Cooperation

"Oh, that's not what I meant."

Wu Ya was so angry she wanted to punch someone.

"Just kidding." Lu Bai's smile faded a little. "I know what you want to ask. He's the same as me. If you see any others, stay as far away as you can."

Tian Wang had come over and caught the latter half of what he said. He couldn't help glancing in the direction Agu had gone, still shaken.

Ke Jiangni walked over to Wu Ya and asked quietly, "Then why do you two seem so... harmonious? Didn't you say you'd kill each other?"

"Because it's not really appropriate to do that in broad daylight."

Lu Bai stood up. "Come on. It's about time for lunch. You can try District 7's food too."

At the mention of food, Tian Wang perked up. "Sounds good. After we eat, you can show us around the area."

To be honest, Lu Bai knew about as much about District 7 as Tian Wang and the others did. During his time there, he'd only figured out which directions had weaker security.

Fortunately, the place was full of tightly packed military tents, so they could go for a walk in any direction.

It wasn't as if anyone would mistake the tents for a tourist attraction.

Lu Bai joined the three of them for a hearty meal in the "mess hall," then they prepared to take a look around.

But just as he stepped out from under the awning, a fully armed soldier stopped him.

"Company Commander Zhou wants to see you."

The Administrative Building where Command Headquarters was located.

Second floor, noncommissioned officers' office.

Zhou Zongming sat at a desk. "What did you do this morning?"

"I sat outside on a little stool, listening to everyone chat. I ate too much at lunch, so I was going to find somewhere less crowded to meditate. Then one of your men called me over." Lu Bai tilted his head as he spoke.

Zhou Zongming scrutinized him from head to toe, then raised an index finger and twirled it downward. "Turn around."

Lu Bai didn't do as he was told. Instead, he calmly sat down on the sofa nearby. "If you like watching men spin around, I can recommend a bar called Big Bird Spin Spin Spin."

"I'm just checking whether you're carrying any weapons."

Zhou Zongming maintained his stern expression and didn't press the matter. "You're still under suspicion, after all. Don't cause trouble. Keep your head down."

Lu Bai nodded. "You said that last night. Well, then, I'll thank you again."

He really wasn't being sarcastic.

In fact, under the wartime control regulations, someone like Lu Bai, who was under serious suspicion, should have been detained even without evidence.

But Zhou Zongming hadn't done that. Maybe he felt guilty for failing to identify Cui Qing as the murderer sooner, or perhaps he saw Lu Bai as just a student.

Whatever the reason, the company commander had allowed Lu Bai as much freedom as possible.

"You really do know how to thank someone."

Zhou Zongming waved a hand, somewhat awkwardly.

Lu Bai glanced around. Suddenly, as if he'd thought of something, he pointed out the window and asked, "Is that the Research Center over there?"

"Yeah. What are you asking about it for?" Zhou Zongming answered without thinking, then quickly realized what he'd said.

"I saw they don't even let people inside. I was just curious. You can chalk it up to a kid asking silly questions."

Lu Bai brushed it off casually.

He recalled the brief glimpse he'd had before coming inside.

Only two soldiers guarded the entrance to that building. It was hard to call that much of a security force.

Forget people with supernatural abilities like the deathmatch participants—even a few gutsy civilians might be able to sneak inside.

As for whether there were any guards inside the Research Center?

It wasn't entirely out of the question, but it seemed unlikely.

The Research Center had originally been called the Research Building, and it had housed several military laboratories.

But after the Zombie Virus outbreak, most military experiments had been put on hold, and the security personnel would naturally have been reassigned.

On top of that, a large number of medical workers and medical supplies had been rescued from the city and moved into the building all at once. So they'd simply turned it into the Virus Research Center, where they focused mainly on developing a vaccine.

As Lu Bai left the Administrative Building, he keenly sensed several pairs of eyes on him.

He stretched and looked around as though nothing was amiss.

He still didn't know exactly how many deathmatch participants were secretly watching nearby, but he wasn't particularly worried about exposing his identity as one of them.

With Super Regeneration as a fallback, he had more room for error than most deathmatch participants.

Lu Bai didn't linger in front of the Administrative Building. He headed straight back to the tent where he was staying.

Standing at the entrance, he glanced at a wad of chewing gum on the ground, seemingly without a care.

Then he gave it a thumbs-up.

A few minutes later, Agu, dressed in a white shirt, strolled out from behind a tent.

"Looks like you've agreed to cooperate."

"Aren't you going to explain?" Lu Bai glanced down at the chewing gum by his feet.

"That's one of my abilities, Detective's Chewing Gum. It lets me eavesdrop and keep watch for a certain amount of time."

Agu smiled. "I didn't go out of my way to hide it. That's part of my sincerity."

Hearing that, Lu Bai smiled too.

But unlike Agu's obviously practiced smile, his looked like genuine delight.

"If we're going to cooperate, sharing information is the bare minimum, right?"

"Of course."

Agu spoke softly. "I'll start by telling you what I've learned. Vaccine development has made great progress, and clinical trials should begin within the next day or two.

"I'm sure you can sense it too—the atmosphere in this temporary shelter is gradually growing tense."

Lu Bai glanced around. "Can I?"

Agu seemed momentarily at a loss for words, then nodded quietly. "That feeling of a storm brewing may sound a little vague, but it's real."

Lu Bai sat down on the little bench by the tent entrance and gestured for Agu to join him.

"Actually, I have another question. There's only one so-called Node, right?"

"That's right."

"Then who gets it once we have it?"

It wasn't a shared Power Bank that two phones could plug into at once.

"I can't protect it."

Agu didn't mind admitting how weak he was. "My current ability set doesn't give me much combat strength. So you can keep the vaccine. I only have one condition: when the final results are tallied, I place in the top ten."

The final results?

Lu Bai was a little surprised, but the harmless smile on his face hid it.

He'd thought a deathmatch showdown worked like a battle royale: eliminate the other participants and be the last one standing to win.

Where had this final tally come from?

From the way Agu spoke, it sounded like something everyone already knew.

"The top ten? No problem."

Lu Bai kept his doubts to himself and agreed without asking any questions.

Agu didn't suspect a thing. "Great. Then we can discuss how to get the vaccine out of the Research Center safely..."