in the face of zombies.
But Luo Guang was clearly thinking further ahead.
Right now, all over Raccoon City there were car crashes and explosion sites.
The environment had become far more dangerous.
It was entirely possible to get cut by some exposed sharp object while moving around.
Trust between people had not yet been completely destroyed, but that did not stop troublemakers from making trouble, and that brought with it the possibility of knife wounds, gunshot wounds, and bullets.
Having an almost-doctor around is reassuring.
That was how Luo Guang justified it to himself.
For most of the meal, Lin had been the one talking.
Luo Guang was more than happy to be a good listener.
That way, he could avoid revealing too much about himself while still gathering information about her.
In the end, after Luo Guang rejected the system’s suggestion to use Lin as a human shield, the system had no choice but to start offering plans based on Luo Guang’s chosen course of action.
Returning to Luo Guang and Lin—by now, the two of them had already left the alley and reached the main street, taking cover on opposite sides of the same wrecked car.
Just as Luo Guang had seen before, it was still the same hell-on-earth scene.
Luo Guang adapted to it quickly, so quickly that he did not even feel the slightest nausea, making him begin to wonder whether he might secretly be cold-blooded.
What Luo Guang did not know was that this was actually thanks to the system’s regulation.
The system simply had not informed him of it, and the function was not active all the time, which was why Luo Guang had not noticed anything strange.
Completely unaware of that, Luo Guang glanced toward Lin’s side.
Lin was frowning and covering her mouth and nose with one hand.
She looked slightly nauseated, but in the end, she did not have any violent reaction.
After more than ten seconds, Lin still looked uncomfortable, but she had finally adjusted and no longer needed to cover her mouth and nose.
That reaction made Luo Guang revise his opinion of this girl, who always looked as though she might start crying at any moment.
When Lin noticed Luo Guang looking at her, she shook her head, then made the hand signal he had just taught her:
“Advance.”
“Advance,” “stop,” and “retreat.”
These were hand signals Luo Guang had hastily learned on the fly, while Lin, thanks to her brother, had been exposed to them before and picked them up quickly.
Still, taking their situation into account, Luo Guang had chosen only those three simple, practical signals.
Luo Guang nodded, then checked behind and to both sides once more.
There were no zombies to the left or right.
There were zombies behind them, and quite a few of them, but they were blocked by three vehicles that had crashed together and were now burning fiercely.
Whether some instinct still remained in them or not, the zombies on that side were all keeping a certain distance from the flames.
Luo Guang turned his gaze back to the front.
Right then, in the middle of the broad street ahead, a cluster of zombies were gathered around a meal, pulling, tearing, and clawing at something as they fought for their share.
There were paths on both sides they could use to get past, but they were fairly narrow.
Isn’t this the textbook setup for a forced split-up?
Luo Guang recognized it at a glance.
If this were a game, this was exactly the sort of environment designed to stir up trouble.
It was possible for both of them to go around on the same side.
But Luo Guang was worried that if there were zombies “waiting in ambush” ahead, having someone behind him would make it harder to dodge.
The other issue was one Luo Guang had been trying to avoid all along—showing his back to Lin, someone he had only known for a short time.
As for making Lin walk in front, Luo Guang could not bring himself to do that.
Their relationship was not one of superior and subordinate, so he could not very well force her to take point.
That flag…
For a moment, Luo Guang was at a loss.
He could not help thinking that everyone he had met on this journey looked like an NPC.
They would not do dangerous things unless the plot demanded it—just like Jill running back to fight Nemesis.
As someone who had seen plenty of horror movies, Luo Guang found it hard to understand.
But…
This suggestion of Lin’s was not actually a bad thing for Luo Guang.
Anyway, his original supply plan had already been completed.
Since she was the one taking the initiative to suggest it, things would be less awkward.
Though that was what he thought inside, Luo Guang deliberately put a hesitant look on his face.
He let the expression struggle there for a moment, then finally nodded and said, “Be careful.”
After that, the two of them exchanged no further words and began to move.
Things went smoothly on Luo Guang’s side.
Naturally, the problem came from Lin’s side.
Just as Lin was carefully avoiding the scattered car parts on the ground, a zombie hiding under a car suddenly stretched out a hand and grabbed at the foot she was about to set down.
Because Lin had already been watching the ground, her reaction was quick.
She kicked off with her back foot and lunged a short distance forward, successfully avoiding the grab.
But after landing, because she had put too much force into the forward motion, her body wobbled, and with a smack, her palm slapped against the car door.
Perhaps because the metal panel was thin, the sound came out much louder than expected.
As if time had stopped, both Luo Guang and Lin froze.
Their meal interrupted, the zombies who had been stuffing themselves received a signal for extra servings.
Swaying as they stood, they instinctively turned toward the source of the noise, their milky eyes fixing on Lin.
Seeing the zombies being drawn toward her, Luo Guang said nothing.
He simply watched her reaction.
The moment Lin saw all those zombies turn toward her, her heart tightened, and she froze.
“Damn it,” Luo Guang cursed under his breath.
“Run!
We’ll meet at the subway station!”
After shouting that to Lin, Luo Guang had done all he reasonably could.
He turned and bolted.
That one shout finally jolted Lin out of her fear.
Watching the zombies shift toward Luo Guang’s voice, she realized that she had dragged him down.
Because the road conditions were poor, Luo Guang focused all his attention on his footing and did not look back again.
Still, he vaguely heard Lin’s reply behind him.
She probably had not stayed rooted to the spot and had started running for her life.
As long as she did not get surrounded, most types of zombies were relatively manageable.
And where Lin had been standing, there were cars separating her from the zombies feasting in the middle of the road, so her chances of escaping were not bad.
Luo Guang did not waste time tangling with the zombies.
He kicked one that blocked his path aside and, without giving it even an extra glance, bent low to avoid their flailing arms and slipped past them.
“Alley to the right.”
The system, having recorded the map of Raccoon City through Luo Guang’s eyes, now guided him like a navigator.
Without slowing down, Luo Guang turned sharply right, dodged the attack lunging at him from ahead, and sprinted into an alley.
Perhaps because the main street was livelier, Luo Guang noticed that there were always noticeably fewer zombies in the alleys.
He encountered very little obstruction, and after vaulting over a wall, he finally shook off the zombies chasing him completely.
If this were the traffic-chasing internet age from before I transmigrated, this bit alone would probably land me in a parkour compilation and earn me a ton of followers.
Seeing that he had escaped his pursuers and that there were no zombies lying in wait for him after climbing the wall, Luo Guang relaxed his tightly wound nerves a little, and his thoughts drifted for a moment.
Just as he was about to take advantage of this temporary safety to rest for a while, a huge sound suddenly rang out.
Faintly, Luo Guang thought he also heard a very familiar curse.
Holding the Glock 17, Luo Guang cautiously left the alley he was in.
The moment he stepped out, he saw a pretty woman in a blue tube top rolling across the ground several times, covered in dust and grime.
“Luo?”
After rolling a few times and coughing twice, Jill was just about to get up when she saw Luo Guang.
Surprise flashed across her face.
Luo Guang was just about to answer when a furious roar rudely cut him off.
This time, Luo Guang heard the meaning of that roar perfectly clearly.
“S.T.A.R.S.——!”
It’s not really mandatory—I’ll eventually upload all the chapters here—but it helps a lot in supporting me and allows me to dedicate more time to it.