Chapter 112
Lina skillfully circled the perimeter of the base, then climbed a tree. Being reborn as a monkey in her next life wouldn't be bad; she wanted to be the most mischievous monkey from Mount Emei.
Disappearing under the cover of night has become one of her specialties. Hiding among the leaves, Lina could vaguely see Carol and Maggie in the distance.
The aiming is okay from here, but she doesn't know how many people are on the other side, so she can't risk Maggie and Carol.
A moment later, a piercing alarm sounded from the outpost; they had been discovered.
She remembered that she had completed the task successfully, so she shouldn't be too worried.
Lina forced herself not to overthink, her eyes fixed on Carol and the others. Maggie and Carol were arguing when Lina saw a man quietly appear nearby.
Take a deep breath and calm down.
Lina calmed herself down and watched as Carol killed the man. Just as the two were about to leave, three more women appeared, one of whom angrily started beating Carol and Maggie.
One knife, two shots—no, the second shot wouldn't be fast enough.
Lina lightly jumped down from the tree, drew her dagger, aimed at the back of a plump woman, and swiftly fired a shot, killing another dark-haired woman. Then…
The last woman had already realized what was happening and took Maggie hostage.
“...It’s you,” the woman seemed to recognize Lina.
Lena raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing her closely. "You do look familiar. Let me think... Paula? Right?"
"I never expected to see you in a place like this, Miss Li." Paula seemed somewhat incredulous. "Didn't they take you away?"
“Of course I didn’t leave,” Lina said, looking Paula up and down as she walked to the body and drew her dagger.
“Since we’re old acquaintances, Paula, perhaps we can have a proper chat. Let’s not be so rude,” Lina said with a smile.
“Rude?” Paula seemed not to recognize Lina. “You killed three of my men, and I’m rude?”
“Alright, then I won’t be rude,” Lina sheathed her knife and put down her pistol. “Shall we catch up?”
“I have no good relationship with you. You’re just as despicable as those other people,” Paula said angrily.
“This is really heartbreaking,” Lina shrugged. The gun pressed against Maggie’s head made her and Carol hesitant to make any rash moves. Maggie was also clearly nervous. The three of them exchanged glances, unable to come up with a good solution for the moment.
“I begged you, I begged you so much!” Paula shouted. “Just let them take Mary and the others to the safe zone, just that one small request!”
“Use your brain, Paula,” Lina said sarcastically.
Paula seemed to be provoked immediately. "I knew you were the same kind of person as him. What's so great about people like you who are so arrogant because you have money? I did 80% of his work, it was me! But in the end, all the credit went to him. 'Use your brain, Paula!' He has the least right to say that to me. Without me, he is nothing."
When Paula was emotional, Maggie stomped her foot and elbowed her in the ribs, then immediately crouched down with her hands over her head.
Carol deftly raised her gun and wounded Paula's arm, which was holding the gun.
Lina picked up the gun and fired three shots, wounding her limbs and ensuring she couldn't escape.
"Sorry," Lina said to Paula without any apology, "after all, we're enemies now."
Paula glared at Lina with a mixture of pain and resentment, "You bitch!"
“Received,” Lina nodded nonchalantly. “Since we’re old acquaintances, just give me the information while you’re at it.”
Carol and Maggie were speechless; there was no way they would give it to you.
"After all, I don't want to do anything too outrageous to you, so you can understand, right?" Lina said sincerely.
"Pah!" Paula gasped in pain, then spat angrily at Lina.
“It really breaks my heart,” Lina crouched down and looked at Paula. “Actually, I did go to see Mary. After the cataclysm.”
"...Where did she go? How are they?" Paula tried to grab Lina excitedly, as if she had grasped a lifeline, but Lina just silently took a step back.
“Paula, I need something of value,” Lena said coldly. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, so what will you give me in return?”
Paula stared at Lina for a long while, then suddenly burst into a heart-wrenching laugh. "No, they're all dead, they're all dead. Don't try to fool me."
"Is Negan inside?" Carol couldn't help but ask.
“Negan?” Paula stopped laughing and glanced at the three people in front of her. She didn’t know where they knew Negan’s name, but the matter certainly had a strange feel to it.
“Are you Negan?” Lina asked.
“…Yes, I am Negan.” Paula raised an eyebrow, looking at Lena. “You’re all dead.”
“I don’t think so,” Lina pouted. “You don’t know how Mary and I met, do you?”
Paula looked indifferent. They were already dead, so what was the point?
“I used to love reading comics. There was a comic book store near your house that was really special,” Lina recalled. “It had a lot of unique comics, the really dark kind. That’s where I met Mary.”
“You were too busy, and your husband was too incompetent, so none of you saw her cries for help,” Lina said, looking at Paula with regret as if waking from her reverie. “You have handed her over to scum more than once.”
"What are you saying?" Paula was stunned for a moment, looking at Lina with some panic.
“I promised Mary and the others I wouldn’t tell you,” Lina said, hugging her knees and swaying back and forth. “But now that everyone’s dead, I have to break my promise for now.”
"What are you saying?" Paula roared as she crawled toward Lina.
"Lina?" Maggie and Carol looked at Lina with some unease.
"She, no, I mean your four daughters, have all been molested by your friendly neighbor," Lina said calmly.
"Aaaaaah!!!" Paula screamed, trying to lunge at Lina. "You're not allowed to slander them!"
“I didn’t, you’ve realized it yourself, haven’t you? But you have more important work to do, right? You always have more important things to do,” Lina stared at Paula expressionlessly.
Paula paused for a moment, and Mary said the same thing: You always have more important things to do, so what are we, Mom?
“None of you cared about her, and you kept letting wolves into your home,” Lina turned to Paula, “Why didn’t you protect them?”
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!" Paula frantically grabbed her hair, breaking down. He left. At that moment, he suddenly left. She was lying.
“…She left me a letter, hoping to give it to you after she dies,” Lina suddenly said.
“A letter?” Paula stopped and stared intently at Lina.
“The letter is lost, of course,” Lina shrugged, “but I’ve seen it.”
“…How do I know if you’re telling the truth or not?” Paula asked.
"Whatever," Lina said indifferently.
“…I,” Paula’s eyes wavered.
Daylight had broken, and Lina saw Rick and the others. They had obviously finished fighting inside and were checking to make sure nothing was missed.
Heath drove home with the supplies, while the rest of the men stayed at the outpost.
“Let’s go inside and talk,” Lina said, mentioning Paula.
Seeing this, Carol and Maggie had no choice but to follow. As soon as they entered the outpost, they heard a roar, like a motorcycle.
When Lina circled around to Rick and the others, she saw Daryl carrying a bald man.
"Hi," Lina greeted casually, tossing the half-dead Paula next to the bald man.
"Paula?" The bald man nervously helped Paula up and glared fiercely at Lina.
"Are you Negan?" Lina asked knowingly.
“Yes, I am Negan!” The bald man glared fiercely at everyone. “You’re all dead.”
Rick's eyes were hostile. He took two steps forward, gun in hand, but Lena pressed his hand down. "Interesting, she said the same thing as you."
"Now tell me, how many Negans do you have?"
Rick paused for a moment, then turned to look at Lina in confusion. Everyone stared in shock at Lina and the bald man.
“It’s much more than you think,” the bald man laughed loudly. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. You’re all doomed, and you’re all going to die a horrible death!”
“Priorio, shut up,” Paula snapped weakly.
“Although I quite like watching Marvel, you know, the Hydra trope is really old. I bet Negan is a showy old man too,” Lina said, pursing her lips.
No one responded to Lina's question, so Lina turned to Paula and asked, "How many people exactly? Where is your base?"
“We have several hundred people, maybe a thousand?” Paula looked at Prio uncertainly.
“…” Prio frowned, gave Paula a strange look, and said nothing.
“Mary wrote that letter because she couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to commit suicide because that scum recorded a video.” In return, Lena revealed a piece of information that made Paula bleed even faster.
“…WTH,” Prie looked at Paula in disbelief. Had she really betrayed Negan?
"Where is your base camp?" Lina asked.
“The Saviour Church…uh…” Prio suddenly jumped up. Paula had been pierced through the neck. Prio tried to take Lina hostage, but Daryl kicked him away.
Lina ignored them and went to Paula's side. "I'm sorry, I lied to you," she said, picking Paula up. "She wasn't hurt. That scumbag did try to touch her inappropriately, but he didn't have time to do anything. I sent him to the red-light district in Thailand."
Paula's mouth continued to overflow with blood before she finally closed her eyes.
Lina stabbed her in the head with a knife, then looked at Rick.
He shook his head helplessly; the bald man was dead too.
It turned out to be a wasted effort.
Frustrated, Lina ran over and kicked the bald guy.
“Looks like the deal has fallen through,” Rick said to Jesus. “You’d better go back and be prepared, and don’t give yourselves away.”
Jesus nodded seriously. “We need more people, much more.”
“Yeah,” Rick pinched his temples, trying his best to suppress his fear. He couldn’t show it, not even a little bit.
“I’m only worried about Gregory,” Jesus said, looking at Rick with a troubled expression. “He might never rebel again.”
Maggie's face was also full of worry. She had dealt with that old man before and knew how unreliable he was. Jesus's fears might come true.
“Then don’t tell him,” Rick said calmly. “One hundred? Two hundred? Just give him any number.” He looked at Jesus. “You know, he’s not suited to lead Hilltop.”
Jesus remained silent for a moment.
Rick didn't press the issue. "Alexander can take in your escapee, as can his family and friends. As for our deal, since the mission failed, let's cancel it. As for what we got..."
“You may stay,” Jesus said. “We have also obtained much information and rescued people, so you deserve a reward.”
“Thanks,” Rick patted Jesus on the shoulder, “but you really should think about this. I know you want to protect your home, just like us. Sometimes we have to make choices that are better for everyone, don’t we?”
*
Lina, having wasted her time, found a shovel in the house and started digging a hole in the yard. At least giving her friend's mother a grave wouldn't be too much of a saintly act, right?
"Are you really lying to her?" Carol came over to help and couldn't help but ask.
“…There’s truth to it and fiction to it,” Lina said. “She was definitely hurt, not just by her neighbors, but also by the scumbags at school. She’s tough, much braver than her sister. She dared to fight back, and she wasn’t so cowardly as to want to commit suicide or anything like that.”
"Is that her sister?" Carol asked.
“Yes,” Lina nodded, “Mary’s older sister was quiet, too naive and too timid, but she went to study in another city, so things weren’t so bad. Mary stayed home to protect her two younger sisters.”
"Back then, I wanted to deal with Mary's parents more than with the pervert and the scumbag, but Mary wouldn't let me go. She said there was no need to hurt her parents anymore, and she was even more afraid of reminding her sister of the past."
“I sent that pervert to Thailand to become a ladyboy, and I heard he did pretty well,” Lina said gleefully. “Although I almost had my great-uncle book a plane ticket for me to be sent back to China, it was worth it.”
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