Chapter 168 - 167: The Dust Settles

Chapter 168: Chapter 167: The Dust Settles

"This morning, I had a feeling something was off about you all..."

A crisp voice rang out from behind and to the side of the crowd.

"It’s only now that I get it. Awakened Ones and ordinary people are different. You tried to apply an ordinary person’s way of thinking to an Awakened One. You really missed the mark, didn’t you?"

At the sound of the voice, Ye Qingzhou’s gaze wavered, and she turned her head, startled.

Following her gaze, Lin Fan finally saw the person who had spoken from behind a clump of Awakened common boxwood.

Last night, in the flickering firelight and from a high vantage point, he had only been able to tell it was a woman. Now, in the light of day, he saw that she was, as Zhang Wenyuan had said, a girl even younger than Chu Zhaozhao—only sixteen or seventeen years old. ℯ

She wasn’t tall and had a slender build. She wore an ill-fitting combat uniform, with the joints and cuffs cinched tight with zip ties. Her pant legs were tucked into military boots, and she carried a long, rectangular case in her hands. She exuded an air of competence that clashed with her age.

Her hair was short, looking as if she had hacked it off herself. It was uneven, and in the morning sun, streaks of dark blue shone through, making her skin seem exceptionally pale.

The dirt and dust on her face and body made her look like a little wildcat that had just emerged from the wilderness. She was sizing up Lin Fan and the people behind him with her bright eyes.

The girl raised a hand and tossed the case through the air to a few veteran soldiers standing nearby. Wang Zhong reached out to catch it. Then, she dusted herself off and walked solemnly up to Lin Fan.

"Colonel Lin! Colonel Ye!"

She gave them both a crisp military salute, her gaze serious as she looked at Lin Fan.

"Ye Qingniao, reporting for duty!"

Only then did Lin Fan notice that this girl, Ye Qingniao, bore a slight resemblance to Ye Qingzhou. However, she had a sharper, more valiant air, lacking the softer mien of an intellectual.

Furthermore, her pupils were dark blue—a color not usually seen in human eyes, and quite uncommon. It made Lin Fan take a second look.

"Colonel Lin... Uncle Lin, my sister and the others are just... just too scared. They’re afraid of you, so they wanted to use this method—keeping them around—to put you at ease. But they don’t understand..."

Ye Qingniao lowered her saluting hand, her expression softening as she stared into Lin Fan’s eyes.

’Uncle Lin...?’

The corner of Lin Fan’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly when he heard the address. ’This girl is just like Chu Zhaozhao, getting familiar so quickly.’

For some reason, the image of her saluting the armored vehicle in the firelight and the sight of her back as she departed without a backward glance suddenly flashed in his mind.

The faint annoyance he felt at being set up dissipated quite a bit.

Lin Fan saw faint glimmers of blue light flash in her pupils. The light wasn’t obvious in the sun, but he still caught it.

But Lin Fan didn’t call her out on it, nor did he resist. He just watched her with great interest, wondering what exactly she was looking at.

’This girl is pretty interesting,’ he thought, ’even more so than her sister.’

Then, as if she had confirmed something, the glow in her eyes faded, and she continued where she’d left off.

"They don’t understand. Someone like you, Uncle Lin..."

As she spoke, she let out a self-deprecating laugh and went on.

"Forget you—even I wouldn’t accept this plan to maintain a so-called balance. On one side of the scale, I’ll only ever place my own strength. Anything else is an illusion... much less you."

She then turned her head to look at the burned-out office building to the southwest, a complex expression flickering in her eyes.

"It was only when I saw you throw that ball of ice that I truly understood my own way of thinking... Maybe my sister and Uncle Hu still don’t quite get it, and Uncle Wang only just Awakened. But Captain Tan, and that Doctor Liu over there, you two should understand a little, right?"

At her words, Tan Wei’s expression screamed, ’I’m a total rookie, please don’t call on me.’ ’How did I get dragged into this?’ he thought. Still, he mulled over Ye Qingniao’s words and nodded in agreement.

Lin Fan, however, had noticed another name. ’Doctor Liu? Where?’

Following Ye Qingniao’s gaze, he saw the door of a cargo truck nearby was cracked open, a head peeking out from the gap. Seeing everyone’s eyes turn toward him along with Lin Fan’s, the person gave an awkward smile and climbed out of the truck’s cargo bay.

It was a young man in civilian clothes, looking even younger than Lin Fan. The dark red-bordered health bar above his head showed that he was the third Awakened One in the convoy.

[193/193],

And below the health bar was a blue energy bar: [10/10]...

Lin Fan’s pupils dilated slightly. ’This is a health bar format I’ve never seen before... No, that’s not entirely true. An Energy Value of 10... I’ve only ever seen that on a Giant-Armed Zombie!’

Seeing that he’d been discovered, the young man walked over sheepishly, nodding to Lin Fan, Ye Qingzhou, and Tan Wei.

"Um, Colonel Lin, my name is Liu Hui. I’m an Awakened One and also the convoy’s doctor... Colonel Ye, Captain Tan, you’re discussing important business. I’m just a civilian, so I don’t really get it. I won’t butt in, heh..."

"What’s your ability?"

Lin Fan asked seriously, his eyes fixed on the man’s health bar.

"Ability...?"

Liu Hui felt a sudden pressure as Lin Fan abruptly shifted his attention to him, but he still answered evasively.

"I don’t really have an ability. I’m just a bit stronger, a bit healthier. In all my time with the group, I’ve just been prescribing medicine for people with colds, fevers, or stomach aches. I barely even know how to fire a gun..."

"I see. All right, never mind. You can go back to what you were doing."

Lin Fan couldn’t tell if the man was feigning ignorance or was genuinely unwilling to talk. Seeing that he wanted to leave, Lin Fan let him go.

The man walked back, ducked into the cargo bay, and shut the door, not even leaving a crack to peek through.

"Colonel Lin, is there a problem?"

Ye Qingzhou asked, noticing that Lin Fan seemed very interested in this Dr. Liu.

The interruption dispelled much of Lin Fan’s lingering unease. He decided to accept Ye Qingniao’s explanation, as he had indeed sensed their nervousness.

He said aloud:

"It’s nothing. We can talk about it later."

"So, um, Uncle Lin, we’ll handle these two ourselves, then?"

Hearing Lin Fan put the matter aside, Ye Qingniao seemed to think she had successfully smoothed things over. She rubbed her hands together and asked with an ingratiating smile, looking for all the world like a junior asking a favor of an elder.

"Heh..." Lin Fan was amused by her antics. He waved a hand, giving her leave to do as she pleased.

Having received Lin Fan’s approval, Ye Qingniao nodded briskly. Then she turned around, her expression returning to one that completely belied her age.

Calm and sharp.

Her gaze swept over the two figures writhing on the ground. They had just been given a sliver of hope but now didn’t even have a chance to speak. Her brow furrowed.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenyuan and Jiang Jing, who were standing nearby, quickly trotted over. Each grabbed one of the men and began dragging them toward an empty patch of ground beside the gas station.

Seeing this final problem being dragged away, Lin Fan nodded at Ye Qingzhou. Whether they had planned it this way or had simply scrambled to this point, they had at least presented him with a stable team he could take over directly. He had to accept the gesture.

He turned and beckoned to Liu Bin and the others standing behind him.

"Brother Lin..."

"Brother Liu, take some men and work with Captain Tan to inventory all supplies, personnel, vehicles, and all other information about the convoy."

"Right!"

Hearing Lin Fan start giving orders, Tan Wei had no choice but to nod in assent. He led Liu Bin, Wang Yuanhua, and the others toward the vehicles.

"Zhang Ziyi, take your men and unload the food from the bus. Distribute it to those who haven’t eaten."

"Got it, Brother Lin!"

Zhang Ziyi immediately had his men unload several boxes of flatbreads from their vehicle. They began distributing them to the soldiers and the scavenging teams, who had returned but hadn’t dared to approach the gas station full of strangers.

Any scavengable supplies in the vicinity had long since been cleaned out by teams organized by Liu Bin. These returning teams had found nothing but some moldy or zero-calorie snacks.

Now, the eyes of the ordinary people, who rarely got enough to eat, and the soldiers, who survived on military rations or dry bread, went wide at the sight of the flatbreads. If not for Lin Fan’s lingering authority, they probably would have swarmed forward to grab them.

"Colonel Ye, find us a place. We need to compare notes."

Lin Fan looked at Ye Qingzhou. The woman looked as if she had just gone through an ordeal, the fatigue in her eyes deepening. It almost made him want to smile. ’The power is gradually shifting from her hands to mine,’ he thought. ’That can’t feel good for her.’

Seeing Lin Fan begin to issue orders, apparently without any animosity towards them, a great weight was finally lifted from Ye Qingzhou’s heart. She let out a sigh of relief. Right in front of Lin Fan, she reached up and rubbed the bridge of her nose, then gave him an apologetic smile. The smile was stiff, but her eyes conveyed sincerity.

She gestured for Wang Zhong and the others to come over and began giving her own orders.

"Wentao and Cheng Qi, go help Colonel Lin’s people inventory our supplies. The rest of you, take down the military tents in the main hall and set them up on that empty ground over there..."

...

BANG!

BANG!

The crisp reports of two pistol shots echoed from the open field outside the gas station, startling the people eating flatbreads. But the sound was soon carried away and scattered by the wheat-scented wind.

And just like that, their ambition vanished without a trace, not leaving a single word behind.