Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars

Chapter 156: Chapter 155: "General Staff Headquarters

Lin Fan’s attitude toward these people was always the same, a classic player strategy: no initiative, no responsibility.

So he’d never really considered what to do with them if he ever actually had to leave.

As far as he was concerned, that had always been Liu Bin and his group’s own affair.

It wasn’t cold-heartedness, but rather the most rational path to survival in this world.

He could be a flagship, but not a locomotive pulling train cars. Every ship sailing behind him had to be capable of navigating on its own.

Otherwise, when the storm came, those tow ropes would only drag the flagship down into the abyss along with them.

If they could keep up, he didn’t mind sharing benefits and offering protection. But if they couldn’t, Lin Fan wasn’t about to lose sleep over them.

The moment he returned, he saw three buses parked at the supermarket entrance. It seemed Liu Bin’s group completely understood Lin Fan’s way of thinking.

That was good.

"We have these buses thanks to Brother Wang..."

Liu Bin turned and patted Wang Yuanhua, who was standing beside him, as he spoke.

Only then did Lin Fan see that Wang Yuanhua had consumed the two Crystal Stones he had given him before leaving. His Life Value had increased to [185/420], and his maximum Life Value was up by seventy points.

Even his right arm had fully healed. It still looked a little stiff, but he could hold things with it just fine.

"It wasn’t me. It was all thanks to the two Crystal Stones Brother Lin gave me. Not only have my injuries healed a lot, but my strength has also increased quite a bit,"

Wang Yuanhua, embarrassed by Liu Bin’s praise, scratched his head. He pressed his palms together in a gesture of thanks toward Lin Fan, then balled his left hand into a fist and said,

"Don’t underestimate me just because I only have one good hand. I can take out a zombie with one swing of my club..."

"There weren’t many zombies at the bus station, and the keys were in the attendant’s office. We drove these back directly from the charging stations. They’re fully charged!"

Liu Bin pointed at a bus.

"At full capacity, they have a range of two hundred kilometers. That’s more than enough to get us to the quarantine zone, and we can haul stuff, too!"

"Good. You’ve put thought into this."

Lin Fan nodded, then beckoned for the two of them to follow him to the clinic.

"Bring your people..."

"Ziyi, Haitao, let’s go..."

Seeing this, Liu Bin gestured for his core members to come over, and the group of five or six people followed Lin Fan toward the clinic.

...

As soon as Lin Fan entered, he heard Chu Zhaozhao still spinning a tale for the others. She had just reached the part about "The Simple Soldier’s Tearful Farewell, and Vet Lin’s Miraculous, Divine Touch..."

"...Just at that critical moment, with three sharp sounds—CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!—Brother Lin made his grand... Oh, Brother Lin, you’re back!"

Then she saw the people behind Lin Fan and quickly shut her mouth. She pulled up a stool, sat down next to Su Qing, and became the very picture of obedience.

"Everyone, have a seat... Since you’ve already gotten this far in the story, let me go over the gist of it with you again..."

Lin Fan rapped Chu Zhaozhao on the head, also pulled up a stool to sit in front of them, and looked around at everyone as he spoke.

Everyone grabbed a stool and sat down, listening as Lin Fan recounted the events of his trip.

He skipped over all the fighting, however, merely recounting his deductions about what had happened to the military unit and the current situation.

"...If you have any questions, ask them now."

After he finished speaking, Lin Fan took the water Su Qing handed him and looked at the group.

"Brother Lin, you said those several thousand zombies are scattering? How long until they get here...?"

Liu Bin was the first to ask, and his question was the critical one that concerned everyone’s survival.

"I don’t know. But the fire won’t be out tonight, at least, so they won’t get here that fast. We’ll have to wait until dawn to scout for more details."

Lin Fan answered seriously.

"That group of people, can they be trusted?"

Chu Zhaotian, on the other hand, asked about the military unit.

Before Lin Fan could answer, he saw Zhang Ziyi, who was sitting behind Liu Bin, suddenly raise his hand.

"Brother Lin, Brother Chu, regarding that unit, I have some information I need to share..."

"Go ahead."

"I’m ex-recon, Brother Liu knows this... The bus station where we got the vehicles is to the north, so we didn’t pass the gas station on the way back."

Having gotten the go-ahead, Zhang Ziyi continued,

"But when I got back, Brother Liu told me Zhaozhao had seen people at the gas station. I immediately grabbed Brother Wang to go scout it out... and some things felt off."

"Heh, I just went with Brother Zhang for backup. I didn’t dare get too close, afraid I’d be spotted... But Brother Zhang is incredible. He got right up close, and those guys with guns didn’t notice a thing."

Wang Yuanhua chimed in.

"What felt off?"

Hearing Wang Yuanhua’s words, Lin Fan gave Zhang Ziyi a thumbs-up. ’They don’t know about Xu Qian’s ability,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, I could’ve just brought him along. It would’ve been a good learning experience.’

Still, he asked out of curiosity.

"Those people didn’t seem very professional. If you say they’re soldiers, they don’t even know how to stand guard properly. But if you say they’re not, they definitely know how to handle a gun... I mentioned this to Brother Liu when I got back."

Zhang Ziyi said, recalling the scene in his mind, his voice tinged with confusion,

"But the vehicles and guns are definitely from the military district, not like the usual militia or armed patrolmen... A light came on inside. Brother Liu said not to make contact yet, so I didn’t dare go in."

"Zhaozhao and I noticed that too when we passed the gas station on our way back. Their uniforms weren’t consistent. Could they have recruited veterans or patrolmen who know how to use guns along the way...?"

After Zhang Ziyi finished, Lin Fan also recalled the suspicious details he had noticed. But to say they weren’t soldiers... the demeanor of the men in the armored vehicle couldn’t be faked. And so, he proposed his own theory.

"Very likely..."

Zhang Ziyi hesitated, then nodded in agreement with Lin Fan’s idea. But he suddenly thought of something, looked up at Lin Fan, and asked,

"Brother Lin, you rescued two soldiers on the road. Were their uniforms different from those people’s? And you mentioned the veteran in the armored car—can I see his epaulet...?"

Hearing this, Lin Fan had his own suspicions. He asked Chu Zhaozhao for the backpack, took out the epaulet, and handed it to Zhang Ziyi.

Then he turned to Su Qing and said, "Sister Qing, do you remember the recording from the radio? Bring me your phone..."

"Oh, right. Okay, I’ll go get it..."

Su Qing said, turning to leave. She returned a moment later with the phone.

She turned it on. It still had power.

She began to play the recording for everyone.

’Dr. Zhou? Where did a Dr. Zhou come from?’

Lin Fan listened to the recording again and muttered to himself in confusion.

"Zhou... Qingzhou! Brother Lin, could ’Dr. Zhou’ have been Dr. Ye Qingzhou? The signal was just bad and it cut out!"

Chu Zhaozhao slapped her thigh and spoke quickly.

"Ah, right, that’s possible. You’ve got a quick mind... But isn’t Ye Qingzhou a doctor? How did he also become a colonel?"

Lin Fan asked.

"Key personnel supervising military-affiliated research institutions can be technical officers. A military rank and an academic degree don’t conflict. These people are leaders in their own right, incredibly capable."

Liu Bin had also been a soldier. Although his combat skills weren’t as good as Zhang Ziyi’s, he understood organizational structure better than Lin Fan. Seeing Lin Fan’s confusion, he explained.

"Brother Lin, here you go. This is a colonel’s... The oldest survivor in our residential complex is only about fifty. The elderly have basically all..."

Zhang Ziyi handed the epaulet back, hesitated for a moment, and then said with certainty,

"There aren’t many generals under fifty in the whole country. A colonel is pretty much the highest-ranking officer you’ll find... Based on what you said about this man’s words and actions, the commander of this unit must have been him."

’Colonel Zhou...’

Lin Fan finally put the pieces together. That man must have been the Colonel Zhou from Zhang Wenyuan and Wang Zhong’s conversation.

"So, the commander of this unit is dead. And of the people who came from Jishan, if you exclude the researchers, there probably aren’t many combat personnel left. Half at most."

Lin Fan counted on his fingers.

"Five in the vehicle, and Zhang Wenyuan called out five by name... That means there are only six or seven real soldiers left..."

"Which means..."

Liu Bin continued,

"That unit might have military equipment and vehicles, but most of their armed personnel aren’t soldiers. They’re just wanderers or patrolmen who know how to use guns that they picked up along the way..."

"Then their conduct can’t be guaranteed..."

Zhang Ziyi said quietly. He then stood up and bowed to everyone.

"Brother Lin, Brother Liu... You were right not to initiate contact with them. I had my reservations, but I was being short-sighted. I apologize."

"Oh? I didn’t know about this."

Lin Fan said with a smile.

"Ziyi, sit down, sit down. It’s all in the past..."

Liu Bin quickly gestured for him to sit.

"So that’s the situation. You guys get your side ready. They’ll make a move at dawn. They have guns, so don’t start any conflicts. We’ll just wait and see..."

Lin Fan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried his usual firm resolve, setting the tone for everyone: wait and see, and only then make a move.

He stood up and said to Liu Bin and the others:

"Core members, combat personnel, and drivers—go back and tell them to get some rest. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so we need to be prepared for anything... Dismissed!"