“This…” The person who came to hand over the task hesitated. Li Shu had been resting in his room to recover from his injuries these past few days. Besides, with his contributions, he didn’t need to do missions like ordinary members anymore. Given his current injury, it was understandable if he didn’t go.
This team was organized by Li Shu and Lin Xuan. As they advanced toward the capital, they continuously recruited new members, and the team had grown considerably in size. With several evolvers in the group, everyone shared the same goal of reaching the capital, and other stops were merely temporary.
To reach the capital, supplies were essential. Every time they arrived at a place where they could resupply, the team would send out a portion of its members to search for resources. Typically, they paired ordinary people with evolvers, maximizing their strength.
There weren’t many evolvers, and their power wasn’t yet overwhelming. Some evolvers were only slightly stronger than ordinary people, and there were few true powerhouses and the conflicts between ordinary people and evolvers hadn’t escalated yet.
The team had two strong evolvers, Lin Xuan and Su Han, so no one dared to cause trouble. Although the original owner was an ordinary person, he didn’t limit it to only evolvers when recruiting new members. As one of the leaders, the original owner believed in leading by example and always participated in missions with everyone else.
Evolvers were responsible for dealing with the infected, while ordinary people focused on gathering supplies. The two groups worked together, and as they traveled, the team’s cohesion grew stronger. Evolvers didn’t feel that ordinary people were a burden, and ordinary people weren’t oppressed by the evolvers.
As one of the leaders of the team, Lin Xuan was very busy. They had just arrived in C City, and everything needed to be handled with caution. He wanted to talk to Li Shu, but Li Shu had been deliberately avoiding him, and he hadn’t found a chance to be alone with him.
He had just cleared a wave of infected outside and didn’t even have time to change his clothes when he heard the news that Li Shu was about to head out, so he rushed over.
The place Li Shu and the others were going to wasn’t far—it was the same area Lin Xuan had just cleared of infected. Although a wave had been dealt with, the danger wasn’t completely eliminated.
Lin Xuan didn’t want Li Shu to take the risk, especially since he had almost been infected not long ago.
“I’m fine now,” Li Shu accepted the task without even glancing at Lin Xuan.
Once again, Lin Xuan felt a surge of anger. It had been like this for the past few days. Every time he wanted to talk to Li Shu, it was as if Li Shu didn’t even see him. But with how busy he had been—leaving early and returning late—it was easy for Li Shu to avoid him if he wanted to.
For the first time, Lin Xuan felt a sense of panic, and he took it out on the infected people. As a result, he fought particularly fiercely, and people who were moving with him did not dare to get close to him.
“Xiao Shu, don’t be willful.” Without thinking, Lin Xuan grabbed Li Shu’s hand.
Li Shu struggled but couldn’t break free. He used his other hand to pry Lin Xuan’s hand off and walked away.
“Xiao Shu, how long are you going to make trouble? Don’t be willful at a time like this, okay?” Lin Xuan quickly stepped in front of Li Shu, blocking his way.
“I’m not being willful, Lin Xuan. This is a duty everyone in the team must fulfill. Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this. What exactly are you trying to prove by acting like this?” Li Shu’s tone was light, but there was no kindness in his words.
Lin Xuan felt a sharp pain in his heart. He hadn’t thought there was anything wrong with this before. Ordinary people in the team all did the same. Li Shu had said he wanted to set an example, and he had agreed, repeatedly sending Li Shu into dangerous situations—even the last time.
“I understand, but you were just injured. Please, take a break,” he pleaded.
Those around them nodded in agreement. Just two days ago, Li Shu had been carried back unconscious. It hadn’t been long, and he should be resting.
They all joined in trying to persuade him.
Looking at Lin Xuan’s concerned expression, Li Shu sneered. People only realize how valuable something is after they’ve lost it.
“There’s no need to say more. I know my own body,” Li Shu replied coldly. He was not the original owner, who had no self-defense abilities against the infected. In this world, he could use one-third of his strength, which was equivalent to the limit of this world’s power.
“Ah, Brother Lin Xuan, are you injured?” Tan Chu entered, holding bandages. He was young and usually stayed in the rear to help the doctors. The last time he volunteered to go on a mission was only to plot against the original owner.
His exclamation made everyone notice the wound on Lin Xuan. The wound was not big and there was no bleeding. Just as Lin Xuan was about to say that it was okay, Tan Chu hurried over and said, “Brother Lin Xuan, go and take care of the wound first.”
In that brief moment, Li Shu had already walked past them and was heading toward the door.
Lin Xuan took a step to follow, but Tan Chu immediately grabbed his arm. “Brother Lin Xuan, your wound…”
“None of your business!” Lin Xuan snapped. After being delayed for a moment, Li Shu had already joined the others at the door. Lin Xuan pushed Tan Chu away roughly, his tone harsh. “Stay away from me in the future.”
With that, he walked towards the door. He couldn’t let Li Shu go out alone; he had to follow and watch over him.
Tan Chu was left standing there alone, his face livid.
Of course no one objected to Lin Xuan joining them. With him, their safety was greatly enhanced.
Li Shu didn’t care whether Lin Xuan went along or not; he didn’t speak to him at all during the trip. The others knew that Lin Xuan was following because of Li Shu, so they deliberately tried to give the two of them opportunities. Unfortunately, Li Shu wasn’t interested.
Their destination was a large shopping mall. Judging by the abundance of items inside, it had been a bustling place before the apocalypse. Now, it was eerily quiet, with overturned counters and goods but when no longer necessities were scattered everywhere, signs of looting after the end of the world. The group moved skillfully through the mess, searching for what they truly needed.
Once inside, they split up. Lin Xuan wanted to follow Li Shu, but Li Shu wasn’t going to let that happen. With a quick feint, he took a path opposite Lin Xuan’s.
The mall was silent. If anyone thought it was safe inside, they’d be gravely mistaken. Although part of it had been cleared, they were short on manpower, and many areas could still be hiding infected.
Li Shu followed the path taken by the original owner in the plot. The original owner had stumbled upon the male protagonist’s hiding place purely by accident. According to the original plot, the original owner had been collecting supplies when he encountered a lone infected—whether it had been there all along or came from elsewhere was unclear. In his panic, he had fled and ended up in the male protagonist’s hiding place.
As Li Shu moved forward, he kept an eye out for the infected. In the original plot, the infected had lunged from behind a shelf, and Li Shu was looking for that very spot.
Silence.
The only sound was his own footsteps. Usually, these supply runs were done in pairs, and the original owner had been paired with someone too. But the sudden appearance of an infected had separated them. This time, with Lin Xuan present, no one had paired up with Li Shu from the start.
After shaking off Lin Xuan, Li Shu was left alone—just as he preferred.
[Host, the infected is over there!]
Just as 1314 finished speaking, a figure came rushing toward Li Shu with great force, and he ducted to avoid it. After missing its target, the infected changed direction and attacked again. Facing it head-on, Li Shu sidestepped and avoided the blow, then sprinted toward the direction marked by the system.
This was Li Shu’s first time encountering an infected. The creature had once been human but had lost all reason after being infected by the virus. It had bulging, cloudy eyes, and drool dripped from its mouth. Its limbs were twisted unnaturally and it moved on all fours at a very fast speed.
Its face and body were covered in pustules, oozing yellow pus with a foul smell. To be honest, Li Shu really wanted to kick it far away.
He thought angrily, if all the infected in this world looked like this, he would leave this world after saving the male protagonist.
1314 feared that this ancestor would abandon the mission altogether, and it quickly said: [Not all infected look like this. Many have no smell at all. The one behind you is a defective one. The stronger the infected, the more they resemble real people…]
While guiding the way, 1314 gave the host a simple explanation.
[Host, we’re here.]
After many twists and turns, they finally arrived. The unsightly thing following him had exhausted Li Shu’s patience, and he slammed the door in front of him with a gloomy expression.
As soon as he closed the door, someone pointed a gun at him.
“Who are you?”
A man’s deep voice sounded in his ear, and the cold muzzle of the gun pressed against his temple. Li Shu replied with a pale face, “My name is Li Shu. There are infected outside, and I…”
The man placed one hand on Li Shu’s shoulder, ready to defend himself if necessary.
The room was very dark, with only a faint light filtering through a broken window. The man had been in the dark for a long time, and since he was an evolver, the darkness didn’t hinder his vision.
He clearly “saw” that the person he was restraining was a young man, rather slim, with a very attractive face—a very good-looking ordinary person.
The young man’s body was trembling. Was he scared? That was understandable. He had just encountered the infected and was now being held at gunpoint. Of course, he would be afraid. Realizing that the intruder was just an ordinary person, the man relaxed his guard slightly and withdrew the gun pointed at Li Shu.
He stepped back a bit, and his voice softened slightly. “Why did you come here?”
Li Shu didn’t move. His body was still tense, and his heart was pounding violently. It was obvious that he had not yet recovered from the shock.
“We came to gather supplies. I encountered an infected and ran here. That infected is still outside. Is it okay?” Remembering the disgusting appearance of the infected, Li Shu shuddered.
“Don’t worry. If it gets in, I’ll take care of it.” The man returned to his original spot. His wounds hadn’t fully healed, but dealing with the lowest level infected outside was no challenge for him.
Evolvers had heightened senses. He could feel the infected lurking outside, deterred from approaching by the aura he emitted. He also didn’t miss Li Shu’s uneasy reaction when mentioning the infected. He just assumed it was out of fear.
Well, it made sense. Seeing how this young man looked, it was clear that he was raised in love and must have someone to protect him. It was normal to be scared when facing these things alone for the first time. The man didn’t even realize there was anything wrong with his thoughts. Not long ago, he had been training ordinary soldiers to kill B-level infected, and he hadn’t considered their fear of such creatures to be normal then.
Clearly, the man had unconsciously set Li Shu apart from the others, though he hadn’t realized it yet.
Seeing the young man standing by the door, the man thought for a moment, then walked over and patted his head. “Don’t be afraid. With me here, I won’t let the infected harm you.”
Li Shu, who was just contemplating how to deal with the infected outside without dirtying his clothes: ???
Was the male protagonist this “kind” in the original plot?
