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"Goodness gracious..." Meat Tower Chen kept exclaiming as he listened, his eyes full of excitement and exhilaration. If his legs had worked, he would probably have been unable to resist running up the mountain for a look.
Zhang Ruiyang thought he was being called. With a small piece of peach in his mouth, he looked up at Meat Tower Chen. But even after he waited a long while, Meat Tower Chen only kept saying "precious" without saying anything else. Confusion appeared in Zhang Ruiyang's eyes. Only after a while did he realize that Fat Uncle wasn't calling him, so he lowered his head again and devoted himself to the peach in his bowl, treasuring every bit. He licked it for ages before taking a tiny bite, then held it in his mouth until it had no flavor left before swallowing.
"With all those supplies, we won't have to go out for a long time." Nan Shao gave half his piece of peach to Zhang Ruiyang and finished the remaining half in one bite. Once Zhang Yi had finished speaking, he made the remark with an air of casualness.
"There are more and more zombies, the soil is poisoned and can't be farmed, and there's a drought with no rain... that little bit of stuff can't possibly keep us going for the rest of our lives." After her initial joy passed, Li Muran quickly regained her reason. Hearing Nan Shao's words, she couldn't help frowning. She felt that if everyone held that sort of attitude, she would rather they hadn't found those things.
Meat Tower Chen said nothing, because he had no right to speak at the moment.
"Little Chen, what do you think?" Zhang Yi didn't let him off, calling on him directly.
Meat Tower Chen gave a dry cough and rubbed his hands, unconsciously revealing his usual ingratiating smile. "Brother Yi, Brother Shao, Little Sister Muran, my precious little Yangyang... I'm truly touched that you don't treat me, Meat Tower Chen, as an outsider. From now on, my life-"
"Cut the crap," Zhang Yi snapped irritably.
Meat Tower Chen chuckled. "Brother Yi, look, it's just a habit." At that, his expression grew serious, finally losing its flippancy. "It's only thanks to all of you helping me that I can sit here. Otherwise, I'd probably have ended up in those starving men's stomachs long ago..."
Hearing that, Nan Shao couldn't help remembering the men gathered around when he had gone to rescue him yesterday. His stomach churned, and he nearly threw up. Only now did he realize what those men had intended.
"Strictly speaking, I have no place speaking here, but since Brother Yi asked, I'll say a few words. Setting aside what Little Sister Muran mentioned, if we stop going out hunting for a long time but live better than even the ability users, we're bound to attract attention. I'm sure everyone can guess what would happen then."
Zhang Yi and Nan Shao exchanged a glance and smiled at each other.
"Since that's what you all think, let's keep doing things the way we did before," Zhang Yi said at last. "It's too hot in the rooms to store that food properly, so we'll leave it in the cave and go up to fetch it when we need it." As he spoke, he set the Tang sword on the small table. "Which of you wants to use this? We tried it. It's very good."
"I'm used to a pickaxe, and I don't know how to use a sword, so don't give it to me." Li Muran was the first to decline. Although she knew how hard it was to come by a sharp weapon, she had finally gotten comfortable with her pickaxe and really didn't want to switch to a sword she had no idea how to use.
"I don't want it." Meat Tower Chen's answer was even more decisive. Then his eyes lit up, and he pointed at the sledgehammer weighing over a dozen jin in the courtyard outside. "Give me that. That's what suits my build. I'll definitely look mighty impressive swinging it."
Zhang Yi said nothing and looked at Nan Shao, who nodded. "All right." He knew he didn't yet have the strength to keep swinging such a heavy hammer while charging in and out of a mass of zombies. Now that someone wanted it, that was naturally ideal, and it saved him having to figure out how to put it to use without wasting it.
"I think the pickaxe is good. Brother Yi, that rebar of yours isn't suitable for chopping or slashing. Why not switch to the Tang sword?" Nan Shao continued. Another point he left unsaid was that, with Zhang Yi's bad leg, a good weapon would considerably improve his chances of survival.
But Zhang Yi shook his head and rejected his suggestion. "I'll use the machete, and you use the Tang sword. You're a good fighter. Given time, you'll definitely be able to bring out the Tang sword's full power. The stronger you are, the safer we'll be. With my bad leg, no matter how powerful a weapon I have, I can barely protect myself. I have no strength to spare to help anyone else. The machete is more than enough." He paused before adding, "But I'm afraid this means more work for you." The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. For a moment, he suddenly wasn't quite sure whether the other man would be willing to take it on.
Meat Tower Chen, who had been about to persuade Zhang Yi, also fell silent at those words. Although he very much hoped Brother Yi could have the best things, he had to admit that Zhang Yi's considerations were the most beneficial to their little group as a whole. Li Muran, meanwhile, maintained her good habit of not speaking when something didn't concern her, keeping her head lowered as she slowly savored the taste of fruit she hadn't had in so long.
"All right. I'll use it." Nan Shao remained silent for a long while before finally agreeing decisively.
Zhang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He had seen Nan Shao's abilities for himself. Although he didn't know why the other man seemed somewhat indifferent to everything, even as he was, Meat Tower Chen would be no match for him after making a full recovery. Small though their team was, it needed a backbone to bring everyone's strength together. And in these extraordinary times, powerful fighting strength outweighed everything else. He couldn't do it, nor could Meat Tower Chen or Li Muran. Only Nan Shao had considerable room for improvement. He believed that, with Nan Shao's judgment, he would never abandon them to join another faction before he was strong enough. And during that time, he believed the others wouldn't stop growing either.
Nan Shao looked at the smile on Zhang Yi's face, his gaze somewhat complicated. Of course he understood what Zhang Yi was thinking. But simply because the other man had saved his life, he had no intention of refusing, even though he had no desire whatsoever to shoulder such a responsibility again.
With the discussion over, they each went their separate ways. Nan Shao took out a Corpse Crystal to absorb, but suddenly remembered the black stone Yangyang had traded a biscuit for the day before. He took it out and showed it to Zhang Yi, Meat Tower Chen, and Li Muran in turn, but none of them sensed anything unusual. If the pulse of life hadn't grown increasingly distinct once he placed it in his palm, he would almost have thought he was imagining it.