Captain Lin Has His Eye on Me

With his father slung over his shoulder and one hand pulling the trembling Xiao Lu along, Lu Chen finally reached the "temporary shelter" shown on the app.

Calling it a shelter was generous. It was just an open lot fenced off with wire mesh, with a few converted shipping containers standing crookedly inside and sandbags piled by the entrance. Several guys in security uniforms held rubber batons, their eyes scanning the area warily.

"Stop! What are you doing here?" A sharp-eyed sentry spotted Lu Chen from a distance, covered in blood as he was, and immediately went on high alert. He blew his whistle and rushed over, followed by several burly men.

"Easy, we're on your side!" Lu Chen quickly raised both hands to show he meant no harm. "We're survivors. The app said we could take shelter here."

The sentry looked Lu Chen up and down suspiciously. "Survivors? What hole did you crawl out of? You're covered in blood. For all I know, you could be a zombie in disguise!"

As he spoke, he pointed his baton at Lu Chen's nose, nearly spraying spit in his face.

"Hey, what kind of talk is that?" Before Lu Chen could speak, Xiao Lu took offense. She gathered her courage and stepped in front of him. "He saved me. He's not a zombie!"

"Well, look at you, sweetheart, jumping to his defense." The sentry gave Xiao Lu a leering glance, then looked back at Lu Chen. "Not bad, kid. Lucky with the ladies, huh? But if you want to get into the shelter, you'll have to get past Captain Lin first!"

Just then, a powerfully built man with sharp eyes emerged from a shipping container.

He wore a camouflage tank top that exposed his solid muscles. One look was enough to tell he knew how to fight.

"Captain Lin!" The sentries all saluted at once, their manner exceedingly respectful.

Captain Lin nodded and walked up to Lu Chen, his gaze raking over him like a blade. "Where are you from?"

"The south side of the city." Lu Chen kept it short, unwilling to waste his breath on another word.

"The south side? That area fell a long time ago. How did you survive?" Captain Lin narrowed his eyes, his tone carrying a hint of pressure.

"Got lucky." Lu Chen shrugged, acting as if he didn't care.

Inwardly, though, he grew more wary. Captain Lin was no simple man.

Captain Lin turned his gaze to Xiao Lu. "And she is?"

"I... he saved me," Xiao Lu said timidly, shrinking back behind Lu Chen without realizing it.

A glint flashed in Captain Lin's eyes, as though he had noticed something. "Eye of Healing? Interesting..."

He looked at Lu Chen again, his tone softening somewhat. "You look like you've taken quite a beating. How about this? Come with me to the medical room first and let a doctor examine you."

With that, Captain Lin reached out to help support Lu Chen's father.

"No need. I've got him." Lu Chen calmly blocked Captain Lin's hand and carried his father forward, one step at a time.

Captain Lin's hand froze in midair, and his gaze grew more inscrutable.

He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something indescribably strange about the man before him.

"Wait!" Captain Lin suddenly called after Lu Chen.

"Something else?" Lu Chen stopped and looked back at Captain Lin.

"You smell of flames." Captain Lin stared into Lu Chen's eyes, seemingly trying to read something in them. "A very strong smell, too."

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he cursed inwardly, That bastard has a sharp nose! But his face remained calm. "Oh, that? I ran into a few mutated zombies earlier and accidentally picked up the smell while playing with fire."

"Is that so?" Captain Lin smiled, but his eyes remained full of suspicion. "Let's hope so."

After entering the shelter, Lu Chen and the others were assigned to the temporary housing area.

The area consisted of makeshift rooms built from sheet metal. They were cramped and poorly ventilated, and most of the people living there were elderly, weak, sick, or disabled. They were all pale and thin, their eyes numb.

Lu Chen tidied up briefly and told his father and Xiao Lu to rest first, while he made an excuse to go out.

He hadn't forgotten why he had come. Besides finding a place to stay, the more important thing was to get some medicine.

Night fell, and the shelter grew quiet, broken only by the occasional cough or quiet sob.

Lu Chen slipped out of the room. With his SSS-rank Super Perception, he easily avoided the patrolling guards and made his way toward the medical room.

The medical room was in the central area of the shelter, and the surrounding area was heavily guarded.

Lu Chen approached cautiously, only to hear a chilling voice from inside.

"Talk! Who told you to do it?!"

"I... I don't know anything! I just wanted... wanted to stay alive!"

"Stay alive? Hmph, traitors have no right to live!"

Lu Chen pushed the window open and saw Captain Lin standing in front of a man tied to a chair, a dagger gleaming coldly in his hand.

The man was covered in blood, his eyes full of terror.

"Captain... Captain Lin, please... spare me! I won't ever do it again!" the man cried, begging.

Captain Lin remained unmoved. He raised the dagger and drove it hard into the man's shoulder.

"Aah!" The man let out a piercing scream, its sound especially grating in the quiet night.

Lu Chen watched in fear. He hadn't expected Captain Lin to be so ruthless.

It seemed this shelter was far more complicated than he had imagined.

He forced down his unease, quietly left the medical room, and continued making his way toward the medicine storeroom.

After a tremendous effort, Lu Chen finally found the medicine storeroom.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. A strong smell of medicine hit him in the face.

The storeroom was packed with all kinds of medicine: antibiotics, painkillers, and ointments for treating wounds.

Lu Chen didn't stand on ceremony. He cleared out every last bit of medicine.

"What a shame. I don't have a space-type talent." Lu Chen smacked his lips and could only leave it at that.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw a guard approaching.

Lu Chen quickly hid behind a pile of crates, holding his breath and keeping perfectly still.

"Why is it so cold tonight?" The guard rubbed his hands and muttered to himself, then turned and left.

Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to emerge from behind the crates when he suddenly noticed a Spatial Storage bag hanging from the guard's waist!

"Holy shit, talk about perfect timing!" Lu Chen was overjoyed. He quickly activated Infinite Replication and copied the guard's E-rank Spatial Storage talent.

With Spatial Storage, Lu Chen immediately found things much more convenient.

He put all the medicine into the storage bag, then strode out of the medicine storeroom.

When he returned to the temporary housing area, Xiao Lu was still awake. Seeing him return safely, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where... where did you just go?" Xiao Lu asked softly.

"Just went out for a look around." Lu Chen smiled, took some medicine from the storage bag, and handed it to Xiao Lu. "These are for you. Use them on Dad tomorrow."

Xiao Lu stared wide-eyed at the medicine in Lu Chen's hand. "Where... where did you get these?"

"I stole them," Lu Chen said casually.

"Stole them?!" Xiao Lu exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth for fear of being overheard. "You... you'll get caught sooner or later doing that!"

"Don't worry, I won't." Lu Chen smiled.

He looked at Xiao Lu, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly in a meaningful smile.

"Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be even more exciting..."

Late at night, in the shelter's surveillance room, Captain Lin stood before a huge screen, his eyes fixed on Lu Chen's figure.

On the screen, Lu Chen lay quietly in bed, apparently already asleep.

But Captain Lin's gaze didn't relax in the slightest. If anything, it grew sharper.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Lu Chen was like a bottomless black hole, impossible to see through or grasp, yet full of danger...

Late at night, Captain Lin stood in front of the surveillance room, staring at Lu Chen's figure on the screen. His angular face looked especially gloomy in its light.

"That kid... something's off about him," he muttered, a barely perceptible hint of agitation in his voice.

He was clearly just a survivor who had escaped from the fallen area, yet his composure and the sharp glint hidden in his eyes were enough to make anyone uneasy.

He habitually rubbed his chin, feeling the prickly stubble against his fingertips.

He couldn't shake the feeling that the kid was like a beast lying in wait, seemingly harmless but biding his time, ready to take a vicious bite out of someone at any moment.

In particular, that lingering smell of flames kept making him feel that something was wrong.

After all, these days, wasn't everyone who awakened a fire-type talent treated like a treasure by the major factions?

How could one have fallen on such hard times?

"Captain, should we..." One of his men behind him drew a finger across his throat, a vicious look in his eyes.

Captain Lin raised a hand to stop him, narrowing his eyes as he watched Lu Chen's sleeping face on the screen.

"No rush. Let's see what he's after first. In these chaotic times, capable people always give themselves away sooner or later. Keep an eye on him, around the clock. And look into his background. I want to know everything he did before he entered the shelter." He paused, his tone turning sinister. "Also, pull up the surveillance footage from the medical room. I want to see what... interesting things happened tonight."

With that, he turned and left the surveillance room, leaving his subordinate silently watching Lu Chen's figure on the screen.

In the dim light, the corners of Lu Chen's mouth seemed to curve upward slightly...