Chapter 351 Hero?

The carriage bumped along the road, and the heavy engine noise couldn't mask the suppressed breathing and silence inside the truck bed.

Zhang Ao, Wang Xingchen, and ten other superhumans slumped in the back of the lead pickup truck, their combat uniforms soaked with sweat and grime, each face etched with an unshakeable sense of defeat.

He Song sighed: "We...are really weak!"

Wang Xingguang wiped his face abruptly and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Who says otherwise? When we set off this morning, I saw Captain Chi and the others with a kid they were with. I was thinking to myself, 'Going out to find supplies isn't child's play, why bring a kid who's holding us back...'"

And the result? A resounding slap in the face! That kid was amazing! Killing zombies was like chopping vegetables! After all that, I was the biggest liability, the real loser!

Tang Ci'en hugged her knees: "That little brother is so handsome! But... that deer sister is also very handsome! Did you guys notice her when we retreated just now?"

Such a huge parking lot... so many trucks and boxes... all empty! Tell me, with Deer Sister's dual abilities... is her wind-based ability more powerful, or her space-based ability?

Li Jia: "It should be the space system? Yu Wei, the level two space system user in our base, I heard, only has a little over 100 square meters... A little over 100 square meters can't accommodate that many trucks, right?"

Chi Qi: "Miss Lu's wind-type ability is her main combat ability. She said her space-type ability... is only level three."

"Brother Chi Qi, what do you mean by 'only level three'?" Tang Ci'en slumped back as if all her strength had been drained: "This is too much of a blow... Level three with a 'only' added to it?"

Chi Qi: "I misused my words. What I meant was—compared to the space-type ability, Miss Lu's wind-type ability is of a higher level!"

Tang Ci'en: "I think so too. On the way here, Lu Meimei was sitting in the back seat. She raised her hand and waved it lightly—the heads of those low-level zombies outside fell off in swathes, like wheat being harvested by a sickle! It must be a higher level of wind-based ability..."

Sun Shiyin: "Sigh... I'm envious, but I'm just a talentless, complete noob! It took me so long to deal with those few low-level zombies..."

Zhang Ao and Wang Xingchen remained silent, not joining the discussion, but their clenched fists and tense jawlines betrayed the turmoil within them.

The two of them were remarkably in sync—[They can't even beat a child!]

Wang Xingguang: "Brother, don't get stuck on this. There are differences between people, you have to accept it... Accepting that you're just an ordinary person sooner rather than later might make you happier."

Wang Xingchen: "This is the apocalypse! In the apocalypse, the ordinary means are all about our lives! We're lucky today, with Captain Chi and the others protecting us! What about next time? And the time after that? Can we survive by being 'ordinary'? We have to become stronger, at least so we don't become a burden to others!"

Li Jia: "Wang Xingchen is right. If we hadn't been holding them back, Captain Chi and his team would have taken down the logistics park today!"

Li Jia's words struck everyone like a dagger, making the atmosphere inside the truck bed even more somber.

Silence descended once again...

After a while, Zhang Ao suddenly raised his head: "You all saw it along the way... Captain Chi and his group don't even need to say a word to each other. With just a glance or a gesture, they know what the other is going to do. They are as in sync as one person."

He paused, then continued, "Today, Captain Chi formed a team around us. We're not as good as Captain Chi and his team, but could we... stick together as a group and go out together to train against zombies?"

He Song: "That's right! We can form our own teams and go out! We won't go into the danger zone, we'll just clear out the lone zombies on the outskirts of the base! The more real combat experience we get, the stronger we'll become! Even if we can't compare to Captain Chi and the others, we'll at least be much stronger than ordinary survivors in the future! At least... at least we won't be as humiliated as we were today!"

"What do you all think?" Zhang Ao asked, looking at each of them in turn.

Wang Xingchen: "I have no objection..."

"I can!"

"I have no objection either!"

......

Zhang Ao turned his gaze to Chi Qi: "Chi Qi, in our base, ordinary survivors can form teams at any time to search for supplies, and they are responsible for their own lives."

But those of us with official positions... need to apply through multiple layers of approval before we can go out.

Among us, you're the one who knows Captain Chi and the others best. When we get to the base later, could you... ask around for everyone?

Regarding the possibility of us being able to form our own teams and go out for training in the future? We don't need to go too far, just around the base... We just want to practice more, and we don't want to embarrass ourselves like this again next time.

Chi Qi: "Okay! No problem! I'll ask as soon as we get off the bus! I also want to go out and practice, to be as good as Brother Chi Yi and the others. I heard from Brother Chi Si and the others that even the worst of the young master's group is at level four..."

He Song howled, "And they have dual-elemental abilities! Dual-elemental! God... Jealousy has truly changed me beyond recognition!"

Inside the G-Class...

Gu Wan sat in the passenger seat and could vaguely see the heavy and somewhat unwilling expressions on the faces of the tall boys in the truck bed through the windshield.

"Sigh, those guys in the truck bed all look so dejected, like wilted eggplants. Have they been hit hard by today's reality?"

Luo Xingyou, who was driving, glanced at them and said, "Apart from Chi Qi and that Wang Xingchen, who are somewhat ruthless, the rest are indeed too weak."

Despite possessing a level three superpower, he was overwhelmed and overwhelmed even when dealing with two of the lowest-ranking zombies, and was even being chased around.

If it weren't for the vines occasionally sprouting from the ground and tugging at the zombies, they would have been pounced on and torn apart several times.

Wen Qing, in the back seat, asked, "So... should we bring them on these kinds of missions again? Wouldn't that be too risky?"

Lu Nange: "Just practice more and you'll get better... Yan Ge and the others will handle these things themselves. We just need to live our own little lives."

Gu Wan: "Nan Nan is right! Let's just live our own little lives, look for our relatives, fight zombies, collect supplies, and unpack 'deliveries'. Let my brother and Yan Ge worry about the rest!"

Luo Xingyou: "I just feel that we can't let them get away with the supplies we've worked so hard to collect for free, can we?"

Lu Nange: "Freebies? Of course not... I don't want to be a so-called hero! Making others happy while suffering myself!"

Gu Wan turned around from the passenger seat: "Hero? You drink water while others eat meat? If you don't give it your all, you'll be drowned in spittle and roasted over a fire. I can't do that kind of job either!"

Lu Nange: "Sister Wan's summary is quite accurate. Sacrificing one's own flesh to feed an eagle is something only Buddha would do. We are just ordinary people, and there's nothing wrong with being a little selfish!"

Moreover, I mainly felt that it was troublesome to take them to collect supplies!

We need to distract ourselves to protect ourselves, but we also need to be constantly wary of potential backstabbing. If we have to do everything in secret, it will only hinder our own performance.

After handing the snacks to Lu Beiye, Lu Nange sat up a little straighter: "I mentioned before that we can use the supplies we recover as a barter system, or let them earn 'currency' by completing specific tasks for the base."

They strive to live and work, and we are able to receive the things or services we need in a cycle—that's fair.

Moreover, Grandpa Chi has now completely handed over the management of the 'Flame Heart' base to Brother Yan and the others.

Since we've chosen to stay and don't intend to separate, then Flameheart will be our new home.

"Only by building a good home, ensuring that everyone in the family can realize their potential and become stronger... can we wait for the arrival of a new world, right?"