Budget Hotel

Seeing Li Xuyang falling behind, Zhao Tianlei couldn't help but stop and say to him, "What? Can't carry it anymore? How about we switch? You take the backpack, and I'll carry your sister for you."

However, Li Xuyang said stubbornly, "I... I'm fine, I can still keep going."

Zhao Tianlei smirked and said, "Keep pretending. If you're not tired, then let's walk for another hour. After an hour, we'll find a place to shelter. Be careful not to fall behind in the meantime, or if those zombies surround you, I guarantee they'll chew you up until nothing is left."

"..."

After hearing Zhao Tianlei's words, Li Xuyang's mouth twitched, and he immediately said, "I think it's getting late, and there's no point in walking any further. Why don't we find a place to rest nearby?"

Seeing this guy trying so hard to pretend, Zhao Tianlei said exasperatedly, "Stop acting like a 2B pencil. If you can't do it later, say so in advance. Don't overexert yourself. It's not like before; pushing yourself until you collapse is suicide. If you want to survive in this apocalypse, you must conserve enough energy. Otherwise, if you run out of stamina and happen to be surrounded by zombies, you won't even have the strength to run, let alone kill them. Isn't that asking for death?"

At first, Li Xuyang was indeed a bit unconvinced. Although carrying his sister's corpse was heavy, he thought Zhao Tianlei was also carrying a large backpack. Later, seeing Cheng Yao was a bit tired, he also took Cheng Yao's backpack, all while holding a heavy fire axe.

But after walking all this way, Zhao Tianlei showed no signs of fatigue. Seeing this, Li Xuyang refused to admit defeat and gritted his teeth, persevering. In reality, Li Xuyang had no idea that Zhao Tianlei was no longer an ordinary human but an Evolver. After evolving, not only his Strength, Defense, and Agility had increased, but even his stamina had improved significantly.

In fact, Li Xuyang wasn't unconvinced; he just didn't want to hold Zhao Tianlei back since they had only recently started traveling together. However, after Zhao Tianlei's lecture, Li Xuyang was very grateful. After all, every word Zhao Tianlei said was the way to survive in the apocalypse.

"Thank you," Li Xuyang said softly after digesting Zhao Tianlei's words.

"What's there to thank? We're teammates, no need to be polite." After speaking, Zhao Tianlei gave Li Xuyang a smile and then stood in the middle of the road, beginning to observe the nearby buildings.

While Zhao Tianlei was observing, Cheng Yao pointed to a luxurious office building at a crossroads across the road and said, "Tianlei, look at that building opposite. It should be a company's office building. Such a luxurious office building must have some boss's offices inside. Those offices have luxurious amenities, so it should be very safe to live in."

Zhao Tianlei smiled and said, "The boss's office in a large company like this is naturally very luxurious, and the doors are very sturdy, able to withstand attacks even if zombies appear. But don't forget, such a tall office building, and in a prime location, how many employees would be inside? If the apocalypse broke out, it would be fine if these people were okay, but what if they were all infected when the apocalypse broke out? That would be a typical zombie nest. At that time, wanting to sleep in the boss's bed would be more like feeding the zombies."

After speaking, Cheng Yao made a face and stuck out her tongue.

Then, Zhao Tianlei pointed to a budget hotel in front of them and said, "Look, in comparison, this kind of budget hotel is very suitable. Normally, if there are no people, besides the front desk staff, there's only one cleaner on each floor. During peak times, there are at most one or two guests in each room. As long as we're lucky and don't pick a room with a zombie, it's fine to stay there for a night. Moreover, the amenities in this kind of budget hotel are also very complete, with plenty of hot water and electricity. We can eat instant noodles and take a hot shower at night, which should be no problem."

The two of them had to admit Zhao Tianlei was right and immediately followed him inside. Zhao Tianlei walked in front, carrying the fire axe, with Cheng Yao in the middle. As for the watermelon knife, it had already been given to Li Xuyang, who was bringing up the rear. In Zhao Tianlei's opinion, asking Cheng Yao, a weak woman, to face a zombie, let alone giving her a watermelon knife, even a Guan Yu-style saber wouldn't necessarily be enough to kill the zombies. If she accidentally injured their own people due to nervousness and panic, it would be terrible. It was better to give the knife to Li Xuyang.

After the three entered the lobby, the entire hall fell silent, but amidst the silence, there was a faint sound. It seemed to be a chewing sound, making Cheng Yao and Li Xuyang's hair stand on end. Clearly, a zombie was hiding in the dark, gnawing on something.

The timid Cheng Yao immediately grabbed Zhao Tianlei's sleeve and said nervously, "Tianlei, what do we do? There's a zombie here. Should we hurry out while the zombie hasn't discovered us?"

"What are you afraid of? It's just a lone zombie. If there's a zombie, just kill it."

Zhao Tianlei finished speaking and glanced at Li Xuyang, saying, "Hey, Little Chestnut, if you're scared, stay here and look after your sister for me. I'll clear out the zombies here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Tianlei didn't wait for Li Xuyang to react. He walked to a nearby metal trash can, grabbed it with one hand, and threw it forcefully towards the opposite wall. The trash can, thrown with all Zhao Tianlei's might, hit the wall with a loud bang, which was particularly chilling in the empty and silent hall.

Both Cheng Yao and Li Xuyang were stunned by Zhao Tianlei's abnormal behavior, clearly not understanding what trick he was playing. Others were trying their best to be careful and not make any noise, but this guy was brazenly creating noise. Wasn't he afraid of attracting zombies?

"Ugh..." Perhaps to confirm their worries, a terrifying sound suddenly rang out. From one side of the corridor, a wobbly figure walked into the hall. It was clearly an adult zombie. Judging by its clothing, it was undoubtedly a security guard from this budget hotel. This security guard zombie, upon hearing someone causing trouble, had been attracted here.

"Good fellow, are you unhappy that I'm causing trouble?" Seeing the security guard zombie approach, Zhao Tianlei rolled up his sleeves and prepared to step forward with the fire axe.

"Ugh, ugh..."

But before Zhao Tianlei could make a move to eliminate the security guard zombie, two more sounds suddenly came, attracting the attention of the three. Two female zombies emerged from under the counter of the bar. Both of these female zombies had bright red blood around their mouths. It was clear that these two had been feeding under the counter and were now emerging displeased after being disturbed by Zhao Tianlei.