Four Teams

Lu Bai had no idea what this so-called shelter represented. Following the principle that saying less meant making fewer mistakes, he nodded without showing what he was thinking.

In any case, all these questions would be answered once the Deathmatch Showdown was over.

Seeing his reaction, Xiao Xueyin didn't suspect a thing and returned to the subject at hand. "Unless something unexpected happens, there should already be plenty of deathmatchers fighting near the Research Center. Our goal is to hunt down any who are alone.

"Zhuo Li, could you explain the overall situation to everyone in more detail?"

The second sentence was directed at the guy with the explosive hairstyle.

In fact, he was mainly trying to give Lu Bai the information. Xiao Xueyin had deliberately said it was for everyone, which made it much more comfortable.

"I was among the first batch of deathmatchers to reach the shelter. Whenever I had nothing to do, I liked climbing onto the tent roofs and looking around. I actually saw quite a bit."

Zhuo Li casually glossed over how he'd gotten the information, then began his proper explanation. "Aside from some lone wolves—that is, deathmatchers who fight on their own—most of the rest have formed teams. There are about four teams in particular that we should pay attention to. The biggest calls themselves the Survey Corps, and they have around twenty people."

Huh? The Survey Corps?

Hearing the name, Lu Bai felt a strong urge to make a snarky comment.

"I don't know how that Survey Corps managed to gather so many people, but with that many deathmatchers alone, they're already a major force." The Hoodie Man slowed down and turned back to add this.

It was worth mentioning that, although there were no hard-and-fast rules in the Deathmatch Showdown, most teams had no more than ten members.

The reason was simple: when the final rankings were tallied, the rewards for the top ten were vastly different from those for everyone below them.

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

a team with too many members and no real bonds between them was bound to turn on itself in the later stages.

So the teams deathmatchers put together on the fly usually had no more than ten members.

"Maybe the name of this team just has some mysterious power that attracts deathmatchers." Lu Bai finally couldn't resist making a small jab.

Zhuo Li chuckled and continued. "The second team has exactly ten deathmatchers. They call each other things like First and Second, which makes them seem pretty arrogant. These two teams alone account for a quarter of all the deathmatchers currently alive."

"For convenience, let's call them the Ten Blades," Lu Bai suggested with a grin, indulging in a bit of mischief.

It was a minor detail, so Xiao Xueyin and the others had no reason to object.

"The remaining two teams aren't very big. One has six students wearing the same gray uniforms, and the other has three guys in suits and sunglasses."

Zhuo Li held up two fingers and waggled them. "The former were obviously randomly assigned to the same school. I just don't know why they didn't fight—instead, they actually reached an agreement to work together.

"As for the latter, all I can say is that they're three lunatics. They were the ones who brought the infected into the shelter.

"There's not much else to say. They won't pose much of a threat, especially since there are five of us."

Lu Bai could tell that the information Zhuo Li, the guy with the explosive hairstyle, had gathered was a little too detailed. Details like how the members of the Ten Blades addressed one another clearly weren't things he could have learned just by hanging around on tent roofs.

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

This was the exit of the District 7 shelter. Beyond the passage lay District 6, the neighboring shelter area beside the Research Center.

Honestly, Lu Bai had lost count of how many times he'd come through this passage tonight. It felt like he knew the place as well as his own home.

Like the other shelter areas, it was still enclosed by a continuous stretch of corrugated metal fencing. It had been proven that the stuff couldn't withstand a zombie's impact, but it did a superb job of keeping ordinary people out.

Two armed soldiers stood guard on either side of the tunnel, a rectangular passage assembled from sections of steel pipe.

Security was even lighter than usual. No zombies had appeared in this area, so the extra personnel had been transferred elsewhere.

Given that the Research Center was inside District 6, ordinary civilians obviously weren't allowed through.

"Actually, I thought we'd find a corner where no one was watching and just jump over," Lu Bai said. His eyesight was good enough to see that the soldiers' guns were off safety and ready to unleash a hail of bullets at any moment.

"No need to make it so complicated. Follow me."

Liu Yue tossed her hair, swayed her hips, and headed straight for the tunnel 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 a little embarrassed to say more.

There was a small open area in front of the tunnel, with nothing to block the view.

So the two soldiers noticed Liu Yue immediately and promptly raised their guns, shouting at her.

"Stop!"

Liu Yue didn't slow down. Instead, she swayed even more, calling out in a coquettish voice, "Big brother~ I want you~"

The soldiers had received professional training, so they usually didn't let their minds get the better of them.

But—

"Heh... hehehe..."

As Liu Yue drew closer, the two soldiers took their fingers off the triggers, their faces twisting into lecherous grins as their lower heads took charge of their upper ones.

Lu Bai had thought Liu Yue would simply order the two soldiers to let them pass.

But the next moment, Zhuo Li, standing beside him, suddenly shouted, "Damn it! How dare you seduce my wife! Brothers, get them!"

At Zhuo Li's furious shout, the two armed soldiers panicked and ran off, forgetting their duties entirely.

[Immortal's Leap (Silver): Effective range: 10 meters. Using sexual activity as a pretext, the user enters and interrupts it through theft, deception, robbery, intimidation, or other means. While the ability is in use, the user's attractiveness increases significantly. Once activated, it causes the target to experience extreme panic.]

Lu Bai: "?"

There was no denying that using this ability was embarrassing, and its requirement that he have a teammate to use it was a real pain.

But there was also no denying that the thing worked remarkably well.

Staring at the tunnel entrance, now empty in the blink of an eye, Zhuo Li coughed twice, looking a little embarrassed.

"Anyway, let's go."

District 6 shelter.

The last time Lu Bai had visited the Research Center, sneaking inside had been easy.

But now, the Research Center had entered a state of wartime alert.

Bright searchlights swept back and forth. An orange-yellow cordon had been stretched across the entrance, and a squad of soldiers could be seen moving warily through the lobby inside.

A large crowd of onlookers had been strictly kept behind the cordon. Anyone who dared trespass would be shot dead on the spot by the snipers on the roof.