Chapter 118 – Destined to Be Enemies

As an indoor facility, the X City University Swimming Pool not only covers a large area but also boasts a rather pleasant surrounding environment.

Especially at this time, it has become an excellent hiding place for survivors.

An artificial stream encircles the entire swimming pool. The depth and width of the water are sufficient to effectively block zombies.

Although the swimming pool appears somewhat eerie and dilapidated under the cover of night, the tightly closed iron gate indicates that someone is living there.

Inside a large changing room within the facility, dozens of people are sitting together. Accompanied by the continuous “click-click” sound, a flicker of firelight occasionally illuminates the group.

In the flickering light, some weary faces and bloodstained clothes can be faintly seen.

“Who’s there? Can you stop playing with that damn lighter already?”

Suddenly, someone growled in frustration, and the “click-click” sound abruptly ceased.

However, a dissatisfied voice quickly followed, “There should be three survivor teams here now, right? We lost seventeen people just to get here a couple of days ago, and what about Wei-Ge? Where did he go?”

“Don’t overestimate yourself. Wei-Ge managed to secure such a large area for you to live in, what more do you want?” another voice responded. “There’s no shortage of water here; the stream is right outside. The zombies nearby have all been cleared out, and there’s a lot of supplies stored inside. Ask yourself, could the place you were staying at compare to this? Beds and blankets included?”

“We provided food. Besides, this place was already in good condition, it wasn’t exactly ‘secured’ by him,” the person hesitated, then softly retorted.

“Stop arguing. Once the other survivor teams arrive, Wei-Ge will give us an explanation. Plus, his team is still here, right? Don’t worry, Wei-Ge won’t abandon us. After all, he’s the one who told us to come here.”

“By the way, I heard the garden area in the back has been cleared out. Are they planning to use it as farmland?”

“What about the seeds? Is Wei-Ge going to find those too?”

The discussion suddenly became lively. Although everyone was exhausted, the fact that they had made it alive to this base seemed to boost their spirits.

Just then, the door suddenly creaked open. Someone poked their head in and whispered, “Lin-Jie?”

“Coming.”

A voice responded from the corner of the changing room. A figure stood up and walked out, parting the crowd.

As the door closed, the discussions were sealed inside the changing room.

Three people were standing in the hallway, including Tang Xiaoxue and He Pengpeng. The small, slender figure that had just been called out was clearly Lin Luanqiu.

However, she was wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled down low, making it impossible to recognize her at a glance.

“So, Wei Junyan still hasn’t returned?” Lin Luanqiu’s arm seemed to have fully healed. She leaned against the wall and asked in a low voice.

Tang Xiaoxue shook his head. “No. But Lin-Jie, isn’t it too risky for us to be here? After all, that scumbag couple…”

“They’re dead. What’s the big deal? You two are in charge now; just stay calm. Wei Junyan won’t care about their lives.”

Lin Luanqiu waved her hand, cutting him off.

He Pengpeng looked at Lin Luanqiu with admiration, his tone filled with fervor. “Lin-Jie, I really admire you! Honestly, I think you’re just as impressive as Ling-Ge!”

“Stop with the flattery.” Lin Luanqiu chuckled and then pulled her cap even lower. “But seriously, are you two really willing to follow me? I’ve made it clear that this is dangerous. Once we take Wei Junyan’s supplies, this place will be my hideout until rescue arrives. You can still distance yourselves from me now. If I fail in my assassination attempt, you’ll definitely be implicated.”

“Lin-Jie, you don’t need to say more. I trust that you know what you’re doing. You wouldn’t act without a plan. Besides, those supplies were earned with the lives of survivors. Why should Wei Junyan get to hoard them? If he’s using this method to get everyone to risk their lives for him, why can’t we use him in return?”

Tang Xiaoxue’s tone was resolute. In fact, ever since he brought Lin Luanqiu back, he knew she had a hidden agenda.

However, Tang Xiaoxue hadn’t anticipated that Lin Luanqiu would swiftly eliminate the scumbag couple as soon as she reached their team’s location.

This sudden action threw the team into chaos, and even Tang Xiaoxue thought Lin Luanqiu had lost her mind.

But once Lin Luanqiu revealed her plan, Tang Xiaoxue couldn’t help but admire her.

She not only figured out Wei Junyan’s true intentions but also planned to use their team as a cover to infiltrate Wei Junyan’s base and then look for an opportunity to assassinate him.

To achieve this, after consolidating the team, she pushed Tang Xiaoxue and He Pengpeng to the forefront while she hid among the survivors like an ordinary person.

They also lost many people to reach this base, but these were necessary sacrifices.

In fact, if Lin Luanqiu hadn’t freed them, Tang Xiaoxue believed that with the scumbag couple’s behavior, they would have sacrificed even more people.

Initially, he had doubts about Lin Luanqiu’s predictions, but after they arrived and interacted with the two other survivor teams that had arrived earlier, he finally understood that Wei Junyan was indeed using them.

Using his status as a superhuman, Wei Junyan dangled a bait to get all the survivors in the central region to gather supplies for him, all the while letting many survivors die in the process, reducing the consumption of resources…

This plan was undeniably ruthless!

Its success stemmed from exploiting the survivors’ selfish nature. As the environment deteriorated and available resources dwindled, all the survivors were worried about their future.

At this point, Wei Junyan’s appearance and the bait he brought represented the only hope for the survivors.

As long as others died instead of themselves, this was probably the mindset of most survivors…

By now, both Tang Xiaoxue and He Pengpeng understood that Lin Luanqiu was hiding mainly to ambush Wei Junyan.

Once Wei Junyan was dead, given Lin Luanqiu’s status as a superhuman, she could easily control these survivors, just as she did after killing the scumbag couple!

But they had been here for a full day and a night, and Wei Junyan hadn’t shown up. This wasn’t surprising, though; he was probably still out there gathering other survivors…

Lin Luanqiu sighed softly, her eyes showing a hint of worry. The longer this dragged on, the more survivors would arrive here. Even if she successfully killed Wei Junyan, it would be challenging to control the situation immediately.

“Once, you wanted to kill me, and now I want to assassinate you. It seems we are destined to be enemies.”

Lin Luanqiu chuckled wryly.

Footnote:

Lin-Jie(林姐): A respectful way to address an older female friend or colleague in Chinese. “Jie” means “older sister” and is used to show respect and affection.