Chapter 152: Strong

Chapter 152: Chapter 152: Strong

The quiet didn’t even last two minutes before Gary Gordon’s voice drifted in again. This time, he didn’t dare lift the tent flap. His tone was so sycophantic it could drip honey. "Big brothers and sisters, I’m from the team next door! Thank you so much for saving us just now. I came over because I wanted to..."

"Get lost."

Kevin Keane’s voice was as cold as ice, cutting him off before he could finish.

Gary refused to give up. He shamelessly continued to shout, "Boss! Please give me a chance!

"I can tell at a glance that you’re the leader of this team. You look so imposing! That kick just now was absolutely magnificent! If I didn’t have a Healing Ability, I definitely would’ve died out there today..."

He didn’t hold back on the flattery, lowering his posture while deliberately revealing his Second Order Healing Ability.

This was a hot commodity in the apocalypse. Any other team would have already treated him like an absolute treasure.

Kevin was taken aback by this wave of intense kissing up. He turned and leaned close to Luna Dawson with a smug look on his face. "Little boss, did you hear that?"

Luna was busy gnawing on a crab, her hands covered in grease. "Are you trying to usurp my throne?" she asked dismissively.

Kevin’s smug expression almost cracked. "I meant, do you think I look imposing?"

Lynn Shelby couldn’t hold back a laugh, mocking him mercilessly. "Hahahaha, are you trying to usurp the throne?"

Luna rolled her eyes at the two of them and went back to wrestling with her salt and pepper mantis shrimp. "Yep! You’re incredibly imposing!"

Kevin snatched the mantis shrimp from Luna’s hands to peel the shell for her, looking straight into her eyes. "Look closely. I don’t believe your eyes are completely blind to my charm..."

Luna stared intently at the giant shrimp in Kevin’s hands. "They aren’t blind! I only see the rich shrimp roe!"

"..." Kevin was speechless.

Lynn stood to the side, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

Evan Olson rubbed his forehead, lines of exasperation forming on his face. "I think I get it now. Uncle Quinn must have been fooled by this guy’s shameless sweet-talking into recruiting him, right?"

Miles Dawson lost his patience and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Cut the crap! What exactly are you here for? If you keep dawdling, I’ll throw you out to feed the zombies!"

Hearing someone finally respond, Gary’s eyes instantly lit up. He hurriedly shouted, "Bro! I have a Second Order Healing Ability! You guys are so strong, and only an expert like me is fit to roll with you! I’ve been wanting to ditch that garbage team next door for a while now. They’re just a bunch of losers who aren’t worthy of me at all!"

He clutched his stomach, looking frail. He had only dared to heal his internal bleeding earlier, too afraid to deplete his superpower entirely. After all, they were still in the Containment Zone, and saving his energy was his only source of confidence.

Nancy Sullivan almost spat out her food. "Luna! Your ’expert’ has arrived, hahahaha! Hurry up and take him in!"

Luna’s face scrunched up like she was severely constipated. "...Get out of here."

Rhonda Dawson also laughed uncontrollably. "...Why does this Containment Zone only produce such weirdos!"

Evan coughed dryly and asked in a cold tone, "Does Owen Quinn know you’re trying to defect?"

Gary’s expression changed drastically, and his heart skipped a beat.

He thought, "Oh, crap!

"They actually know Uncle Quinn?

"I absolutely cannot let them know that Owen was about to kick me out of the squad, or else I’ll lose all my bargaining chips!"

He immediately put on a pretentious act. "What defection, bro? They know their abilities are too weak and that their small pond can’t hold a big fish like me! Once we get back to the base, I’ll be the one to initiate the split!"

Kevin scoffed lightly. "Shouldn’t an ’expert’ be able to break things off whenever they want? Why wait until you get back to the base? You’re not being kicked out, are you?"

Gary didn’t catch the sarcasm. Instead, he grew incredibly excited, thinking that Kevin was relenting. "Boss! Does this mean you agree to let me join?! Thank you so much, boss!"

Right at that moment, Owen’s voice rang out from the courtyard gate, tinged with anger. "Gary Gordon! Joyce Wright! What are you two doing here?!"

Evan set down his chopsticks, lifted the tent flap, and walked out.

He was always the one to handle these kinds of diplomatic dealings for the team.

"Uncle Quinn, are these two your teammates?" he asked, pointing at Gary and Joyce.

When Owen got a clear look at Evan’s face, he froze for a moment before his expression filled with gratitude. "It’s you guys! You were wearing masks earlier, so I didn’t recognize you at all! Thank you so much for today. I will definitely pay you a visit to express my thanks later!"

"Don’t mention it," Evan waved a hand, his tone casual. "We were just here to collect Crystal Cores, so it was a mere coincidence. However, this teammate of yours doesn’t seem too satisfied with your team. He just said he wanted to join us."

Gary and Joyce’s faces instantly went pale. Seeing that they were exposed, they immediately chickened out.

Gary hurriedly waved his hands with a sycophantic smile. "Uncle Quinn! Brother Olson! I was just joking around, just messing with them! Please don’t take it seriously!"

Joyce was so anxious she was on the verge of tears. She quickly chimed in, "Yes, Uncle Quinn! I just followed Brother Ken over here to thank our saviors! I never thought about quitting the team!"

Her frantic eagerness to throw her teammate under the bus made even Gary roll his eyes.

He thought, "This woman changes her tune faster than flipping the page of a book!"

Owen completely ignored Joyce, glaring at Gary with icy eyes. "You pushed your teammates into the zombies twice just to save your own skin, and now you want to run off and ruin someone else’s team?!"

Gary panicked, his voice trembling. "I... I didn’t do it on purpose. It was just a subconscious reaction to the danger."

"The last time you pushed Wesley Wallace, it was subconscious. And this time you pushed Penelope Phelps, that was also subconscious?"

Owen’s voice sharply rose, his eyes practically overflowing with disappointment.

Gary frantically begged for mercy. "Uncle Quinn! I was really wrong! I’ll never dare to do it again!"

Evan let out a cold laugh from the side and remarked icily, "The person is utterly worthless, but a Crystal Core with a Second Order Healing Ability might be somewhat useful..."

Upon hearing this, Gary’s hair stood on end. He knew all too well what those words meant—they wanted to dig out his Crystal Core!

He didn’t dare linger any longer. Scrambling up from the ground in a panic, he completely abandoned Joyce and sprinted like a madman back to the room he was in earlier. With a loud BANG, he slammed the door shut and cowered inside, too terrified to come out.

He secretly fumed, "I’ll remember this grudge!

"Once I recover my strength, I’ll make you all pay sooner or later!"

Owen watched his pathetic, fleeing figure and sighed helplessly. He turned to Evan and offered a sincere apology. "I’m truly sorry. I never expected him to be this kind of person, let alone come over and harass you."

Evan patted him on the shoulder, his tone serious. "Uncle Quinn, that guy has shifty eyes and a wicked heart. Let alone just kicking him out, it would be best to deal with him permanently. Otherwise, it will most likely be your family who suffers in the future."

Owen shuddered slightly. His eyes flickered for a moment before he seemed to make a firm decision, nodding heavily. "Thank you for the warning. I know what needs to be done. We’ve gathered almost all our supplies, so I’ll go take care of this matter shortly. I’ll take my leave now. Once we return to the villa, I will come over and thank you properly."

With that, he shot a fierce glare at Joyce, who was still standing there in a daze, and ordered coldly, "Let’s go! What are you still standing there for?"

Startled, Joyce shuddered and quickly scrambled after Owen, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

After the two left, Evan turned around and returned to the tent. He picked up his chopsticks and continued eating as if nothing had happened.

Not long after, the sound of a car starting echoed from the courtyard diagonally across from them. Meanwhile, in the courtyard where Gary had been hiding, a male corpse had silently appeared.

His skull had been pried open, and the Second Order Crystal Core inside was long gone.

Inside the moving car, Joyce curled up in the backseat, her entire body trembling uncontrollably. Her eyes were filled with terror as she sneakily glanced at Owen driving the car, and then at Penelope Phelps, who was sitting expressionless in the passenger seat. She bit her lip forcefully.