Chapter 159 - 158: A Startling Dream

Chapter 159: Chapter 158: A Startling Dream

It was like being wrapped in a soft quilt and a wool blanket.

Lin Fan floated in a warm, viscous liquid. Soft tissue enveloped him, and it felt as though he had returned to his mother’s womb—a place of unparalleled peace and comfort.

All around him was darkness. There was no sound, no gravity, not the slightest disturbance.

He could feel the liquid nourishing his body; every cell within him seemed to jump for joy.

Feeling the power building in his flesh and blood, he stretched in satisfaction, only to discover that the wall of the "womb" enclosing him was translucent.

As his limbs stretched it, the wall grew thinner, and he could faintly see the world outside.

In his dark red field of vision, there were many, many other giant "eggs" just like his.

Inside each "egg" was the figure of a brother or sister. A sense of kinship emanated from them, passing through the "womb wall" to connect with him, immersing him in the feeling.

But suddenly, a ripple disturbed him. He snapped his gaze upward.

A pair of enormous, golden eyes, glowing like two bright torches, appeared in the darkness above!

Rage! In that instant, an inexplicable rage ignited within nearly all the brothers and sisters, including Lin Fan himself!

He waved his hands unconsciously, trying to extinguish those two golden torches, to tear them apart!

But in an instant, light enveloped everything...

SNAP!

Lin Fan’s eyes flew open.

He subconsciously took a deep breath, as if he hadn’t been breathing before.

His heart was still pounding violently from that overwhelming rage that didn’t feel like his own.

A slick sensation, as if he were still enveloped in that warm liquid, lingered on his skin.

The white ceiling and round ceiling lamp he had seen for years came into view. Outside the curtains, the faint light of dawn was breaking.

The sky was already light.

DOK DOK DOK. The sound of two pairs of footsteps came from outside the door. Then, the door opened, and two figures ran in.

One was Su Qing in a silk nightdress, the other was Chu Zhaozhao wearing only a T-shirt.

"What’s wrong? What was that noise?"

Both of them looked a little nervous. As soon as they entered the room, they rushed to the window, pulled back a corner of the curtain, and bent over side-by-side to look outside.

Lin Fan had just broken free from the blazing light of his dream. He opened his eyes to see two figures, one big and one small. Su Qing’s nightdress barely covered her thighs, while Chu Zhaozhao’s T-shirt rode up to her waist as she leaned forward, revealing underwear with a cartoon pattern.

’Su Qing is bigger... hmm... but small is cute too.’

As if his brain hadn’t finished rebooting, a still-groggy Lin Fan subconsciously processed the scene before him.

"Brother Lin, someone’s here..."

Chu Zhaozhao slipped her foot out of her slipper, lifted her leg back, and nudged Lin Fan, who was still in bed.

"Get up, Brother Lin..."

"Ah—"

Not yet fully awake, Lin Fan yawned, sat up, and swatted Chu Zhaozhao’s foot away.

"Who’s here? What sound..."

"What’s wrong with you today? Are you not feeling well?"

Hearing his voice, Su Qing turned her head, reached out to feel Lin Fan’s forehead, then pointed out the window.

"You don’t have a fever. That sound just now... it sounded like a gunshot... Look, over by the supermarket, a group of people has shown up..."

"Ah... I’m fine. I think I was dreaming. So tired..."

Lin Fan rubbed his face. He felt mentally exhausted, as if he’d just had a dream but couldn’t remember what it was about.

He sat up in bed, pulled on his pajama pants, and squeezed between the two women. Bending over to look out the window, he saw dozens of people crowded in front of the supermarket. They were armed with weapons and shields made from things like spears and iron woks, and they were in a standoff with a dozen or so people across from them.

"It really was a gunshot. I thought I was dreaming.

They’re here bright and early..."

DOK DOK DOK!

Before Lin Fan could finish, a few knocks came from the door, followed by Chu Zhaotian’s voice from the hallway:

"Brother Lin, there’s trouble outside..."

"We see it,"

Chu Zhaozhao shouted back when she heard her brother’s voice.

Lin Fan nudged Chu Zhaozhao aside with his hip and continued where she left off, yelling to the person outside:

"Wait a bit, don’t go over there by yourselves. Wait for me."

After speaking, he patted Su Qing, then gave Chu Zhaozhao a harder pat.

"Let’s go. Get dressed. We’re going to meet our guests..."

...

"If you’re so tough, don’t shoot in the air. Shoot at me. If you can’t kill me in one shot, I’ll definitely crush you to death."

Wang Yuanhua held a concrete block, standing at the front of the crowd and confronting the dozen or so people opposite him.

And behind him, dozens of men and women from the community, including Liu Bin and Zhang Ziy, had also organized. They held steel pipes, spears, and iron woks, their expressions grim.

Though they were nervous, not a single person backed down.

They knew this food was their only bargaining chip. Even if the army came, they couldn’t just take it as they pleased.

What’s more, Liu Bin and the others had already warned their team. The people before them, judging by their clothes and behavior, didn’t look like the soldiers they remembered.

The man opposite them wore civilian clothes with a tactical vest thrown on top. His form was sloppy as he aimed the rifle, his hands trembling slightly, but his gaze was fixed warily on Wang Yuanhua.

A teammate beside him was shouting into a walkie-talkie, his expression furious and panicked.

"Boss! The intersection three kilometers north of the gas station! That’s right! There are a lot of people here! They have cars, food, water... and there might be an Awakened One. He threw a concrete block weighing over a hundred pounds fifty or sixty meters! There are only two of us, we can’t make a move..."

The man held his walkie-talkie, communicating with someone else.

"...The guy in charge of this group says he wants to see you, otherwise they won’t let us take even a single bottle of water... Right, right, got it. Right, tell Brother Li to bring more people. Dammit, we can’t handle them!"

Meanwhile, the dozen or so other ordinary people in filthy clothes clutched weapons like clubs, cautiously huddled together. Although they stood behind the two men with guns, they subconsciously kept some distance to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

After finishing his report and getting a reply, the man lowered his walkie-talkie, raised his gun, and shouted at Wang Yuanhua’s group:

"Didn’t you want to see the person in charge? He’s on his way! When he gets here, he won’t be as easy to talk to as me! A bunch of ungrateful peasants! I gave you an inch and you took a mile!"

...

Far away in a tent inside the gas station hall, Zhao Cheng put down his walkie-talkie. With a displeased expression, he spoke to the two "colonels," Xu Wei and Li Rong, who stood before him.

"I was going to go take a look myself, but these peasants actually demanded to see the commander. Ptooey! I’m not going anymore..."

"Exactly! They’re getting full of themselves!"

Li Rong quickly chimed in:

"I’ll take some men over right now. Xu Wei, come with me to get ammo. I hear they have a lot of people, so let’s issue two extra magazines to each man..."

Seeing his deputy captain so eager and competent, Zhao Cheng smiled in satisfaction, his expression flickering as he said:

"This group is being defiant just because they have some brawny Awakened One backing them... We’re supposed to be taking people to the quarantine zone. Why bring so many men for this? You get a kick out of babysitting?"

He snorted and continued,

"No Awakened One can stop a bullet. Bring back a few who are obedient. As for the rest, if they behave, let them fend for themselves. If they don’t..."

He said, drawing a finger across his throat.

"Hey, hey, hey, Brother Zhao..."

Xu Wei, at his side, heard this and quickly stopped him, speaking with a lewd grin.

"Brother Zhao, have you forgotten? What we were saying last night, about the ones among the survivors..."

"Oh... right. You’ve got a good memory..."

Zhao Cheng’s eyes lit up with understanding.

"The women. Leave a few of the women. Go on..."

"You got it... I’ll pick out the best ones for you!"

Hearing this, Li Rong also gave a sly chuckle. He puffed out his chest and strode out of the tent, shouting to the soldiers who were eating breakfast.

"Squad One and Squad Two, nine men, grab two extra magazines each and follow me!"

"Heh, well then, Brother Zhao, I’ll go count out their ammunition..."

Xu Wei said with a smile from inside the tent, listening to the chaotic sound of footsteps outside.

"Go on, go on..."

Zhao Cheng leaned back in his folding chair, watching Xu Wei leave the military tent.

The soldiers outside grew busier. Morning light streamed in through the gap in the tent flap, and the constant CLANG CLANG of weapons and equipment could be heard.

"Sir!"

A voice called out, and a guard walked in carrying a tray with a heated can of food and coffee. He placed the tray on the folding table in front of Zhao Cheng.

"Brother Zhao, enjoy your meal!"

The aroma of the food washed away the displeasure of being bothered by trivial matters so early in the morning. Zhao Cheng picked up his coffee and took a sip, seemingly relishing the high-and-mighty feeling of deciding others’ fates with a snap of his fingers.

...

「At the edge of the gas station, in the shadow of a truck.」

"Advisor Hu, do you think this plan will work?"

Ye Qingzhou asked with a frown, looking at Hu Chen beside him.

"We can only gamble on how Lin Fan’s side will react; there’s no way to be sure. But the success rate should be high. Whether our bargaining chips are enough, though, that depends on... depends on Zhang and Jiang Jing."

As Hu Chen spoke, he tilted his head toward Zhang Wenyuan and another person opposite them. Zhang Wenyuan was dressed in close-fitting attire, and the other person was the one who had read the report the previous night.

"We weren’t on night watch, so we got half a night’s sleep. We’re in top shape!"

Zhang Wenyuan cracked his knuckles and grinned, clapping Jiang Jing on the shoulder.

"We finally get a chance to show what we’re made of. Qingzhou, don’t you worry. When it comes to this kind of work, the two of us are the most professional in the entire Jishan garrison. I guarantee nothing will go wrong..."

"Good. As soon as their men are far enough away, you make your move..."

Ye Qingzhou lifted a corner of the tarp, glanced at Ye Qingniao sleeping soundly in the corner and Wang Zhong who was also sleeping peacefully, then let the tarp fall back into place.

The shadow cast by the truck enveloped them, carrying a trace of the morning’s chill.