Chapter 332: Not Captain Luo’s People
In Tiesi Village, in front of a two-story villa, Zhao Ru is loading boxes into the trunk of her car. The boxes contain her portable surgical instruments. Zhao Qianrong is sitting in a wheelchair under the corridor, quietly reading a book.
A car drives up from a distance along the street. Zhao Ru glances over, then turns her head to look at Zhao Qianrong and smiles. "Aunt, Captain Luo’s car is here to pick us up."
Zhao Qianrong nods, her old face calm. She watches as the car stops in front of the house. Zhou Xiang leads a few people out of the vehicle. Zhao Ru is stunned and quickly approaches Zhao Qianrong, whispering in her ear, "It’s not Captain Luo’s people, aunt."
Zhao Qianrong doesn’t know Zhou Xiang. She has been absorbed in studying medicine her whole life, rarely paying attention to the troubles around her. But that doesn’t mean Zhao Qianrong is naïve. Seeing the tension around Zhao Ru, she senses that Zhao Ru has a plan in mind and doesn’t want to go with the people who just arrived.
Zhao Ru, however, is quick-witted. She looks at Zhou Xiang, who is entering the courtyard gate, and smiles. "Hey, didn’t I tell Captain Lei that Captain Luo would come to pick us up?"
Zhou Xiang is polite to Zhao Ru. "The captain said to ask Miss Zhao and Doctor Zhao to go first. Our captain has some other arrangements and wants to discuss certain bargaining chips with Captain Zhan."
"Okay, my aunt is old, Captain Zhou, please drive carefully," Zhao Ru responds.
Her mind is already turning. She immediately agrees to go with Zhou Xiang, offering no resistance. She can roughly guess Lei Jiang’s intentions: he has detained Zhao Qianrong and her to use them as leverage against Zhan Lian. Nothing more, nothing less.
Zhou Xiang has been sent to escort them, and Zhao Ru has no other choice. She has already surrendered to Lei Jiang, and now he wants her to cooperate as a hostage. Can she refuse? Does she have the power to resist?
Initially, Zhao Ru hoped to take this opportunity to perform surgery on Little Mint and successfully switch from Lei Jiang’s team to An Ran’s. It seems that this plan has encountered some complications.
Zhao Ru wanted to play it safe and sit back to see which team emerged victorious. After all, in the apocalypse, she has her aunt to care for, so she needs to find a strong team to rely on. If Zhan Lian can’t rescue them from Lei Jiang, then it wouldn’t be worth it for Zhao Ru to follow him.
Meanwhile, in the county, An Ran is still pondering over the absence of Dr. Zhao from the team. The doctor who is supposed to perform surgery on Little Mint is nowhere to be found. What exactly is Zhan Lian planning, and how has he arranged things?
An Ran steps out of the car and glances at Doll safely strapped into the backseat, with Little Mint sleeping beside Doll. He stands by the car door, lost in thought.
The evening air is a little chilly, and the stars have already climbed high in the sky. It has gotten dark earlier tonight, and the temperature seems cooler than before. A few zombies wander aimlessly, seemingly attracted by the scent of humans. They shuffle toward the gas station, calling out for their companions. Before they can gather, several ability users rush forward and kill the zombies. The remaining ability users are busy with the oil drums, while Zhan Lian climbs onto the roof of a car, stands up, and uses an infrared telescope to survey the area.
An Ran stands by the car, watching Zhan Lian. In the crisp evening air, the sky is full of stars. Zhan Lian, clad in a short-sleeved T-shirt and camouflage jungle combat pants, exudes a sense of power.