Chapter 1473: Chapter 1473
In the office building, the Conquerors followed them in a run, exerting their full strength, fearing being left behind.
"I curse you to have a miserable death!" Zhu Dehou’s desperate scream faintly emanated from the stairwell, his anger startling the weaker ones.
Zhu Dehou had never thought of attacking; otherwise, with the opponent’s strength, he would have been completely crushed, and if he had his limbs broken and left behind, he wouldn’t have had the slightest chance of survival.
"Do you think I’m being unreasonable?" Tang Zheng slowed his tone, switching to a conversational mode.
"No!" The weaker ones hastily shook their heads. Even if they did think so, they dared not say it, as not only would Tang Zheng not act, but they would also face retribution from Sha Ou.
"Group Leader, I know you mean well for us!" The middle-aged man was obsequious.
"How am I being good to you?" Dong Zixuan was very straightforward and hated such people, so her tone was somewhat sarcastic.
"Uh!" The middle-aged man couldn’t say anything, nearly peeing himself in embarrassment.
"Zixuan, don’t make it difficult for him." Tang Zheng’s breath was very steady, this amount of physical activity was no pressure for him.
"The coercion he has imposed on my group members is enough for me to punish him, but the crime does not warrant death. He is left behind because of you all." Tang Zheng’s words left the weaker ones bewildered, unable to understand.
"What brain, sending him out as a scout is clearly sending him to his death, right? Even if he survives, what useful information could he get?" Zhu Kefu’s face showed mockery, "Right, isn’t it because you offended the Group Leader, and he’s deliberately setting you up?"
The weaker ones were embarrassed, but none of them dared to talk back; the person could kill a third-order with one move, his power was formidable and awe-inspiring.
"I left him to be captured by the enemy, to offer a scape." Knowing they could not think of the answer, Tang Zheng directly told them, "Besides deterrence by power, there also needs to be a gain. If they are under strict orders to not kill us, they would die instead, then even if they retreat for a while, they will attack again. But having prey changes things."
"Because prey means an excuse—for people once they have a way out, they won’t fight desperately. See? They haven’t caught up until now, which is the best proof." Zhu Kefu helped explain, although he wasn’t the team’s strategist, his experience compensated for that. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NovelHub(.)net
The weaker ones suddenly realized and admired Tang Zheng’s prudence, and the thought they had of being abandoned like Zhu Dehou was now dispelled.
"A bunch of fools." Wang Fang lamented; Tang Zheng spoke that way with the intention of spreading the responsibility for leaving behind Zhu Dehou among everyone. Thus, even if they went back and talked about it, they would omit this part and only praise Tang Zheng.
After all, with this calculation, Zhu Dehou’s death benefited everyone; humans are selfish creatures, not wanting to leave a bad impression for others.
Wang Fang didn’t know, Tang Zheng was also testing them; he glanced back and saw these weaker ones show no guilt, completely dismissing Zhu Dehou from their minds, only thinking of escaping, instantly feeling much more relaxed, could casually use them as cannon fodder.
A cold-blooded person does not deserve to be helped.
"Good job." Tang Zheng praised Xin Lan, feeling relieved for the protection she provided her subordinates, "Meiqin, you need to communicate more with everyone."
Tang Zheng ultimately hoped that the Beautiful Leg Stewardess and Qin Yan could erase their differences.
"Meiqin has a warm heart under a cold exterior!" Ai Yixin knew how to interact well, in terms of popularity, she was certainly number one in the team.
"How many more points do we need to gather twenty thousand?" Tang Zheng hadn’t forgotten Ai Renqi’s goal, she really lived a hard life, yet she was strong, and that kind of woman was admirable
"We are close." Ai Yixin clutched the shield that Tang Zheng had just given her, deeply grateful, "Speaking of which, you often give me equipment, other than strengthening my body, I haven’t really spent any points."
"Twenty thousand points, what’s the deal? Isn’t resurrection just ten thousand?" Gossip seemed to be a woman’s nature, Fu Tianxiao inquired, Wang Fang was also very interested.
Li Xinlan casually explained, eliciting amazement from everyone.
"A pregnant woman actually survived almost ten battles in the Cruel Trojan World? Apart from being lucky, isn’t your Tang Group being too nice?" Fu Tianxiao side-eyed, full of envy and jealousy, "If only I were in the Warhammer Team."
"Absolutely too nice." Zhu Kefu nodded in agreement, very certain.
"Don’t fall in love with him, yeah!" Sha Ou teased Ai Yixin; Human~wife smiled, that was simply impossible.
"Stop kidding around." Tang Zheng didn’t want to be misunderstood by Xin Lan and the others, making everyone think he helped Human~wife with ulterior motives.
When they rushed past the third floor, a team of black-gold Conquerors appeared across the corridor. Seeing Tang Zheng and his group, they hesitated for a moment and then immediately turned to run. These guys had already communicated, aware that a second-order hero had been killed, where would they dare confront them directly?
Before Tang Zheng could finish his command, the opponents had already scampered away completely.
"Damn, you’ve got to be kidding, that’s really lacking in integrity." Although Sha Ou rather wanted to slaughter a few more people since although team battles were extremely risky, the rewards were also substantial - killing a hero level would get them all his equipment, a huge win.
The weaker ones were somewhat excited; they used to only have their share in fleeing in disarray, never , scaring the opponents into a total rout.
After entering the basement of the building, Tang Zheng led everyone to leave through the sewer pipes.
The guardians also knew to take advantage of the situation, swarming toward the floor where Zhu Dehou was located.
"No, I don’t want to die." Hearing those hurried footsteps, Zhu Dehou, already invaded by the virus, struggled to crawl on the ground, trying to escape.
Space props were restricted, Zhu Dehou couldn’t even get his emergency medicine out, and could only endure the pain.
"Found him." The guardians spotted Zhu Dehou and immediately opened fire.
A gravity ball hit Zhu Dehou hard, causing injuries all over his body.
"No, I can’t accept this!" Zhu Dehou roared, then saw his hands swell and thicken, and the next second, he lost consciousness.
"What’s happening?" The guardians stopped in astonishment, the enemy in front of them suddenly mutated, shedding his skin and revealing delicate muscles, covered in disgusting mucus, and his teeth had grown a foot long.
Roar, a deep sound came from the monster’s throat, and it suddenly pounced towards the guardians, its powerful leap even breaking the floor.
One minute later, five second-order guardians were slain, Zhu Dehou chewed their bodies while following the direction Tang Zheng had left.
The survivors from both camps still didn’t know that a new enemy had emerged and started to erode this theme world.
As soon as they entered the sewer, a damp smell mixed with a stench poured into their nostrils, but the conquerors didn’t even frown, having experienced even worse environments.
"Hey, Seven-point Head, pick three people and lead the way," Sha Ou grabbed Seven-point Head and bluntly issued an order.
This kind of dirty work is something Tang Zheng would never do as it would lose favor, so Sha Ou volunteered, a tough character is necessary in a team.
Sha Ou knew his role, and wasn’t foolish, letting Seven-point Head choose the people meant letting others be the bad guy.
Almost driven mad by being lectured by someone who wasn’t even third-order, Seven-point Head saw the hostile expressions on Zhu Kefu and others and dared not retort, so he vented his anger on other lesser individuals.
"What are you dawdling for, move to the front." Seven-point Head physically attacked people, picked four unfortunate souls, then followed behind; he wasn’t foolish enough to rush to the front himself.
"Group Leader Tang!" A foolish newbie who hadn’t understood Tang Zheng’s intention actually asked him for help.
"Don’t waste time, move it, speed up, it’ll only take five minutes to get out of the sewer pipes," Tang Zheng changed the topic, "I’ve prepared an infantry armored car at the exit."
Pang Meiqin of course wouldn’t let the newbies keep asking questions, she pushed them from behind, urging them to speed up.
Zhu Kefu didn’t care much about those cannon fodders and treated them as disposable.
The sewer was only two meters high, and pitch black and narrow, making people feel oppressed. The lesser folks were holding M4A1 carbine equipped with tactical flashlights, moving with trembling hearts.
Tang Zheng distributed some captured weapons, though the equipment level was mediocre, he ensured everyone had a gun, as hero-level characters typically have various supplies in their wristwatches.
Inside the sewer it was dead quiet except for the splashing sounds of stepping in the puddle.
"There’s something!" A newbie suddenly shouted, stopping his steps, "I saw a black shadow."
"It’s probably a rat, don’t make a fuss, keep moving!" Seven-point Head didn’t believe the lesser folk, and urged them to continue.
The lesser folk thought he had seen wrongly, but after running less than five steps, a huge rat jumped out and pounced on him.
Ratatat, the lesser folk opened fire, the bullets hitting the rat’s body, but not killing it, instead riling up its ferocity.
"Get out of the way!" The lesser folk, already skittish, fired together, the gunshots echoed, forcing everyone to cover their ears.
"Cease fire, it’s dead," Zhu Kefu shouted loudly, fiercely slapped a lesser folk across the face to wake him up.
"What is this thing? A rat?" Fu Tianxiao stared at the body, larger and more ferocious than a Tibetan mastiff, somewhat bewildered.
It resembled a rat, but its tail was over one meter long, made of segments of solid bone, its hair had completely fallen off, dripping corrosive acid, and in certain areas covered with an exoskeleton bristling with barbs.
"Keep moving forward, be extra careful, leave the sewer as quickly as possible," Wang Fang urged, understanding the body’s backstory was unnecessary, escaping was what mattered most.
Squeak, squeak, a sound like silkworms devouring mulberry leaves came, intense and fraught, like a storm approaching, creating a sense of oppression.
Everyone looked toward the front, twenty meters away was a branch of the sewer, almost within a blink of an eye, a mass of mutant rats emerged, layer upon layer, like a tsunami, surging towards the temporary team.
They were very fast, some hitting the walls, actually creating a spider-web of cracks.
"Run!" Fu Tianxiao turned to run but was caught by Tang Zheng.
"Make a hole, let’s go through the ceiling!" Tang Zheng directed the Queen’s roar towards the ceiling, and a shot pierced through it. (To be continued. If you work, welcome to Qidian.com to vote and give monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)