Four Teams

Lu Bai wasn't sure what this so-called shelter represented. Sticking to the principle of "speak less, err less," he nodded silently.

In any case, all these doubts would be answered after this Deathmatch was over.

Seeing his reaction, Xiao Xueyin didn't suspect anything and returned to the main topic. "If nothing goes wrong, there should already be quite a few Deathmatch Participants clashing near the Research Center. Our objective is to hunt down those who are alone. Zhuo Li, could you please explain the overall situation in more detail to everyone?"

The latter half of the sentence was directed at the explosion-haired man.

In fact, Xiao Xueyin deliberately framed it as if he were telling everyone, rather than just Lu Bai, which made things much more comfortable.

"I was one of the first Deathmatch Participants to arrive at the shelter. During my downtime, I liked to climb to the top of the tents and look around, and I really saw quite a lot."

Zhuo Li casually brushed off the source of his intel before formally introducing the situation. "Setting aside some lone wolves, that is, Deathmatch Participants who fight on their own, the remaining Deathmatch Participants have basically formed teams. Among them, there are about four teams that deserve our most attention. The team with the largest number of people calls themselves the Survey Corps, with around twenty members."

Huh? Survey Corps?

Hearing the name, Lu Bai felt a strong urge to complain.

"I don't know why this Survey Corps managed to gather so many people, but just based on their numbers, they're a significant force," the Hoodie Man said, slowing his pace and turning back to add.

It's worth noting that in a Deathmatch, although there were no hard and fast rules, most teams didn't exceed ten members.

The reason was simple: for the final settlement, the rewards for the top ten and those ranked lower differed drastically.

Unless they were incredibly lucky and dozens of people who knew each other in real life ended up in the same Deathmatch Arena.

Otherwise, with a large team, if there wasn't much camaraderie among them, internal strife was inevitable in the later stages.

Therefore, most of the teams formed temporarily by Deathmatch Participants didn't exceed ten people.

"Maybe the team's name just happens to attract Deathmatch Participants more easily," Lu Bai finally couldn't help but make a small sarcastic remark.

Zhuo Li chuckled and continued, "The second team is composed of exactly ten Deathmatch Participants. They address each other as 'First,' 'Second,' and so on, which gives off a rather arrogant vibe. These two teams combined already account for a quarter of the currently surviving Deathmatch Participants."

"To make it easier to refer to them, let's call this team 'Ten Blades'," Lu Bai suggested with a smile, out of some twisted sense of humor.

Since it was just a minor detail, Xiao Xueyin and the others naturally didn't object.

"The remaining two teams don't have many members. One consists of six students wearing the same gray school uniform, and the other is three guys in suits and sunglasses."

Zhuo Li wiggled two fingers. "The former clearly got assigned to the same school by chance. It's unclear why they didn't fight each other and instead reached a cooperation. As for the latter, I can only say they are three lunatics. They were the ones who caused the infected in the settlement area. There's nothing else worth mentioning. They won't pose much of a threat, after all, we have five people."

Lu Bai could clearly sense that the information possessed by this explosion-haired man named Zhuo Li was a bit too detailed. Details like how the members of the Ten Blades team addressed each other couldn't possibly be known just by staying on top of a tent.

As they spoke, the group passed through the aisle between the tents and arrived at an open space.

This was the exit of District 7's settlement, and passing through the passage would lead them to District 6's settlement, which was adjacent to the Research Center.

To be honest, Lu Bai couldn't recall how many times he had passed through this particular passage tonight; it felt as familiar as coming home.

Similar to other settlement areas, it was still a continuous enclosure of color steel tiles. These proved to be unable to withstand the impact of zombies, but they were remarkably effective in blocking ordinary people.

Inside the cubical passage constructed from sections of steel pipes, two armed soldiers stood guard on the left and right.

The defense force was weaker than usual, as there were no zombies here, and the extra personnel had been redeployed.

Considering the Research Center within District 6, ordinary civilians were clearly not allowed to pass.

"Actually, I thought we'd just find an unnoticed corner and jump over," Lu Bai said. His eyesight was good, and he could see that the safety catches on the firearms held by the two soldiers were disengaged, ready to unleash firepower at any moment.

"No need to go through all that trouble, follow me."

Liu Yue flicked her hair, swayed her hips, and walked straight towards the passage entrance.

Seeing this, Lu Bai followed without hesitation and casually asked, "Does she have some kind of charm ability?"

"Uh... something like that," Zhuo Li seemed somewhat embarrassed to answer.

There was a small open space in front of the passage entrance, so their view wasn't obstructed.

As a result, the two soldiers immediately noticed Liu Yue and decisively raised their guns to shout.

"Halt!"

Liu Yue didn't stop, instead increasing the sway of her hips and calling out in a sweet, coquettish voice, "Brother~ I want it~"

The soldiers were professionally trained and usually wouldn't experience the "big head, small head" situation.

But...

"Heh... hehe..."

As Liu Yue got closer, the two soldiers released their fingers from the triggers, and both wore lewd smiles, as if their "big head" was being dominated by their "small head."

Lu Bai had initially thought that Liu Yue would then order the soldiers to let them pass.

However, in the next second, Zhuo Li, standing beside him, suddenly cursed, "Damn it! How dare you seduce my wife! Brothers, attack!"

As Zhuo Li cursed, the two armed soldiers were instantly startled and lost their composure. They turned and ran, even forgetting their original duty.

[Immortal's Leap (Silver): Effective range is ten meters. It initiates with the pretense of obscene activity and proceeds with methods such as theft, deception, robbery, or intimidation. During ability use, the user's attractiveness is greatly enhanced. Upon activation, it can cause extreme psychological panic in the target.]

Lu Bai: "?"

I have to admit, this ability is embarrassing to use, and the prerequisite of needing a teammate is also very strict.

But undeniably, this thing is really effective.

Looking at the corridor entrance that was empty in the blink of an eye, Zhuo Li coughed twice, feeling a bit sheepish.

"Well then, let's go."

District Six Settlement.

When Lu Bai last came to the Research Center, it was easy to sneak in.

However, the Research Center has now entered a wartime state.

Bright searchlights swept back and forth, an orange-yellow cordon was set up at the entrance, and a squad of soldiers could be seen patrolling vigilantly inside the lobby.

A large crowd was strictly confined outside the cordon, and anyone who dared to trespass would be immediately shot dead by snipers on the roof.