Chapter 151 - 150: There Are No People Unafraid of Losing, Only Those Who Dare Not Gamble

Chapter 151: Chapter 150: There Are No People Unafraid of Losing, Only Those Who Dare Not Gamble

With that, she stopped fooling around and sat down beside him, copying Lin Fan’s posture.

Anyway, feeling bold, she simply dangled her legs over the balcony’s edge and even scooted closer to Lin Fan.

By now, she had grown accustomed to the acrid, burnt smell in the air. Sitting next to Lin Fan, she suddenly found the warmth from the distant blaze to be rather comfortable.

And so she gazed at the sea of orange-red flames, silently awaiting Lin Fan’s answer.

"I’m keeping an eye on a monster. For some reason, I feel like it isn’t dead..."

Lin Fan said, his eyes fixed on the distance.

The firelight cast an orange glow on his face, and only then did Chu Zhaozhao notice that his hair had been scorched into tight curls. She couldn’t resist reaching out to gently press them.

But upon hearing Lin Fan’s words, she immediately stopped, looked at him nervously, and asked in surprise:

"A monster? What kind of monster could survive this?"

"Yeah... I’ve been wondering the same thing..."

’Lin Fan genuinely felt it wasn’t dead, and not because of some profound premonition.’

’It was simply that the increase to his maximum Life Value didn’t add up.’

At this moment, his Life Value was at [1226/1640], and his Energy Value had risen accordingly to [89/500]...

Compared to the nine hundred-something he had before, his maximum Life Value had increased by a full seven hundred points!

It had nearly doubled!

Not to mention the loot list that cascaded like a waterfall. It wasn’t just from the dozens of Mutated Zombies in the cavern; the thousands of regular zombies killed instantly within the blast radius had already provided him with tons of basic supplies and materials.

Not to mention the [Rare Metal] he needed for further weapon upgrades, as well as some other brand-new materials.

’He didn’t know if these items had been dropped by the Mutated Zombies or by those 500-HP zombies.’

’Most of the zombies at the epicenter of the explosion were the 500-HP type, so it was more likely the drops came from them.’

Lin Fan had been staring so intently at the source of the fire that he hadn’t yet had a chance to open his inventory and take stock of his supplies.

’But even so, the numbers didn’t add up.’

’It was an indescribable feeling. Say there were fifty zombies in the cavern; on average, they each gave him 15 points to his maximum Life Value, which matched his previous experience.’

’But the fact that it *did* match was what felt strange.’

’If that ten-thousand-HP monster had really died, there’s no way it would have only added 30 points to my max Life Value, right?’

Anyway, the numbers just felt wrong, but he had no other proof that the thing was still alive.

’After all, if an explosion and heat of this magnitude couldn’t kill it, what else could he do?’

He was lying in wait here just to observe a while longer and confirm that nothing escaped from the flames.

Seeing Chu Zhaozhao’s curiosity, Lin Fan began recounting the entire affair for her, reviewing the events in his own mind as he spoke, starting from the moment he saw the armored vehicle...

...until the armor crystal’s energy ran out and it shattered into nothing. After enduring a momentary blast of intense heat, Lin Fan immediately switched to the full version of the armor crystal, the one that consumed Energy Value. It cost him over three hundred energy points, but it was just enough to survive the initial wave of heat and break free from the inferno!

But even the armor crystal had only managed to block one wave of high-temperature fluid jets and red-hot rocks; it couldn’t completely fend off the searing light radiation.

As he fled the inferno, his back was still scorched by the brilliant flames, and he sustained significant damage.

But thanks to four potions that were still in effect, Lin Fan escaped at top speed, leaping onto the roof of a storefront. From there, he used a lower roof as a springboard to launch himself up and crash into this very room.

The reason he felt the monster wasn’t dead was that his maximum Life Value had continued to increase a few times, even a minute or two after he had reached the safety of this room.

This meant that a very small number of the Mutated Zombies in the pit had survived the initial blast, only to be burned to death in the aftermath.

As for the two giant tentacles, they had been completely set ablaze, becoming two long whips of fire. They thrashed wildly in the sky, scattering sparks and burning flesh, like a flame demon straight out of hell.

Five or six minutes passed before they finally exhausted their strength, collapsed onto the road below, and burned into the charred husks they were now.

Since Lin Fan hadn’t been the one to directly injure or kill them, he couldn’t see their Life Value decreasing. But when they finally collapsed, he hadn’t seen any increase in his own maximum Life Value.

In short, the whole thing was shrouded in suspicion.

...until Chu Zhaozhao’s voice crackled over his walkie-talkie, and until he had jumped down only to be flown back up by her ability.

He recounted it all calmly, as if telling someone else’s story. But the distant firelight cast flickering shadows across his face, revealing and concealing the worry in his eyes.

Chu Zhaozhao was captivated by his story. The vast inferno reminded her of the day she first met Lin Fan—the day that giant Mutant Dog was blown into a rain of blood.

Her body leaned unconsciously toward Lin Fan. She pulled her legs back in from over the ledge, tucking them to one side. Her eyes were wide, and she let out small gasps at the most dangerous parts of his tale, her hand subconsciously clutching the sleeve of his purple windbreaker.

Lin Fan’s voice, interwoven with the ceaseless roar from the distance, seemed to pull Chu Zhaozhao back into the heart-stopping moment of the explosion itself.

"So... if there’s been no movement for this long, does that mean it’s really, truly dead...?"

Chu Zhaozhao murmured, her gaze fixed on the base of the distant pillar of fire, just like Lin Fan’s.

Only after Lin Fan finished his account did she finally understand the scale of the crisis he had just averted.

If, as Lin Fan had described, there were forty to fifty Mutated Zombies evolving at the same time in the bottom of that pit, surrounded by countless other special zombies even stronger than the common ones...

Even Chu Zhaozhao could understand that these zombies weren’t just evolving for fun; with time, they would have inevitably spread outward.

Even now, a massive, dark horde of zombies still swarmed the street below, held in place only by the mesmerizing roar of the fire.

Once that horde dispersed, with the newly evolved, more powerful, and bizarrely skilled Mutated Zombies mixed in, it would spell doom for the fledgling survivor community.

And Lin Fan had seized this oncoming tide by the throat, piercing its very core.

By betting his own life.

"Lin Fan... you..."

Chu Zhaozhao turned her head to look at Lin Fan, a thousand words caught in her throat, unable to speak a single one.

Only in this moment did she truly understand the meaning behind the words this sometimes lazy, teasing man had said during their meal that afternoon.

Those words hadn’t just been talk.

The abstract war, which had previously existed only in conversation, had tonight manifested as an all-consuming, monstrous inferno.

An indescribable mix of heartache and turmoil welled up inside her. No words could possibly capture her feelings at this moment.

And so, while Lin Fan’s attention was completely fixed on the distant flames, Chu Zhaozhao suddenly leaned forward. Her soft lips gently, yet resolutely, pressed against his soot- and sweat-streaked cheek.

It was over in an instant.

Lin Fan froze, turning his head in astonishment to glance at her, but he quickly turned back to watch the fire.

Chu Zhaozhao wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but Lin Fan’s face seemed to have reddened slightly.

But regardless of Lin Fan’s reaction, Chu Zhaozhao’s own face was undeniably crimson in the firelight. She stared at him, her eyes shining with a seriousness and radiance she had never shown before.

She felt she’d had an epiphany. She finally understood.

That afternoon, after Su Qing finished speaking, she had chimed in with a "Me too."

Back then, she thought she understood the meaning behind those words. It was only now that she realized she *truly* got it.

She didn’t say things like, "You’re so amazing, Lin Fan," this time. Instead, she watched the corner of his eye, feeling his peripheral vision occasionally flicker toward her. In a voice that was soft yet crystal clear, almost like an oath, she said:

"Lin Fan... from now on, I’ll be with you..."

But then she laughed, a hint of slyness mixed with a strange gentleness in her expression. She leaned her entire body against him, nestling into his side.

"If we fly together, you won’t have to take such dangerous risks, right...?"