Kingdom of Corrosion

In Shadow Base, Stone had already received the call. He pondered in his mind what "Liangren" was—a person, a base, or a codename? It seemed like Lin Wu's voice, but wasn't Lin Wu supposed to be scouting the church on the mountaintop? Why would there be a radio? As the person in charge of the base, Stone didn't hurry to respond but gave himself time to sort out his thoughts.

After Lin Wu mentioned Stone, the female leader, surprised, asked beside him, "Stone, his name is actually just Stone?"

Lin Wu nodded. Could it be such a coincidence? First, out of Blue Star's eligible 1.5 billion, a million were drawn, then pulled into the same city. Two acquaintances avoided the game's 90% mortality rate on that day and even fled to the same town. The female leader took the walkie-talkie: "Stone, this is Maya."

Stone immediately replied with surprise, "Maya?"

Lin Wu was dissatisfied. You don't answer when 'Liangren' calls, but the moment it's a woman's voice, you pick up instantly. What's that about?

Huh? Maya? Was Maya a good name? Compared to Lin Wu, Stone, Little Knife, of course it was much better. Given Dawn's naming quirks, it was either blind luck, like a blind cat finding a dead rat, giving her a beautiful name by chance, or this Maya was not part of the 95% commoners but among the 5% elite.

Actually, Dawn's naming had its merits, because there was only one Stone, the name unique to a living person across the entire Blue Star. Hence, as soon as Maya heard the name Stone, she didn't need to consider the possibility of it being a common name.

Stone said, "Maya, let's meet."

Maya thought for a moment with the walkie-talkie in hand and asked, "Do you have a spare bed over there?"

Stone replied, "There's one."

Maya: "Good, I will come to find you."

This conversation confused Lin Wu. It seemed that these two were more than just acquaintances, yet somehow simpler than that. Maya revealed information that the farm base lacked sleeping arrangements—five people, four beds, truly one short. What baffled Lin Wu was whether Maya meant she was joining Shadow Base temporarily. Wasn't Maya a leader? Could she be so casual? Or did Maya look down on the farm base completely? Did Stone and Maya need to meet for some reason?

Curious baby Lin Wu was full of question marks.

Maya called someone over to the infirmary and chatted with her people for a while. Stepping out of the infirmary, Maya said to Lin Wu waiting outside, "Let's go." It seemed meeting Stone was more important than developing the base.

"Okay." Not knowing her well, it wasn't appropriate to ask questions. From Maya's attitude, it was clear she had no intention of offering an explanation. The rumor wasn't unfounded—those in the 95% don't get along easily with the 5%.

...

There was no barrier to communication in terms of language between the two, but there seemed to be an obstacle in the way they communicated. Maya's attitude towards Lin Wu's topics was rather dismissive.

Lin Wu: "You really have a lot of people."

Maya: "Yeah."

Lin Wu: "Why choose a farm?"

Maya: "Needed a place to stay."

Lin Wu: "How did you escape from Future City?"

Maya: "Adapted as things happened."

Lin Wu: "Where did you get the bicycles?"

Maya: "Found them."

Although he was not a social butterfly, Lin Wu had good conversational skills. Each of Lin Wu's questions was a topic in itself, but Maya's responses not only answered the questions but also put an end to the topics.

Maya's questions were not topics, but rather questions: "When did you arrive at North Town?"

Lin Wu: "Last night."

Maya: "Are the resources plentiful?"

Lin Wu: "Not as much as in Future City."

Maya: "Have you encountered any Mutant Zombies?"

Lin Wu: "No."

Maya: "What's the name of your companion?"

"Shh." Lin Wu: "We're starting to be silent." It's better if we all stop talking. How can I describe the atmosphere? Lin Wu was a college student who had just entered university, enthusiastic about everything, curious about everything, and more than willing to communicate with others, even if it's just chitchat. Maya, on the other hand, was a college student deeply concerned about her country, her people, and her school.

Lin Wu marveled: The food smells amazing. Maya: Students are queuing for too long.

Lin Wu marveled: The senior girl is so beautiful. Maya: Dress is too revealing, affecting concentration.

Lin Wu marveled: The university is so big. Maya: The university lacks fundamental facilities.

Lin Wu marveled: I've got an idiot by my side. Maya: You're the one with an idiot by your side.

When the conversation doesn't flow, extra words are unnecessary. Lin Wu led the way, with Maya following three meters behind, both heading towards the Shadow base. Lin Wu raised his hand, and Maya stopped. Lin Wu killed Zombies, and they continued onward, without conversation or interaction. Lin Wu found the atmosphere unbearable, recalling what an intern once said, "The most annoying thing after entering the workforce is having to work with someone you don't want to, but have to."

In contrast, Maya seemed completely unbothered, as if accustomed to this way of interacting with others. But Lin Wu still managed to attract Maya's attention, not because of his clean and efficient movements, but rather because he walked along the ditch in Olive Manor, keeping an eye on it.

Lin Wu didn't explain. His purpose in startling things along the ditch was to see if he could encounter Amanda 2. Although he didn't find Amanda 2, it wasn't for naught. When Zombies suddenly erupted from the reeds, Lin Wu's mentality became extremely stable.

Zombies appearing suddenly means they'll pounce for a bite. The moment a Zombie appeared, Lin Wu dashed aside, the Zombie's pounce was destined to fail, leaving it stiff for a significant moment. Lin Wu quickly turned back and responded with a decisive counterattack. Most importantly, his actions evolved; previously, he would dodge to the side when Zombies lunged, now, he would graze past them.

As he passed through the last stretch of Olive Manor, Lin Wu's movements were further refined under the subtle guidance of the system; in the moment of brushing past a Zombie, Lin Wu struck back, stabbing the Zombie in the back of the head. Having grasped the essence of his craft, Lin Wu didn't leave Olive Manor but instead turned and followed the ditch up towards the hilltop church.

Maya asked, "Why are we going back?"

Lin Wu explained, "This is the Olive Maze, set up by Amanda, the daughter of Olive Manor. There are Beast Traps and landmines everywhere. Only by going back and forth twice can you safely get through the landmine array and reach the other side of the death zone."

The new movement Lin Wu learned was to crouch forward with a backhand stab at a 45-degree angle upwards from behind. Initially, it wasn't very smooth, and his chances of hitting the back of a Zombie's head were only 50%. After walking to the end and back, his hit rate rose sharply. Before he completely passed through Olive Manor, Lin Wu's Agility rose to four stars, unlocking his first special move: Whirlwind Backstabbing.

Whirlwind Backstabbing: Consumes 20% of stamina to dash up to three meters in the forward-left-right direction, while backstabbing the target.

In practice, it's like a slide similar to the invincible roll in many games. The Whirlwind Backstab is extremely fast; if a target is within range during the slide, it will directly backstab it. This move doesn't require system enhancement, but with it, not only is the movement faster, but the attack speed, power, and accuracy also increase significantly.

The most impressive thing about Whirlwind Backstabbing is that it can be upgraded. Currently, you can only stab once during the entire process, but as proficiency increases, at least two stabs will be possible. Whether there is a third stab can only be known after unlocking the second.

The biggest regret is that this system move consumes 20% stamina. Even though Lin Wu has increased his constitution, it still takes 10 seconds of standing still to recover 20% stamina, making it impossible to seamlessly connect consecutive Whirlwind Backstabbing.

Maya was completely baffled by Lin Wu's routing. Instead of moving in a straight line, he meandered; the real reason was that Lin Wu was looking to practice on Zombies, but he explained to Maya: "This area is filled with interconnected traps, every step is perilous. Killing this Zombie isn't the real objective, but to prevent triggering others when taking the next one down. For example, for Zombies 1, 2, and 3, I must kill Zombie 2 first, breaking the link between them, so I can take down Zombie 1 without being discovered by Zombies 2 and 3, thus clearing the path to continue forward smoothly."

Maya nodded, "I see."

Tch! 5% is nothing much. Lin Wu said, "We need to slow down because we are about to enter an area of town with a high density of Zombies... I need to pee, wait for me a second." Lin Wu noticed a pizza shop a few dozen meters away, didn't wait for Maya's agreement, left her, and went to the pizza shop. In a short while, he came back with a pack of basic food supplies and nonchalantly said to Maya, "Let's go." He hitched up his pants as if in a hurry not to keep Maya waiting, his pants not properly done.

You brush me off, I brush you off.

Maya had good composure and didn't get angry, or even affected, quietly following Lin Wu all the way to Shadow base, by which time it was 3:30 p.m.