Chapter 72 Three-person team
After Zhou Min and Lin Yan finished helping Ruan Ning tidy up, they suddenly looked at Ruan Ning with a serious expression and a hint of barely perceptible nervousness in their eyes: "Ruan Ning, Lin Yan and I have discussed it. Now that the base is going to implement this rating system, it will probably be even harder for individuals to get by in the future. The two of us... want to formally form a team."
She paused, took a deep breath, and finally voiced her long-held thought: "Ruan Ning, would you... like to come with us?"
Lin Yan also stopped what she was doing and quietly looked at Ruan Ning, her eyes filled with the same expectation and a hint of trepidation.
There was a moment of silence. Ruan Ning did not answer immediately, her gaze fixed on the window.
Form a team.
For her, this word once meant betrayal, exploitation, and death.
Since her rebirth, she has deliberately kept her distance, improving herself and acting alone, like a lone wolf licking her wounds and sharpening her claws. She doesn't trust anyone but herself, only her own strength and her own space.
Lin Jiaojiao is dead.
This realization was like removing a huge boulder from my heart.
The flames of hatred burned away her enemies, and also seemed to burn away some of the shackles called "the past" that had always bound her. She remained vigilant and indifferent, but in a hard corner deep within her heart, a crack seemed to loosen.
Zhou Min and Lin Yan... they may be different.
They weren't particularly strong, but in previous missions they demonstrated basic combat skills and reliability.
Walking alone may not be the only option. In this increasingly dangerous post-apocalyptic world, a trustworthy squad may mean a greater chance of survival, and perhaps, a slight dispel of the chill deep within one's soul.
She didn't have much time to think about it, but every second made Zhou Min and Lin Yan's hearts hang even higher.
Finally, Ruan Ning raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping over Zhou Min's tense face and Lin Yan's breathless expression.
"Okay," she said softly, her tone calm but carrying the weight of an agreement.
Lin Yan was stunned for a moment, then her face lit up with immense joy, and she almost jumped up: "Really?! You agreed?! That's great!" She excitedly grabbed Zhou Min's arm.
Zhou Min visibly breathed a sigh of relief, a genuine smile spreading across her face as she nodded emphatically: "That's great!"
Seeing their excitement, Ruan Ning added, her voice still flat but with a clear plan: "After the team is formed, training and mission arrangements need to be more systematic. Strength is the basis for the rating."
"Of course!" Zhou Min patted her chest. "From now on, we'll all listen to you! You're the strongest and the smartest!"
Ruan Ning picked up her water glass and took a sip. On the icy plain in her heart, a faint ray of light, called "companion," seemed to shine in.
The road ahead is still full of thorns and darkness, but perhaps she can try to stop walking alone.
The next morning, as dawn broke, Ruan Ning left the base with Zhou Min and Lin Yan.
They accepted a routine mission to clear out the roaming zombies around the base. The area chosen was an abandoned village about five kilometers from the base. The zombie density there was not high, but the terrain was relatively complex, making it suitable for initial practice and combat training.
Lin Yan's performance was acceptable.
She was agile and her movements were clean and efficient. She was using a Tang sword that she had exchanged for at the base's weapon shop.
Facing a few scattered zombies, he swung his Tang sword forward, and their heads flew off. Even when several attacked simultaneously, he could use his agile footwork to create distance and defeat them one by one.
But Zhou Min looked quite disheveled.
Her mental perception abilities gave her early warning of most of the zombies' locations before even entering the village, providing the team with a significant initial advantage. However, once they engaged in close-quarters combat, her weaknesses became glaringly obvious.
Lacking strength, the movements of swinging the machete are weak, often requiring several strikes to completely eliminate a zombie.
His steps were chaotic, and when faced with the zombies' attacks, he often retreated in a panic, almost tripping over the bricks on the ground.
Her reaction was also a beat slow. Once, a zombie broke through the window from the side. If Ruan Ning hadn't thrown a dagger in time and pinned it to the wall, Zhou Min would probably have been injured.
"Concentrate!" Ruan Ning's voice was icy cold, devoid of any emotion, like a whip lashing at Zhou Min's tense nerves. "Once you sense its location, you must anticipate its movements! Your brain is faster than your hands and feet, so make your hands and feet keep up with your brain!"
Zhou Min was panting heavily, her face pale, and her hand holding the machete trembled slightly from the excessive force.
She knew her problem. In the past, when she was alone or in an unreliable temporary team, she never dared to put herself in a situation that required close combat. She usually relied on her senses to avoid it in advance, and if she really couldn't avoid it, she would mainly run away.
This resulted in a severe lack of practical combat experience, especially in head-on combat.
“Ruan Ning…I…” she said, sounding somewhat dejected.
"Shut up." Ruan Ning interrupted her, pointing to three zombies swaying towards the other alley entrance. "Lin Yan, the one on the left, the one in the middle is yours, and I'll take the one on the right. Remember, aim for the neck, and hit hard and accurately."
The order is clear and leaves no room for doubt.
Zhou Min gritted her teeth and raised her machete again. She forced herself to calm down, focusing her mental perception on the movement trajectory of the zombie in the middle, predicting its next landing point, then took a deep breath and charged forward!
This time, her movements, though still not entirely fluid, showed less panic and more resolve. The machete whistled through the air as it slashed fiercely towards the zombie's neck!
"Pfft!"
The blade pierced the flesh, but due to the angle and force, it couldn't completely sever it and became lodged in the cervical vertebrae! The zombie roared and continued to claw at it!
Zhou Min was so frightened that she almost let go and backed away, but out of the corner of her eye she saw that Ruan Ning had easily dealt with the one on the right and was looking at her coldly, without any intention of helping.
No refunds!
A fierce determination suddenly surged within her. She braced her feet firmly against the ground, pressed down with both hands, and simultaneously raised her knee to slam it into the zombie's abdomen! Using this force, she twisted the blade violently!
With a sickening crack, the zombie's head finally tilted to one side and lay still.
Exhausted, Zhou Min took two steps back and leaned against the mottled wall, panting heavily. Sweat slid down her forehead, mixing with the splattered blood on her face.
Ruan Ning walked over, pulled out her dagger, and wiped it on the zombie's clothes.
"There's been progress," she commented casually, then pointed deeper into the village. "Take a five-minute break, then continue."
Zhou Min looked at Ruan Ning's back, then at Lin Yan beside her, who was tired but had a determined look in her eyes. She wiped the sweat and blood from her face and nodded heavily.
She knew that this path would be difficult, even dangerous.
But with reliable teammates by her side, she can finally, and must, face her weaknesses with confidence and hone herself to become even sharper.
In order to survive, and also to avoid becoming a burden to this newly formed, hopeful team.
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